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  #1  
Unread 01-03-2022, 03:28 PM
Sarah-Jane Crowson's Avatar
Sarah-Jane Crowson Sarah-Jane Crowson is offline
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Default Found poetry as artefact/tangible object

Hi,

In case anyone is interested, here's my current work in progress*, inspired by ideas of paper theatre, ephemera and found objects.

The images show quick prototypes, printed at home, and I need to weight the silk thread - finesse them.

Any and all thoughts welcome.



(yesterdays' first prototype)


Sarah-Jane
*when not tearing out hair over poems about hunting
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  #2  
Unread 01-07-2022, 12:39 PM
F.F. Teague F.F. Teague is offline
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Hi Sarah-Jane,

Yes, I'm interested, and reminded of your theatre of imaginary deities due to the curtains. I love the combo of red and gold

What type of printer do you use? Adrian, my younger brother (aka photographer A.R. Teague), has a 3D printer and uses it to construct models. He came up with a replica clock tower for our mother's birthday last year. I enjoy watching artists at work and I really like your board with the squares.

I'm on standby to assist with the hunting poem, unless you'd rather I didn't, of course. Incidentally, it interests me that you identify with a deer. Do you think there might be a poem in that? Not to replace what you're working on at the moment, just something else to do.

Time for Soup of the Evening now, hooray

Best wishes,
Fliss
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  #3  
Unread 01-09-2022, 10:30 AM
Jim Moonan Jim Moonan is offline
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.
The words hung on strings are pushing you ever-closer to the avant guarde (although your work with vispo has always been in the neighborhood : )

Looking at your work often gives me ideas. (I'm a frustrated graphic artist and love collaborative work, especially when it comes to theatrics). So... my thought is (which is just that — a thought. Dismiss it — I won't miss it!) that, rather than it being paper theatre/miniature, this piece would look great scaled to stage-size. A replica of a replica of life (the stage being a replica of life). I'd love to walk into this as a room-sized piece of art, touch it, look up at it, look behind it, lean against it, soak in it's atmosphere and distill its meaning. It is staging, scenery and script rolled into one (sound, too!).

.
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Unread 01-14-2022, 02:23 PM
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Sarah-Jane Crowson Sarah-Jane Crowson is offline
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Thank you so much, Fliss and Jim, and I am so sorry that it’s taken me so long to respond.

Fliss - Yes! The curtains. I’m obsessed with framing devices, and the curtains are my favourite. I need to stop using them really, but I keep bringing them back.

I use (at home) a very basic, old Epson 605. One of the nice staff perks at work is that providing I pay, and I don’t impact on staff or student time, I can use the hi-res printers in the print room. Their spec ranges from ‘good print’ to exhibition quality print, and I can buy nice paper, too.

I’m impressed with your brother having a 3D printer. I don’t use those (although work has one) but my Dad, who has scratch-built various ( think O and OO) gauge engines for years in brass, is very interested in them. Does your brother use them to model?

The board with the squares is a cutting board - A4. I use it, and an exacto knife, and a steel rule for much of my work before it goes into the digital (I have a very fancy pair of gold-handled scissors for decoration, but I don’t use them, really). I use a glue gun and pritt stick, too.

I’m still working on the hunting poem. It might need to go into the sock drawer, or might need to really change form - be a paper theatre play, or something, before I try the word-thing again. On the positive side, the relative in question didn’t have melanoma, just a Warty Growth (that might be worse for people who are keen on beauty, but who knows).

Jim, thank you. I don’t feel avant-garde (probably because of the pritt-stick and exacto knives) so it’s so lovely to be thought of as that. Thank you! I think I’m probably just in a useful position because editors like visual work as we all move online. Which is, counter-sensibly, why I’m enjoying making small-scale very limited print runs from one-off materials. I’ll figure out why one day.

I would love to collaborate with you if you ever wanted to work with me. PM me! I’d love to see how this worked as an installation. I’ve strung found words from trees before, and I have an exhibition space next September if you’re serious (although I don’t have any budget).

Anyway, the good news (for me) is that I was sent a call-out by a friend from a US feminist zine, and they want to work with me to make a short-run print of unique things in 2023. So, as I come to grips with working a year ahead of myself, I think that I’ll continue working, send some of the experiments out for critical feedback, and keep this strand of practice alive, come hell or high water.

Thanks again both - your interest much appreciated.

Sarah-Jane
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Unread 01-15-2022, 12:09 PM
F.F. Teague F.F. Teague is offline
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Hi Sarah-Jane,

You're welcome; no problem re. time to respond

Hooray for the curtains, in my view. I love the red and gold; I'm reminded of Cheltenham's Everyman Theatre.

That is a nice staff perk indeedy. I've been working online for such a long time, I haven't used a printer for ages. If I ever need anything, Tess (my PA) just uses hers.

Yes, Adrian has made a few models with his 3D printer. There's an example here; if you scroll all the way down, you'll see he's created a bridge for his model railway.

Ah yes, a cutting board. The gold-handled scissors sound fun; randomly, I have a golden torch. I can't remember why. When I think of glue, I recall the massive bottles of white gloop in primary school, lol. They might not use those now.

Re. the hunting poem, what interests me most is the finding of the fox and the wish to bury it, a moment of compassion amidst everything else. But that's just me. It's good news about the warty growth. I think warts can be frozen off, under local anaesthetic, but it might depend on the extent of the growth (nurse mode).

I look forward to seeing how the projects develop

Best wishes,
Fliss
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  #6  
Unread 01-15-2022, 04:16 PM
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Sarah-Jane Crowson Sarah-Jane Crowson is offline
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Hi Fliss,

The Everyman is beautiful. Thinking about Cheltenham brings back many old (some of them quite odd) memories, but it's good.

