red thread install day 2

there is something very sinister about day 2. day 2 after exercise is always the day that you feel the most pain, day 2 after a big night out always feels like the longest day ever and day 2 after heartbreak is like the third level of hell from dante's inferno.

and so too, today started out a bit hellish with the installation. i had to rearrange my plans a little and started in the afternoon. and when i walked in, all the gaps in the work almost screamed at me. i found it a little hard to get going, and when i did, it was all wrong. after the flow of yesterday's effort, i found it hard to make bold decisions or to take down anything i had put up.

and when i was an art student, this kind of frustration would really get to me - countless times i remember crying in the toilets at art school, convinced i was never going to get it right. thankfully, somehow, i've matured a little bit past that. while i felt the frustration, i just kept moving through it today. i initially disappeared into a corner of the agency and focused on quite an ornate section and focused myself in some detail. interestingly, i have used corners before as a restorative space, and gaston bachelard writes about it in his Poetics of Space.

And speaking of space, today i really used it. thankfully i had the luxury of space, and after the initial focus on detail, i just kept moving from one area of the agency to another. if it wasn't working, i moved onto the next, not focusing too hard on the problems, but just working on continuing to create solutions. like having several projects on at once - no time to get bogged in shit when you're on the go.

and so today i:

made webs



made more balls of wool



plaited



threw fanciful streams over walls



made great strides of clear thread



and in separating lines, made an image for the girls



made bold statements, then chopped them up



and in doing so, made a creature



And next week, Spinach have generously decided to have a private view, so that others can come and check out the space. it's on thursday 9th august 5:30 - 7:30 at 144A Liverpool Rd, N1. If you'd like to come, please email martin[at]spinach.co.uk to RSVP or leave me a comment.