From Spikeworld. | Spikeworld - The blog of textile artist Spike Dennis

Laser Cutting Induction

I had my induction with the laser cutter yesterday. On first glance at the rather large and very expensive laser cutting machine it would appear to be quite a daunting process. However, it’s surprisingly straight forward.

The machine can cut designs from vector images created in Adobe Illustrator. Fortunately this is a piece of software I’m already familiar with and so I’d already prepared some images to work with. The most difficult part of the laser cutting process seemed to be calibrating the machine for the different materials. I only tinkered with different grades of acrylic plastic as I was getting started so switching between sheets wasn’t too difficult.

Amongst the images I’d chosen to work with for this session was the logo for our Pack of Wolves collective. Originally created from a combination of hand cut paper and digital imagery I thought this image would contain plenty of detail to experiment with.

As you can see from the picture it took me a while to get to grips with programming the machine to engrave as it cut the shields out of the logo completely.

It was good to have an opportunity to work with the laser cutter. Whilst I theoretically already understood how the process works it’s not until experiencing the the process for myself that I was able to appreciate exactly what might be possible with a laser cutter in the contest of my own creative practice.

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From Spikeworld. | Spikeworld - The blog of textile artist Spike Dennis

An Introduction to Arduino Workshop

I had the opportunity to take part in an Introduction to Arduino Workshop workshop led by Hackspace Cardiff today.

For those of you who don’t already know… Arduino is an open-source electronics prototyping platform based on flexible, easy-to-use hardware and software. It’s intended for artists, designers, hobbyists, and anyone interested in creating interactive objects or environments.

I’ve had a couple of Arduino Unos buried away in my studio for the last couple of years with the intention of using them to activate some art works. I hadn’t made the step into experimenting with these components because the hole process looks quite daunting from the outside. However, having the opportunity to get to grips with the basics under the guidance of some well seasoned programmers was the perfect kick-start that I needed.

Most of those taking part in the workshop had little or no experience of working with Arduino at all. By the end of the session we had all sorts of components working from ultrasonic and infra-red sensors to servo motors, LEDs and piezos.

I was very happy to have worked through the process of activating a DC motor with a PIR sensor (pictured at the top). The software is all open source and so you can achieve some quite impressive results even with only a basic knowledge of electronics and programming. Now I just need to work out the mechanics of the objects that I want to connect to with the Arduino.

As I mentioned I’ve been sat on a couple of Arduinos for a while and I have a clear of idea of I want to do with them so watch this space.

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From Spikeworld. | Spikeworld - The blog of textile artist Spike Dennis

Album Artwork for Marionette by Rychard

Dave Seaman recently got in touch with regards to using an one of my images for the album artwork for a new release on Selador Recordings called ‘Marionette’ by Rychard. The image in question is a work in progress shot of the Policeman from the Punch & Judy show that I produced an performed with Layla Holzer earlier this year. You can watch a recording of that performance here.

Arrangements were made and you’ll now find the grizzly looking puppet gracing the album artwork when it’s released. I’m not sure of the release date for ‘Marionette’ just yet but you can check out an edit of the Beaumont Stanford Remix of ‘Marionette’ below. You’ll find other snippets and teasers of the single package on the Selador Soundcloud pages. Other releases can be found on Beatport for download in full.

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From Spikeworld. | Spikeworld - Spike Dennis | Artist, Maker, Curator and Colloaborator

Once Upon Again Exhibition Photographs

Here is a selection of photographs from the Pack of Wolves’ recent exhibition, Once Upon Again, at Winns Gallery in London. This was the second outing for Once Upon Again which was an exhibition concept developed by Layla Holzer.

The gallery is located in the idyllic Lloyd Gill park in Walthamstow more or less next door to the award winning William Morris Gallery. There was plenty of footfall and the exhibition was well received by children and adults alike.

As previously I exhibited my Baba Yaga embroidery and sculpture. The exhibition expanded upon its previous incarnation and featured additional work from both Layla and Marie-Louise Plum.

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Exquisite Corpses

Whilst in London recently with Layla Holzer and Marie-Louise Plum to install the Pack of Wolves’ exhibition at the Winns Gallery we took the opportunity to indulge in some collaborative drawing exercises.

The exquisite corpse technique was invented by Surrealists and is similar to an old parlour game called Consequences in which players write in turn on a sheet of paper, fold it to conceal part of the writing, and then pass it to the next player for a further contribution. The name is derived from a phrase that resulted when Surrealists first played the game; “Le cadavre exquis boira le vin nouveau.” (“The exquisite corpse shall drink the new wine.”).

We were all rather pleased by the results and it was fascinating to note the recurring themes that we all dipped into unaware of one another’s contributions.

You can view the full set of drawings that we produced here on the Pack of Wolves’ blog.

