Wednesday 19 January 2011

Shaping Cultural Identity

This morning I sat down in the tube and next to me I saw a left over from the Guardian, the Education section had been dashed aside and left behind about to turn into trash. I looked at it and thought that maybe I'd find something more interesting in there than I would if I stared at the sleepy, grumpy faces of Monday passengers. I picked it up and the front page head line sounded quite relevant to my current theme of discussion  "Know your history, know your cultural identity" great! I thought, identity is being discussed in schools. Teachers are encouraging children to know, value and embrace their cultures, this way helping to shape their identity. It had not become clear to me then that "your" in the title was giving every child from every country and nation studying in England, a British Culture as means of identification.

The article debates whether children should leave school with a  chronological account of significant historical dates of "Our Island History" this idea on the surface sounds practical, we are all living and sharing this Island. Mike Baker speaks about his own experience in school and history admitting he has been left with a "maze" of knowledge and describes the teaching method as  "narrow and unrelated" personally, I can relate to that statement - I am ashamed to say I lack a good grasp of the narrative history of the British Isles.

Then there is a an intersting debate which follows about the balance of factual and practical knowledge students should have in contrast with what the curriculum requires. He seems to be supporting the idea that the teaching of History should go much further than just memorizing facts but develop source analyses skills in young people.

I am now over half way through this article, and I see no relation to the title. There is a proposed chronological structure on a new learning strategy, starting with Roman Britain, the Angles and the Saxons, and the Vikings in year 7 and moving steadily through to the Civil Wars, the Restoration and Victorian Britain in year 9. In year 10 and 11 students could opt for either a full or half GCSE in which they would choose from a selection of key themes in British history as well as topics from modern world history blah blah blah...blah...

This to me sounds fantastic and coherent, I would be very happy if my son learned accordingly. However, what Bake has failed to acknowledge  is that in this way children are not gaining an individual cultural identity. Children from African and Latin American cultures for example - would learn about their heritage through modules on the Age of the Empire and that would be how their knowledge is shaped, similarly  Latin American children would be taught  through the supposed discovery of America by Spaniard Cristobal Colonm, which at 25 I still find very hard to digest.

Although it is common for countries to focus heavily on their own national history as compulsory knowledge, for example France, Finland, Greece and Sweden regard all studying their own countries history it is not a way of fostering an awareness of national cultural identity, the raise of cultural identity is especific to children from different countries it is not a general "your" in the self as proposed in the this title. Unless "you" have willingly made this decision. Frightfully however, this title seems to imply that this decision has already been made for all students as they are taught History in Britain.

It disregards both diversity and inclusion of others cultural identity. One can emigrate to Britain, be born in this Isle without identifying ever through its History, I stand in that line. I am proud to be here, I hold great respect and gratitude to this country for the opportunities from which I benefit, I also  enjoy being part of British Culture- but  would never identify though it.

How History is taught in schools today affect the way foreign children are appreciated and valued by their fellow pupils, also the way they see and value themselves and the history of their country. To learn that your origins were once heavily and inhumanly prosecuted, considered inferior with little other facts or emphasis to balance these painful historical facts, there is a damage being done to the image a child will have formed about their history and self representation.

We can see how this narratives also exist in material culture. High culture is the playground of the rich and  paintings worth sometimes billions of pounds are found depicting people from none western cultures predominantly as slaves or servants. These are hanged in highly regarded institutions or fairs, which are often part of immense buildings reflecting Britain Imperialist Roman Architecture, built to be admired and to be associated with grandeur, strength - sending a message of superiority to other nations. This can cause a child to feel shame or a sense of inferiority. I have chosen below three paintings which to illustrate my point.

What I most love about Art History is how paintings act as time capsules unknowingly capturing aspects of history as it was lived through those that experienced that time. This includes: style, fashion, social and personal practices.  It was not the intention of the painter to present the black women as servants, it was normal practice of the time and a common view of society.

 Dante Gabriel Rossetti,The Beloved, 1865
Edouard Manet, Olympia, 1863
A Homage to Velazquez
Luca Giordano, about 1692-1700

I want t mention briefly "M.R" a friend of mine, she does not wish to be named. This not an issues which is easy to discuss for everyone when speaking from experience, but it is nevertheless a brave step to admit these feelings and talk about about them. Thank you M.R.

