frillip moolog blog

Walls, photographs and managing inspirational images for Visual Research

kirsty@frillipmoolog.co.uk (frillip moolog:) — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 22:05:00 +0000

Systems to categorise and organise have interested me for years.

I used to enjoy watching those programmes where an organisational guru would take over someone’s house and after only two days would have installed a wonderful system of shelves, boxes, drawers and index cards. It all looks so simple; just go out and buy lots of special storage boxes and hey presto!

But categorisation of information, documents, images etc is just not simple!

I have lots of boxes in my studio. In some you can work out that they have been categorised by their material say, made from plastic or metal. But materials for sculpture often don't fit neatly into a box, either physically or metaphoricallly.

In my practice there are all types of items. And they all come into the 'category' of, “Interesting and will possibly become part of a Frillip Moolog being one day”.

I take a lot of photographs; my camera is with me everywhere. As I have said before I draw inspiration from a huge range of sources.

It’s great to have a really strong visual memory but having taken the photographs I then need to organise them on my computer. There are folders within folders.

My Visual Research folder has lots of sub-folders;
Furniture, Upholstery, Fun & Weird, Architecture, Interiors, Ambiguous Objects, Shops, Museums, China & Glass, Childhood, Chindogu, Dens, Graffiti, Heaters, Display, Signs, Water Towers, Swedish Stoves and Brushes as just a few of them.

It might be easier to use a tagging system to manage my images but to do this I'd need to store them all in cyberspace.
As it is, I look at my images often. As time passes they can be moved from category to category. This happens when I am interested in them for another reason.

You can see that this is a very idiosyncratic and personal filing system.

A few months ago I realised that I was noticing and photographing walls. Before I knew it I was noticing interesting walls at every turn. This is the reticular activation system in practice.

The photo above was taken in a couple of seconds. I just turned round and snapped. And how lucky that everything lined up perfectly!

I think these strange molten rocks used to build the wall in the photo below are actually waste from an old Victorian factory furnace. This was taken as I walked up to the Camden Arts Centre to see the Eva Hesse exhibition earlier this year.

I parked by this next wall when I delivered 'Boris' to the Pitt Studios for the Worcester Open.
This colourful beauty is made from broken slabs. I did look closely and I do believe that they have actually been painted (as opposed to bought pre-coloured).
A labour of love!
This one brings back memories of Richard Woods' "Stone Clad Cottages". (Fermynwoods Contemporary Arts offsite project in 2008.)

This strange specimen was spotted on a visit to the Isle of Wight this Easter. I had just read read Mythogeography, a guide to walking sideways.
Taking a Mythogeographic approach I am tempted to apply some paranoia when imagining how this interesting shape of flaked off render came about.

I like homemade and this wall was built by my Dad just a few years ago.
His drive and zest for life are an inspiration.
Although he is old he won’t let old age or bad legs and back stop him from building walls (and much more besides).

We found this homemade creation when out doing a Geocache in Staffordshire.

I'd describe this as a fun little grotto type of wall embellishment.

This wall makes you stop and ask questions. It is part of the Erasmus Darwin House in Lichfield.

There will be a Frillip Moolog presence in the Erasmus Darwin House 30th Jul- 23rd Aug 2010 as part of 52 Weeks of Art.

This portion of wall is a remnant of the wall built 1296-1321 around the Cathedral Close. The house was built against it and then later in front of it. This shows you a cross section of the wall. It was 6 feet thick!

Here's another useful wall.
We discovered this at BlackGang Chine on the Isle of Wight. Black gang Chine "Theme" Park is featured in Bollocks to Alton Towers, one of my absolute favourite books. (It really was a challenge though and after 5 hours I was begging to leave.
It is possible to overdose on tacky!)

Talking of tacky. I just had to stop the car to take this photo. So a breeze block wall with a few real stone protuberances?

As I walked round the corner I discovered that once finished the breezeblock will be dressed with swirls of cement.
I just can’t decide how I feel about this. It’s almost, “so disgusting that it’s gorgeous”!
(An expression from my childhood).

And so, coming full circle, here I am back in the underground. A "brick" wall to represent Brixton underground station. A lovely visual pun!

Meleager's Garland: curated group show and new Frillip Moolog narrative in an unusual non gallery space

kirsty@frillipmoolog.co.uk (frillip moolog:) — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 21:16:00 +0000

The Sir Joseph Banks Conservatory in Lincoln… would I like to exhibit there? Yes of course!

The show was called, Meleager’s Garland and it was curated by Anneka French and Rebecca Wombell and took place over the last May Bank Holiday weekend. The name was inspired by the Greek poet Meleager who first assembled an ‘anthology’ of poetry, titled The Garland. The word ‘anthology’ was previously only used to describe collections of plants.

The artist call out mentioned that the curators were looking for artists … “working with ideas related to botany, artificiality and wider issues of ecology and the natural world”.

In truth I draw most of my inspiration from architecture and costume; however, I was exceedingly interested in this non gallery space. I felt confident that "Madeleine" and "Cyril" would look at home in a glasshouse full of tropical specimens and so made some Photoshop images of them in hot house settings to help Anneka visualise this too.

I have mentioned before my interest in non–gallery spaces. I see these as opportunities to grow the audience for my work. I am interested in seeing people’s reactions, especially people who are not expecting to encounter some art. The Arts Council also like non gallery spaces (as their support of the Empty Shops Schemes shows). It is another way that you can grow the numbers of people that your art has “affected” (an essential figure when making an Arts Council funding application.)

Right from the start I was interested not only in the venue but also in its connections with the 18th century.
My interest in 18th century started when I researched Sir John Soane (the “grandfather” of British collectors) when I was writing my degree dissertation.

The Sir Joseph Banks conservatory is full of specimens of plants which Banks collected on his travels. He rose to fame after travelling with Captain Cook on his first voyage to the South Pacific in 1768. Sir Joseph Banks was one of the most influential men of his time, advising King George the third and being a key figure in setting up Kew Gardens and also the development of Australia as a colony.

I am interested in collectors and I am interested in stories and so Sir Joseph Banks is definitely of interest to me!

When Anneka French came to my studio to meet "Madeleine" and "Cyril" in the flesh she asked whether they had any story linking them and I was enthusiastic to have the excuse to spend a little time fantasising about what relationship they might possibly have.

It is not always good to be too specific about my thoughts on the beings and their possible personality traits, but for this event I gave myself the green light.

By writing a set of 6 postcards between Madeleine and Cyril I was able to weave a gentle story which touches on travel, discovery, botany, history and of course alludes to the beings’ personalities and possible relationship.

I plundered my collection of postcards and selected some that my grandmother had sent me. Most were from 1970. I think I was drawn to these especially because of their kitchness.

You don’t get postcards with cardigans like this anymore!

The two friends who helped with the handwriting were chosen as I felt that the style of their hand writing reflected the personalities that I wanted to suggest.

And finally some Photoshopping to ensure that the stamps, dates and franking were all “authentic”…

Complete sets of the 6 postcards are available to buy for £2. Postage is FREE!
Click here to BUY.

Sir Joseph Banks played a huge role in raising the profile of botany. He also corresponded with many influential thinkers of his time.

I was delighted to discover that he corresponded with Erasmus Darwin (Charles Darwin’s grandfather) as more of my Frillip Moolog beings will be occupying various rooms within The Erasmus Darwin House in Lichfield later this summer. This will give me another opportunity to develop another postcard narrative.

Artists who took part in Meleager’s Garland were myself (Kirsty E Smith), Claire Brewster, Helen Snell, Andrew Bracey, Alexis Rego, Alex pearl, Liam Herne, Julia Hembrow and Stan Lenartowicz, Pamina Stewart, Richard Thornton, Sarah Nicholson, Rebecca Wombell, Zoe Maxwell, Kyle Kirkpatrick, Ruth Pigott, James Wilkinson and Katrina Naiomi.
The exhibition artwork was by George Hardy.

When deciding on the placing of each artwork Anneka and Rebecca made full use of the wonderfully atmospheric conservatory.

Helen Snell’s tree boats were perfect sailing amongst the coy carp. Some of them absolutely HUGE monster sized fish! They are in fact a species called Fish Zilla; the world's largest type of Koi.

Claire Brewster’s paper cut birds (cut from old maps) were perfect placed within the foliage of this "Paper Flower" Bougainvillea.

Andrew Bracey’s statement referred to this cartoon of Sir Joseph Banks as the Bath Butterfly (This drawn when he was awarded the Order of the Bath 1795).
His piece, “Kaleidoscope”, comprised of a swarm of paper butterflies flying within a clearing in the conservatory. Each was made from folded pages which he had salvaged from old art magazines. I felt like an explorer trying to identify the artworks within these butterflies.

This is my favourite image of “Philosopher”, one of Alexis Rego’s pieces. I love the way that the reflections play with our perception of how an object inhabits a space. The effect of an artwork on our senses and emotions is not only in its physical presence but also in the way that it responds to the surrounding space.

It also reminded me of how, as humans, we have to look hard to make sense of previously unseen forms. Our brains are programmed to try to make sense of forms and we do this using our previous experiences and understanding of the world. I love ambiguous forms!

Alexis was confused as he thought that the form of "Madeleine" suggested a male character rather than a female character but he was using his previous knowledge of botany and plant forms.

Little did he know that when deciding on Madeleine’s form I was inspired by 1950's Paul Warma Paraffin heaters and women’s corsetry!

As part of the Evening Event on 30th May Dominic and I acted as "Madeleine" and "Cyril’s" voice pieces; i.e. we read out the postcards on their behalf.

For this tentative foray into performance I made myself a waistcoat from remnants of Madeleine’s green dog-tooth check fabric and Dominic wore a tie that I made from the remaining vintage beige boucle fabric that Cyril is made in.

Being part of a curated group show was a great experience; it was good to see how my work fitted in with the other works selected by Anneka and Rebecca, it was a very interesting non gallery space and it gave me an opportunity to try my narrative through postcards idea.

Finally it links beautifully to my next show which takes place in the Erasmus Darwin House in Lichfield this August.

Erasmus Darwin was the linchpin of The Lunar Men… but that is for another blog post.

Complete sets of the 6 postcards are available to buy for £2. postage is FREE!

Click here to BUY

David Mellor: taking inspiration from his live work ethic, designs and craftmanship

kirsty@frillipmoolog.co.uk (frillip moolog:) — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 10:53:00 +0000

Stories are what I thrive on; and what better than a story which starts with a teenager in Sheffield making a caravan. Scavenging for materials in post war Britain he used Ponds skin cream jars for the light fittings.

(I remember that cream, it was always really cold. I used to put a dab on my nose when I was a little girl messing around with my Nan’s toiletries.)

David Mellor is the teenager that I am describing. He went on to earn the title of "Cutlery King". But he designed so much more than just cutlery.

When I was 13 I spent a weekend in London with my Mum. It was one of those special mother and daughter weekends. We went to the V&A and to Liberty’s of Regent Street, we saw Andrew Lloyd Webber’s "Evita", we ate some very posh sausages at The Greenhouse in Mayfair (It was John Tovey’s restaurant at that time) and we also went to David Mellor’s Kitchen shop. It was 1977 so it would have been his Sloane Square shop.

Photo by Phil Sayer

The things that you accept as normal when you are a child… I accepted that when out with my mum we went to kitchen shops (usually spending the most time in the china department). My own children know that when out with me there is a very strong possibility that there is an unusual museum nearby or an art gallery at least.

