feeding the five thousand » Tim Johnson

we made giraffes and silver eggs and flowers and listened to the Marconiphone...............


 
 
 
 
 
 
lots more here: play slideshow

Wonderland 28th Nov 2009 - 13th Feb 2010- the latest offering from Sandown's finest (and only) contemporary gallery featuring the work of leading Isle of Wight artists & makers. The exhibition opened last week with busy attendance and features the work of Sue Paraskeva, Matthew Chambers, Chris Jenkins, Lisa Traxler and myself amongst others. More details about the show at Boojum & Snark. If your looking for desirable and original hand crafted Christmas presents this should be your first stop................

This month I have had the honour of being designated 'Maker of the Month' by The Making the award-winning arts charity that promotes high quality contemporary craft and design and inspires new audiences to engage with the art of making. The article combines an interview conducted by Diana Woolf of Selvedge & Crafts Magazine with a selection of my work.

Below a willow scroll wrap - created during an amazing week teaching at Vissinggaard as part of Focus on Bark.
My documentation of this week, sharing skills and exploring together with makers from Denmark, Finland, France, Canada and Sweden, can be found in my special gallery here: Focus on Bark, Vissinggaard 2009


One of my recent works in progress exploring maps and networks. This piece is woven from a variety of plant materials including Butturburr, flatband cane and Kelp seaweed. I have created a couple of galleries gathering images exploring the theme and will be creating more map pieces over the coming months.
 
And finally a workshop shot from my ongoing projects with a wonderful Primary School on the Isle of Wight, initiated by Creative Partnerships, the project has carried on gaining additional funding year by year. A small selection from the project can be seen here: Outside In and here Celebration.

 

This month I have had the honour of being designated 'Maker of the Month' by The Making the award-winning arts charity that promotes high quality contemporary craft and design and inspires new audiences to engage with the art of making. The article combines an interview conducted by Diana Woolf of Selvedge & Crafts Magazine with a selection of my work.

Below a willow scroll wrap - created during an amazing week teaching at Vissinggaard as part of Focus on Bark.
My documentation of this week, sharing skills and exploring together with makers from Denmark, Finland, France, Canada and Sweden, can be found in my special gallery here: Focus on Bark, Vissinggaard 2009


One of my recent works in progress exploring maps and networks. This piece is woven from a variety of plant materials including Butturburr, flatband cane and Kelp seaweed. I have created a couple of galleries gathering images exploring the theme and will be creating more map pieces over the coming months.
 
And finally a workshop shot from my ongoing projects with a wonderful Primary School on the Isle of Wight, initiated by Creative Partnerships, the project has carried on gaining additional funding year by year. A small selection from the project can be seen here: Outside In and here Celebration.

 

Since childhood I've always been fascinated by skulls and I had my own small collection from various birds & mammals. However this didn't prepare me for the experience of handling a real human skull in the art department of a school recently. Such a fascinating & compelling object it has stayed in my head and I'm interested in exploring the iconic image further.
Of course it's hard to bring anything new to the subject having been dealt with by creative humanity for thousands of years however that's no reason not to explore it for my own benefit & understanding.


A floor drawing that I created during a school workshop yesterday exploring contemporary street art practice. Having looked at the work of Aakash Nihalani and Buff Diss pupils experimented with creating tape drawings on the floor, walls and up and around furniture & doors in the studio.

My hand skull made from a crushed Pepsi can & white tape, photograph - thanks to Karen Sunderland.

Have alook at some of the images from flickr that I've curated into a little gallery here: Recent Obsessions

"nobody does this" - indeed, watch this wonderful and sincere film about Christian - a collector and hoarder living in a town in Provence, France.   http://vimeo.com/666346

The Kingdom of Old Exhibition at Quay Arts is now over having had an amazing three weeks of creativity - the dust is settling and we are gathering our thoughts and organising the projects documentation. We have photographs, videos and sound recordings all to be collated and published. The first batch is now available as a slideshow of over 300 images documenting everyday of the project and can be seen here: Kingdom of Old Slideshow

 
Next Saturday I'll be taking part in the Procession detailed below & organised by  Matthew Cowan, Artist in Residence with Cecil Sharp House, home of the Englsh Folk Dance & Song Society.
Do come along if you get a chance - I'll be the one in the big spiky suit - yep the Brahan Man makes his debut south of the Scottish border - he was created in 2006 as part of my residency alongside Patrick Dogherty on the Brahan Estate near Inverness and gathers inspiration from traditional costumes & disguises native to the British Isles. Currently his costume is on show as part of Mumchance & Guise at Cecil Sharp House.





Mumchance and Guise: Procession and Performance
Saturday 31 October, from 4.15pm, free

This Procession and Performance is part of the archives and artefacts exhibition, 'Mumchance and Guise' at Cecil Sharp House. The event will begin at sunset (between 4.30 and 5pm) with a twilight procession of disguised performers and musicians from nearby Primrose Hill. The eclectic group will make the short walk to Cecil Sharp House, Trefusis Hall where a series of performances will take place.

Come in disguise and join the procession or simply watch the procession and following performances at Trefusis Hall. Artists from the Mumchance & Guise exhibition at Cecil Sharp House will showcase a series of performances that tap into the dark underbelly of folk customs and disguise, using essential folk elements in presenting new performances by contemporary artists from the UK and Europe.
Meet in your own disguise at 4.15pm at the top of Primrose Hill




Mumchance & Guise
Friday 25 September - Saturday 28 November
Open: Monday to Friday (and some Saturdays) 10am to 6pm
Admission free
How does a costume transform its wearer and when does the costume itself become a work of art? This new exhibition showcases artifacts from the English Folk Dance and Song Society archives alongside new works by contemporary artists.

The performance of folk dance and ritual inevitably involves costumes and forms of disguise. This camouflage enshrouds folk performers and transforms them, removing them from everyday existence, separating performer and community.
Most folk costumes are precious, unique, hand-made and purpose built objects. This new exhibition at Cecil Sharp House draws together some amazing costume artefacts from the EFDSS archives and shows them alongside costumes and performance works from contemporary artists whose work is concerned with tradition and folk ritual. The show emphasizes narratives of transformation, seasonal ritual, celebration and disguise whilst displaying some of the value of the archive collection at Cecil Sharp House.
Artists: Michelle Bloom, Megan Broadmeadow, Matthew Cowan, Gery Georgieva, Tim Johnson

Hi folks - been busy with moving house, children, life, work, the universe - anyhow I've afew things to show you over the next few weeks so why not tune in !

I'm starting a new project on Monday with my mate Chris running at Quay Arts on the Isle of Wight - read all about it over here kingdomofold.blogspot.com/ at the dedicated blog.