The Jotter - issue 41
“How much you should worry about being an outsider depends on the quality of the insiders.”
Paul Graham
Hello,
This weekend I’ve been sorting through boxes of statements, magazines and memories. It’s a theraputic and nostagic way to spend a few hours.
Theraputic because I was removing clutter. Nostalgic because I was rediscovering items from my younger days. Like my Inter Rail ticket from 1988, or my Life Membership card to Moles, or this exhibition catalogue, Hockney’s Photographs.
I visited the exhibition in 1984 at the much missed RPS (Royal Photographic Society) in Bath. I was a callow 16 year old and my eyes were opened by Hockney’s way of seeing. A world of creative possibilities beckoned.
I think it may have been the first exhibition I went to independently and I still get a buzz from galleries.
Great art is often made by outsiders challenging convention. They encourage us to look at the world differently. Which is why Katy Hessel is rightly alarmed about the Arts Council warning that grants may be impacted if artists use their work to make political statements.
As she writes “Art is not a one-dimensional entity. It involves different responses, purposes and possibilities. It exists for the power of communication, as a voice for the underrepresented, as a form of resistance and as an outlet for both maker and viewer.”
Indeed. Let artists be free.
Onwards
Andrew
01, Design.
Books made by Berlin’s The Other Collection are a bound masterpiece.
998 copies of each book are printed on letterpress. The fonts, ink colour and dustjackets are carefully selected to reflect the book.
My choice would be William Boyd’s ‘Any Human Heart’ with its pinstripe suit cover because, “it’s the story of a man who always wore a suit, even when he survived on canned dog food”.
02, Business.
Here is another pearl from Ian Sander’s blog with his thoughts on ‘Unreasonable Hospitality’ by Will Guidara.
Ian’s writes, “Hospitality is about how we make others feel. And how you make people feel is relevant to all businesses and brands, regardless of the industry.”
It’s why we small, independent businesses steal a march on those distant conglomerates who speak to you via an automated message.
03, AI.
Monday’s are brighter because it’s Paddy Gilmore’s Brands and Humour day. He is writing a series on using humour in conversational AI and this phrase by Benedict Evans struck a cord:
“AI gives you infinite interns.”
04, Art.
London’s National Gallery is 200 years young. In this article eight artists enjoy the difficult task of choosing their favourite.
Idris Khan feels that ‘The Supper at Emmaus’ by Caravaggio is “like you’ve pulled up a chair and are witnessing this revelation.” I can see what he means.
05, Walking.
I like walking. This post by Alex Kustanovich nicely summarises why people with larger brains than me, walk. It gives them “inspiration, solace, or clarity of thought.”
06, Exhibitions.
I went on an ‘Inspiration Jaunt’ to London last week and visited two exhibitions which will stay with me awhile.
Barbara Kruger’s THINKING OF YOU. I MEAN ME. I MEAN YOU. at the Serpentine Gallery borrows from advertising to combine words, audio clips and found images to ask incisive questions about the messages that bombard us every day.
Frank Auerbach’s The Charcoal Heads are hauntingly beautiful portraits. He used charcoal to draw, erase, draw again, scratch, repair the paper, redraw, scrub and repeat.
They take you into the depths of a person.
07, Scrolling.
Seine Port in France is discouraging people from scrolling on their mobile phones in public places. There’s an idea.
08, Work.
The Hall is arguably the most striking building in Bradford on Avon. It was the one time home to inventor, designer and engineer Dr Alex Moulton. It is now run by a charitable trust who are ensuring this fine example of Jacobean architecture has a viable future. They refurbished three bedrooms and I set up the online room booking system alongside giving the website a makeover and taking photographs of the interior.
They wrote “The website looks incredible.” Thank you Michael.
We often walk across the gallops at Conkwell so when I took a phone call from the owner, horse racing trainer Neil Mulholland, I was intrigued. In all my (nearly 18) years of designing websites I’ve never designed a website for a horse trainer. Although it is my second equine related website having worked with Saxon RDA (Riding for the Disabled Association) a couple of years ago.
Thank you for reading the February Jotter. The next issue will grace your inbox on Friday 29th March at 11am. In the meantime, enjoy the daffodils and the birds chirruping.
Onwards
Andrew
“When burdened by the feeling that there are too many photographs in the world, I ask myself if there are too many flowers.”