Objects of the Misanthropocene: Unearthing futures

I'm pleased to have been invited to submit a selection of objects from The Museum of Beyond for inclusion in this fascinating exhibition, in collaboration with Dean Sully, from the UCL Institute of Archaeology, Slade School of Art and UCL Museums. Do go and see it if you get the chance (off Gower Street, London). Watch out too for a drop-in workshop in January with the Museum of Beyond and Postcards from Beyond...

Find out more here

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Counterpoints diverging together...

I'm delighted to be exhibiting together with my lovely artists friends in Hertfordshire for the first time!

Counterpoints is an exhibition created and curated by 6 women artists who first met while studying art 22 years ago. Although diverse in what we make - and why we make it - we have become life-long friends and support each other in our creativity. Exhibiting together for the first time, Counterpoints is a celebration of our friendship and our divergence.

I'll be exhibiting new work - Master Pieces - for the first time. Do come along if you're in the area.

Find out more here

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C Beyond

I'm so excited to be exhibiting again soon in the lovely Dovecote Studio at Snape Maltings after a long break over the last couple of years. And I'm really delighted that the exhibition will also include a selection of Jayne Ivimey's wonderful hand-sculpted birds from her work Bird by Bird.
If you are in Suffolk come and drop by and find out why we must do everything we can to Stop Sizewell C. Hopefully you can create a bit too!
Note: Other opening times are possible by arrangement.
You can take an online tour of the exhibition here.

Find out why there must never be a C in Suffolk and how we can all make a difference.

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Siren Festival

I'm delighted to be taking part in the new Siren Festival with the Museum of Beyond at Aldeburgh on the Suffolk coast this August.

I'll be with my vintage horsebox roaming museum on the Moot Green (near the Moot Hall and boating pond) om Weds 8th and Thursday 9th August 11-5 so do come and visit!

Find out more about Siren Festival here.

FolkEast

The Museum of Beyond roaming gallery will also be returning to FolkEast this year on 16th- 18th August. We can't wait!

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Alive in the Universe

I'm delighted that my one minute film Water Fall is part of Alive in the Universe at the Venice Biennale 2019 at Palazzo Pesaro Papafava from 8th May unitl June 4th 2019.

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ARTSPACE Woodbridge

Appalled by the impact and risk of the proposed Sizewell C development on the Suffok coast, I have created two new works which you can see at ARTSPACE February 14th - 20th 10am - 4pm (for more details see poster below):

• a series of photographs taken at Thorpeness (just 2 miles from the power station site) documenting coastal erosion over the last 12 years.
  
  
• an installation looking at air quality including Sizewell Scud, a beginner's guide to saving air and an opportunity to donate air to those in need of better air quality.
  

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Museum of Beyond at Blue Dot Generation's Arts for Education

This event was so inspiring - I was very glad to have been invited to take part! Blue Dot Generation organised an amazing event so do keep an eye on their website for future activity - I can't wait to see what they do next! https://www.bluedotgeneration.org.

It was amazing what I could fit in a hold-all to take on the train to London to create a Museum of Beyond installation - and I was really delighted with the results. It was lovely to meet so many visitors, other exhibitors and guest speakers on the launch night... and I got lots of fun suggestions for objects to add to the museum too! It's made me think that I must explore new ways to enable to Museum to travel more easily to other locations (the horsebox roaming gallery is great but so much work to move and set up!)... So I'm busy working on that now... watch this space!

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Open Field

I'm thinking about creating an open weekend in the garden and field (and in huts!) at my home here in Suffolk in summer 2019. The land here is a semi-wild haven for wildlife next to ancient woodland so ideal for inspiring an interest in life of all kinds! If you may be interested in contributing an exhibit, performance or event at Open Field, please do get in touch. Ideas that help re-imagine the future (and that help us to make it happen) would be especially welcome. Residencies are available if you would like to come and develop ideas on site.
Contact Fran to find out more.

