...call to new york....odd telephone connection,  sounded like frogs on the line at one point...

Random notes:

..last nights arguement, in the club about what goes where at art makings inception.. (intellectual, theorical etc..or something else) .....interesting but i say you cannot , 'CAN IT'  i spent 15 years working with another artist, but for the last 15 years the narrative, the dialogue is completley different - each time a phenomenological experience

...in art: there are the roundheads and then there are the cavaliers...

question....who are you making art for?

...curators and directors in the british art establishment who ignore the artist (the invisibleman) unless its worthwhile...(the slippery ladder)

...little britain - as in there is a fog in channel - continent cut-off..

...upside down europe....(world) - see work

...the car with the loud bass thump and tinted windows ground to a halt in the supermarket car park..the guy got out with a long thick wooden table leg in his hands..holding it like a baseball bat ..he ran across to the other man swearing and shouting..the wooden table leg crashed down on a vehicle ..but it was clear that the hit was meant for the other mans head...after a number of attempts to connect with the other mans head and body...the guy drove off with his table leg sat next to him on the front seat...to the sounds of a thumping bass rhythm.....

....the rain fell, i tried to dodge the bits but it proved impossible. i suddenly found myself in an old church in west london, now a film centre and then realised that many years ago i had made a performance there...it was the old byamshaw school of art... much missed...the memories came flooding back as i walked around, quite amazed...was i

....the rain streamed through the car window ... whilst my thoughts poured out of my head..

heading south as usual...

....and buffalo was on the menu...

...there's a big odd looking guy on a very small motor scooter that keeps rattling past my studio door..in red.....................wierd sound, strange image...

...simply thinking the nature of what a portrait of you can be (in moving image terms again)..what can this be? are you just like you look? I suspect not..once again... are we changing our view of each other?

...thinking Cages, 4.33 and Silence......still listening?

....it's a short life..but is it a long life for an artist..?

..the wind howled, the trees bent over , the cats screamed..it was a rough night..in London

...Falklands/Malvinas ..split the profits 50/50...

Got my thinking hat on! ...thinking hats, hats hats hats hats hats and Hats off to Hats...!

...blue ice, green, orange...thinking ice-bergs again

currently......thinking in line....

get ready for rhythm...

'..... money - power - money - power - money - power - money - power

..... dinero - energía - dinero - energía - dinero - energía - dinero - energía '

.... Argentina v United Kingdom

.... Malvinas v Falklands

..... people, penguins and oil

..... water, rock and ice

..... south, north, east, west

..... spanish, english, flags and bones

..... politicians egos, votes and moans

'..... money - power - money - power - money - power - money - power

..... dinero - energía - dinero - energía - dinero - energía - dinero - energía'

Whilst i was drawing...and filming...

i noticed that i had become surrounded by wild animals...

i became cautious.

they looked enormous

as i peered out from my studio window...how did I know they were there when I hadn't seen them? 

I could spot their footprints in the snow!

a hare, a rabbit, a cat, a deer, a pole cat, a wild boar,a bird or two ...and worst of all me, myself!

shocking !

..took a walk yesterday with an art critic, across hampstead heath, argued all the way...about art..

...interesting, idea of David Hockney as basically a decorator really...

dream sequence:.....i was asked to carry the left over burning rubble in a wheelbarrow and put it in a narrow draw on the outside ledge atop of a very high building, the workman at the top fell over the edge...i woke up but just before i woke up i noticed that the guy had popped back up, laughing, he seemed to have a safety line attached to him .. odd...............

...the dream: gradually i felt the bed sinking beneath me...and sort of capsizing like that italian ship...

looking down i realised that the bed had sprung a leak and was emptying itself of water. i used a pint beer mug to try and catch the water but it flowed too fast for me...panic...oh dear! i was about to sink into the floor...?

... i have been a bit worried about some of the video art works i've seen in galleries and museums’ in london, it's very poor, not even retro, just downright poor...it makes me think...about things..i even found myself actually agreeing with art critic Waldemar Januszczak's criticisms!

last nights dream, make what you will: i was invited to give a talk at one of my old colleges...when asked at the board meeting what the subject would be, i suddenly found myself saying ...title: the singing penis...when pushed further i said but there would be low volume in terms of noise...so amplification will be needed...oh dear!

Time changes everything, even in a short period: The Christmas exchange: 

...the fat gated pissed man on the street bluntly asked me for money, i said i had none on me...

he called me, " a bastard", i suggested that he check his manners and maybe search for some work, he howled that he could not get a job in that state - i then noted and mentally conceded that he could have other physical medical factors at play. i checked myself.

