Alex is working on box
constructions, painstakingly measured and assembled they inspire a yearning for impossible levels of scrutiny..you want to get inside.
"I'm drawing on images of Ulverston from the
18-1900s, interesting perspectives, notable locations and details..
...iconic isnt the right world.. memorable. Im using a forced
perspective..3D with stage-crafty Dr Caligari element without being
abstract..You need a road that recedes out of shot...
What few early Images
of the cottage there are only tend to only suggest any surrounding
buildings, so they're nor much use for this. Not that interesting...
(Interesting...the idea
of the Klondyke might have been an attempt to create something a bit
racy..a bit like a Vegas theme in the 60's, or calling somewhere The
Speakeasy, or the Painted Wagon (1970's Chesterfield dive, much loved
by passing football hoolies). The shift to Fox And Hounds suggests a
move back to ,er, traditional values...)
"..This is 2 images
stitched together,,, they looked the same but aren't..the figures
round the cross had moved their feet...on the left there is a large
barrel...further down...the old Stead and Simpson is a row of houses.."
( The Stead and Simpson has long been an inner-shape shifter...the
Factory Shop is another...most pubs familiar from the outside are
capable of disorienting any former regular who wanders in after a few
years absence. How much has to change before its becomes somewhere
else?)
"...The market street images include lots of things that are
still the same...butchers, banks.. ...and there are lights, signage,
awnings,theatre posters probably referring to a building in the right
of the photo. Shadows fall in the same way.
We chunter briefly about source material..If we are true to the
reference point / source, should we be imitating the graininess, and
loss of definition in these images? Are these a model of a place or
of a degraded photo of a place.....depends on whether you want to
acknowledge the limits and age of the image.
"For windows..vitriol on Milk bottle plastic, lit from within.....I want to make it from recycled plastic ..its durable,..wont react to any damp or cold in the air... LEDs last a long time too..theres a catch 22 here...I need to do a lighting test, in order to make street lights and etc...but this means boxing the work in, which also makes it in accessible. I normally work on a different scale..these are tiny..you need a cut off point for attempting to depict detail.
"For windows..vitriol on Milk bottle plastic, lit from within.....I want to make it from recycled plastic ..its durable,..wont react to any damp or cold in the air... LEDs last a long time too..theres a catch 22 here...I need to do a lighting test, in order to make street lights and etc...but this means boxing the work in, which also makes it in accessible. I normally work on a different scale..these are tiny..you need a cut off point for attempting to depict detail.
You end up down a rabbit
hole..."
Come to the cottage on the 8th and have a look , build street scenes of your own in Alex's card silhouette workshop..and see some more images from Dennis Metcalfe's collection of small details of Ulverston.
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