Collect Connect: February 2015

Saturday, 28 February 2015

Stuart Simler - Trojan Horse

Stuart Simler

Today we've got our very own Odysseus exhibiting his sculpture for the dwell exhibition. Stuart Simler's Trojan Horse even has its own address, No.7 St Michael's Alley, behind the Crosse Keys pub in the City of London. Stuart Simler is one of the founding members of our modest collective, and is a great believer and practitioner of our 'Art for all' philosophy. This isn't the only collaborative project he's a part of, Stuart is also integral to the Sunbury Working Artists group , including painters, potters, sculptors, photographers, printmakers and textile artists who got together this time last year. Their flourishing creativity flows from their studios beside the river in Sunbury-upon-Thames.

Stuart Simler - Trojan Horse

We are indebted to Stuart for his overall creativity and exciting 'can do' attitude at CollectConnect but even more so for this Dwell exhibition. Dean Reddick cites Stuart's excellent 'Cardboard City' exhibition along London's Southbank as one of the influences on this public art trail of tiny dwellings. In fact both referenced the spiralling housing costs in London and further afield as themes in their exhibition introductions.

Kim Reddick

We've placed Stuart's Trojan Horse right in the middle of the City, not Troy of course but London's fortified financial district. Here in London we've been under more than a 10 year siege although not one with ancient Greeks camping outside our gates. The IRA activities of the 1980's have now given way to a new threat from further shores, and Police sentries permanently line the battlements of the capital's Square Mile. We had our fair share of unusual looks from tourists and Rozzers alike but we also had a secret weapon when placing Stuart Simler's dwelling on the streets. For who could suspect our cherubic helper Kim Reddick of any skullduggerous activity.

Don't forget to have a look at the next Collect Connect project, 'The Art of Caring' exhibition at The Rose Theatre in Kingston-upon-Thames. The theme is Caring/Care and it is FREE to enter.

To buy the Dwell Book for £6 then follow this LINK

AL.

Friday, 27 February 2015

Steve DT - Sistene Chapel

Steve DT's Sistene Chapel near The Bank of England

Today we have Steve DT's Sistene Chapel.

Steve DT has been a regular exhibitor with Collect Connect- last showing with us on the streets of Bath for The Fab Fridge Exhibition.

Steve is a celebrated erotic artist.

'As an erotic photographer, I attempt to bring a fresh perspective layered with social content to familiar subjects. Part of the inspiration is derived from the sex industry and its many facets, the rest is intuitive.' http://www.worldphoto.org/profile/stevedt

Detail of Steve's net

For the Dwell exhibition Steve created the Sistene Chapel, 'a place to relax and contemplate' which is dedicated to St Raphael: the patron saint of love, lovers and happy meetings (Dwell page 57). Steve's net is the only one dedicated to the erotic nature of dwelling in the Dwell book and his title 'The Sistene Chapel' suggests that the erotic is worthy of praise and veneration.

We placed Steve's Chapel near to the Bank of England in the city of London an altogether different 'chapel' dedicated not to the pleasures of the flesh but perhaps to the worship of money. There is of course a clear link between money and the erotic with reference to the global sex industry and these are the charged areas that Steve explores through his art.

Don't forget to have a look at the next Collect Connect project, 'The Art of Caring' exhibition at The Rose Theatre in Kingston-upon-Thames. The theme is Caring/Care and it is FREE to enter.

To buy the Dwell Book for £6 then follow this LINK

Thursday, 26 February 2015

Sara Lerota - Table dwelling

Sara Lerota - Table as a place of infinite imagination

Sara Lerota

The concept behind today's dwelling is undoubtedly one of my favourites. For who wasn't once a child whose rampant imagination needed only the meagerest of props to visit other worlds. Sara Lerota's net titled 'Table as a place of infinite imagination' gives us this opportunity, however old we are. In fact the whole dwell book is a exercise in regression, it's been a while since I got out my coloured pencils, scissors and Pritt Stick on a wet weekend afternoon.

Sara Lerota is one of our most enthusiastic and longest serving artists here at CollectConnect. Despite committing herself to a regular job in recent months she always tries our unusual ideas and is willing to extend herself. In fact her table idea didn't come easy and it took some time for us to persuade her to publish it in the book.