This is her story:

M.R grew up in the United States where she went to school in New York, she is from a practicing Jewish family. While M.R was in school she was questioned endlessly about her heritage and religion, these curious minds sometimes then turned into sceptical critics who found her an object of discussion and sometimes mockery. As M.R got older she began to feel ashamed of some aspects from her culture and hid them from others instead giving way to the American way of life, this way she was able to fit in and feel less like "the other". It is precisely this distinction between a dominant culture and the "other" which causes division which can lead to segregation and alienation of  children.

I propose that children should be taught as a compulsory module the history of the country in which they are learning as it is done to date, but they should also take additional modules of their choice of foreign history, from the year 7 onwards, or a module which overviews cultures and countries of the world, not necessarily focusing on popular events. This way by the time they are in year 13 they are not mostly ignorant of others cultures including and practices.

This would mean that from an early age children do not fall victims of myth or stereotypes against others of even worst, themselves and are included and valued. Teachers should be especially trained to encourage acceptance and integration where all ca coexist and at the same time respect others freedom to be different.

NOTE:
I am aware that I have probably taken the title "Know your history, know your cultural identity" a bit further than it was intended.  But it is these type of comment is what shapes peoples way of thinking and expectations. As a journalist of the Guardian Newspaper, I would expect Mike Baker to know how to use language in a more inclusive way.

Thursday 13 January 2011

IDENTITY ***(ONGOING)***

Either you have said it yourself, you have heard it from someone or you have wondered about it - the question is - how do children who are born or immigrate to a different country identify themselves. 

I was born in Chile, then moved to Ecuador at the age of five after living there for five years moved to Spain and consecutively five years later to London. I felt I had been part of these cultures and yet I didn't belong to either - often when people ask me where I am from, in my most sincere of reflections I reply - I don't know. I find it tricky to express myself via s single medium.

I've become a diverse character, sometimes described as "wild" or "free" I am not sure what to make of those adjectives. I don't like being labeled. I have chosen to adopt and discard traditions using my intuition and at my own accord. Not fully belonging, is a lonely road to take and for those who dare to take this road there can be exiting times ahead full of mystery and curiosities, but also an inability to relate or feel love or any real attachments that at time can make one feel lonely or vulnerable.

From an early age I became a inwards character, I reflected on my surroundings. This made me very critical of people; I saw how different types had different values and as a little girl I was grew curious that everyone thought their way was the right way, across different cultures and continents. As an adult, at 25 I am still very much confused. To form my identity, I have no common ways or subconscious behavioural patterns previously learnt, rather I have to look at myself every time and feel what choices to make following my own heart beat as guide. This can sometimes be exhausting.

I have never been one to follow norms or crowds, often I find myself simply pondering on the different ways there are to approach a subject. This makes me a hard character to understand. I have the fire of the Latin Blood in my veins, that is for certain.

To look how this issue of cross identity has affected me and others in more detail I will examine my personal life and also that of others, I want to find as well as similarities, contrasts.

I will be meeting with Photographer Dereke Wiafe, who is currently working photographic series "A Lost Child". His previous series include "Waking up Early" and "Borough Kids", over the past year he also lectured at Coventry University.



Dereks account on The Problem of Being

At any moment I take to think of myself as being ‚British‛ or ‚Ghanaian‛, my impressions are fleeting. The thoughts I conjure up are transient, steeped in contradiction and often blur the image of African tradition with Western modernity. For I can one day be the quietly-mannered Fante boy who has an ‘English’ dislike of Palm-nut soup, and the next, be in a hooded sweater listening to Hip Life as I browse the National Gallery. Neither is typical of what might be seen as a traditional son from either country, but they’re perhaps signs of a changing cultural portrait . Yet amidst this change, many second generation youth will ask them the question - ‘am I at home here? Do I belong in this picture of my country?’ For me it’s a question I seek answers to in the pictures I portray: narratives from my imaginary homeland.

Understanding- A Lost Child
I urge you to stay at home


Growing up in London, home was where the portrait of a child’s character and heritage were synonymous with the stories whispered about them; stories where fiction blended into history and fable into sermon. If by day a youngster lost the taste for their mother’s cooking or fashioned their hair after Bob Marley, by night, their newly adopted ways would become material for proverbs that frowning parents would tell on the ills of forsaking tradition. Proverbs for all to hear and in the ol’ Ghanaian custom sigh ‚Oh Obayerafo, Come Home‛. But to which picture of home and national identity was a child of two worlds supposed to fit into? Was it the British, the Ghanaian or neither?