' i am sorry to hear that', i said, he then called me all the names under the sun, a mass of swear words rolled out easily from his mouth...i forcefully begged his pardon and he checked himself. "you were not being sincere with my situation and that's why i reacted the way i just did". i explained that i was being sincere at the time, but his swearing outburst had finished my sympathy...i walked away in disarray...i should never of entered into that swirl of spin in the first place -  it was like a dance moving between one agreement to another discharge, from negativity to positives, across a short space of time...into the void and out of the void...

LONG LIVE THE GOD OF REAL ART:

...went in the church opposite the studio...nice noises coming out of it late, late at night...

but it was like a scene from the godfather...heavy guys, in black suits on electric instruments playing heavy carols, though heavy voices...heavy guys on the door giving out leaflets ready to throw you out.....

cool building, weird scene...i say long live the god of real art!!

....so the famous english sculptor with the big reputation told the dirtiest of jokes..

.....by the fake gas and ceramic, coal burning fireside...

..spent the afternoon counting my hats....

...its 3am in the morning in north London, the next door neighbour is rolling a small white fridge on wheels down the street...

i am tempted to shout,  'two pints of milk please..'

....considering the hat - sizing it up and looking at it - without it noticing my glances..!

...light and time: short days indeed for filming - its dark outside! 

.. the little man with the Mexican moustache in the shop mixed paint in a jar whilst trying to find out for me if there was something hidden in the box (an art storage box) which i was trying to purchase. We could not understand why the box was smaller than the actual item! as the box was too small to contain such a thing!..(complicated)...after searching the warehouse for the 'other' box for another bit, thus making it bigger...he/we had the brilliant idea of opening my box to see if the 'other bit' was in there! maybe in some way hidden!! And wow yes the other bit was there 'hidden inside' the other item, a sort of cabinet inside a cabinet (Dr Caligari's cabinet went through my head at this point) -

As i left the shop i felt I had witnessed a magicians trick -(Dr Caligari's cabinet went through my head - again) or was it Tommy Cooper?

...thinking in circles...round thoughts and visuals...

...there is nothing to be said, "...the day has been a blank canvas..."

....redredred: we sat on the internal plane for an hour and a half waiting for the president to take off first,  for his USA meeting...

......the train shot along at 200mph, smooth and cool ......but where is the countryside ..i asked myself?

(in the chinese lecture theatre)......i spoke and delivered a talk about my work as an artist to 'hungry art people", almost to no reply, no response ...everyone seemed so far away  ...finally i was asked if i thought anyone understood my work ?

i was about to answer this interesting question, when i was cut off (in my prime) by a rather big glamorous lady, in charge..i felt that i understood little about the moment i was in..

she then put my hat on her head and asked to have a photo of us taken together...in a way i rather liked that moment ....it was near perfect..

oh well ! as Peter Green said...

...the taxi driver retched and spat constantly through his side window for the hour long cab journey,

down the market street the little scorpian type living creatures wriggled split through on their shish sticks, 6 in a line just before being cooked along with the seahorses, star fish and large ugly bugs ...yummy ...it was nice day - bright blue sky...in beijing

...and then it snowed unreal great effect...

...Polar South: Art in Antarctica...: exhibition going up...i already feel cold...again but nicely

the wonders of the hat: .....my head and thus my hat got stuck in the tube (subway) doors as they parted then slammed shut...the woman passenger shouted, 'arrghh..'  as i turned to face her 

my hat trapped half in and half out of the closed tube doors...luckily the hat was strong and tough enough for the doors to acknowledge its presence and thus automatically re-open....when i got home and sat in the studio i noticed my head was bleeding, but not badly

...a heady (hat) event indeed..

Coming Soon!

Polar South: Art in Artarctica  Ethics and Aesthetics from the extreme: Artists of

different nationalities who have recently made ephemeral artworks on the 

white continent...2nd - 15th November 2011, University of Hertfordshire

Artists include: Andre Juan (Arg) Marty St James (UK) Philippe Boissonnet (Can) Sergio Prego (Sp)

....there, hold it there, there is the material and there can be meaning, but the meaning 

does not have to be concrete, it can be like a description of a dream...like ethereal

....antarctica photographic images....nothing like it really...

.....the bus was full of nutters...on the phone, on the music, on the weed, on the boil...pleased to get off at Finsbury Park...wow...i'll be back next weel for more...

....g....

..it must be me...facebook makes no sense to me whatsoever, the pages are a piece of pathetic design..but i keep trying and find it bloody trying!!

