Posts Tagged ‘Underground Spaces’

My favourite artist of the month. Anselm Kiefer.

Saturday, March 9th, 2013

 

My favourite artist of the month is Anselm Kiefer. A German artist who creates paintings and monumental installations with crusted surfaces, incorporating, lead, concrete, ash, acid, earth, glass and gold, broken glass, oil, emulsion, shellac, acrylic and raw materials from nature.

 

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I particularly like Kiefer’s ambitious project of transforming an old derilict silk factory in La Ribaute France into a monumental studio art complex where he created his monumental works. He dug out underground chambers, tunnels, to create living and working spaces  set amongst strange, reinforced, concrete towers and bunkers, woods and caves. There was even a crypt, an amphitheatre and underground pool.

A trailer from the movie “Over Your Cities Grass Will Grow” about Kiefer’s last days at the studio.

 

Robert Hughes on Anselm Kiefer

 

A record of an assistant’s time with Anselm Kiefer from his studio in Barjac. This was in 1999 -2000.

 

Underground Spaces & Art. Beneath the City of Paris.

Friday, December 28th, 2012

Underground Spaces & Art. Beneath the City of Paris. Throughout the world underground complexes criss cross beneath the surface of the above-ground world. There is a thriving underground world where the average person never gets to see…unless that person knows where to look. Fascinating subterranean cities and hidden underground spaces that dwell beneath our feet.

 

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For instance, beneath the city of Paris below the Metro tunnels under the railway, stations, is another thriving world where people work 24hr’s maintaining the entire transport system to keep it working at its peak. There’s the famous underground cemetery the Catacombs”les carrières de Paris” full of caverns and tunnels. The walls are laden with an interesting installations of skulls and bones.

 

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Wherever I go, I like to explore hidden underground spaces. In Paris I found a very special space under an apartment. Down there, I create stories, art and listen to the silence & chatter of the walls. I like to set up little dioramas between the red doors, damp earth walls and the ground. I then photograph and make little video’s of the scenes for later projects.

UX, for “Urban Experiment.”

Saturday, July 21st, 2012

I just love this story …inspires me to keep working on my art projects which link back to my own treks of working in underground spaces below Paris over the past 5 years.

Thirty years ago, in the dead of night, a group of six Parisian teenagers pulled off what would prove to be a fateful theft. They met up at a small café near the Eiffel Tower to review their plans—again—before heading out into the dark. Read full story by Jon Lackman …

 

 

 

 

 

Amour de Paris

Saturday, May 5th, 2012

I miss Paris today. I miss the homeliness of Paris …I woke up feeling a longing for the white snow on the rooftops outside my little studio window in the cubicle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I miss my dark dungeon, with its odour of oldness and mold and even miss the creepy feeling that lashes me when I go there to work on my never- ending arts project.

 

I miss the fresh no- nonsense food, the culture, the artists and especially, the realness of Paris.

I miss not knowing the language and guessing what people are saying.

I miss seeing something new and the ordinary down the streets of Asnieres with my daughter.

I miss the walk to the park with its topiary trees, gardens and boulie men.

I miss the newness of the place plus the old familiar places I like to go to.

I miss not being able to play and sit in the gardens around the corner where Vincent sat and created.

 

I miss the little art/design ateliers down in Bastille with their windows full of  high design handmade, one- off  pieces of jewellery, glassware, sculpture, furniture and funky home-wares.

I miss knowing that every time I stroll through the Louvre I still, haven’t seen it all and will need to come back.

 

 

I miss not being able to visit Camille , Manet Doré, Degas, Cézanne, Rodin, Monet , Picasso, Renoir, Rousseau ,Gauguin, Lautrec,Valadon, Bernard,Matisse, Rouault,Brâncuş’, DufyPicabia, Braque, Metzinger , Delaunay, Arp , Chagall, Duchamp, Ernst ,Soutin,e and Masson for the day.