The work here is my reimagining of such stories; a remaking of them into narratives on the romantic promise and uneasy harmonies of cultural hybridity. Tilted ‘Obayerafo’, after the euphemism ‘A Lost Child’ , the narratives appear through an interplay of text and image. In the visual work, a series of large scale photographs are presented where tradition and place become the Other to a group of young British born Ghanaians. Shot in their family homes, each scene recreates an everyday encounter where modernity coexists in an unsure relationship with tradition and subtle gestures seem to unsettle the experience of belonging. Here, as in the folklore of West African story tellers, symbolism takes reign. An atmosphere of muted colours and dimmed light veers attention towards objects that go unnoticed.


Hair, dress and minute details in books and furnishings all become clues that build a picture of place and identity but unfold little. The sitters too play their role. Faces retreat from our gaze into obscurity and bodies are molded after the stillness of African wood figurines. Their poise hints at a condition of being, but direction is uncertain and purpose unclear. In ways, the photograph takes the mantle of narrator, performing these spaces into proverbial tales. They invite the viewer to make sense of tensions between belonging and displacement, tradition and change, abrogation and appropriation and where they become visible in the images.


Written from the viewpoint of a fictional narrator know only as ‚Mr Wiafe‛, text accompanies the photographs playfully informing the work with reference to the difficultly of translating cultural identity and adding humorous insight into the complex relationship the artist has with his Ghanaian and British heritage.

Sunday 9 January 2011

Modernity and Progress, Two Very Different Things


Post or modernism do not necessarily mean advancement and neither are they synonymous of  progress.  It simply represents the passing of time, but this time isn't always moving forward or towards an increasingly developed way of thinking or future with better options, and solutions to long standing questions. 

Even when could be putting people at risk why do we continue to allow speculation to influence our decisions? . How did it become fashionable to disregard evidence? Where is our morality shifting towards and where do we now seek to find answers for our happiness? Why are we oblivious of the real cost that mass consumption is having on our society?

Here, I want to look at two talented individuals who have been able to free think to shape their personalities, both share progressive perspectives and through their work they open doors for others.

American conceptual/pop artist Barbara Kruger, she was born in Newark, New Jersey in 1945 and left there in 1964 to attend Syracuse University. In her work she manipulates popular iconography to reveal the deception of signs. Kruger's graphic work usually consists of black-and-white photographs with overlaid captions set in white-on-red Futura Bold Oblique.

The phrases usually make a bold statement and commonly use pronouns such as you, I, your, we and they. She juxtaposes imagery with text containing criticism of sexism/misogyny and cultural power structures. Much of her text questions the viewer about feminism, classicism, consumerism, and individual autonomy and desire, although her black-and-white images are culled from the mainstream magazines that sell the very ideas she is disputing.
 
She layers found photographs from existing sources with pithy and aggressive text that involves the viewer in the struggle for power and control that her captions speak to. In their trademark black letters against a slash of red background, some of her instantly recognizable slogans read “I shop therefore I am,” and “Your body is a battleground."

To end I will be speaking with Cancer Research Scientist David Mansfield also kin artist and photographer, who believes that it is possible in the future there will be a "Second Enlightening" David has kindly agreed to do a short interview at the end of this post.
 



In both "Your Body is a Battleground" and "You Are Not Yourself" above Kruger reflects on how our own image is destroyed as we seek to attain a look which is marketed by fashion or cosmetics campaigns. Making women of the 21rst century believe that they are not good enough, that unless they consume specific products there will always be someone better than them who does. There is a constant pressure to fight age and any type of body which does not support the ideal, which in cases is a computer altered image that naturally is impossible to achieve.

In I shop therefore I am Kruger makes a comment about our existential position, initially referring to Rene Descartes "I think therefore I am" Kruger now implies that we build our identity through material possessions.



The images below speak of women's place in society through out history, making religious and patriarchal references -  I will leave interpretations to your own devices.





Now I want to ask David Masfield a few questions regarding some of the issues I have mentioned above. I chose him because as well as a scientist he is a practical man one who seeks to find solutions rather than hope for a change. Amongst his posts on SCIBITE he include  MMR and Autism: How The Media Endangered Children for further reading and more information you can access full content of this blog HERE.

