So, this morning I’m in a cafe in the east village and Ursula is in her apt and we end up back communicating by skype, and weirdly enough it felt really “right”, kind of as if our relationship should be a virtual one.

Still great to be physically spending time in the real world talking through the show though.

Be interesting to hear how it goes if Jess and Narinda eventually meet.

This may well be the last post I write for the blog and it just didn’t seem right to end with my paean to morse code, so just wanted to wrap up and share a final few thoughts on what has been a great experience.

I think I’ve learned a lot on this residency, too much and quite possibly too dull to explain in any detail to those except to my closest friends and my mum.

To summarise I have learned that:

Narinda Reeders is a very interesting, talented artist and a lovely person. (Actually, her mum might be quite interested to read this as well.) She has encouraged me to be more playful with my work, and that is something that I will take and keep with me long after this residency is finished. I have loved our skype conversations and had a huge amount of laughs at bizarre times of the day and night. Narinda devised an artwork that involved a spy-cam in the shape of a pen and quite possibly being mistaken for a terrorist in the city centre. It was scary, exhilarating, fun and basically everything that makes you very, very glad to be an artist. As a composer I often as not sit behind a keyboard looking pensive and dare I say incredibly beautiful, but frankly don’t get out much. The performative aspect of Narinda’s work allowed me to take some risks and to try something new. I hope we make some more work together in the future- not least because she didn’t annoy me once during the residency. This is more than can be said about some of the people I have worked with in the past- maybe not being on the same continent is the key to success. Narinda and I both have long term collabotorial partners and it was fun for me to work with someone new: artistic swinging, it’s the future. Anyway- thanks Narinda. For putting up with this whinging pom and tolerating my very silly sense of humour. Lesser humans have not only tried and failed, they tried and died. (That’s one for the Dune nerds amongst you…)

Which brings me to a question. Did anyone read this bloody thing? Firestats assures me that people did, from all over the world, but are you all bots and crawlers and web ants, (oh my?) According to WordPress the only comments we’ve had have been either in Russian or asking us if we’d like to meet a nice young girl called Cindy (which was a very nice offer but frankly redundant as I’m married and not into blondes.) Was anybody out there? Did this make sense as a blog? Will you still respect me in the morning?

I’ve also taken a lot of personal lessons away with me, about both me as a person and me as an artist, where I’m going and what I want. If you ever meet me in the pub please do allow me to sob on your arm while I tell you aaaaaaaaall about them. I promise to wear waterproof mascara.

If you’re in New York come and see the show which starts on the 9th. If not, check out mine or Narinda’s website in a few weeks time and see the madness fully documented.

Location One, it’s been a blast. Thanks very much for the crazy ride. Adios amigos- may flights of angels sing thee to thy rest x

The idea is to make something beautiful and delicate out of the words that are instilling such global terror at the moment. It also fits in with the concept of the Analogue Tweet- using a virtually obsolete form of communication to convey information and also plays with the idea of “code”- both then and now.

Undo cake; each artist bakes and ships a 12” wide layer of cake, the four layers are assembled with cream and served on the opening night. Undoing both the cake and any diet being done by those present.

Small wax sculptural self portraits done by each artist on the residency, these are displayed on the galleries radiators so that they will be undone when winter starts.

Undo all the screws holding the galleries partition walls together.

Remove the Ethernet cables from the gallery server thus undoing the blog.

Performance for the opening night; persuade as many of the participating artists as possible to spend the entire night scratching themselves (especially in warm, private places) as if they have fleas. Said artists are not permitted to explain to those around them about the performance until after it is finished. This undoes any preconceived positive ideas about artist’s hygiene.

All artists agree to hang their work using standard double sided sellotape therefore allowing the works to undo them selves from the wall over the ensuing weeks.