Blue Dot Generation's Arts for Education

I'm excited to be creating a mini installation of The Museum of Beyond (minus horse box!) at Blue Dot Generation's Arts for Education at The House of Vans, London SE1 8SW 26th - 30th September, 2018 - a unique 4-day immersive event of art, photography, performances, documentaries, panel discussions, sport, fashion, workshops and music, aimed at educating us all on the damage we are doing to the oceans. For more information and to see the exciting programme of free events, see https://www.bluedotgeneration.org.

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Museum of Beyond - Open Day

Coming up this Saturday 22nd September 10am till 6pm - an open day for the museum in our garden in Sudbourne, Suffolk. Contact Fran for more details. We'd love to see you here!

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Art in a box at Ufford Arts Festival

We had a fantastic time in the sunshine at Ufford Arts Festival last weekend with lots of visitors - young and old - to our vintage horsebox gallery and so many inspiring conversations... Loved seeing all the scarecrows made from recycled materials all round the village and the world's smallest community art gallery in an old phonebox too!

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Art in a box

I have recently acquired a vintage horsebox which I hope to give a new life as a mobile art installation at events in East Anglia.

Art in a box will initially feature the Museum of Beyond, a roaming gallery of plastic marine debris, imagining a future beyond oil.... I'm just making some final touches then we will be off on our first outings! Here's details of where we will be going:

Tuesday 9th August - Southwold, Harbour Quay East car park, near the Alfred Corry Museum, 10am - 5pm.

Wednesday 16th August - Southwold, by the pier, 10am - 5pm.

Friday 19th - Sunday 21st August - at FolkEast, Glemham Hall Grounds, Suffolk.

Do come along and take a look. Don't forget you can add to the Museum too: just bring your object (a plastic beach find) along to the gallery.

See press release here

 

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GYRE on the move!

After an incredibly successful 6 months at the Anchorage Museum in Alaska in 2014 (nearly 50000 visitors!) and a visit toThe David J. Spencer CDC Museum in Atlanta, Georgia from January 27, 2015 – June 21, 2015 (images of the exhibition below) and the USC Fisher Museum of Art in Los Angeles, California, from September 2, 2015 – November 21, 2015, , GYRE is moving to its final venue! It will be exhibited at the San Jose State University Thompson Gallery from February 2, 2016 until March 26, 2016.

If you can't make it to the exhibition, GYRE curator, Julie Decker, has created a wonderful book to accompany the exhibition: Gyre: The Plastic Ocean, which explores the relationship between humans and the ocean in a contemporary culture of consumption, offering an international perspective on a pressing environmental problem, the plastic, flotsam and jetsam in our oceans.

 

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PIECES OF SEA AND SKY
Exhibition with Liza Adamczewski at Sizewell, Suffolk - 31st July until 16th August 2015

I'm very excited about my next exhibition, Pieces of Sea and Sky, a collaboration with Liza Adamczewski at her home on the beach at Sizewell. Liza paints amazing seascapes and creates mini installations inspired by the sea. My Museum of Beyond will be on display (if you have any plastic beach finds you would like to contribute to the Museum, please do bring them along) and I will also be exhibiting an update of my project, Fresh Air - more relevant now than ever…

If you’re in the Sizewell area, do come and join us for opening drinks and nibbles in Liza’s garden by the sea on Friday 31st July - or come for tea on Weds 5th or Tues 11th August. The exhibition will be open every weekend and also on other days by arrangement. Just email me for more details - we would love to see you there!

 

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MUSEUM OF BEYOND

The new website is up and running - watch out for a special seasonal 'object of the month' in the Museum.

The Museum of Beyond is currently collaborating with Unconfimed Makeshift Museum (UMM) in Irvine, California. For UMM's inaugural exhibition (which opened on 6th December, 2014), the Museum of Beyond and UMM invite the neighbourhood to collect colourful plastic pieces of marine debris from local beaches in Southern California in order to create A present from the Pacific in the Powder Room Gallery and to add to the Museum of Beyond's collection. Read more here.

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MUSEUM OF BEYOND

The new website is launched! And to mark its launch, the Museum exhibited its collection for one week at the Aldeburgh Beach Lookout in July with exciting collaborations with composer Nathan Williamson and poet Leanne Moden.

Find out more here!

