I found the domestic electric fan dumped by the side of Dolphin Bridge on the River Wensum. It had obviously been dredged from the bottom, because it was covered in mud and rotting vegetation. I pulled the weeds away, placed it on the parapet of the bridge and photographed it. The gas tower is a collage of two that stand on Admiralty Rd. in Yarmouth. I liked the wall in the background because it had been rendered with a comb like scraper, and some of the plaster had fallen off. All these aspects, as usual, came together and rearranged without any objective idea in the beginning.
Archives: Artworks
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Self Shadow On A Stairwell 2
Standing at the top of the pedestrian underpass, at the roundabout on St.Stephens, I was struck by my elongated shadow, looking down the steps. On the same day I noticed the shadow cast by a fire escape at Anchor Quay, off Westwick St. I removed the tiles from the underpass wall as it descends, but left the green handrail. You can see the tiles in my shadow. The two images work well together, creating a symmetry, which flows through the picture. My self portrait is irrelevant. This is me being me, taking pictures of a world I try to understand , and create something that I wish that makes sense. Pretentious and contrived ?? …probably.
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Going Nowhere In Particular
The roundabout street furniture, is on White Lady Lane, off the Sprowston Road. It looks as though it belongs on a busy motorway, but is on a quiet residential street. I thought it to be a very striking object. I didn’t know what to do with it. I was thinking of putting it in the middle of nowhere, when I remembered the sugar fields in Queensland, especially outside Bunderberg. One photo was perfect, and of course I had an another photo of the roundabout marker, from a different angle, which I flipped around to add to the conceit.
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Another Lovelorn Godforsaken Dream
Sometimes I will trawl through my ‘library’ of photos, and might pick out an interesting image. Then I might see another picture that has nothing in common, with the first; and move on. Two or three more might grab my attention, then I start to experiment and compose some semblance of a narrative, introducing or discarding the components, as I go on. This is a good example of something that came out of such a process. The amphitheatre is at the University, the lion is on the steps of City Hall, and the other object,.. at the top right of the image is part of a wheel assembly of a train. The title came out of the blue. Perhaps I wasn’t in a good mood (?)
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Hooning
Hooning is what bored youngsters do on a quiet stretch of road in Australia (which are not hard to find) or New Zealand. It is basically spinning the tyres and leaving rubber marks on the road, amidst a cloud of smoke. I saw a lot of these marks as I travelled around. You can see the side of my van on the right of the picture. The pub tables were upturned outside the Fat Percy, on West End St. Norwich. I put one of the tables in the picture, liked it, so I introduced a couple more. It perversely made sense! The camera angle of the road was viewed on purpose , to get all the tyre marks in. I darkened the marks to make them more prominent.
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Kandinsky Mosaic
Just noodling around with some photos of different paving slabs and groundwork, I got carried away, as you can see! I eventually got to the result and was struck how much it vaguely resembled a typical Kandinsky. He was a Russian painter (1866-1944) who is attributed for pioneering abstract art.
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It’s Going To Be Uphill All The Way
The road and pavement are separate, but are here in Norwich. I added a few more manhole covers and drains on the pavement for effect. The road is a montage of different road surfaces. The background is a collage of two landscapes, probably in NSW and/or Victoria. The tank was being exhibited at an airshow in Suffolk. I brought the different aspects through experimenting in the construction of the image. Thinking of the title was the last thing I did, when looking at the finished picture.
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Potboiler
This picture became a bit of a long process, to come to its final conclusion. The ‘sky’ was a lime green wall, falling into disrepair, at a car wash station on the Sprowston Road. The water tower (?) is in the Lion Wood Local Nature Reserve, just off Telegraph lane. The other two structures are part of Earlham Crematorium. There is a tall oblong tower that sits between the apex and the chimney, that I eventually removed. I came across the ceremonial complex and was struck by the different shapes, in the bright sunshine. The spheres and cubes were introduced later. I was thinking of Cezannes quote about nature comprising of a cylinder, sphere and cone when I started this image. A lot of adding and subtracting, and then cutting through the objects was employed before I settled for the end result. Truly, a potboiler!
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Social Platforming
This is the newly pedestrianised Westlegate, by Jarrolds department store. I have replaced the plants that are on a raised bed, behind the low brick wall. I was interested in the swirls and straight lines of the brick work., and the colours which I accentuated. The two mannequin heads were in a fashion shop window, just around the corner, on All Saints. The title became apparent as I was constructing the picture. Look closely, and you can see my reflection, on the jaw of the head on the left.
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Key To The Gate
These three elements were photographed individually, on the same day. There was no plan, but they fell in together quite well. The arched front door belongs to the old Bethel Hospital, founded 1713 by Mary Chapman, which has become residential flats. I liked the way the early morning sun lit the edifice. I cut away the door, to reveal the front cover of my doorbell, which is connected to the button outside. It was made by Friesland of Stockport…for you doorbell buffs, out there. I found the padlock lying in the road, so I propped it up and photographed it, as you do! These three objects, as I said, seemed perfect for each other.