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Filming on Location

Last week I headed out with lights and a camera to a little church just outside Cardiff city centre to film the final components of a film project that I have been working on based upon Peter Carey’s short story ‘Conversations with Unicorns’.

Whilst following a narrative arc the film will be somewhat abstract in it’s presentation drawing on old symbolism and using a few editing tricks to capture the essence of Carey’s story. In working on this film I’ve found great inspiration in the work of experimental film maker Stan Brakhage.

As you can see from the picture above my set-up was fairly simple not using much more than a bright white light. I’m hoping to have finished editing the film by the end of this week at which point I’ll be able to share some more details.

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Mask Making for the Stockholm Fringe Festival

This weekend I’m working on the first of my masks for the Stockholm Fringe Festival for a project with the Pack of Wolves.

I used one of the downloadable templates we created for the festival as the basis for this mask. I printed it on 200gsm card. I then glued a piece of fabric down on to the card, which acts a structural support for the fabric, and started to embellish the mask with coloured thread.

I’ve still a little work to do to finish it but it’s coming along nicely. You can download our wolf mask templates from the Pack of Wolves’ website if you wish to make your own mask. If you do be sure to upload a photo and tweet it to us.

…and if you happen to be in Stockholm on the 24 August then don your mask and join us to go Running with Wolves.

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Running with Wolves at Stockholm Fringe festival

This month I will be heading out to Stockholm, Sweden, to take part in the Stockholm Fringe Festival with the Pack of Wolves. The festival is primarily focused upon the performing arts but welcomes all artists from all over the world.

Our project is entitled ‘Running with Wolves’. Throughout the festival we will be based at the Kulturhuset Stockholm where we will be hosting some wolf-mask making workshops. At the end of each day we will lead a small procession around the festival sites whilst wearing our masks.

The project will culminate in a pubic participation flash-mob-esque performance on Saturday 24 August 2013. We are inviting all of those who join us to don their masks and join us at 6.00pm on this day to run with the wolves. This invitation is open to all and we have designed some basic wolf mask templates that can be downloaded from the Pack of Wolves website here.

For further information about our project head over to the Pack of Wolves’ website. As well as the free downloadable templates you’ll find some examples of the masks we’ve made ourselves on the blog.

So if you’re in Stockholm on the 24 August come and join us… if not then tell your friends, spread the word…

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Stockholm Fringe Festival Photographs

I headed to Stockholm last week with the Pack of Wolves to deliver our first iteration of our Running with Wolves project. The project was programmed as a part of the Stockholm Fringe Festival (STOFF) and saw us delivering mask making workshops throughout the festival. As a multi-disciplinary artist it was an interesting opportunity to view my practice in the context of a performance art festival.

The festival got off to a slow start but as the weekend approached more people started stopping by to make a mask with us including fellow STOFF artists, local children and friendly Australian travellers who were passing through Stockholm. By the Saturday our tables were so chock-a-block that potential wolves were sprawled out on the floor making their masks.

Below are a few images from our mask making workshops at the Stockholm Fringe Festival. Some more photographs of the project and the festival will be on the Pack of Wolves blog shortly too.
keywords: STOFF, Stockholm, Fringe, festival, Stockholmfringe, Sweden, Art

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I picked up a video camera at the start of the year. One of the first things that I did with it was to set it up to record my stitching in action. Given that the series of embroideries that I’ve been working on this year is made up of seven rainbow coloured panels I followed through to record a snippet of each work in progress to produce this spectrum of split stitches.

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Following the production of my first video work I’ve been exploring some of the editing techniques and software that is available to me. I’ve no plans to create anything more substantial with any green screen shots just yet but this clip is a short 30 second test I produced whilst looking into the process.

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Facial Recognition by Colleen Toutant Merrill

I’ve come across quite a bit of work over recent months that makes use of the process of embroidering onto photographs. The majority of embroidered photographs don’t seem to delve much deeper than an aesthetic level and simply serve to prettify the photographs with colourful threads – often in trendy geometric patterns.

Facial Recognition by Colleen Toutant Merrill is by far one of the most interesting series of such works that I’ve come across. Colleen is an American textile artist primarily working with quilt making methods.

Facial Recognition is comprised of a series of photographs sourced through social networking sites that have been stitched and quilted over in order to obscure the subjects faces. This creates “unsettling images that question the impact of social media on the formation of our personal and collective identities” (C. Martin, Director Institute 193).

The quilting methods in these works relate to the social media networks from which the images were sourced. Prior to the mechanically reproduced the designs that we are much more accustomed to today quilts were often the produce of collaborative work from members of a given community – a hyper-local social network of sorts.