I stored away all the memories from that London weekend.

It was special; we lived in Central Scotland and it was my first real trip to London.

When I got married I was 24 and I would have loved to have put David Mellor cutlery on my wedding list. I think my favourite design at that time was “Flute”. Sadly we couldn’t agree; I think that it came down to the fact that we preferred to have two spoon shapes one for soup and one for desserts. (One of Mellor’s ambitions was to refine and simplify and so he had worked on devising the fewest items of cutlery actually needed…. You don’t see fish knives and forks in a David Mellor range).

"Flute" designed in 1983. Photo by Pete Hill.

I have now been married for 22 years. And David Mellor’s career has been a notable one. Visiting London Design Week events I still drool over his designs. My favourite now? Possibly "Hoffmann".

David Mellor was an advocate of Modernism and "Hoffman" has been described as being, to some extent, an homage to early 20th Century mid-European metalwork.

I am also fascinated by people’s homes and how they live, so what a wonderful book “At Home with the Makers of Style”. Reading this book back in 2006 I studied each photograph. David Mellor is one of the designers featured in this book. It was then that I read about his Round Building cutlery manufacturing site and home in Hathersage, near Sheffield.

So this Easter we made it. The trip was first planned to go to buy some “posh sandpaper” (Micromesh finishing cloth) from Craft Supplies.

I am finally finishing a being(sculpture) called "Rachel". She’s a cross between Barbara Windsor and Mae West… so of course the sandpaper needs to be posh!

Hathersage is only 3 miles from Craft Supplies so obviously the time had come to visit The Round Building!

The building was designed by Sir Michael Hopkins. It was built (1990) on the foundations of an old circular Gas Storage container and has been described as minor masterpiece of modern architecture. Although my photos don't show it it sits in exceedingly beautiful countryside.

You can walk round the factory and watch the cutlery being made. Mellor was a designer who was completely involved with the making of his designs. Although he introduced a lot of technology he still retained the handmaking skills and hand finishing of each item. He admitted to being a perfectionist.

I find this machine really sculptural. I get inspiration for my Frillip Moolog beings from an ecclectic range of sources.

Not only that but he used his own workforce when building, renovating or fitting out his premises.

Of course you are going to feel pride and belonging if you actually contributed to the making of the building that you work in.

There are 480 Finnish plywood roof panels to make the roof of the Round Building; these too were made by Mellor’s own workforce.

“Mixing concrete and foundations on a bitterly cold Sunday was a typical situation which I learned to expect….working with him you surge forward on a tidal wave of unbounded enthusiasm and there is never any question of defeat”. Ron Carter furniture designer and old friend from RCA talking of his involvement with the design and shop fitting work on the Sloan Square shop.

Yes this is what you’d expect from such a name in design history; drive, passion and self belief.

Park Lane was the first of Mellor’s live work buildings. A point to note is that this building was designed (1960) with two thirds of the space devoted to design studio and manufacturing workshop and just one third for living and sleeping space. (The same proportion that he divided his time.) His bed actually slid out into the living room from under from under the kitchen work units!

Yes a driven and committed man I would have loved to have met him.

Recognise the salt and pepper set in the left of this photo? "Fanfare" condiment set was designed by David Mellor in 1961 and has been copied the world over.

Another game that I enjoy is “How Many Degrees of Separation?” I love when I can make connections and often during a chance conversation you can discover that you are more closely connected to someone than you might have believed.

Sitting in the cafe area within the David Mellor museum I discovered that the gentleman sitting beside me was Brian Edwards, an old friend of David Mellor’s. On realising that I was more interested in David Mellor than my posh sandpaper he revealed that he had known David Mellor from the early days of his career. Infact he had interviewed David Mellor for one of his very first design jobs.

Brian Edwards described his business as being office workstations specialising in Danish and Scandinavian designs. Now that I realise that he owns Shape Posture Seating I realise that I could have mentioned that I owned a kneeling stool back in the 80’s. Lots of student studying was done on it.

And also my own very early exposure to Danish design; my memories of eating Open Sandwiches at the Danish Design Centre in Glasgow. These were trips with my Nan and my mum I was very young but I definitely soaked up those sensory experiences.

Brian owns a set of David Mellor "Pride" cutlery. He started collecting it when he got married.

What a wonderful name; "Pride".

David Mellor was still a teenager when he first designed it and it went into production while he was still a student at RCA. It has now been in production for over 50 years!

Press plates for making "Pride" cutlery.

Brian Edwards was having lunch with Keith Tyssen. He introduced Keith as one of the country’s leading designers in silverware.

It was a funny feeling, I was so excited to have the chance to speak to these old friends of David Mellor’s (Keith Tyssen was quick to mention that David Mellor had given him his first “leg up” by giving him free access to use the studio space at Park Lane when he first graduated) but I didn’t want to sound too gushy. People can get the wrong idea when I get excited!

They both spoke fondly of their friend; sadly David Mellor died last year. But how lovely that they can still meet, to discuss design, appraise architecture and have a lovely lunch surrounded by reminders of their old friend and colleague.

And finally how to make this connection even closer?

I asked if Keith knew Christine Rew, Art Gallery and Museums Manager at Aberdeen Art Gallery (Her dad and my dad were best friends from their Glasgow schooldays.)

Aberdeen has a very impressive collection of silverware and actively invests in work by contemporary makers so it was no surprise that Keith has met Christine. Yes he has work in Aberdeen Art Gallery’s collection.

So not bad for a spur of the moment trip for some posh sandpaper!

Examples of David Mellor's designs for street furniture: traffic lights, pedestrian crossing equipment, waste bins, the square letterbox and bollards amongs others. So certainly not "just " the Cutlery King. David Mellor's designs are all around us. He has had a huge impact on our British visual culture.

Mythogeography: museums, animals and Nina Saunders' installation at Tracey Neuls

kirsty@frillipmoolog.co.uk (frillip moolog:) — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 16:45:00 +0000

No sooner had I read about Phil Smith’s book, Mythogeography: A Guide to Walking Sideways. than I found myself on my own “ambulatory adventure”.

"If you want a simple definition of the term Mythogeography, you won’t get one. It’s more about ways of doing things than a theory. It’s about experiments rather than text books. It shares some genetic material with psychogeography, just as Psilocybe semilanceata has something in common with the Tesco closed cup. Compared to psychogeography it is probably more site-specific and more to do with some sense of life as a performance. (If this sounds elusive, that’s because most things worth catching are." Phil Smith

I had got up at the crack of dawn to get an early train to London specially to attend a conference. I arrived, observed that the signage was noticeably discreet, handed my coat in and wondered where all the other delegates were. All this before I realised that I had come a whole MONTH early!
But every cloud has a silver lining and the adventures that I had on that day I feel far outweigh the conference that I had planned to attend.
I had my own mythogeographic adventure which had elements of meditation, celebration and revelation.

After a restorative piece of chocolate cake I planned my day. Alone in London with only one appointment to meet Olivier Ruellet at the end of the day….oh the potential for an adventure!

I started gently as I ambled, paused, and went back and forth between exhibits in the Henry Moore exhibition at Tate Britain. (This was a warm up for my planned visit to Hoglands later this year.)

I was positively excited as I strode up the hill towards the Horniman museum. I wrote my degree dissertation on collectors; how collections impact on the respective collector’s life and also the peculiarities & Britishness of some collectors. I didn’t plan to spend the whole day here (but I could easily have) so here are just a few visual snapshots.

I love the old fashioned displays......How big is that walrus?

I felt so like a child as I simply stood beside him. Full of wonder and quite overwhelmed by his size.

Beaks: why bother to show the rest of the birds’ bodies when all we are looking at are the beaks? It seems so wasteful; the arrogance of man. But this says so much about the era of Frederick John Horniman in the late 19th century. This is a history lesson as well as a biology one.

How exciting to see the inside of a tortoise! The underside of things has always fascinated me. That’s why I pay so much attention to the underside of my beings. See Hyacinth’s plastic grass underside and Penny’s plastic eye encrusted underbelly.

A Hermit crab; a wonderful ambiguous form…. and here’s the underside.

And now a hedgehog but displayed as you've never seen one before.

I walked on to The Dulwich Picture gallery. It was a drizzly wet day and I was avoiding the puddles as my (expensive!) boots were developing a leak. So watching out for puddles I started to notice the cracks.

I thought of Doris Salcedo’s Shibboleth that I saw back in 2008.

The mental map of my day was developing nicely; these cracks having as much importance as the art galleries and museums that I was visiting.

I had written a chapter on Sir John Soane (in my opinion, the grandfather of collectors) a few years ago but this was my first visit to the Dulwich Picture Gallery.

The Dulwich picture gallery was the first gallery to be built specifically as a gallery open to the public. Soane's design for the building includes skylights which maximized the daylight but which also ensured that no direct sunlight hit the valuable oil paintings. It has been said that Soane’s skylight designs, “ have been the primary influence on art gallery design ever since”.

Giuseppe, one of the gallery attendants, noticed that I was more interested in the building than the pictures (nice frames though!). He showed me into the mausoleum of Sir Peter Francis Bourgeois the benefactor of this collection. Giuseppe told me how Sir John Soane was on site starting work on the gallery design the very day after Sir Peter’s funeral.

I love stories and stories about people in particular. I also love how small the world is.

As I looked up to Soane’s trademark yellow skylights I would never have guessed that just two weeks later (yesterday) I would be in Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter having a private tour of Pugin, Hardiman & Powell Ltd. world famous stained glass specialists. One of the many prestigious jobs that they are working on currently is restoration of glass in Sir John Soane’s Museum, Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London.

Sir John Soane’s museum is a place I will visit again and again and I hope to visit Pugin, Hardiman & Powell Ltd. again as it is very definitely a most wonderful hidden treasure.

It is believed that Giles Gilbert Scott took inspiration from the mausoleum roof (see photo above) when designing the domed roof of the classic K2 red telephone boxes. Giles Gilbert Scott became Chairman of the Trustees of The Soane Museum in 1925 and designed K2 in 1924-26.
(This red phone box strategically placed in the grounds of the Dulwich Picture Gallery makes comparison of forms even easier.)

While walking you notice so much more. These window boxes filled with synthetic flowers. Nice and bright on a drizzly February day but surely lowering the tone in the very affluent borough of Kensington & Chelsea?

I marvelled at this sliver of house. I suppose it was bombed during WW2 but it is still used. Such fun .....a building as pointed as a spear. I looked in the window to see the narrowest kitchen ever.

At 6pm I positively jogged up to Tracey Neuls’ shoe emporium on Marleybone Lane to check out Nina Saunders' installation.

I entered the wonderland….The theatrical setting…..Shoes in a forest of silver birch tree trunks. And in the centre a chair which has broken free from the confines of our normal expectations of such furniture.

I have followed Nina Saunders for many years now. I grew up with Sanderson fabrics and homemade curtains. As a teenager I even made myself a dressing gown from my mum & dad’s old bedroom curtains . (I really loved the fabric).

So shoes and a mutated chair all upholstered in a reissued Sanderson classic design all seem perfectly natural to me. But the wonderful, magical and at the same time sinister artwork that Nina has created was even better than I had expected.

There was a customer trying on shoes but I was in another world. I hope that my own art takes people to the “place” that I call Frillip Moolog. I wonder if Nina Saunders has a name for the “place” that she hopes her art will transport us to?

