Tracey Emin - on radio

Heard Tracey Emin talking about her work on radio this morning. Whatever you think of the quality of her work you have got to admit she is sincere about it and she connects with the public.

She's a strong woman and I have got a lot of time for her. And she is usisng her art to make serious social comments.

Her high public profile owes a lot to her communication skills - yet another example of how important it is for artists to be able to talk about their work. Gone are the days when you could sit back and say " I am an artist. The work speaks for itself."

Today art is about a lot more than selling decorative work to hang on walls.
If you want that then go to Ikea.

A-N interview on email

I mentioned to some friends that I was doing an email interview ( for A-N magazine) only for them to be very dismissal. They do them all the time. Seems these are common journalistic practise these days.

Interviews conducted over long boozy lunches have long been consigned to the history books but I had not appreciated how virtual interviews have become the norm.

Diary of an artist writer online | Project blogs | Artists talking | a-n

Steamer Lane ( from left to right) David Martin, Alex MacCambley and Alan Forrester

Diary of an artist writer online | Project blogs | Artists talking | a-n


Time of our Lives…challenging perceptions of older people

We were just about to start filming the soft rock group Steamer Lane on Saturday in the middle of Stirling when they started: the South American pan pipers with all their amplifiers going full blast.
Try competing against that!

I had this tremendous sense of deja- vu. Ten years ago in my Degree show at Glasgow School of Art I had installed a sound installation “Duet” of birds singing and a cat purring. It was a lyrical piece and it was set up in the Loggia, top of the Macintosh building.

Suddenly from the “Hen Run” adjoining I hear shots. The student next to me had installed a Western style shooting gallery as his degree piece…. I had to find a new space sharpish.

Well, we did get the filming done, once the South American players stopped for an early afternoon siesta but this is one of the problems when you are working with sound and in a public space.

You have got to be prepared to think fast and find solutions.