Inspire 52 - Week 37. Cutting It All Up And Down

And so the summer is coming to an end... what a ride - seriously!

As the autumn begins to show it's face and very gratefully indeed I welcome it in with our 'Indian Summer' it also marks a time for change. Two things I have done recently spell this out to me and they have both involved cutting things up, not to disolve them completely, but to make them into something different, like a metamorphosis to take us to the next stage of life.

1. The cutting up the Explosive Illustration collaboration with Hayley Potter.
2. The cutting down of The Paper Forest.

These two events co-incided with each other and indeed began to trace a new pathway forward for each body of work. I won't go into the deatils of wheat the plans are, as with every art project they need to be kept top secret for a while, however, here is a photo documentation of what happened... there are more pictures to come but we will be releasing a full documentation at a later date, this includes a full documentation of the collaboration with Hayley Potter and the making of the book we will are creating together. Click on images to enlarge

1. Cutting up

 

Inking it up

 



 

 

 Planning the disection

 

 

 

The 3m x 4m illustration has now been cut into 52 individual A3 pictures that will form the next stage of the collaboration ... I'm very excitied about the next bit ... to be revealed at a later date. It's been really great working with Hayley this year. As we were cutting up we were talikng about what we have gained from each other in this collaboration, it has been a very insightful and growing experience.

2. Cutting Down

Cutting my way through the Paper Forest ... having lived with it for 2 months in my exhibition, it was now time to cut it down. But in honour of the art work and everything it has bought me as a new installation, story, song and journey of discovery, I had to do it correctly. I began cutting each piece of paper with my big shear like scizzors, cutting my way though the 'thin tall trees speaking tales in time'. I kept the words, poems and comments that the public had contributed and began carving a new path through the forest.

Wonder away, wonder away,

As the trees lead the way

 



Shadows emerged smiling bright

 

The act of cutting through the forest felt quite overwhelming yet exciting at the same time, it was releasing hidden spaces and creating new places - something new was happening and emerging.

 

 

It felt like I was performing inside a piece of poetry.

 

Illuminating shapes and scribing sounds

Murmuring roots from the undergrounds

 

 

The Paper Forest spoke softly to me

And asked me to write my story

 

Conclusion

Cutting up and down the art has been a learning experience, a journey of freedom, an expression letting go and finding new paths forward. 

 

 

 To see the Paper Forest installation in it's original form click here

 

Beautiful edited pictures by Danika Westwood

(Plus some snapshots from my phone)



Inspire 52 - Week 35. A Black and White Colourfest

Well the summer continues and from one 'first' show to another, this week I performed the first stage version of the album Adventures Into The Monochronium, with Timo Peach form Momo:tempo.

It seems like a 'Golden Age' away since the creation of One Momo In Time and the beginning of our collaboration, Inspire 52 - Week 13. One Momo In Time , but Timo and Momo:tempo have become a core part of The Monochronium adventure. So I we did it ... our first 'Mono' show at a festival,
COLOURFEST

It was great doing the black and white work at Colourfest - I almost felt like starting a children's revelation 'Down with colour!' maybe next time! I was indeed a quirky and surreal injection into the festival and it was great to see so many smiley faces.

I find working with Timo, such an inspiration, we have a lot of synergy in our crazy imaginative and energetic approach to our work. Rehearsals have been a complete laugh, and we often find ourselves on the edge of insanity in fits of laughter - they best way to work right?!  Click on the images to enlarge

Adventures Into The Monochronium

A performance of poetry, spoken word and song

with Hazel Evans and Timo Peach

We invite you to step over the travelling line into The Kingdom of The Monochronium to experience a beautiful black and white world made up of inky lines, dots and marks. Get a ticket to your own imagination and hear poetic tales of the Paper Forest, Ink Mountains and take a trip down the river … where will it lead you?

Quirky poetry for all the family, tunes of busy bees for the children and morals to the stories for adults.

 

 

Kids and adults alike loved the show and we had an audience of about 70 people, of all ages. Parents bought the album for their children, but I think it was also secretly for them!

 

The wardrobe was a bit tricky in this festival environment ... I think I will only take her to galleries from now on!

Photographs, by Sean Gardiner, Jo Coole, Duncan Stewart

Inspire 52 - Week 31. Pop Up Paper

This week, after a lot of cancelling, I finally managed to make it to Portland. These injuries I have had for the last 5 weeks have been making it difficult for me to get around, but I am gradually mending, so I hope there will be no more set backs along the way.

So the Olympics has rocked off to a great start ... apparently as I don't watch tele!! But Weymouth and Portland have been very quiet as there was so much hype about the roads being bad ... so now is in fact the quietest and best time to go to assure yourself a spot on the beach and also great entertainment all for your self!!

Anyway, enough of that and onto this ...

... Pop Up Dorset invited me to install a mini Paper Forest in their Historic Church exhibition, of course I said yes, as I was delighted about taking the forest out of the gallery environment and creating it in new environments, and this was a great place to start.

http://www.popupdorset.com/

St Georges Church on the Isle of Portland near Weymouth. This historic church here is some information cunningly pinched of Wikipedia ... thanks Wiki!

St George's Church is a Church of England church on the Isle of Portland, built between 1754 and 1766^[2] to replace St. Andrew's which had fallen into disuse and was no longer suitable as a place of worship.^[3] The church was closed in 1914 for many reasons, and fell into further disrepair ever since that time. In the 1960s however, the church fell under the protection of a newly formed group, the 'Friends of St George's Church', who were able to restore the church. Now no longer needed for regular worship, the church is now a redundant church in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust.^[4] It was declared redundant on 16 April 1970, and was vested in the Trust on 27 October 1971.^[5]

St George's Church is regarded as one of, if not the, most impressive 18th century church in Dorset.^[1] It is a large church built of Portland stone and has a tower, a nave, transepts, an apse, and a kind of abortive dome over the crossing.^[1] The design is reminiscent of Christopher Wren (particularly the tower, with regards to the clock towers of St Paul's Cathedral).^[1] The windows are arranged in two tiers, all with simple, broad raised frames that lack moulding. Architect John Vanbrugh called the result a "a masculine show".^[1] It is a Grade II listed building.^[6]

Well I think that's pretty interesting stuff!!

This venue has an amazing vibe about it. It is soa beautiful and grey on the cliff top in Portland ... Stunning ...

And here's how the Paper Forest worked in the space...

                                          ... For more on The Paper Forest you can see Inspire 52 - Week 23

http://hazelevans-inspire52.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/inspire-52-week-23-paper-forest-and.html 

The Paper Forest soundtrack echos through the church ...

Click on the images to enlarge

See you next week ... I don't have a clue what I'm going to do next week!!

Maybe something Olympic inspired?

P.S. Hazel Evans artwork, Adventures Album and other signed collectible merchandise are on sale at the exhibition.