All four artists in the show agree to only gather together in even numbered group therefore changing the “negative” of undo to a “positive” e.g.
Undo x undo = do
Undo x undo x undo = undo

Commission a wool jumper to be knitted in the style of a rock band tour t-shirt, with “levels of Undo” on the front and then our names, Location One and the dates on the reverse. Everyday that the show was open to the public, one of the guardians would be required to wear the jumper. Unfortunately when the jumper was knitted, the last thread was deliberately not tied off, at the start of each day this loose thread is attached to the desk or chair where the invigilator is sitting. They are not allowed to remove the jumper until the gallery closes for the night or until they leave the premises; wherever they go in the building they will trail a wool thread, as the jumper is gradually undone.

Buy a job lot of “undressing girl” type pens, alter them so that the image features a cross section of world leaders and celebrities who are no longer in power or in the news. As the pen is tilted their image gradually disappears.

Commission a commemorative “Levels of Undo” eau de cologne that will undo any sex appeal previously enjoyed by the wearer.

Commission a second commemorative “Levels of Undo” eau de cologne that attempts to undo the damage done to the self esteem of the wearer of the first cologne.

At the private view serve soft drinks that are high in sugar and acidity in combination with stone ground wheat treats therefore helping to undo everyone’s expensive dental work.

Give away free toothpaste and new toothbrushes therefore undoing the previous work.

Invite children under the age of 10 to the exhibition, distract their carers whilst giving the kids erasers and bottles of correcting fluid.

I am now spending most of my time with my new best friend the Dymo printer- the rolls are so expensive though, and very short, so think that this piece of work may be my financial undoing if I’m not careful. It is a strangely relaxing activity, although somehow also requiring a huge amount of concentration. It is akin to community therapy basket weaving and keeps me quiet.

I had an appointment with a dog the other day and over the weekend i am renting a horse…

So this would be one of the works inspired by our residency, possibly projected onto the wall, or maybe on a small monitor inside a hole in the wall…

I’d definitely like to do one or more other pieces that reflect our residency in another way, one collaboratively with Ben of course, which we said we’ll work on when we both meet in RL, and then, if there is time, some of the list of “undoable” project ideas…

Ben started with his list of “undoable” artworks, well here are some from my list, some that i still would actually like to do at some point…

• Build actual miniature (balsa wood) models of all the ideas listed…

• Build a “Tweet Igloo”: Visitor lies down on back on a comfortable cushion and is pushed into the thought igloo and hears live and simultaneously our tweets spoken by different voices…

• Build an “Internet Obscura” – a model of visualizing the Internet or the Web in a more 3D- and theatrical sense…

• Enact performatively the following stages: Unfinished, Done, Undone. Apply to our list of “to do” artworks.

• List any kind of technology in the following categories: New, Obsolete, Historical.

• List technology-based or net art works in the following categories: New, Obsolete, Historical.

• A performance about the “old” versus the “new” internet…love to actually DO it…that’s why I am NOT going into more detail here…if there is time i will DO it …otherwise it might just become also part of the list …

Oh and I wanted to mention, Jessica and Narinda, I like your project ideas for the show a lot!

Jess, the label-maker tweets are really special…they indeed match the blog visually as well…fun!

So far so good, so tele so bene.

Soon,

urs

An art work designed to be served and drunk at private views which will inspire everyone to look at the person they’re talking to rather than over their right shoulder.

A text based wall work that will extend any really good book you read so that it will never end provided that you pay periodic visits to said art work.

A new media software phone package that will enable parents and offspring to know when the other actually wants to talk to them.

A pheromone based art work that will improve the mood of anyone who experiences it. Attractive single members of all sexes and orientations will be employed as gallery attendants for the duration of the work.

A contextual art work based in a laundry so that everyone who experiences it returns home to find that their duvet (comforter) feels freshly laundered and fluffy.

A mechanical art work that once exhibited ensures that your house plants get watered just the way they want to be.

A software art package that runs in conjunction with Microsoft Word and ensures that when it crashes it’s auto save will actually have saved the thing you needed not some random gobbledygook made up of squares and weird symbols.

A wall based text work made to tell the trees (who in this art reality can read) how much everyone with any sense loves them.

A special Jean Tinguely type sculpture machine that makes any sofa you sleep on long enough for you to stretch out ok.