Dean Reddick photographing
Sara Lerota's
Table dwelling

Sara is a well respected member of the Bosnia and Herzegovina art scene and came to international prominence for her detailed pencil art. She first exhibited with us back in 2011 during the Lightbite exhibition on the streets of Nottingham. Since then she has reached the hand of friendship to other artists around the world as well as many of our CollectConnect crew. Most recently we've seen her take on an administrative/curatorial role at the excellent Art:Language:Location festival in Cambridge, UK.

Dead Man's Hole

Our Table as a place of infinite imagination is placed underneath the fairytale Tower Bridge on a rainy day in London. It sits alongside the legendary Dead Man's Hole which is named because of the tidal currents of the adjacent River Thames where bodies ended up due to accident, suicide or convenient disposal. The corpses tended to congregate along this part of the riverbank, then fished out and stored in the mortuary before being removed for burial.

Don't forget to have a look at the next Collect Connect project, 'The Art of Caring' exhibition at The Rose Theatre in Kingston-upon-Thames. The theme is Caring/Care and it is FREE to enter.

To buy the Dwell Book for £6 then follow this LINK

Wednesday, 25 February 2015

Sabatin Bascoban - Caravan

Sabatin Basocban's Caravan

Welcome to the Dwell exhibition and book. For a whole month we will be taking each artist's page and transforming it into a 3 dimensional dwelling. Each one of these small sculptures will be exhibited in public on the London streets.

This Wednesday morning we focus on Sabatin Bascoban's perfect caravan.
We were delighted to receive this net from Sabatin who has been a regular exhibitor with Collect Connect over the years.

Sabatin studied in Hannover and now teaches and has his art practice on the South coast of England at Southsea and Portsmouth.
As a sculptor Sabatin writies that he is interested in the transformations that his art works undergo as they start off as functional objects and become, through the creative process, impractical or unusable. Fortunately for us his net stays true to its function of creating a tidy touring caravan. The caravan fits nicely with Sabatin's statement that,

'Travel and mobility are recurring motifs in my work. It is an exciting experience to, all of a sudden, wake up to a previously unknown life and live in a foreign surrounding with a different set of rules. There is even a chance that the traveller returns as a different person!' www.sabatin.co.uk/statement.html

Caravan detail of the net

We parked Sabatin's caravan in a flower bed in the City of London. The touring caravan conjures up memories of family holidays, many spent on the South coast of England. The caravan is also an important dwelling in it's own right for many people around the world such as Traveller and Gypsy communities as well itinerant workers.

Don't forget to have a look at the next Collect Connect project, 'The Art of Caring' exhibition at The Rose Theatre in Kingston-upon-Thames. The theme is Caring/Care and it is FREE to enter.

To buy the Dwell Book for £6 then follow this LINK

DR.

Tuesday, 24 February 2015

Rajaa Khalife Paixao - Confessions of an artist

Rajaa Khalife Paixao - Confessions of an artist
beside Dean Reddick

Rajaa Khalife Paixao
courtesy of http://wolfactory.com

Today we present one of our most complex and beautiful nets in the Dwell exhibition. The nimble fingers and mind of Rajaa Khalife Paixao bring this sculpture to life. Although it is called Confessions of an artist it contains no 'kiss and tell' imagery but there are clues within its pages. I haven't a QR code reader and I'll leave it to the art detectives out there to let me know what secrets are hidden within.

Lebanese born Rajaa Khalife Paixao is a London based artist who cut her teeth at Saatchi & Saatchi Beirut as a Senior Art Director. Either side of this impressive posting she first gained a Masters Degree distinction at USEK University, Lebanon in Advertising and more recently a Master of Arts at Kingston University, again with a distinction.

In the past few months Rajaa Khalife Paixa founded Wolfactory, the home of 'Art With Function'. She is busy creating stylish artworks whose unique character can transform any interior space. There is an attention to detail in everything Rajaa does, like her Dwell net I imagine the work that springs forth from Wolfactory will be made with passion and dedication.

Rajaa Khalife Paixao -
Confessions of an artist

'Confessions of an artist' is our most complex net and you'll need to follow the origami instructions that Rajaa Khalife Paixa has kindly uploaded to Vimeo. Building her BOX and DRAGON.