I especially miss the closeness to Modernism, Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Fauvism, Symbolism , Art Nouveau, Primitivism (art) Modernism, Cubism, Puteaux Group, and my favourite ,Dada, and Surrealism The art squats, street art and local artists with avant guard ideas. I miss my most loved Pompedou gallery.

I miss the trips to Dave’s parents. I even miss,the rattly old one person lift we squeeze into,going up to the apartment. I miss their welcome and sitting at the table eating delectable foods with the now, familiar Eiffel, out the window .

 

I miss Champs. Montmartre, cemeteries , beautiful old buildings and new places I haven’t seen before.

 

 

I also miss the things I haven’t done, or seen yet, in Paris.

I miss the smells ,textures and sounds when living,in Paris. Even, the nightmare trains I don’t mind anymore.

I miss the nostalgia of Paris. There are triggers in Paris, that send me back to my childhood in Australia. It’s usually only something small that will set this feeling off, like the simplicity of design in the everyday domestic object, or the rawness and feel of a well made cotton dishcloth or tea-towel.The aroma and taste of fresh foods straight from the farms and markets.

I especially get this nostalgia when Dave and Amy come home from the patisserie across the road with the morning baguette or my favorite Frasier cake. All this will send me back to my childhood  in Australia when everything was more authentic, honest and more, homely than it is today.

Paris is just like a comfortable old jumper to me now. I do miss Paris today and my wonderful daughter…

My French- inspired handmade shop Atelierinparis

 

Art Squats. Hybrid Arts. Studio in a box Paris.

Sunday, October 2nd, 2011

I believe art can no longer be only confined within the walls of established art institutions and be thought as only painting or sculpture. At a time when we are at the peak of global creativity I see artists refusing to be labelled and contained. Art venues and spaces are struggling to keep up and are experimenting with new ways to present this explosion of creative output artists for multidisciplinary and multidimensional.

When I was in Paris last time, I saw evidence of this. In a city of almost 300,000 living artists Paris seems to find creative outlets for multidisciplinary and multidimensional. Little “Hybrid art” spaces are popping up everywhere in the streets. Artists themselves have had to think of innovative ways to get their art seen. Many making their home an art space open to the public.

Art squats, sandwiched between homes in residential areas, art has taken over abandoned buildings where a rich cultural life of concerts, debates, exhibitions, lectures and workshops unravels in clandestine venues.

When I’m in Paris I have a couple of creative spaces I made out of necessity. “Studioinabox” and “The Dungeon”

 

 

“Studioinabox” is a wooden trunk in the apartment living room where all my creative materials are stored. I create the work on top of the box or the floor space. I  may even display or exhibit in side the box. As I move from country to country, my “nomad art’ has to be small and transportable. I enjoy the challenge creating in the immediate space and using only items, I collect from the streets,used packaging and a few other bought art supplies that I can fit into my “Studioinabox’

 

‘The Dungeon” is a space underneath an apartment block in Paris. It’s damp, smelly and creepy with dark corridors, full of earth walls with red wooden doors. The lights are on a timer and go out every minute, so you can be stuck in a very unearthly dark abyss, if you don’t press one of the buttons on the wall quick enough. I have devised a way to stop them turning off and over the years, I have become more brave and allow myself to connect to the dark hole, for longer periods. Eventually I want to open the space and show my video and photography down there. I also have ideas of a performance in the space.

In Australia, I find there are too many artists and not enough art spaces as well. So, I’m playing around with a few ideas using my home and website, as my art space for all sorts of creative experiments. Nothing, is fully formulated or resolved yet, and will keep you all informed of my progress from this blog.

Do you have a special space where you create and show your work?

Urban Trash Books

Monday, April 18th, 2011

“Handmade Urban Trash book + Bag of Bits” 100% Recycled


*Recycle
*Reuse
*Remake
I don’t like to waste anything, so,recently I made a series of wire-bound books made from materials I recycled.The books are inspired by the 3 R’s and my interest into underground spaces, tunnels, derelict warehouses, city apartment storage areas, dilapidated factories & industrial spaces in Melbourne and Paris. I collect the debris left behind in the streets,consumer packaging,found objects, postcards, clothing tags, wires, bottle tops and more. All these things I like to incorporate into my pieces.

