Shanghersey

The Carson House Elite

2010-08-11T04:48:00.000+08:00

Ladies and Gentlemen, I would be proud to present the new blog, if it was well prepared and succinctly executed, as this little corner of sino-consicousness has been. However like all things, to procrastinate in anticipation of excellence might as well be bum arsed laziness, and so I press ahead with roughest of roughness save only its beautiful monicker...

The Carson House Elite

It is intended to fulfil the equivalent function of the beloved Shanghersey diary, whether that objective is manifest in reality only time will tell. Please support as best you can, the odd visit every now and then would be warmly received.

Regards,
The Elite

The End...

2010-07-07T04:21:00.000+08:00

I am back in England. Fairly soon this blog will no longer receive updates... however a new blog will be running somewhere, plotting artistry of all kinds on these fair shores... details soon- thank you all for watching so far- its not over yet, but beginning a new life soon...

PS Hi Riona!

Visual Lexicography- a worthy collection indeed

2010-06-15T20:04:00.000+08:00

Props to Jimbob for managing to get visual lexicon, a great new magazine of artiness and designerliciousness off its arse and into the ether...

Can't believe he actually went with my lousy image either! No accounting for taste is there!

It's really really hard to get something from conception into reality, whether you are a designer, artist or musician- I know all of these creative types, and have spent long hours in discussion on that difficult path that ultimately leads to the physical manifestation of that delicious initial concept.

I wish him the very best of luck in getting much attention for that lovely mag... good work James!

Sunday at the Park

2010-05-31T16:54:00.000+08:00

Sketchbook from a Sunday at Jing An Park...

another busy day

2010-05-26T21:29:00.000+08:00

Have been fairly busy of late. Have discovered a sense of impetus since checking the calendar and realising its 5 weeks to go. SO I have been working late, grinding through the cache of my poor old photoshop and taking advantage of spare time at my teaching desk to churn out a whole new series of artworks and developments on existing ones. The banknote series made it into school, where I spent yesterday lunchtime screenprinting over them by hand, in a couple of colours and sinking the classroom out just before my Year 7 class came in. Then I finished collage-ing the remains of my favourite old roadside purchase book, an old chinese mathematics tome complete with algorithm and log table appendices, while my Year 8's busied themselves with computer games this morning. Then I spent some time finalising what I had started in the midnight hours of mon and tues, a series based on some of my diana shots .

Thus tonight after a hard days teaching (6 lessons non stop with no free's) I packed the banknotes into a taxi truck, piled Iggy into the front and headed off to Steven's to have them framed... After both falling asleep in the cab on the way, Ig and I drearily got ourselves together and collected up the heavy aluminium mounted pieces to Steve's ever able and accomodating assistant Cecilia...

Not content with that for a days work, I humped ig into another cab and hot footed it down to Xietu Lu to sort out the printing of the new Paper Postcard series.

The service was faultless as ever, as my trustworthy printlady twiddled and squished my sizes to get the most out of my 1.1m sheet of Epson Matte Acid Free Archival Fine Art stock. Ig by this time was losing the plot, but showing him how a tape measure retracts in exactly the same way as a light sabre at the flick of a switch semed to keep him occupied and he never complained once bless him!

My day still not complete, I dropped Iggy at home, then biked it round to Ash's to show him a proof of his new commission, and try and negotiate professional mounting in Thailnad.

In fact, by the time I got home, although it wasnt late I was pretty shattered, and quite surprised I had the energy to make pack lunches for the family and then bother to write this. Its all for the sympathy vote I guess, though I must admit I bloody love it like this and wouldnt have it any other way...

saturday afternoon project

2010-05-23T18:32:00.000+08:00

Took Matilda with me on Saturday afternoon- the project with SHAW finally got underway on a drizzly saturday afternoon, whilst very very hung over. Matilda and I both had our sketchbooks, a camera, and we both accompanied Shaw into various random houses in California garden near Shanghai University. Managed to do portraits of 6 people and 1 alsatian.

The best fun though, was playing 'dares' on the way home- Matilda went into strangers houses, I put my hand in a dirt filled flowerpot, plus lots more random randomness.

More plastic fantastic

2010-05-19T21:42:00.000+08:00

Probably my favourite of the series, a tryptich shot at dusk. A real fucker to scan though, as its impossible to know what it's supposed to look like :)

New work - plastic lens in HuangShan

2010-05-19T21:40:00.000+08:00

These represent the basis of a new series based on but not exclusively using Diana photographs taken in Anhui at Yellow Mountain. Unintentionally they form works in their own right, but that is mostly because I used the wrong setting and didnt wind on far enough- hence they are all mushed over each other. I dont mind that too much though...

Holidays

2010-05-04T18:39:00.000+08:00

Saturday. The move back to England has precipitated some panic buying... the opportunity to pick up handbags, jeans and software that would be otherwise beyond financial means has proved too difficult to resist. A sneaky basement at the bottom of a lane house, by prior agreement and surreptitious rendezvous only, provides kelly with several soft well named handbag specimens and a nice Gucci wallet for me.

Sunday. Dinner party for fellow artists and loafers. Lamb from the veg lady (Wulumuqi Lu)- the source of the finest fresh produce in the whole of Shanghai- good enough for Craig (Mr Willis) Willis who is also a regular customer. Great conversation, SHAW turned up and unleashed a proposal for our new project... watch this space. All started well, then the loafers turned up to finish the wine and keep us awake for a few hours.

Monday. Happy Valley- a Chinese theme park with rides that put Alton Towers to shame... however the queues were huge so we spent time at the kids rides...

Tuesday. Collected the prints from the printer and delivered them to Stevo at M97- the finest photographic gallery in China- nay contemporary art gallery in China..! Awaiting me there were 6 awesome looking prints that had been beatifully mounted on aluminium- my latest project. Popped in to see my gallerist and made a few preparations for Saturday's show...

and then returned home to spend the afternoon on the concrete balcony better known as 'the garden' to our kids, drinking a cool one with my beautiful wife. Oh happy days!

While Im at the keyboard...

2010-04-27T21:28:00.000+08:00

A few shots from the visual sketchbook - recent trip to anhui...

