Whoops so my whole ‘this week’ post idea went out of the window in the uh… second week. Anyway! Let’s have a recap.
As a quick recommendation, here’s two books that I have read recently on the subject of freedom- previously visited favourite authors of mine, ‘Everybody‘ by Olivia Laing and ‘On Freedom‘ by Maggie Nelson (I’ve linked the paperback versions- I preordered hardbacks when they came out as I am a keen bean hah). I was moved by these books (I needed to take notes), which tackle ‘same but different’ explorations of what freedom means- in terms of bodily autonomy, art, sexuality, and much more. They are both books that I intend to re-read, and sent me off on tangents of research and other reading- my favourite outcome. Highly recommend both of these- it’s important to understand what freedom actually means- we live in uncertain times!
These books are pictured on a newly built bookcase purchased to house my ever expanding book collection. After moving house sooo often I stopped buying physical books for a long time, to save space (and my spine), but I came back to the hobby of book buying HARD during 2020. I actually really enjoy giving my eyes a break from screens and reading a physical book. I compliment my paper collection with audio books, as I do still have to be careful with buying too many books- we live in low budget times!
Making
This week, as well as my ‘Garbage Portents‘ zine featured in the last post, I also completed a suite of items for my Cannibal Cubs side project.
The Mousieverse- version 1!
The ‘collection’ if you can call it that, features a zine, two stickers, and some screen printed tote bags (printed by yours truly). I have some experience of screen printing through my work with Cannibal Cubs, but this was one of the first designs where I took the reigns more with printing the whole offset design myself. It was really fun, creating this weird 3D effect. Due to the handmade nature of the process, each bag is unique!
I’ll maybe dive a bit deeper into the Mousieverse at a later date, but the potted version is this: I started creating drawings, paintings and mixed media works featuring mice (we’ll get into ‘why mice’ in a separate investigation!), and slowly accumulated such a wealth of material I wanted to collate it all into a zine. I felt like some of the larger pieces I made were creating their own realm- hence the imaginative title of the Mousieverse. The works represented a further loosening of my approach to making. I started making quick drawings with ink and brushes, slowly getting larger and larger in scale, and then cut up lots of them, remaking them into collages, filled with colours and layers.
The totes are a nice compliment- I make and sell a small amount of ‘merch’ through Cannibal Cubs– lower priced items can help to support the continuation of projects that are not revenue generating or driven, a strategy employed by many artists (I will revisit this in a more in depth post about artists and merch). I think I originally wanted this for my ‘Corvid Eyes‘ line of work, and then it ended up being the main event for a while… I’ve been trying to step away from this recently however, my continued fight to just be ‘an artist’ rather than a ‘collage artist’ (not that there’s anything wrong with that, it’s just not what I personally want right now).
The zines, like ‘Garbage Portents‘ are printed and bound by myself. I had to use a long reach stapler for these guys as my sewing machine packed in! I need to take it to the repair shop. I’ve been using a 1960’s Singer machine I inherited from my grandmother and it probably needs a bit of TLC!
Similar to my last zine, this one also contains some text. They aren’t quite full poems, but excerpts from my notebooks while making the works. I am hoping to expand on the inclusion of text, and maybe one day I will produce a purely text based zine. Maybe.
Reading/Books
I completed my listening of The Bradshaw Variations by Rachel Cusk. Not the ending I was hoping for (no spoilers)! But it made sense. Doesn’t mean I have to like it. I’ve just started A Cigarette Lit Backwards by Tea Hacic-Vlahovic, read by the author, and I’m really enjoying the immersive experience of the audiobook so far. Sometimes I walk around listening to audiobooks but I can get very absorbed, to the detriment of my safety on roads and pavements. Despite the danger of audiobook fog, I once had a very long walk back from a car garage early in the morning accompanied by Olivia Laing’s ‘To the River‘. I remember the walk quite vividly, the colours of the morning sky, the route I took home, my detour through the park, all the while accompanied by the book. It felt like I was reclaiming a bit of my own time while making a relatively mundane journey. Most of the time I listen to music when I’m storming around, but it’s good to mix things up. Some walks require certain soundtracks, and there’s something soothing about an early morning + non-fiction. I try not to think about journeys on foot to and from places as some sort of dead time to march through to get to the next thing. Frenzy mode. I like to try and look for things- particular sights that hold my attention and end up feeding back into something at a later date- a huge part of my ‘Omens‘ project was this incidental imagery thing. In the same way that dreams work, taking moments from your day, and mixing it with memories and the influence of the subconscious.
This can sound a bit romantic, and don’t get me wrong, I’m not jazzed looking at litter or mounds of dog shit, but it can add a bit of meaning to days when I feel like my time is not my own. Which is often.
For instance I really enjoy the pattern of light on this slab one day in August:
So that’s a short summary of my output and input for this week- the mice emerged and I didn’t get run over listening to any books. Good job!
Thanks for reading- I will endeavour to update with a proper post for this week.
Jenny 🙂
DRAFT EXCLUDER 