I need a fix 'cos I'm going down

Holograms from Annabel Duggleby on Vimeo.

Holograms

Hey! I haven't been blogging much recently as I'm more into tumblr right now (www.grinandbearitzine.tumblr.com) as I think the stream-of-consciousness-ness of it suits me better. Does that make sense? Anyway here is some of what I have been doing lately - based around the theme of the hologrpahic universe. 
Also, I've been listening to a lot of Grimes recently. I think this song is the perfect accompaniment to the above work. 

The Holographic Universe (part one)

The Holographic Universe (part 1) by Annabel Duggleby from Annabel Duggleby on Vimeo.

You guys, I made a film! It’s just a short experiment to work through some ideas. It was inspired by a book called ‘The Holographic Universe’ by Michael Talbot, in which it says that near-death experiences (and death itself) “are really nothing more than the shifting of a person’s consciousness from one level of the hologram of reality to another.” Isn't that beautiful?

Also, it sounds much better with headphones!

In other news, I bought some nice brie today. Yum.
x

Cleanse myself with vitamin health, but I'm already gone

Had an amazing drawing day at college today! We covered the room with webs of coloured wool, which I sat beneath and drew for hours whilst listening to the above album. It was kinda dreamy. xx

http://grinandbearitzine.tumblr.com/

Fine and undemanding yellowness

So I started a tumblr! Just for stuff that isn't appropriate here and when I can't bring myself to form a coherent post. Take a look: http://grinandbearitzine.tumblr.com/

Art shows us what it is to be human

Happy New Year!

(If the video doesn't appear - watch it HERE )

He don't hang around with the gang no more

Looking back at some dead world that looks so new

some sketchbook pages

xx

The electric feeling

This week at college we've been doing illustration, which was probably my favourite (and last) topic! We were given a brief with five questions/prompts on it, one of which we had to choose and illustrate. I (and most people) chose Explain out of body experiences. I found a really interesting website by the Out Of Body Experience Research Foundation , which contained loads of testimonials from people who claim to have had out of body experiences. Some were cheesy, some were baffling, but regardless of whether they were "genuine" or whatever, I found them poetic and many provided some interesting imagery.  Here are a few examples of my intial ideas, which culminated in a series of four posters and a little zine.

This is actually a quote from an interview with Roger McGough, about a kind of false/altered memory he has.

Nice scanning skillz

This is just a little taster, as scanning and editing is laborious!
I hope your week has been as fun as mine :) xx

I'll tax your feet

Here's a few pictures of my day. I've spent most of it listening to the Beatles and playing with a new app (well, new to me) that takes kaleidoscopic, prism-like photos, whilst making this lovely twinkley sound. It's really trippy and addictive. And then I made a little study/ studio area in my room with this beautiful wooden school desk that my Dad made about 30 years ago. I've also been churning out the continuous line drawings, drawing my face by feeling it, with my eyes closed. It all sounds a bit silly but I really like the results, especially my very first portrait (second pic) which has a kind of sad presence.

And now I think I'll go watch some Derren Brown.

 

When I'm in the middle of a dream, stay in bed, float upstream.... 

 

 

Party Piece

  He said:
'Let's stay here
Now this place has emptied
& make gentle pornography with one another,
While the partygoers go out
& the dawn creeps in,
Like a stranger.

Let us not hesitate
Over what we know
Or over how cold this place has become,
But let's unclip our minds
And let tumble free
The mad, mangled crocodiles of love.'

So they did,
Right there among the woodbines and guinness stains,
And later he caught a bus and she a train
And all there was between them then
was rain.