Writing this now I realise what an interesting role that animals had played in my day of adventures.

They had been presented in such unnatural ways: Beaks in cases, a walrus on a fibreglass iceberg, tortoise shells opened like treasure chests, hermit crabs’ privacy being invaded and finally Nina Saunders’ installation presenting a jade budgie and fluffy red squirrel laid to rest in handmade shoes. This was far from cute.

I had an unforgettable “Artist Date”. I looked at things from other viewpoints, made connections, walked avoiding the puddles encountered art and exhibitions which played with my emotions and ignited my imagination.

I am on a journey of discovery; interested in Mythogeography and even more convinced in the power of art to transport us to a very special "place".

Getting the date wrong I got much more than I bargained for.

Fighting to build, fighting to save. Zaha Hadid at Vitra & John Madin in Birmingham.

kirsty@frillipmoolog.co.uk (frillip moolog:) — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 11:03:00 +0000

Just a couple of weeks ago I made an exciting trip to Basel, Switzerland. Not only was I delivering "Bettina" to her new home but the trip was also great opportunity to see some inspirational architecture.

Back in 2007 I contacted curators at the Vitra Design Museum when I was researching Mary Little. They have one of her chairs in their renowned furniture collection.

This year while in Basel it was an easy journey to Weil am Rhein to visit the museum.

In 1981 there was a serious fire on the Vitra manufacturing site. But every cloud has a silver lining and for architecture lovers the reward has been that the company directors decided to give architectural commissions to world class architects. They decided to make a serious statement and to use architecture to “imbue the site with vitality and a distinctive identity”.

This ambition is really paying off as now 20 years later the name Vitra is even more synonymous with forward thinking design and adventurous spirit.

The Vitra museum is a Mecca for architecture lovers and there are three architecture tours each day. As provenance would have it although the museum had more than a hundred students visiting on the day of my visit I was the ONLY person on my tour.

I had my own personal guide (Muriel Cappelaere).

On site there are buildings by:

Sir Nicholas Grimshaw (The first building to be commissioned after the fire)
Frank O. Gehry (His first European Commission 1989)
Alvaro Siza
Buckminster Fuller (original dome with a new skin)
Jean Prouvé (a small petrol station)
Zaha Hadiid (Her first ever design to be built 1993)
Tadao Ando
And now Herzog & de Meuron (The Vitra House)

One of the stories that Muriel told me was the one behind Zaha Hadid’s Fire Station commission. Although possibly a myth I feel that the story is worth repeating.

Apparently Hadid had actually visited Vitra with proposals for a chair design. These were turned down but back in her hotel room after the meeting Zaha Hadid (an ambitious and driven women who believes in her worth) drew up some initial sketches for a fire station.
A beautiful and useful piece of architecture…..

I love this story because it’s a great example of how rejection can be the catalyst for a lot of creative energy. To realise ambition you need energy and lots of ideas. Necessity is the mother of invention….

Zaha Hadid has had to fight extremely hard to have her designs accepted. A prime example of this was her experience of winning the competition to design the Cardiff Bay Opera House (1994) only to have it rejected by the people of Cardiff. A second competition was run which Hadid entered and yet again she won the competition but again failed to overcome the opposition of the public. The project was abandoned by the Millennium Commission.

She is a fantastic example of someone who will push and push to succeed. She hasn’t dumbed down her designs but she has had to learn the politics of how to get her work built. She has ambition and she believes in her work. She is definitely the sort of person to take inspiration from.

So Zaha Hadid has had to fight to have her buildings built. But imagine how much worse it must be to have been a successful architect; to have had hundreds of buildings commissioned all over the world for now in your 80’s to have to fight to save them from the bulldozer?

This is the situation that John Madin, architect of many public buildings in Birmingham now finds himself in.

I moved to Birmingham from Edinburgh back in 1984. Birmingham is my adopted city and I am really quite proud of it.

BUT I am so sad and so disappointed that the city planners can’t keep just one piece of Brutalist architecture.
They have already demolished two of Madin’s Birmingham buildings the Post and Mail building and BBC Pebble Mill Studios. Now they are going for the Central Library.

Like Marmite you either love the building or you hate it. Unlike Prince Charles I happen to love it and have done so ever since I first saw it back in 1984.

I have zig-zagged up the narrow escalators; to study, to research, to read and to use the (yes now scruffy toilets). I have enjoyed soaking up the atmosphere.
Even Alan Yentob had to admit that the space is full of light and really quite enchantingly atmospheric. Not his exact words but he said something similar, before deciding that it still should go! (BBC documentary 2008/2009).

Like Olivier Ruellet I too am an artist who is, “concerned with the emotions brought about by memories and the experience of places” and am also fascinated by the "wanderings of our minds".

Olivier Ruellet talks of inner journeys or ‘in-scapes’ I talk of the ‘place’ I have named “Frillip Moolog”.

But isn’t the fact that it was the first post war civic building to be built from concrete not enough to save it?…sadly not.
Now, in his 86th year, celebrated architect John Madin will have to watch as his Birmingham Central Library building is destroyed.
On 29th November 2009 Culture Minister Margaret Hodges announced her decision to overrule English Heritage’s proposal that the library should be awarded Listed Building status.

My question is-
Having fought so hard to have her designs built, what lengths would Zaha Hadid go to to save one of her own buildings from the bulldozer? How would she react if, within her lifetime, they are deemed of less importance than a city’s redevelopment plan?

Birmingham timelapse from 7inch cinema on Vimeo.

Although Madin’s design for the Central Library was never fully realised the building has inspired many artists. Michelle Lord and Katharina Grosse being just two.

Above image from Ikon Gallery website. Katharina Grosse painting on Birmingham Library building 2002.

The National Theatre on London's Southbank is one of Britain's most famous Brutalist buildings. The Queen Elizabeth Hall is also part of the Southbank Centre and here the council have taken an enlightened approach to buildings and how we interact and use them decades after they have been built. By giving permission to Graffiti Artists and skateboarders to use the Queen Elizabeth Hall on London’s Southbank as a canvas then they have helped to pass on ownership of the space below the building to future generations.

I wonder if Zaha Hadid could tolerate these forms of artist interaction on any of her buildings?

Giving my CV a Boost by Exhibiting alongside van Gogh at the New Art Gallery Walsall

kirsty@frillipmoolog.co.uk (frillip moolog:) — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 23:17:00 +0000

How far will an artist go to get his or her work exhibited in the right place? What is the right place?

Will saying that I have exhibited alongside a priceless van Gogh drawing in a top UK gallery actually affect how my art is seen? Will it make curators take me more seriously?

Ania Bas was artist in Residence at The New Art Gallery Walsall during the summer of 2009.
There is an interview between her and Helen Jones Exhibitions Curator in the Dec 2009/Jan2010 issue of Artist Newsletter magazine. In it Ania says,

“I call what I do collaborative art. When asked what it means I say that I am working with people, not with canvas”.

The Artists’ CV Boost event took place on Saturday 5th December. It was part of The Weekend Supplement and was just one of the outcomes of Ania’s residency.

Various alternative gallery tours also took place during the weekend of 4-6 Dec. Tours such as; Speed Tours (the whole gallery in 15 minutes), Tours where the public found out more about the Gallery Attendants and tours where the focus was on the view out of the various Gallery Windows. These unusual tour ideas had all been suggested in the course of various conversations (over cups of tea and home baked cakes) that Ania had with hundreds of visitors and all types of staff at the gallery (attendants, curators, technicians and cleaners) during her summer residency.

This excerpt from the Weekend Supplement Brochure explains more about the Artists' CV Boost,

“During my time at the gallery I met a lot of artists. We talked about how difficult it is to show work in good company and how very few artists get to exhibit in great gallery spaces, such as the one we were sitting in.We started talking about solutions; ways that the process of showing work could be more democratic and truly open to everybody. The artists I talked to did not moan, instead, they wanted to do something about it! This is how the Artists CV Boost idea came to life. It is a chance for 24 artists to show their work next to a van Gogh drawing for exactly one minute and instantly improve their CVs. There is no guarantee of fame, recognition or an instant job/commission offer. There is however, hope that showing next to van Gogh will raise questions about explored themes, the quality of the finish and the impact works have on each other when positioned in such close proximity. A minute long exhibition versus the reproductive abilities of the digital picture.”

I jumped at the chance to be part of this project. I happen to live less than 10 miles away but more importantly I really love this gallery, admire the quality of exhibitions and events that take place there and would like to be more involved with it.

I am a great admirer of the work of Nina Saunders and first saw her installation Making Love to Flowers in 1998 when it was exhibited in the old art gallery in Walsall. It has since been shown in the window of the new Gallery.

When the gallery first opened almost 10 years ago I was excited by an early piece by Laura Ford. I felt so inspired by the audio interview with Laura talking about her memories of growing up in a fairground family and of playing in the empty zoo enclosures on her grandfather's farm (it was an old disused Zoo).

"Beast" by Laura Ford is exhibited in the Children's Centre of the New Art Gallery Walsall.

The Artists' CV Boost Event was fun for me. I met other artists, many of whom had travelled up from London for the event but much more importantly it helped me to feel another step closer to exhibiting in a gallery which I have grown to love and which regularly hosts shows by artists who really are movers and shakers in the contemporary art world.

The piece that I decided to exhibit alongside van Gogh’s "Sorrow" is a piece called "Flight". I made it back in 2002 and chose it simply as it is one of the few pieces of 2D art that I have made. Ania had stipulated that all artworks had to be able to hang on one nail.

For "Flight" I assembled Airfix model aeroplanes and then painted them with selected butterfly and moth markings. A very meticulous and time consuming piece of art. But I get such a lot of pleasure from opening the case (which I also made) and inhaling deeply. The smell of the varnish takes me straight back to the day that my dad made a farm set for my brother. The glue and varnish smell is etched in my memory. A Frillip Moolog moment?

On reflection I think that a more symbolic piece might have been this self portrait. An even older piece but one which would have had much more meaning when placed alongside "Sorrow".

My self-portrait was one of several made during a period of recovery after a serious accident and period of depression. This might be the piece that would have interested van Gogh too?

Thanks to Ania Bas and Helen Jones for thinking outside the box and for facilitating an event which has stimulated much more food for thought than I first expected.

This is the photograph that I used to make my self portrait. Images were printed (through muslin) onto watercolour paper. I used colour photocopies and lighter fluid to release the inks.

Frillip Moolog gets dramatic at Solihull Arts Complex with visitors from France and Chicago

kirsty@frillipmoolog.co.uk (frillip moolog:) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 14:54:00 +0000

The vinyl lettering is in a font called "Synchro". This tied in with the show card which was designed by Paul Wigelsworth.

The G1 exhibition space at Solihull Arts Complex is one where all types of people have had the chance to encounter my Frillip Moolog beings. The gallery opens onto the public library and is within the same complex as a very busy theatre. So it is not surprising that the technicians who installed the show usually work in the theatre. This made it all the more interesting for me as, while we worked together, I learnt a bit about "flying cloths", making automated horses for performances and also setting up lighting. Here Richard was completely un-phased about having to crawl into the cavity wall that we were fixing Madeleine to. Crawling in and out of unusual spaces is all part of the job for theatre technicians.

My first degree was in Accountancy. Even on graduating I was unsure about plunging into the world of finance and at that time did look tentatively into doing a post graduate course in Theatre Studies. But that was back in the 80’s and I chickened out.