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AMERICAN TRASH

With Marina DeBris' amazing help, a range of my artworks are included in 'American Trash' in Santa Monica. Thanks, Marina!

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GYRE: THE PLASTIC OCEAN

I am thrilled to have been invited to take part in “Gyre: The Plastic Ocean”, which opens at the Anchorage Museum, Alaska, this week. My work is made, has been shipped and is being installed as I write...

“Gyre: The Plastic Ocean" is an ambitious new exhibition that tells a global marine debris story through the work of 26 artists hailing from Australia to Finland. Artists such Mark Dion, Chris Jordan, Andy Hughes - and myself - tell a remarkable visual narrative and take a provocative look at the impact we each have on our world.

This 7,500-square-foot exhibition includes more than 80 site-specific installations, photographs, films, sculptures, paintings and drawings. About half were created specifically for “Gyre.” The exhibition also features a new National Geographic film, scientific panels, documentary photography, and hands-on activities for families.

“Gyre: The Plastic Ocean” lives at the junction where art and science converge. This generation of environmental art is not passive or detached. It suggests activism, not observation; science, not romanticism; and new knowledge, not conventional wisdom.

Overall, “Gyre: The Plastic Ocean” takes a proactive approach designed not to chastise, but to inspire. “Humankind has certainly imposed its footprint on this landscape, but we have not ruined it,” said Julie Decker, Anchorage Museum director and exhibition curator. “Plastic is a modern material, so this is a modern and recent problem. That means there are things we can do, individually and collectively, to reverse the impacts.”

“Gyre: The Plastic Ocean” is on view until Sept. 6 at the Anchorage Museum, the largest museum in Alaska. Learn more at anchoragemuseum.org/gyre.

 

 

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ALDEBURGH POETRY FESTIVAL: PILOTAGE

This summer I have been really pleased to be collaborating with poet and broadcaster Ian McMillan for a commission for the Aldeburgh Poetry Festival. The work is nearly complete and we are delighted to invite you to enjoy the results of our collaboration, Pilotage, at not just one, but two exhibitions during the Aldeburgh Poetry Festival weekend from 8th to 10th November. If you are in the area, do come along to the Dovecote Studio at Snape Maltings and the South Lookout on Aldeburgh Beach to take a look. Opening times are given below.

We’ve also produced a small book, Pilotage: collected works, which will be offered at a special festival price of £5 throughout the festival weekend.

To find out more about the Aldeburgh Poetry Festival, click here.

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MAKING WAVES - EXHIBITION AT CREATE CENTRE, BRISTOL

You can see a selection of my marine litter installations and book at the Create Centre in Bristol until 28th June, 2013, as part of the Making Waves exhibition there. Other artists exhibiting include photographer Andy Hughes and the Poietic Studio. For more information take a look at the Raw Foundation website or visit www.createbristol.org and follow the link to exhibitions and events.

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EXHIBITION AT LISBON OCEANARIO

My friends in Skeleton Sea have invited me to join them in another exhibition - this time at the amazing Oceanario in Lisbon from now until 26th November, 2012. Thanks to the excellent translating skills of Ana, my wildlife traps and presents from the sea are now available in Portuguese!
See more on the Skeleton Sea website. If you go to Lisbon, don't miss it!!

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THE CULTURAL OLYMPIAD REACHES THE SUFFOLK COAST!

read more here

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THE OIL AGE HUT

My oil age hut is here!! For more details, see my blog

Hutliving Here and There will be at Bridport Arts Centre 29th April until 17th May, 2012. Open Tues - Sat, apart from launch on Sunday 29th April 2pm - 4pm.

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FLYINTHEFACE GOES TO SPAIN...

Thanks to artist collective, Skeleton Sea, a range of my work can now be seen in Spain at Torre Madariaga, the Basque Country Biodiversity Centre - a historical tower on a green hill overlooking the stunning north coast at Mundaka, a stone's throw from Bilbao. As well as Skeleton Sea's amazing sculptures, the exhibition includes Wildlife Traps, Presents from the Sea, Wild Bird Food and Seafood Soup in Spanish and Basque. The exhibition runs until April 2012.

