Local Garage in Flames

Samsung NC10 Sound Problem

I have a Samsung NC10 netbook and it is brilliant. The sound however has driven me mad. The speakers are tinny but worst of all the sound was horribly distorted even with earphones. After much fiddling I eventually found the solution. I opened the Realtek Sound Effect Manager in Control Panel. Under the Sound Effect tab there is a Karaoke icon, make sure that there is no X showing in the circle. If there is click to turn off. Make sure all the equalizer sliders are on Max and the environment is set to or Padded Cell. Success sound back to normal!

Freaky Photographs

An exhibition of photographs of Victorian Fairground Freaks and other photographs from the archives of Liverpool Photographer and Tattooist William Turner together with work by local artist Alistair Parker. At the Village Walks Art Spot, off Teanlowe Centre Car Park, Poulton le Fylde, from 4th to 29th August, Monday to Saturday 9.00 am to 5.00 pm, entrance free.

William Turner (1869 - 1937) was a Tattooist and Photographer (above) in Liverpool at the turn of the century (1900) he was also my grandfather. He had a studio at 44A Lime Street in the heart of Liverpool. His clients were many and varied, from bare knuckle boxers to circus freaks. And he was tattooed from his neck to ankle.

This exhibition has been created from the remnants of his archives. A mixture of original glass negatives and photographs from my mothers photograph albums.

The exhibition is in three parts. A selection of Carté Visité, photographic visiting cards, which would have been given to him by his wide and varied clientele, in this case fairground "freaks".

A selection of personal studio photographs from the original half-plate glass negatives (plates). You will note that long before Photoshop was thought of he was experimenting with the ghostly effects of multiple exposures.

The three larger pictures are part of a project I am undertaking for my Fine Art degree using experimental printing processes. These images have been created from photocopies transferred using an experimental acrylic transfer process.

The original material, which was not in very good condition was digitally scanned. Retouching has been kept to a minimum as I feel the marks of time contribute to a unique history.

View the exhibition on Flickr

Photo Tampering Throughout History

An interesting article for the photographers by Hany Farid, Professor of Computer Science at Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, USA.

• Photography lost its innocence many years ago. In as early as the 1860s, photographs were already being manipulated, only a few decades after Niepce created the first photograph in 1814. With the advent of high-resolution digital cameras, powerful personal computers and sophisticated photo-editing software, the manipulation of digital images is becoming more common. Here, I have collected some examples of tampering throughout history.

• Just days after Sarah Palin’s selection last August as the Republican Vice Presidential candidate, a photo of a bikini-clad, gun-toting Palin blitzed across the Internet. Almost as quickly, it was revealed as a hoax — a crude bit of Photoshop manipulation created by splicing an image of the Alaska governor’s head onto someone else’s body. From start to finish, the doctoring probably took no more than 15 minutes. We review the impact of digital photo manipulation, and recent advances in digital image forensics to detect such manipulations. more........

Bring Street Art to Blackpool

As we are about to demolish most of Blackpool, in fact the demolition is well under way in the Northern Gateway area around Talbot Road bus station and the Station. May be we could take a leaf out of what has happened in other parts of the world and make use of some of the buildings before they bite the dust to host a major Urban Art Fest. I suggest Talbot Road Bus Terminus for a start, what do you think?

One particular example of such a Fest is at 11 Spring Street in New York, a building popular with Graffiti and Street artists was used to host a major event before it was renovated by the famous Wooster Collective.

Check out the video below and the Wooster Collection website here.

Vhills- Scratching the Surface Exhibition - Lazarides

I visited Lazarides Gallery in Soho last week to see an exhibition by Street Artist Vhils - Portuguese-born Alexandre Farto, age 21.In the context of current offering from the art work this is some of the most exciting and stimulating work I have seen in the past few years of hammering around galleries of all sizes and persuasion. As a fine art student I find Vhils experimental use of materials and media very exciting.

Of late he’s taken to creating works purely from in situ materials. Advertising hoardings are torn to make fresh images, and plaster drilled and chiselled away until the remaining relief forms the work. He is experimenting with ink and household bleach, rusting steel, stencils and industrial resins. His use of found material like old painted doors is particularly interesting. A far cry from graffiti and mindless tagging.