He pulled the mirrors off his cadillac,

cause he doesn't like it looking like he looks back

Tame Impala Elephant

Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour, Blue Jay Way

photo by Ira Cohen

Well I had a lovely day today. I picked up the latest issue of Oh Comely, found an interesting book by A. Alvarez about suicide, and got some new film for my camera. I took a walk around where I live, without direction, purposefully disorientating myself. Sunflowers, stone, white on grey, windows and volkswagens, directions, accents, lingering shadows, keep the engine running, missed opportunities, lips parted, unusual quiet, head against the pane, breeze on my cheeks.
This week I have been on a magical mystery tour of the wonderful world of psychedelia. Seeing the afformentioned Beatles film was a revelation! It was brilliant. I loved the freedom of the camera, the prism-like distortions, the projections and layering. My favourite scenes were probably when they actually performed songs, particularly George Harrison's Blue Jay Way, which was enchanting. I'm also listening to Tame Impala's album Lonerism , which is pretty Beatles-esque in parts. The video for Elephant is probably the best music video I have ever seen. I usually find music videos quite tiresome, I'd rather just listen to the song, but the video for Elephant, directed by Yoshi Sodeoka is so visually arresting, I can barely look away. There are loads of comments beneath it on Youtube about how it is/would be great/scary/trippy to watch whilst high, but I think it works perfectly well instead of drugs, experiencing it sober seems powerful enough to me.
Perhaps my eyes need a rest. At college we've been doing life drawing all week, which was amazing and tiring. I think it's true what they say about how drawing teaches you to look differently, properly, critically. I catch myself paying much more attention to forms and volumes and negative space. I was sat on the bus the other day, daydreaming and looking at the soft curve at the elbow of some stranger, imagining how I would draw it. I could almost feel the shape. It was strange. Unexpected, but welcome.

x 

Elephant

Baby can you see through the tears?

 

I'd never really understood why people kept cacti. As a child, they seemed like the sort of plant that I would only ever encounter dust-covered and cobwebbed on shelves, in the musty sitting rooms of old ladies you were obliged to visit with your mum. Bobbly curtains, saccharine lemonade in yellow glasses,  ancient murray mints. But now I totally get it, they're beautiful! I especially love the flowers, the juxtaposition of silken petals and bristly pines and the rings of blooms like crowns. They look strangely succulent, sumptuous, almost. I think I'll go do some cacti drawings now! 

The next week of my art foundation course will be focused on textiles, specifically screen-printing, which we need to prepare drawings for. Wouldn't a cactus print be amazing?! 

Speaking of art foundation, I've been horribly busy lately, so sorry if I promised you a zine that hasn't arrived! I've pretty much scrapped issue three of Grin and Bear it, as I'm considering taking it in a new direction...

Today I've been listening to the song below non-stop, I love it. It's making me want to go out dancing...but in a sultry, slow motion kind of movie-way. Does that make sense? It does in my head.  I will love you till the end of time. I would wait a million years. Promise you'll remember that you're mine, baby cam you see through the tears?

Journey

Here's a small selection of artwork I've been doing for college, which started today!
I've begun looking at migration, immigration and starling murmurations and have done some drawings/experiments but want to move on to maybe using sound or installation. Anyway I won't say much about it till it's finished, I'm not particularly bothered if anyone's interested or not, it's just helpful to write about it.

Migrations

Getting quite excited about my college project now!

Most of us need the eggs

I made some tissue paper pom poms! I'm going to decorate my flat with loads of them.
I also bought Annie Hall on DVD, which is great.
Anyway I'm going to go make some cakes now... I'm in no mood to do anything but eat cake...and maybe decoupage something.

BE the football captain

I just checked my emails and found I had a newsletter from Dazed Digital about their Meadham Kirchhoff take-over! yay!

Today they've posted their youtube playlists and a bit about why they like them etc. I've only watched the first on so far, but it was so good that I had to share it!

I really liked it when she said "Do not hurt yourself, destroy yourself, mangle yourself to get the football captain. Be the football captain. That's it, it's that simple." This kinda reminded me the part in Whip It when Bliss tells the Roller Derby team that they are her heroes, and they tell her to "be your own hero". I think that's a really good motto, or mantra, or whatever you want to call it.
There's been a lot of talk about role models during the olympics, and while you should be inspired by other people, learn from them and look up to them, I think that ultimately you shouldn't idolize people. You should be your own role model.
Anyway, I'm going to watch the rest of the videos, which can be found here.
xxx

raindrops in my eyes

King of Rome

I just heard this recording of the King of Rome performed by The Unthanks at the Folk Awards. It's so beautiful. I don't really know what to say other than you have to watch it.



In the west end of Derby lives a working man,
He says "I can't fly but me pigeons can,
And when I set them free
It's just like part of me
Gets lifted up on shining wings"