Video of Auld Kirk show
Well now that the show is wrapping up and will come down this week I am going to share this video of it. Not the best since you know glass frames = glare and reflection and is super annoying but it does the job.
Nice write up….
Here is a nice wee write up of Uncontrolled Abstraction: The Elements by John McDougal.
And the show is on!
Ok thats it the show is now up and running! (Until August 26th 2021)
Here is a tiny spoiler with my wee assistant posing for scale
Remember, remember…
So here it is! After over a year and a half of delays thanks to covid the show is finally going on! If you are planning a visit follow this link EVENTBRITE to book a slot, it is FREE of course. However due to covid there is no grand opening like back in the day. So the new norm is no kick off opening night, sorry no free booze for you.
A big thank you to the Richard and Siobhan Coward Foundation for there continued support over the years and helping to make this show happen.
Also here is a link to facebook event page as well FACEBOOK EVENT
Any questions? Just send me an e-mail.
Off to the framers!
Stopped by The Framing Workshop in Glasgow with my wee assistant today to sign the mat boards of the 14 images that will be on display at the end of this month, show details will be posted this week!
Are things getting back to normal?
Well first off, what is normal anymore? I dropped off 15 prints to be framed yesterday for the show Uncontrolled Abstraction: The Elements. Hopefully nothing covid related shuts things down this time and that third time for this show to happen is the charm! The show isn’t till July so I will be posting an invite and poster hopefully early next month, happy days! In the meantime here is an image from the ‘sequal’ to The Elements show.
Cliche Verre Print - 4x5" negative exposed via fire (micro explosions) to a plate consisting of Carbon, alcohol, ink, steel, glue and film
When the going gets weird …..
The weird turns pro, or so said Hunter Thompson, in my case it’s more the weird turns weirder. I don’t know what exactly I was hoping for or going for with this one but it came out …. well weird right? But In a good way, like my last post it has a sci-fi space vibe going so it has 50% going for it. As I started to wind down the image making for this series “Space and Time” I was rly just throwing as many odd things at it just to get them out of my head.
Cliche Verre Print - 4x5" negative exposed via fire (micro explosions) to a plate consisting of Carbon, alcohol, ink, steel, glue, paper and film
Time to reflect and edit…..
Well my daughter is off for Easter break from school so I don't think I will get much darkroom work done. Which is fine because I have loads to do with the family for the next two weeks! I also just need to take a break from making new images for this project and spend more time on editing down what I have and making notes etc. Still plenty of images to share from the past six months though!
Cliche Verre Print - 4x5" negative exposed via fire (micro explosions) to a plate consisting of Carbon, alcohol, ink, steel, glue and film
Home and second home projects galore…..
Well been super busy with projects around the house and my second “home” being the darkroom even though it is connected to my house, but hey you know what I mean. Maybe I missed my calling with wood working cause the solid wood coffee table and shoe racks I built from scratch over the past few weeks are ace.
Cliche Verre Print - 4x5" negative exposed via fire (micro explosions) to a plate consisting of Carbon, alcohol, ink, steel, glue and film
Whats the damage…..
Well so far I have about 400 4x5” negatives for this project, ouch thats eight boxes of film and god knows how many hours invested on just exposing the film. Thats not included time it took to create each plate, scanning in each negative and general research time. I still have yet to actually print many of these, obviously I wont be using all of them. I will probably be using 15 to twenty in the end. So that means it is just about time to start editing them down, going through contact sheets, cropping, marking and saving notes on each one. It will actually be a nice change of pace to be honest.
Cliche Verre Print - 4x5" negative exposed via fire (micro explosions) to a plate consisting of Carbon, alcohol, ink, steel, glue and film
Just about done…..
So I have just about finished making images for Controlled Abstraction: Time and Space, it is really hard to know when to stop though I always just wanna try that one more just incase. Anyways, I still have hundreds to share huzzah! Hopefully this is our final lockdown so I can get back to actually having the three shows that were postponed over the past year, fingers crossed!
Cliche Verre Print - 4x5" negative exposed via fire (micro explosions) to a plate consisting of Carbon, alcohol, ink, steel, glue and film
Most photographers hate dust…
Most photographers hate dust, I hate it when scanning my negatives or in the darkroom and those tiny hairs drive me insane! However as an artist who uses photography I embrace it for this project. It helps add to the “space-scape” and I can’t avoid it, I expose my negatives in open air as in they are sitting bare on a metal plate being subjected to many different forms of exposure. Worth noting with this image and many of my others the small and large white specs are actually sand and carbon.
Cliche Verre Print - 4x5" negative exposed via fire (micro explosions) to a plate consisting of Carbon, sand, alcohol, ink, steel, glue and film
Nothing to see here…….
Cliche Verre Print - 4x5" negative exposed via fire (micro explosions) to a plate consisting of Carbon, alcohol, ink, steel, glue and film
The beginning is the end is the beginning…..
Or maybe “this has all happened before and it will all happen again” One is a music quote the other is a book, film/tv quote. Not that I would title this image or any other of my work either of these, they are just what comes to mind when I look at it.
Cliche Verre Print - 4x5" negative exposed via fire (micro explosions) to a plate consisting of Carbon, alcohol, ink, cork and film
Super massive …. white hole?
Going to be trying something new tomorrow, will either look the same or be totally different.
It’s funny, I have been creating black and white images of space that at the moment I can only imagine space in black and white with a strange 1920’s film vignette filter. Will be interesting to see what I can create in the same style with colour film ……
Cliche Verre Print - 4x5" negative exposed via fire (micro explosions) to a plate consisting of Carbon, alcohol, ink, steel, glue and film
Can you hear it?
If a star explodes in a galaxy and nobody is around to hear it does it make a sound? Actually no …. no it doesn’t, sorry the movies lied to you, no pew pew lasers either ;)
This is another one that I enjoy but find to be a bit too busy or cluttered……..
Cliche Verre Print - 4x5" negative exposed via fire (micro explosions) to a plate consisting of Carbon, alcohol, ink, steel, glue and film
Plan 9? What about Plan 1-8?
So I have been getting loads done with new images and general work in the darkroom. So may be coming close to the “end” of image making portion of this project. I have created roughly 300 negatives over the past year, so yea I don’t know, just starting to feel as if I have beaten my ideas to to death. Not yet though, so in the meantime here is Planet Unknown #5.
Cliche Verre Print - 4x5" negative exposed via fire (micro explosions) to a plate consisting of Carbon, alcohol, ink, steel, glue and film