Above we see Dean Reddick with her dwelling in Walthamstow. The flying dragon carries the box of secrets beneath her, and it's going to make a wonderful surprise for a keen artlover or perhaps a child with an inquisitive mind. Like many of our Dwell nets there is every chance the scale of our sculptures could be lost in London's sprawl but it is just this juxtaposition that make them stand out. Rajaa Khalife Paixa's delicate beauty catches the eye against the red decay of London brick.

Monday, 23 February 2015

Nick Gammons - Castle

Castle in front of the Tower of London

Nick Gammons' Castle

Today we return to the Tower to find Nick Gammon's own castle in front of London's ancient riverside palace.
This is Nick's first time exhibiting with Collect Connect and he has created a classic little sculpture of a Keep and Castle Wall.
Nick is an enthusiastic sports fan and I am sure he is stinging from England's recent poor form in the Cricket World Cup.
Having played for many years alongside Nick for Old Eastcotians Cricket Club I can sympathise with England's recent disastrous games, Nick and I were ourselves party to a few spectacular batting collapses!

Nick's sculpture reminds me of his love of all things Lego and I am sure he and his family are adept at building castles in plastic brick form as well as in paper.
It is tempting to set Nick's castle up against Melanie's Caer Hecsagon but here at Collect Connect we are much more interested in cooperation and collaboration so we have avoided any potential siege situations between the two.
DR

Sunday, 22 February 2015

Natalie Low - Dwellow Submarine

Natalie Low

Today we bring long time collaborator and CollectConnect contributor Natalie Low to the fore. Natalie has exhibited with us on too many exhibitions and books to mention all of them individually. She started out as a talented wordsmith and entered CollectConnect folklore during the Brighton Open art exhibition in 2011. Her perfectly formed poem 'Biscuits' was transformed into a magnet and exhibited along the seafront. Needless to say the fruity tone of her poem elicited some choice remarks from the liberated gentlemen of Brighton.

Nice if you were my jammy dodger and I your Garibaldi.
We'd hob-knob with the Bourbons while we gorged upon Rich Tea
Love would be our digestive, a party ring our dream
our malted milk will overboil and make our custard cream

Writing isn't the only talent of Natalie Low and as well as keeping the government to task in her daytime activities she is a keen knitter, allotmenteer and most recently the inventor of the crochet onion bag. We now need to add a new string to her bow and include paper engineer. Her net Dwellow Submarine hasn't been submerged today but gently rests upon a pond in Walthamstow, London. Natalie can't resist a little wordplay as usual and the title of her Dwell page references the popular Beatles song written by Paul McCartney with lead vocals by Ringo Starr. The single was released the same year as Natalie was born and went to number 1 where it remained for 4 weeks. We hope Natalie will carry on being one of our chart toppers for many years to come.

Saturday, 21 February 2015

Mike Russell - Negated Obstacle

Add caption

Today we bring you Mike Russell's cube dwelling, Negated Obstacle, on the streets of Walthamstow. Mike has been exhibiting with us since the Brighton Open in 2011. He cuts a mysterious figure and like many of our artists we have grown close to him yet have never met. After each exhibition though we get another glimpse of the man behind the art.

The Entrance Door To Life
Mike Russell

In 2012 he piqued our interest with his page 'The Entrance Door To Life' in Sampson Low Ltd's publication Freedbook. It charts the journey from the spiritual side to our more concrete world or possibly vice versa. The final line of the story reads 'now you must learn to see without your eyes'. It's the kind of sentence you never forget and I have often wondered if Mike Russell the Artist is also the well known Medium of the same name.

Building the nets

Mike Russell's dwelling 'Negated Obstacle' starts life as the classic cube net, but once made it is a joy of confusing angles and perspectives. When we first built Negated Obstacle for the Dwell book it was a firm favourite amongst our net guinea pigs. It's just the sort of illusion that makes you think twice, as you walk around it the cube changes form and shape. When you see it on the London streets you feel as though you cannot trust your own eyes. Maybe it is time to take Mike Russell's Freedbook advice and see without these globular organs.

Friday, 20 February 2015

Melanie Ezra - Caer Hecsagon

Caer Hecsagon in front of the Tower of London

Today's sculpture comes from Melanie Ezra, a frequent exhibitor with Collect Connect and active participant in Collect Connect exhibitions.