I have always said that there is a strong theatrical element to my practice so it is no surprise that admirers of Frillip Moolog are often from the world of theatre too. Benny Semp , a Frillip Moolog fan and fellow artist based in Birmingham actually did his degree in Theatre Studies.
……..“Very witty, cute and sexy in places, nostalgic and thoughtful in others.”……Benny Semp

Cheryl (another of the technicians) spent time making sure that the lighting showed the beings off to their best. I was really pleased with all the interesting shadows that were cast. Shadow puppets ... another form of theatre!

As the ceiling in G1 exhibition space was much lower than the one at Westbourne Grove Church Artspace it meant that for Close Encounters of a Frillip Moolog Kind at this venue the beings were suspended at a level that enabled gallery visitors to get really “up close and personal”.

At the Private View it actually felt like the beings themselves really were involved. They had seemed to be celestial beings while at Westbourne Grove Church Artspace. Now at Solihull Arts Complex, they became more like celebrities.

It’s interesting how many people want to be photographed alongside their favourite.

Aimee Green, the Borough Arts Development Officer and Sarah Miah, the Gallery Officer were really proactive In getting outreach workshops arranged for me.

Through my AllSensesArt business I already have lots of experience of teaching feltmaking but this was a fantastic opportunity to link feltmaking to mixed media sculpture workshops.

I led sessions with children from Forest Oak Special School, Hazel Oak School and also the children who come to the gallery’s Saturday Art Club. I explained how Stan and Russell both had nuno felt (which I had made) combined with ambiguous objects (a vintage bus station down pipe and an aged galavanized draining drum). It then made perfect sense for the children to make their own mini-sculptures which combined felt with various items of kitchen equipment!

This pupil from Forest Oak School did a great job of working with the sculptural qualities of a plastic kitchen funnel. He also has a great sense of colour.

BTEC National Diploma Students came from Solihull College and we had a great session investigating objects and fabrics. They seemed to really enjoy experimenting with these eclectic materials.

Presenting my Artist Talk and also working with the Solihull College students was a great way to remind myself what I’m interested in and what I want my work to “say”.

The show was blogged about by various people including visting members of the public, Southhampton based artist Chantal Powell and it was reviewed on a-n by Becky Evers .

Becky has since asked me some interview questions. This question about future exhibition spaces has been most illuminating….. I think I surprised even myself with my answers.

"You produced a photographic project with the Frillip Moolog creations in ‘Chiptop,’ and have mentioned an interest in non gallery spaces. In the interest of site specifity where would you like to exhibit Frillip Moolog next and why?" Becky Evers

My answer to this question:

Skyscrapers:
Chicago and New York: I watched a lot of old American movies and musicals as a child. They featured sophisticated lives with no responsibilities and definitely quite different from my farm childhood. I also visited Chicago last year to visit SOFA Chicago. My mother trained at the Chicago school of floristry in the late 1950’s.

Someone from The Art Institute of Chicago visited Close Encounters of a Frillip Moolog Kind on the opening night of the show at Solihull. It feels so right for the beings to make a statement in buildings which are making a statement.

Quirky Museums:
I wrote in my manifesto (while still at university) that I wanted to make objects that defy categorization. I had at one point planned to display my degree show as a strange museum with cabinets and a catalogue. My dissertation was on Unusual British Collectors, their museums and how their collections had impacted on their lives.

I have come to realise that I collect people. The beings have their own personalities and I hope that other people will want to collect them too.

Grand Country Houses:
The beings have come from me. These are places that I like to go to. Places with sophistication, grandeur, fantasy, where I can imagine living another life in another time.

Art Deco houses (preferably by the sea):
I would love to own one and live in it myself. I’m a fan of PG Wodehouse’s Jeeves and Wooster stories; carefree, elegant era, spacious rooms.

Film sets: But not as props definitely as stars. I have a growing interest to animate the beings so perhaps this would become much more than an exhibition and more of a performance?

Corporate buildings:
Feedback from the visitors to Close Encounters of a Frillip Moolog Kind was overwhelmingly that people felt uplifted when they spent some time with the beings. Corporate foyer and atrium spaces would be fantastic for the beings.

When people encounter the beings on a daily basis they start to form relationships with them.

If the beings could move around the corporate space/building then this would be perfect. When we encounter an object in another space we look again with fresh eyes.

"I came from France especially for this exhibition!!...Not true of course but I have had great pleasure here today. This will make me happy for the whole weekend." Christophe

What a lovely comment to find at the end of my exhibition. It makes it all worthwhile!

Halloween, British Charity Shops & Memories of SOFA Chicago & Day of the Dead Decorations

kirsty@frillipmoolog.co.uk (frillip moolog:) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 10:43:00 +0000

Last weekend we visited our friends, Nick and Leda Skeens in Burnham on Crouch. They live on a house boat but not just any old houseboat; I’d call it a mansion boat. It started life as a concrete hull which was first used for the Normandy landings; it was never designed to sail independently but rather to be towed across to France laden with wartime supplies. Nick and Leda have transformed it into a very comfortable and unique home; one large enough to accommodate several families visiting for parties etc.

We were visiting for a fireworks extravaganza led by another friend Colin Mayes.

It has become tradition that we visit the local charity shop whenever we are in Burnham on Crouch. I am a great fan of charity shops for lots of reasons:
The strange things that you find on sale in them. Things that you never knew that you needed and that make you wonder about the previous owner’s motivation for owning in the first place.

Charity shop things always have a story and as you know narrative is important to me.

I also love how items are displayed.

It’s not easy displaying such an eclectic mix of stock and as you may have noticed so many charity shops have been “Colour Coded” these days.

What I look for in a charity shop is personality; personality which can be seen in how the items are displayed and also very definitely the personality of the ladies (and sometimes men) who work behind the counters in these shops.

When we visited Burnham’s main charity shop we found that it had changed charities and had a bit of a make-over (luckily only a good makeover). The staff had put a lot of effort into displaying their vast stock; the shop is still very full but it’s somehow easier to find that special something.

They had gone to a special effort with their Halloween window display. I certainly found plenty of personality shining through here.

See this Dorling Kindersley book; "Let’s keep Halloween educational!"

And here poor Yoda from Star Wars fame does look uncomfortable in this plastic caldron,

“Being in this pot; embarrassing it is”.

Giving this orange corn on the cob decorated tea set pride of place (in a cardboard box) on the shopfront is no accident. It's the perfect impulse purchase for someone planning a Halloween teaparty!

Character is strong on the inside of the shop too. I love the way that they have improvised and used an old cheese shop fridge as their display counter. It is now full of jewellery, watches and other treasures.

Last week I presented an Artist Talk for my current solo show Close Encounters of a Frillip Moolog Kind.

I talked about some of the very special charity shops and junk yards that I find some of the objects that I use in making my Frillip Moolog beings.

These two photographs were in my presentation. The parrot perched on his modified magazine rack in Thomas Orton & Sons reclamation in Walsall and this huge galvanized sultana container at Les Oakes in Cheadle, Staffordshire.

I found the blue soap dish for Chubby Blue and the chimney sweep’s brush for Bristle from Ortons and the galvanized drum and blue faceted bus station down pipe for Russell and Stan came from Les Oakes.

This time last year I was in Chicago on a research trip to SOFA Chicago.

As well as visiting the show, talking to lots of galleries both at SOFA and within Chicago itself I also chatted to other artists and did what I love doing; investigating some off the beaten track areas.

A short bus ride found me in the Mexican quarter.

All sorts of shops had commissioned artists to paint their windows with fun, fantastic and engaging Day of the Dead themed images; So much more authentic than the soulless plastic trick or treat version of Halloween that we see so much of.

I’m all for individuality and authenticity.

Close Encounters of a Frillip Moolog Kind. Were the streets of London paved with gold?

kirsty@frillipmoolog.co.uk (frillip moolog:) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 09:40:00 +0000

What a journey! I’m only now writing about Close Eencounters of a Frillip Moolog Kind as I have been so busy living it!

The beautiful documentation photographs were taken by Olwen Holland. Olwen mentioned how the older beings such as Hyacinth and Tall Legs seem to show the same personality traits whether they are at home or “on location” as they seemed to be in Notting Hill.

Hyacinth seems to be taking on the role of Grande Dame of Frillip Moolog.

Sydney Levinson is taking liberties tickling her grassy underside.

Momtaz was a lady in red alongside a lady in red.

Suse (the first to own a Frillip Moolog being) was whispering a few secrets into her ear.

I was just having fun in my Private View evening wear. Notice the lining of the 1970’s crochet dress is the same fabric as Ziggy’s “skin”.

Westbourne Grove Church Artspace is a truly unique place to exhibit and within a day I felt welcomed into the Artspace family. I spent quite a bit of time there over the 6 weeks of the show and every time I pushed open the glass door I felt like I was coming into a strange extension of my own living room. It felt like home from home; possibly because I knew the beings were enjoying being there so much?

They certainly had a lot of attention with a huge variety of people using the building every day: Baby singing classes, Drama for Children, The Twelve Step Group, Brazilian Capioera classes, International YWAM groups, Home Educating Family Groups; all sorts of people from very wealthy to those a lot less well off, from very young to older people, people who had never visited the space before to some who spend time there almost every day.

There were people who visited specially to see Close Encounters of a Frillip Moolog Kind to people who were enticed in from the street to find out what these “strange and colourful flying creations” were.

I had all sorts which is exactly what I wanted. I got people who went away and then returned for a second time. I had children wide eyed with wonder and I had adults wide eyed with surprise, amusement and happiness.
It didn’t take long before the staff at the Artspace started to observe that the reaction, whatever the age of person, was the same; and the show started to be described as being joyous and uplifting.

The period of the show while in Notting Hill meant that I could get out to more exhibitions and galleries in London (spreading the word about Frillip Moolog) and encouraging people to visit the show to see the beings in the flesh.

Ian Fitzpatrick aquanting himself with Tall Leg's sensual textures.

Not my balloons but a young person's party in the building. The beings joined in!

"Is that real gold?" One of the young Capioera pupils enquired about Andrew Logan's smiley brooch. ( one of his own).

As you know I am a big fan of Andrew’s so I felt very honoured that he took time to visit the show, have a cup of tea and get aquanted with the beings.

Liz Cooper, one of the curators from Bury St Edmunds Art Gallery’s, response was, “It’s magnificent!” And I was so pleased to be able to explain more through my Artist Talk which Georgia Newman, Exhibitions Organiser at Quay Arts, Isle of Wight, came especially for.

Some people still couldn’t make it over to Notting Hill so with the help of Karoline Newman I went to them. It was a real privilege to be able to do a one to one presentation for Beth Smith at Selvedge magazine.

As I said, the Artspace team began to feel like family. When we first suspended Ziggy, Angie, Russell, Celeine and Stan (my first non floor based beings) they were there with the scaffold tower and were fantastic at advising while also ensuring that I felt ownership of the show. I felt supported and also empowered.

They helped to organize a group of home educated children so that I was able to run a day long workshop which complemented Close encounters of a Frillip Moolog kind.
Laura and Susan ensured that the private view really was a party and gave technical support for my Artist Talk.

But most amazing for me is that they were there when, as we were packing the beings up at the end of the show, a collector who had been admiring Bettina over the previous 24 hours, came back to buy her!

My sister, Sandra, and I with Bettina. This is two weeks before we knew she was off to pastures new.