Thank you David for agreen to answer some of my questions, first I would like to ask you if you have any comments on the post above.
 
The images seem to highlight those features of humanity or society that need attention: Health, personal identity, oppression etc. All issues faced by women, but presented in distinctly masculine form of bold high-contrast posters resembling government propaganda/public service posters. These issues remain today, perhaps mutated slightly, or in some cases grown. Kruger's message still seems to be landing on deaf ears, others are now trying to shout the same messages.
 
You said you believe that there could be a Second Enlightenment Age could happen, could you tell me a little bit more about that?

Its not so much that I think there could be a second enlightenment, its that I think there should be one. we have become so detached from the workings of the things we operate we cannot see where it is leading us. Renewable energy is a phrase bounced around a lot these days, but is all it really does, bounce around, never making a real impact. The world we have created requires constant supplies of resources, energy, minerals, people, space. Unfortunately these things are all finite in our world. Economies require a state of constant growth to be healthy, but to achieve that you need to constantly consume resources, resources that are running out. I'm not just talking about fossil fuels, precious metals, named such because they are rare, are used in much of our technology, from lithium in your mobile phone battery, indium in your LCD TV, platinum in your car's catalytic converter. Common metals even are running short as developing countries rapidly work to build for themselves what they have seen the west build. Fossil fuels are dwindling, the price rising ever higher as the supply runs out. The world simply cannot sustain this. There needs to be a complete revolution in the way we see the world, you cannot simply mine for more resources when you use them on the scale we do.


Which things do you see in our contemporary society which build themselves as part of a new enlightenment?

Fortunately the seeds have been planted that should eventually provide the fruits to help us when the revolution comes, but that doesn't mean it will necessarily be an easy transition. As I said, people will need to rethink their expectations of the world, perhaps you won't be able to buy mass produced items cheaply anymore, instead you will invest in an expensive but durable item. Great minds will once again be required to solve old problems when the old solutions are no longer available. There are those who already live like this, but they are the minority, convincing the majority to change their ways is the challenge. There are many today who oppose the short term investment of time, money and effort in the long term goal of achieving sustainability. The Luddites of the Industrial revolution opposed progress to preserve what was a sustainable way of life, the irony is today the opposition want to preserve their unsustainable way of life. We need to convince these people now, to ease the transition. If nothing changes they will all be convinced eventually, when our world ceases to function and collapses around us.

Coming from a science background could you offer some thoughts on: why even when lives can be at risk some people continue not to accept appropriate medical treatment or seek alternative medicine?

Superstition has a strange place in human behaviour, perhaps a function of the brain trying to identify patterns where there are none. We try to link events even though they are not related. Sportsmen link a success to a particular action before the event, and will repeat it next time to ensure similar good luck. Alternative medicines often feel natural and healthy, and do help the patient feel better, so they will continue to use them. Unfortunately feeling better does not always mean getting better in the long term. Many people fear the side effects of chemotherapy for cancer for example, and prefer to try something else first, despite drug side effects being greatly reduced in recent years by continued optimisation of drug design. As humans we prefer to take the shortcut, it might work, even though often you end up lost, then back where you started, having lost some time, and starting down the harder path. 

What does it take to have courage to use your own understanding?

Our society has moved from one that took pride in learning, to one that likes to be taught. This leaves us vulnerable to misinformation and misconceptions but also vitally leaves us incapable of using our own reasoning to solve problems. Using your own understanding is always a test of yourself, and testing is something to be dreaded these days, you might be wrong! There is never any shame in being wrong, as long as you learn from it. But as I said, learning isn't fashionable anymore. Knowledgeable people are nerds and boffins and other stereotypes mocked by the majority for using their understanding. It is inherent in those nerds, they cannot live without applying understanding to their world. For the others, it just requires the courage, if you don't test it you'll never learn the truth.

Why do you think evidence hard to accept? 

Humans invest their resources in certain aspects of their life, often these investments turn out to have been bad but there is something in the human psyche that denies this, they think if they continue this investment it might turn around, despite all the evidence against it. This applies particularly to ideas and concepts, when you have spent your life believing something the resources invested in it are so great that to accept it to be false is accepting that you and your life has been based on a lie. Your every interpretation has been twisted by this belief in order to support it, because you thought it was true. Accepting it as false requires a reunderstanding of the whole issue, or in cases such as religion, a reunderstanding of the whole world. While there is a shred of doubt to cling on to you will, because that is convenient and requires no change.