Shaaaaaw

2010-04-27T21:26:00.000+08:00

Just finalised a meeting with Shaw, after procrastenating and his busybusiness... the arrival of the head of the british council (to open expo) has precipitated an action- hopefully we can thrash out a project on sunday, that will engage her attention (if we eventually get to entertain her) and it will be gloriousness for all! Expo good for something after all!

More champagne!

gotta love google ads

2010-04-27T21:20:00.001+08:00

was checking my spam while something downloaded, when google piped this little beauty into my virtual world...

Spam Swiss Pie - Bake 45-55 minutes or until eggs are set

God I love the internet

Selling Meat in JingDaZhen

2010-04-24T22:16:00.000+08:00

tick tick tick

2010-04-24T22:10:00.002+08:00

As time slips by, I am drawing ever closer to the end of my stay in Shanghai. As such it occured to me for the first time last week that the SHANGHERSEY blog will effectively become redundant in 2 months, and I will have to embark on a new one about living in Derbyshire. Somehow I guess it will lose its appeal, as it will be very difficult to make Matlock sound interesting when compared to the otherworldliness of this crazy town...

Animated water

2010-04-12T23:26:00.002+08:00

click this to see the animation

This old guy was using a specially customised plastic tube to write on the stone pavements and street furnishings with water. Its a practice that I have heard of before but never seen- scholars used to do it to save on ink and paper- the art of calligraphy is more of a physical ritual than an act of writing... so writing in water made perfect sense. The artist song dong appropriated this method for his piece in times square

Visual sketchbook- ANHUI pt. II

2010-04-12T23:10:00.000+08:00

Visual sketchbook- ANHUI pt. I

2010-04-12T22:36:00.000+08:00

More hot air

2010-03-30T22:21:00.000+08:00

UK at the Shanghai EXPO is where I am currently also blogging about just about ferck awll. Writing for a living must be shit. Good job I do it for free :)

Spring almost sprung

2010-03-30T22:13:00.000+08:00

Its almost here- after fits and starts, the odd false alarm- spring is almost upon Shanghai.

Disaster tart cards

2010-03-21T09:14:00.000+08:00

Accompanying the watercolours are a series of custom designe cards depicting services that indulge the user in the joys of destructive acts...

Loss

2010-03-08T10:15:00.000+08:00

Sometimes there comes a vacuum in ones life which is precipitated by the absence of some physical or emotional thing, and like any vacuum, objects, feelings and emotions surrounding it are sucked into oblivion. Losing something precious, not getting a job, an accidental misfortune- all these things can engender such a sense of loss and darkness.
The loss can be physical or emotional, tangible or somehow unquantifiable. That is common to us all and to an extent part of everyone's life. What can frustrate one more however is the draw and demand on ones inspiration, or general disposition, that such a loss creates. It can be very hard to summon the energy to explore ideas, to turn the insides out, extrapolate them, reflect them, think of every other connotation in order to establish the pinnacle of creativity… when your soul is clouded by a vacuum of loss.
It is also, however, in itself a source of inspiration. Many of the greatest works of art- music, literature, painting- are direct responses to tragedy, loss or misery. Somehow, their creators, when faced with the dark cloud, the negative space or the draining sensation, summon their will to not only overcome but to feed off and be driven tby the vacuum. It belies a remarkable sense of creativity to be able to do this, and not all of us are capable of reacting in this way. For the rest of us, stamina, grit and determination are all we have at our disposal to evade the vacuum, and to return to normality and inspiration.

more newbies

2010-03-04T21:08:00.003+08:00

These studies will form part of a conceptual piece whereupon they exist as museum pieces violated by small tart cards, which are poked into the frames and advertise destructive forces of human nature... will upload the cards later

The Joy of Destruction

2010-02-21T21:47:00.003+08:00

Thanks to the conceptual input of my better half, I have managed to veer slightly away from the seedy and obvious interpretation of the theme, realising instead a proposition that was first introduced to me during a Year 10 GCSE lesson at Tec...

New Show

2010-02-20T08:52:00.002+08:00

Libido Mortido will investigate the contrasting instincts of creation and destruction, (love and loss, passion and pain- by my interpretation)

This is a sketch for a new poster based on 'tart cards'- which I have since discovered exist only in UK and are irrelevant to the wider audience. blast!

Planet Dearth

2010-02-20T07:56:00.002+08:00

Not much to inspire the written word- or more a lack of time with which to tease worthwhile phrases from the ether of my mind. There is stuff (out)in there, but its just finding the time to eek them out.

The new exhibition also is a pressure, but coming along nicely. An evening at the gallery-studio last night with the whole family in tow was actually a pretty productive time and the kids enjoyed making nut and bolt toys, tanking around the gallery on skateboards and crashing into valuable artworks with dirty fingerprints... kelly was an inspiration to my painting, helping (as usual) to devise brilliant theme for a series of paintings- but I dont have time to explain it now. Hopefully I can post some visual evidence when the works are complete...

More Blogg...

2010-02-13T17:25:00.002+08:00

I am actually live and direct on the british governments very own website...

New images

2010-02-13T17:07:00.001+08:00

More Dianography... local urban sketches...

Don't just leave it...

2010-02-04T21:36:00.001+08:00

Is it a characteristic of a creative soul to find inspiration in the new, but to wane once the novelty has worn off? It is with me, and thus the Don’t Just Do It project has lain untouched for months… so I have decided to try and revamp a little, starting with some header artwork- not quite a brand, but a handy visual to trot out where necessary…

Just need to find a wordpress skin to accomodate it now…

Project development..

2010-02-04T21:29:00.002+08:00

Working on the 6ism project for the Gallery… This means lots of writing and producing content, without much time… Have thoroughly enjoyed playing around with this for the spalsh page, and a flag aswell…

The Republic...

