From one blog to another

Hi Jenny, Here is my new blog for the Allotment Diaries & Environmental Hubs Project. Let me know what you think:

http://environmental-hubs.blogspot.com/

Hi Liz, this looks great, and congratulations for receiving support for Grants for the Arts - that is excellent - well done! The project looks very interesting, I like the idea of having an ad-hoc studio in the allotment area, and the practice of making food for the local 'alloters', and the project highlights interesting issues around the long term sustainability of such spaces.

Have you secured an allotment in London for your research? I have a friend who is a keen Gardener ( and garden historian, she did an MA in Garden History at Birkbeck), with an allotment, which I am sure would be interested, and she could probably tell you some interesting information about the history of allotments perhaps.

For me there is a link between the nature of allotments and artists studios - they are both places that are 'hired', a physical space, that individuals go to, to make or grow.  In a sense, often with artists studios, the individuals do not often meet, as many have different schedules, and only when 'events' are arranged do the majority involved group together.

I look forward to hearing more about how the project develops.

Liz: Hi Jenny, yes if you could send me his details it would be great to visit him in London, I have a allotment visit scheduled in Elephant and Castle so I can try and meet up with him then too.

Task 5 - (30.04.11) - From Digital to Physical

Hi Jenny, can you print out five pieces of on-line information about me so far and bring it along to the install when we meet please?
Thanks,
Liz

Hi Liz, yes I will do, and can you do that same for me? Thanks.

Hi Liz- 28.04.11 - Task 4

What artists do you like, and give a few examples of their work...

Jenny:

There are so many artists that I really am interested in, but I am going to put just a few....

Sinta Werner, she was on the MFA with me at Goldsmiths, and has such an interesting approach to architectural space, with all works executed with such detail and skill.  She is currently represented by Nettie Horn. 

Sinta Werner MFA Degree Exhibition, Goldsmiths College, 2007

Pablo Bronstein, an artist that works in drawing, most recently, perverting structural forms through 'postmodern drawings'.

'Large Building with a Courtyard', Pablo Bronstein

And my old favourite, Diana Cooper..

'Orange Alert', Diana Cooper

Liz: One of the hardest questions as I have so many. As I previously mentioned my first big photographic inspiration came from Wolfgang Tillmans - the fact that everything for him was potential subject matter was what engaged me with his practice so much.

For me he manages to capture those 'chance encounter' moments, which are so vital to strong photographic work, whilst also being able to carefully compose a scene, bringing banal and everyday objects into pure moments of beauty - I know a lot of photographers who don't like his work but that doesn't really matter to me.

 Casual Beauty

Another artist I have always been excited by is Sophie Calle - She is quite old school really but a classic artist to appreciate. Her 'Shadow' project and 'Hotel rooms' are of particular interest to me. For Calle the work seems much more about the performance and the process, choosing almost a documentary style of images and photographs to showcase the outcomes of her projects. The works never seem simply documentary though, but almost take on an installation format when presented. For me Calle represents, photographer, performer, voyeur, conceptual artist and feminist all wrapped in one. She immerses herself within her projects and this is something I would love to be able to develop myself - crossing photography projects into installations and process based works. 

Another artist, much closer to home for me, is a fellow graduate from Glasgow School of Art. Silja Lefisdottir's graduated from Fine Art Photography with me in 2008, and I just found her work so playful and inviting. There was real charm to her projects and as an artist, myself, who was preoccupied with human nature, playful scenarios and questioning aspects of the everyday, I felt a strong connection with her work. 

 Image by Silja Lefisdottir, 'It is easier to let go if you forget about gravity'

Task 3 - it's all in the name

Jenny - Can you find out as much about my Family name as possible? Wewiora - I don't think there is that many of us but you never know.

I am trying to find as much about Steele on the www as I can...

Jenny: This has been a difficult task! There seems to be no history in your name at all online.  There were a few in Lancashire, a George Wewiora in Salford of Trafford Books (a relative?), a Sylwia Wewiora in the USA, a Helen Wewiora who has worked as a curator at Cornerhouse Gallery,

There were also some Wewiora's that had passed away in Canada, there seems also to be quite a few Wewiora's in Poland, for example, this female canoeist Paulina Wewiora and a Barbara Wewiora....the most examples seem to be in the North West of England, Canada and Poland.


Liz : Jenny I am impressed - George is my father and Helen is my sister. I have never heard or met Paulina but a Barbarah Wewiora did be-friend me on facebook purely because of our surnames. So physically I have no association with her but we have an on-line friendship identity.
It is a hard name to find out about - apparently when my Grandad came over here and married my gran, she insisted on simplifying its spelling so it went from wiewiòrka to Wewiora. With this spelling my surname actually translates as 'Squirrel' which subsequently became my nickname at Primary School.

