Slightly more detail on the "Alice" show... first off, we have a few pics in the tearoom. Been a little while since we've done an exhibition like this, but then we started off showing in Tearooms and Cafes so it was pleasantly nostalgic.
We've put up a mix of work-some of the older Cumbrian Coast series which hasn't seen an airing for a while (for local interest), and the rest newer series which are ongoing.
This includes Amy's long running "Light Trails", Bens "Inflate-Deflate", and some of the "Underwater" series. There's also one from last years "Project Intercity" too, and part of the reason for putting this work up was to motivate ourselves to shoot some more on these projects now that the "Alice" work is out of the way.
Nice surroundings, a pleasant tearoom with friendly staff and good food and drinks- particularly recommend the Chocolate and Guiness cake...
Why IS a Raven like a Writing Desk?
And so, outside. As a kind of warm-up for the project, the first bit of work that Amy did was a spot of customising with ceramic paint of a tea set. At the time of the project starting Ben was still working in catering, and when the Tearoom was re-equipping, all the old ceramics was given away, except for the items which were damaged or chipped and cracked. Perfect fodder for this project...
Interspersed throughout the flowerbed, the effect should be nicely subtle over the next few weeks as the flowers bloom.
Alice was just beginning to think to herself, “Now, what am I to do with this creature, when I get home?” when it grunted again, so violently, that she looked down into its face in some alarm. This time there could be no mistake about it: it was neither more nor less than a pig, and she felt that it would be quite absurd for her to carry it any further.
Amy followed this with a small take on the Pig Baby from "Wonderland".
Production of the piece involved using one of The Childs soft toys as a base- it was wrapped in Clingfilm then layers of selotape, before the toy was removed and replaced with scrunched-up paper, and more selotape used to provide rigidity.
On-site, and this small piece was installed in a flowerpot, nice and high up.
Its pretty lightweight though, and so it has since been secured with fishing-wire.
"Well! I've often seen a cat without a grin," thought Alice; "but a grin without a cat! It's the most curious thing I ever saw in all my life!"
On a related note, one of the smaller pieces Ben has done for the show (as a break from the Jabberwock). There was a requirement for the Cheshire Cat in the show, and naturally a wonder about how to do an invisible cat...
The solution was to use the same technique as Amy, only this time a somewhat more cubist shape for the cat. Lots of clear boxes and packaging acetate assembled into shape, glued together, then wrapped in a lot of selotape.
Oddly enough this was the most difficult one to locate in the show, as it needed to be somewhere that would allow the reflection in the mirrored eyes/mouth to show.
The smile and eyes incidentally were done as space-fillers on the Laser Cutter at Bens current work (where there was a gap of otherwise unused space in a corner). Reasonably effective, but obviously doing them at odd times compared to the rest of the piece means they don't quite fit, but hey-ho.
A number of people have commented he's a bit sinister, but then that's how he always came across in the book, so it seemed fitting.
...this time she found a little bottle on it ("which was certainly not here before", said Alice), and tied around the neck of the bottle was a paper label, with the words "DRINK ME" beautifully printed upon it in large letters.
And finally, a little piece and a genuine Victorian bottle.
Next time, some of the bigger pieces we've built for this show...
No comments:
Post a Comment