Back to Basics
As part of the Hotbed Press 20 x 20 I created a very simple print. The thing with using the Adana hand press is that every print I produced was different. Lots of happy accidents.
Letterpress Print, 2011
Archived entries for Text Art
Welcome to the Real World – Project Space Leeds
Back in the heady days at the end of Summer I was part of a 3 group show at PSL. It was an interesting experience for many reasons. It’s always interesting to see how groups come together and wether they have a common motivation or driver. I was shown as part of the Art House , and curated by Victoria Lucas. The other groups were Rogue Studios, Manchester and a group from Goldsmiths, London. I was really pleased with how WTTRW looked and worked.
I wanted to make something site specific. I took into account the canal which PSL fronts onto and the redevelopment of the nearby area. The past glories of the economic engine and the hopes for the future. The aspect of PSL is such that the sun tracks around it through the day. The two glass walls have an angular confluence which i wanted to make use of. The terms Viscious and Virtuous came to mind. The circularity of the economy, where we are now in its cycle. How inhumane and unjust the world can sometimes seem. So I devised the circular words so that they can be read from the outside but the shadows cast on the floor can be read the correct way round from the inside. The tracking of the sun changes the Viscious Circle into a Virtuous Circle.
I had never worked with vinyl before, and as can be seen I have adopted it for my last 3 projects. I really like its crispness and versatility. This is a cmplete departure for me because I would never have classified myself an artist concerned with an exquisite finish, always happy to have the process marks visible in the work if that occurs.
The photos below are courtesy of PSL.
Dundee Contemporary Arts – Engage Everyone
As the Summer rolled into Autumn I rolled in and out of Dundee. I was engaged, if you pardon the pun, in a residency as part of the Engage Everyone stream. Engage is all about encouraging people to engage, go visit, interact with Galleries and Museums – in this case specifically focussed around disability. I was interested in how the venue affected peoples interaction as a building as well as a cultural space. I took the approach of a psychological investigation. Yes it really does matter to me and how i interact with a space and how comfortable i feel in that space if that wall is actually a door and likely to move. For more on this see the ‘queue’ work below.
Not only was i interested in the space and the building but also the organisation. How does the organisation deal with disability? As mental health is a particular interest of mine – then how does the organisation behave as an employer towards stress or anxiety or depression for instance – a few of the easier to get a handle on ones first! From my experience as a therapist and group worker in the past organisations can mirror familys – similarly if a cohort of workers feel comfortable around disability issues then this will be reflected in how the organisation deals with disabled visitors. The tricky thing is though – not all disabilities are visible or obvious. Also there is the fear of getting it wrong. I am frequently around various disabilities and yet sometimes when i meet a wheelchair user i have those moments of panic – do i shake hands, do i sit down – have i stood beyond the natural sitting down time – Jackie was great(Jackie Smith, the other artist) she was just directive and up front. Similarly in one of the photos below ia picture of the rear entrance to DCA – which doubles as the diasabled access lift. Please note the small and seedy nature of it. By contrast you could get a 3 piece suite and a standard lamp in the cargo lift. I know the reality but it does say something to me about where the value lies. However to balance that if DCA didn’t want to address issues they would have hired expensive consultants and got a report rather than getting a couple of artists in. So well done DCA on being progressive. The next stage is attending a conference on the findings of this and its sister residencies in Edinburgh and Glasgow.
Perhaps the biggest learning for me on a practice level was using the laser cutter and wxperimenting with that. This piece below was inspired by a conversation at DCA
I was so amazed at the detail of the laser. This work will not be shown at DCA but it is a personal favourite. And thanks to Rob in the print room for his endless patience and help.
I was amazed at the detail and contrast possible
I had initially thought i would print – and indeed i did – it was like learning from scratch again and was fantastic. However I had my head turned by the laser. These are a limited edition print run of icons turned into folded books.
In between in Dundee I had 2 other exhibitions and was working with the British Institute for Human Rights on a pilot project encouraging people to exercise their human rights through the arts. I made a QR code that directed to an Article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on the engageeveryone blog site
It wouldn’t be Text Art without a bit of text.
And finally those doors.
The Art House Exhibition
So Wednesday the 28th was the opening of my exhibition. It is tentatively called Everytime I’m in a queue I always imagine what I’m going to say about a hundred times’. This exhibition is part retrospective part new work – site specific or made especialy for the show, The title is taken from a new work regarding my new fictional newspaper which I am working on for my Engage Everyone residency at Dundee Contemporary Arts. This time it is more of an intervention.
