Kite Flying in Glossop

Following in the footsteps of 'Ludwig Wittgenstein', and driven in no small part by the enthusiasm of Michael Howard and ofcourse Hazel, the Interactve Arts first year students (or those that could make it anyway) along with some some other fellow students from MMU, braved the elements and headed to to the Grouse Inn- Chunal Moor. A bacon butty and hot cup of coffee later and we headed on to the moors.

There were kites of all shapes and sizes, some truely stunning and some made of the most simple of materials....a newspaper, but all fantastic when they took to the air. Although on this occaision we flying for the pure fun of it and not really for any scientific reason, it was a fantasic day.

Unfortunately the kite that I took so much time over (Mmmmm!) never got to fly. It was broken and torn before we reached the site (oh well), but that being said I got some fantastic pictures and had a great time.
I'm looking forward to next year to see what the new guys come up with....can't wait.

Mary Greg - Queens Park

I was given the privilege of being allowed into a truly extraordinary place. It Is a building owned by Manchester Art Gallery and used to store just some of the things that they are not, or can not accommodate or display in their main building. However this should in no way devalue them as works of art or in anyway lesson how interesting they are, the opposite is probably true.

There is a very real Aladdin’s cave of curio’s and historical artefacts, that were the subject of one lady’s determination to preserve them for future generations to see and learn from and yet here they are, hidden and for the most part never seen by the general public.

There were draws full of a vast array of items that screamed “I’m old and full of history”, there were spoons, keys, wax seals, candle holders, little trinket boxes and extensive collection of furniture for doll’s houses. Merely listing them like this does them absolutely no justice at all, they need to be seen and read about and I recommend doing just that at the web site:

http://www.marymaryquitecontrary.org.uk/

My attention however was drawn to the fantastic collection of doll’s houses, that undoubtedly were once lushly furnished with some of the items now hidden away in cabinets and draws for long term storage.

The project that I am working on involves a lot of “up-close” photography and this visit to Queens Park gave me the ideal opportunity to do something that I would otherwise struggle to achieve – get really up close to houses; take a peek through darkened windows and doors that were invitingly ajar; take close up view across roof tops and generally do things that in the real world, you could get in a lot of trouble for doing.

This is just a very small sample of the the pictures that I took that daym infact I came away wit over 90 shots, some of which I hope will end up on the Mary Greg blog or the Flickr page, I will update my blog as and when this happens. Also be sure to check out the Manchester Art Gallery site.

My Place

A little while ago whie working my through another extensive batch of photographs that I had taken, I had the idea of getting as many people as I could involved in a little project. This involved them letting me into their world (just a bit) and this is the e-mail I sent out:

Hi everyone,



As part of the work I am currently doing at University I am running a side project that I am calling “My Place". I am asking anyone who would like to take part to send me a photo of a place or moment that has a powerful meaning for them.


This could be just a snap shot from your holiday; or a family gathering......; or maybe a chance photo you took when out walking one day; it’s completely up to you.


Please do not include ant text with the photo explaining it. The photo will do the talking……
The photos will be added to an online photo album that I am going to set up and some or all may be exhibited at University (with complete anonymity), and I will post the details to keep you up to date.
I have set up an e-mail address just for this project as follows:
interactivepete@googlemail.com
So if you want to take part send me your photo and please let everyone you know, know about this and get them to take part.
Thanks everyone.

I have had a limited response so far, but the pictures I have been sent are great and heer is the link.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/interactivepete/sets/72157623363480457/

Full Circle

I started my ‘Macro Project’ quite some time ago now and apart from gathering more and photo’s for my stockpile I was beginning to think I that I really wasn’t progressing that much. But I should know by now that this is quite often the way my work goes; quite large periods of just plodding along and then an explosion of activity.


So here is a long overdue update on what is happening:

I have not just been taking close up photo’s to produce artwork that can be displayed in a gallery space, although heaven knows I now have a substantial amount of material for that; I have been experimenting with turning some of these into 3D sculptures and then re-photographing them.

My initial attempt at this was with photographs I took of a circuit board from inside a digi’-box:

The result is actually only a relatively small sculpture, but this gave me the opportunity to get up close and take yet more photographs to explore the subject in a new and interesting way.
 

Snow Time

Sat at home wondering what the next thing I was going to take a picture of was going to be, when the ideal oppotunity presents itself....snow.



Predictable maybe, but how can you resist when the situation presents itself? It just looks so nice, especially when it has come down so heavily.



Anyway I was out, snapping away and realised what a big deal this was, after all we don't normally see snow this deep in my area (Stockport). So I thought that I may as well let the world see what was outside my door and sent a photo over to the BBC, who very kindly posted it in their web site.



Click here to go to the page.



or just take a look at the photo:

Macro World

Ever since starting the food project, I have been taking photographs of food, so that I could look at it in different ways and a big part of this was getting as close as possible – using Macro Photography.

I find it fantastic, just how different things look when you get up close. I expanded this idea to anything that I found around me in my everyday environment (I purposely haven’t ventured very far). There is so much around is in our everyday lives that we just don’t really look at. If you not only look at things but get very close it’s like being in a whole new world.

I also started to introduce new elements to my pictures, by cropping them so that you were very focused on a particular area of the subject and also using a negative filter which has produced some great results.

The First Essay

Part 1: 1000 words on a picture or picture of an object.

My selected picture is of the statue of Eric Morecambe situated in the seaside resort of Morecambe.





Image taken from : www.visitnorthwest.com/morecambe/map.htm

It has taken me some considerable time to generate just under 1000 words for this essay so far (as I am sure there is still some editing to do), carrying out research across web sites that refer to the statue and where it is sited; and also reading relevant material. For the most part I have been using the book "Practices of Looking" by Marita Sturken and Lisa Cartwright, which has provide me with some fantastic material regarding how and why we view things the way that we do.

Part 2: Seven further images that when displayed with the original, form a visual narrative, plus a further 500 words explaining the selection and any link they have.

I have selected my images as follows:

The statue of Liberty; Nelsons Column; A Greek Statue of a Discuss thrower; The Angel of the North; Another Place; Another place - Lancashire Style (Using the Eric Morecambe Statue) and The Easter Island Statues.

The 500 words have yet to be written and the dead line is the 14/12/09.