12 inch vinyl records Dimensions variable May 2022
A sculptural work composed of a number of 12 inch vinyl LP records arranged on the floor. The records are placed on blocks to hold them above the floor.
These photos were taken at my solo exhibition at Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens, Cornwall, in 2022.
Part of the appeal of this work, to me, is in the fact that the vinyl records of which it is composed are ruthlessly precise and austere in their physical presence – perfect discs of shiny black plastic – but that they contain in themselves the information for producing music, perhaps the most ethereal of art forms. The manner in which the discs seem to hover above the ground seems to link the physical nature of the records with the floating, insubstantial nature of music. The physical delicacy of the analogue information storage system which contains the information about the music on the disks (the grooves) is also significant.
There’s another work composed of vinyl records here.
A polished steel sphere reflecting its surroundings
Steel sphere 2cm diameter 2022
The contents of this image are quite hard to decipher, which is part of the subject of the image and part of its appeal.
The spherical form at the centre of the image is a small steel ball approximately two centimetres in diameter. The dark form reflected in the sphere is me and my camera: you can easily identify my arm and hand waving in the air and you can also make out the camera (looking very large due to distortion in the sphere) with my other hand holding it.
The sphere appears to be resting in a depression in snow but it is actually resting in a drainage hole in the white concrete seating inside the James Turrell Sky Space in Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens, Cornwall, UK. The light ellipse on the sphere is the actual aperture in the Sky Space. It was a cloudy day. If it had been sunny the ellipse would have been blue.
One of the things that I find appealing about this image is that it combines my very modest work (in the form of a small reflective steel sphere) with a very large scale and high concept work by a hugely important artist.
The steel sphere was originally a component in a Newton’s cradle ‘executive toy’.
Mirror steel spheres are relatively common in sculpture that explores reflections. It’s hardly surprising, because in its simplicity the sphere itself is such a perfect three dimensional form. The highly distorted reflections generated by such a simple form are just too appealing for words. You can’t go wrong with mirror steel spheres!
Some of my work on display in my solo show at Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens, Cornwall, in 2022.
The abstract paintings are from a series of gouache and acrylic works on paper featuring simple geometric forms in flat colours. The works are all linked by, amongst other things, the use of the curved shapes with bulbous ends that exhibit an unusual organic quality.
The three works displayed below the paintings are all sculptural works that feature mirrors.
An artwork depicting an anglepoise lamp with a rainbow emerging from the lamp’s shade. When the rainbow reaches the tabletop it forms splashes of coloured water droplets as though the light from the lamp has turned into liquid as an act of metamorphosis.
An assemblage composed of a kitchen sieve placed in front of an old framed mirror. The reflection of the mesh of the sieve in the mirror creates interesting Moiré fringes as it interacts with the actual mesh.
When a person looks at their reflection in the mirror through the mesh of the sieve the observer experiences a degree of psychological distancing from their reflected self, almost as though the reflected person is in a strange cage.
Ring of Spheres – a study in the hierarchy of forms
Mirrors, wood, papier mâché 15x28x30cm February 2022
Two mirrors set at an angle to each other with a hemispherical object placed between them.
The reflection of the hemisphere in the mirror on which its base rests creates the effect of a complete sphere, while the second mirror generates multiple reflections to give the effect of a ring of spheres. The number of spheres can be changed by varying the angle between the mirrors.
It’s interesting to notice that when you look at this work you see reflected spheres although in reality you’re seeing reflected hemispheres. The sphere is visually, conceptually and metaphorically a more dominating form than the hemisphere, and thus its apparent presence in this work swamps the actual reality of there only being a hemisphere present.
This work taps into my interest in the generation of forms from more basic forms, with simple forms being the building blocks of more complex entities and objects (see also my abstract moving image work). In this case the hemisphere can be interpreted as being an incomplete form which transforms into a complete sphere which in turn creates more spheres.