Structured Chaos’ 12″ x 12″ layered paper

'Melanie Ezra is a UK-based fine artist who works using her own original photographs to create beautiful and intricate collages. She often works in series, providing visual responses to external stimuli such as literature, science, and music. She considers herself a specialist in the deconstruction of time and the extension of the moment.'
http://melanieezra.com

On Melanie's website we read that she is currently exploring the world of theoretical physics with its sub atomic particles and string theory; a world of quantum uncertainty where probability rules supreme and where the simple act of viewing irrevocably changes the thing being viewed. One can get a sense of this from the first art work in Melanie's 'Structured Chaos' series, pictured here. The image is alive with strings which seem to seethe in mind boggling complexity. At the same time we can resolve this highly energetic and dynamic image to see a serene landscape which suggests solitude and peacefulness. If we try seeing both at the same time perhaps we get a glimpse of the paradoxical nature of the quantum universe.

Melanie's net 'Caer Hecsagon' is a tiny castle complete with outer wall, keep and portcullis. It belongs to a time when stone walls and a company or two of pike men and bowmen provided a statement of security and power (or fear and oppression). Such concrete certainties are no longer so easy to come by and I wonder what the modern version of the castle is.

We photographed Caer Hecsagon (we love the name!) in front of the Tower of London which is one of the oldest palaces in Europe and remains, to this day, a symbol of power in the heart of London.

Thursday, 19 February 2015

Malc Dow - Escape Dwelling

Malc Dow

Today we're firing up the burners for Malc Dow's 'Escape Dwelling'. It is the only sculpture from the book that cannot be found on the streets, instead we've chosen a much more combustible setting. Malc Dow is the mystery man of CollectConnect exhibitions. He has consistently exhibited and published with us since since the Brighton Open in 2011 when we placed his 'Naked Ape' magnets along the seafront of the popular arty town. He was one of the artists who exhibited in the forerunner to this show Cardboard City in 2013.

Despite regular contact he still remains an enigma, his art graces the cover of a Fernando Poo record and he leaves snippets of his life in my inbox which lay tiny thought-bombs in my mind. Dow is an artist who is passionate about communications, non coercive learning, freedom of speech. So our philosophies here at Collectconnect have comfortably rubbed shoulders with his.

Malc Dow also dips in and out of the internet's public gaze and his net for the Dwell exhibition is equally elusive. His escape dwelling is "designed to float in a flood and remain standing in an earthquake" and can be scaled up to 1:10,000 if things get really bad here on earth. We decided to put it to the test, placing a miniature Malc Dow and his net in this fiery environment. This might be another tempting activity to try during this half-term holiday, building a village of our paper nets and re-enacting the great fire of London. I would expect the mysterious Malc Dow to appear in Pied Piper of Hamlyn style to lead us all away.

Wednesday, 18 February 2015

Lisa Howes - Flat Pack

Flat Pack in front of Girl with a Dolphin

Satellite

Today's artist is Lisa Howes, exhibiting with Collect Connect for the first time, and we are very pleased to include her in the Dwell Book and Exhibition. Lisa graduated from Coventry University in the 90's where she made large abstract paintings. From Coventry Lisa settled in Leytonstone and then Walthamstow before heading South of the river. Lisa continues to paint and draw.

This painting is part of a series of explorations of the colour blue and has a map like quality. The title 'Satellite' suggest an aerial view point and the double yellow lines pulls us into a much closer perspective as though we are stood on the curb. The biomorphic forms are survivors from Lisa earlier works and seem to float like clouds and puddles in the space between the yellow lines and the blue grid.

Lisa's net, 'Flat Pack' is photographed here in front of the sculpture, 'Girl with a Dolphin' (David Wynne 1973) just by Tower Bridge.

The Arch in the Net

The clever title of Lisa's sculpture refers to the net itself (all nets are flat packs) and also to the world of flat pack furniture and flat pack houses and homes. It reminds me of watching modern skyscrapers being constructed from huge pre fabricated structures. Flat Pack is our only net with an arch and this is an ambitious component to the work and one that needs careful attention to make properly. The curved form of the drawing for the net has a lovely rhythmic as seen here in this detail from Lisa page in the book.

We look forward to seeing more of Lisa's art works in future Collect Connect Exhibitions.

