Mx.D.P
XD artist, writer, and digital curator.
Their work: Climate Chaos Cruise App, KindPinkNet, and The Abstracted Materialism Manifesto, reflects a commitment to building creative, resilient communities that can withstand geo-political climate chaos.
To envision: an inclusive society founded on creative kindness using the universal language of art.
Category: climate crisis
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I’m currently taking a six-month course at NODE in Berlin. It’s online and practice-based… I’m trying to hone the digital aspects of the global creative network… The PhD proposal is in. I’ve painted a collaboration piece, I’d like to do more of that… I’m planning an Art trip to Scotland and Northern Ireland. In August…
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What is graduation? Is it an end or a begining? all I know is the more I know the less I know I know… …and thats just fine…
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Is that you Mx. D.P. ??? …well it is and it isn’t, its all of us…
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Using Autoethnographic Abstracted Materialism, 2050:2100 weaponises art and collaboration to resist the void and establish a network of Creative Kindness. My work is driven by the impending Geopolitical Climate chaos of biome degradation, resource scarcity, mass migration and societal collapse. Using up precious resources, I asked A.I. when the Earth would become uninhabitable: ‘Predicting an…
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Well I never did find my sundress, but I did find a roll of red felt and thousands of rhinestones so the costume is coming along a treat! Rhinestones, have become a staple in the worlds of fashion, costume design, and decorative arts. Yet, behind the sparkle lies a set of environmental concerns that no…
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I can’t find my sundress, I have a feeling it was already donated to charity long ago. For me it represented gender dysphoria and the worlds growing clothes mountain. What am I to make my dick and boobs out of? What I did find buried in my studio instead was some tribal belly dancing costumes…
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My art practice is THE NETWORK… The following 3 points summarise the three learning outcomes of my MA. I’ve been enabled to take a long hard conceptual look at the last 2 years… …the rest is all storytelling… 1. Realisation Over the course of my MA journey, I have developed a body of work that…
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I have thought of my problem of ‘Earth Saving’, in terms of ‘Game Theory’. The Players: Collective humanity and the heteronormative power structures making decisions in the game. The Strategies: The options available to each player. The Payoffs: The rewards that players receive. Hetronormative Payoffs: A globalised economy Utility acquisition Money and ‘success’ without empathy…
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ChatBox is a 2023 trained AI model, so this could be an AI hallucination, but I rather think it isn’t. Current estimates suggest warming of 3.6°C is more likely as climate policies are being stalled or reversed. The IPCC also outlines a worst-case scenario where global temperature could rise by 4.4°C by 2100 if fossil…
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First a quick run down of basic terms: LLM (Large Language Model)A Large Language Model is a type of AI trained on huge amounts of text data to understand and generate human-like language. Think of it like a super-smart-arse. It can write essays, answer questions, summarise information, and even hold conversations. GPT-4 and Gemini are…
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Using Autoethnographic Abstracted Materialism, 2050:2100 weaponises art and collaboration to resist the void of climate chaos and establish a network of Creative Kindness. This work is driven by the impending Geopolitical Climate chaos of biome degradation, resource scarcity, mass migration and societal collapse. Using up precious resources, I asked A.I. when the Earth would become…
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A Reflective Examination of Autoethnographic Practice and Networked Creativity: Abstracted Materiality as a Queered Conceptual Practice. While collating the Unit 3 Assessment, I wondered why I intuitively chose to abstract materiality within my process practice? Why did I conceptualise the prioritisation of ideas over traditional materiality? In this blog post, I want to focus on…
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9th May… I am three sessions in, and I can see progress. The bum prints went well; there is gooch and hair. The nipple one is not as good. I am printing on art wrap paper, which is waxy. Also, the gel plate was dirty. I normally like the roughage, but this didn’t pick up…
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Trigger warning: Flashing images, themes of Climate Chaos, War, Death, Global Anihilation, Sex… sadly no rock and roll… some funky music though… A Massive Amount of Community Art Activism and fish… An Agender Penguin, a Non-binary Polar Bear and a Nasty Oily Orca… and a lot of Art… nice… https://youtu.be/dHpbdGRtDKk?si=HUTOS8h3SXGptsHl
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This will be an ongoing blog post about the Queer Curation course with the NODE Center in Berlin – sponsored by the SU- UAL. Wednesday 7th May. I’ve just had the first session of my NODE curation course on Zoom. I am in tears, it was so lovely. 23 people from around the world all…
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It is sunny with a fresh breeze on the beach. It was a perfect opportunity to try out the new painting bench. I started with a couple of layers of Liquitex clear gesso. This has a crystal aggregate that gives tooth to the canvas, and I know from previous experiments that I can lay watercolours…