About my Books
A series of wire and hand punched, bound books decorated with wires and junk from France, plastic sheep tags and other found items. The front and back covers are glossy images from my original artworks created using street litter found from the suburbs of Melbourne Australia. Throughout the books you will discover, recycled papers, white with vintage graph papers, envelope patterned papers with hand – dyed tags and baguette bags from Paris made into pockets.Under the “Best Friends” rubber band you will find a bag of bits to embellish.

If you would like to buy a book for yourself or as a gift you can buy them here

Abstraction & Beyond (update)

Saturday, February 5th, 2011

Exhibition update:

“Abstraction & Beyond”

Feb.2-1 March

Burrinja Cultural Center

351 Glenfern Road (cnr Matson Drv),

Upwey, VIC, 3158 .

Open Daily 9am-5pm.

If you are heading over to the Dandenongs over the next month, checkout my exhibition “Abstraction & Beyond’ at the Burrinja Cultural Center in Upwey, Victoria.

I just finished hanging the exhibition on Tuesday with the help of Amy Jo Jory, who runs the gallery at Burrinja. A cross-cultural mix of oil paintings I created at an arts residency in Barcelona, Spain, together with mounted night photographs I shot in Paris last winter.

I’m very pleased with the way it looks. My Spain paintings really connect to the space. At Burrinja they have taken on a very Australian feel yet, they are also Spanish. I can see both cultures in the paintings.

I’m relieved it’s finally up and running and all the hard work has been done. Now I like to sit back, let go of the work and relax. Although I love having exhibitions, once they are over, I am always glad to move on and begin new ideas and projects.

Burrinja Café & Bar
Open every day

Bookings: 9754 5707

Burrinja Café provides great food and coffee in a fantastic intimate atmosphere that continues the indigenous theme of Burrinja Gallery. It is an 80 seat fully licensed café that will seduce you the moment you walk in. Escape the hustle into warm ochres, great art and comfy lounges. Enjoy lunch, group get-togethers, music events, or just relax. Burrinja cafe is the ideal place to eat while visiting Burrinja to enjoy the great art or day-tripping in the Dandenong Ranges.

Functions
Burrinja  & Café Bar caters for all types of functions.
Call for details on our wide range of tailored menu options
Music – see Events for the line up of music, spoken word and more at Burrinja Café
Fabulous cakes, coffees, chai and more – all fresh!·
Menu selections are always being updated, and we can cater to your individual needs

More Café Gig & Events Info at the Burrinja Cafe website

Meet the Tenant Project – The Dungeon Paris

Sunday, January 24th, 2010

Meet the Tenant Project – The Dungeon Paris

Over the past 3 months I have been living and making art with my daughter in Paris. I came here to  finish off an arts project I started  2 years ago.

Meet the Tenant project began during the Summer of 2007, when I ventured down into the underground area of an apartment block in Asnieres sur seine. I sensed the presence of past lives lurking within the walls and this became the starting point for my project.

I call this space “The Dungeon” Within days I had massed hundreds of images, video, photos and drawings. I took them back to my studio in Australia and have been working on the project ever since. I edited the videos into an 18 minute piece and printed out some of the photos. Developed a story-line which keeps changing, and created a proposal to be performed . (See 1st draft below)

Today back in Paris 2010, I’m still no closer to resolving this project its forever ongoing and not sure where it will end up and its driving me mad.

Proposal No.1 $10,000Jenny Davis 2010

“Go to Paris from Australia & live in an underground space for 7 days and document everything that happens with video, photographs, drawings, whatever. All things created become yours. You will own the experience, everything, including my clothes, shoes, food containers ,implements etc…I will deliver them to you. The art piece is… The whole experience…. you can do with it what you want”

(Due to sub zero temps. this project was canceled and may be performed at a later date)

An underground space under the Notre Dame Paris

Map copyright PlanetWare.com