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Deep sea diving … in a wheelchair
Sue Austin goes deep sea diving … in her wheelchair. She explains in a TED talk how she experienced the very negative stereotypes linked to wheelchairs, and thought how it might be to juxtapose these with the excitement of scuba-diving. Her NHS electric wheelchair now gives her the “freedom to move in 360 degrees of …
Bakhtiari
The Bakhtiari are one of the largest of all the Iranian nomadic tribes. I walked the migration (kuch) with the Faridgi family. Kuch traditionally takes place twice a year, when families walk their livestock over the Zagros Mountains, from the winter to the summer pastures. My pictures of this were exhibited at the Brunei Gallery, …
Iranian crafts and craftsmen
As I started to visit Iran, I started to meet Iranian craftsmen – often high up on rudimentary scaffolding. I also started to realise how little is understood about their impressive skills and knowledge. With many master craftmen (ustads) relatively old, and relatively few young men now wanting to undergo the lengthy, often dirty, and …
And suddenly I disappear
When I saw And Suddenly I Disappear, it felt that, suddenly, there was actually a chance that I might personally appear. Not definitely. I still don’t know where. But at least now there’s a chance. For maybe a chance appearance. Thankyou thankyou THANKYOU for that to Kaite O Reilly and the whole splendid ensemble! Kaite explores …
Shakespeare Incarnate
Incarnate is a triptych: a conversation between Tom Shakespeare and some of the great works from the Renaissance to the modern era. It focuses on the theme of human embodiment. Incarnate is Shakespeare’s largest art work. It was inspired by the Gothic Nightmares exhibition at Tate Britain. Here it is in (a poor copy – but …
Tin types: more collodion
Chelin Miller kindly shared her film of ambrotypes (collodion on glass) being made at the NPG: it’s not the same as tin types (on metal). This includes me – at 1.38 – as one of the people talking about taking part at the NPG: I’ve already written something about this here – including more details …
The Cycle of Life
I’ve produced a series of artworks sharing some of what I learnt about the Cycle of Life whilst my dad was dying. My dad wisely didn’t stop living just because the doctors told him that he was terminally ill. Like many doctors, I had thought I was something of an expert at dying. But then …
Memory Palace
I was in Bermondsey and so grabbed the chance to have a look at the Memory Palace in the White Cube. The accompanying booklet tells me that “memory defines us”. And that art is “a powerful medium for stories missing from history’s official record”. Three of the items felt especially relevant to my current work …
Bosch, strawberries, and high fashion
I always learn something from the regular Sotheby’s Selects emails. This month the focus is on Hieronymus Bosch’s Garden of Earthly Delights c.1490-1505. Here, I’m adding a little to Sotheby’s excellent summary. This reminds us that Bosch’ triptych starts closed to display the third day of the Biblical formation of the earth . The left wing …