......never say if.....or if only...

...in the warmth of an indian summer, still thinking of the warmth of the cold down there

upside down - under the world.....

...and.... the woman at the bar said to me, "...but you dont know what its like to be at the bar, and be a woman and not get noticed..yes i said maybe, but i know how it feels to be stood at the bar and not get noticed and the woman behind the bar looked puzzled, so i disagreed because it felt too general, so we disagreed but agreed it was like that....i walked away in a spin..which was fine...i think!

...the tall lady told me that she was from the place where the black and white cows come from ....next to where the german military base is....for a moment i thought that this was some sort of coded message but then realised that it was just simply a fact

...arghh i said to myself you are thinking too much again!! stop reading between the lines!

leaps in time: ....i have nothing to say on the subject of art!: but: i awoke at 4 a.m, decided i knew everything, slept, awoke at 5 and decided i knew nothing, slept, awoke at 6 and decided to go to sleep, awoke at 7 and faced the world..i have nothing to say on the subject of art!: but

in and out of time: ...inside the science and literary society one entered another world some 150 years back...one was told that, '..a kitchen was necessary...'

Upside Down World....an upside down spider walks across my ceiling...does he know that he's upside down?

...cold as ice....almost blue in thought.....

timeline 9/11:  sad day - reflect on planet earth...where we all are in time and space

spinning together

Revelation & Regeneration, in commemoration of 9/11       A collection of work by Jeremy Blake, Jenny Marketou, Marty St. James, and Yorgo Alexopoulos  Opening at Big Screen Plaza - New York City, September 19, 7 - 9 pm www.streaming museum.org

.......the Hare stopped and looked at the car, returned and did a quick circle before doing an upright super fast runner....wow what a creature..some have made a life times artwork out of it! but this wasn't sculpture as we know it

it was time based sculpture...on the run....!

.....the waitress was not responding...so in the end i made a large drawing on the table cloth describing what i wanted in visual terms...this action provoked a reaction ...i was instantly served....

...hot days - with thoughts of a wilderness...

Time: nothing changes but everything is in Fluxus

Time: being mustaken for someone else..

....where is antarctica?   - in my mind....

....the storm arrived quickly: wind, rain, torrent sort of came and went...within minutes it had passed...the world turns...

.....what is a fence? - a time machine? 

sat on it,IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIor viewing life from the other side?

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII a time machine? sat on it, or viewing life from either side?

thinking form:  a type of tangle to be unraveled across time and space....

Marking time: .....cement dries slowly between the bricks....flesh burns fast and bright but time determines its length...give the flesh any day ....the bricks are so static .......

time thought for the day: .....a stitch in time .....

...early morning stood in the middle of the bombed out catheral (Coventry) a place I haven't been for years..Sutherland behind me...nothing but that weird ECCE HOMO marble statue by Epstein staring at me - which looks like Tony Hancocks The Rebel Aphrodite sculpture....'big fat and hairy' with a big head...

the big space with a 'gone roof' is an odd experience...its like the sky has been invited into it for a just for the day...

Time: today 8th July, thinking of the invisible man my brother...

...the wind blows, the world spins, the sun shines, the rain falls...and i walk up and down the stairs..

...reading words about about the french revolution:  4th july....on plane....

...the stubby little italian man with the pasta shaped wife got there first, he was rushing at the head of the Beijing tour party as it entered the restaurant dining room, late in the evening ....diving into the buffet he scoffed as much as possible whilst keeping an eye on events at the chinese chefs meat counter...before any one else had sat, he had downed three glasses of white wine along with his meal and three buns of bread...then his wife sat down for her starters.....

i've never really believed in zodiac signs etc:

whilst here in taipei i was advised to look up the chinese zodiac signs and ideas by a charming Swiss man born with a similar date to myself ....as a wooden horse ...at first i felt static...but this is not the case...

this made me reflect on people i meet: some more static and shelf-like than others, some extraordinary...some just odd, some most able in energy...the givers and the takers of energy

but of course words are not always what they seem to be

this leads me more than ever to suggest that a new portraiture is needed for a twenty first century in movement... 

..the cab driver watched his favourite episode of a chinese soap opera as he drove me across town...tv placed on the dasboard...wuuww!

...after a long bumpy west to east flight, the taxi driver 'burped' all the way from Taipei airport for an hour...

..today my legs ran away from my head....tried to catch up with them but did not manage - maybe tomorrow..

...at the restaurant: the food arrived 47minutes late, therefore it was free...what if it had arrivied 47minutes early?

....rain, rain, rain, rain, rain wet thoughts....

