Tue, 19 November 2019
11:00 – 12:00 GMT
So we worked together to explore a representation of ourselves, one to offer by way of introduction.
Our materials were paper, card and tape,
So why did I want to create a trumpet as mask?
To get the mouthpiece to cover my face would have meant a very long trumpet, I did try but got all my arithmetic wrong. Nevertheless a trumpet emerged and Alison photographed me trying to blow it.
Why? was I trying to say something about my need or inability to blow my own trumpet? was it an attempt to present a way of being heard? or did it subconsciously connect to metaphors of war, triumphalism and power?
Today I read about the wall of Jericho, a neolithic structure much later used in the story of Joshua in the bible to terrify the Cannanites. A story which resembles elements of the smoke and mirrors of our current politics. I went on to explore the work of Miles Davies, seminal musician whose music had profound influences through its rejection of the limitations of chords in favour of exploring the creative potential of atonality.
Seems that there are many possible metaphors that might inform ‘doing’ non-capitalism…………
Whose trumpet am I blowing?
What does Amazon’s logo say?
Me or my shadow self?
Doing is nearly always rewarding but uncomfortable when someone asks you “what you are doing?” and you simply have no rational answer.
“Dreaming is simply thinking in a different biochemical state”
bit like art in my experience…
Searching for understanding about value we made a mistake. Just like any other animal we were seduced by the shiny stuff, coins.
Paying attention
How many times do we use this phrase?
The value is there in paying attention
Yesterday, the Larks and Ravens visited The Royal Mint where UK money is made.
It left us with more questions than answers in our attempt to unravel value..
The “friendly entrance” to the Visitor Centre suggests someone’s keen to protect something valuable in here…
Then there’s a shop selling money. What is this £5 coin worth? … oh … £1980 if I buy it… but still only £5 if I spend it…
“However, please note that whilst the coins are legal tender, banks are not obliged to accept the coins” So, this is “legal tender” that banks (“I promise to pay the bearer” etc aren’t obliged to accept? Can I buy a pint at the pub with it? Would it taste different from a pint bought with a normal £5?
Magpies being attracted to shiny objects is a myth but what about humans? “The background surface or field areas of proof coins are highly-polished, shiny and mirror-like. In fact, when you stand back and look at a proof, you’ll see your reflection on its surface.”
Digital money might be more straightforward in value exchange terms- you can’t buy a debit card and £5 spent via a card is always £5….. well at least I think so…
But, at The Royal Mint, where making money is indeed making money, asking when coins might finally be phased out is greeted as a sacrilegious question…
When the marks on the wall have all gone, what marks remain?
We come away from the 6 weeks marked – marked by what we’ve drawn, by what others have drawn and the conversations and contributions exchanged.
Thank you Newport Market.
What’s next?
Six weeks
of
experimenting, inviting and receiving conversations, responses, working with and alongside strangers, creating a focus
then
what’s next?
“You will of course paint it over ”
“that one is cool, leave it”
energy came, went and came again as the white undercoat swept across three
weeks of attention and some exceptional moments of human connection, but leaving one small area framed is enough to show
value
from six weeks of exchanging energy and attention
A trolley of old 78 rpm records which the stall holder can’t sell and has to get rid of – what are they worth?
If we gold plate them and display them on our stall wall, does this change their value?
If a market customer stops and helps us copy our £10 note and paint it on the wall – what’s that worth? ..to us? ..to them? …to the value of the painting on the wall?
An then another passing customer stops to help…”I was on my way to the graveyard to draw the angels there.. but now I’m drawing a horse and carriage on a £10 note instead!”
Was the time taken from the angels worth it?
We’ve nearly finished the £10 note? Is it worth more than when we started last week? Should we whitewash over it when we leave? “You can’t possibly paint over it!” we hear people cry. There’s shared ownership now. But, once we’ve gone, is a clean whitewashed wall more value to the Council than giant £10 note?
What’s anything worth? A passing customer provides the most worthwhile insight of the day “if you have masses of money then nothing is worth anything to you. How can it be when you make no choices?”
So when does a pile of old shellac 78rpm records become rubbish/ lose value?
The records are heavy, not just to lift, carry or store but with histories, that is what a record is.
So are the marks left behind on the market walls, offered not just by us but by the people who come and question ‘what are you doing?’ or offer up their own energy and insights
exploring value
Is it this big?
.. size and perspective distorts the familiar…
How big is Jane?
“I say ‘money’, what do you say?”
So today the three of us prepared a grid to enlarge an image of a £10 note.
For some reason after painting small red circles I became involved in Jane herself, my highlight was the exchange of looking with the delightful Sandy who works on the stall opposite our site and who plies us with cake and tea. But today it was the gift of looking that absolutely took my breadth away. Rarely have I had the privilege of working so intensely with a comparative stranger.
It was inspirational.