This is just a small sample of the work on display and I am afraid the photography does no justice to the original works which are both large and tactile. You really need to visit the exhibition, 3rd July to 1st August, so get a wriggle on.

Find more work here, this is also one of the best Flicker sites for Street Art.

Scratching the Surface by Vhils - Video

Even if you are not into the Street Art of Vhils this is a cracking example of the video makers art and well worth a watch.

Music - Gustavo Santaolalla Work by Vhils http://www.Vhils.com/

Books On-Line

As a student books become a way of life as a result I have strained tendons in my left wrist from hauling weighty tomes around. So the idea of being able to access my books on line is a very attractive one. I have been researching possible sources. Here is a list of initial contenders which I have yet to research fully.

Books.google.com
This a site I have used and works well. Also known as Google Book Search, there is a wide range of free book and magazine content, much of it downloadable. Occasionally they allow partial download of copyright restricted books. I found it good for contextual studies literature.

DailyLit.com
Out-of-copyright classics, most are free.

FreeBookSpot.com
A source of downloadable textbooks, saved as PDFs, meaning that unlike most electronic book formats, the diagrams and illustrations are preserved. Most take less than 60 seconds to download over broadband.

Worldcat.org
Find items in libraries near you, lets you search the collections of libraries in your community and thousands more around the world. Results link directly into citation software such as Zotero.

World Digital Library
Libraries and archives from around the world have come together in a project to share their collections of rare books, maps, films, manuscripts and recordings on-line for free.

Project Gutenberg
The first and largest single collection of free electronic books. From Karma Sutra to David Copperfield.

Eureka moment - Figure/Ground

Interesting how Eureka moments pop up quite unexpectedly! I was browsing Robert Motherwells work "Premonition Open, with Flesh over Gray" in the Bernard Jacobsons Gallery, Cork Street, London the other day.

I am vaguly familiar with Motherwell from an essay I wrote about Pollock and Abstract Expressionism. I have to confess I had dismissed his work as boringly repetitive. When you have seen three black lines in a variety of configurations painted on a coloured background the tenth version becomes repetitive if not boring! However I had only ever seen his work in books and on the internet and a bit like recorded music it is no substitute for the live performance.

Casually if not disinterestedly perusing Motherwells large canvases on the walls of said gallery I was suddenly aware of the subtly of these black painted lines. I could hear the monaural Yorkshire tones of Norman Travis ringing in my ears, preaching the theory of the figure ground relationship. There it was in graphic reality, Motherwells subtle smudges of background colour across the ubiquitous black lines immediately presents the dilemma, which came first the blackline or the smudge of orange? Which was figure, which was ground?

Mall Galleries Exhibition - Update

Visited the Private View at the Mall Galleries, London on Monday 6th July to receive presentation of my runner up prize in the Daler Rowney " Make Your Mark" art competition.

The works were hung in conjunction with the RBA 7th National Students Art Exhibition. An interesting feature of the exhibition is that the work was displayed alongside work by members of the Royal Society of British Artists (RBA). My work was hung alongside a Peter Blake! How cool is that.

Update: Robin Dukes was kind enough to give me a mention in his column in the Blackpool Evening Gazette this evening.

Fine Art Exhibition - 1st Year BA

Fine Art Exhibition by the 1st Year BA students from Blackpool Art School. At the Village Walks Art Spot, entrance off Queensway or from the entrance alongside the Post Office at the rear of Teanlowe Centre, Poulton le Fylde. The exhibition will run from 29th June to 31st July, Monday to Saturday 9.00 am to 5.00 pm, entrance free.

A wide range of work from the end of year show. Artists exhibiting include Alistair Parker, Sue McAuley, Ann Charlesworth, Sue Godsiff, Claire Heaton, Anton Byrne-Carter and Rebecca Armitage.

Channel 4 Life Class: Today's Nude

For centuries, artists have taken inspiration from the naked body. From Leonardo da Vinci to Lucian Freud, life drawing has always been a way to understand the human form and ourselves.

Bringing life drawing to the masses Channel 4 is running a series of 5 programmes "Life Class: Todays Nude" starting 12.30pm, 6th July and for the next 4 days.