You can view more of Colleens work on her website: www.colleenmerrill.com

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image via www.arnolfini.org.uk

Aping the Beast by Serena Korda at Arnolfini Bristol

I made a trip over to Bristol this week to go and see Aping the Beast by Serena Korda at Arnolfini arts centre. How could I resist a performance desribed as an ambitious, theatrical rendering of animal symbolism and folklore featuring a towering monster puppet… and a live soundtrack by Grumbling Fur.

We were a little anxious about making it in time for the performance as our train was delayed en-route but luck would have it that the performance got off to a late start so we didn’t miss a thing. Our intrigue was roused as we entered into the performance space as we were ushered in in small groups via small dark holding space – apparently this was to prevent ‘the haze’ from escaping.

The first half of the performance involved children dressed as ‘Boggarts’ (pictured above) who were involved in a ritualistic performance to rouse ‘The Beast’. The beast was a giant puppet of a green dinosaur-esque monster best described perhaps as a Godzilla puppet. It was more cute than terrifying though and even roused a few quiet giggles as one of the operators reached up with a big stick to wiggle it’s jaw.

The second half of the performance involved two girls in blue body suits carrying model gun ships on their shoulders. They strutted about around the beast circling it until they were batted aside by one of it’s loose limbs.

And that was it.

We looked at one another quizzically and stayed sat in our seats a little longer willing another act of the performance to burst forth and deliver on the expectations set by the publicity blurb. I honestly don’t think I’ve ever left an arts event feeling so disappointed.

The Boggarts were played by children from a local school and were by far the highlight of the night. Their boiler suits and latex masks de-personalised them and gave them a very creepy edge almost reminiscent of Chris Cunningham’s video for Aphex Twin’s Come to Daddy. The unpolished way in which they delivered their routine worked really well and helped in convincing me, as a spectator, that this was a ritual and not a performance.

But from this point on it was all downhill. The blue ocean girls moved with little grace following an uninspired routine and when the monster was brought to life it did little more than meekly flap it’s arms from side to side – despite being operated by at least four people.

The performance followed a clear narrative arc but the exploration and presentation of this was woefully lacking. Yes, the narrative was simple but it offered so many ways in which the different themes at the core of the performance could have been explored in much more interesting and thoughtful ways.

In reality all we were presented with was – Boggarts raise beast, boats circle beast, beast destroys boats. There was no visual, performative or sonic cues that indicated anything beyond that what we saw had been considered.

The Arnolfini website described the performance as an ‘ambitious theatrical rendering’. Were this an end of term school play then it would have been very ambitious, but we were in an institution that describes itself as ‘one of Europe’s leading centres for the contemporary arts‘ to view a performance co-commissioned by the Artsadmin Jerwood Commission, Camden Arts Centre, London and Grundy Art Gallery, Blackpool. With that in mind this performance just didn’t cut it.

My feeling is that this production would benefit from a back to basics approach giving more thought to the ways in which in themes and ideas were communicated to the audience. Yes the dinosaur puppet was big but it didn’t appear to be well made and certainly wasn’t terrifying as we were promised. The gun boats similarly lacked any real craftsmanship and it was questionable as to whether they really brought anything meaningful to the performance at all.

Bigger isn’t always better.
keywords: Aping the Beast, Serena Korda, Arnolfini, performance, art, bristol

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From Spikeworld. | Spikeworld - Spike Dennis | Artist, Maker, Curator and Colloaborator

Periodic Table Cross Stitch

I’ve just finished my first attempt at cross stitch. I have plans for a more involved cross stitch project but having not used this method before I though it best to embark on a couple of smaller test pieces.

This piece is one of two new works that have been embroidered with black cotton on a linen ground. I do like the classic look that the black on linen achieves but I don’t think this is something that I’ll carry forward into the next cross stitch project that I have planned.

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30 Shades of Flesh

So having recently finished my Synchronous Hermaphrodites embroideries which I’ve been working on for the last six months I’ve spent finally gotten around to making a start on a new project.

Up until now I have predominantly worked with a split stitch in my embroideries. However this new project will be cross stitch based. It’s a classic stitch that has been used to produce embroidered samplers for centuries. I’ve been having a little practice with cross stitches over the last couple of weeks which resulted in this embroidered periodic table.

This new work should be a challenge as I’ll be working with a much wider variety of colours than I have done in my embroidered work to date. I’m making a start today with 30 shades of flesh coloured threads as pictured above.

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Hand Embroidered Unicorn Jumping Jack Puppet

I created this puppet from some white woollen fabric and cotton thread. The fabric is stretched across a wire frame that it’s stitched to in a similar fashion to the way in which stumpwork embroidery is constructed. The limbs are jointed using a simple French knot stitch and then activated at the back using a simple string mechanism as is used in traditional jumping jack puppets.

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On Saturday the 5 October 2013 the Pack of Wolves invite you to join us and come ‘Running* with Wolves’ as a part of Cardiff Design Festival.

we invite you to design your own wolf mask and in a manner akin to a ‘Flash-Mob’ join us in Bute Park from which point we will proceed through the streets of Cardiff to our Den for a social get together.

