tired and tempted

A life is coming to an end. The trials and pains have sculptured something beautiful, a briliant moment, from which to fade. Grit and grime portray each line and our understanding of force will explain the apparent. Life is a beautifully dirty thing.

Open case

Slowly this project which started with a small hut I found in a Danish habour (post- 'contained infinity') grows and reflects the dependence we have on the 'box'. These 8 corners help and torment and captivate the possible.


Brandenburg 2011. contained infinity. Nr.3 (phase.1)

the after before

It could be said that an english man knows not the art of queue jumping but then again anybody who has lived in london over a couple of years, or for that matter a couple of weeks during the grey, wet months of the year learns quick the art of getting that last place on the bus! So in the same tradition I post the following image. A series I had begun in the last 3 months from which I intended to use one of the images for the -wald- exhibition, I now post pre-thursday's opening. The series has the working title of – can't see the marks for the method –  a small jibe at what seems so often a world full to choking with images that are nothing more than what they are, only images papering over the cracks in the very wall they hang off. Is that so bad, maybe not, but for me this is too sweet and too much sugared coating leaves you feeling sick. It seems we are fasinated in the methods and machines by which we create things to the exclusion of considering why we made them.


Can't see the marks for the method. Nr.3.  2011. andy rumball

detail – Can't see the marks for the method. Nr.3

Picking up shadows

It's funny how sometimes what lies in the shadow of what is most forefront in your mind provides the answers you seek. So it was when asked if I had anything which might fit the theme -Wald. I had in mind, or rather I have at the forefront of my mind a series entitled 'can't see the marks for the method', but this proved not to be, for various reasons the answer needed. But this project has cast a long shadow and in its wake was the below piece from a few years back which proved to suit the vision of others.


daybyday. 2001. (silver gelatin baryta print 50,5x60,5cm)

Crowded house

It's not often that I would check the weather forecast for when there is an exhibition opening that is indoors, in a gallery. But a week thursday, at 19:00Uhr, 24th November is such an opening. I think it's fair to say I am but one of many contributing work to a group show at the galerie Pavlov's Dog, Bergstr. 19, Berlin under the theme -WALD-. For those who manage to get through the door that evening it should be a truly image filled experience and worth risking colder temperatures or god forbid rain.

Giving Notice

I had visitors today, they came to write a small article about my home with it's personal touches, furniture which has suffered my hand in their making and glance over the general chaos. They came, they went and inbetween they photographed and wrote notes. Afterwards, as I settled down to tackle the tasks of the day and glanced around, I wondered what people would read into the lines and colours, piles and paraphernalia which litter my life. Could you read between the lines, make associations and hear the voice of me in the silent voids. I can't answer that, but to see a void is to have a broader view, above and beyond the void itself. In a way to see this is to see the core principle beyond style or taste, it is to see the humanity in the evidence of the actions. Sometimes you don't need the details, sometimes it's just enough to see the trails and not the very action itself to embrace the energy, life and consequences.

I think this is partly why I loved the lamp-posts I found in Montreal with only the staples remaining from the many many notices detailing the passions of a city.

Anything but blue

If I was not tied, this morning, to this desk I would have run outside first thing and soaked up the myth and moisture of the fog that has dissolved the world around me. It's monocrome rendering both cruel and kind, brings a welcomed relief from the precise nature of modern life. I embrace the 'smudge' and the encased sense of dirt held in these micro droplets, still and dense. The joy of what is beyond our control.


The Kite flyers #1(phase.1) 2011.

Beyond blue, grey.

I have lived for nearly all my life in Europe, with a few years early on in Canada so know nothing different but have a sense of relief when the first signs of the yearly calender change and brings something new with the coming season. The new air bites my wind pipe and reminds me that I am as much my surroundings, the observed as I am the observer.

Good Night, Good Morning, Good Night

It is the wee hours of a night and as I walk backwards into the new day I reflect on the act of catching my reflection and wonder if I ever see myself as now or only in the past.

Who's afraid of the dark

Whilst on this trip to Montréal the evenings offered the usual mix of character free hotel rooms, the prospect of drinking alone and TV programming not worthy of the technology that brings it to our homes and hotel rooms. Instead I wondered the streets and soon found myself drawn to pools of blackness topped with a blinding single lamp or two. These were the many empty parking lots that pepper the city of Montréal as I think they do most north American cities. Visually they initially attracted me, with their open space punctunated by these small isolated make shift huts. But it was only when I began photographing them that I was captivated by my fear of the process within the space. My sense of being exposed, seemed fascinating and reflective of a place which it's sole purpose is to act as a place of refuge and safety. But the pools of light from the crudely assembled lamps servered more to high light the ever present dark corners.


Montréal Parking Lot. Nr.3.  2011.

Uncommon place, for Common Ground

There is a chance to see for real, for those near or in the city of Berlin the piece - common ground - this coming Tuesday 4th October. It is included in a show of three photographers under the broad title of - Iconclash 01- along with work from Luke Abiol and Rainer Sioda. Feel free to come along and experience this public showing in such a intimate private space in a way Berlin knows how to do so well.

AUSSTELLUNG.


