Just waves in space

One evening we sat down and re-watched The Man Who Fell to Earth. I was at a point in my art-project where doubt had crept in and was ready to throw in the towel. I admitted that maybe taking a look at the film may help provide focus or inspiration.

Watching the film really helped me question the project and my practise as I realised that I had been taking everything far too seriously; I needed to slow down and get really low-fi, I had been obsessing on getting things to look right, when the point was to do the opposite.

Taking time out re-assured me this project was not about the movie but a series of related and unrelated moments & recollections. This freed me from having to be faithful to a source, yet I still had to fix the problem of the over exposed Polaroid film...

The Man Who Fell to Earth 1976 © British Lion Film Corporation

With thoughts of towels put to rest I was able to enjoy the film. The last time I'd watched it was years ago via VHS on a proper old telly with that moronic ‘pan and scan’ format, I’m now blown away by the new full HD wide screen 'panorama' version which reminded me why I loved this film so much, that and that its also hilarious. 

I love the dark humour, absurd sex, stumbling, gurning and grimacing..and the little asides from Bowie: Mary-Lou "Your such a nice man" - Newton: "...No I'm Not!"...little things like that had me in stitches.

The Man Who Fell to Earth 1976 © British Lion Film Corporation

The next day Mark Fernyhough posted me a link to a play 'Images of Louise Brooks' on in Berlin starring Candy Clark who he interviewed in a photo shoot with photographer Heike Schneider-Matzigkeit for the Stool Pigeon.

The Stool Pigeon - Interview with Candy Clark
'Images of Louise Brooks' at Studio 44, Berlin. http://www.iolb.de/

The Man Who Fell to Earth 1976 © British Lion Film Corporation

I think Mr. Newton may be pointing me in the right direction after all.

The Impossible Project

The Impossible Project has been going since 2008 when Polaroid went down the tubes they saved the last Polaroid production plant and started to make their own range of films.

When the last stocks of Polaroid dried up I also lost my favourite camera a Polaroid Image.

© Hilton Vasey 'Cocked Hat'

Although not the most retro of the range the 'Image' takes multiple exposures either via some wonderful fluke of engineering or genius of practicality, quality varies from hazy dream like to crystal clear and even cinematic depending on the lighting conditions and weather. I came across The Impossible Project after finding another 'Image' on E-bay and started searching for suppliers. Their film looked even more Polaroid than Polaroid and they even did black and white! Even better they had this great aesthetic to really promote analog photography, I’ve been a regular purchaser ever since.

© Hilton Vasey 'Cocked Hat'

 





















I booked a week off work to tackle my first shoot and put together my improvised 'Man Who Fell to Earth' costume and props. 

The shoot was disappointing, the costume and props had been coming out far too light on the film. It’s easy to identify part of the problem - I’d been photographing ‘light’ objects against even lighter backdrops but the film also seemed to continue to over-expose as soon as it was out of the camera, disappointing considering the more successful ‘random’ swimming cap test shoot. 

With my film spent I reluctantly used my Nikon to give myself ‘options’ but this turns out less forgiving, providing results which are only ‘so-so’. 

Considering the amount of time taken the digital shoot just wasnt up to scratch with the Impossible film and its inherent dreamy look and chaotic creativeness, after much grumbling I decide to persevere and maybe darken the costume by adding more layers or dying much darker. 

My girlfriend jokes “Maybe next time you should have a drink and relax; you always make better work when you’re hung over!” funnily enough she might have a point, maybe I’ve taken all of this far too seriously…

Swimming Caps and Lemonade

I now have a plan of action - a long list of stuff to collect and little things that need doing, mainly prep work such as buy film, clearing areas that sort of thing.

I've ordered some materials from e-bay for the costume which I'm waiting on but I've been able to get hold of some things locally, mainly egg boxes and swimming caps, shin pads and lemonade bottles.

Getting ahead of my plans I decide to white wash some of the props I've already been able to collect, mainly as something constructive to do (Painting the props blends them into the film and break up my form). So it’s off to the basement to splash emulsion around.

