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Over the past few months a.a.s have been exercising their extra sensory perceptions by practicing Remote Viewing.
Originally developed by the US government to spy on enemies during World War II. Remote viewing involves trying to see objects or situations remotely, through the eyes of the person in the location you are trying to view. To practice, we send one or two people away into Walsall, while the rest of us stay in The Cage and try to see what they’re seeing. There are variable methods, the most common method is to concentrate on images and shapes that might come into your mind and draw them, eventually these shapes can begin to represent real objects. It takes some practice to be able to accurately remote view, but we have been trying some methods to help induce more vivid images in the mind.
Firstly, practicing in The Cage helps to block out any interfering signals. Secondly, we’ve been using a Dreamachine to enhance our visions. The Dreamachine has been made to artist Brion Gysin’s design. It spins around a bulb, producing flickering light. The pulsating light stimulates the optical nerve, so when looking at the Dreamachine with your eyes closed, you can experience bright, complex patterns.
Combining these elements has enabled us to remote view more vividly. As we practice we noticed more commonalities between the things we have drawn and the images of the objects that were being sent back from the people who had gone out into Walsall. These kind of skills all help us to access The Other Place, if we are able to remotely view other locations within this world, we will be able to clearly see into The Other Place.
The Cage awaits
The Cage portal opened up in the artists studio space this week. The Scientists have harnessed it, and will use its unique properties to allow us to experience The Other Place and call forth the walkers of the forking paths.
This Saturday as part of the Wellbeing Festival, The Scientists will be offering Other Place Treatments, making use of The Cage’s wave blocking abilities.
Binaural Balance Treatments can realign your mind and help it to become in tune with The Other Place. A reading from the treatment will reveal the trace of your Other Place aura, the protective shield you will need to access The Other Place on your individual journey.
Eppy Daddy Battle Bot, The Life of the Mind and Esther’s Law
Hello all – there’s been frantic activity in the Epstein Archive over the past few months. I haven’t posted anything in a little while, so we have a lot of ground to cover…
Firstly, some good news. We were delighted to hear that we’ve received funding to extend the project for another 6 months, taking us to September 2011. A huge thank you to the Museums Association and the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation. This will give us the opportunity to create a lasting legacy for this unique project.
Eppy Daddy Battle Bot
The colossal Eppy Daddy Battle Bot was the product of Bob’s residency at the gallery in September. Bob began constructing Eppy Daddy in his studio in Ramsgate and worked on the painting of it in Walsall. A reimagining of Jacob Epstein as a large robot, Eppy Daddy will be displayed in the foyer of the gallery as part of The Life of the Mind exhibition, which opens on the 21st of January (more info below). Bob states that “Jacob Epstein invented the robot” – a nod to Epstein’s famous sculpture Rock Drill. Eppy Daddy tells the story of Epstein’s career and specifically the trials that he faced particularly with some of his earlier work.
I travelled down to Ramsgate to collect Bob and the sculpture and we made a little road movie. Enjoy.
The Life of the Mind
The opening of The Life of the Mind exhibition fast approaches – 21st of January 2011. For those that don’t know anything about the exhibition, which is being curated by Bob and Roberta Smith, I’ve included a little descriptive blurb below:
Inspired by Jacob Epstein’s sculpture of his then 15 year old daughter Esther in which she seems to be resisting the artist’s gaze, The Life of the Mind seeks to expose the myth of the great male artist who has special insight into the minds of his more frail female subjects. This exhibition will look at predominantly female artists who give form to the interior world. Each artist resists easy interpretation and in Bob’s words, “sticks a sharp pair of scissors into the soft underbelly of male hegemony.”
We have some really amazing artists confirmed already for the show, Louise Bourgeois, Helen Chadwick and Sarah Lucas to name but a few.
Esther’s Law
From the ideas surrounding Esther Garman that Bob has been developing for much of the residency, Esther’s Law has been born. Esther’s Law is Bob’s vision of truly proportional system of government, where every part of society is fairly represented in parliament, what Bob has referred to as ‘real proportional representation.’ There is much more to follow on this one, so get behind Esther’s Law!
still alone in her voices
still alone in her voices. wicked! i’m writing in charcoal up the whiteboards in the gallerys corridor – charcoal over and over all those -ve mental health words and phrases – technically normal / treatment resistant / personality disordered etcetera – and theres a school in watching me and wow, cool is the response. later i’m erasing with putty rubbers a message reclaimed from this – still alone in her voices. its from my ongoing responses to yannis ritsos monochords, this one is #137 – talked down from the high parapet, still alone with her voices – and the response is wicked!