...art, art, art, art, art, art, art, art, art, art, all is art...also nice to do on the keyboard..

....thinking about 'Uncle Harold' ...a london man with squeeking brogues....

...the guy on the news from the governments economic forecast unit had an extraordinary voice inpediment/problem - he twice quoted 'me' saying ...bob ba lob...between a sensible sentence.

I reckon he was a closet performance artist - slipping things in, when and as he could...or maybe a PhD student subliminally releasing text whilst researching the history of Time Based Media art but not quite confident about his subject yet?

uuhm bob ba lob bo ba lob 

draw...draw....draw and draw again....

.....sometimes the mouth is best kept shut....listening, you can hear a lot!

...well the world did not end as perdicted at 6 oclock 

...at previous residency - acme's firestation for an artists photograph....at 6 oclock

- a bus went by...

...the dog eyed each of the two next door windows for someone to let it in...no luck so it just sat and barked all afternoon next to my studio window...woof woof! said my artwork!

.......sky blue......

Scene(seen): ...the Chinese lady came out of her North London front door...kissed the air, offered up her clasped hands to the blue sky, smiled and walked out through her gate...to face the day..

.....hot and cold, hot and cold, warm and windy, dry dry dry.....

...the small mature
man in the odd council worker shined up trousers, firstly sang, then danced for
us as we stood in our May Day market queue at 8a.m ...it was a terrible
attempt at Michael Jackson but we smiled and nodded our approval. Then the
pavement sweeper man in his little French vehicle swept by, he looked like the
hard man out of Sexy Beast, bald and threatening as the ciggie butts entered
his revolving brushes. Meanwhile the shined up trousers 'thriller' dancer
crossed the Holloway road towards the Odeon cinema seemingly happy and
contented with his lot…..

...what's in a fantasy...a really...?

....in search of the lost chord at present (for video piece)...

Stowaway: ...I drove all day...there was a sense that someone else was in the car...I'd slept in the car for a break - for an hour...as I arrived at the harbour i removed my bag.. crawling up my palm was the lime green frog....it had been with me all day...should I bring him into Britain..? (i had seen a notice at passport control saying -declare your pets -NOW-or face a fine) but this was no pet of mine - this was stowaway, a potential illegal immigrant a wild 'frog' on the run.... I took him over to the harbour wall and set him down on the grass edge...he hung on to me...but no, i suggested he found his own way...off he hopped 500 miles from home....

....the green snake (Cyril) crawled up the wall having fallen off the hot tin roof..nice looker and harmless, he then slipped his way into a very tight hole and disappeared...

....in a limbo of disorientation, trying to locate a sense of where and maybe why...usual stuff

and the mature man on the heath riding his bicycle along the pathway spouted, drringg drinngg, pretending he was a bicycle bell as he went by

...a? ...off his head or just a plain ordinary nutta? the week-end was full of em...!

....symphony No 5 in C-major..by big Beethoven....re-visiting the noises, notes and funny stutters..

...draw, draw, draw, and draw again....

...how do printers and scanners know when you are vunerable, hurried, in need etc..? 

is there some conspiracy involved??      I-I that close to being dealt with!!!

...dogs barking, clocks back,studio buzzing,trying to locate a path...again

.......how do i feel? i feel as if the words i am typing have krept into the date and title ....

.....think we forget where we are sometimes - or rather most of the time ...Antarctica taught me things beyond me,   us...?

...jet lagged out....26 hours of travel....sad japan people on my mind...all the world seems mad at present but always is...upside down world?

..all seems clear now  ....most people especially the english and americans are in the bar anyway....

...so there we are in the midst of crisis and what does the lady cleaner in the hotel say to me?

"... i am very excited about william and kates marriage, and i think that you englishmen are very handsome...well thanks for that makes me feel alot better..." !

...i fancy a pizza...best stick a nice cup of tea ... still no real news...

..just happened to hear a disturbance in the hall so stepped out to see the hotel cleaners watching the news on taipei television...some language problems but the essence was the same..funny, people of all types and beliefs bond and communciate when there's trouble afoot

...here in taipei - wheres everyone gone? ...going down to check...

5.45pm (9.45 GMT)  'higher ground soon here'.......waiting for the tsunami to hit here in taiwan...could be 6 metres...on second floor of hotel in taipei, should be ok - told problem will last (not safe) for 2 hours....no real information here...spoke to the hotel cleaners they seemed to know more than the hotel manager staff...more soon...