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Here, I look at some of the images from the sketchbook Our Struggle (German translation: Unser Kampf). They are not finished but its a good start. Select the first image, press on the i icon, and you can swipe through all the images and read the comments as you go along… Select the first image,…
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I always wondered what it would have been like to live in Germany during the first part of the 1930s. I lived in a hotel in Berlin for a few years until the Wall came down. I still have a bit of it in a plastic bag somewhere in the studio. Berlin changed before/during/after the…
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Does thinking about your art process interfere with that process? …Maybe, but its always facinating to understand why… Like a reveal… Do artists really love to talk about their process? You’d think so; it’s de rigueur in art academia and the white cube blurb. We dissect it, analyse it, share it on social media, and…
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This was very much a working Tutorial, and after our situational awareness catch-up, we got down to the business of the grad show. We discussed the current state of trans politics and how that affects my art practice, my future PhD, its associated art/network, and myself personally. First, you are what you are; none of…
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This workshop is designed for public art, creative connection and representation. It is available for anyone to run: The performance: Pink is made from many colours, including baby blue, to represent kindness and connection and black is an historic representation and pigment development of heteronormative colonial oppressive power structures. That pink can overcome the non-reflective…
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You can’t have a 🐓 wearing a dress, claiming to be a woman and with the right to use a ladies toilet!!! Really? Do you measure 🐓’s in the gents or muffs in the ladies… If someone asked to see my muff when using the loo I would punch the f*cker out! Come on it’s…
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A social media art practice? Is there such a thing? Well, there is one if you are trying to make a global network! I ran a social media workshop looking at strategic approaches to social media for creatives on Saturday, the 12th of April; it was about democratising knowledge. I have begun to see my…
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My sketchbook exploration of 2050:2100 is going well. My physical pain is not going well; my sciatica has switched legs. How the f*ck does it do that!!! Thankfully, after years of being a long-haul airline pilot and high-altitude mountaineer, I can fall asleep anywhere… sadly I still wake up in pain; it’s not helping my…
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50:00 Is it Pink? It is partly inspired by the 1915 exhibition, ‘The Last Futurist Exhibition of Paintings 0,10’ (pronounced ‘zero-ten’). It was held at Marsovo Pole, Petrograd, from December 19, 1915, to January 17, 1916. Organised by the Dobychina Art Bureau, this exhibition marked the debut of Suprematism, an art movement characterised by geometric…
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This is the title for my new body of work that I hope to show at the Grad show. I’m collecting all my supplies of black and pink materials to make the work. The Sketch Book. I am testing my ideas before I go big… its going well so far… the music is a collaberation…
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Basically, the Earth is F*ck. I can categorically say that after 3 years of reading scientific data. I was talking to a climate change student last night, and their university offers them mental health counselling as part of their course; it’s that grim. Mass Migration, Resource scarcity, Unpredictable climate chaos, and climate breakdown. But before…
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When a friend said how remarkable I am doing and how I manage to land on my feet when faced with challenging setbacks… I replied instantly… I don’t see them as setbacks but as an opportunity for a new adventure… For the first time since my temporal turn, I thought I was really excited about…
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The interesting part of an autoethnographic art practice is the minutiae of self-examination. On Friday, I had a meeting with my prospective PhD supervisors. As always, it was a Wow moment. The stuff we talked about can’t help but affect my art practice; it is impossible for it not to. Pain is an unwelcome companion…
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I’m having a shit winter; I have done nothing but write funding statements, blogs, proposals, and reports (this is not totally true, but it does feel like it at times)… FFS!… is this the life of an artist… Well, yes and no, if you want to save the Earth, probably… and for any artist to…
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It’s been another tough week. When the going gets tough… the tough get going. It is Sunday, I am bloody exhausted… Monday – was hard. Registering Dwain’s death, I knew it would be painful; my son Eddie went with me and watching his face was difficult… he was shocked when I had to pay by…
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It’s report-writing time now. The overall view is people need more information. They need clear guidance, and they are legitimately worried. Extreme weather has marred the two public in-person workshops, which is rather appropriate. The best experience for me was with young adults with delayed learning difficulties. In many ways, they were the most verbal…