My Russian Binocular rage and Eppy Daddy Battle Bot
It’s been a while since my last Epstein Archive entry, so I thought it best to give you a little update. As you may have seen, I had a ‘moment’ the other week (which can be viewed here) but I’m ok now. Fully calmed down. That whole thing started quite a few months ago when Bob and I were going through a load of miscellaneous items in the archive and some of it was, frankly, absolute rubbish. I know the archivist is supposed to remain impartial about the subjective value of any item, but if anyone requests a research visit to view Beth Lipkin’s hoover warranty, I will eat my shoes.
Anyway, I was having a bit of a moan to Bob about it all and one particular item, an advert for Russian binoculars, was, I thought, a totally pointless thing to keep. From then on, ‘the Russian binoculars’ became a bit of a buzz word for anything rubbish, or anything that irritated me – not that I’m a particularly irritable person or anything. And, eventually, the film was born.
But now, after some time has passed, the advert for Russian binoculars has taken on a whole new meaning – I wouldn’t dream of speaking ill of this little newspaper clipping now. It has relevance because we gave it relevance. I think that’s one of the most interesting things about having an artist involved in a collection – really unexpected connections and items can come to the fore.
So, to Bob’s residency. I spoke to Bob a few days ago and his latest creation, Eppy Daddy Battle Bot, is being built as we speak in Bob’s new studio is Ramsgate. Eppy Daddy Battle Bot is a reimagining of Jacob Epstein as a 5 metre high 1950s style robot. We’ll collect him just before the residency and then you will see the final stages of Eppy Daddy’s creation in the Arists Studio during the last two weeks of September.
If Eppy Daddy were to speak – what would he say? Answers on a postcard.
Freshly Squeezed @ The New Art Gallery
Some of the highlights from the fantastic Freshly Squeezed event that took place at the gallery on the 10th of June. Enjoy…
Bob and Roberta Smith’s May Residency
It’s been quite a month for the Epstein Archive. Bob was in residency for most of May and made the largest work for the project to date. See Esther Walsall’s Mona Lisa comprises of 4 large boards that tell the story of Esther Garman, Jacob Epstein’s sculpture of Esther and Bob’s reaction to it. This is part of Bob’s plan to brand the Esther sculpture as Walsall’s Mona Lisa. These boards will be displayed in the main hall of the Garman Ryan Collection from October and I genuinely cannot wait to see it up there. Enjoy the pictures below…
We created some stop motion films of the residency, with some of Bob’s thoughts on the work….
As well as the small matter of making the See Esther work, Bob also made some posters for the promotion of the Freshly Squeezed event at the gallery (Thursday 10th June @ 6pm) and also the gallery generally. The latter poster is also part of Bob’s branding of Esther.
I’ve posted this video already, but I’m going to put it up again as it’s my favourite of all the videos we have created so far. Inspired by Telly Savalas’ ‘tour’ of Birmingham (which you can see here),we filmed this straight after Bob finished See Esther and he was in a very amusing mood. If you listen carefully, you can hear me snorting with laughter in the background. The theme tune comes courtesy of Dr CJ Freelove, a little known South American musician who exclusively writes 80s ‘This Morning’ style theme tunes.
Bob and Roberta Smith residency
The second episode of Bob’s residency at the gallery. The 3rd will follow soon…enjoy.
Party on!
The New Art Gallery celebrated its 10th Birthday last night, and there was over 1000 visitors! The Party exhibition is on and is looking (and in the case of Martin Creed’s room filled with balloons) feeling great… so I really recommend a visit.
The Unwanted Gift Shop was open for business and record numbers visited the shop since its opening, and visitors were given free edible art (black and white jelly) and left smiling with art in their bellies. Some even came with more Unwanted Gifts, which have now been added to the shop display.
There is still time for more Unwanted Items… bring them along and register them at reception. You never know… your work might be worth £££ in years to come! :)
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