With Steele - there are thousands of you! According to the on-line info I could find, there are In Great Britain : 25 977 people who share the surname Steele and the surname Steele is the 354^th most common name in Great Britain. With most people with the Surname coming from East Ayrshire (it is the 3rd most common surname in that area.

Now I know that you are Scottish but not entirely sure if your name goes back to the original Scottish Steele's or English one's? Either way you have your own crest!

Hi Liz - 26.04.11

Hi Liz - Hope you had a good bank holiday! What's your guilty pleasure? Ie. popular culture! Please provide an answer within a photograph....

Jenny: This is one of mine!

Oh Dear Jenny - I can't say I have ever watched this, I am a little terrified by it! True to my older generational habits I am actually a secret but massive fan of this one... if truth be told, the guy who does the voice over wins it for me every time!

Hi Liz! I know TOWIE is ridiculous and so very uncool and non arty, but I find it hilarious! Yes CDWM is ace!

Hi Jenny - Task 2 (25.04.11)

Jenny - we work in very different mediums and disciplines. If you had to respond to any of my work and link it directly to your practice which image or project would you choose? Feel free to search the web for my work...

Albermale Allotments, Manchester, 16/04/10

Hi Liz - I am interested in quite a few different elements of your practice, it seems there are a few divergent routes within it.  I was interested in the close up photographs, which we previously discussed, as 'evidence of human presence' through stains or used objects.  I am also interested in the references to 'make do and mend' architectural structures within the various communities that you have been exploring. For example, in the image above, where the inhabitants have recycled or used found objects to build architectural structures.  Within this series of images, I am interested in the practice of re-using objects to take upon another role, or construct temporary architecture.  I have been doing a lot of drawings of maps recently, juxtaposing digital layouts with physical town layouts, but I am interested in building three dimensional models, using found physical objects.  It reminds me of the Richard Wentworth series of images, that I often return to - 'Making Do and Getting By', where obtuse objects and ephemera take on a new role.  As my practice is heavily process and making based, it would be interested to explore the use of photography within 'making'.  Your work often carries an atmosphere of an 'older generations' set of values or nostalgia, which may be something also that we could investigate.

What would you say if I asked the question to you?

It is actually one of your earlier works that I am always drawn back to. I first spotted it when looking through your website for your Chongqing application and I always go back to it when I visit your web or want to show your work to someone else. With this particular piece of work it is the attention to detail and the emphasis on the small delicate object that I relate to. With my own work I often look for the unnoticed everyday object or surrounding and try to give it new importance through the view of the photography. The fact that you had used everyday objects and glorified them with such precision is what interests me in making work in general and in terms of installation work is something I am excited to develop, working with found and small everyday object, reworking and therefore re-evaluating them. And so this work from your 2007 installation is definitely the most relevant for me.

                                      
                        'From the other side of the screen it all looks so easy'

Task 1 - Day 1

Tell me, why you wanted to become an artist when you began your further education? How has your understanding of being an artist evolved since this date?


Jenny: I wanted to become an artist because I have always loved to draw and make things more than anything else (this is starting to sound like a badly written UCAS statement!).  When I initially applied to art college, I wanted to study painting, but as I went through my first year studies at DOJCAD, I found I was more interested in working in a multidisciplinary manner.  At the beginning of my studies, I had a poor understanding of the professional practice involved with being an artist, and I do not think until I graduated did I start to glean a clearer idea of ways to support, finance an develop my practice.  Studying at Goldsmiths on the MFA certainly opened my eyes further to the endeavour of 'being an artist', the majority of achieving this is about getting 'on with it', and creating opportunities for yourself and your peers.

Liz: I guess I have always felt at home with the arts; visiting galleries, working in the art class, drawing, sketching, doodling, making, photographing - the works. I went to see Wolfgang Tillmans at Tate Britain when I was 16 and fell in love with his photography, I wanted to make work like that. I went back to school and told my art teacher that I wanted to do Fine Art Photography at the GSA but never thought I could or would actually do it, safer to do English Lit or Journalism maybe?? Then she said 'of course you should do it, you should only ever do something you love in life or you will never put your all into it'. And so I broke the bad news to my mum - 'I am going to try and be an artist'. I think she has just about forgiven me now, in fact I am sure she secretly likes it.

Since I graduated from Glasgow School of Art, (A place I adored and will always want to go back to) I had an initial six months panic about my life, but then 'indecisively decided' to try a bit of everything - internships, workshops, being an art teacher's assistant - the usual. In fact I tried to do so much that I actually forgot about the one thing I enjoyed the most - my practice, creating my own work. After a few years now though I have actually come to the conclusion that you need to surround yourself in a variety of creative environments - this way you can always stay inspired and hopefully opportunities come up where you can develop your work, skills and general professional practice. And by juggling a mixture of artist career paths - you can afford your dinner too.

Hi Elizabeth (22.04.11)

Can you please write my profile page?
Thanks