By David Mansfield


By David Mansfield

 And lastly for your viewing pleasure....



Saturday 8 January 2011

David Hardy

I want to look at London emerging Artist David Hardy and by speaking with him to understand his work. What is interesting about Hardy's paintings for me is the impressionist quality of his style and how his ability to capture character and personality in his works.

Many artists capture their subjects likeness but struggle represent feelings and personality to convey a character, even without failing to achieve realistic facial and or body features they cannot give their subjects a realistic human like personality. Subsequently, they are able to create a beautiful image but their models never take a convincing human form.
 
Background and Conversation

David thank you for agreeing to feature on Words Together and contributing to its content and growth. I have been following your work recently and I look forward to seen what the future holds for you. I also have enjoyed getting to know you.

Although I mostly want to focus on your portraits, particularly on the one of Charles Bukoswky, I also would like to mention Children Playing, below.


There are moments which are essentially representative of a person or life period. One of them is play during childhood, the carelessness and the universal ability to find time for play in the most unlikely scenarios. Regardless of circumstances, transforming immediate scenarios into far away lands of imagination where the "real" external world is no longer as we "rationally" understand it as adults but a place full of magic, where anything is possible even if there are no toys (tools made specifically for this purpose) available.

Although in terms of context these two images are worlds apart, (see above painting and photograph below). There is no existential difference in the children. Hardy gracefully captured this quality in his painting, a familiar scene which can be found all over the world. If the children in Eritrea, below were shown the picture above they would be able to see the the difference in the enviroments but it does not affect their existential position, hence they have the ability despite circumstances to play and have fun. This puts into perspective the source of innate happiness.

Massawa, Eitrea 1991

For me, truth is something which can be universally applied, in this case - childhood is a time when our existential position is at a perfect estate - we are okay and the world is okay. 

As we grow older our understanding of our surroundings changes some say matures, this impacts on- who we think we are, commonly giving us complex personality types and strengthening our temperament.  Our existential position then becomes defined as follows:

I am okay and the world is okay,
I am okay and the world is wrong,
I am wrong and the world is right,
I am wrong and the world is wrong.

This is dependant on how we contextualize our existence which is in turn relative on the values and morals we adopt. For example, if we think the ideal in life is to be fit and healthy we are likely to question and compare how fit and healthy we are, then judge and give ourselves and others a place, using the existential formulas above. This is of course a subject that requires a lot more detail but I will leave it here for now.

Let's learn more about David Hardy:
David Hardy was born in 1968, in Cotgrave (A small coal mining town just south of Nottingham in the East Midlands). He says "from an early age I could be caught by my parents drawing up walls of the stairs etc, but they did find them highly creative"

Following the secondary school disappointment of failing to meet the grades he needed, in 1985 David decided not to purse the Art Career he dreamed of. After leaving school trained instead as an  Electrician but, unsatisfied with this trade, after some years he left and wondered from job to job. Eventually in 1990 he decided to form a Rock Band called Kinky Smith, he was the lead singer for three years. Following a series of arguments the band split up and they agreed to go their separate ways in 1993.


Not painting was now beginning to cash up on David who was unsatisfied with his lifestyle and found little interest in most things. Two years later he decided he would go back to college to finally study Art. He enrolled in
Basford Hall College in Nottingham under the guidance of artist Andy Parry from he graduated in 1997.

Where there any artists which inspired you during this period?
 

I became inspired by artists, illustrators & Graphi designers such as Dave Mckean, Brad Holland, Jenny Saville, Lucian Frued, David Hockney, Picasso, David Carson, Peter Saville. He saw that I was talented and persuaded me to go to University.

What happened then?
I did this, but decided to do Graphic Design as an Illustrator and went to Salford University against the better judgement of my tutors at college who thought fine art would’ve been a better choice.

How did that influence or affect your work?
My art work did diversify throughout my time at Salford. I would one minute be producing radical urban wallpaper designs to posters inspired by porn magazines and then producing book cover designs. I would usually display my prep work for exhibitions as I liked the rawness of the works.

How much time did you spend painting?
I would spend around 50 hours per week in the studio as well as a part time job as a barman in Manchester’s city centre.