Have got stuck right into some beautiful cuts of the Bodoni font, I think they’re by those geniuses of typographism, P22 but I may be wrong…

Here’s a clip of the splash…

The site is becoming a collaboration of writers and thinkers more than artists, but that is kind of the point… keep an eye on the wiki for updates :)

Visual Accompaniment - Mrs Smith I presume

2010-02-01T19:52:00.003+08:00

At last, I finally get around to uploading some very poor quality pics of the latest piece... It's called Diedre Smith, and its oil on canvas. A nod to Lucien, a drop of the velvets and a dollop of carry-on - well that's it feels like to me anyway...

This piece is currently exhibited as part of the Fakir exhibition at island6...

notes: new post

2010-01-20T23:34:00.002+08:00

...behind my house- reconstruction, renovation, the EXPO steams on... man in cabin, fag in mouth, swinging the hyraulic arm and scoop with dexterity of a pianist. Rubble, dirt, that awful clay that suppoerts this entire town... a dump truck- battered, tired, blue and cream- its driver also sucking down a doubl happiness or two. Driver flicks ash. A woman returns home through the alleyway onto this scene, hoping to advance to her home in the tower block whose forecourt so desperately needed renovating. Her path guided by a lone sheet of 8'x4' to guide her into the hydraulics manic swinging path... her wits and apparently good luck alone will guide her to the other sheet of 8x4 that awaits anyone lucky enough to survive the gauntlet of pot holes, trenches, hardcore and rubble that was her environs this morning. She ducks, stumbles, but unflinching reaches her target, and guided safely to terra firma of the fire doors at the towerblock entrance. Didnt even blink.

Progress

2010-01-17T20:55:00.002+08:00

New show opened last night. Exhibiting two major pieces, neither of which I have pics of yet. Was supposed to be DJing but the sound cards kept crashing my mac or not working at all, so had to get the electrician to wire up by hand. Ended up playing Upsetters albums from iTunes...

I also just finished my first entry for a new blog being put together for the British Pavillion at the Shanghai Expo. Thanks to an insider who is running the marketing for the UK presence at the expo, I am the a shining example of how an English artist copes in an Asian artistic environment. Its quite a big deal, and should generate some exposure... wonder if they'll link to this blog...now what did I write about foreign policy back in 2007..?

Christmas

2009-12-26T18:15:00.002+08:00

For the first time in months, all of the Herseys are taking time out to relax. Indulging in foods, drinks, games and pointless activities associated with this festival called christmas, associated for a variety of reasons from commerce to religion via custom and habit. Its the pointlessness that has appealed most, as for the first time in ages we are indulging in that which is of little benefit either physically or mentally, but which feels quite good.

Interesting however, how quickly the dark recesses of one's mind throw up nagging doubts and guilty panic's about the workload awaiting us on our return, the tasks left undone, the jobs and preparations as yet untouched... its only boxing day and they are kicking in already. Even Matilda was lamenting the end of our fun even before the sun had set on Christmas Day...

Fortunately, the panic is tinged with a sliver of anticipation and eagerness to get creating, or achieving, once again.

New work

2009-12-07T23:28:00.003+08:00

New show is titled 'Fakir', and aims to showcase the talents and phenomena of illusionists, magicians and fraudsters. I am returning to familiar ground with some back-to-brushes simplicity. Smaller too. This is Whistlin Rufus.

gasping

2009-11-30T22:33:00.002+08:00

Like a fish flipping and gaping, having slipped maniacally from an infant grasp on to the grainy earth of a river bank, I feel time slipping through my fingers as air slips through the desperate creatures gills. No matter how hard it sucks at the flimsy air it cannot glean oxygen to breathe. No matter how hard I try I cannot find time to fulfil myself. Weeks slip through my gaping mouth and nothing comes of it. We speed towards our final weeks in China and beyong them I can see nothing. I can't see how I could do this anywhere else, yet what I do achieve here is so infinitesimal. I'm still thrashing around. I am not dead yet.

leaves

2009-11-27T22:27:00.002+08:00

unusually there are leaves on the street. in any ordinary shanghai day, there would be no leaves... there would be an army of street cleaners to rectify any such inflagrancy of party cleanliness guidelines... laughable, truman showesque- but reality in China- things don't look out of place here... because the party says they shouldn't look out of place. So to my surprise I see autumnal leaves. It was, after all, 10pm... and friday. I expect the weekend shift will clock on at 5 tomorrow and rectify this injustice- not before the weekday crew are fired

juices flowing

2009-11-04T23:10:00.001+08:00

well not to sound vulgar, but things seem to be clicking into place at the easel. Will I have show fodder by the 21st? fuck that, who cares Im enjoying myself for the first time in 2 months

Placebo

2009-11-03T22:05:00.002+08:00

The new show is entitled Placebo. It forms the second in a series of shows that begun over the summer with Synaesthesia.

I have been busy scouring my image collection for suitable reference material, and aim to continue my low-fi aesthetic approach to image making with raw canvas and monotone palette. Ill be including (hopefully) some new watercolours too.

It refreshes the soul to create, to think- as well as stressing the hell out of my frazzled self- in such a way as to remind one what one's purpose is. It also stimulates the poignancy of being located on the other side of the world (to what?) and resident in a more or less alien cultural pool, and encourages me- rather than to focus on this alienation- to express a feeling of suitablility, adaptation to any environment, not just an alien one. Its a bit like reminding yourself that by being in circus of cultural dispraxia, you are actually at home anywhere, and as such you settle down with pipe and slippers in the gutter and straw in the autumnal sun and think just how lucky you are to be so damn happy.

Dianaism

2009-11-01T23:13:00.003+08:00

Efforts from behind the plastic lens...

Conception

2009-10-24T23:02:00.002+08:00

Briefed by Jimmy now a succesful webdesigner languishing at Ogilvy, I have come up with this interpretation of 'Conception'- inspired by statues at a temple in PingYao- one is a guardian of hell, the other a fertility statue (man holding twin babies in a bucket)

Simpsonia

2009-10-23T21:47:00.002+08:00

GOD BLESS jon simpson

the man with whom i first worked professionally, who gave me faith, belief in myself, and who to this day maintains the values of a pure creative untainted by cheap ego- a rare quality indeed...

john

funnysong lyrics of life

2009-10-23T20:43:00.001+08:00

right now feels like shes saying back the fuck off, just until forever
never meant to say it was true
But then I said it to you
AH ah ah

Kitchen tales

2009-10-20T22:51:00.001+08:00

Funny, we used to have a problem with cockroaches in the kitchen. Now its Autumn we don't seem to. It's not because of the weather, its because the rats have eaten them all

Oh wait- theres this one

2009-10-14T23:38:00.000+08:00

The New Cuba

2009-10-14T23:14:00.002+08:00

I have always maintained that you can't take a bad picture in Cuba. All that flaky paint, old lady's on bicycles, kids playing hoopla etc etc. Its shooting fish in a barrel.