                                UNCOMMON PLACE

ANDY RUMBALL · LUKE ABIOL · RAINER SIODA

Iconoclash 01: Urban Sceneries

05th October – 17. December 2011

Opening Times: Visit by Appointment

Opening: Tue, 04. October 2011, 7 pm

Location: 

U

ncommon Place c/o Daniel Klemm, Singerstr. 1, 10179 Berlin, Germany

The second exhibtion at Uncommon Place presents three associated photographers that live and work in Berlin. In the photographic work shown in the exhibition they occupy with different sorts of traces – of the past, of cultural imprints, of natural conditions – and create extraordinary statements of our surroundings. The collectionof these unpretentious yet significant documents of urban sceneries are shown in this combination for the first time in Berlin.

Andy Rumball’s work explores the issues and usage of Common Ground in Germany, Poland and the UK. The photographic process includes actually burying the images in common ground. The work hence become a combination of visual content and the content matter itself.

With the eyes of a relative stranger Luke Abiol discovers corners and angles of Berlin which are not necessarily noteworthy to local residents. Yet the more these images characterize the cultural habitat we live in.

Rainer Sioda seeks to discover visual traces of progressing change in the still stucturally weak urban environment in the region of Brandenburg surrounding Berlin. He documented a selection of paintball areas with a focus on the qualities of informally created architecture and its use as functional urban structures.

http://awrprojects.blogspot.com/

http://www.lukeabiol.com/

http://www.rainersioda.de/

_____________________________

common ground. 2007. (triptych- silver gelatin prints (10), glass, wooden frame, soil)

There and back and almost the same again.

I did say that the 'green box' had inspired a new question and theme. Boxes themselves are fascinating things, they allow you the sense of ownership, you can hold them or know of there where abouts, they won't move on their own and we recognise and understand the form of a box. But its function means that there is always the possiblity of the unknown and the infinite within the finite.

Montréal - red box. 2011

The fine sense of touch

As the last two posts have been in some way or other related to the sense of touch I'd thought I would finish the theme off with a final call to the tactile aspect of life. For the last few weeks my work has ment that I have spent more time than I would choose with 1's and 0's. The currency of modern photography usually ends in the term 'file'. But my love of the medium is not set alone by it's image making power but also the smell, touch and almost the taste which accompanies film, foil wrapping, the interior and backs of cameras and of course all those dirty chemicals. They will always be an important part.

Danemark. summer 2011 – another type of printing which leaves you with truly dirty fingers, pure joy.

There and back, here again.

I guess it is no coincidence that what I wrote in the previous post relates very well to what lies beneath what I wish to say now. In the last couple of months I've been very fortunate to have the opportunity to travel to Danemark and Canada. I mention this because to the first I drove and the second I flew. When I compare both journeys it underlines what we loose in our need for expediency. Don't get me wrong it's still relatively a long time to travel to Canada, but to fly leaves you not truly understanding the distance and effort required to get to where you wish to be. I mourn alittle the fact I have no sense of the fantastic volumes of water I have with such ease skipped over to stand amoungst the bi-lingual babble of Montréal. With the drive, and it's proximiety to the ground, I had far more the sense of where I was headed and a better understanding of my arrival. Maybe there is a question there about human speeds of understanding just as we relate scale to our own physical size. Anyhow, both were wonderful places to see and over the next few posts I promise to show something of what came out of these trips. First a photograph from northern Danemark, which has inspired the question and theme for a new series.

Danemark - green box - 2011.

sound advise

I heard once on the radio, the type that crackles and sniffs for its own pleasure, Antony Gormley make a simple suggestion in 60 seconds for a way in which to improve our lives. I very much admire the work of this artist and I very much enjoyed his simple suggestion. It was that each of us should more often take the shoes and socks off which house our feet and let them touch the silent and still earth, ground, planet call it what you will, beneath them. For in this way we have for a moment real contact and understanding with who we are and where we are. I think I need to take my shoes off more often.

Go on scratch alittle more.

A couple more images from Italy.

Scratch till it bleeds.

It's funny how we follow the same patterns. Micro systems of understanding transcribed across scale and substance. Scratch long enough and the act of converting pain into pleasure is blighted with the evidence of your actions in blood. But this messy red stuff, or in which ever colour it may be, is the real, the carrier of life. I think we should all learn to scratch to the point of drawing blood.

Italy. 2011. One place in so many where I'd like to scratch till it bleeds.

Can't see the silence for trees.

I don't know if I am the same as everybody else but I always need to find a corner of santuary. Back in England it was a rough sea crashing in on a deserted simple beach in the early winter months. Now, being based in Berlin its the forests of Brandenburg. These vast cathedrals with stretching columns in need of light, a roof as intricate as any stained glass window casting its theater of shadows on a floor that is a silent museum of the past and future in one. The hymns one hears in this house vary and reflect the inner and outer forces of man and nature and one seems aways alone.