Afterwards with things drying I looked for another distraction to keep my momentum up (I get a lot of washing up / cleaning done in these moods) so I did some test shoots with the swimming caps and some Impossible Silver shade film.

© Hilton Vasey 'Swimming Caps'

I kind of liked the results but don’t know if this is what I am after, but it boosted my confidence at least. I quickly scaned them in as the Silver shade is rather light sensitive and the image can degrade if not protected.

As I had time left over I start splashing other props with black paint as I had a thought, 'why don’t I have a crack at a spaceship as well?’ mainly because we have this big table lamp 'orb' similar to the one from that scene....I hold off from doing any more as I'm in danger of doing something silly... wait for the materials....

I conclude by doing the washing up.



Station to Station: © David Bowie

Station to Station: © David Bowie



Sketchbook

My sketch book process starts - I don’t draw/doodle so much as write and assimilate scraps of images as I find them and work over them.

Again time is an every present nemesis so sketch-booking is a salve during breaks at work or spare moments commuting.

Images of Thomas Newton from Man Who Fell to Earth or rather the alien have been forming in my mind but I make a point at this stage of not looking through original source material.

The DVD and paperback look at me from the shelves. 

I’ve be drawn to building something, maybe a featureless suit covered in lots of tubing along with shin pads. 

I had a similar idea last year which I never developed, which would have involved learning to knit a Ziggy/Bowie/alien romper suit with me creeping around the forest and hiding up trees...however I put a halt to it as it seemed too over the top, except the recent country walk has re-awakened the idea I think, maybe it just needs to be more low-fi….

I’'ve been dying to re-watch the film and search for images but hold back as I don’t want to go too much in one direction. I start compiling lists to do this, do that, go buy swimming caps, what about knee pads, was that a 1970s plastic chair in the basement, paint everything white and where can I buy tubing! 

© Hilton Vasey

Soon I have something akin to a shopping list for junk which I’ll hunt for through E-bay and local D.I.Y stores.

The lists will slowly get crossed off one by one, but only to get replaced by another series of lists of stuff to do.

Next on the list ruddy make something!

The Chase Monkey Man

My girlfriend and I went walking with friend Mark Fernyhough on Cannock Chase, Marks a huge David Bowie fan (aren’t we all) as well as having a healthy fascination with everything ghostly and weird, he was here on a break from Berlin and wanted to take in a walk through Chase forest. 

Mark kept our spirits up with stories about Man who fell to earth, the Chase Monkey Man and an assortment of hidden obelisks in the area and stories of people reportedly ‘seeing things’ from UFO’s to some strange local legends such as the ‘monkey man’.

It’s been a long while since I walked these old woods, its a little ‘tourist’ friendly in some places, but the forest is still pretty wild if you’re prepared to jump the fence and get your winkle pickers muddy.

© Hilton Vasey

We took a tonne of images as the forest changes each step you take, from steep hills, dark groves, broken trees and hidden frozen lakes; all of which jolt some ideas free which start creeping up on me; vague recollections seem to be forming something into shape which I might be able to work with... 

© Mark Fernyhough / Hilton Vasey

How many Polaroids?

I've been working with Polaroid’s for some time. Originally I used them to sketch from for paintings but went over to photography once I started experimenting with in camera effects.

My practise is to take memory, personal or public and re-enact repetitively using found objects or bits of old tat that I tinker together into props, costumes or sometimes installations and develop into self portraits.

Time is as ever in short supply, studio time is grabbed after work with only a few hours to spare.

The work develops through these private performances / sittings almost as a stream of consciousness or play and I've found the Polaroid is the perfect camera for me for recording this, any other camera and it feels stilted, posed but with the Polaroid it adds its own element of chaos bringing up unexpected but welcome surprise.. 

I already had work in mind for this publication project called 'Cocked Hat' however I wanted to use this book as an opportunity to give myself a new objective and develop new work.

Self- Publishing

I know of a number of friends who have published their own work, either through collaborations with other artists, university press, online publishers or professional publishers. Initial advice from many is that I look at self promotion, a limited print run and using local printers.