Well I have found the new Cuba. Its called Pingyao, its nowhere special (miles from anywhere in Shanxi Province) but it is full to bursting with photos waiting to be captured. Ive got millions, but here is one of my favourites...

Room for a few more on there, John

2009-10-14T23:10:00.002+08:00

Seen in PingYao

Please form an orderly queue

2009-10-14T23:06:00.003+08:00

This is how people were boarding the train that we left at Louyang (near Shaolin temple).
Bear in mind that all the seats were taken )most with 2 or 3 extra people squeezed on) and that the isles were all choca already.
Never again will we travel hard seat...

walking the dog

2009-10-14T23:05:00.001+08:00

A Walk.

The nightly ritual of perambulating the dog has recently taken on a more …
The walk now stretches from the corner of Huashan and Changhshou all the way down to Huai Hai, for there, a little way along at the junction with Fuxing lies a little green space, a small triangle of shrubbery, grass and low pointless hedges, mapped into some kind of pattern that is imperceptible from anywhere except the flats at one corner.
I bring the dog here with the notion that some green open space will be prefereable to endless footpaths and urban concrete enclaves that usually comprise Fudge’s outdoor life. However, the dog apparenty prefers the latter, and has no deep seeded instinct to be amogst nature, as she spends the entire time sniffing at the corners of concrete pavement and paved areas by the roadside, ignoring the lush green pastures in favour of the more regularly urinated or poo encrusted concrete spots.

Last night the usual pantomie ensued, with me standing in the centre of the grassy knoll calling the ignorant dog- whose expression I am sure could be read as ‘yeah Ill be there in one second, just have to finish sniffing the amonia’d traces of this Pekingese…’ While I patiently waited, my attention was caught by a a stimulation to a sense not usually associated with pseudo-outdoor urban experience- the ears. Usually they, and the nose, are subconsciously closed to all stimulation as Shanghai streets offer little to either that one would usually want to experience. However last night mine ears were pricked by a sweet song, a lilting delicate voice issuing from some unknown siren in the darkeness amongst the small tree and shrubs. As I strained to see (that sense on which we fall back when things really matter) I could just make out the outline of a female form, at a guess middle aged, shuffling slowly backward and concentrically around a circular motif in the urban planning. Her song was unusually beautiful- not the usual caterwauling one might find from young domestic Opera hopefulls- the likes of which I have often seen in full stage make-up, pyjamas and flip flops on my morning run- but a subtle, elegant rondo. As she emerged into the pale orange fluorescence leaking across one slice of the park, she was for a moment visible- the usual attire of pyjamas, slippers and diamante encrusted acrylic polo neck. It was, then, only her song that distinguished her from the usual urban park circus-folk.

I stood watching for 15 minutes, and Fudge was treated to an extended unrianry olfactory treat at the roadside. The lack of visual information meant that it was impossible for me to make out if the singer had seen me or not. There was a strange feeling that she was aware of my presence, that she was raising her game somewhat self consciously, for her distinguished laowai audience (it is an embarrassing fact that foreigners are revered, feared and despised in more or less equal measure). However with the limited visual information meant that any interpretation of her motives had to be gleaned from the shuffling form of the silhouette, which looked cumbersome and graceless yet told me little of her higher intentions. Was she singing a little harder for me- was she genuinely pleased to have an audience for once? As she orbited the concrete circle, I tried and tried to decipher any interaction between us. At one time I was certain she was looking straight at me, then she would shuffle further and I would be convinced that she could see as much of me as I of her. This strange magnetism lasted for a few minutes, until I regained my composure, shouted at the dog and set off for home.
As I rounded the corner, leaving the park area and setting off up Wulumuqi Lu, I was aware that the singing seemed to follow me. Well not follow, but something about its pitch or timbre changed as such to catch my attention. I turned but could not see her. She had moved to somewhere outside her regular orbit. I thought little of it and continued walking.

As I got further though, her song began to intensify. With every passing step it became louder, more desperate- even beginning to rasp and become hoarse. As the park slipped from view, the song changed altogether- no longer a song, it became a series of yelps and – yes no other phrase quite captures it- barks. As I neared the next junction, All I could her was the disappearing sound of a woman barking.

Overdue footage

2009-10-03T08:03:00.002+08:00

Pics I never got round to uploading from the new (now old) show 30 degrees, at island6

My picture hangs behind a surreally dressed chinese couple.

60 this week

2009-10-03T07:43:00.002+08:00

As many of you may be aware, China celebrated the 60th anniversary of Communism, the dominant political and ruling force of this country, on Wednesday. 3 days before the Moon festival, another big celebration in the Sino-calendar, this celebration was earmarked to be the biggest ever, with many rapid and grandiose preparations visible in little municiple squares, large parks and other official areas.

This event impacted our lives in may ways, not least a notification arriving at school that we were to close early, as many major roads in Shanghai- and a couple of the important river tunnels that link Pudong with Puxi- would be closing to facilitate control of the huge crowds and massive fireworks, prepared around the Bund and Business district areas. The metro system also was under special measures, with an extra million passengers expected every day during the 4 days of holiday.

We duly scuttled home, fearing the worst and expecting the usual massive earthquake of pushing, shoving, shouting and selfishness that typifies celebration here.

In reality, we were shocked to discover a more or less sleeping city around us as we arrived at our home district. The only noticeable difference was the unveiling of an enourmous outdoor 270degree TV screen showing live footage from Tianenmen Square, where endless tanks and soldiers were lined to demonstrate, somehow, the success of the last 60 years. Hu Jintao passed in a car, shouting something every 200 meters or so, commanding a similar response from the lined male and female soldiers accompanying the shiny new untouched equipment. We smiled to think of how all that military hardware would fare in genuine combat, knowing that it had been made in China.