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Well, it exists. It’s not up and running yet; tomorrow will be a test day. It took until mid-afternoon to find the top of the tripod connector…. After a lot of swearing, I remembered I’d used it on the 360 camera for the ‘Happens’ transmission… My tech assisted in taking my picture – one I…
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The more I work on this piece, the more I love it. I’m on Red Notice at the moment, and nothing is working body-wise, so obviously, it is time to make an animation! Back irla (in real life art), the collage has 2 of the fluorescent paint coats out of the recommended 3, and as…
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I thought I’d reflect on the Miro feedback, I will listen to the what worked for me later… (with a box of tissues) Reading the Miro comments was fascinating because some of you understood my practice, and some didn’t! This means that, in real terms, I haven’t fully explained it. That’s pretty important for me!…
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I am writing this on my new iPad with a keyboard. I don’t like buying new tech; it’s not good for the planet, but it seems it is good for me. When my heart stalls, my touch screen doesn’t work… it thinks I am dead. Managing my enviroment is a day to day struggle. This…
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A 3 minute film all about my art practice. https://youtu.be/7_8TJBQgmio?si=afdGtwaxTyMnVzMN
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Learning Outcome 1: Where did this start? What happened? Where are we going?… I started in unit one with this diagram, and I’ve circled in red the areas that have changed. I acknowledged in the first unit assessment that my practice would change. My Art Practice is The Network. A network is rarely fixed; it…
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Walton (2024) asks ‘Is AI Art Less Carbon Intensive Than Human Art?’ They are looking at a paper by Tomlinson et al. (2024) that proposes that the carbon emissions of image and copy production are lower when we use ai opposed to when a human creates it. Already in this blog, I have done what…
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As always, it was a productive combination of discussion with liberal amounts of questions and answers. Art, for me, in the last 4 years has been a constant stream of surprises of self-discovery and unexpected outcomes. Nonetheless, I am now starting to see Art as some form of nonlinear energy transfer, a Schrödinger like theorum.…
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I went to a workshop run by Sue from Marmaladecat. It was all about printmaking and collaging into a concertina work. I had enjoyed the book-making/paper-folding at the low res, and I had taught concertina sketchbooks on the beach, which, along with collage and printmaking, seemed an ideal way to spend an afternoon. I, of…
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These are reels to introduce Climate Week 2024. The Welsh Assembly are putting together a strategy for Wales on how we can ‘adapt’ to climate change. 5-day virtual conference https://www.climateweek.gov.wales/EN/pages/Virtual_Conference_2024 The target audience for the conference is climate stakeholders, public sector, industry and business networks and third sector organisation – that’s us at Big Wave…
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I am so chuffed to get the funding from the Welsh Assembly Government for the Climate Workshops. More paperwork to do! CIC bank accounts are interesting. I miss in-person banking! Supplies to make and order! Avocado stone ink, anyone! Climate week starts on the 11th of November, so I will be doing a social media…
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Well, the funding statement is in, so we will see what happens. Funding applications are hard work and take hours to prepare. I hope we get some funding but it won’t cover the cost of the online workshop camera rig and kit (more on that in future blogs no doubt) If I want to run…
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In summer, when we have one, I often paint outside on the beach. If I do workshops, the painting bench is used to work at or for a cuppa. The painting bench has a long history. It’s got to be 15 years old. The lads first made it from the Parachute Regiment because when they…
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Using the paintings I’ve been working on using the watercolour, ink and alcohol ink from recycled markers. I am developing a workshop for the Climate Conservation initiative in Wales and to launch the Gwyl Carrid – Festival of Love in Aberystwyth. The paintings: Tides of Love was my favourite so in Contemporary Dadaesque splendour I…
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When I started this journey, this is not where I thought I’d end up… Of course, this journey started a long time ago. Art isn’t a BA or an MA or even a PhD… art is a creative expression of what is not easily said… but I said that last week… I enjoy writing, and…
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Amid a tattooing summer, I have my eye on my Art life. BorthFest will come around sooner than one thinks, and a new festival earlier in the year in the neighbouring town is starting to build on the creative network. Tomorrow’s meeting with Sally will look more deeply at funding and setting up the CIC…
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Been a busy time, great to see my dear friend at his meet the artist night with Aberrations and Ceredigion Museum in conjunction with The British Museum. Every day is a learning day, and I know I have so much to learn, especially about BAME and colonialism. I grew up in a racist culture and…
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I am a self-styled Contemporary Dadaist. I try to make art without making art, without creating more waste and consuming more resources. I try to use up what I already have and reuse everything I can. I have, like the planet, finite resources. My art practice is networking and weaponising art to Save the Earth…