After  leaving university in the year 2000 David struggled again to make ends meet and moved back to Nottingham. He found himself once more going from job to job, but this time he had a dream to hang on to, one he would pursue Art and continued to paint. During this period his work was mainly focused on female figurative pieces. Then in 2005, he met the woman whom he later married, this meant he was again under pressure to commit to full time employment resulting in him not painting again for three years.


David had to become again lost again, in his path to pursue his dream as an Artist. Eventually the marriage broke down and they divorced after four years in 2009. David is now painting again full time he says "this time is for life"



Whats important you while painting portraits?
I normally work quite quick now on pieces, as those that take a long time with a lot of detail bore me and I end up hating them. When I’m painting portraits of famous people, I will study their character and the way they behave, smile or frown or whatever. I will watch or listen to them – e.g. Noel Fielding, I would watch The Mighty Boosh or listen to them while painting, I would also keep rotating photos on my laptop of the person. I find my style changes slightly, but I think this is to match the person in the portrait.

A retake of Richard Ayoade
How do you describe your work?                                           
I would describe my work as Pop Art, I am quite happy with that. I tend to go for figures or portraits, but also dabble in my semi abstract city scape block paintings from time to time.


On the portrait of Charles Bukowsky below, David has captured him on a comfortable scenario at his home but removed the iconography of the books which originally served as background. These also were reinforcements of identity for Bukowski. In both images we are the subject of Bukowsky attention, in Hardys version it seems we are conversing with him however in the photograph there is also the possibility that we might have said something which raised a pleasant feeling Bukowsky while he was concentrating on something else.

Although this painted portrait isn't fully true to the subject actual appearance, Hardy captured a person whom he gave a palpable personality.  Unknowingly perhaps, taking one person as reference and transforming in into another or the same but at later in time in their life. Whilst this might not have been Hardys original intention, he nevertheless executed a portrait which successfully conveys a great deal of emotion.
 




In terms of a market who are you aiming your work at?
My market would be, the people who I am painting, or their fans. (if the paintings are of famous people) or People aged between 25 - 45 with disposable income or collectors.

For the figurative work, this would mainly sell to young couples or singles aged around 25 - 45 who want original works of art.

What is your ultimate dream in life?
My dream would be to have a big house/apartment with it's own studio to paint in. Where I can be happy and have fun.



Well H Teddy

Happy Easter

Sometimes an artist can effortlessly surprise with work for which we develop a particular admiration. Two years ago I came across Well H Teddy or Well Hung Teddy, a character unique and rich in originality, conveyed  in strange narratives- within familiar city and country escapes. Well H Teddy is an elaborately crafted  bear with an air of  confusion, abandonment, loneliness and beauty. Teddy also, regularly transforms himself setting off in adventures and he appears in various forms. 

Here, I will look through some of his journeys and try to share with you the beauty and mystery captured with simplicity on character that, hopefully by the end of this post, will also have become your virtual companion. The creator of Well H Teddy has kindly agreed to answer a few questions at the end.


Sometimes, Well H is a sticker on a cup which gradually comes off during the dish-washing cycle, he can also be found sliced on a plate bleeding thick pink blood as an Easter greeting, through this occasional irony touches, we get to know a little bit about the personality of his creator.

Other times, Teddy is flying through the air, travelling the city or hanging in the forest. With his big black eyes he rarely seems to change his expression. He appears indifferent to his surroundings, as if there is something constantly on his mind- perhaps a memory or a purpose, we can help wonder if he is lost, searching or escaping.


The print below is entitled "Teddy Escapes to the City" we see Teddy in a forest hanging by his ears, this piece has been described by a fan as "adorably depressing" is he plotting to escape? or maybe he in only using his imagination to travel, but not actually going anywhere. Has someone left him there temporarily? forever? The possibilities entertain us, while we examine the delicacy in which each print has been executed, our brain is constantly trying to figure something out. This settings are as fictional as they seem familiar.


Things inevitably happen to Well H as they do to us, events beyond our control "nothing is certain, except change" sometimes this change is welcomed and others it can be an obstacle or window of opportunity, that depends on our temperament. We are autonomous individuals subject to a constantly changing environment. However, there is a place for us, a realm where we would like to be either physically or emotionally. While we search for ours, we wonder if Teddy will eventually find his.

By becoming a Teddy fan you embark on a journey merely as an observer of a bear we think lost and by giving him human characteristics we sympathise with him.