I’ve had some work published myself as part of collaborative projects but didn't have much input apart from sending off work - no fees I was just happy to contribute. So I have been eager to find out more.

Typing ‘self publishing art book’ first took me to the Guardians Sean O'Hagans article 'Self-publish or be damned: why photographers are going it alone', which helped fill in some of the gaps and brought my attention to a number of self-publishing web sites which wonderfully showcase the variety of independent D.I.Y books, I've listed a few here and will add more to the profile page. 

'Self Publish, Be Happy' celebrate and promote self-published books through events, exhibitions, talks, workshops, publication and online exposure. 

'Bookworks' support new work by emerging artists through guest-curated projects, workshops, lectures and seminars, exhibitions and an on-line archive.

'The Independent Photo Book' a blog which announces independently published and/or produced photography books or zines, which are not available via Amazon or other standard outlet.

'Photo Book Show' is a series of exhibitions focusing on the hand-made and self-published photobooks showcasing a wide range of work, from the short run, the limited edition, to the one off and ephemeral photobook. 

So there seems to be a lot of opportunity out there to really do it your self and some of the articles I've picked up so far have helped clarify a few grey areas.

ISBN: An International Standard Book Number (ISBN) needed to sell through booksellers to identify the publisher and to locate the publication from the ISBN database.

Professional publishers: Book proposals must apply to the publisher’s submission requirements and quality checks. Substantial fees incorporate editing, design and promotion. The benefit is exceptional quality and promotion to a wide market.

Independent publishers:  Same as above however these seem more approachable and like to tackle more arty projects. There seems some flexibility but distribution will be a lot lower but aimed more at an art market and an existing customer base.

Printers: Traditional presses and book binding or digital print on demand (POD).The emphasis here is doing it yourself and finding the right printer for you and agreeing on a price, design and print run that suits you.

On-line Publication: Content is uploaded to preset templates for next to nothing. You can place an order or let the store promote the book. Additional fees provide assistance and promotion however printing is automated & quality can suffer although this is improving day-day. Libraries, galleries, universities and traditional bookstores arent keen on them.

All this makes me feel a little more informed and the prospect of doing some type of published book now seems do-able and I realise its not as restrictive as I previously had thought however I’m under no delusions its any easier.

I concede that whats most important is to concentrate firstly on creating a body of new work, I do have existing work which I could use but I really want to utilise this book objective to develop a fresh project whether or not this will develop into a publication we will have to wait and see. 

Time is one thing that I dont have a great deal of what with full time work and family life, but I'm now in a more sedate pace regards my practise and I feel I need to explore alternative narratives and new avenues of research.

This blog will hopefully document all of this and give me something to aim for. 

An idea

This is my first blog, so I’m a little apprehensive so please bare with me if this stream of drivel goes nowhere fast. 

This blog is to document the progress and the processes of my art practice, but also of putting together a self-published art book...

Why a book? The idea to develop an art book came about from discussions with artists from the No SuchThing collective at their recent Perception-Deception exhibition at BLANKSPACE in Manchester. 

An impromptu meeting about what to do next brought out the idea to publish our own group book showcasing artists work since the group’s creation. 

We thought how many people will get to see an art book as opposed to an exhibition, a book is a tactile object, an art object of function, something that you hold on to and explore regularly (that’s if it’s any good) it gets shared, passed around and gets a good seeing to by a large number of people.

The idea gripped us as extremely do-able, publication has now become so affordable anyone can put together a book and a limited run for a reasonable price.

At the time ‘print on demand’ was considered the most practical option by many due to its low cost, the problem of obtaining an ISBN and written forward was looked into by Dean Kelland and it was initially agreed we also sell the work through our website No SuchThing collective.

The No SuchThing collective book is currently in hiatus pending further meetings to agree on content but this idea of publishing work I found really exciting so whilst the group got back together I thought ‘why not have a crack at this myself, how affordable is it to publish your own book and how does all this self-publishing malarkey work'?

So I start researching and I start blogging too...