Empire de Tartarie

As promised, I am exposing the new title of current work that is fixed around the landscapes of my current research. I will slowly start to reveal the cosmic identities that are contained within this Empire as well as show symbols of travel that each identity uses in unison with one another. These identities are interconnected and have insight to a world to which they cannot escape.

The Christmas break is almost here and I have been getting things together for the last (Now that would be) Telling show in January at Transition, opening on the 14th and running until the 5th February. The works are complete and I am running back and forth with ideas for the overall 'look' of the show.

Catherine and I collected the works from Ickworth House last week and it was sad to see them down as well as say goodbye to the House and I now have an extremely full home studio with a pending visit to Wysing over the next few weeks to relinquish it all to a new home. The transient aspect of these shows will hopefully mean that I will revisit these works soon and maybe sell or rework them in some way.

The project that runs over the winter months has meant that I have been involved in all kinds of filmic matter and I am pleased to announce that the fantastic science fiction writer Liz Williams is coming up with the story/script which sounds extremely exciting. This will mean that I am to source actors/performers as well as a film maker to run with my directorship in 7 (for now) secret locations in North Norfolk. There will be a publication (thank you Norfolk County Council) and a show over the summer months at Aid and Abet next summer.

I am working through a couple of new proposals having worked up one pretty major one over the last two weeks. I really hope this will be successful as its extremely exciting in content and will include some really great collaborations with some great people, so fingers crossed.

I have got my head into some research where artwork is evolving slowly as well as a written piece as well as plotting and planning, so between the festivities I will be continuing with this. I have to say that I am feeling really positive overall, I have a really good feeling about next year as 2011 was demanding on so many levels.

So onto new ideas, a fresh start and hopefully new opportunities...

A rural idyll

I have recently rescued a Golden Saluki year old hound which has meant that I have been out in the countryside walking (well, in truth running) and meeting new creatures along the way. The photograph above is one of them. We have named him 'Cyril the sad lonely bear'. Yesterday there was a child's scarf levitating on some reeds, I must remember to photograph that next time.

The research for my winter filming is steadily moving forward and a trip up to the North Norfolk coast will happen imminently in a bid to get away from the excesses of this festive period.

Whilst on this festive note, today Annabel and I shared a sad christmas cracker (just the one) over our sad school christmas dinner of roast turkey (Annabel) and yet another jacket potato (me). We laughed at the non funny 'What does a tree and a dog have in common?' joke, Answer: BARK (a fitting context for me and my rural idyll) and spent a brief moment trying to work out whether there was a 'no expenses' spared gift inside. At first we believed it was empty but no, to our surprise we discovered a pale, almost transparent sad little green figure that looked depressingly at its feet with folded down wings and a look of despair.
Well that's another Christmas over with in the workplace this year.
(Apparently, the dinner has happened this week instead of next as they have lots of other things to be getting on with next week (words from a dinner lady?)..er..like what? )

Ah this Merrie England.

At this point in time I am trying hard not to be completely absorbed by the beast and am mid way plotting the show at Transition (NTWBT) in January with the work mostly done. Tomorrow night Now that would be (Telling) goes to 100 Charing Cross Road to be part of an event featuring writers and novelists of varying genres and we are hoping to produce a bound publication to complete the project.

I have recently been applying for funded things again and putting proposals together in a bid to pull next year into shape and I am very excited about quite a few of them. The body of research I have been working on has become all consuming and I hope to be at the point where I step back to making work again after a rest from working solidly for many many months for NTWBT and Monte.

My next posting will hopefully contain new ideas, show at least one new work and as always be a little evasive.

Is there an interested film maker out there?

Lists:
As usual, the things I am pondering over are quite disparate in nature. These include salts, little men, ponies, concrete, karate and human pelts.

I am working through some ideas with some great artists on some other ventures for next year.

I am pleased to announce that the fantastic science fiction writer Liz Williams has agreed to work with me over the winter.

I am working on new ideas to get some funding for projects as the future is bleak on the teaching front, although I have been offered additional sessions at West Dean and will be giving a talk at an undisclosed venue in the New Year.

I am reading some great books, albeit at the same time, but then that is quite usual.

