For too long i've struggled and i've rummaged, i've lost & found drawings over and over. This is everything, strung together, on one, long, rolling page. And it'll continue to grow into the future. I spose in that way it's my homage to Kerouac's scroll, rolling on and on.
It's not just that though, it's a great way to look over how my works changed;how it hasn't; how i've improved & how i've got caught-up in ideas & themes. It's the good and the bad and everything inbetween.
It's helped me think more about my work to. I don't so much have a message (that is concious to me), other than perhaps a sometimes-cynical eye on English society. I think alot of my sketches show dull moments, but isn't that just life these days? People buying things, stood in cues, out to dinner, sat in bus stations - not talking to one another. People in pub's. I think they're is some nice moments in there too, a few of family, a few of friends. It's helped me too, to think about moving on. I wanna take some of these sketches and make paintings out of them. Also to focus on tone more (had this in mind when doing the second one below) It's a nice way to collate travel memories, too.
Anywho, it's a flaking recollection of things i've seen over the last 4/5 years. To quote Virginia Woolf:
"the whole assortment shall be lightly stitched together by a single thread. Memory is the seamstress, and a capricious one at that. Memory runs her needle in and out, up and down, hither and thither."
I could rant on for a while - but I wont. Go check it out. Let me know what you make of it.
Hello hello. Been away for the last few weeks, night training my way across Europe with me old pal Paul. Was a good trip, compact travelling, two/three days in each place. We started in Amsterdam, staying in a very nice pad thanks to new pal Ashley. My sister came to 'Dam to:
The place. Not bad not bad.
Doesn't really need a caption.
We then got 1st of many night trains across to Berlin.
Really liked Berlin, cool city. I've never thought about travelling Germany, I've thought about Italy, Spain, France.. but Germany never crossed my mind. I like the different character of all these big European Countries, formerly at war with one-another for centuries, now distinct, all in differing ways. We ended up in some old Soviet Warehouse-turned-German rave club.. very good... thats what you want in Berlin, ey?
Then, onto Budapest.
I'm not a big city person, however, ended up on a big tour of European cities and have come back with a pocket full of gems. Budapest was my favorite of the lot, could imagine living there for a period, big nights out and long days in the bath's the next.
Next stop on the night train, I hear you ask? Uh.. Krakow, if I remember correctly.
Night trains, by the way, are a pretty ideal way to get about. You don't get the best nights sleep but it's enough. Get a croissant and a cuppa in the morning too.
We stayed in four days in Krakow because we kept missing the early morning (10am..) ride to Auschwitz. Auschwitz, we were both walking round, and there's not alot to say; everyone knows it all already; you've seen the empty suitcases and mounds of hair, kids shoes. and what's more - what words are two 20-something lads gunna summon up that can sum up what happened? No words.. just be there.. take it in.. and then remember. Every day since, i've remembered it, and i've learnt from it... "when genocide goes wrong".
Next stop: Prague. I really dug Prague, liked it much like Budapest. The architecture reminded me of Edinburgh too. Another city I could see myself living in. Really liked walking the streets there, looking at the people.
Next up.....
Vienna!
We stayed in Vienna for about 4 days too. I got ill there so was in bed for two of them, but, was a very nice hostel and gave me a chance to read. Went to the opera too, box ticked.
Final stop, and 1st Day train of the trip...
...and not a bad day for it; Zagreb.
Zagreb was a good city, I think Croatian's really like us English, they spoke the best English out of all the Eastern European's we met, and could keep up with my slang, which was refreshing. I was only there for a night & a day, but just walked the city. I think that's my favorite thing to do in a new place. Especially when you have a good song in tow. I remember reading something by Virginia Woolf, where she spoke of that happening when the street & the music come together into a moment, that really makes the hairs stand on the back on your neck and puts a spring in your step to see around each corner, every nook and cranny of the city.
I took a visit to the Zagreb Museum of Naive Art too, which was very refreshing. I told the woman at the desk to look at Cornish Naive art. Who can't enjoy naive art? It's so refreshing - compared with the mystifying fine art that most people are vaguely accustomed - and opposed - to. A breath of fresh air to eek out those artistic-knots in the soul.
And that was that, back home. The perfect thing to do after 3/4 months spent sat behind a computer working.
Whilst away, I got to visit three art galleries/museums of three of my favorite artists (Kollwitz / Mucha / Shiele). I'll write about this in another post.
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Here's a little travel documentary of our trip. Inspired by Palin.
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A little poem about the English General Public, sketched up on the plane back home (in the style of Howl);
The General Public, who always leave the flash on.
The general public, who cutely pay 3 Euro's to go the opera, and then Shh! at the first chance they get.
The general public, who affix 'quite' before most emotions.
The general public, who, in Ancient Athens, would have been called Pleb's.
The general public who's marital affair's finds wings in dance halls;
The men dance with weighted elbows,
The women - for no one but themselves (they say).
