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These Turrell-inspired images, produced for The Kick-About No.133, were deceptively simple to make; the forms are 2D shapes imported, ‘clip-art style’, from boring old Powerpoint (Yawn!). The shapes themselves were given an internal ‘shadow’ effect to produce the illusion of volume. Then, in Premiere Pro (video editing software), a fake light source was installed behind
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Last time, The Kick-About was inspired by Semper Augustus—a tulip prized for its beauty and mystery. This week, we turn to another master of allure: James Turrell, who works not with petals but with perception itself. His art of light and space invites us to pause, look longer, and notice the quiet drama of illumination.
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These tulip-inspired photographs for The Kick-About No. 132 were produced by first applying thick acrylic paint mixed with PVA to sheets of acetate—which, appropriately enough, were then left in the greenhouse to dry. I drooled the paint mixture on the acetate, then used a fat, dry decorator’s brush to emulate the colour breaks of tulip
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Our previous Kick-About was inspired by the alluring and lonely illuminations of lighthouses—beacons set against the vast and unpredictable sea. This time, we trade maritime mystery for botanical obsession, turning our gaze to Semper Augustus, the most coveted tulip of the Dutch Golden Age—a bloom as rare, storied, and strangely luminous in its own way.
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There is something supremely narrative about the idea of a lighthouse and my interest in writing this story as my response to The Kick-About No.131 began with thinking about the role of the lighthouse keeper, and why a person might be in need of all that isolation and the routine that comes with the job.
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Our last Kick-About was a celebratory compendium of five years of ‘kicking it about’—and speaking personally, I do look forward to these fortnightly opportunities to ‘think a thing, do a thing and share a thing’ as little lights on the horizon of often more humdrum vistas. Fittingly, this first prompt of the ‘new year’ is
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This week’s 130th edition of The Kick-About marks the fifth anniversary of an activity first started back during the strange, listless days of the COVID lock-downs. The short version is that, every two weeks, a loose collective of artists make ‘new work in a short time’ in response to a specific prompt. This is the
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The last edition of the Kick-About was prompted by the idea of a ‘treasure trove’—a phrase that could just as easily apply to this week’s anniversary edition. The big number is the total number of weeks in five years—marking how long The Kick-About has been up and running (you can explore all 129 previous editions
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Early last year, when I was in France, I found a stash of wonderfully rusty implements, stuffed into a deep crevice in an old wall. I don’t know why they were hidden away like that, but the keys are these great big ‘storybook’ ones that should be hanging off the belt of a wizard. The
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For our last Kick-About, we revelled in the razor-sharp satire of James Gillray. This week it’s a celebration of found things, forgotten relics, and hidden gems brought into the light—and for all previous editions of The Kick-About, click here. Graeme Daly “My niece and I were both watching a favourite film of ours—The Goonies—and one
Red's Kingdom 