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NURDLING FOR BEGINNERS

Not sure what nurding is but it sounds fun and you would like to find out more?

Always wanted to harvest nurdles but not sure how?

Visit my blog and find out more....

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LINES OF EXCHANGE

I've created an exciting site specific installation of plastic marine litter in the iconic Dovecote Studio at Snape Maltings, Suffolk - it's a really interesting building and with its exceptional height (over 6 meters to the apex) offers a challenging and wonderful space to work in...

For more details see press release

Lines of Exchange can be seen throughout August during the Snape Proms, every day 2pm until the evening concert (approx 7/7.30pm). It will also be open for the Aldeburgh Food and Drink Festival (this year's theme is the sea) 23rd - 25th September .

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I AM BLOGGING!!!!

Just seeing how it goes... - take a look here ...

PS. you can hear me in interview with Andrew Stuck on Talking Walking... - published from 16th April (& also available as a podcast) but recorded last August in wind and rain!!!

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RUBBISH AND REBECCA

An artist I have met locally has just started a really inspiring project - to individually draw 60000 (yes, 60000!!!) pieces of rubbish, which was the amount collected in 2009 by Suffolk's Beachwatch and Adopt-a-Beach projects. And I thought I was mad just collecting 46000 pieces of rubbish!!!!

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OLDEST SNACK PACKET YET!!!!

Found on a recent walk at Sizewell... a pre-decimal pack of Quavers (so over 40 years old!!!), freshly washed up on the tide...
[I found the Mary & Peter crisp packet a few meters later on the same walk.]

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IS AIR PRIVATISATION NEXT?

A few years ago, fearing that that air might be privatised, I developed an AIR RAID KIT providing everything we need to know in order to collect and safeguard the necessary quantity of air we would breathe in our remaining lifetime. At the time my ideas were considered a little far-fetched - 'what, privatise air ... next you'll be saying they're going to privatise the earth that we walk on?! ' ... Except that most of the land we walk on has been privatised and now the Con-Dems have even sought to privatise our forests!

So could air be next???? It's not in the Con or Dem manifesto - but then neither was the forest sell-off so just don't take the risk - read our Air Raiding guide here now!!

Or to see more about why you need to collect air and to find out about our other air services, click here.

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AN EXCITING NEW WEBSITE!!

Over the past few months I have been working on an exciting new website with a group of  Suffolk artists with the help of a small grant from Suffolk Coast and Heaths and a lot of volunteer hours!
 
It’s called www.landingstage.net and it’s a space for ideas and exploration... created to host artists’ and creative people’s ideas and thoughts about the changing coastal landscape here in Suffolk.
 
If you want to start (or get involved in) a project, show your work, have your say, add an event or just find out what’s going on, do join in - it’s free!
 
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UNDER DEVELOPMENT... nano art on flyintheface.... something for everyone (well, 300 million of us) on a single pinhead...

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STILL NOT CONVINCED ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE?

see what bloomed in my November garden...

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CAST AWAY ON THE NESS
My exhibition on Orford Ness is now over as the Ness closes for the winter season. If you missed it, click here for a few images from the exhibition...

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SWIFT END TO BALLOON RELEASE
I have known for a long time that balloons can cause major harm to sea creatures but was shocked the other day to see a swift plummet to the ground in my own garden! The swift had flown into a balloon which had burst, ensnaring its neck and wings and causing it to drop like stone. Fortunately my friend Lesley and i are were on hand and able to cut it free - miraculously it had landed on long grass only inches away from fencing posts and flew away unharmed by its trauma. Swifts are beautiful creatures and can fly up to 2.8million miles in their lifetime at heights of up to 10000 feet, even 'roosting' whilst on the wing!

This balloon was part of a charity balloon release in Essex. the charity concerned has pledged never to take part in future balloon releases - but what about the local estate agents and other bisnesses who provide the balloons free of charge to promote their businesses?? Due to prevailing southwesterlies most of the balloons released in eastern England are likely to end up in the sea. I do hope that the publicity given to this shocking incident will make everyone think again about balloon releases - let's not put wildlife at risk no matter how good the cause is...

For more information see MCS's Don't let go campaign .