I will be planting myself at 100 Charing Cross Road, London on the night of 8 December (7 - 9pm) where work from NTWBT will be on show. I have very little knowledge of this NEW AUDIENCE but I am assured it will be fun (lets hope they will be gentle).

I am also on the look out for someone quite special:
Is there a fantastic film maker out there that wants to work with me on a short film over the winter months on the Norfolk Coast? As usual no big pot of cash but there are a few pennies and the story line will be amazing and it will be certain to be open to experimentation and humour along the way? If so, send me an email hayleylock1@gmail.com

Thanks for reading.

Awaiting further instruction

And so..
My foot is now off the accelerator and I have unduly and rather predictably caught a cold, but never mind. Recovering now, my thoughts turn towards creating a new body of work that will contain the works I have made for (Now that would be) Telling. At the moment, I see them a stars floating in the sky that need to be captured and pulled into shape, although I don't know what that will entail as yet. Much more work to be done there. The next showing will be in london on December 8th and then again in London in January.

Tomorrow I am meeting up with another artist and curator to discuss an idea and even a future something, so more on that later. I then move onto Wysing that day to have a meeting about our ROAM project which is in the research and development stage over the winter. We are coming together to discuss all that we have one so far, so it will be great to catch up with them all after a very long absence regarding former project discussion. And that is all.


The Wilmore Fellowship is again gathering itself for the selection of works by chosen artists who have asked to be considered for the contemporary collection. This will no doubt be a lengthy process with Lord Wilmore, but will be so worth it in the end.

I head into the winter with the possibility of finally having the time to get my head around new ideas which should mean that I will be at Wysing more, making new work and thinking about future possibilities, collaborations and shows. This always seems so scary when the work load has been so epic, particularly as it has been for around the last seven or eight months or so, but I realise it is well overdue and is looked on with eagerness. I await further instruction.

Wonderment, heavy or otherwise

Yesterday, (Now that would be) Telling opened at A la Ronde in Devon. On my return to this fantastic house I have realised that it has taken complete ownership over everything I have been doing over the last few months as well as everything I foresee coming out of my creative self in the upcoming months. I am obsessed. The architecture of this strange structure and the density and quality of the objects held within are leaving me in a state resembling floatation, mesmerised by wonderment and curiosity. There is indeed more work to be done.

The interview with Saatchi online went public this week http://magazine.saatchionline.com/articles/artnews/behind-the-canvas-with-hayley-lock
which I am told is "good", "revealing" and "epic", so take from it what you will. I have feelings of inner delirium when I hear back my own words, so its hard to analyse from my viewpoint with such things.

This upcoming week is meeting heavy.
I head again to London twice this week to see shows, to transport students and to have a meeting with the curator of the Baring Archive and fellow Wilmorian's to discuss working with their collection. I then move on to Cambridge to have a meeting about a meeting next week with an artist and curator to discuss work we have been working on over the last few months. This then moves on to another meeting about where our projects are in terms of the ROAM collective, who are working on filmic works ideas over the winter months.
Time to clear out my head.

Life certainly is peaches

I am recovering from looking into the eyes of sheer terror more times that I had imagined in a small passing of time this week.

After completing a significant amount of work in my week away whilst supposedly 'resting', the guilt ridden and quite honestly exhausted friend the laptop, mysteriously found itself immersed in a sticky liquid of peach juice one dark and quiet evening probably through overuse on one hand and under use abuse on the other.

With guilt therefore comes shame.

Please now imagine the scenario of being woken from a restful slumber of contentment, by being stared at hard in the face with a fast and tear heavy confessional from an distraughtly engulfed juice thrower, and then (much sooner rather ordinarily expected) having an outer body experience listening to the sounds of the self from a more neanderthal unexpected kind with sounds of gnou and mongolian throat singer wrapped up in choral rhapsody with pain and anguish.

I now diverge.
The next day was spent busying ourselves in an attempt to divert mayhem (and quite possibly a crime scene) that involved travelling across hot deserted plains in taxi's that should have been condemned many times over. That said, a different type of terror passed our eyes at scaring speeds and a sense of heightened danger clearly put everything else in perspective.

We are now home, all is well and the laptop has forgiven us of all our sins.