I will be forever experimenting with forest as a motive.

after A comes B's

I've started a new project which circles around the small. It seems to me we are so often caught up in building our individual plans, grand ideas and struggling with the large questions that we become long sighted. Lets face it, as you lie in your bed of a morning considering whether to drive or walk to work, as the weather plays havoc with your plans, did you ever consider checking first that your legs still work. Sounds stupid I know, but if you have ever been in a situation when you have had your breathing restricted, you will understand that these 'small things' which we take naturally for granted are the foundation of our modern lives, long term plans, grand ideas or large questions to struggle with. So this new project has at it's centre 'Bees'. Bees are a fascinating subject in themselves and there is enough reading material on their biological, sociological, cultural significance to fill my time and beyond. The project is only in it's first stages and I will post at a later date something of the final work but for now a couple of images of Bee Hives located in Frankfurt am Main,Italy and Berlin.

out of season

What happened to our summer. If it carries on like this I will have to resume some old experiments before the month is out!!


Packaging in which to age images.

Talking of Time....

Just happened to come across this image from a work I did when I first came to Berlin, entitled – day by day. I am still comfortable with this piece, a copy of which has hung quietly in a corner of my place for near on 10 years.

the width of time

There is no point in debating the length of time it has been since I last posted something on this site for it was but a moment and in this moment I see but another moment. Perhaps it is a game, like when you stand between two mirrors facing each other and you struggle to contain the infinit replay before you. Around the time of my last post I had begun to send out prints of images of the Bleigießen which that new years eve had created. For those who do not know the German tradition, on the eve of a new year you heat up lead in a spoon, throw it into water when it reaches a liquid state and the resulting form suggests what is instore for the coming year. A sort of industrial version of reading tea leaves. I love the fact that as humans we can't help ourselves a be fasinated by the possiblity of knowing the future regardless of how far-fetched the method and perhaps that is the most fasinating aspect. Everybody should, when at an event or situation where a large crowd follows a singular thing, stop watching what one is supposed to watch, turn around and watch the watchers.


The Bleigießen pictures have been sent to various people across the globe who have been asked to keep the picture on their person for the next year. I have done the same with a corresponding image, the question is, is my future as wide in the hand of others? 


Here a phrase of the future, but not the whole story.

Disclaimer, short documentation film.

For those who have received the Christmas edition 2010, the below film may answer one question, what is that mark in the corner. For those who haven't got an edition lying somewhere before them, the following short film documents the making of this past Christmas edition. 

System Failure

Father A, Son A.1, Son A.2 (detail). 2010

                                          

Mother B, daughter B (detail)

                                           

Mother C, Daughter C (detail)

Project: system failure. andy rumball.2010 ongoing.

I have often wondered over the last couple of years since becoming a father, what is the driving principle which drives humans to have children. Is it just because we can, or is there something else, deeper far beyond the reaches of modern societies instilled notions of lifes requirements. Is there something inherently selfish in giving birth to another, are we trying to exist beyond our own means. Is the act of creation that of duplication, or atleast is it fair to say most crave to see the likeness of themselves in their children. And our failure in such quests, is it understood and celebrated? Have we understood the value of failure? 


This project is ongoing and if you would be interested in taking part please don't hesitate to contact me through the email address listed at the top of this blog.

Looking straight in the eye

magazine wall installation. 2010 (detail)

Opening night - final installation of six. 2010

(incorporating a photographic series of portraits and architecture) 

I've avoided posting anything before of the above project which was completed last year. It was a commission for a series of installations for a hotel opening with the theme based around the buildings previous usage, that of a fashion school. Why only now do I post something, well, although appreciated by all unfortunately this appreciation does not include paying outstanding bills as of yet. This has left a sour taste, but I wish to move onwards and as I look things straight in the eye this new year, I find myself posting something of this work. I will endeavour to post a selection of images over the next few days. For now it's a dark rainy sunday  afternoon and a warm tea beckons.

Something new, something old

white wash. christmas edition 2009.


I have no idea why I never made such a thing before, but for Christmas 2009 I sent out a small edition for the first time to celebrate the season. This past Christmas I did the same and on both occasions I crudely filmed the making. Well I guess there's no point doing such a thing unless you allow people to see it, so here's the first. The film for that of 2010 will come shortly, if you can bear the wait. The good news is the editions are in reality better then the films and should last you a life time, whilst the film in this case is under 2 minutes.

There is something slightly unhealthy about great expectations and in particular those surrounding new year. If you manage to get over the dissappointment of the new years eve party then the reality of the next morning will surely put check to the most romantic imagination. First there's the hangover and if not, the enquiry, why not. Then of course the weather is most unlikely to embrace a positive radiance, let's face it, it's another day in winter, grey, wet, cold and in the case of Berlin at this moment, snow again. Don't get me wrong, I love the snow but heavy dark skies don't speak to me of promising future times. But maybe I have to learn to look a little further or nearer. Yesterday for a very short period of time the clouds opened a wee window through which my first sunshine of 2011 broke through and darted across the tiring branches of the christmas tree. Fantastic pools of light papered the walls and drew my attention to what was, and has for a long time, surrounding me. I spend so much time trying to create things consciously that I over look some of the wonderful installations that have come about over time and chance. Dust on pictures, reflections in glass, cobwebs and temporary homes found in  ...........  time and chance.