Don’t talk to me about class, I’ve been to Leeds!
Sketchbook page, lino cut on photocopy, 1996
Wow. totaly cubist (ha ha ha, pun intended). isometric-ish on the top face of the cube. in one point perspective on the bottom face, 2 spatial realities braque would be proud, and then that’s super imposed on a photocopy of a terraced houses in Leeds from above. it’s basic mistakes like this that make me cringe sometimes and others LOL. i think in this instance a bit of both, as i only just noticed the mistake!
anyhow i digress. this image is a good segue from the “module” bridge drawings, into modular prints. this body of work got me out of the painting dept, and into the printing dept at loughborough. i say got, all i really did was cut some lino and wander into print making to see Gill or Karen and print a bunch of stuff. the faculty in print making were very laid back and very welcoming. i spent a lot of time in there. at first making small lino cuts, one color etc, then working on more complicated 3, 4, 5 color linos. why i never learnt screen printing at that time is just beyond me as it would have been so much easier to do this work and to make awesome work now. but that’s that.
this image marks a departure from the sprawling, octopus like, chaotic morass of structure, girders, supports, buttressing and so forth that characterized the early drawings, and instead takes the form of a simple cross braced building block. in retrospect this shape readily assumes the character of a cage, a cell of some kind. not entirely trapping the detainee perhaps but nonetheless it’s is there visually.
the print making was a natural progression with the work, it meant i could clone / reproduce the modules easily and in diverse fashions. working outside painting dept was awesome and interacting with a whole new bunch of artists was really enriching, and some life long friendships were established. over next few days i’ll hope fully post a few of the notable prints from that period, before we lurch back to the sculptural / installation works that followed.
Tags: aerial view, building block, cage, cell, collage, deployable, juxtaposition, Leeds, lino cut, loughborough, module, photocopy, print, printing, section, sketch book, tom burtonwood, xerox
January 26th, 2010 at 5:52 pm
[...] direction the work is taking. it’s certainly giving me some pause as i circle around almost fifteen years in terms of interest and output, back to the humble cube and all the variants and [...]