Putting the conceptual into practice

 

The Queen's Baton at the start of its journey from Birmingham

From a Press Release:

Artist Laura Nyahuve and design experts across the West Midlands have created The Baton with stunning attention to detail and skill...On day 203 of its 294-day long journey, the Queen’s Baton Relay arrived in Dominica for a two day visit as part of its epic journey across 72 Commonwealth nations and territories, leading up to the Commonwealth Games.

Actually, on the morning of day 203 the baton, before going any further on its journey, arrived at my workshop in a sorry state, together with 27 pages of operating instructions. The baton houses (believe it or not) a message from the Queen, a 306 degree camera, a neo-pixel display, an environmental condition sensor, a touch capacity sensor and a heart rate monitor! 

The outer casing and inserts of the baton were in need of repair. Indeed, it is a miracle that the baton had survived its epic journey as well as it did.  

I had just two hours in which to do the job. There was however a "helpful" note from the manufacturers suggesting that I pop down to the hardware shop and buy a two part epoxy with which to effect the repair. Obviously, the writer has never popped down to a hardware shop from my studio up in the hills of Dominica and then found that what he wanted in stock. 

This long preamble leads to what I have been up against many times in the past. That being: putting another artist's conceptual idea into practice and making it work. In the years that my studio was in the UK I was frequently called upon to get other sculptors out of trouble. Their dreamed up conceptual idea had won a major commission but they had no idea how to do the job and seriously screwed up in attempting to do so. More often than not, they possessed a Master Degree in Art.

John Larson, head of the sculptural division at the National Conservation Centre, told me that he was frequently up against the same problem. He found it easier to restore a piece of sculpture made centuries ago than to repair work made by today's conceptualists. 

The picture below shows my grandson Enoch holding the Baton after my emergency repairs.

Moments of magical accident

 

The best poem is that whose worked-upon unmagical passages come closest, 
in texture and intensity, to those moments of magical accident.

 (Dylan Thomas) 

Today's opening painting comes close to that magical accident. It was made almost thirty years ago of washing strung beneath trees on a windy day in my native West Riding of Yorkshire.

The same magical accident can occur between artist and model, usually towards the end of an overly laboured painting session, when both have thrown discretion to the winds. 

I might qualify the rare occurrence of a magical accident by saying: the better the artist, the more often the accident works in his favour.

A whole new creative ball game

The opening picture is the title frame of my latest YouTube video. It follows close on the heels of Body and Soul, my first attempt at a whole new creative ball game.

Now that I have got the hang of it  (with technical help from my son Tristan) I have ideas for others that will explore the potential of this innovative way of getting the message across.

Although many of my followers will be restricted to viewing on a handheld device, the impact is all the more dramatic when the images are projected on a large screen.

A chip off the old block

Two years ago my son Karl, true to his creative genes, declared himself a potter. He is self-taught and proving himself to be a master at the art. He has just fired his first wood burning kiln. The story behind his work can be found on his facebook page. 

Vernacular Architecture

My preliminary art work for a series of postage stamp designs on the theme of 

Vernacular Architecture.

In the 1980’s the Crown Agents commissioned me to design postage stamps for the British Virgin Islands. One proposed series was on the theme of Vernacular Architecture. My on going campaign for the restoration of Dominica's historic Carnegie Library and for the townscape of the island's capital in general, brought the above postage stamp designs to mind. 

In contrast to the vernacular, the present government has become enamored with foreign concepts of architecture. What is right for Dubai isn’t necessarily right for a small island in the Caribbean. Alas, I cannot wax lyrical about the most recent alien addition to Roseau's townscape shown below. 

Roseau riverside apartment blocks.

It beggars belief

 

With others, I am currently fighting for the preservation of one of Dominica's most important historical buildings: The Roseau Carnegie Public Library. It beggars belief that the government was planning to replace it with the alien monstrosity pictured below.