On October 1st, 2011 two friends came to dinner. Ami is a musician and Didge is a studying at Plymouth College of Art.
We asked them to take part in our art-video project Contemporary Art in the Community. Both of them agreed and were happy to do so. It seems both of them are into art in a big way!
Here is our 3rd video in the series:
Contemporary Art in the Community #3/n
Kasia's Studio; The Haldon Hills, Devon, South West England
In which Ami realises that art shouldn't be about "cutting us off from the fabric of our life experience. Art is about coming up underneath our life experience, and lifting us up".
Here is the second video of the project Contemporary Art in the Community. We had an unexpected visit from Doreen on October 1st 2011. She is very much into art and she liked our idea. The video has been taken outside my studio on the Haldon Hills in Devon. In this video Doreen recognises Hell when she sees it, and feels herself drowning in a really stormy, turbulent sea in one of my paintings.
The idea of taking art to the community came from Jim (my partner). I think he was just bored with my constant monologue about contemporary art, or to be more accurate perhaps I should say modern contemporary art.
I am working on my new abstract painting from the Metropolis Series. This time this abstract work will be dedicated to the people of Occupy Wall Street Movement. My painting is entitled "Metropolis – Resistance 99%. The title as well as the painting is inspired by the uprisings across the Arab world, and fueled by the feelings of anger and helplessness of everyday Americans, in the past month as well all people around the world belonging to the 99%.
So there we are between Hell, Purgatory and Heaven. The GREAT TRIO issue of the Church Fathers, theologians and artists, not only the religious ones ).
I don’t believe in a God (or Gods). I don’t believe in Hell, Purgatory or Heaven. I believe in physics, in the concept of eternal universes, in the perfection of our imperfect cosmos. I believe in the force of nature, a kind of intelligent living being, but without any sentiments or feelings. I was born into a Catholic family and up until the age of 8 I received a Catholic tutoring. Even so I didn’t believe in God consciously from the age of 12, but I am still fascinated by Catholic religion and especially by medieval art and culture. Medieval Art is one of my greatest passions. I can’t take my eyes off the marvellous, absolutely stunning Gothic Cathedrals, impressive gothic altarpieces, the beautiful icons, the fantastic gargoyles, and burlesque creatures, unorthodox and original creations all. Actually I love all the medieval visual art, the architecture and designs.
I have a huge hangover after visiting yesterday the BAS7 Plymouth – British Art Show 7 in Plymouth, "In the days of the Comet". Nothing that I saw was actually good or blasphemous or new. It seems that our cultural horizons are shrinking. The exhibited pieces weren't optimistic or pessimistic, they were totally empty without any message. I heard one of the curators saying (in one of the speeches at the University) about the 39 brilliant, excellent artists who represent the best of the British art scene. No comment. What I saw was a collection of mediocrity and copies of the past. I am not angry, I am sad. The only funny thing that I liked it was the huge, orange Micky Mouse. Art? – no, but entertainment – yes.
Yesterday completely out of the blue a German couple visited my studio. They had just followed the yellow signs, not knowing what would be at the end of them. They not only loved my paintings but even bought one. We talked about modern art, especially modern conceptual German art. She lives in Essen and he is from Wuppertal. I absolutely enjoyed my time spent with those two very interesting individuals who really were into modern conceptual art.
Today is the second day of Devon Open Studios 2011. No visitors today. Yesterday a couple with a child visited me. They just saw a sign on the wall and because the child needed to take a leak they stopped and visited me. They were nice people but not really interested in my paintings or in what I am doing or why I am doing it.
Do we really have to give up our dreams and allow society to rule our lives? It starts from the moment that we are born: “You have to do so, you have to behave in this way, you can’t say that, you can’t do that, don’t look like that, don’t move, don’t cry, don’t laugh, don’t think, don’t breath”.
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