At around 8pm we heard the distant rumbling and feint pink glow of a firework display somewhere north in the city.

We slunk off to bed at around 9pm, earplugs at the ready. Clearly the real deal was scheduled for midnight or something, when people would erupt from their houses, little red flags waving, babies held aloft, while thousands of kilos of explosive propelled all kinds of radiant red beauty into the air around us. We knew what to expect- we had lived through two Lunar New Year's already.

At 7 30 the next morning we awoke, slightly puzzled, after a long and deliciously uninterrupted sleep- not even the usual 4 am dustcart or honking buses, who were still on holiday- had awoken us.

at last

2009-10-01T08:48:00.000+08:00

a minute to breathe...

2009-09-10T23:23:00.000+08:00

The new splash page, for my new website, which currently only exists as a drawing. How perfect.

mmmm

2009-09-10T23:15:00.000+08:00

God Bless Mr Beck...

Im listenistingering to modern guilt.

somewhere

2009-09-10T22:40:00.002+08:00

...between folkmusic, stroytelling and drawing, there is a little glowing aura of prefection, and it is this aura to which I am currently aspiring. The home made aeshteic, the raw canvas, the back to basics approach to intellectual rigour are all traits that could summarise my latest works, but somehow they are not achieveing any sense of completion, finish or perfection as guaged by the general public.

Its a funny thing. I am going against the grain, I guess, and Im producing these big drawn studies of nothing in particular.... and Im doing it for very sophisticated and solid reasons. Yet when I turn away, and when random consciousnesses gaze upon them, they apparently wither to trite stylistic illustration.

Its a shame, but not a disaster. Like the tree falling silently in the unmanned forest (which, in itself, must by now be a misnomer or imaginary scenario)my work shines its simplicity into a dark void of fashion-obsessed ignorance. An arena in which photorealism and standing or establishment go much further to garner you with praises, than humble folk art and honesty.

I have been striving for 10 years to learn the art of drawing on a final and finished scale- to a standard that would celebrate the quality of the line, the honesty of the eye and so on- and having finally achieved it I find that nobody else can see, or wants to see such rude clarity.

Like many before me I am sure- probably even my greatest hero the Shoreham Valley legend Samuel Palmer- my vision of bounty, my glory in the achievement of simplicity- will go unnoticed or merely ignored for now, and possibly evermore... but that seems no great travesty to me now really. For in its simplicity, it demands of its creator nothing more than recognition of its creation, and still less of any one else who happens to ingest its vision- it is after all merely a drawing- a simple pure and perfect drawing- a mere record on canvas of the vision of its creator in a given concentrated period of reflection. And in that zen like simplicity, in that Palmeresque moment of clarity, I find solace, and honest humility.

Postcard from Shanghai : Huai hai Lu

2009-09-03T21:34:00.002+08:00

Nothing comfier, nowhere better to put down your weary head, if you are weary enough...

sneak peek

2009-09-02T22:44:00.001+08:00

Low light poor quality in my bedroom photos of the new work for Sunday's SHOW

getn there

2009-09-01T22:41:00.002+08:00

...another late night, but earlier than last night- just time to squeeze in an update. Large format canvasses going well- though the first took three times as long as I'd hoped- lots, and lots, and LOTS of drawing to do on it. Looks ok now though. Just finished a superb chinese fat kid. Well, the theme of the exhibition is 30 degrees, in honour of CHINA having opened her doors 30 years ago this year. Ill be exhibiting alongside artists from Studio Rouge as a collaboration- which is cool co they got some very cool artists on their books, like my favourite locals Chen HangFeng and Greg Girard
Teaching a full day again tomorrow, so Ill be shattered and ratty. Feeling good about the painting, though- finally resolved my urge to draw and a large scale canvas, after 10 years of trying.

Nice.

...ps

2009-08-29T20:27:00.002+08:00

...but the new diamond formation fancied by Ancelotti is not helping our Fat Frank's strike rate- he barely gets a shot on, even against Burnley. Tsk!

Shanghai Saturday Night

2009-08-29T20:20:00.002+08:00

The average Shanghai Saturday usually culminates, in the shanghersey household atleast, in a night of tins and football. Initially curtailed by the collapse of the filipino satellite network, or atleast its sneaky tunnel into the chinese mainland, this has been a hit and miss activity. Many a night was ruined towards the end of last season by the intermittent coverage, which eventually expired altogether over the summer.

However, the handy collapse of Setanta in the UK has been cited by some as the reason that all matches are now covered by Shanghai LIVE tv. Such a joy to witness every single game, with sedated and rambling but uninspiring chinese commentary, which by the sound of it discusses the quality of the pies in the cafe at stamford bridge more than the free flowing attacking play. None of your South American Goooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaal over here then. Its charming in its own way, however, and I even pick up the odd Gao-le and Dao-le-ma.

Drowning

2009-08-26T20:25:00.001+08:00

Oh Dear.

I am now seeing the error f my ways in taking on a few more lessons Graphics teaching- I was thinking of the money and now all I see is an endless sea of staff meetings, petty school commitments and my art sliding down the toilet.

Still worse, I have just been approached to produce a commission for an expo in Xintiandi, and don't know if Ive now got time to do it

Fight on, I say- Fight on!

Postcard from Shanghai : Moganshan Lu

2009-08-19T08:13:00.001+08:00

Graffiti is tolerated on one street in Shanghai, near the arts district M50.

Frog Face

2009-08-19T07:42:00.003+08:00

Usually a playground term to describe many of my first girl friends, this blog title actually refers to what I encountered on my walk home from the gym last night. Having caught up with the family at the pool (I had been at the studio in the day) we headed home because of the torrential rains and thunder storms that have become the summer norm in this humid city.