The sphere can be thought of as a symbol of perfection or completeness, while a hemisphere is axiomatically incomplete (as its name implies).
In the history of modern art and contemporary art a noticable number of practitioners started their careers working in areas of commercial art such as graphic design and illustration. They had to earn a living after all.
Pop artist Andy Warhol is probably the most well known, but he’s joined by others such as Philip Guston, Ed Ruscha and Edward Hopper.
Some artists started out by trying their hand drawing cartoons. Philip Guston enrolled in a correspondence course from the Cleveland School of Cartooning.
A lot of artists tend to take themselves very seriously, so drawing funny cartoons isn’t necessarily the best fit for them.
If you look at the cartoons in Punch magazine from around the year 1900 and you compare them to the style of cartoons drawn today you’ll notice how good the draughtsmanship was in the earlier cartoons, but also how unfunny they often are (at least to us in the twenty-first century). That of course may be partly a symptom of humour not aging well, but it could also be partly that in those early Punch cartoons the cartoons were drawn by artists of high technical skill but with low senses of humour, while today it’s more likely that cartoons are drawn by people with high senses of humour but low technical skills.
Humour in contemporary art
The contemporary art world is generally a very serious place, in which the deeper meanings of art are to be prized and where works are scrutinised for evidence of profound political, social and psychological insights in every brushstroke or choice of colour.
In the world of contemporary art seriousness prevails, however, at the same time serious issues (currently dominated by identity politics) are tackled in a totally different way within the genre of comedy, especially stand-up, where the main purveyors such as Ricky Gervais can earn a fortune from a single Netflix special.
Humor in contemporary art
Cartoons are often dismissed as being trivial and unworthy of serious consideration. I would strongly disagree with this, being a cartoonist myself (See the book below). The same criticism can be applied to all disciplines of creative endeavour after all.
A sculpture or assemblage constructed from old objects such as a discarded ball, clips for holding paper on a drawing board and a discarded homemade ‘constructivist’ toy.
An example of up-cycling in art, with associations to art movements such as arte povera and environmental art.
A sculpture constructed from G-clamps attached to a speed clamp.
Normally clamps are used in order to hold other objects together (such as glued pieces of wood while the glue dries). Here the clamps are holding each other together. The assemblage can be interpreted as a metaphor for human society holding itseld together by using its own inherent qualities and strengths.
An version of this concept shows the clamps at an angle – possibly a metaphor for the precariousness of the cohesion of human society.
A video of the sun creating complex patterns on the ground.
The video was shot in the gardens of Hatfield House in Hertfordshire, UK. The shadows are created by the branches of a pleached lime walk and the structure that is supporting it.
The video points to, amongst other things, the concept that the earth is connected to the sun in complex ways, with the sun creating the intricate patterns of life on earth (here portrayed by the complex patterns in the shadows of the branches). The fact that the pleached lime hedge is partly a work of artifice emphasises the link between the human race and the natural world (here portrayed by the shadows of the hedge’s supporting structure).
A sculpture formed of two painted wood blocks placed between two mirrors at angles to each other.
Unlike with most mirrors, which are vertical, the mirrors in this work are at 45 degrees to the horizontal, producing a reflection that includes the vertical axis rather than just the usual horizontal one. I think that reflections on the verticle axis are inherently more interesting than those on the horizontal axis because they invert the image top to bottom rather than just flipping it right to left – a right to left reflection simply puts the right side to the left, with the only striking evidence of anything being unusual is when writing becomes back-to-front. Vertically reflected images however turn the whole world upsidedown.
Wood, plastic, acrylic, torch, 18x18x11cm. November 2020
This sculpture suggests a contemporary art Christian crucifix.
