‘ey up.

it’s almost september time again, coming up to getting back to college and as usual the expansive plans I made for the seemingly huge swathe of holiday haven’t exactly come to fruition in the way that i expected. However, I have managed to get a bunch done, not least of which was the inaugural Flickermob. The real prospect of a shop space has arisen too, without strings and the potential for a debt greater than my student loan!

Anyway, more of that another time. i’m acting like the holidays are over when there’s a clear month left- Following the success of the first flickermob we’re doing another, this time taking the circular route to a whole new level by taking the train, tram and bus around the county – with the theme of lines, no less. So far this is what I’ve come up with:

The wording is in homage to Albert Ellis, the psychologist who developed REBT and who lamented the twin evils of ‘musterbation’ and ‘shoulding on yourself’. I’ve found his work invaluable in sorting my own life out, and i owe him and my psychologist a massive debt of gratitude in that i’ve been able to get as much done as i have – Brian, this one’s for you.

There’s still more work I need to do on it – I’m not happy with the finish and although it’s supposed to be simple i want to embellish it a little more – It also reminds me of my childhood, not that i was made to write lines but because my handwriting was so atrocious that i’d practice by writing out song lyrics and poetry until it was (barely) legible. Plus it had the side effect of my memorising most of the lyrics to ‘Peel Slowly and See’, which is always a bonus. The really odd thing is that i have a chip on my shoulder about my painting style in the same way as i had concerns about my handwriting, and actually taking the time, with my best and finest brush, to paint out all 135 words has been a real learning curve.

Another project which i can’t possibly put off any longer is the college summer project of the sound-piece based on ‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep’, for which I’m planning a monologue about my cats together with a field recording of me playing with the stupid snuckford. I really want to evoke the sense of people trying to hold onto their humanity by their interaction with animals, and in the past I’ve been told that I demonstrate more genuine emotion toward the dumb little creature than to people around me. Whether or not that’s true, it’s still an interesting area to work on, and one of the things about sound art is its varied definition and approach. Compared with last years summer assignment (to read ‘a journey around my room’) it’s an absolute bitch though, and I’m wondering what the other students will make of it and what it’ll lead onto. So i need a mic of some description – I was initially planning to record the sound on my camera, but it’s completely died on me now so it seems that’s not going to happen. i might get a cheap one i can douse in catnip and let the snuckford destroy – i’m bound to get some interesting noises that way 😉

enjoy the remains of the summer y’all

Vix