showtime
where we did the work and now we pop-up for some air
For all practical purposes, the London Collage Project is complete. The work is done, and tonight is the first pop-up exhibit. It was intense. I’m exhausted. I want some downtime to draw and read and take my shoes off. But I’m happy with the work I did — if not necessarily excited by the finished collages themselves, then by the ideas that went into them and the process of making them. My head is full of possibilities that I want to continue working on when I get back into my Philadelphia hermit-hole.
I went for a nice long run yesterday morning. 6.3 miles around the old Olympic Park and then into Victoria Park again. That hour of looking at the shapes of trees and the springtime flora around the park gave me visual ideas. I spent about fifteen minutes back at the project studios to explore some shapes, pulled out a few of the old book covers I’d acquired, and I got to work.
Working is fun when one knows what one is doing. And on this day (Thursday, yesterday), more than on the other days (Monday- Wednesday), I knew. I kind of went through three distinct phases with the work this week. The first was the canal barges, which I could say was a waste of time, since it was 1. so complicated and tedious, and 2. wasn’t really going to work in this hot-house environment, but I don’t believe in wasted time like that. I had to go through it and get past it to move on.
The second phase was the three slight goofs on Wednesday, which at least moved me away from forcing the material into something it wasn’t, and opened the door of letting the material drive things. Those three collages are cute, but that’s probably all they are.
The third phase would be these flowers, or plants, or abstract shapes. There’s potential here.
and I spent a good deal of time talking about how to keep going with these. Collaging into the negative space, painting over, collaging again, etc. His focus is letting a collage be a collage. Using all the space, texture and movement and depth all over. Mine isn’t really that. At least right now it’s not. It’s more focusing on an element, usually centered, like an illustration. I don’t think that this is a weakness, at all. So there’s the ego that says “wait, why are you telling me this, what’s wrong with how I am doing it?” But getting over that is key to finding new things, and that’s why I’m here, right? Beginning these Thursday collages with pasting material corner to corner was the way to begin these. There are similarities to the flowers in December for my recent show. And I’ll be interested in finding something in-between.1
I have worked alone in a studio since 2009, and I like it. It’s quiet when I want to be quiet. I can leave my shit here and there where I want it. I can shut out the world and do what I do. I knew this was going to be different, working with 16 strangers in a space. But I didn’t know how much I would like it. It was intense being in this environment for five days. And I’m going to miss it, a lot. I’d like to find a way into more of these sorts of workshop residency environments at times. This was special.
Tonight we swing open the doors for our invitation-only private viewing. Tomorrow is an all-day pop-up. We close that down at 4:30pm, scrub the place clean, and then we’ll be celebrating at one of the many places to celebrate this sort of thing in Hackney Wick. I suspect I’ll be a wreck.
Sunday morning I wake up with nothing to do but be a tourist for three days. The Victoria & Albert museum, a water taxi down the Thames, London Bridge, some stationery shops, and I plan to buy a nice pair of shoes. I plan to take more pictures, so stay tuned.
It’s collage week, I know. But I’m drawing when I get a chance. Had to wait a while for the art supplies shop to open this morning, and loved this roofline. London is a cacaphonous city. It’s things on things and no right angles and I love it.
London cat content:
Thanks for reading.
I have no idea how I am going to get these two bigger pieces home, and there’s a world where I give them away before I pack my bags. I have a bunch of old maps and some other things I’ve already bought, and my suitcase is going to be stuffed.
Love reading these posts, Brian! It’s refreshing and inspiring to hear the familiar struggles and trials of being an artist and trying to create something worthwhile. I love that you have gone through 3 distinct ‘phases’ throughout the week and I believe they all have so much possibility and potential to be taken even further. But I think they also work together, as 1 body of work. Seeing your work and also hearing you talk about it on Wednesday was also very inspiring!
This whole week of posts have been such a treat. I consider myself chiefly a line-drawer and always struggled to create appealing shapes and compose with them, and your reflections on the collage workshop have been an inspiration for me. What a great opportunity. And your photos have jogged my many happy memories of walking in that area around the Regent’s Canal. Have a great time touristing!