A few more photographs produced for Naum Gabo-inspired Kick-About 50, with a criss-crossing of nylon wire as their subject. The deeper colours were produced by pulling in a nearby table-lamp and covering its bulb with coloured cellophane.
The Kick-About No.50 features work inspired by Naum Gabo’s Linear Construction No.2 – an elegant, near-organic sculpture in which translucent filaments combine to produce something akin to a sea-shell, seed pod or spatial anomaly. For my own response, I laced up the table-legs of a long narrow table with nylon wire and investigated the ensuing installation with my camera. With the addition of a light source, the simple construction began to produce some satisfying effects.
The swirling spiral introducing Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo is one of Saul Bass’s most iconic designs, and our last Kick-About celebrated Bass’s bold, pared-back visuals with all the usual eclecticism and creativity. Our latest Kick-About originates from another spiralling form, Naum Gabo’s Linear Construction No. 2.
Charly Skilling
“I love the shapes Gabo created – the magic of straight lines working together to create curves, and curves working together to create depth and movement. I started playing around with some yarn and metal shapes, and found myself thinking about the shadows these artifacts could create, with the right backdrop and well placed lights. I’m really pleased with the results.”
Tom Beg
“In my other creative endeavours I recently came across the peculiar visual effects that can occur when you layer up uneven lines in a 2D or 3D space. In some cases this effect could be seen as undesirable but I very much enjoy the various patterns it generates at different levels of magnification and how it creates multiple levels of texture and visual interest.”
twitter.com/earthlystranger / vimeo.com/tombeg / tombeg.com
Kerfe Roig
“The prompt brought to mind some small shibori fabric samples I had that I meant to embroider on. I had planned to do several, but time shrinking as it seems to do so well lately, I only got one done. I did, however, manage 5 Japanese style poems to go with the 5 photos attached.”
threads and circles
1
to be a thread held
on the wings of birds soaring
through vast light-filled air
2
layers merge
separate become
something else
3
stillness waits
to expand beyond
what is here
4
particles of light
that remain uncaught—a song
you can almost hear
5
tethered to itself
or maybe nothing at all–
just an idea
kblog.blog / methodtwomadness.wordpress.com
Francesca Maxwell
“I have loved Gabo since I was 15 when I started experimenting with sculpture. I was already interested in light, movement and transparencies and I found traditional sculpture taught at my art school wonderful but not quite my cup of tea, until I discovered Gabo. His work has all those ingredients and an amazing dynamic strength. I was never much for the rounded shapes but I resonate with the way he uses them because they are so powerful and not soft or indecisive. So here is my attempt to create growth in delicacy through my fused glass sculpture.”
Graeme Daly
“Some CGI Renders warped, blended, and mended together in light of Naum Gabo’s ethereal sculptures.”
@graemedalyart / vimeo.com/graemedaly / linkedin.com/in/graeme-daly / twitter.com/Graeme_Daly / gentlegiant.blog
Marion Raper
“Many of my friends know that I do a lot of arts and crafts and they often give me bits and pieces and say “Can you make some use of this?” Well this is one of those times when the answer is “Yes!” In fact I’m not quite sure what this material actually is. It seems like a stiff and thick type of felt but the difference is I discovered that unlike ordinary felt, if you cut and twist this it will hold its shape beautifully. So I cut and twisted some long strips and twisted them around a central thread and hung my construction in a sunlit window. Next I played around with some recycled ring pulls that I had been saving. Naum Gabo was a trail blazer – I wonder what ideas he would have come up with if he had the resources of today?”
Jan Blake
“I love Naum Gabo and I know how much my work has been influenced by him and also that period in time when so many exciting new ideas were being put forward, both in the arts and philosophy. The transparency of the material and desire to stretch the boundaries of them is fascinating. In these times, I am working with cardboard and have been for the past twelve years, turning it backwards into and an organic form of light and transparency in opposition to its mechanical machined square frame. For this kick about my inspiration came initially from the spiral and then I returned to my collection of pods!“
Gary Thorne
“I fell into looking at the brother, Antoine Pevsner, as his drawings and paintings triggered a desire to deconstruct older still-life paintings with an interest in achieving more spatially ambiguous subject matter and a hope to add more to dynamic composition. A mix of palette knife and brushwork helped counter habits being formed whilst a painting evolves. An enjoyable KA.”