A sculpture formed from a wood block, plastic hands and a small hand torch. The work is composed of very simple components (the wood block is a piece of 2×2). In this version the cross is dramatically lit by a pocket torch. The work bears a resemblence to a Christian crucifix, although this is actually an emergent property of the work rather than a primary aim. The initial concept behind the sculpture is of hands that also resemble wings attached to a geometrically simple form (In this case a rectangular block, in other cases spheres). The position of the hands give an impressing of offering embrace, while also giving the impression of being elevating (when the hands are seen as wings). These are properties that enhance the work’s identification to the ideals of Christianity. The feeling of elevation in the work is enhanced by the fact that the cross seems to be suspended in the air. It is actually firmly rooted on a dark blue, flat horizontal surface, with the atmosphere of elevation being provided by the simple dramatic light of the hand torch. You may also notice that one hand is black while the other is white, which may be seen as a symbol of inclusivity and universal human togetherness.
An acrylic and watercolour painting of a black flower.
This painting is an example of my work relating to environmental issues, a subject with which I’ve been involved since the late 1960s.
In this painting the flower’s petals are black, the flower’s stem is black, and the grass is black. The flower’s petals are shrivelled and misshapen and the stem is crooked. It’s an image of foreboding.
In contrast to all this blackness the centre of the flower is reflective gold. But it’s a dull gold, which may act to reinforce the bleakness of the black rather than creating a glimmer of brightness. It’s ambiguous.
The gold centre to the flower and the spiky petals give a hint of a dying sun or star, with the accompanying implications for life on earth (such as the flower). It’s a dying sunflower.
A video camera moves towards a builder’s skip and travels through a hole in the tarpaulin that covers the skip to reveal the contents of the skip.
The contents are seen to be a view of outer space with planet Earth suspended or floating in it. The builder’s skip may be thought of as a portal to another dimension.
A meaning of the artwork is that the Earth has been reduced to the rubble and rubbish that is disposed of in builder’s skips or dumpsters, which are primarily designed to hold the debris and waste from construction projects and demolition projects. The work is a critique of our disposable consumer society and the environmental crisis that we are currently living through. In the area of London in which I live there are frequently builder’s skips positioned on the road in front of houses as the owners rip out perfectly good kitchens and replace them with new kitchens. It’s happening just a few doors away right now.
A video still from the Earth in a Builder’s Skip video.
A digital sketch or painting that reflects my concerns about environmental issues, showing a watch sinking in a stormy sea.
The watch or clock is a metaphor for time (as usual). The watch is being buffeted by a stormy sea and is in the process of sinking. The sea is a metaphor for climate change, global warming and other environmental concerns, both generally and specifically as they apply to the sea. The fact that the clock or watch is sinking is a sign that we are running out of time. The clock is not just a metaphor for time, it is also a metaphor for civilisation and the technology on which we rely ( A clock being an elaborate piece of highly sophisticated engineering). The fact that it is impossible for a watch to float in the first place may be a factor to consider too.
The theme of this sketch reflects my interest in creating environmental art because of my concerns about the state of the planet due to climate change, environmental degradation and other aspects of environmentalism (which has been a concern of mine since the 1960s).
A digital sketch created for a print. It features a stylised insect drawn from my imagination. The insect is drawn in a sketchy black and white style that is perhaps suggestive of images produced using traditional printmaking techniques such as woodcut, woodblock or linocut. It also reminds me of scraper board. The black sky makes me think that it’s a nocturnal insect of some kind. It also looks a bit like a tortoise for some reason, with perhaps a bit of rhinoceros thrown in.
Acrylic and gouache on paper, collage. 14x14cm. September 2020
An acrylic and gouache abstract painting composed of a square of brightly coloured stripes embedded within a smoke-like form in gouache. The coloured square is revealed through a hole in the paper on which the smoke is painted.
A geometrical acrylic abstract painting composed of two separate rectangular areas each with a stack of smaller coloured rectangles embedded within it. The rectangles in the upper area form a ladder while those in the lower area are more brightly coloured. The amount of white paper on which the shapes are placed is important, as the forms seem to float on the surface rather than the surface simply being the base onto which the image is painted.
