Responsible Making
Finds excavated at Babylon between 1902 and 1914 in Berlin (British Museum) I have talked before, in this space and more widely, about how I am a maker who does not make things. For a number of years, it has been a sort of existential issue for me, especially since I spend my time surrounded […]
A poetic response to objects
Something I’m particularly drawn to, is the possibility for objects to be inspiration for other art work, not just responding to their aesthetic or formal qualities, but the emotional response. I’d love to see more poetry written about pots, paintings inspired by blown glass, photography exploring jewellery. Mostly I’d love to see more people who work with or create objects talk about them in a sensory and emotive way. I’d like to hear beyond the usual materials and techniques, beyond processes and finishes. Beyond, even, the conceptual underpinnings of the work. I’d love to hear how looking at an object makes people feel. How handling it or using it alters them slightly. I’d love to hear about the myriad thoughts that spin off from that object like dominoes out into space. These personal experiences of objects are things no archaeologist can uncover, they are often unvoiced, even now. Ever curious, I would like to know more.
Books to inspire: London in Fragments
A long time ago I trained as an archaeologist. It’s where my love of objects, of the narratives we weave about our lives, and of searching out unseen things comes from. If you’ve ever nosied around on London’s Thames foreshore, you’ll have had a glimpse of these things for yourself. I’ve written about it before (and no doubt will again) as it’s an amazing experience and connection to the past, a connection to things people have made.