A hypnosis based artwork that makes anyone who comes near it temporarily say hello and identify who they are greeting by sniffing butt the way dogs do…

Another hypnosis based work that makes tradesman and manual workers temporarily swap their tabloid newspapers (The Sun in the UK) for a left leaning quality paper.

Yet another hypnosis based work that makes bankers and financial workers temporarily swap their finance orientated newspapers (The Financial Times in the UK) for a charity fund raising news sheet.

Yet again another hypnosis based work that makes smug left leaning intellectuals temporarily swap their copy of The Guardian Newspaper (in the UK) for a copy of “Janet and John learn to read – stage one” to stop them being so arrogant as to tell other people what to read…

A wondrously beautiful and valuable abstract painting made to hang in the home of anyone who owns a dog. In the event they don’t “pick up” the doggy dos, their wondrous painting starts to smell like the stuff they left behind until they wise up and clean up.

A sculptural art work that makes cut flowers live happily ever after.

A superb painting that when hung in a restaurant enables all cooks to make amazing food without getting stressed and or suffering the weighty after effects (unless of course they want to).

A gallery performance that involves offering you a perfect cup of tea as you enter to view the work.

A gallery carpeted with fresh green grass to enable bare footed arty types to relax and enjoy the moment.

I would like to send the entire collection of these to Location 1 and for them to display them on the wall of the gallery, ideally next to the computer where the blog is being presented. I think it will potentially look very striking when there are lines and lines up on a wall. I like the way that it mirrors the black on white blog that we have all been contributing to, but is wholly analogue. As you may have already seen on Twitter, when I asked in the stationary shop today for the Dymo labelmaker, the guy pointed and, completely deadpan, said: “1972′s that way.” Lovely line.

So it’s about analogue versus technology, the redundancy of office equipment, the black and white aesthetic and the funny, touching tweets/cries for help that get sent out into the ether every day.

Have put the photo up on the Flickr site.
Jess x

With our ever encroaching deadline looming, I though I would send this out into the ether.

Basically, I hope the three of you will consider joining me in the construction of this work. It is a list of undoable but “very” “desirable” art works…

If so, please consider adding your contributions either to fresh blog posts (which I will compile later) or by copying and pasting mine so that the list keeps up to date.

Potential display methods to be decided between us, these are my favorites in decreasing order of desirability:

Fine printed on a stack of double sided US letter sized office paper in an unlimited edition. The visitors take a copy if they so desire.

Vinyl text mounted onto one of the gallery walls. Font size not less than 10mm high.

Changing text list on a monitor.

So… onwards:

Undoable undo art works…

Push button allowing the general public to undo “undesirable” moments in history.

Push button allowing politicians to undo “undesirable” moments in political life.

New media software package that searches face book and my space for people cheating on their spouses and then introduces (the cheaters) to each other.

N.B: Vers 1.2 Would also introduce the cheated upon to each other.

A small symbol that when drawn would utilise the awesome power of art to negate the calories in the last piece of cake eaten by the drawer.

N.B: Ver 1.2 would make the negation proportional; the better and more sinful the cake, the more calories that would be negated.

A sculpture that when touched would undo the last silly, angry or mistaken thing said by the toucher.

A sculpture that when touched would make the toucher think that the last silly, angry or mistaken thing they had said had been undone, even though it hadn’t actually.

An installation that when entered would temporarily make the user forget the stupid and embarrassing things they’d done in their life which normally keep them awake at night.

A range of artistically slimming t-shirts…

A “found” artist’s sketchbook that when placed under the finder’s pillow at night changes all their artistic rejections to acceptances and all their acceptances to rejections.

An exhibition that opens on a cold rainy night that has through the power of art a long line of warm vacant taxis waiting outside.

An art installation in a fridge where the last piece of cheesecake or salami never goes “off”.

A direct rip off of Tracy Emin’s bed artwork but featuring a loving cuddle from a dog or cat (the user’s choice).

A sculptural work of folded paper that automatically fixes any punctured bicycle tyres that come within 20 miles of it.

A sculpture constructed from home made cake such that even the tiniest morsel frees up artist’s block.

More to follow…