Caroline Smailes...an arch-experimentalist...

Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting the writer, Caroline Smailes.  I've read all of Caroline's books and use some of her texts in my Context 2 classes.  Indeed, I'm writing about her work in my Readers & Writers Of Experimental Fiction book and see myself as an experimental/interdisciplinary writer too.
Caroline was talking about her work and giving a reading at MMU uni. Cheshire where I work as a Creative Writng tutor.
I introduced Caroline, to a writing room packed with Creative Writing and Gaming students, by reading a quote: 'There are no rules anymore for what's allowable or what's justified for a writer to do.  We've never been in a more exciting time to be either a publisher or a reader or a writer.  Whilst the digital transformation of our lives undeniable presents considerable challenges it also offers unprecedented opportunities.  Competition for people's time means that writers have to be more experimental and more creative and to think of new ways in which they tell stories.'  This was said by Jamie Byng, publisher and managing director of Canogate Books, speaking on The Culture Show (October, 2013)
From the onset Caroline won the audience over with warmth, humour and her love of the Beatles!  She told how a chance remark on the Richard and Judy chat show in 2005 caused her to reconsider her life.  She enrolled on an MA in Creative Writing and began writing!  She was discovered by a Cyberscout as a direct result of her blog.  'The power of the internet can't be underestimated,' she explained, 'the Cyberscout is the next generation publishing executive, scouring the web for undiscovered talent.'
Her latest publication, The Drowning Of Arthur Braxton, is a modern fairy tale.  Caroline spoke about her other novels too: Black Boxes, In Search Of Adam, Freaks, Like Bees To Honey, saying how she used different fonts in her writing to indicate altered voices and changing moods.  The interplay of text with white space was to give expression.
The reading was from her e book: 99 Reasons Why, a book which represents a radical departure from literary tradition as it has a choice of 11 possible endings. The 3 reasons why Caroline read were sharp, witty and had the audience lol!
The audience lingered after the event to buy books, ask advice, to say how much they had enjoyed the occasion.  Indeed, a good time was had by all. :-)
Thank you, Caroline.
www.carolinesmailes.co.uk

A Way Of Seeing’ The Art Of Ben Kelly . The Life Of A Writer

Being curious, on Thursday, 6^th June, I went to the opening of Ben Kelly’s recent exhibition: The Art Of Seeing.  As Dr Rina Arya , author of Francis Bacon: Painting In A Godless World and the editor of Contemplations Of The Spiritual In Art, writes in the foreword to the catalogue: ‘Ben Kelly’s expressive paintings are archetypally Northern.’  Indeed, they explore landmarks of Manchester and Cheshire ‘meanderings in and around landscape’, both urban and rural: football crowds and parks, shopping trips and walks in the countryside. 

A favourite of mine, Seven Trees In Wincle, records a lone guy, in harmony with nature, a 21^st Century Thoreau (my reading, maybe not Ben’s intention at all) someone disillusioned with the trappings of modern life, who has retreated to the natural world. I was also captivated by Strike A Pose: The Clean Up, an exploration of the looting of Manchester City Centre which took place in the summer, 2011.  However, whatever the subject matter of Ben’s paintings, one thing that truly struck me about the work, was the light; it is arresting.  He uses a technique referred to as ‘fracturing,’ which is a method of layering the paint. 

For me, it is this ‘fracturing’ that makes the work unique; it is Ben’s ‘Way Of Seeing’ the world, and to cultivate a unique ‘Way Of Seeing,’ is what all artists, of course I include writers here,  should aspire to.

I very much enjoyed the exhibition, nice one.  And the champagne wasn’t bad either! :-)

Curiosity Didn’t Kill The Cat: The Life Of a Writer

In a piece I am currently writing, La Paperie, I am documenting the journey I made to find my path as a writer.  Along the way, I discovered that there are many attributes needed to be a writer, and for me, there is something that is very important:  a need to cultivate curiosity.  As the Swiss psychologist and philosopher Jean Piaget stated, an artist should retain the curiosity of a child; I agree.  An artist/writer should be curious about the world/other realities, people/places and learn to ‘Deeply See,’ as the artist, Alex Grey says in his book: The Mission Of Art.  And so, this week-end I went to view: Souzou: Outsider Art  From Japan at The Welcome Collection, Euston Road, London, is which is the ‘free destination for the incurably curious.’ 

Outsider Art is a term inspired by French artist Jean Dubuffet’s theory of ‘art brut,’ meaning ‘raw art’ and coined by the British academic Roger Cardinal in 1972, as an internationally recognised term.  Outsider Art is work made by artists working outside the academy, artistic practice that is created for the sake of creation alone and without an audience in mind, by artists perceived to be living on the margins of mainstream society, often living in specialist care institutions.

