new PREFAB77

A while ago I did some activities and saw some things, and now i'm going to record my findings. Sorry about the inconsistencies herein, but let us imagine the experience of randomly finding pages of simplicity among the rubble and ruin of our complex society, ish.
So, on the, 19th of January, at 18:30 approx. Myself and Erin ventured into the warm, buzzing basement of a building the name of which escapes me. The warm air hit me with a sweet mixture of spray paint and bottled beer and my eye drew me to a darkness beyond the rough brick walls in one corner. After sleight deliberation I had my camera at my head, staring down its beam at beautifully stripped and piercing artworks, like so:

Evocative in a political sense as well as being almost intimidating these complex images are liberally painted with the reflective substance that gives road signs that wonderful glow. Almost ironically, as with those paintings who's eyes follow you around the room, holding the light above my head would have barely any effect on the room itself, but an image in the distance would flare up menacingly as it caught my eye (or vice versa).
Oh! that was PREFAB77's new stuff by the way, sorry I forgot to include that bit.

Here's page10 of 101TILFAB :)

This was a treat to draw, and my lettering is improving, good stuff.

genius loci?

Sanibonani fellow organisms!
This is the first time I'm blogging and not in the house, which is a little strange. Anyhow, last night i took some pictures around the house, and remembered to snap the wand I made that I was reminded of by Matthew Donnelly.

I once received a book about trees in britain, and identified some of them in my local park. After a whole lot of chopping and peeling i ended up with a stack sized about four fold of this:

Once upon a time they were bundled very neatly under my bed, and there they stayed four about six months. I have a few wands made, the one pictured above was a present to my mother, and my first attempt. Since then my carving has improved. I also learned that a pagan wand should stretch from the crook of your elbow to the tip of your index finger.

Anyhow my time has been cut short for today, here is page 9 of 101TILFAB.

The example in the genuine article was something I hadn't really heard of or anything, so I decided to draw a quick sketch of Postman's Park in London, one of my favorite places. If you haven't heard of it, it's a wonderful little place to sit for lunch that dictates on old stone plaques little stories of hero's. People who died trying to, or saving others.
Sincerely, my self.

NewBridge projected, and continued

Halo people! Now, where was I? Ah yes, The NewBridge Project. So Matthew Donnelly 's work was the bulk of what went on, and tied in very nicely with 'beyond the limits of control' by Ove Kvavik, which when I first saw it, looked like this:

The audio to accompany this was very tranquil and involved birdsong etc. The whole thing however left a sour taste, as this and other slow moving, natural images were replaced by what appeared to be a smoking individual looking upon a possessed girl, twitching and writhing on the floor, making the most uncomfortable sounds. It was wonderfully compelling to watch and listen to, and after fiddling with the audio output myself and Will Strong were plaintively distracted from small talk by the impact it had.
Kate Liston's pieces, Practice Maintaining and Other People Might Not See This are my penultimate talking points, an image on a video screen and another projection, lasting around ten minutes.

According to my sources George Stephenson did not invent the rocket, merely perfected the design and aided in funding. His one true invention was this almost painfully phallic cucumber correction device, which starred in a video focusing on the linear link between this and train tracks etc. The video itself had descriptive  subtitles that were sharp and witty, involving descriptions of the path to enlightenment and the explanation of linear progressions. Interesting stuff.
Last but not least, something that almost reminds me of Prefab77 (I know, I know, shut up already Scott). This is called 'Yugen' and was artistically digitized by Ben Jeans Houghton. See his other works HERE!

This image makes me laugh so much. Apparently there was an earthquake not too long ago in America somewhere, and this museum was shaken so badly that a full scale statue of a man holding some books came crashing to earth head first, spearing itself into the ground. The image is mixed with cosmological nebulae and a dreamy starscape, which gives it a beautiful ethereal quality.

Well, that's all in that respect, here's page 8 of 101TILFAB.

Click here to see some more about Louis Khan, who I've learned is an impressive modernist architect. The mixture of wood paneling and concrete is truly something to behold, and the way that the circular holes cut through the linear shelving and isles on each floor is obtusely inspiring.
Sincerely, my self.

Public offering

Salut all.
I'm going to talk about The NewBridge Project now, where I invigilated today. Not to be dismissive, I feel  should mention that Edwin's audio story was displayed, which was better again this time round when I had time to hear it properly without interruption.

These pieces are by Matthew Donnelly, a Scottish shaman of sorts, they are called Untitled, Offering, Wand and Shapeshifter, respectively. These objects are beautifully simple, almost crude and undeniably related to each other. Even down to the wall fixing on the wand and the petrol like substance in the offering dish, the details bring to mind an image of basic appreciations.

Puts the car in 'caramel fudge cake'

Goedendag fellow humans,
I recently discovered the joys of metallic edible spray paint!