The general public, who secretly like it dirty, but secretly-secretly are rather prudish.
The general public, too tired to stay awake.
The general public who chewed up all the pen nibs (even rubbers off pencil-ends).
The general public, who support United & have since the age of five.
The general public, who visit Italian Trattatoria's & order chicken and chips.
The general public who condemn Julian Assange, the rapist.
The general public, who will one day plastic-wrap banana's.
The general public, who positively, unassumedly consider Kit-Kat, Quaver's & Dairy Lee their friends; who trust when they talk to them through the TV screens.
The general public, who I consider with cyniscm & contempt, but then - how can one be content, when staring in the mirror?
"Well lets face it, these laws that you say - hidden laws - they are hidden, but they're only hidden by our own ignorance; and the word mystiscm has just been arrived at through peoples ignorance. There's nothing mystical about it only that you're ignorant of what that entails".
Hello hello, as you can see the film got a new title. I think it's foreign..
Here's a hastily compiled trailer. This isn't any sort of 'official trailer' or nuthin, not even one for festival approval, just something I fancied doing on my last night in the UK. Its a little pretentiously long so my apologies I just got carried away.
As always, comments are more than welcome. I tried to include a bunch of new bits for you university folk who may still have eyes on this.
The song is a cover of Restless Farewell by Mark Knopfler. Picked it for the beautiful & relevant lyrics, altho must say on watching it back it is more a folly of my own than anything 'correct' for the film. Whatever - im tired and not enough time to change nothin.
Oh ev’ry foe that ever I faced
The cause was there before we came
And ev’ry cause that ever I fought
I fought it full without regret or shame
But the dark does die
As the curtain is drawn and somebody’s eyes
Must meet the dawn...
Oh, ev’ry thought that’s strung a knot in my mind
I might go insane if it couldn’t be sprung
But it’s not to stand naked under unknowin’ eyes
It’s for myself and my friends my stories are sung...
Oh a false clock tries to tick out my time
To disgrace, distract, and bother me
And the dirt of gossip blows into my face
And the dust of rumors covers me
But if the arrow is straight
And the point is slick
It can pierce through dust no matter how thick...
Anywho that's it for now. Am off away for a month. Hopefully by the time I return the film will be accepted in multiple festivals and we'll be millionaires. That's how the animation industry works right?
"If you don't have the chance to see it, you don't like it. It's a bit like after we did Kes, the young lad who was in it who played Billy Kasper, we said lets go and have something to eat, there's a nice cafe, you can get all sorts there, what's your favorite food? He said fish and chips.
Well, it would be fish and chips because he'd never seen any other menu.. so my point is, lets show people the other menu. Of course they'd be interested."
Hello hello. Wanted to post some pictures of our place of work. I like to think of us more akin to a garage band than a two man studio. The lady's prefer it atleast.
Animators aid & directors aid
The setup
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Work on the films going swimmingly We got two weeks to finish it. For the first time on the project I can see the end, which feels great. We're going to push ourselves this week, and hopefully, come this time next week, all the animation will be done (thirteen minutes of it) and all the backgrounds will be done.
We've also got a great composer on board and we both feel really great about the music.
We watched through the film yesterday and both felt really chuffed with it. The common mantra is - it could be rubbish, it could be great, we don't know. Can't see the wood from the tree's as the saying goes. Either way, we're both resolutely proud of the commitment & effort we've put in over the course of the last 3/4 months, not to mention the work we did back at uni.
To put it in perspective, On monday we both worked for 27 hours straight. Finished in time to watch Villa lose to Newcastle.
It's been three solid months of hard work (with a 2/3 week break between over christmas). My dad summed it up nicely saying about the Stones when they first got together: They locked themselves in a flat (Mick Keith & Brian) and just played. This is our equivalent.
Anyway, I want to reiterate a belief I felt strongly through uni. I feel now more than ever (with higher tuition fees) this is true. You don't find real artists/creative's at university, you find them in the dole office's & public libraries. They lock themselves away in books or songs or make films with buddies. Most people (but not everyone) go to uni because they didn't know what else to do. People who want to do it will do it anyway.
`Sukie was a kid who liked to hang out in the art school.. she didn't enrol, but wiped the floor with all the arseholes`
found this old video of john cage. makes you question how a man of such stature, can be raised from a ground-swell such as that. how could he exist from such a giddy innocent-and-giggling backdrop?
no doubt the rowdy crowds are still about today, but were alot more clued up. if an audience (aka the public) is so giddy and high as in that vid, its because theyre supposed to be (take me out, x factor). there not doing it out of innocent incoherence, there doing it because it fits the mould to (like of x factor when anyone 70+ steps out and evcerybody goes awwww and cheers).
today, post modernism and all that jazz, were not innocent, were schizophrenic, and more likely to lend an ear, except out of boredom or ignorance.