It's worth printing things out from time to time, maybe. Like you, I work mainly in the digital, but there's something very grounding about the hard copy - the touch and feel of a 'thing'.

Adrian's bridge is very impressive. You can see one of my Dad's trains here. He likes wagons more, I think.

PVA glue. Yes, they do, and they do still use it to the best of my knowledge - they water it down for small people. They used to use animal-based glues like copydex but PVA is now the dominant glue. Your post has made me realise that I'm quite knowledgeable about different types of glue, which concerns me a bit. I'd rather be knowledgeable about interesting abstract things, but no, it has to be glue.

Yes, the fox is the hinge part (and the hard cold bit of the 'real' part) in the poem. The stiff, cold feel of a dead thing, and the need to 'do' something about it, I guess, whilst the hunt was being celebrated inside (not that the fox in question had been hunted). I'll work it out, but it'll take me a while.

I might make the F on the left of this work-in-progress (posted below - but possibly only for a short period as I'm not sure if art forums are purged by the indefatigable Jayne) either a bear or a fox, or maybe the fish at the bottom needs to be a fox. Hmm. I think it's related to the fox poem. I really wish my brain worked in a clearer way. Despite the fact that I know that if I posted it on social media people would read the women as lesbians - the tension being located in sexuality and repression/dominant image in popular fiction as hinting at one whilst the narrative explores a very standard story - I don't think I'm reading it like that in the making, more that they're women in tension - women pushing stories, which relates to the fox poem, too.


Last edited by Sarah-Jane Crowson; 01-15-2022 at 04:21 PM. Reason: thinking as I type
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  #7  
Unread 01-16-2022, 12:25 PM
F.F. Teague F.F. Teague is offline
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Hi Sarah-Jane,

Yes, I remember being rather enchanted by the Everyman as a child. One of the first performances I watched there was Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet, the ballet. Old and odd sounds about right for Cheltenham.

That's a great little train! I can't pretend I know that much about train sets, but I appreciate the efforts that go into design and maintenance. It's very intricate work sometimes.

So, PVA. I've always just thought of it as 'gloop'. I wouldn't worry about being knowledgeable about glues; that just seems part of knowing about stationery.

I saw a fox, a live one, on my way back from the park on Thursday afternoon. It was just strolling nonchalantly across East Approach Drive (one of the roads that leads to Pittville Pump Room) at 4pm or so.

I don't think you need to worry about things disappearing from Art, but it might be worth a check. In the image, is it meant to look like the woman on the right is guiding the hand of the woman on the left to her left breast? The space between them makes it less intimate, though. It almost looks like taking a pulse, from the way the hand is positioned on the wrist. Well, that's just me in nurse mode again, probably. The horned hair style is intriguing and, together with 'witches', suggests some sort of rite beyond a sexual connection (maybe)

Best wishes,
Fliss
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Unread 01-19-2022, 02:30 PM
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Sarah-Jane Crowson Sarah-Jane Crowson is offline
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Thanks Fliss, and I'm sorry that I've taken an age to return.

Lovely to see a fox! I haven't seen one for ages. I live very near woodland, so I think they stay up there. Owls and foxes. Amazing night creatures.

The image is from an early (20 book illustration and the original caption (which I love and might put back in) is '‘I am sure that there is something about Algy that I ought to know’' so I think the woman on the left is imploring the woman on the right to spill the dirt about the mysterious Algy.

In my head, Algy might be the Rosefish, who is also a fortune-telling fish, and completely fictional.

Sarah-Jane

I'm going to move back into thinking about tangible paper things again soon, but there are some unresolved very digital stray threads from last year that I want to resolve first. Here's one:


(if anyone has any critiques of the above they'd be very welcome. I'm wondering whether to stick it in a drawer for another year because although I'm happy with my visual edits, I am not sure that it has legs in other ways)

Last edited by Sarah-Jane Crowson; 01-19-2022 at 02:33 PM.
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Unread 01-22-2022, 12:03 PM
F.F. Teague F.F. Teague is offline
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You're welcome, Sarah-Jane; no problem at all with the timing. I'm a bit late myself

Yes, it was lovely to see a fox. There's a fox family in Pittville Park and he/she might be a member, just taking a stroll up Evesham Road. There are a lot of trees around here.

Thanks for the info about the image. I like the caption. Perhaps Algy is in fact Algae, a Pond God. That would be worth knowing, I think. And quite concerning, but not necessarily a reason not to pursue the relationship. I like the fortune-telling fish, though.

I'm in rush mode this evening, unfortunately (a deadline has been brought forward), but I'll return when I'm more likely to say useful things about the new image. First impressions are that there's something strange within her womb, but I might still be in snaky shapeshift mode 🐍

Best wishes,
Fliss
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Unread 02-06-2022, 03:19 PM
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Sarah-Jane Crowson Sarah-Jane Crowson is offline
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Thanks Fliss,

When I first made her, it was following a trip to Birmingham and a response to the ideas of the Second Industrial Revolution (UK). The circular image to the left of the female figure is a ceramics guide to colour, heavily digitally transformed. So, I think she was a kind of goddess to industry, but not coherent in concept at all.

I don't want my next thing to be making imaginary deities of industry, but there's maybe something in it. I love Lely's paintings, all those fashionable facing staring out blankly, like possessions, a counter-narrative to what they might actually have been like. I like how they are open to reinvention, in terms of accessibility (copyright) and that they are often scions of long-dead houses (which I'd take into account if I can ethically anyway).

There might be something in the idea of the masked ball, of masks (but that has been done to death). I've made a couple of follow-up speculative ones, but they're all 'out' so I can't share to ask for suggestions.

Onwards, either way, and thanks for engaging with this, Fliss.

Sarah-Jane
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