As we passed the shops and stalls of wulumuqi lu, my attention was caught by a polystyrene tray dowsed in blood. This in itself is not unusual- nearly all the market shops at the lower end of wulumuqi lu sell live meat of one kind or another, and the patrons regularly crouch on the pavement to gut, skin or dice whatever fish or innard happens to have caught the attention of a hungry Chinese worker on their way home. This was the first time, however, that I had seen the frog seller actually preparing his fare- the huge bull frogs huddled in netted bags always seem a particularly slow seller, but I dont know whether they are priced out of the regular dinner range, or whether they just taste about as good as they look (I rather suspect the latter)- anyhow this was the first time I'd seen this marketeer in action. In his polystyrene tray were the usual pools of watery blood and random meaty scraps, but I was delighted to see neatly arranged along one edge, loosened froggy faces, deftly skinned from their neckless bodies and saved on one side, broad mouths almost smiling. Again, my limited domestic culinary skills mean that I am still in the dark as to whether they are saved as a delicacy, or because they are distasteful or poisonous. Call me Mr Fussy if you will, but I hope I never find out.

At last

2009-08-18T07:17:00.003+08:00

Back in the big dirty one. Loving it!

Humidity is around 90%, its 36 degrees, thunder storming noisily and raining hard... Having been away my eyes are opened once again to the wondrous victorian street life here, its like a phizz cartoon on every corner.

Off to the studio this morning to do some interviews for a visiting film company, though i suspect as usual thy will be looking to interview ninky nonk artists not boring european ones. I may sellotape my eyes into slits, to complete my racist slander and disenfranchisement.

Oh, and Ive found a way round the Firewall/greenDam. Very happy now.

Behind the Plastic Lens

2009-08-14T16:08:00.003+08:00

Have been storming around the country with my trusty Diana F+. My kids have been particularly patient as I have used them repeatedly as part of a new project. Bless 'em!

More Photo Sketchbook

2009-08-14T16:06:00.001+08:00

Photo Sketchbook

2009-08-14T16:04:00.002+08:00

Some scraps of inspiration from my travels in England...

Blimey

2009-08-14T03:54:00.003+08:00

t's been such a long time. Its been impossible to post since tightening of laws and strategies here and there. Still, back in the UK temporarily, so have the liberty of making a post or two.

Unfortunately there's not much to tell. Despite travels aplenty, merrymaking and happiness do not a story make.

The gallery have just increased the wallspace by a thrid, so the walls are looking empty... I have a couple of projects on the go, but only in my head. A nice photography number, based on some fantastic pictures I have seen of the photography of charles lutwidge dodgeson. Using the kids as models, and plenty of storytelling, thought the thread I am unsure of.

Back to watercolours too. Probably Chaim modelling, holding animals and skulls and witchcrafty stuff like mobile phones, trainers and chopsticks in polystyrene tubs...

The great Dr Lee

2009-06-02T22:28:00.000+08:00

Topo much to say here right now, about how great this man is, but needles to say anyone with a doctorate in graffiti and youth culture is pretty ok in my books. Here's how the man drops science...

Nicholas Hersey
Synaesthesia

Sofia Coppola’s 1993 Lost in Translation, is a story of alienation in a foreign country and is the story of an attempt by Bob Harris (Bill Murray) and a lone female, Charlotte (Scarlett Johansen) to find for a short moment, a kind of transcendent coherence within a foreign cultural space that has left them both losing their grip on the local reality. Synaesthesia is about the translation of one sensory form into another, but it is also about creation because in translation one register is always incapable of exhausting or even managing to communicate that of another. There is always the creation of something else, a kind of third space where another meaning appears.

Malcolm McLaren knew about this too with the creation of Punk. The bringing together of domestic icons into a new context manifested a new countercultural meaning, this was a new space created, not out of nothing, but of the myriad of cultural baggage swimming in our own heads.

Hersey explores this third space. Using a range of images– some edgy, some ambiguous, some personal– he creates a palette of ‘imagery for redeployment’. These images created over a period of time are both Hersey’s own images and monikers for our own.

Whiling one’s way through the forty images one finds each one striking a chord to a greater or lesser degree, begging the viewer’s own desire for order, coherence and meaning. This is a primordial moment, a deep-seated desire for order amongst chaos, searching for the gestalt, the synchrony, the moment where it all gels. This is the essential human conundrum: to find meaning in the chaos of the everyday.

In the work, the viewer’s own selection of images does not leave them alone. Instead the viewer is unnerved by them, the way their patterns interfere and the way comfortable combinations become uncomfortable as the third space, new messages in this moment of bricolage miraculously appear.

Hersey’s images catch us unawares. They seduce us into liking and disliking things we don’t quite understand, naturally we romp through the images imposing order on them, and magically and unexpectedly we are revealed.

Dr. Andrew Lee

still at it

2009-06-02T22:16:00.000+08:00

...a few days to go to the opening of the new show, and im still scratchin away! Bought some nice big sheets of aluminium dibond coupla days ago, and spent this evening arousing some textures, then tickling in some imagery that should arouse suspicion and confusion. Having been lucky enough to have a press release written for me by the amazing Dr Andrew Lee, I have been inspired to complete some larger format pieces to complement the smaller ones already set for the show. You can read his release later, as I havent got it to hand right now :(

Anyway, from pseudo biblical references to girls holding kittens, all the allegorical imagery is in there, hopefully proving some more 'transcendent coherence' as Dr Lee puts it. Will upload pics soon!

work in progress

2009-05-03T21:54:00.002+08:00

Have been feverishly slapping out the turps for the new show- transformed the dining table into a makeshift studio while we unpack the spare room still... things are going ok, just need to buy some more materials and crack on with the 30 squares. Kelly and I came up with some great ideas for the stickers and painted installation elements today, more on that soon...

a quick douche

2009-04-28T22:12:00.001+08:00

Not quite working for my latest painting, so I threw it in the shower on hot for 5 mins and gave it a quick rub down. seems to have done the trick...

glimpse

2009-04-27T22:57:00.003+08:00

work for new series- contextual works... a modular painting that you mix and match made of 30 pieces...

href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_KnucRJukEJU/SfXIE11eExI/AAAAAAAAAkw/9fJNBFFq7FE/s1600-h/IMG_8228.jpg">
and one more for the punx

An average night

2009-04-22T19:43:00.002+08:00

...Kelly and I just put the kids to bed, dog is wandering around chewing random stuff while she waits for an evening trundle, tv on showing the budget, jeering fat old men who are out of touch listening to another fatcat man about numbers that sound like they are from star trek. What will Matilda be listening to when she hears a budget in similar situations- berquillions, noodle-illions?