Silver, more specifically. My partner learned to drive recently, and this is my homage to her and 'the colonel', a silver Renault Clio. I especially liked the chocolate covered Oreo wheels.
Here is page 6 of 101TILFAB.

I'm sorry that the only thing i can say about this is that it was the third and last time i will ever spell positive incorrectly. As proven below.

This being page 7 of 101TILFAB, where i have clearly underlined the mistake. I know that's a little silly, but this is a learning experience. I loved drawing the 'city figure-ground plan', and seem to have gotten carried away and drawn a well in the upper right quarter of the positive space.

That's why they call it a revelation

Hallo any and all,
I'm disappointed to say I've neglected my blog of late, but I'm back with a vengeance, a vengeance for knowledge. I'm stocked up on revelation tea...

I caught up on 101 things I learned from a book called 101 things I learned in architecture school, or "101TILFAB". Also saw some interesting things invigilating at The Newbridge Project that i would like to share, which also remind me of some things I've attempted in the past and might open a whole new can of worms relating to the 'found items' around my home.

So here's page number 5.

Due to my gravitation towards interior architecture this page was nice to make and draw, the shapes have power in simplicity. Also, volumetric is a wonderful word (and not in the blogspot dictionary!).
Sincerely, my self.

Prefab77?

Greetings fellow organisms!
Today Simon Chambers graced us with the task of blogging a magazine, an event and a retail environment, to get the ball rolling so to speak. Oh how I chuckled to myself, he suggested looking around urban outfitters, so I did.
On the way there I saw this:

How ominous, all those months ago when I volunteered for my first art event I was oddly drawn to the work of prefab77, and I'm sure this face has followed me for years around the alleys and hideyholes of Newcastle.

When I got inside urban outfitters i was immediately blown away by this:

There is a place, near The Goose, that has gigantic, 20ft angle-poise lamps, with equal majesty to their counterpart, but a far more industrious edge. This however is a different league altogether. As I drifted below it with trepidation I could almost feel the warmth buzzing from it.

 Here's another light fitting, playing off the brick walls and exposed piping.

And who doesn't love wood profiling. Reminds me of the time i made a chessboard from side grain and end grain wood :).
But what is this! on the stairs there, next to the giant M?

Prefab77! Set beautifully between and around hard materials and wired lightbulbs.

prefab77.co.uk

Last but most definitely not least, page 4 of my little book project :)

I've always had a fancy for dotted lines that describe something implied, either below the surface or hidden away somewhere. Also, i love the bounce in that sentence.
Sincerely, My Self.

Racking the Noodle

Back again after a couple days of normality and i've finished another two pages of my little project.
First of all however i'd like to share some other things that grabbed my interest. On Sunday i saw a white wall and i had to paint it black, at Highbridge gallery space. On the way out i ran into Edwin Li, who i'd met on several occasions throughout Action Relay, an ongoing piece at the gallery that had involved using the objects used by the previous artists.
Edwin said he had a thing on Monday night, at the mining institute, so after eating some lovely food in The Town Wall with my girlfriend Erin, and after finding this:

(I've had a thing for prefab77 since i saw their work invigilating for MART at the Baltic, and this is certainly now going to keep my eyes peeled for novel No: 7 )

Yes, anyway, we went along (belatedly) to the Mining Institute, and upon finding this poster crept inside and rang the buzzer.

We paid our due's and sat at the back on the floor, listening to Edwin teasing some beautiful instruments as he told a story of civil war, passionate resistance and unrequited love. It was a wonderful story, and the building was very pretty, apparently they have a golf club too.

This is our slightly obscured view of the proceedings, which made me think a lot about code within music, it was very interesting. :)

Here is the second page of 'things i learned'.

And here is the Third.

So away i go to eat noodles and return another day (tomorrow)
Sincerely, My self.

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Don't Call Me Ishmael (Humble Beginnings)

Welcome any and all to the wonderful and often excitedly convoluted thought patterns of me, Scott Dixon.
To get me started and motivated about a concept so foreign as 'blogging' I have invented a little task for myself :) .
For Christmas this year I received a handy little book called '101 things i learned in architecture school' by Matthew Frederick... Who's website is HERE .
On my quest for knowledge I've decided to pay a sort of homage, and come out of the other end of it with some evident learning experiences.

After struggling for 30 minutes with a decidedly awkward hole punch, I salvaged some left over chord from attempted Xmas craft and strung this little beauty together :D.
The premise so far is to do one a day, for 101 days. The first one looks like this:

My sketch lines are always feathery, and its evident I need to spend more time shaping and spacing my print, but the point remains. Hopefully tomorrow I'll find time to upload some pictures of my favorite things around the house, and as soon as I'm volunteering at the gallery I'm sure countless thoughts will broach my skull.
Sincerely, myself. (  tweet #ScottD1xon  )

Note: Remember to carry notepad and pen with me more often.