Phil Gomm
“The following photographs were produced by stringing nylon wire between the legs of a console table pushed up against one long wall in our kitchen, and then using the torch on my knackered old iPhone to produce some high-points of reflection on some wires, and to cast some shadows too. Something expansive and landscape-like got started in these images, and I’m adding these experiments to my list entitled ‘One day, I’ll do this all again on a MUCH bigger scale.’
James Randall
“Naum Gabo_Linear Construction Number 2 – such a hopeful outlook to art. I used to love string art as a kid, all those rigid lines. On a recent walk I took photos of the rather drab grey and fairly ugly Story Bridge here in Brisbane and drew it in illustrator in a formal fashion in orange. I thought of adding buildings behind or portions of cars but the bridge turned out so complicated I just added a bit of white cloud – a portion of low quality iPhone photo, but I think it worked and it broke up the rigid picture framing a little. It was nice to spend time concentrating on all those bright orange shapes and not on the world as it is.“
And for our next creative run-around together, our prompt is the celebrated Ukrainian folk-artist, Maria Prymachenko.
A final set of images from the short film, Vertigogo, which was inspired by the film posters and title sequences of Saul Bass, and produced for The Kick-About #49.
A particular view from a particular spot in a particular place: a line of poplar trees, bringing with it a rush of other sensorial associations; a breeze as dry and heated as from a baker’s oven, the gentle chuck-chucking of soporific chickens, and the prickle of skin that’s likely seen too much sun for one day.
Another set of Kick-About-inspired panels derived from Vertigogo, a short animation made in response to the work of Saul Bass.
Another collection of panels deriving from this short film produced in response to The Kick-About No.49. I never studied textiles. I’m often left wishing that I did!
Phil Cooper, Pneumo, acrylics on paper, 40 x 40 cm
“‘Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls,’ the flamingo announced quite suddenly.”
Chimera Book 1 / Chapter 20 – The Flamingo & The Dummy
“In the previous chapter we were immersed in scenes of devastation and horror, but things take a surprising turn in Chapter 20. We encounter a couple of the strangest characters in the book and we’re treated to some of the worst jokes ever heard. It’s quite a contrast! As many of the scenes in Chimera have been quite dark in many respects, I’ve taken the opportunity to illustrate something lighter in tone. It’s not often I get the chance to paint a blow-up flamingo, and I wasn’t going to let the chance pass me by. There’s a tube of bubblegum-pink that’s been gathering dust in my paintbox for years, but it’s time has come!” Phil Cooper, Spring 2022
Phil Cooper’s Pneumo painting on his art table in his Berlin studio, Spring 2022
It’s here, the penultimate episode of Chimera Book 1! I anticipate anyone who has listened to the last 19 chapters may be in urgent need of a recap. For others unfamiliar with my continuing collaboration with Dan Snelgrove to turn the first of my children’s adventures into an audio book, it might be a case of ‘Chimera what now?!’ Short version is Dan and I embarked on this project all the way back in October 2020, and with but one more episode to produce to complete Kyp Finnegan’s first adventure in the strange and dangerous realm of lost properties, we’re nearly there! If you go here, you can begin at the beginning, and if you go here, you can catch up on the events of the last chapter; and for a quick recap of the final moments of Chapter 19, see below.
Last time in Chimera Book 1:
‘Be careful,’ said Kyp, glancing around nervously.
‘Are you quite sure about this, Kyp?’ asked Sir Regulus. ‘Going on alone?’
‘I’m fine,’ he said, and then it was time to say goodbye.
Chapter 20 – The Flamingo & The Dummy
Listen to all previous chapters at anchor.fm/chimerabook1
Coming soon to Red’s Kingdom, the final instalment of Chimera Book 1: Chapter 21 – The Sin King
With Saul Bass as our mutual muse for The Kick-About No.49, I took the opportunity to produce a short film in celebration of some of Bass’s signature elements – or more accurately, took the opportunity to work with some simple graphic shapes and bold colours inspired by Bass’s posters and opening titles. The nice thing about working in film is you get all these individual frames to choose from, some of which inspire different modes of presentation. I don’t know if these images count as ‘art’, but they’d make bloody nice rugs!
Red's Kingdom 