Paper Making

A fantastic job advertised on the Northumbria university website triggered my skills gun to learning how to make paper. I thought, if I can learn how to do this then I could apply for this position of Senior Technician (Paper Making) at the uni. Yes, I was excited, I was focused. I could be a May Babcock! (She is an excellent papermaker from whose wordpress blog I learnt a lot about the paper making process!)

I began by using some of the scrap paper spewed out daily by the work printer where the people continue to keep pressing print until their work comes out, disregarding the fact that there is a queuing system. However the dye from the ink made for a very murky paper that I thought when I have more time, I will look into ways of making this look fantastic. I then moved on to scrap bits of corrugated card left over from packaging from our deliveries. This was fun, but again it wasn't pretty enough to wow the people at Northumbria. So then I focused on making pretty white paper by using the tiny scraps of copier and cartridge paper left over by the guillotine. This was better, the consistency of the mulch was fine and was much prettier. I layered in some selected pieces of newspaper and coloued tissue and I had lots of fun. I was very pleased with my results, now I was ready to apply for the beasty job! Yeah!
I decided now was a good time to read the spec, and realised that the list of essential skills, was a lot longer than simply being able to make pretty paper. I had to have...

'Excellent working knowledge and understanding of papermaking equipment including  Hollander and laboratory beaters, heavy duty press, and their maintenance'. 

Ok I am out of my depth now. Maybe next time! For now though, please have a peruse through the papers I made, then did give me a lot of joy! 

 

Sean Landers

Ah man, i love these! Visually like a Cy Twombly of text with the pallete choice sophistication of Luc Tuymans. Such a beautiful intricate execution of a font that would sit right in a David Shrigley satire. Someone buy me one please!

Julie Mehretu

First glance. An explosion, shrapnel, delicate. Then there are layers, organic versus manmade, visually working together with fierce power, their journeys parallel yet not necessarily in the same direction. Elements of control and order are evident within small geometric blocks of colour. These fantastic artworks evoke feelings of panic and amazement in equal measures, highlighting the speed in which our world is moving, how fast our cities develop architecturally, the speed in which we reshape our natural landscapes to accommodate our new infrastructures and communities. The paintings are wild and beautiful, as easy to get lost in as our very own concrete jungles.


See more here

Anna Pliss

I admire the artist who can have fun and infantilise their painting style. It takes a lot of guts to put it out there, where critics may love you, but the everyday spectator may grumble, complaining that their children could do better aged 3. Pliss combines this celebration of paint with the subject matter its self. Loud, active people, making the most of their voice, creating excitement and party time. I want to be in these paintings, I would feel tribalistic, hedonistic, colourful and vibrant, full of youth and fight. The text in the paintings are not precise and stylised, but fast and furious. The raw primary pallete of colour lends well to direct its energy to the viewer. A more complex array of colour may have diluted and disguised the powerful force behind the paintings acting as an oppressor. 

There is no escaping that the work is evocative of the Neo-Expressionist style that Basquiat was famous for. I feel blessed that there are contemporaries that can execute this style so well, long may it live!

Anna Pliss was born in Soviet Russia and is currently based in Moscow. She studied design and contemporary art in school and works as both an artist and an interior designer.

Jannick Deslauriers - Fragile sculptures

Ghost like sculptures. Beautiful and haunting. Helping us remember the fragility of everything in our world.

'Jack' by Breach- Amazing Video!

I am so in love with this music video. It totally weirded me out when I was watching it and yet I could not stop watching it. The guys in this video catapult between singing/speaking/miming the lyrics with the most deadpan of expressions harbouring intent, to full blown scary shit dancing. I love that sort of dancing, it is animalistic and euphoric. Their surroundings are safe and muted, but they are dancing hard whilst their hair suffers full inversion triggered by the beats. The tune it self is also very catchy, but I especially love the sound that I can only describe as a drunken cello. It dips in and out of the the chorus like it is groaning, struggling to keep up with the Jack fest. I am mesmerised by the whole experience and I have now watched it a few more times than I care to admit. COME ON LETS JACK! Watch Video Here

Amy Winehouse: A Family Portrait

I had only use got past the security guard who checked my handbag for weapons (instead he found my tampons), and I had a lump in my throat straight away. Projected onto the central hanging banner was Amy at the her most beautiful performing 'Love Is A Loosing game' at Dingle. I have watched this performance many times on youtube and every time I hardly breathe as I hang on her perfectly executed notes, one by one as if she is applying layers of paint to a glorious pre-Raphaelite  masterpiece. 

I am only at the entrance of this exhibit, and I soon realise that this is going to be a tough one to absorb without crying. Before I make it to the stairs to reach the top floor where the exhibit is housed, I am met with the dress that Amy wore on the "Tears Dry on Their own' video and at numerous gigs. Hanging on a tiny mannequin, the fragility emphasised by the belt hugging the waist, I suddenly understand how delicate and small the frame was of the woman whose voice would burst from her chest. The vision complete with a tiny pair of high heeled shoes stood side by side in a stance not too dissimilar to that of a young sparrow. The dress is by Arrogant Cat. I always wanted an Arrogant Cat dress when I was younger but I felt my small bosom did not do them justice when trying them on in a tiny shop on Kings Road back in 2001. Amy wore this dress well, she looked fantastic in it. 

I continue upstairs to the main exhibit. A top 20 playlist is playing on loop on the speakers, a list compiled by Amy when she was a stage school. She had a great ear for music. The list had many obvious choices that you would expect Amy to include, but the one that made me laugh was 'Brick' by Ben Folds Five. I just never would have guessed. I loved Ben Folds Five in the 90's. They were fun and cheeky, just like Amy's bright persona. 

There is a fantastic collection of photographs at this exhibit. The one that got me choking on my tears again, was one of Amy as a child climbing the ancient roman walls of Holy Island in Northumberland. As a Geordie myself, and a great lover of Holy Island, I am so pleased that her family ventured far up enough north to show her the natural beauty of Northumberland. Not that the journey of 343 miles is particularly great, but more often than not, people will journey south for their holidays. 

There are many photos at this exhibit of her nan Cynthia, whom we all know was a great influence on Amy's life. Cynthia looks beautiful in all the photos. There suitcase full of old photos that we are told she dipped in and out of in the days leading to her death. She must have spent a lot of time reminiscing on the past, remembering the days when she was just a loving sister and a noisy daughter, when she was free to roam the streets without the paps strobe light show blinding her path.

This exhibit is not sensationalist, and is a humble collective put together by her brother Alex, to give us a glimpse into her life as an ordinary Jewish Londener growing up within loving family. It is subtle and poignant and I am so glad that I came to visit. I am sure the lump in my throat will begin to reside soon.