Meanwhile I am eager to get back to painting tomorrow, as a week has gone passed and I have half a painting to show for it... have earned myself another weeks salary from school,and have been on to Joe about building the ramp at the gallery, but I still have 39 pictures to paint, 5 watercolours, a whole set of stickers and some signs. Maybe t shirts too... I should pop over to the gallery to see Thomas, ease his mind as to my progress, get some feedback, get inspired.

Then crack on, I guess, and get over to collect the kids from school.

May take a load of photos of the fake phones available at the phone market- snoy erikson, iPhone air, nokio, molarota- they are all there- their beautiful!

...

old school

2009-04-19T20:53:00.001+08:00

bought iggy and myself new boards this weekend. Iggy has a fetching Ben Wei mini, I have some unbranded indy thing.

Work update

2009-04-19T20:28:00.003+08:00

Thing are about to get pretty busy. Following discussions with Thomas (owner at the gallery) I am to take over a large part of the gallery for the next show, as a sort of Nick Hersey Room one off special. Its kind of a solo show for me, though there will of course be all the other Island6 artists exhibiting in the next room. I have a large space to fill and free licence (within reason) to adress the theme of 'synesthesia' (see press release elsewhere!). To this end Im planning on building a mini-ramp at the gallery, hiring some skaters, commissioning the punks to come and play and getting my stencils and spraycans out, as well as badges, stickers and posters. All this on top of a series of paintings (around 30 I hope) on a small scale and on a variety of media- wood, metal, perspex, childrens bedsheets etc etc.

As soon as I have any work to show, or more details, you'll be the first to know I promise!

New Projects

2009-04-07T16:12:00.004+08:00

Selling art and belonging to a gallery is all very well, but when all the dust and bank notes settle, and the parties are over, what remains of the artist and his legacy? In a dramatic turn from my usual meager self image, and in an attempt to market myself better, I am convinced that I need togo donw in history, and not just exist in this lifetime. After all, after all this investment by my wife, my family, and my own pathetic efforts, what is to remain>? Its certainly not very Zen, not very humble, but as I said its time I marketed myself better after all my family and supporters have done.

So I have decided to artifically manufacture an art movement- to precipitate a group of creatives and to document their activities- to engineer a media frenzy and falsify a hysteria around a collective and body of work, that may or may not exist. After much deliberation, and some decision making that is still ongoing, I have settled on the catchy moniker of 'The Sidcup Discount Arts Club'. It sums up everything I believe in... the end of over-commercialisation in contemporary creativity, a harkening back to my geographical roots, a loose and fun movement that does not take itself, or anyone else, too seriously- after all... nothing is more appealing to me than and representative of me than iconoclastic laughter (and maybe therelies the zen!

So behold,

A slew of logo making, and delicious pointless branding. Much like Hersoid previously, this will absorb much of my time and in all likelihood amount to nothing. But its terrifi fun, and a good laugh. Which is all there is in this world anywya really is there not.

'There is holy laughter...' 'Then there is merely silence, and a finger pointing the way' Zen Flesh, Zen Bones.

ACAMIS Beijing arts workshop

2009-04-04T21:29:00.002+08:00

Should have put these up ages ago. good fun ot do, students got a lot out of it... as did I...

Out of touch

2009-04-04T21:13:00.002+08:00

LAck of updates as life has taken over. Plans and strategies are now being put in place to rectify this. All that marketing rubbish about working smarter not harder. I am refraining from swearing too as I think some of my students now read this blog, along with Auntie June.

Worked last night djing at a party for some french bloke. I was doing it alone but it was interesting keeping the music going for 5 hours on my own- thats quite a set. Ended up playing clash and communards pop trash to get the lazy french off their arses but it was short lived so I went back to playing gritty electro mash like DC recordings just cos I liked the sound of it on a loud system.

Teaching getting right in the way of the art at the mo, so Im going to set up a studio at school to allow some creativity between lessons, like maltesers between meals... just want to crank out some drawings as Im a bit bored of heavy oils of kids, and I need to get my productivity up.

Have a few projects on the go, some signage style stuff and a fake profile of and imaginary art group. also setting up the Sidcup Discount Arts Group- an art movement based nowhere near sidcup and not commercially viable in any way so no reason to call it discount really. done a great logo for it...

Postcard from xi'an

2009-03-03T21:32:00.001+08:00

especially happy with the print quality of this postcard :)

Xi'an postcard

2009-03-03T21:12:00.003+08:00

Just spent the weekend in Xian. Main purpose for visiting this town is usually the exposed and highly exploited excavation site of the now famous 'terracotta warriors'. however, these proved to be far less stimulating or engaging than the general life of the city, with its muslim quarter, arts district and chinese style mosques. The culinary treats and street cuisine on offer were worthy of my postcard series in themselves, as you can see...

A gift of a word for you, my fans

2009-02-21T11:01:00.000+08:00

pherunch

Bootleg Poster for the Big Party

2009-02-16T21:04:00.001+08:00

More mayhem for us all, this saturday, at the studio. Even my Dad is getting his Van Gogh outfit sorted...

Powerful news

2009-02-11T19:20:00.000+08:00

Read with caution...

...work in progress

2009-02-06T18:01:00.002+08:00

Working on some entries for the BP this year... first one almost done.

postcard from shanghai

2009-02-01T22:24:00.001+08:00

Out for a bit of sunbathing, these fishies destined for little dishies...

...

2009-01-31T19:34:00.001+08:00

postcard from shanghai

2009-01-30T18:22:00.002+08:00

Toy seller, Yu Yuan Market... her expression so beautifully complements the garish cheapskate plastic plethora that sprouts from her little cavern...

