my tipex just exploded

I got an email from a tutor in Scotland today and in it was this great quote that really got me thinking: “But equally, such things should not be locked away, or covered up for protection, for that, is denying the world what they have to offer...”

Naturally I was intrigued as to whom had said this. I liked this much, maybe there was more to be learned from this person. My answer came. It was me. I could not for the life of me remember writing this. I checked old proposals, emails, old blog entries, nothing. It had to be a hoax (I hoped.) Then I found it, a blog post barely a few days old. Oh dear. I have to say I felt like a bit of an ass, but I don't think I've laughed so hard in quite some time. I obviously pay a lot less attention to what I say than I had realised.

I also found out today that assessments at Gray's (art school in Scotland) are four weeks on friday. Needless to say, it took me surprise, although given it's my third year of doing this it really shouldn't have. Working here is pretty hard. When I work usually I like to take all my photos etc and spread them out on the floor or walls either in the studio or flat (generally staying there for a while) but here there is no wall or floor space to work with, and I definitely don't have a studio. Everything is electronic in format which brings a completely different perspective to working methods. I have a lot of photos and ideas but it's all raw. How do you go about refining things when you can only see a little bit of the big picture?

One particular idea I had was to photograph and interview some of the Betel Nut Girls here. The girls sit in glass glass boxes illuminated by neon lights selling betel nut, cigarettes etc. They're scantily clad using the illusion of sex to tempt customers. Betel nut is this highly addictive nut that grows on palm trees locally. It's chewed and the juice is spit out at regular intervals, leaving bright red splatters on the street which is just gross. But the girls are fascinating. They look like dolls or something preserved in glass boxes, often taking inspiration from animé for their clothing, but what they do doesn't reflect the innocence of dolls. I would have had to get a translator and a guy to go with me since the effect is most stunning at night, but I was quite looking forward to it. Unfortunately it turns out that someone already did something very similar. Granted, the artist was an older white South-African guy who was mainly looking at the business side of things, but I'm not sure how if it would be the right thing to do now. My take on things would have been different to his, and I expect the girls themselves would show a slightly different attitude to me than him, resulting in a different final body of work, but would it might still smell of ripping someone off a bit.

I guess I'll just have to get on with some other ideas (although this was one of the main ones I was following through.) They are really fascinating.