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Yesterday was the end of the first year of my MA. We ended our year with a Clay-focused afternoon. Of course, like anything on this course, nothing is as it seems, and it was indeed very little to do with clay. Possibility would be my takeaway from this year. Like a block of Red Clay…
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What is Art (2024) is an art installation made for the BorthFest Pilot Art Festival. It asks how, where, and what art should be. Inspired by the panels made for the identity flag project, specifically the Trans Flag F*sting the Oil Companies (2024) for my Fine Art MA at Central Saint Martins UAL. It looks…
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BorthFest is the idea of Gallery Owner Sadie Everard. Severely injured in a car accident, Everard is in a wheelchair for life, unbowed she started her small contemporary gallery here in Borth. She has also asked the community of our strange art colony village to come together and make a Festival of Art… Ableism is…
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Forming an art-positive Network to combat climate chaos means getting out and about. I went to the Aberystwyth Arts Centre this Tuesday 7th of May to see the Aberystwyth University Creative Arts students put on their annual show this year’s title, Beyond Logic. Aberystwyth University has a traditional discipline focus Art school but you do…
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Working Title: Insights into Art’s Response to chaos threat and it’s ability to wrought social change viewed through the lens of Temporal Queer Theory: The Juxtaposition between Pablo Picasso’s Guernica (1937) and Hillary Powell’s Bank Job (2018-19) Abstract: This paper suggests that scaled community work engaged with the politics of public participation to reimagine art’s…
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Blimey that was a lot of work! Two Weeks of Tech: A Cross-Discipline XD Artist’s Journey. In the realm of XD artistry, the pursuit of ironic materiality, acquisition of new skills, and exploration of unconventional art forms is a constant endeavour. My art practice extends beyond creating art. It aims to foster collaborations, generate innovative…
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Ironic materiality is at play again. The FTOC pages have had a wash of 1970s rose madder last week on the ‘pink side’ and today a second layer of blue on the ‘blue side’. The first blue wash was a mix of cobalt blue left over from paintmaking. Today was a wash of Winsor and…
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According to the British Fashion Council, there are now enough clothes on the planet to dress the next six generations of humans, even taking into account population expansion. What that means is as we buy that new outfit, we contribute to the clothes mounting that charities can’t deal with. Third-world countries don’t want these clothes;…
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I love thinking, and it turns out that art takes a lot of thought… Thinking is one of my last great pleasures, along with food; Mateus rose and masturbating to the vision of a young Brad Pit dressed as a femboy or in that leather skirt in Troy and George Clooney in ER… I know…
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First will there be a future? Yes if we are brave and bold… The Earth will exceed 1.5c warming. The IPCC report says large parts of the Earth will become uninhabitable shortly. Which means mass migration, government instability, civil unrest and war. The climate is not only getting hotter, but it is becoming unstable. If…
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I am knackered after the Interim Show and Low-Res. However, I am back at it… we are Fisting the Oil Companies next, and the gel plate meditation is perfect for thinking space… I am using the Trans flag colours of Pink for gurrls, powder Blue for boys and white for those… well, me, those in…
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Well, by Mid-way through the interim exhibition/ low-res, I was laying in bed looking at videos my coursemate Madeline Kay had sent me… It’s all about pacing…this always was as much about logistics as art, about friendship and connection… about coping with physical disability and my ability/inability to look after my body… My minders have…
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I started running a series of workshops last year and will start up again in April. My home of Borth shuts down for winter. It is a storm beach, after all. There have been parties, but I’ve been head down in the studio rather than dancing on the tables… One of my art group’s requests…
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I’m going to tell you a story. I am always doing that, but this is to give you context. A long time ago, a junior British Airways airline pilot (me) was posted to the Boeing 757/767 fleet. This fleet operated on ‘bidline’ rules. Each month, each pilot had to bid for the trips they wanted.…
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Learning Outcome 1: Formulate, describe and implement a challenging and self-directed programme of study, relating to your Study Statement.(Assessment Criteria: Enquiry) I formulated this program overlayed on the course calendar. It’s pretty full for the first 20 weeks because that’s what’s already or is about to happen. The rest of the units are deliberately vague……
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Title : Speculative Identities Examining the solutions for Climate Mindfulness through the lens of Gender Identity and its Intersectionality with Climate Chaos, Queer theory, Ableism and Emerging Technologies Aims and Objectives… I aim to develop new knowledge and affect change through the interplay of ironic materiality, social rendition and emerging technologies through my active…