..mad taxi return back into Beijing....took two hours...first cab threw me out (and nearly drove off with my bag) had an 'O' in the number plate so no entry today into the city...second cab: we got stopped and searched by the police at the tollgate..then he keep getting out and running around asking for directions when i knew where we were but he switched off his powers of communication... in fact no power !

...went for a Chinese swim - with a cap on my head - and an extremely large pair of trunks attached (all that they had for a westerner) 

the yong lad entered the pool wearing a super full gear outfit and I mean super full kit..attached to each limb was a rubber float, to each hand and foot a rubber float, to torso, head, back and stomach, a rubber float and then goggles, hat, flippers, nose expanding bandage and other bits i've never seen before (in there somewhere was a kitchen sink and knoves and forks i reckon). In he gentley stepped, hanging on for dear life to the ladder hand railings...of course he nearly drowned as soon as he hit the water, under the sheer weight of it all.

His Chinese family came to the rescue, in a huddle of confusion and concern -  ritual or attempted murder? I thought...  

...celebrated Springs near arrival today, after these long hard dark grey days in the UK with a cucumber and watercress sandwich...beat that sunshine!!!

tomorrow Beijing.....chicken feet and watercress?

....what's in a name???......

.....see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LD88ETaw04M&feature=fvsr

....the aim/job of the artist is not fame but success at what they (he/she) does...too much 'and tomorrow I'll be famous ...'

Check this movie out Slipping Penguins: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=537y7JjMlsw 

...sister a goner, 2 car accidents in 3 days and purchased a settee/bed for the studio..just stop there I say..

...today felt like a chemical world, full of things that are synthetic, of a condensed planet feel...like plastics

...i dreamt of little black specs of dust in my bed, on the sheets, on the pillows. i tried and succeeded in picking some of them up between my fingers only to find to my astonishment that they were actually penguins...

UP and Down, round and round: ..i get down with small minded persons(don't we all!) ...the pure minor game spirited type person, whose only concern in life it seems, is to pursue a narrow and small path, of placing circles on the floor in which to spin 'play less details'

....oh joy,  looking over the top, beyond the encounter.....to be able see them in a zen way, a long, long, way away from me is helpful but difficult sometimes...i suggest that i cannot always agree with the idea that, the answer is in the detail, ...maybe the answer is beyond the obstructive detailers..

........catalogue launch went well....thanks to all concerned..

You,Me & It,  now exists..................................................

de la war pavilion Bexley

Moving Portraits
22 January – 27 March 2011

Sixty years of portraits in moving image

www.dlwp.com/WhatsOn/ExhibitionDetail.aspx?EventId=1026

...each action i made on the plane the man sat one seat away from me repeated...at first I wondered a performance?  but no! much more subliminal than that, less conscious ...'look at watch', 'drink water', 'open air vent' etc...

Portrait thought for the day: ...Sam Pepys exists?....a portrait of something in time and place..a matter of person in fluid being...passed down by the word on the page...

...a frozen shoulder, a frozen neck, a hot water bottle on the head....not good?

....now the fat Blackbird, wherever it is has broken another rung - I'll rung its neck!

...an obese and loud blackbird has been perching on my studio roof aerial and has bent it! disgraceful!

... frozen memori....reflective mind portrait

....Oneiric.....dream on...

also spoke with Roger (Ackling) great guy, great artist...

how do we speak to ourselves?

I said this to myself today and started to wonder: ...all i really need today is margarine...and i reckon i could by without that if push came to shove..

...frozen head...

You, Me and It: The Video Portrait and Beyond

...now..! 

i am thinking .....work hard...don't listen to other peoples rubbish...especially when its directed at you, enjoy the cold and the colour of the sky....especially in winter months

...looking at and into the face of people, you stare & see a different picture...layers of topic and life, space, time and energy, where does the portrait begin and end ?

...connectivity through the layers...Rembrandts issues infiltrate the thoughts...

sparkling white..navy nights...my frame of the person still feels the flesh..as the cold hits home in the body....

....heard on the street...you know that you have no experience of the world...!

....I've told you before, thinking just doesn't suit you...!

...thinking about and watching my first video work Mr and Mrs (1976) ...ready for new show

You, Me and It: The Video Portrait and Beyond

...on the local pubs menu board...Beer Battered Cod and Chips .... yes i know - just how i feel!

......got a touch of the - slow down - or else ! - joes

..cold comfort, november ....but the show goes up slowly..

...thinking about Nam June Paik...cyber - global....portrait

....a cold rainy day - something like having my eyesight somewhere around by my feet....!