Part of the Dish-washing Series
Although he endures harsh conditions: sliced, buried, hanged and more, he is always intact in a kind of fragile condition, defenceless but his texture remains as indifferent to the elements as his mind appears to be.


First thank you agreeing to answer some of my questions and I hope you enjoyed my post, it was a pleasure reflecting on your work.

Who is Well H Teddy?
How was the concept for Well H Teddy born?
Where do you see Well H Teddy in 10 years?

Well H is me; I am somewhat hairy and have crooked ears. The pictures and sculptures reflect exactly what I am doing or feeling at the time. Sometimes literally and other times a little more suggestive. The early abstract work came from a period when I was living on the 23rd floor in central Auckland. I loved the way the buildings reflected each other becoming almost organic and similar to the Polynesian weaving and carving. Teddy appeared during a reunion with my oldest friends returning to the place of our childhood summers. Yvonne rescued me with her first coin and the little fella became the perfect foil. First immortalized in my favourite felt tips by accident while fighting my appalling attention span attempting to complete a serious landscape. This first picture just made every one smile which is such a great thing so by accident he popped up on Facebook. After 24 hours he had 67 friends from all over the world and just kept going. Now with a string of gallery shows and prints hanging all over the world hopefully? Well who knows, no planning just enjoying and bringing smiles. 
Wear A Peg Wednesday 3

Thank you Well H, there is a real honesty in Teddy that is totally capturing. I look forward to the future and more from Teddy.

More information and images of Well H Teddy can be found: HERE or alternatively you can visit him at Camden Gallery where he will be hanging temporarily.

Wear a Peg Wednesday 3

Friday 7 January 2011

Painting Sound and Feeling Colour

Available soon

Why Picasso?

On a trip to Barcelona to celebrate the arrival of 2011, I also had the pleasure to see many beautiful landmarks - Casa Batllo, The Cathedral, Sagrada Familia, Arc of Triumph, I stood outside La Pedrera and The Palau de la Musica taking in the beauty and significance architectural forms, colours and distinctive Spanish decoration styles and history, I even had time for a visit to Zoo where I was introduced to the Otters. I stayed in a little apartment next to Iglesia Santa Maria del Mar, two minutes away from El Museo Picasso - where I was constantly urged to go but my enthusiasm never seemed to tip me over the edge.
I wondered, why Picasso? What part of me really wants to see Picasso? Where is the need? I had echoes in my head from recent news headlines “271 Picasso paintings found in garage worth over £100m are believed to have been stolen” and “rare Picasso sold for £6m” Picasso had started to loose value for me, all the press attention it has been received over the years seems to be centred on money, millions of it.
I reflected on his works and even recollected an essay I had written about him at university and a quote kept coming back to me"No, painting is not made to decorate apartments; it's an offensive and defensive weapon against the enemy."  

There was a contradiction in the humble artist with the strong spirit I had come to know, the master I had grown to admire and the image now painted of him. I wondered why people even like him anymore. Personally, he was someone I could relate to, we share the desire to escape the banal, he did it in his paintings. Yet, I seemed to have no good reason to want to visit the museum, there was something in me revelling and it was not just the thought of lengthy cues it attracted.
Eventually, on my last day with three hours to spare before departure, I knew if I left without visiting the Picasso Museum I would regret it. So I went in, there I was face to face with the painter who had always touched me deeply. I lost myself in the brush strokes cubist forms, expressions, disillusion and pain of his subjects. My eyes travelled across the canvass, dancing with his brushstrokes and delighting in his use of light and shadow to create mood.
I stood before his works and realized- I was there for Picasso’s artistry, regardless of his innovations to art practices or heritage, it was not even because I was in Barcelona why I was visiting him, contrary to intentions when I saw Gaudis works. It was merely for the artists who conveyed emotion, mood and empathy like no other.

This was not a visit to the Picasso Museum which understandably emphasised  pride in the jewel that he was. My visit was a personal encounter with the work  Picasso had left behind, as lovers of art we all inherited these pieces. 


The information summaries of the museum were selective and merely marketing tools for their own means, I found these distracting and intrusive to my experience.  I wanted only to stand there and examine every painting alone, no noise, no influence, no interferences. What had stood in between me and Picasso was the institution.

My next questions are - who decides the way we interpret and view art? How is the knowledge we gain by visiting museums dictated? 


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