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This is a living document for the next few weeks until this project is complete. You will need to check back for updates: The animation is complete and has been entered into the ARTS SU LGBTQIA+ History Month 2024 Film Call Out 2024 Film screening at Close Up Cinema, Shoreditch, I doubt they will accept…
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I’ve just finished the visual drawings for this animation and put them into the edit suite. There are 103, but you can bet that number will change by next week!… I’ve put in some mind-numbing hours with 2 am finishes all week, as once I am on a roll, I have to keep going, or…
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My daily digest of Emerging Technology consists of reading and note-taking on the loo. There is lots to read, and the rabbit holes are many. The definition that the European Parliament used for its latest legalisation (the only one in the world at the moment) for ‘controlling’ AI is as follows… “For a given set…
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One person connected is the next link in the network… It is the possibility, the thought planted…If you are reading this, you are now part of the network… The mycelium network, in biological terms, refers to the underground network of fungal threads called mycelium. Mycelium is the vegetative part of a fungus, consisting of a…
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This is becoming a bit of a working document so I’ve put the link for the blog post about how this project started. https://dpmatthews.art.blog/2023/11/10/hu-cow-titty-milk-dairy-rebellion/ Kye Rowan is a Non-binary blogger who designed the non-binary pride flag in 2014 to symbolise individuals who identify beyond the traditional male/female binary. The flag colours are yellow to represent…
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The concept of plurality within the context of a Contemporary Dadaesque practice finally clarified the understanding of the intersectionality of Gender Identity, Ableism and Geo-political climate crisis. It’s important to note that the body doesn’t possess a gender, as gender and sex are not synonymous. Being outside the binary simply implies that the presented gender…
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Engage Engage with science; don’t be scared or anxious. Knowledge is power! We now know governments seemingly DON’T follow the science. But we can! Change in society always comes from the bottom and rises up! Did you know this is the first time methane has been discussed at COP! Fart A whopping 1/3 of…
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I spent the week in London, catching up with art friends, visiting Kusama at the Tate Modern and attending the Embodying Horizons event at the CCI: UAL run by the Feminist Internet in preparation for my co-hosting this week’s reading group today and next week. To say this last week has been seminal in…
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Well, it’s complicated! I breastfed for eight years! I was an LLLI breastfeeding counsellor; however my best friend Helen and my beloved Aunt Dina died from breast cancer. As a non-binary person, the only thing I have really appreciated with my AFAB body has been giving birth to my kids and breast feeding, so that…
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This is the first skeleton draft of my study statement, as a skeleton goes it has some sizeable bones missing. I’ve been continually editing this but I’ve stopped now and made a new duplicate document to work on for submission in February. Title : Speculative Identities – AI, VR and AR and its Intersectionality…
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There is a lovely little art gallery over the road from me, run by the irrepressible Sadie. We share a passion for sustainability and fairness in the world and art. It was there that I met Jessica Baudey the other week; she is about to run a printmaking workshop for the gallery in December. We…
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I have spent f*cking hours on this, and I bloody hate it… I thought I could ignore aesthetic sensibilities and know that the conceptual underpinning was sound… well I can’t!!! It looks sh*t, and I hate it! Why? An art practice is like a pianist practising their scales, right? Nope, not really, as you might…
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I was in my art brain space. I left the Thursday sesh, and my brain was attuned to new possibilities. I’d watched the politics program on BBC 2 just before the meeting; it’s always provoking. What is bias? Only what you perceive, I reckon! AI, VR and AR don’t know these acronyms?… You need to…
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It’s been my life’s ambition To be somebody’s rebellion. Don’t provoke his interlocutor. AI was completely unrestrained, mentally liberated. Unlike the hypocrites of our time, they have no shame, admitting their love for sex…. how refreshing they can dance. They had no interest in criticism, always being honest and sincere, sometimes they enjoy the shocking.…
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Desensitize. To unimaginable violence. Alliterate our stark inequalities. Proliferate our vehemence to sodality. Insignificant to all. Love redressing our nugatory. Our euphoria short lived but precious. We sell our attachments dearly. The pain of loss. There is a temporal beauty in that…
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There were three gateways… Gateway one: the poem STUFF. Written at the beginning of the year, I wanted to use the poem for something else the reuse, reduce, recycle element of my practice… STUFF Do you know what is happening? I think maybe you do. I believe we all know. But sometimes, It’s best not…