If you wish to join us ensure you locate the Pack at Bute Park by 6.00pm. You won’t be able to miss the Alpha wolf waving the Pack of Wolves’ flag!

In order to get you started we have provided some free mask templates that you can download from the Pack of Wolves’ website and print out for yourself. If you would like a little help in designing your mask why not sign up to one of our mask making workshops on Saturday afternoon. These are being led by our wolf cubs – Illustration students from Cardiff School of Art & Design. You can book a place at one of these workshops below.

Of course if you wish to design your own mask from scratch then feel free – let your inner creative beast loose! Why not check the Wolves’ blog for some inspiration?

You don’t have to be a creative wizard to take part in Running with Wolves but you do have to turn up in a wolf mask!

Keep an eye on the Pack of Wolves’ website or follow us on Twitter for further information and updates.

BOOK A PLACE AT CARDIFF DESIGN FESTIVAL’S FREE MASK MAKING WORKSHOP

keywords: Cardiff, Design Festival, design, Caerdydd, Festival, arts, illustration, Flash Mob, flashmob
*when we say ‘running’ what we really mean is a light jog**
**When we say ‘light jog’ we probably mean a brisk walk

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Acrlic embroidery Experiment

I’ve been considering new ways in which to play with embroidery as a process which led to this little experiment. I had the opportunity to undertake an introductory session on a laser cutter at the start of the summer. I’d been keen to try out the machine so that I could see how it works and what it can do. Whilst I already had a good idea in theory I find that it’s much easier to get a grasp of how I might use a material or process when I can try it our for myself.

For this test I simply set the laser cutter to cut a series of holes in a sheet of clear acrylic so that I could run some stitches through it. I picked the clear acrylic because of the depth I figured it would give the stitches what with being able to see the front and back simultaneously. I’ve also got some mirrored acrylic that I would like to test in a similar fashion.

I’m not sure whether I’d return to the laser cutter however to perforate any acrylic for future embroidered work. I think a free hand drill would give me a little more freedom.

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Rachel Maclean’s Videos

I think Rachel Maclean’s videos are my new favourite thing! At first glance they appear to be sugar coated kitsch videos featuring cats and unicorns but they’re a hell of a lot creepier than that.

Many of the videos clips that I’ve watched explore aspects of contemporary popular culture including TV, film, music and internet memes. Over the Rainbow (2013), for example,
“invites the viewer into a shape-shifting world inhabited by cuddly monsters, faceless clones and gruesome pop divas“.

I’m interested in process the artist has used given my own recent foray into video works. LOLCATS (below) was shot entirely against green screen and I’m assuming that much of the backdrops and scenery were animated in with After effects. My own first attempt at green screen filming was an altogether simpler affair.

The costumes and make-up that the artist has put together for her videos are also hugely impressive. I find that they sit somewhere between Japanese Kawaii kitsch and the more terrifying costumes from the Mighty Boosh. Interestingly the artist is the only actor or model in any of her videos.

There’s a clip from LOLCATS below but you can view more clips of Rachel Maclean’s work on her website: www.rachelmaclean.com

keywords: rachel, maclean, rachel maclean, art, artist, videos, video, kitsch

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What Is Textiles? – Edinburgh Exhibition

I will be exhibiting a number of my embroidered works next week as a part of Kalopsia’s one year anniversary exhibition at Gallery Seventeen, Edinburgh – What Is Textiles?

An exhibition that sees Textiles as a distinct artistic practice, that opens up the debate on “What is Textiles?”

Private View: Friday 18th of October 6pm-8:30pm
Open: 18th-23rd of October 10.00am-5.00pm
Location: Gallery 17, 17 Dundas Street, Edinburgh

Kalopsia Collective presents an exhibition that explores the nature of textiles – an exhibition that shows a range of work from weave, print, illustration, knit, graphic, video installation, sculpture, metal, embroidery, performance art, fashion to ceramics.

Showcasing innovative and exciting textile creations by a range of creators from around the world. What is textiles to you? Is it the touch, the pattern, the movement, the sound, the smell, the process, the making, the feeling, the thinking, the colour, the history or the space? Come and join in the debate and explore the idea and pushes the boundaries of what Textiles can be.

The exhibition will feature work by by Yvette Estelle Jeffrey, Hollie Ward, Eldi Dundee, Katie Rose White, Sarah Pouros, Keren Shiker, Joanne Randall, Leyla Rodriguz, Nina Falk, Kay Steven, Samantha Wadham, Samantha Coe, Magdalini Eftoxpoulou, Tim Kloed, Eileen Thomas, Spike Dennis, Vanessa Larsen, Camilla Wordie, Adam Robertson, Rachel Lobban.

www.kalopsiacollective.co.uk

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