This photograph taken by Olwen Holland

They were so pleased for me. They witnessed me meeting someone who admired Bettina so much that he chose to buy her to add to his art collection. (Her new country of residence will be Switzerland.)
Sadly there’s no photo of us, 20 minutes later, sharing a bottle of sparkling wine together in the kitchen! (Thank you Dave xx)

The opening event at venue 2, Solihull Arts Complex, is 22nd October and the show runs until 14th November. Another great opportunity to have an audience with the beings and to find out more about the world of Frillip Moolog.

The Frillip Moolog beings' adventure with Richard Slee at the MIMA art market

kirsty@frillipmoolog.co.uk (frillip moolog:) — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 23:15:00 +0000

Despite a very busy week and the 316 mile round trip I decided that I wanted to be part of Richard Slee’s MIMA Art Market Adventure. Yes I’m a sucker for an adventure! I’ve admired Richard Slee’s work for several years now. I saw his work on show when he won the 2001 Jerwood Applied Arts Prize. I had already fallen in love with “Evil One” one of his pieces that was part of The Uncanny Room exhibition at PM Gallery in 2002.

Evil One by Richard Slee

I have a strong interest in things uncanny and a few years ago had included Evil One in my selection for one of my degree projects on curating. I also included Penellessa by Bruno Munari, one of my heroes. I love the way that her name is a combination of the Italian words "princess and "pencil" ( not princess and brush).

Penellessa; Bruno Munari

Another all time favourite of mine this absolutely perfect piece by Yurgen Bey.

I could go on and on but I won’t!

Last week while at the Harley Gallery I saw some of Richard’s work which is in the “Age of Experience” exhibition. This was work made during a period where Richard did not have access to his usual ceramic studio facilities and so is made using found objects and more importantly for me brushes (Russell and Bristle are two of my beings who make use of radiator brushes and salvaged chimney sweeps brushes respectively). I like his piece called Jurassic where he has melted the bristles of a multi-coloured brush and hidden some small plastic dinasaurs in the bristle "forest". But truthfully I think that I prefer his pieces where there is still an element of ceramics. This trowel with supremely long fringing is perfect for me.

So what exactly happened at MIMA last weekend?

There were 80 stalls for artists exhibiting or selling work that had a connection to the theme of “Ornament is Crime” (… or not). There were quite a range of stalls including a lovely cake stall where just buying one of their ornate cakes was a memorable occasion. It was run by Arcadea and in their own words, " We all had a great time and shared info about our work with lots of people we would never usually have reached. Good old cakes - a bridge to the future . . .?"

There was also a section called “Ornament Tales”. In my application to take part in the event I talked about the tales of the objects and fabrics that I source and use to make the Frillip Moolog beings. I explained how the narrative is important to me and how it continues even when the object/ornament has been re-appropriated into a piece of art.

By taking part in The Ornament is Crime Art Market Adventure I had the perfect opportunity to validate my claim that people engage with the beings and that they do find that they have strong and engaging personalities.

I took four of the beings Cyril, Chubby Blue, Penny and Boris.
We set out our stall and waited for the Great British public to arrive!

People completing their answers for our Frillip Moolog competition.

My son Dominic and I had a whale of a time. We were ready for an adventure. The stalls were the absolute basic market stalls dressed up only with our handwritten signs. Our stall was only metres from the fantastic while walled galleries of the beautiful MIMA building.

We were outside, not in, but the beings didn’t mind. They were too busy with admirers engaging with them asking about them, touching them, smiling and then best of all, entering our competition.

The competition comprised of four questions about their favourite being: why it was their favourite, where they would go on holiday and what they’d do while on holiday, their hobby and lastly what the being’s favourite TV programme was.

Once I made it clear that there was no correct answer, we were away! Imaginations were let loose, there were brows furrowed with concentration and giggles at their own answers. There were also texts and phone calls made to get friends over to the Frillip Moolog stall. “Get over here it’s the best”.

These people all "got it". They understood the idea of Frillip Moolog.

Alex Pearl is pictured bottom left in this photo. His own art is driven by many questions around our relationships with ornaments.

As my mission in life is: “To encourage and nurture imagination and creativity in a fun and enthusiastic way”, I was really happy with the competition. I (finally) decided on 3 winners.

I like the simplicity, surreal but at the same time very logical answer, that Cyril’s hobby is Hopping: Harrison Braithwaite

I love the fact that Penny’s favourite TV programme is Doctor Finlay’s Case book (original programme): Don Chesney

I love all of the answers that Alex Freeman Dunn gave for Boris. His holiday would be to retreat to his hunting lodge in Scotland and he likes to go on marching parades. His hobby is horse riding and his favourite TV programme is Black Adder.

The prize? A glossy A4 print of their chosen being.

Because the other answers are so worthwhile you can read them all here.

Solomon with his drawing of a Frillip Moolog being. He used one of my pieces of "quality" scrap as inspiration for this being's head.

I can safely say that I felt that there was quite a buzz coming from our stall during the Ornament is Crime Art Fair Adventure.

People were wearing their Frillip Moolog stickers with pride, the beings got a day out to the North East, I got to meet Richard Slee and finally, I took part in his ornament exchange.

Notice I cheated. I really didn’t fancy any of the ornaments (and had forgotten to bring one to swap) so I swapped this tool (as used to make Float) for another non-ornament; a MIMA mug commemorating the day. Perfect!

Would Richard Slee find this ornamentation a crime?

kirsty@frillipmoolog.co.uk (frillip moolog:) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 12:53:00 +0000

My solo show, “Close encounters of Frillip Moolog kind” is imminent. For it I have made new beings to “fly” within the fantastic Notting Hill venue, Westbourne Grove Church Artspace. I’m really excited about the show as for the first time visitors will be able to experience the beings from even more angles. Previous beings have been very much floor based but have always had special details on their underside; my motivation for these hidden details being my childhood memories of playing hide and sleek and exploring furniture from all angles.

At the beginning of this project I realised that it would be best to make lighter weight work to suspend from the ceiling. It didn’t take long to make the connection with lampshades. But the main reason that I wanted to use lampshades is because of the beautiful sculptural shapes that are possible, the way that the structure of the frame can be visible if translucent fabrics are used and also the beautiful complex shadows that they cast.

So here’s a sneak preview of Angie. Freddie Robins commented that Angie appeals to her because of her “awkwardness”. I feel that she’s both awkward and pretty at the same time. The words of the Bowie song, “Oh You pretty things” keeps going through my mind, which is interesting as I’ve named another of the new beings Ziggy.

Lampshades have featured in my life since an early age. Almost all of the lampshades in our house were ones made by my mum. I remember her going to night classes to learn how to make them and I used to sit mesmerized as she painstakingly wrapped the frames with bias binding before sewing on the lovely silk and chiffon covers. I think that her absolute best was an oval bell shaped one covered in pink chiffon. The fabric was all gathered up into a central (self covered) button on both the front and back. Buttons keep coming out in my work.

Being a farmer’s wife, my mum was a very busy person so sometimes things didn’t get finished. I have no intentions of finishing this, I just love keeping it in this "frozen in time" state.

I bet Stella Mitchell would love to add this unfinished beauty to her collection at her Land of Lost Content museum. If you’re ever near Craven Arms, Shropshire make sure to visit this way out museum. Exhibits behind chicken wire … say no more!! Sadly no photography is allowed there so you’ll have to take my word (and Wayne Hemmingway’s) for it!

One of the most important lampshades in my life is this one that mum bought in Paris back in 1961 when she was on her honeymoon. Here it is in all its faded glory. It was her pride and joy and the lovely rich velvet on the braid went really well with her kidney shaped red velvet sofa.

The lampshade's generously gathered fabric looks like silk but, no, this is plastic… of the very best Creations d’Art quality of course. I think that it was this plastic that really inspired me to use the “classy” plastic lace fabric when making Tall Legs. My mum was ridiculed by my cousins for continuing to love this lampshade through the hessian loving seventies, but I’m proud that she didn’t submit to fashion and kept it all those years (even though now relegated to the attic).

What a discovery the day that I came across this image (below) in the Conran Directory of Design by Stephen Bayley 1985. The writer says it all when he comments,
"Moller House Vienna 1928. Architect Adolf Loos was strongly opposed to ornamentation in architecture but later owners of the Moller house have not necessarily shared his feelings as this photograph reveals".

I felt that this image perfectly explained the differing aesthetics of Frillip Moolog beings; the streamlined Modernist inspired ones and the others where I have yielded to a few frills and decoration. That was the inspiration for the title, “The Yin & Yang of Frillip Moolog” , my solo show in Bedford earlier this year. I feel that in Frillip Moolog there is plenty of room for beings which express both sides of my personality.
On the question of ornamentation this MIMA event "Ornament is Crime" which will be curated by Richard Slee looks very definitely worth a visit.

To make Angie I had my lampshade frames made to measure by Jack at A & J Lampshade Frames. They are a great example of quality craftsmanship and it’s exciting to see that British manufacturing is still thriving. I think next time I will challenge him with even more complex curves.

Finally a few lampshades from my photo albums: This wonderfully atmospheric sound light installation by Kirsten Reynolds was part of the Powerplant event in Liverpool last October. We just sat there listening to the whispered words and sounds. (My cousin Dave Statham was one of the Powerplant team.)

Kirsten's own words best convey the atmosphere she created, " An avenue of tall elegant standard lamps illuminates the long row of park benches. Fluctuations in the light and sound from each lamp respond to and simultaneously influence the lights and sounds of others resulting in an ever changing conversation between flickering luminousity and chattering harmonies. A series of small human scale environments is created providing meditative places to sit and contemplate both the gardens and the memories of individuals named on each bench."

Lampshades must be "in the air" at the moment. On our recent camping holiday in Leicestershire one of the craft activities was to modify and embellish old lampshades. The lampshade (above) was decorated by a friend and gave some atmospheric lighting to the woods at night.

And here's another great example made in that craft session. What a fun use of paper cases for cupcakes! Could Richard Slee really call this ornamenation a crime?

A celebration of craft with Craftspace at Anthony Gormley's One & Other fourth plinth project

kirsty@frillipmoolog.co.uk (frillip moolog:) — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 22:03:00 +0000

It’s interesting how things work out; Anthony Gormley’s One and Other Fourth Plinth project in Trafalgar Square could be described as us members of the public “making our own damn art”. Actually, “Make Your Own Damn Art!” is a call to action that I associate with Bob & Roberta Smith another of the artists who was a shortlisted for the Fourth Plinth Project.

Earlier this year I led some Saturday art club sessions at the Mead Gallery, Warwick Arts Centre. At the end the children’s “Common sense with attitude” billboards were displayed in the gallery alongside Bob & Roberta Smith pieces and it was fun to discover that some of the gallery visitors were unaware that any had been made by children!

I was in London this weekend and synchronicity would have it that two people that I know Deirdre Figueiredo, Director of Craftspace and Kate Durrant, Lichfield District Council’s Civic Secretary) had their slots on the plinth not only on the same day but actually with time slots next to each other.
Deirdre was promoting the Slow Movement in crafts and also promoting a more sustainable lifestyle by recycling an old knitted jumper.
I’d already chatted to Kate and knew that she planned to make a set of panoramic drawings. I first met Kate about 15 years ago at Lichfield College where she was one of the art tutors and over the years we have occassionally been in life drawing classes together. She is really talented and I look forward to seeing the finished work.

