OLDER (SOME REFLECTIONS ON THE POSH CLUB)
But with humans now living longer than ever before, many people alive today will be elders for forty years or more. Yet despite the fact that many of us will spend more years in elderhood than in childhood, old age still remains ‘…a condition to be dreaded, disparaged, neglected, and denied.’
YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'VE GOT 'TIL IT'S GONE
The title of this entry is of course a reference to the Joni Mitchell song that so articulately describes what it means to lose something of value. As you will see, the reference to a parking lot in that same song is also pertinent to what follows.
MY OLD SCHOOL
These images were doing the rounds on social media sometime around 2014, and at this time, I would often start my public speaking engagements by showing them, referring to the demolition of these buildings as a metaphor for arts education being ‘in ruins’. Since then, out of the rubble has emerged a new building consisting of hotel-like accommodation for Cardiff Metropolitan University students; clean, sleek and well appointed, this new usage is as far from my own rough, dirty, chaotic art school experience as it is possible to imagine
WE HATE IT WHEN OUR FRIENDS BECOME SUCCESSFUL
It took me ages to get round to it, but I finally wrote a curatorial statement. No great fanfare, no big deal, but the realisation is that writing a statement of intent as an Artistic Director is no easier than writing an artist statement. It has been interesting to see which of my concerns as an artist have carried over into my curatorial role - for example, exploring the relationship between the marginal and the mainstream.
WHERE ARE WE NOW?
Last week, I was helping to tidy up our White Room in the Think Tank. This is the space at SPILL where our visiting artists present performances and talks, or hole up for a few days for a residency. On the huge whiteboard that takes up one wall of the space, I saw some words scrawled.