....WORKINGMANS DEAD........

......but at least some of the remains have been recovered............

( Heavily ) influenced by the ' Doctors , Dissection and Resurrection Men ' exhibition that I had seen at the Museum of London , one of the final pieces produced  for my MA show was another in the Archive series , this time proposing that No 2 , Canal Street - the House of the Art Lover - had previously been an inner city hospital , complete with a mortuary room in the basement . This later idea arose from our introduction to Jordangate House in Macclesfield , the location of our installation for the Barnaby Festival , which had indeed seen time as a hospital for the mentally unwell and still had the laying out / mortuary slab in the basement......

..........this time the Cabinet of Curiosities came complete with samples taken from the recovered metal coffins , together with some rather fine death masks produced by my friend Dr Jan Lewis-Eccleston.........  the concept is still based around the idea of ' architectural notation as narrative form ' with the 1/50 plan in watercolour forming the visual centrepiece to the story..........

This piece might well be appearing in the Macclesfield Open art competition later this year

Every picture tells a story................

.........LOST ...IN FRANCE.....

......He's old , he's grumpy , his right knee is knackered , his career is going down the pan - and they live in Moseley  ...........probably even drink in the Fighting Cocks........

.......They are having breakfast in Paris , not talking .................he's reading the Guardian , he's wearing a nice red scarf , she's looking out of the window..............What's not to like ?

Any resemblance is entirely coincidental .

" No harm done , just a-havin some fun at Le Weekend " ..Eddie Cochran

...............I love Paris.........

IF YOUR MEMORY SERVES YOU WELL............

" It is curious to note to what extent memory is unfaithful , even for the most important periods of one's life . it is this , indeed , that explains the delightful fantasy of history " . Marcel Duchamp

Memories , false or otherwise , seem to have been a constant theme of my MA experience , from initial readings through to the final works that I produced .  This one is based loosely on the idea of the Cabinet of Curiosities and takes as its' subject one of Manchester's ' Hidden Gems ' , the Cabaret Theatre that once graced Canal street....................

...........and once you open the doors................

Welcome to the Cabaret.......................

GETTING TO THE END OF THE LINE .......

Well the MA show at MMU is up and running , through until Sunday 13th October , and then that's it , at least for a while as I take a year out prior to signing up for an MFA.........whatever that is........

I miss the college and the discipline of producing work that is assessed / subject to constructive criticism , but it's quite nice to be able to doodle around now for a bit , and I am looking forward to The House of the Magus , together with The Fortune Teller's Shop............ both located in Manchester's Northern Quarter on Turner Street.

And in the meantime , some pics of the MA show.............the last two are of my latest pieces which should figure on here shortly......