Berets, moustaches and a Taylor Marsden public intervention in Walsall

Today I took part in the one day residency at New Art Gallery Walsall as part of INTERЯOGATION:WALSALL where myself and Rachel Marsden collaborated in the INTERЯOGATION:COLLABORATION day. We undertook our collaborative mission as Agent Taylor and Agent Marsden; complete with berets, moustaches, t-shirts, utility belts and ID badges! Although I think I lost my badge somewhere along the journey : (   ...

The day was really really successful and I feel really positive and inspired by the experience! Myself and Agent Marsden created an (inteR)textual dialogue with the public of Walsall, in order to interrogate the identity of Walsall as a post-industrial town.

We created an INTERЯOGATION STATION in the Gallery Square which we used as a base for our intervention. We got members of the public to collaborate with us by constructing words made out of the prefix (inteR) to represent what Walsall meant to them. The people we met were amazing - all reflecting a sense of the (inteR)cultural, (inteR)personal and (inteR)action - in turn allowing us to reflect on our textual strategy. There was one chap in particular who's collaboration was poignant and profound; he said that the word that represents walsall to him is 'peace' - as he had watched his 18 year old daughter grow up and mature in the town. It made me realise right then, the complexity of personal hstories that create a community ...

We disseminated our findings over a cup of tea and a (very nice!) piece of cake and installed our findings in the interrogation room in the gallery. We ended up with polaroids, images of Walsall from the view of the gallery that had been photoshopped (or interrogated!) and other things we had collected from the day. We found that as we began to install our findings, that the images (inteR)linked together; also interlinking with the findings of the other agents.

I am planning to create a page of the project findings for the day on my website, so watch out for all of the images and re-reflections or (inteR)reflections of today! As for now, I am going to put my feet up and avoid anything that is related to the word (inteR) for the rest of (what is left of) the day ...

Dazed and confused ... and departures and arrivals

I started off the week before last by assisting the artist Rachel Marsden in a concertina book binding workshop at Wolverhampton Art Gallery. I made this ace book which I'm going to use for my PhD as a piece exploring research-as-art-practice.

Ive also booked the Art Galley space at Margaret Street at the College of Art, BIAD the week beginning 26th October so I hope to create some more researchstallations/ textstallations and exhibit them at the end of the week : )  I had a really successful supervisory tutorial with my D.O.S this week as well ... and only have minor ammendments until I submit my application to register my research and my research diary which I handed in (my actual life and soul for the past year) was received well! To think how my I was sh*tting myself about the tutorial (excuse my language!) ...

I'm also seriously considering transferring my DTLLS - stupidly long acronym for a teaching qualification - to a full PGCE ... Mmmm .. the only thimg is that I would then be teaching for 3 and a half days + doing a PGCE + my PhD! Some would say just plain stupid or as my friend Katy said the other day ... "by the way i think your mad - but also go you" ... social suicide and major stress impending.

The past week and a half has been one of departures and arrivals! Good luck to my A-mazing younger (but much taller) sister Nicky who started her degree in Bsc Hons Physical Health, Activity and Excerise Science at Sheffield Hallam Uni! (I feel so old!) ... and also good luck to my friend Seaman Specialist Hawkins who left to join the Navy on Sunday morning! Also massive congratulations to Tim and Jo on the birth of their beautiful baby boy Max James Boote ... which I have been secretly (well semi-secretly now) been painting a canvas for baby Max's room when I see them.

I feel really lame having a sort of 'shout out' to people I know ... but it's gotta be done! : )  It's started making me think about the status of the/my blog ... is it catharsis? ... do people want to know? ... err do they care?! ... answers on a postcard please!!

Taylor Marsden Productions!

I've found out this week that myself and Rachel Marsden have been accepted for the public intervention and exhibition INTERЯOGATION: WALSALL in partnership with New Art Gallery Walsall and Longhouse! This is our first project as Taylor Marsden Productions which we hope will lead to many things in the future!

We will be doing a collaborative project on the 23rd Sept 09 with the public of Walsall, West Midlands so beware!!!