George--

Sometimes I am working with objects and sometimes I am working with words. I see both instances as the same practise and that in each case I put matter through similar treatments. My approaches use collage and appropriation, sometimes these processes are evident, sometimes they are concealed and sometimes the appropriation is faked. The reason is to try and present material of which the authorship and provenance is unclear, to steer value judgements away from the skill of me - the artist - and towards the resonance of the content, regardless of whether it be considered art, my art, or art at all.

Using text: I am 50-50 between making objects, which doesn’t concern itself with language – and writing which is trying to do something similar with words; these techniques involve appropriation and collage. I resist situations where I have to present, describe the work, artists statements &c. I find it useful to tell an anecdote or to approach the issue obliquely, this is how I started to approach writing as the production of the work itself.

For instance: I recently used a text for a video [describe ☺]

Cue cards: image on one side text on the other. The content is about Wetherspoons (fake text: history panel); John Lewis partnership and a sci-fi story about time sharing homes over 12 hour shifts ; Wikipedia style article. [ maybe tell more here]– This was a way of working I liked and will now make a quartet of voices reading, using 8 subjects; maybe situate the cards within a room, which will allow for choreography; thinking about the sugar babes and the way the group is recycled. The band were from east London Brent Cross shopping centre was maybe their local mall, close to 1st purpose built greyhound stadium. I don’t want to invent a narrative but have them jostling together. I want to put some of the work into the reader or listener’s hands and think about fiction which does not have narrative, conclusion or moral ending; I don’t want a protagonist leading the way through. As with sculpture there is an element of invention on the part of the viewer [the viewer/produces the narrative, they structure the elements].

[What do you want to show me?]

Have written a collection of poems (originally of the 14th Feb = valentines day) Putting love poems through Google translate and de-subjectively the poems. Wanted to play with the idea of the love poem. I came at it from the point of view of feeling awkward. It is also about the act of writing and remembering. Philosophically de-subjectification (sic) addresses different ways of loving: the love between individuals; the union of friends, loving someone you know you will never see again.

2/7 heart tear- 27 cards (27 love poems)

14 are blank so there is a reading and then a space. I am attracted to these mechanisms but I like in the end to use my own free will. I want the poems to sound odd, you are not sure of their provenance. There are curious juxtapositions. = declarative statements, open ended statements around which you can build a narrative… This is a strategy I also use when making sculpture, the aim is to make a real-life discovery, which will create a discovery for the viewer, they are not asked to think about the literary cannon or art history but simply to have a direct relationship with it, its something that does not require a response that can be put into words but simply produce an emotional response. … [...] degree show, hand written element which can be interpreted in a number of ways- either as of universal significance or as a practical note concerning the organisation of the show.

Today: I have a future project. Write a what and how for each of the chapters of a forthcoming work (200 words each).