As part of the opening – and I must admit it was unlike any I had been too – not the traditional private view. The Art Walk was so people were moving from venue to venue. People also tended to cut through the foyer – which is where many of the works are – and go straight to the studios. At 7 i did the now de rigeur artist talk. This was fine – there were even a few faces in the audience i didn’t recognise. One of the questions asked was if i am moving to be producer cleaner- crisper work – referencing my recent foray into vinyl. I am enjoying playing with text and vinyl, but i remain of the view that i will produce work which fits the location, space or word the best. I still like being able to see the marks of the process which contributed to the execution of the work. My two new vinyl pieces are in the lift and main corridor of the art house.
Continuing my theme of communication, dialogue and the view that the more connected we are the more disconnected we become – the whole digital/social media diaspora then I am showing ‘Solitary’ in a paired down version without any additional text on the nature of lonliness.
There is always that element of how the work is going to breathe on its’ own. I think there is a good mix or old and new, things in the gallery space and thos site specific and installational elements. I guess that’s my work done on it, I’ve done all I can. Now I am waiting to hear the feedback, see what people think.
Project Space Leeds – Exhibition
Peering Sideways – the overall title for a 3 group show opens Friday 9th September. Runs until 10th December. I am there as part of Welcome to the Real World showing with the Art House. The flyer is here.
Centre for Fine Print Research – Bookmarks
A few years ago I signed up to do a limited edition of 100 bookmarks. Time passes. Then a reminder comes and you have to pull it out the bag. Anyways, I have my 100 bookmarks ready to post off. Hand printed using an old Adana flat bed quarto. I love letterpress. I love the lo-fi way. There is something exquisite about the process, the marks, the individuality and hand craftedness that is imprinted into the paper.
All in a row
Soften
During the Hepworth at Wakefield opening I had the opportunity to show some work. This print is coloured only by the patina of the wood blocks.
Do You Think We Can Talk About This?
I have just installed ‘Do you think we can talk about this?’ at the Centre For Life, Newcastle. It is a collection of pieces which reflect on the personal and cultural agenda surrounding mental health. It runs for a couple of months. Can we talk about mental health? At once we are fascinated by those perceived as kooky, off beat, crazy and then we tire of them and vilify them and perpetuate the stereotypical images and viewpoints of those living with an enduring mental health condition. I hope we can talk about it, I hope we can get a right good open honest discussion going.
Letterpress. Paper, Acrylic,Text 2010
Brief Statement
A socially engaged text based artist Moesbys’ work is informed through the linguistic and visual imagery we use to create and make sense of the worlds we inhabit. Text based installations explore the conflict within the personal and cultural agendas of our Cultural and Psychological heritage. He utilises a variety of media, technologies and approaches in order to realise the artwork yet the text and its imbued meaning is always paramount
Framing of the Work
Aidan Moesby utilises metaphor to provoke a re-evaluation of what it means to experience psychological conflict. The work references the ‘Personal’ and ‘Cultural’ worlds. It explores the preoccupation with the ‘Pop’ psychology of the disposable ‘low brow’ visual media culture which offers the empty promise of 15 minutes of fame through simulated catharsis.
The work has everything and nothing to do with his own experience of Bipolar Disorder. We all experience the highs, lows and ennui of life. To some extent we have lost our sense of Self and our Integrity. Validation is sought from others rather than from within. We yearn for vicarious fulfilment, the projected phantasy, the glossy dream, the ‘quick fix’ down on ‘Easy Street’. We do not wish to look at or acknowledge our own psychological fragilities, and very often we do not wish to attend to those fragilities of others lest we catch them.
Aidan attempts to explore the frailty of the Human Condition in all its’ imperfect splendour. He mines a rich and complex vein of written and visual language in an effort to gain an understanding and awareness of how we can make sense our place in the worlds we create. Ultimately he acknowledges that we are in a state of constant flux and the work remains to inhabit the often subtle, fragile and dynamic boundary between the conflicted continuum of ‘ease’ and ‘dis-ease’.
Mirror. Text. 2004
Charcoal
So messing around with different ways to present text. Going back to basics after having been on an arts admin development DIY day. I like the simplicity, the process of putting on and taking off, of covering up and revealing.
Gentle Doesn’t Hurt