....as I said to Karl Hyde yesterday I once saw a dog that could only turn left...I made a piece of work based on it....Brent Cross to Arnos Grove

..today I saw a seemingly sociable man shopping in his pyjamas...I thought he looked quite swish..

the carrier bag he was holding seemed to match perfectly...maybe that's the idea?

... sitting with a group of art students today, I wondered and asked about the nature of art, its purpose in the world and what it meant to them as makers...some seemed to feel that selling was a vital part, others wondered. ... 

...being in time....

....my day: I thought of my studio as a lighthouse, I consulted and was told it was space rocket..

                 I thought of my car as a go-cart, but was told it was something else..

 I thought of the route I take often as a straight road but was told it is full of circles                      bends and hills....

 I thought today....at least

...thinking of a portrait of dorian gray but as the relationship between action and the static image...

....a cold portrait....

......

....portrait of the artist as a 'young' dog...no I feel it...woof woof ! just dog will do!

....what is welsh for performance art? studio visit for the history of performance art in wales...70's

.....returning as often as is possible and staring into Rembrandts face on the wall each time becomes a differing experience...would he be making videos now? would he be interested in post modern ideas of shift and reassembling history? where would he have taken the portrait now?

or maybe thats just what he's doing anyway now from the wall?

....mapping and dreaming...

...welcome again Alfred Jarry...to the current day and its meaninglessness but also

its beauty..... tomorrow I present Pataphysics..the pixilated moment - imbued..

...

...boobalabbalaberlabolabolabbabbabbabolabbalaBabbalo....!

.......talking to a large group of people, I sometimes see their faces, a sort of separation takes place, whereby the words are not reaching them and certainly not going in...and the words are not in the right order...

...looking at the French ladies profile at the market, it was striking...a little Duchamp like..

yet a bit frightening - satyr like - 30's like....

...the 4 x friends sat at the dinner table, ate and did not speak to each other, sometimes they did look at each other, then turned away...how what?

the dream:  instructed me to hit the golf ball in Hackney towards Dalston Junction over the houses and factories then to go find - I did, a road weeper found it for me 30 minutes later

- odd ,  any ideas?

the tractor passed by, in the trailer behind a pair of massive horns reached for the blue sky..

important message: the cows were evenly spaced today !

...the cows are lying down in the field opposite, in yet another new formation.

what signal are they sending today?

.....are animals as stupid as we believe!

..as the painter and decorator accidentally drops the tin of gloss paint from a height, the fence and plants at the back of the studio are immediately splashed and turned white all over.....Tony Hancock as the artist still lives I reckon...*

(*Ref: Tony Hancock in the 1960's film The Rebel)

overheard today as I was crossing the street in North London, a women said loudly to herself

(maybe not to herself?), ...80 million motorists, in the flowing deep river, fucking global warming.....!

I thought to myself, not bad, not bad at all!

showing the little boy sat next to me on the plane a postage stamp from and of Buenos Aires, he joyfully tries to pronounce the word and guess where this place may be in the world he knows 'so well'

Turkish flu, seemingly flown over especially for me to catch has proved a burden on the system and the mind..but strangely enough always brings a benefit in terms of re-streaming the energy flow in a more positive direction..

the sound of a hissing animal enters the room but cannot be seen - sounds dangerous - but remains a mystery

Driving to Golders Green I realise I am making a large triangle, I quickly do a circle

12.53 two headed portrait

20.30 self portrait

as i was
about to begin the artists panel discussion, stupidly i was tempted by a large
juicy strawberry piled on a bowl near the entrance....slipping it into my mouth it tasted very refreshing, but then i lost control of it...... it slid out of my grasp, down the front of my light linen shirt.....leaving the most remarkable red print at my nipple area.... like a women’s kissing lips ...extraordinary...being stuck with it as a visual badge.. it became a talking point - for all the wrong reasons..

attaching washed underwear to the ceiling fan in order to dry it more quickly is not a good idea in a new york hotel as it is difficult to control the speed of blade rotation. this to my cost ultimately ended up in the clothing firstly being slapped violently against the wall then indeed at the second attempt resulted in it flying straight out of the window....retrieving such items from the floor below can prove difficult to explain 

taking a shower in my tiny NY hotel cubicle, I spend twenty minutes chasing a mosquito

around myself in the very tight space...bashing my arms and legs trying to stop the blood sucking beast,

finally I nail it like a mini-print to the wall   -   what am I doing?