During Deirdre’s session on the plinth there was a buzz of activity amongst friends and family who had come to support her in the community act of making. I’d intended to bring along my “never to be finished” Kaffe Fassett needlepoint tapestry (I’ve being doing it very sporadically over the last 21 years!) but I forgot so was very glad that my friend Jane Porter brought me this lively day-glo orange yarn and some needles so I could get clicking. On the webcam of Deirdre’s session you can hear the buzz of chatting from the crowd below; there’s nothing like a group of people sewing patchwork, knitting, crocheting and embroidering to draw people in and start off conversations.

I met:

-Mary Spyrou a writer and tutor (at the Morley College) specialising in textiles from diverse cultures. She is interested in traditions and techniques and I guess takes an anthropological approach to textiles. I mentioned learning to knit with three needles while I was in Shetland when I was a teenager.
-Momtaz Begum–Hossain a crafts writer and tutor was also there doing some colourful patchwork. She had already blogged about Deirdre & Craftspace on the Craft Café blog
-Kei Ito made Deirdre’s wonderful costume. It was perfect to wear on the plinth as it swayed gently in the breeze and reflected the light from the spotlights. It certainly gave her an etherial presence. I have experimented with nylon bias horsehair hemming braid similar to that used by Kei Ito to make this costume but Kei Ito is an exceedingly talented designer and costume maker who has taken this material and many other unlikely materials to the heights. See her wonderful sculptural costumes and wearable art pieces here.

Here is Kei Ito dressing Deirdre in her "back-up" costume (she had come prepared with dry weather and wet weather options).

While on the plinth she explained a bit about Craftspace's mission to develop people, ideas and opportunities through contemporary craft.
Craftspace is a Birmingham based organisation which promotes craft, curates touring exhibitions and starts debates around craft and the handmade in general. Their current project is a collaboration with Helen Carnac called, Taking Time: Craft and the Slow Revolution

She read some excerpts form “The Craftsman” by Richard Sennett. And just as her hour was drawing to a close she started to cast on her new garment to continue the story of the reclaimed yarn. Exceedingly brave of her as she had only just learnt to knit the day before and now exposed to the world on the Sky Arts webcam she was practicing what she was preaching- learning a new craft and joining the community of artists, artisans, and general members of the public who enjoy the therapeutic and satisfying activity of making with their own hands. And of course, she had got us all involved in making our “own damn art”. Once back home, I watched the video and felt that she had very cleverly linked together performance art, with oratory and education. And by inviting others to bring along work to make, had also magnified the energy by making it a collaborative event; a piece of art that I feel Antony Gormley would be proud of.

Jed Baxter (another person that I chatted to at the base of the plinth) Tweeted this photo of Deirdre http://twitpic.com/aofi1
And here are Deirdre’s tweets http://twitter.com/tweetcraftspace

Should Deirdre require anymore refresher lessons on knitting I could lend her my own precious knitting book. My nan Jessie Graham gave it to me when she taught me to knit when I was six years old.

Crossings, cakes and the Couture of Mary Little's Bius designs.

kirsty@frillipmoolog.co.uk (frillip moolog:) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 10:51:00 +0000

Look at what’s happened to the Great British Victoria Sponge. It’s been supersized. I had a slice of this humungous cake last week when I was down in Cirencester delivering Reg to New Brewery Arts for their first Open. I applied to this exhibition as soon as I saw that Charmian Adams was to be one of the selectors. The theme of the exhibition is “Crossings” so I decided that "Reg" was most suited to this show. Sometimes I think that he reminds me of some futuristic bridge over a motorway (something a bit Will Alsop?) but he also shows the crossing from this world to the world of Frillip Moolog.

For me those 1950’s photo images of the mountains & lakes (complete with lone fisher) on the table mats are so kitsch and at the same time poignant. They remind me of the Rocky Mountains as viewed on my Mum’s old Viewfinder. Wow what a different world the viewfinder took me to…

I have wanted to meet Charmian Adams after reading an article in Crafts Magazine (2007) where she talked about her passion for craftsmanship, and her personal collection of contemporary handmade objects. In the magazine photograph I spotted a Mary Little chair (I think its “Valerie” from the Coat of Arms Collection) and I was even more interested in this passionate collector and also finding out more about Mary Little.

I took these photos of Magret now part of the V&A's collection of Contemporary Furniture.

I quickly realised that I already had images of “Liz” another of Mary’s chairs in my source file from university days. She was shortlisted for the 1999 Jerwood Applied Arts Prize. Liz also features in the Domestic Animals section of Peter Dormer’s book, “Furniture today- its design and craft” (1995). She and her partner Peter Wheeler now live and work in Connecticut USA where their design business bius is based. Back in the early 80’s she was at RCA doing her MA in furniture design and I was in Edinburgh at Heriot-Watt University studying Accountancy. But we do have plenty in common including: skills in sewing and dress making and a love of textures achievable from textiles. She approaches upholstery via dress making and tailoring techniques (as I have been doing). We both have an interest in costume, mine more the musical / showbiz end and hers from regional and historical costumes.
"Over the years they have developed a unique expertise in upholstery derived from contemporary production techniques with an inspirational root in semi-soft, artefacts from a breadth of cultures, such as ancient Eastern costume, medieval European headwear , and contemporary sportswear." (from their tutor profile on California College of the Arts).

The bius website now has a plethora of images of their highly sensual and sculptural furniture designed both for private and public commissions.
As usual I am drawn to mavericks who plough their own furrow making the work that they feel inspired to make whether or not it is seen as being "in fashion".
Mary Little and Peter Wheeler aim to make so much more than furniture they make creations which (in their own words) are "rich in spirit and character" to enhance your sense of well being. I can believe that sitting in one of their chairs is very definitely an experience.

I spoke to Charmian Adams at the Opening event on Friday and am looking forward to taking her up on her very kind offer to visit her home for an audience with “Valerie” and I am also sure that at some point in the future that my path and Mary Little’s will cross. I am confident that she is completely in tune with the world of Frillip Moolog.

And the link between cakes and Mary Little? My Nan taught me how to bake. As I have mentioned before Nan was a very special person to me and much of my work draws on my childhood memories, a great many of which are of times spent with Nan. I still remember the special shopping trip to Woolworths in Dunfermline when I was about six years old. We went specially to choose this, my very first recipe book.

I have always loved costumes with overskirts and many of my childhood drawings have dresses which could be described as “billowing”. Dominic Lutyen’s description of Little’s “Binita, “…which looks like a billowing couture gown in furniture form….”, explains it all!

Contrast the rustic charm of these Viennese Whirls with this luxury design in a top London cake emporium!

Opening times and details of the 38 artists exhiiting in "Crossings", New Brewery Arts, Cirencester.

Nostalga at the Midland Hotel, Morecombe Bay: Inspiration from yesteryear.

kirsty@frillipmoolog.co.uk (frillip moolog:) — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 11:16:00 +0000

This has lingered with me since I took this photo late last summer. We took a detour off the M6 to visit the recently refurbished Midland Hotel. (Check out this link for some wonderful images of it in its heyday). Yes the hotel is stunning and it was great to sit in the Yurgen Bey chairs and see the Eric Gill art in the foyer but the poignancy of the derelict seaside funfair just a couple of hundred meters from the art deco hotel is really what inspired me. “Jug o Tea”, “Remote Control Boats” and “Arena Funfair” reminds me of fairground and dodgems of my childhood.

Every year I would visit my auntie who lived in Callander, Scotland. My big cousins would take me to the fairground where we would drive the dodgems and play on the one armed bandits. I still absolutely love dodgems and drive one at least once a year when the fair comes to the Lichfield Bower in May. You are never too old to drive a dodgem and I fully intend to be bumping into the under ten drivers when I am in my nineties.

There’s something about dodgem design. The colours and the curvy styling; It’s probably the stuck in a time warp aspect that I love. This card says it all!

As a sculptor I get a lot of inspiration from the forms I come across. Sometimes these are ambiguous objects such as this lawnmower part at the (truly wonderful) British Lawnmower Museum at Southport.

This is one of my earliest inspirations. The "Roll a Ray" was a mystery object when this image was first printed in a book about Bakelite. Patrick Cook owner of the Bakelite Museum in, Williton, Somerset has now identified it as a tool that was used to smooth the baise on biliard tables. ( But did I need to know that?)

And this creature… it’s oh so perfect!

My grandfather was a dairy farmer and even when he was retired I used to watch him use this machine to separate cream from milk from my uncle’s farm. For me the low down view is best.

I was little and this separator towered over me. I am taken back to that moment, as a six year old child, quietly standing there mesmerised by the hum of the machine and waiting for the flow of cream from the spout. My beings are all about transporting the viewer back to a moment or place in their past (Frillip Moolog). It doesn’t matter whether you’ve seen the exact same object or textiles before. The ambiguity and universal language of textiles and form will open the door to your subconscious memories.
This is "Stan", one of my most recent beings. His blue aluminium body was once the top of a downpipe on a Birmingham Bus Depot. (That’s Corporation Blue.)

Andrew Logan hits the spot with Alternative Miss World 2009: A Surreal Art Event for All Round Family Entertainment

kirsty@frillipmoolog.co.uk (frillip moolog:) — Mon, 04 May 2009 12:10:00 +0000

Only a month a go I visited the Harley Gallery to see Andrew Logan’s current solo show. I was one of about 15 people who had also gone to hear Andrew speak about his work, inspiration etc. The feeling was intimate and confidential; it was a fantastic night. He is such a gentle, engaging and entertaining person. I had already met him at New Designers in 2006 and had also visited his personal Museum at Berriew in Wales. This talk was a brilliant insight into the inspiration, personal drive, self-belief and general sunny outlook of an artist that I really find inspirational. I love mavericks and feel that I am one myself.

He talked us round the exhibition and pointed out personal items, some from his childhood, some collected on his travels which had either been a starting point for the piece or were key to its making and personal resonance. Of course knowing that all the toy farm animals were the ones he played with as a child was special for me. My father is a farmer and so my brother and I played farms a lot. He had to be nice to me when he wanted to borrow my bull to mate with his cows! The starting point for this wonderful fantasy farmland was the miniature gold coronation coach which Andrew had bought as a child. It seems quite sensible then to cover them all with gold and bronze leaf! Also incorporated are his recorder and five tulips (“Simply because they seem such hopeful flowers”) resulting in a wonderful fun and fantasy narrative.

Surreal things have a magnetic pull for me and so Buddha’s Sandal is the piece that I’d probably buy. It needs no explanation. Also the hubcap flowers with Brian Eno ambient music floating from them are really quite perfect.

I’d watched video footage of previous Alternative Miss World Competitions but it wasn’t until Andrew’s talk that I discovered that, after a five year gap, he was hosting another of these, “Surreal Art Events for All Round Family Entertainment” on 2nd May.

So we threw together our costumes on the theme of Elements and whizzed down to The Roundhouse to test out the “Family Friendliness” of it…..
So, bearing in mind that my children have already experienced quite a few alternative events, performance art, street theatre and unusual characters, how did it go?
It was fantastic, even better than I’d imagined, worth every penny and perfectly British. We are known for our eccentricity!

I’d phoned Andrew the day before, just to double check that we should dress up. “Oh yes, definitely. You’d feel the odd one out if you didn’t”, was his reply. However probably more than half the audience had gone “straight”; their loss not mine!
It was a great leveller. Yes there were plenty of famous people there (more at Madame Arcati and Frances Lynn's blogs). And there were artists, transvestites, burlesque and erotica specialists. All ages young and old (however we did stand out as the token family!) But we were drawn to others who had dressed up and the conversations always started around costumes. Homemade, was the order of the day again fun was more important than having a professional finish to your costume.