The 46 artists in Souzou have been diagnosed with a variety of mental illnesses and their work follows the philosophy of artist Kazuo Yagi, that is, it is key to an individual’s identity and self-expression to be able to produce any art objects/works/texts as  they please, with no intervention into the creative process.  The exhibition is presented in 6 overlapping sections which ‘invite us to explore the processes of making, meaning and the larger social and cultural context of Outsider Art in Japan.’ (Shamita Sharmacharja, curator) 

My favourites were the sections on Language and Relationships.  The works displayed by Takanori Herai bypass linguistic conventions to an empowering effect; the diaries displayed are composed of abstract shapes which record his daily life. Whilst Toshiko Yamanishi, creates kaleidoscopic love letters to her mother, using movement and colour in lieu of words .  In the work of Megumi Matsui, the special memories he is unable to express verbally, such as attending his friend’s wedding, are represented by a cake sculpture.  Takako Shibata and Sakiko Kono examine the ways that artists depict themselves and their multifaceted relationships with other people.  For both of these artists scale becomes a measure of the strength of emotion and love they experience for their subjects; life sized dolls represent an absent mother and the staff in the residential facility which has been home.  Whereas Takahiro Shimoda’s pyjamas festooned with his favourite food, fried chicken, (eat your heart out Lady Gaga) presents a vibrant and entertaining vision of self. 

This exhibition is poignant, thought provoking and ‘different’; it gives the viewer an insight into a ‘different’ mind, a ‘different’ culture.  Who knows, I may find myself writing a text which explores what it means to be an Outsider Artist living in Japan, maybe not, but the exhibition is enriching and made me , the viewer, see the world differently, another attribute an artist/ writer should aspire to cultivate too.

DAVID BOWIE IS OPEN TO INTERPRETATION

Currently , the V & A is staging the exhibition, DAVID BOWIE IS and I went to see it at the week end. ' One of the key roles of the museum is to celebrate great design.  Bowie is not only one of the great musicians of the last half century, but is also among the great design visionaries,' writes the director of V& A, Martin Roth.  As curators, Victoria Broackes and Geoffrey Marsh say: 'David Bowie is one of the most imporatnt artists of the last 50 years.'  Too right.  He forms a link that connects J.G Ballard, Will Self, Brian Eno, William Burroughs, Louise Le Cavalier, Andy Warhol, Bertolt Brecht, William Blake, Philip Glass, Charlie Chaplin, Nietzsche, Marlene Dietrich, Salvador Dali, Antonin Artaud...'DAVID BOWIE IS OPEN TO CHANCE' as he reinvents himself 'DAVID BOWIE IS SO SWISHY IN HER SATIN AND TAT' a pioneer of invented identities, Major Tom, Ziggy, Alladin Sane, Halloween Jack, the Thin White Duke and 'himself. 'DAVID BOWIE IS SOMEONE ELSE' questioing identity, gender and social norms.  He is one of Ballard's 'astronauts of inner space' the 'surrealists are the iconographers of inner space...the internal landscape...concerned with the discovery of images in which internal and external reality meet and fuse.' 'DAVID BOWIE IS READING BETWEEN THE LINES'  The exhibition is a spectacular series of montages, a juxtaposition of film, mime, sound, images, kabuki theatre, masks, dance, costumes, text, paintings, lyrics, newspaper cuttings, quotes 'THERE IS NO ONE LIKE HIM, HE'S DAVID BOWIE.' I sat in an open space surrounded by huge images of Bowie belting it out,'it's outrageous, he screams and he moans,' and I was back in the late 70s, wanting to put on my 'red shoes and dance.' like I did when I saw him three times, once supporting Iggy Pop and his influence on me was profound. 'DAVID BOWIE IS NOWHERE FROM HERE.' I was a Creative Arts student, visiting art galleries, reading a lot, watching films, going to dance performances and mime and theatre and once upon a time Laurie Anderson, engaging in the avant garde and fashion and the Manchester music scene, learning from my lecturers that a 'catalyst for creativity might be a title of a book, a costume in a film or the'Oblique Strategy'of chance, even then 'I only do (did) what I want to do (did) artistically.'  'DAVID BOWIE IS WEARING A MASK ON HIS OWN FACE.'  And how I agree,'All art is unstable.  It's meaning is not necessarily that implied by the author there is no authoritative voice. There are only multiple readings.'  It was (is) an extraordinary exhibition, stimulating and uplifting.  It rock(s)ed. 'DAVID BOWIE IS LOOKING FOR A FUTURE THAT WILL NEVER COME TO PASS.' 'In a celebrity-soaked world, a character off-stage can remain on-stage.'  But the final words from a fan, THANK GOD FOR DAVID BOWIE
Who lifted us
From the drabness
of surburbia
and showed us
glittering possibilities
THANK GOD
for erotica
exotica
lean
mean
back beat
slim hipswing
saxophone overblown
THANK GOD
for camp
THANK GOD
for fab
hair
cut and clothes
THANK YOU
Dahling
kisskisskiss
Here, here, Annie L, I couldn't agree more!