Tuesday, 17 February 2015

Kim Reddick - Crates

Crates near The Tower

Create your own Dwelling

Kim Reddick is today's Dwell artist.
Kim has exhibited in several magnet shows in recent years. Like his sister, Kim is a keen indoor wall climber. Kim is also a Karate student and Minecraft fan. Kim's recent interests include Manga drawings, art works, comics and films.

Kim's net is simply titled, 'Crates'.
We placed Crates on a wall in front of a bed of dried grasses in front of a glass fronted building near the Tower of London.
Crates allows the builder to create their own dwelling: stacking the crates however one chooses and using the poles to add a roof or other architectural feature.

Net for Crates

The Net for Crate is a classic box form as seen here.
Crates as a place to dwell suggests a rather basic dwelling, perhaps a place to curl up in a warehouse or dock as part of a journey or an adventure.

The idea of crates as a dwelling also suggests a more sinister form of dwelling such as the illegal international trade in animals.

Monday, 16 February 2015

Keziah Reddick - Dream Dwelling

Dream Dwelling

An old wall Regents Canal, Kings X

Following on from our cricketing all rounder yesterday our next artist is Keziah Reddick with her 'Dream Dwelling' . Keziah has taken part in several Magnet Exhibitions and her art work is always based on her strong drawing ability and clever use of words.

Keziah is also an aspiring sportswoman who can be found hanging from improbable holds at indoor climbing walls, a keen swimmer, runner and a developing cricketer and swing bowler. It is apt then that Keziah's sweet Dream Dwelling is placed here in this lovely old wall (which Keziah says is very climbable) alongside the Regents Canal at Kings Cross.

Dreams in Dream Dwelling

Dream Dwelling nestles snuggly in the small hole in the wall. Whatever the original purpose of the socket we found it to be the perfect spot for the Net as it suggests a small dark room, perhaps a rather cave like space for dreaming. Keziah's net is complete with a bed and mattress, pillow and several dream images which can be stored inside the bed itself. The dream vampire rests on top of the mattress, its undead head laying on the pillow under which one can find a tooth, waiting perhaps for the tooth fairy to collect. One wonders what might happen if a vampire and the tooth fairy met: anything is possible in the Dream Dwelling. The Net includes a space for us to draw our own dreams to add to the Net.

Dream Dwelling also conjures up another set of associations, the parlance of estate agents and property developers with their own versions of a 'Dream Dwelling'. The Kings Cross area itself has seen massive re development in recent years and no doubt there have been plenty of 'Dream Dwellings' available to buy in London's over inflated property market.

Don't forget to have a look at the next Collect Connect project, 'The Art of Caring' exhibition at The Rose Theatre in Kingston-upon-Thames. The theme is Caring/Care and it is FREE to enter.

To buy the Dwell Book for £6 then follow this LINK.

Sunday, 15 February 2015

Julien Masson - Abri

Juilen Masson - Abri
Beside Regents Canal, London

Julien Masson
courtesy of
www.artsim.wordpress.com

On this lazy sunday morning we're waking up to Julien Masson's dwell, Abri, on the banks of Regent's Canal in London. Masson is a digital artist and painter based in the South of England. He studied Fine art in France, the UK and in Italy at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Venice and has a Masters in Computer Animation. We know him best as one half of Artsim with Canadian artist Ian Kirkpatrick. Their artworks have graced our exhibitions for years, their first was in Nottingham for Lightbite in 2011.

Julien Masson's work is ideal for the dwell project, for years his work has employed the wonder of the net. His creations have a science fiction edge, robotic humanoids rise from their 2 dimensional worlds to populate galleries. The computer-designed panels interlock seamlessly like his own interest in science, history and popular culture.

Spitfire Transformer (2010). Digital media

courtesy of www.artsim.wordpress.com

This is no ordinary net, but lets face it few have been for this excellent project. There is illusion at play here too, Masson toys with space and our perceptions. As well as his Artsim work Masson uses imagery from underwater scans, sound waves and seismic records in his more Fine Art driven practice. This style is an exploration of line, colour and volume. It overflows into his work here for the Dwell book. New spaces are created within the surface of his pyramid using line as design and deceit.

Don't forget to have a look at the next Collect Connect project, 'The Art of Caring' exhibition at The Rose Theatre in Kingston-upon-Thames. The theme is Caring/Care and it is FREE to enter.

To buy the Dwell Book for £6 then follow this LINK.

AL.