THINGS THIS WEEK

I have bought a cam-corder. I usually try to avoid technology, but i am going to make a new film to exhibit in "State of Readiness" in Felixstowe this summer. The film will focus on duration, exhaustion, training and systems. I feel clear with the concepts of the film but this is a new media for me, as with all my previous works, its look and feel will be pared down and utilitarian, but i need to do some tests in different environments before i commit to making the full piece.

COME TO MY STUDIO...

SAM EPPS:

FILMS

31.05.10

4 – 6PM

Please join me for the screening of a series of raw and unedited films that

document and detail increasingly important factors in my practice: pace,

duration, discomfort and determination.

These previously unseen films were created to record the making of sitespecific

“Line Drawings” in Norwich and Riihimaki, Finland:

The drawings are strenuous, noisy and grubby; they create dust and residue,

disrupt those around me and make my drawing arm and entire body tired.

With the pencil acting as a bridge between myself, and the work that I am

making, the drawn line becomes a mirror of my physical and mental self. It

leaves behind a trace of itself in space and records the time taken to make it.

Sam Epps

Contact:

Web: www.samanthaepps.com

Email: samantha.epps@hotmail.co.uk

Location:

Studio 4a

Muspole Workshops

25 – 27 Muspole Street

Norwich NR3 1DJ

STUDIO PRACTICE

First few weeks in the new studio:

THINKING ABOUT LIVE ART

Performance?

Happening?

Live Art?

Action?

When does it begin?

When does it end?

How do you know?

Who decides?

Lots of questions have been thrown up over the last few days as a result of me being a spectator, it feels like a positive thing.

SAMPLED (SUNDAY)

Sunday morning, on a whim i drove down to Cambridge to go to a Live Art Event at the Junction, "Junction Sampled: Live Art". The reason for doing so is that i still have not worked out my feelings towards Live Art, conceptually its immediacy and momentary nature makes perfect sense, but there are some aspects that really don't sit easy with me.

The event had been programmed very well, timings worked in such a way that no performances were missed - my body got ushered from one theatre to the next with helpful pauses in between for tea. I enjoyed being around a different group of people, usually at Art Events in Norwich i know a good number of people, i know who is going to be there - but this audience was new to me and very specific to Live Art, lots of people were performing throughout the event and they were very supportive of each other.

At first the event was just causing me more confusion, but as i began to see a range of performances, it became clearer why some aspects suit me and others don't.

Live Art that is not for me: the theatrical, rehearsed, things that involve a lot of tech support, lighting, music etc, over- elaborate, fussy, showy, spectacular.

Live Art that is for me: the momentary, durational, raw, unrehearsed, low tech, laborious, honest, action, immediate, basic.

WEEKEND

This weekend has been full of OUTPOST related things.

At 12noon on Saturday, a group gathered outside OUTPOST Gallery to join Townley and Bradby's street games which included Market Pac Man. We set off to Hayhill, a busy square outside Topshop and Next in the city center and Lawrence read out a statement from the people who work monitoring the CCTV around the city, and we discussed abnormal and acceptable behavior in public places.

I realise that a lot of my blog is about what i "enjoy" within art, and perhaps that is not so in keeping my my utilitarian approach to the work that i make, but i did "enjoy" the event very much - i liked being part of a group, with people who thought in a similar way to me, who i could have interesting conversations with and we laughed at the same oddities that the city presented to us. I liked walking through the city, with no mission or job to do, taking the time to observe what was happening around me, and having Anna and Lawrence lead us around.

Standing at the window in the upstairs of Primark (a pretty frightening place on a Saturday afternoon anyway), we observed how shoppers moved around Gentlemen's Walk beneath us. Anna and Lawrence described and demonstrated their version of the "Shoppers Shuffle" which amused the group and bewildered the other shoppers, only adding to our amusement.

We played Market Pac Man in Norwich Market, blending in, but behaving differently to the usual shoppers. I think it became quite competitive. The event ended with a cup of tea, and a special pac-man biscuit at Ruby's cafe stall to commemorate the event.

image: the view from the window of Primark, watching Anna make an intervention in Gentlemen's Walk beneath us.

On Saturday afternoon i moved into my new studio space at OUTPOST studios. I managed to move a few bits of furniture and some sketchbooks into the space. I was very precious about my space at Muspole Workshops, and that didn't really help me to progress, but at OUTPOST i have started writing ideas on the wall and mapping thoughts and research. I find it helpful to put elements of research on the wall, it means that i won't forget about it, unlike when i bury things in sketchbooks. The space is light and warm with a wonderful view across the city. Having a warm space is really helpful.

The best thing about my new space is that it is a space where i can write. Such spaces are few and far between. I struggled writing at Muspole because it was too cold and isolated, i can't write at home because there are too many domestic distractions and it is noisy and i can't settle to write in the library. The only other place that i can really write, and do it in a focused and sensitive fashion is at Edwina's house, which is in Finland. Even though i will gladly go to Finland at the slightest opportunity, it is useful to have a writing space closer to home.

THE LATE SHIFT

I've just got home from The Late Shift. It was such a lively event, really exciting. The SCVA was full of current students, ex students, future students, old friends from studios, new friends from studios, other Artists that im working with, Academics, contacts, strangers. Really good to see so many creative people working together, there was a massive amount of energy about the place.

I continued my collaborative drawing with Gaia Shaw from Unit 5, we had a lovely time, sitting on the floor and indulging in the activity of drawing, observing and commenting on what was happening around us. The architecture and environment of the SCVA gave us so much to respond to, i felt quite daunted by the scale of the task, but focused on smaller details in the end. Lots of people came up to speak to us, and i really enjoyed that. We hope to take the drawing to another site to continue working on it.

There was also a table tennis tournament going on between the studios in the Education Studio downstairs. This gathered a good crowd. It was beautiful and surreal to have so many artists in a room, enthusiastic about about a table tennis match rather than the traditional notion of "art".

Kate Hodges, also from Unit 5 Studios mapped out my Muspole Studio in the exhibition space, this followed up her time spent in my studio last week where she re-arranged items, interestingly capturing a lot of my personality in doing so.