New slow drawing

2009-01-30T18:18:00.001+08:00

Large format A0 graphite on paper work, delapidation in shanghai, took about a bloody week to draw

Draft Poster for the New Exhibition

2009-01-17T12:07:00.003+08:00

The Artist Died Yesterday... New exhibition at the gallery

Read the press release here

postcard from shanghai

2009-01-08T20:02:00.002+08:00

long time since we had a postcard from (my) home... thought this example of business entrepreneurship, of efficiency, of economical practice, summed up chinese business perfectly

Back in the studio

2009-01-08T19:47:00.004+08:00

feels so good to be back in the cosy remit of creatives like myself, or better. Spent all today in the island 6 loft, with sun streaming in from the windows, tickling the "aquarelle-arches" in the name of our new project.. "the artist died yesterday"...

Postcard from the Philippines

2009-01-05T21:32:00.002+08:00

The chosen transport of champions...

)

2009-01-05T21:11:00.003+08:00

As ever, a long time since posts... Just spent a few weeks in the philippines, which served not only as a family holiday but also a valuable research trip. One of the most striking visual aspects that I noticed was the globally marketed brands who manifest themselves among the poor/disenfrachised/proletariat. I had always assumed that the Coke's of this world strived to capture the young beautiul affluent of this world who could afford a bottle of coke every now and then. yet the sneaky tactics appear to involve pasting their brands on meaningless unspecific plastic banners and posters, which are then distributed in their million among every rural, shanty and impoverished area. Small indistinct plastic posters then appear everywhere, utilised as waterproofing, decoration, roofing, flooring, clothing- everything in fact that would once have been the domain of ply wood, banana leaves or palm weave- any natural material that bore no marketable use. Now the country is covered by a few brands- San Miguel and Coca Cola stick in mind- thanks to millions and millions of durable plastic posters.

Indeed, the branding is so visible, so omnipresent, that some locals have even taken to decorating their own trucks, houses and shop fronts with hand painted naive-art imitations of famous brands, because they are aware of the prestige, association and values that these generic icons instill in people.

The way to a nations heart and mind- however fucked they are- is through branding and marketeering. I don't hold the globo corps necessarily responsible for this (although how many posters would proliferate if printed on recyclable bio-degradable materials!) but am amazed at the human being's capacity to consume marketed product inspite of hunger, homelessness and poverty.

In progress

2008-11-25T23:03:00.006+08:00

two continuations on the graf/linguistic/youth cowcha theme... these will be perspex backlit and clear block plexiglass, eventually. I got till tuesday to get it finished, which is a bummer! best get my shit together!!!

oh and one more for screenprinting, probably as part of a sculpture...

New work, kind of

2008-11-25T23:00:00.002+08:00

well some recent painting. Though all my time these days is spent carving up polystyrene or buying perspex...

Pimp my gallery

2008-10-25T21:23:00.002+08:00

Next piece is large format graffiti sculpture. Because the styrofoam was delivered in one 10m x 1m x 1m chunk, I have to work on the stuff actually in the gallery space. Ive been sawing, filing, melting and cursing at the stuff for the last couple of days. Gallery now looks like a badly managed harvey nicholls window display with all the polystyrene fluff everywhere...

It needs coating with car body filler, then spraying.

Screen printed watercolours

2008-10-25T21:18:00.001+08:00

heres an example of other work for the Automata show, maybe. White on whie screen prints of punk lyrics, over the punk band pics...

realisation

2008-10-25T21:16:00.002+08:00

It was a fantastic feeling to see the workmen hang my finished sculpture collaboration (with the chinese metal worker who realised my designs) on the wall of the gallery. Being part chinese the piece should sell easier than my other pieces...

Automata

2008-10-11T08:42:00.002+08:00

New exhibition at Island, due to open the 24th Oct, is entitled Automata. I am working on a big painting featuring a lottery machine, some sculpted graffiti, some screen printed punk lyrics and following the reading of Darcy Dancer, Gentleman (JP Donleavy) want to enterpret the quote:

"Kildare, you are being automatically stupid"

...as said by Darcy's tutor...

watch this space

Sculpture

2008-10-09T22:08:00.002+08:00

Spent monday afternoon at the studio making maquettes of my grafiti sculptures, because the metalworker who was to make them was due at the studio later. He arived late, then Thomas later than him, so by the time we actually got to dicussing the feasibility in terms of cost and production, it was already way past hometime. Anyway, his quote was high so we decided to explore the possibility of making the piece in fibreglass, using another worker who had a factory in the north of the city. Unfortunately it was VERY north, and took an hour to get to his house in a taxi, and a further 20 mins to reach his workshop in god knows where wasteland beyond baoshan. He works in a big shed, uses clay to build the mould then applies the fibreglass around the hardened mould. The place was strewn with wire, welding tools, shovels, chisels, lumps of clay in varying sizes and dryness, cracked sculptures that had over dried and wet clay pieces under construction. A makeshift vat constructed of breezeblocks contained a hideous looking mixture of fibrous material and grey mulch, with an old broom handle caked in the half dried liquid as a giant spoon. There were empty plaster cast shells of the moulds from kids funfair toys, mac donalds fake trees with eyes and smiley mouths, random ugly tableux commissioned for unknown characterless retail outlets. It was a strange place to come to commission the realisation of my modern urban masterpiece.

One reason for soliciting the assistance of a local fibreglass tradesman, is that his own 'low art' of manufature and creativity for industry is a worthy artform nonetheless, and he and I should stand shoulder to shoulder in the creative process, with each due their acclaim on the name plaque in an exhibition. The other defining factor is that he is Chinese. A Chinese name on the name plaque, even only as workshop assistant, will increase the saleability of the item. I would have sold my 6 paintings (currently on display at Island6) long ago, had the name been asian, not european. Nobody comes to china to buy european art. And the Chinese middle class are not yt tuned in to Western art- they are tuned to Western Buick cars, Western apple iPhones, Western wine and Western luxury luggage- but they are yet to extend their embrace to more subtle manifestations of flaunting wealth such as high art. But it will come, my gallery assures me. Before I leave Shanghai, I wonder? That depends- on how quickly tastes develop, and how slowly I tire of metropolitania with rice.