Miss Flotsam enjoyed every minute of it.

Little Miss Sustainable's daywear, swimwear and eveningwear costumes were outstanding for their craftmanship.

There were 20 entrants and often these were not limited to a single person. Miss Hokusai had two assistants, very necessary for her day wear costume as she was wheeled onstage on a hospital bed (her swim wear costume of a giant paper origami wave dress had its own wheels incorporated so her assistants were less necessary).

Miss Bubbles of Hope came on as a bubble person riding a pink bubble horse, and later as a champagne glass and bubbles, and found her interview difficult as she had no head or even mouth.

Better photos of Bubbles of Hope on Siberfi's flikr photostream

Miss Translatin was comprised of three bodies impersonating cocoa pods dancing on stage but when it came to dancing, Miss Elementary My Dear won hands down. For her evening wear entry her team of at least twenty were either playing in their own Morris dancing band or taking part in the Morris dancing itself. Their dodgy outfits and make up took me straight back to my childhood and again very definitely back to Britain. All you need is a charity shop, some lavender perfume, face powder a bit of lipstick and headscarf. No one will notice that you are a bearded man dancing on stage amongst transvestites, bubble people, and young girls dressed as Victorian Mayday dancing girls.

Miss Fancy Chance takes the crown.

Video interview with Andrew Logan at the Guardian Newspaper website.

Worrying, Thinking and Creative Thinking

kirsty@frillipmoolog.co.uk (frillip moolog:) — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 11:15:00 +0000

Recently I have read some fantastically creative cartoons. The beauty of the cartoon is that it is usually a complicated idea, emotion or feeling that is perfectly condensed into a few words and sometimes even just one image.
As we were travelling down to Hampshire last weekend something about the conversation in the car prompted my (eleven year old) son to pipe up, “Wus Geets Daddy?” He managed to refer to a favourite Rupert Fawcett cartoon by condensing it into just three words.See the full cartoon here
It’s From Rupert Fawcett’s Book, Daddy.

Interestingly Rupert Fawcett only got into cartoons when he was in a period of being between jobs. He pulled on a hobby and now his cartoons are on greetings cards worldwide. … Maybe making sure you have time for a creative hobby is a good idea? But what if creativity is your main job too?
I stumbled upon Hugh Macleod’s How to be Creative manifesto a couple of weeks ago. It was written back in 2004 and at that time he was very definitely saying, “Keep the day job” (in his case advertising) and keep your real passion as a hobby. For him this was cartoons on the back of business cards.
A recent visit to GapingVoid suggests that Hugh has now managed to make cartoons a much bigger part of his life.

My reason for writing this post is that I feel that recently I have been doing too much worrying. “Wus worrying Daddy?” Well, worrying is just thinking isn’t it? Asking questions, maybe asking yourself pointless questions or questions with answers that aren’t very helpful. Mmmm, but thinking is good isn't it? That’s how we are creative. Thinking, opening your mind up to possibilities, asking good productive questions such as, “How could I say this? What material would be best? Is that too obvious a form or material for this sculpture? As I’ve been working on a new “being” Roger (who has now been renamed Stan) I have done lots of thinking BUT too many of these thoughts/questions have been UNCREATIVE.

This is from Hugh’s Manifesto How to be Creative. You can download this for free from http://www.changethis.com/6.HowToBeCreative

There are only 24hours in a day and how many of them can I afford to spend worrying about what other artists are doing? How I can fit better quality community and educational arts activities into my life? Those are those very important income earning activities. I have been especially asking questions about what I am prepared to do and what I am not prepared to do. Knowing this and being clear on this would undoubtedly free up a SIGNIFICANT amount of thinking time!

Ignore Everybody is Hugh’s most read blog post. There are 37 points on it. I have picked out these ten which are currently the most pertinent to me.

1. Ignore everybody.

2. The idea doesn't have to be big. It just has to be yours.

5. You are responsible for your own experience.

9. Everybody has their own private Mount Everest they were put on this earth to climb.

11. Don't try to stand out from the crowd; avoid crowds altogether.

12. If you accept the pain, it cannot hurt you.

13. Never compare your inside with somebody else's outside.

15. The most important thing a creative person can learn professionally is where to draw the red line that separates what you are willing to do, and what you are not.

19. Sing in your own voice.

27. The best way to get approval is not to need it.

30. The hardest part of being creative is getting used to it.

Finally, a favourite quote from Paul Arden’s book Whatever you think Think the opposite.

"Advances in any field are built upon people with the small or personal point of view." Paul Arden

Art & Soul and Motown too.

kirsty@frillipmoolog.co.uk (frillip moolog:) — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 13:28:00 +0000

After a long dark winter I’m back in the studio making new work (beings) for my next solo show. This will be at Westbourne Grove Church ArtSpace 3rd September - 13th October 2009. The space is fantastic and I am really excited. For this show my beings will take to the air. To date legs have been important and seeing things from the point of view of a child crawling under furniture has been inspirational. Although, seen by some as flyaway fantasy creatures, they have until now very definitely had their feet firmly on the ground. So to really take flight; do they need legs? How will this affect how people engage and interact with them?
For someone who finds relaxing difficult and who had to make my own entertainment during a very isolated and rural childhood I did manage to watch a LOT of television. I have strong memories of costumes from musical films featuring Ginger Rogers & Fred Astaire, Doris Day and Barbra Streisand.

I loved the exotica of the feathers, frills and even the swimming caps as worn in one strangely surreal (and lengthy) synchronised swimming routine that I remember from one such film.

The names of these films are mostly forgotten but memories and visual snapshots are still bubbling to the surface of my memory. Like most teenagers I went through my Science Fiction phase and not only did I become an avid reader of Sci-Fi (convincing myself that I had ESP powers and that my grandad had been reincarnated into our cat) I also managed to watch a fair few films with clunky home made props and “dodgy “looking spaceships. They may have been in colour but my memories of them are in black and white with a “voiceover” from my dad, “See you can see its all trick photography” and “Look, you can see the strings!”
So, I am drawing from memories of sputniks and spaceships of the 1950’s and 60’s I am currently making a new being called Roger.

No photos from the studio yet but it’s no surprise that my recent visit to Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery to see the touring V& A exhibition, The Story of The Supremes has refreshed by taste-buds for a bit of chiffon. No feathers or beads on Roger but there will be some Twinkle chiffon fabric which I am going to make into nuno felt. This produces a fantastic tactile surface with organic suggestions.
This image from TrashBagAesthetics
So, Ski-Fi to showbiz, vintage cast aluminium to twinkle this is an interesting juxtaposition of influences and materials!
A big, “Thank You”, to Mary Wilson for keeping this fantastic collection together over the years and for now sharing them with us. As commented in this Birmingham Mail story many people first saw these costumes on black & White televisions and so now seeing them in the flesh is a wonderful explosion of colour and tactile textile surfaces.

The exhibition is well worth a visit not only showing the costumes but also charting th erise of Mowtown and the story of the American Civil Rights Movement.

The Story of The Supremes from the Mary Wilson Collection - Get more College Essays

A Place for Everything

kirsty@frillipmoolog.co.uk (frillip moolog:) — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 00:15:00 +0000

There’s a saying, "Out of sight out of mind". But what happens when you come across an object which is completely in your face but so out of place? Well I take photos… and wonder.
Out on a walk on the Clent Hills a couple of years ago I came across this electric hand-mixer in a tree. Not a brilliant photo but what on earth? How? Why? I mean you’d have to have carried this mixer off the beaten track, into the hills, and then thrown it: Offered it up to the Gods? (I’ve just been watching “Around the World in 80 Faiths”… you never know!)

We came across this this old toilet in the woods while doing a Geocache. What would “Time Team” have made of it? (I think it’s an old Miners’ toilet as I seem to remember that this had been a coal-mining area.)

I just love this lawn mower. So sad and so unable to do it’s proper job. I’m starting to wonder if some of these things fall from the sky?

In my last post I mentioned this kitchen door recycled to fit a gap in a dry stone dyke. I finally found the original photo. One thing that I can never get over is how builders leave on the barcode stickers on timber (or hinges in this case) when they’re building a structure. I just feel that it’s untidy. It takes me back to the days when I first learnt proper dressmaking skills. Miss Simpson was my sewing teacher at Dollar Academy, the secondary school that I went to in Scotland. I have a lot to thank her for and one of these things was her exacting standards. I learnt how to finish off seams properly, how to sew a hand sewn buttonhole properly and how to sew on a coat button with a shank…properly. Thank you Miss Simpson you wouldn’t believe how I’ve used these skills and standards in my art career!

Back to what’s considered proper and tidy. Shouldn’t you remove the old lamp-post when you put up a new one?

Shouldn’t you put your mug away after using it? This so reminds me of my Mum. When I was little it was quite normal to find a trail of empty mugs left around the garden. She’d take her coffee out to drink in the garden. Very often in the morning she’d wander round (still in her nightie) having a bit of peace and quiet (meditation?). She always seemed to leave loads of cups behind as she got side tracked into a bit of weeding or whatever. She’s either cut down on her coffee or I just don’t have those super observant eyes of a child to notice her Hansel and Gretel trail of cups now.

So, to end on a gardening note, one of my absolute favourite photos on the theme A Place for Everything.
When is a Box Hedge not a Box Hedge? … When it’s a Window Box Hedge!!!!

Does Richard Woods do visual research in Bedford?

kirsty@frillipmoolog.co.uk (frillip moolog:) — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 22:44:00 +0000

Views of The Yin & Yang of Frillip Moolog at Bedford College South Bank Art Centre. Show runs until 30th Jan. Monday - Friday, 9am-5pm. It has been curated by Bedford Creative Arts and is one of their new Offsite Projects.

As part of the show I have given a talk on my work and thought processes while making beings. Next week I will also be giving some tutoring sessions with textile students at Bedford College. My Powerpoint images showed how I make visual links all the time and as a result the tutors have asked me to lead sessions which focus specifically on visual research. I’m really pleased about this as I am quite passionate about it. I find inspiration every where and always take photos. Now with a camera on my phone too it means that there really is no excuse for missing a quick ‘snap’. In my visual research I don’t need the images to be of a very high quality as I’m usually interested because of colours, form or sometimes it’s a modified use. There are so many reasons for something to be of interest. Categorisation of my images is the hardest task. As they build up on my PC I’ve had to set up a filing system that works. i.e. with categories that I understand and remember so that I and am able to retrieve the images when I need them. As I was leaving Bedford last week I was lucky enough to be driving slowly enough to snap this wall.
My question is. Were they just trying to jazz it up a bit or were they inspired by Richard Woods’ recent Stone Clad Cottages. (A Fermynwoods Contemporary Art Offsite project back in November 2008.) No this wall has been painted for a while… Could Richard Woods have a similar photo of this wall in his source file?! I have been interested in Richard Woods’ work for quite a while now. His chest of drawers for Established and Sons isn’t my favourite but when I saw his floor installed as part of Liverpool Biennial this year I was really taken with the impact and also loved the attention to detail. Back in 2007 he made Tudor Fold a project in Birmingham curated by Gavin Wade. It’s perfect in its simplicity. He’s made us look again. Decorating a 1970’s terrace as a black and white Tudor building, we are forced to have another look. We are jolted and reminded of so much that we take for granted. How often do we look without really looking? Yes this is the door from an old kitchen unit. It was fitted into this drystone dyke in Yorkshire...upside down!