This week-long series gives viewers an opportunity to learn to draw through five half-hour nude life drawing classes, one a day, with access to a renowned artist tutor in each, Maggi Hambling, Humphry Ocean, Garry Hume, Judy Purbreck and John Berger.

The audience is invited to pick up a pencil and use the class to develop their skill or interest in drawing at any level.

Drop-in life-drawing classes are being organised in London, Glasgow, Bristol, Manchester and Southampton...

Mall Gallery Exhibition

I entered the Daler Rowney international art competition - Make Your Mark Competition way back in in October 08 and much to my amazement was placed as runner up! At long last I am about to receive the fruits of my endeavours. My work will be shown at The Mall Galleries, The Mall (You know where the Queen lives) London SW1 from Monday next 6th July till the 11th July and I am off the private view on Monday evening. My 1st Private view, so I am a little bit excited. You can find more information in the original post here.

The exhibition is being held in conjunction with the RBA 7th National Students Art Exhibition, so there should be some work woth a look.

David Hockney: A Bigger Picture

The film is shot over a period of 3 years following him as he leaves California, his home for the last 25 years, to return to his native Yorkshire to paint a very English countryside.

The film captures an extraordinary moment in Hockney's life and work as he approaches the age of 70 and captures his transcendence from a period of anti-photography in his work to post-photographic where he rediscovers what photography can lend to his work. Using interviews with Hockney and his sister Margaret, the film explores the more personal motives for his return and his homecoming coincides with a desire to re-invent his whole approach to oil painting, after a six-year break. He paints en plein air for the first time, out in the landscape, through the seasons and in all weathers.

IMAGINE David Hockney: A Bigger Picture, is on BBC1 30 June 10.35PM, a Coluga Pictures production. For more information go to www.colugapictures.com and interesting video clips.

Daily Telegraph review.

Fine Art Exhibition

Fine Art Exhibition by the 1st Year BA students from Blackpool Art School. At the Village Walks Art Spot, entrance off Queensway or from the entrance alongside the Post Office at the rear of Teanlowe Centre, Poulton le Fylde. The exhibition will run from 29th June to 31st July, Monday to Saturday 9.00 am to 5.00 pm, entrance free.

A wide range of work from the end of year show. Artists exhibiting include Alistair Parker, Sue McAuley, Ann Charlesworth, Sue Godsiff, Claire Heaton, Anton Byrne-Carter and Rebecca Armitage.

Picasso Painting with Light

Looks like Picasso did light painting experiments in photography. Here's a gallery over at Life.com of his various light painting pictures.

Blackpool Art School Exhibition

'Variety'09', End of Year Exhibition at The Blackpool School of Art & Design, Palatine Road Campus Blackpool Lancashire FY1 4DW.

My work can be found in Year 1 Fine Art and Professional Practice Studio is on 1st Floor, top of stairs turn left. There will also be lots of really good stuff to see, Photography, Graphic Design etc etc. Foundation work can be seen at the Park Road site.

Private view 17th June 6-9pm General Public 10-4pm from the 18th-24th June

We hope to see you there!

Layers of History - Mixed Media

The Client From Hell

If you are thinking of setting up your own business you should watch this first!



RSVP

Channel 4 programme - Faking It - Graffiti

A nostalgia trip. Remember the Channel 4 programme, "Faking It". Below is one about the impossible task of converting a country "Toff" into a Hip Hoppy "Graffer"! An interesting insight into the "Graffers" world.



Link

Street Art Influences - Matt Small

Artists draw their inspiration from a wide range of influences and sources. I am finding myself drawn more and more to the vibrant dynamic Street and Urban Art scene, not to be confused with Graffiti, although they share the same platform and there is a considerable crossover of cultures.

Typically these influences include increasingly familiar names such as Dale Grimshaw, Guy Denning, Connor Harrington, artists whose' art now commands exciting prices.

In the course of one of my Street Art photographic forays, I came across Matt Small, he likes to call himself an artist and although he is unquestionably in the Urban/Street camp. For anyone who likes to experiment with their art, media and materials this guy is an exciting inspiration.



Updated 15.05.17