New York beckons in the near distant future, sometimes empty yet full of energy and most able noises

alike other centres of movement it has a draw which you just cannot ignore

meeting and speaking with the political Kinnocks was odd - an artistic mismatch. I was reminded of an early 16mm film of mine made in 1978, a party political broadcast on behalf of the  The CardBoard Box Party (C.B.B.P) it was never broadcast - belief is everything?

ps I have seen a guy wondering around with a similar cardboard box on his head in central London..maybe he is a (C.B.B.P) member?

video, portrait, all is one, antarctica, cold, white, space, time, movement, action, performance

all is one....art old & new technology, ideas, concepts and 8 corners of the mind

the singing chair

listening and staring across the room I hear music coming from a table, I cannot switch it off so I bury the electronic device under a persons clothing on a chair, now the chair sings inaudibly

I ask, or i think i ask for 2 eggs, i get 2 dozen eggs - strange that! but acceptable i suppose

a german woman standing to attention at the end of my table, an englishman speaking perfect french being moaned at by his wife, a young woman with her boyfriend continuously giggling, a waitress abrupt and yet so efficient

at the side of the A1 road a woman in her 70's wearing a short floral dress

juggles 3 balls in the air but keeps dropping one onto the freshly cut grass below her...

I search for a meaning, cannot find one and it does me good...

por t ray   i t    u  r      e

my new cool grey telephone forces me to speak in a different voice - will it last I ask myself?

outside, upon and within

cold water runs down my back as i hear the sound of the 5am birds singing

knowing they will sleep soon after their chorus

on my right leg sits a enormous swelling from a wasp sting

in my head is a radio tune i cannot easily remove

outside upon and within

Today

Thinking and making:  

Money, Power and People

Money, Power but People

Money, Power, People

Power, People

People, People

People

People

Ireland seems to do only wet and dry - two gears for the weather

Thoughts and images flickering through the nights which are dark!

Sat in my thatched artists studio famine-ex-famine cottage listening to the wind and Atlantic Ocean in persistence rattling at the window pane, never allowing comfort to set in... 

impermanence

Conversations for a book about The Beatles - as I saw them as a kid (10 years old)

Martin Creasy is authoring a tour book

I was 'forced' by my older sister to go see many groups at the Odeon every two weeks or so

Stones, Beatles, Hendrix etc...

Very odd especially watching the girls reactions around me.. odd age 10!  

See: http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/beatles/article6822547.ece

Birds sing - sometimes too much - is that bad?

Still dreaming in bluish white - will it ever stop?

National Review of Live Art - Glasgow

Memories of friends past and present

Homage performance was dedicated to their contributions to human life

Thinking about notions to do with NOW

We are encouraged not to think of now? where is now? where did it go?

Why now and not then?

Strong, vivid dreams still haunt my sleep. Antarctica is on my mind in the background and in the foreground.

Earth and snow things emerging larger in the distance as the fog clears, odd colours and noises. Some wonderful - some difficult.

But all grande

Presented paper and images on the theme of Happiness today.

My take was: Happiness  =  Creativity  =  Visual art  =  Performance art

But maybe just being a Penguin is enough

To the very end difficult!

A hotel, a bath, a banana

Calm again before the storm

Unpack military gear - hand back

The warmth of Buenos Aires is in the air(es)

Now the game begins again - remember this is South America - I keep forgetting!

Dear Werner Dafeldecker arranges the taxi - of which the driver is a lunatic - he cannot drive 

I demand to find the seat belt which has been well and truly tucked away under the rear seat, as this must surely be his first time out in a car! He does not understand the basic concept of lane markings for some reason

The airport is a swarming mass of humanity - must partly be the Earthquake in Chile

The queue is 400 people long and expanding

An ugly fat bellied man tries to push in and nobody says anything - I go bonkers at him - 'go to the back of the queue sunshine '- at first he pretends not to speak English

He craftily sticks it out and slips just 6 places back - asshole

Now there is engine trouble on my Buenos Aires to Madrid flight which costs me 4 hours and then believe it or not as we were just about to take off at Madrid for London the plane is recalled and escorted by fire engines because of an engine leaking fuel!  So I then wait 2 hours to change planes...oh well! 

Interviewed a number of Penguins as potential students for University of Hertfordshire but they just don't seem interested in PhDs. I have a suspicion that they are setting up their own college...shame that...oh well took a photo of them being interviewed anyway. Will publish this new knowledge soon.

Frozen last night, down my left side...near the window. Serious conditions.How do you survive that in a tent? Returning continuously to my artworks in the snow they are slowly disappearing under snow, drift, wind and temperature - metaphor?

Late intense philosophical conversations with scientists. Relationships between art and science,logic and aesthetics.