From defaced cactus to Statuephilia

kirsty@frillipmoolog.co.uk (frillip moolog:) — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 00:23:00 +0000

Graffiti, is it art or sacrilege? When is it harmless mark making, leaving your mark for future generations and when is it vandalism and damage of property that is not yours? This summer in Parc Guell in Barcelona we came across this cactus. I’d never seen anything like this before. Can you imagine the juice from the succulent leaves oozing out as the marks were cut? It makes me think of the blood brothers rituals as shown in old Cowboy and Indian films.

Then on New Years Day we visited Canterbury cathedral. There was so much to look at and to photograph but I was especially drawn to the graffiti. I love the antiquity of the building and I love the idea that we maybe aren’t so far evolved from our ancestors as we like to think.

But what is sacrilege? Isn’t it going a bit too far to deface a holy building and place of worship? Maybe the graffiti artists just wanted a piece of the action wanted to add their mark to be part of the (presumably) huge team of stonemasons. The oldest wooden church in England (near Basildon) was again more interesting because of this graffiti in the few brickwork areas of the building. The bricks look fairly soft.

This idea of making your mark of leaving something unique and personal behind is the way that I read these Salvador Dali candlesticks. Some people have a simple thumbprint but why not your anus? We chatted about this quite a bit when we saw this piece in the The Dalí Theatre-Museum in Figueres this summer. Was it a baby’s anus and would it have wriggled and cried?

Completely making the leap because of the gold I just have to now mention the new Kate Moss statue, Siren, by Marc Quinn. It is part of the Statuephilia exhibition at the British Museum and is also writen about in Crafts magazine (Jan/Feb09). Far from staring at her face all I can do is look at the crotch detail. Am I getting too distracted by details? Should we put the emphasis on the fantastic skill of the craftsmen who cast Moss’s body (taking a whole year to do so) or rather to see her as Mark Quinn intends us to?

Speaking at the unveiling, Mr Quinn said he saw Miss Moss, who posed for him for a day though not in the position of the statue, as a "modern day Aphrodite".
"For Kate, she thinks it lifts her into a mythical level," he said.
"I think she very much loved it because she understands the difference between her image and her self.

"The sculpture is really about whether we make images or they make us. It's about trying to live up to impossible dreams and immortality."

What I want to know is if Kate Moss didn’t pose in this position then whose intimate details am I looking at? So, from graffiti to this; what a journey…

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/3122144/Kate-Moss-gold-statue-unveiled-at-British-Museum.html

http://www.viewlondon.co.uk/whatson/statuephilia-exhibition-article-7227.html

From Chinese Wedding Cakes to Manfredi Beninati

kirsty@frillipmoolog.co.uk (frillip moolog:) — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 10:50:00 +0000

I see things and think, “Wow I’ve got to take a photo of that!” It’s all in the name of Visual Research. I spotted this Chinese wedding cake in a dusty shop window in Chicago. It is ticking a lot of boxes for me.

Firstly the window was dirty and the shop interior was deserted and dusty. This was strange as it was in quite a smart area on Michigan Avenue. I was walking towards the Wrigley Building for a meeting in the British consulate. (All part of my recent UKTI sponsored trip to SOFA Chicago.)
Things I love about this cake
It’s so OTT. There was not just one cake but five all joined by fantastic fairytale and “gloriously” iced bridges.
It was Chinese but seemed to me western in a weird sort of American way?
But most importantly it was the light fittings and extension lead that really “turned me on”.
So it’s a lit up wedding cake! And with so many lights that it needs a multi socket extension lead. But the sockets seemed to be miniature. Like a caravan or better still a dolls house. This is how my mind works; I’m making connections all the time.

I loved my dolls house. It was handed down to me by my dad’s second cousin and it was old. Sadly when I was only about 5 my grandmother took it to a dolls house repairer. He stripped all the wiring out, well the lights didn’t work anyway and they must have thought that I wouldn’t notice or mind. But I did. I remembered and, believe it or not, I even dreamed of these lights working again. For me it’s so often about the tiny details.

I even had a miniature dolls house within my dolls house. So when we visited Manfredi Beniati’s fantastic installation as part of Liverpool Biennial MADE one of the best details for me was that he had made a dolls house within his staged perfect house.We knew that we were looking for a hole in a scruffy billboard on Renwick street but it wasn’t until my second visit that I noticed the other details. One of the posters on the peeling billboard is actually a photograph of his dream installation. In the photograph there is a boy with a hammer in his hands and he is bashing at something.

When you look inside through the viewing hole you see a hammer lying discarded on the carpet. This is the hammer that the boy was using. The hole that you are looking through is actually the hole that he has made; the one he was making in the photograph. Honestly, it look me two visits before I put all this together. I love mind twists like this. Theatre, make believe and a twist on reality. It’s fantastic.

My only excuse for not getting this all on first viewing was that I was so entranced by the dolls house that Beninati had made and placed, meaningfully, in the middle of the room.
It’s all about possibilities and these are within each viewer’s mind. Possibilities can have more power than physical reality. In my dreams of my dolls house the working lights were chandeliers not plastic dolls house fittings with clumsy switches.

And here's the minature house from my dolls house.

My second trip to Liverpool Biennial was with a group of other artists also part of Eastside Projects Extra Special People.

Family visit to RIBA prizewinner Accordia Living.

kirsty@frillipmoolog.co.uk (frillip moolog:) — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 09:54:00 +0000

Much of my inspiration comes from interiors and architecture, especially memories of houses visited while I was still a child. So how will today’s cutting edge interiors affect my children? How will they affect my own work? I enjoyed watching the RIBA Stirling Prize when it was broadcast on TV recently. It has started to be a family event. We watched last year and now that my 13 year old daughter is planning to study architecture its great … another excuse to visit interesting architecture. A few weeks ago we “popped in” to check out Accordia Living by Redeham Homes.
These apartments have disguised parking below. Always one for detailing I was interested in the caged granite walls.

A street. Could our family ever live in a place like this?

This is it. Front door with garage to the right. Only room for one car though and no extra space for stuff. Really interesting garden space . I can imagine parties and entertaining here but a trampoline is a no no.

This is the 4 bedroom house that we were able to spend time in. It was certainly very interesting. It made me ask questions about what I like about my own house. What inconveniences I live with and accept on a daily basis? What I think I need but sometimes don’t use much? It really made us think about what we as a family do. We have a lot of things musical instruments, sewing machine, art equipment, lots of cooking and kitchen items and an eclectic range of furniture. No matter how well designed a building is show homes are still spooky. BUT, when compared to all other new build suburban housing (you know, the mock Georgian stuff), then Accordia is in a completely different league and that’s why, in my opinion, it rightly deserves the RIBA Stirling Award.

http://www.e-architect.co.uk/cambridge/feilden_clegg_bradley.htm
http://www.e-architect.co.uk/awards/stirling_prize_2008.htm

What's in a name?

kirsty@frillipmoolog.co.uk (frillip moolog:) — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 12:08:00 +0000

It’s a question I’ve been asked many times. Why Frillip Moolog? Why not just use your own name, Kirsty Smith?
Well back in April 2006 when I first set up my website I discovered that Kirsty Smith is really quite a common name but more importantly, if you Google, “Kirsty Smith”, you get a porn star. Not wanting to be confused with this blonde beauty I decided to go for something completely different.
Frillip Moolog originates from an essay that I’d written a few years earlier. I’d been inspired by Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. I made an installation which investigated a world where objects weren’t fit for purpose and broke free from their normal rules of use (the genesis of my current art practice). Lewis Carroll famously made up his own words; chortle and burble are two examples and his poem, Jabberwocky. So Frillip Moolog is a name that I made up originally making reference to things not being as they seemed and how they could be in an alternative world. Visually Frillip moolog alludes to mirrored words. I like the look of the name and if you roll your “R”s as we do in Scotland, then it sounds good too.

Since 2006 my practice has developed. I have investigated many areas of the art world to find where I fit in. Not easy to categorise being on the fringes of textiles, craft, sculpture and design. Although craftsmanship of execution is very important to me the concept, the narrative and the context in which the beings are seen are all crucial to my practice. I think as a Fine Artist but so often initial comments refer to how “well made” my work is. So I need to explain Frillip Moolog more simply, more clearly and in two concise sentences. I practiced my elevator pitch but still confused people by mentioning, “Beings from a Parallel Universe”. I was told that some might confuse this with some sort of religious cult…..
To try to create more awareness for Frillip Moolog I exhibited using it in place of my name to ensure that it would feature in the catalogue. This certainly led to more confusion. Was it an alter ego or a nom de plume? Was I using the name just to get attention? That would suggest that I wasn’t confident of getting attention on the work alone.
A few years ago I was advised to get the "Kirstyness" out of my work. But without the "Kirstyness" what would remain?
Frillip Moolog beings will never be just a product.

In a nutshell.
Frillip moolog is a name that I made up. It is a place in our minds or even a mindset where objects actually have personalities. They don’t actually walk and talk … but they could… if you let your imagination run wild. In my mind each of my sculptures or beings has his/her own unique personality. It is informed both by the materials and form of the piece and it evolves during the making process. I am interested in writing diaries of their fictitional lives but have held back as I don’t want to dictate how viewers interact with the beings. I don’t want to confine them to one possible personality. I want viewers to develop their own relationship with each Frillip Moolog being.

The beings can be seen as meditative objects. They bring back feelings, sensations and memories. They act as portals for us to return to a childhood space/ place in our minds. The name that I have given to this place is Frillip Moolog.

Alyson B. Stanfield’s articles on artist’s names and business names seemed to have been written for me. http://www.artbizcoach.com/ and http://www.artbizblog.com/

The key thing that she said in her newsletter back in July is,
“Decide how you want to go down in the history books and stick with it.”
Simple really… Kirsty E. Smith. Frillip Moolog is part of me something that my work is currently about but I will always be Kirsty E. Smith.
And…. my Google ratings are doing pretty well now. No need to worry about the porn star!

Is there any venue that can't host a Being or two?

kirsty@frillipmoolog.co.uk (frillip moolog:) — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 22:50:00 +0000

Wirksworth Festival is a fantastic three week event. Today I set up four Beings in this wonderful window space at The Bookshop. It's on market Place at the bottom of a very steep hill. Thanks very much to Richard Barrett who was very patient while I took over his shop window space. The festival is on until 21st September. Go to www.wirksworthfestival.co.uk for full programme details. I'm looking forward to the Arts Trail tomorrow. It's a chance to view a wide selection of art by contemporary artists. The unusual thing is that the work is displayed in private houses that the owners have volunteered as exhibition space. It's clear to see that I am as interested in the domestic interiors as I am in the art. Interior design and furnishings gives me a buzz!
You may have noticed Bettina. She's the new babe with 12 lemon squeezer legs. Studio shots on the website soon.

It's good to share

kirsty@frillipmoolog.co.uk (frillip moolog:) — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 23:21:00 +0000

After the calm comes the party! It's weird but looking at these photos just makes me feel even more sure that the Beings are private. You relate to them in moments of quiet. I'm not so sure that they're as much party types as I am. But then Chubby Blue ... I've always said that he's a cocktail boy.