PRAXIS: Practice, Process & Paradox conference, Roehampton University, April 2013

PRAXIS= practice-based research= theory & practice =  the way I write.

I develop a dialogic relationship between theory & practice, each informs the other throughout the research process.  “When we describe praxis, we’re focusing on the process of creation as well as (or instead of) the end product.  We can think about, theorise and discuss that process as well as(or instead of) the end product)”  For me, the process, which I see as the journey, and the end product, which I see as the arrival, are equally valid, I made this point at the University of Roehampton, London conference: Practice, Process & Paradox 11-12 April, 2013, in response to the conference notes (above in quotes) when I delivered my Paper: Paths To Knowing & Knowledge: Memory, Mindfulness, Neuroscience & The Stories We Tell Ourselves.

Some of the ideas explored at the conference were: Boundaries between Critical & Creative Writing, Creative Process, Creative Research & Reflection, Defining & Redefining Creativity, Innovative Poetics and Cross-Genre & Interdisciplinary Approaches.

At the conference, dance lecturer, Rachel Rimmer and I, presented our ongoing praxis, interdisciplinary project:  The speaking body in space: in the moment.

How can one write the moment, after the event, surely this is a memory?

This question became a topic of discussion between the writer, me, and the dancer, Rachel when we met on 6/3/13 in the dance studio. 

As a writer, I explore the notion of creatively getting my consciousness on the page (as the beat would say). As a dancer, Rachel works with improvisation, responding to the space and making choices in the moment. This demands a heightened sense of presence from the dancer as choreography and performance happen simultaneously.

Through our research into consciousness and presence, Rachel and I recognise a shared line of enquiry between our individual practices.

Attempting to articulate the present moment of moving, Rachel has been researching a range of writing approaches, attempting to document the thoughts and the sensations of the dancer as they occur. However, through our experimentation and discussion in the studio, both of us realised that in writing about the event after it has happened, surely this is more of a response to the memory of the moment, and not an accurate depiction of the event itself?

So the question is, how can the ‘live’ dancing moment be articulated through words?

Trying to address this question, we have been carrying out a series of explorations, considering different writing, speaking and dancing relationships. These explorations were presented at the conference as a live sharing of process, accompanied by discussion of some of the research ideas and questions that have emerged to this point in our collaborative practice.

How can the ‘live’ dancing moment be articulated through words?

I consider the Buddhist practice of mindfulness, that is, existence is experienced fully only by paying full attention to the moment, in the moment, as we live it.  If we come into our present moment, when thoughts, feeling, sensations unfold in the present moment, in observation, there comes awareness.

The concept of emptiness or void is central to the philosophy of Buddhism. Void is not nothing.  Something can come out of nothing; it comes into being as a construct, before it changes into something else. 

As a writer, I document my stream of consciousness in the moment, capturing the images, thoughts, impressions as I experience them. I consider that writing is not something to be done rightly or wrongly, it is a path of discovery in itself.  When writing, I do not restrict myself to a specific set of rules about how I should write. I am more concerned with the ‘doing’ rather than the ‘crafting’.  My writing process is a stream of consciousness. It is the ideas, shapes, images that evolve which inspire me.  Creativity is about being absorbed in the moment, going with the flow, following the energy of the writing; it is about making connections; firstly: mind, pencil, then allowing the writing to flow and making connections with the words on the page, so that other words, phrases, sentences and images follow.  And as I write, I am engaged with the spirituality of the process, one which can be a form of transcendence, one which can lead to insights and wakefulness.

During our presentation, Rachel was still and silent, waiting for the intuitive moment to move.  I was present, in the moment, witnessing, paying full attention.  We were listening to our ‘inner voices’ to direct us to begin, to create the ‘path’ of dance improvisation and word/text score.

Rachel moved and her movement changed into something else.  Rachel continued improvising and speaking how this felt as she actually danced in the moment: a stream of consciousness. I acted as a witness to the improvisation. I was  absorbed in the moment. I used the principles of Rachel’s improvisation and employed a stream of consciousness.  Going with the flow of Rachel’s movements, I spoke words, phrases, in the moment Ray danced, inspired by the movements and shapes as they happened, mirroring Rachel’s energy, stillness and shapes in the air and on the studio floor. Everything was connected.

It was an inspiring conference.  Many thanks to the organiser Dr Louise Tondeur J