Spirit, 'throwness', appropriation etc..Junctures and divisions. God and need...

Did not sleep well!

Same old routine, very difficult to explain

On a windy but sunny morning we are given 30 minutes to prepare and pack our belongings

15 minutes later, having packed we are told to stand down again (a?)

Engine trouble - no flight today

Its utter chaos. Waiting for parole ?

Food beginning to make me feel sick - pizza with an egg topping which you have to scrum for on a table in the middle of the dining room

Artists and scientists (from Czech Republic and Spain) are getting depressed...no wonder you have to have a psycho test before you come here. Madness is close to the surface

Australian artist Laurence English getting annoyed - cannot blame him...the other night is was the turn of Werner Dafeldecker (Austrian artist) - my turn to come?

Outside extremely cold but a wonderful sight - extraordinary would not of missed this opportunity

Real wonder of the world  

Have been tracing the history of human involvement with this place Antarctica its pretty sad yet 

intense adventure and resistance to accepted doctrine and the elements. Puts our little lot in our pre-made metal base (built in 1969) into perspective very quickly. 4 years away on a ship. 1 year frozen into the pack ice must have a touch more difficult. 

Well and truly stuck with the penguins here...

The weather dictates everything. When the plane arrives, we know not. There could be a technical, logistical or weather problem involved - stuck in Antarctica

Play a Blues/Jazz session with Austrian sound artist Werner Dafeldecker,  the soldiers leave the room!

Blizzard arriving....?

Snow track to the top of the giant Glacier Buenos Aires - incredible experience on top of a giant white cake - slices are disappeariing

Champagne and lamb for lunch as formal exchanges are made between the Argentine army commanders and the Bolivian crew of the newly arrived ice breaker ship in the bay

No one (except ourselves: artists and scientists) dare leave the table until the Colonel has retired.

Twin Military Helicopters across the frozen sea to Marambia Base: whales, seals, penguin tribes waddling away from the prop sound..

We are flown to the Swedish house (hut) at Snow Hill. Here the Scandinavian expedition were stranded for 2 two years in 1901. They had brought a flat pack cabin with them and dogs. They walked across the frozen sea for help

Marambia is chaos again. Too many people, no where to sleep except the floor in the lecture theatre. But we are getting used to it..

Cold cold day

Even the penguins huddle

No shower, no water, it will come - but when? It has to come from the Glacier - dam it!

Bread at lunch - very unusual.

Up at the Glacier filming and image making..actions

Deep deep fog rolls in - quick move it back to camp. Comes in fast. Cannot see the bay. Hurry.

Following the pipe line - nothing fancy - the waste disposal pipe to the camp

Penguins everywhere - they appear so innocent then they get eaten by the big birds

Military helicopter (they move in 2's) to Esperanza base

5 in the back - life jackets on

Over the bergs, channels, mountains, waters, past the Russian ice breaker

Into the wooden cantina like a boat on ice

Hut (house no 12) the old school place

Beautiful beautiful place, on the moon but with water blues to whites and greys

Penguins everywhere

No blanket

Landrover

Icey scenes and Bergs

Clear mist and Helicopters

Art arriving

 Action Stations:  Hercules being prepared, race to it, we go.....get dressed - full kit

Stop go back to the beginning, weather window closed - Stand down

I can't help but swear - ¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿

 So we eat, drink and play the guitar singing bad western pop songs and feel low..

Into my bunk on a windless Patagonian night

But you cannot sleep, the dogs outside are screwing, barking and howling all night long

Next morning sat on the runway they are so sincere and cute - please stroke me -

get lost you dirty little bastards !

Back again at miltary base B.A. Big Hercules arrives and we board.

Sat with the cargo on canvas straps. Very loud. But smooth and solid.

Up in the cockpit with the pilot and others.Looking towards the southern tip of Argentina

beyond to Antarctica.. Malvinas plastered all over their suits...sad.

They are good friendly people. Maps, dials, windows, lights, numbers, wires and a bed..tight space and no toilet for the flight - 5  hours..

Windy Patagonia..  onto the military camp. An hour later I get arrested and returned to camp for taking photos on the base (of the sky !!) - no problem.

Who knows?

Argentine time is different to other types of time.....on an on an on...

Trying to understand how to attach things to myself - not very successful..

Not enough tape, not enough space, not enough time, not enough nough - whats nough?

Partition of thoughts suspended in partitions

Buenos Aires weather wakes up at 6pm as if to say lets start the day

British Council and British Embassy in Buenos Aires are again informed about my trip to Antarctica with the Argentines by military aircraft.  Instruction training completed.