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| Noddy Holder, the famous cow top and me |
Inspired by the art of Liu Bolan, which I wrote about yesterday, I spent the night with my paints in an attempt to emulate one of his 'Hidden in the City' photographs.Here I am, hiding in plain site in the library. I think you really will struggle to see me, so good is my camouflage.
Not bad for a first attempt eh?
And here's a bit of a poem about being invisible:
The other day, I became invisible:
stumbled into, trodden on and brushed aside,
pulled out in front of at junctions, roundabouts.
I tried smiles – which were returned unopened.
I raised my hand, but no-one let me speak.
I was stared through – not like I was a window,
but more a grey area or just a feeling
that has to be endured or struggled through.
I went home defeated, was not welcomed,
looked in the mirror. There was no-one there.
© Clare Kirwan
I may have been a bit invisible lately, and a bit... erm ... patterned. But it is nothing compared to the Chinese artist Liu Bolin who paints himself to match particular locations so as to appear invisible in them.
These pictures are from a series called 'Hiding in the City' - each one can take up to ten hours to get just right.
It is both a way of protesting the Chinese government’s persecution of artists, and also about not fitting into society.
I wouldn't usually quote the Daily Mail (did I mention we have to keep it 'under the counter' at the library because it was getting stolen all the time?!?) but this quote is from an interesting article about him HERE: He said:
'Some people call me the invisible man, but for me it's what is not seen in a picture which is really what tells the story.
'After graduating from school I couldn't find suitable work and I felt there was no place for me in society. I ... had a feeling that no one cared about me, I felt myself unnecessary in this world.
'The situation for artists in China is very difficult and the forced removal of the artist's studio is in fact my direct inspiration of this series of photographs.'
I'm no expert on art, but I sort of understand the feeling. Do any of you have 'invisible' days too?
An online gallery of his pictures is featured at Eli Klein at least until the end of September
Last week was a rollercoaster ride - with both the queasy 'wanna get off' descents where you leave your heart somewhere and the 'Wahey! Look at that view! What a feeling!' high points.
(Also, the 'far too much excitement'/'that was fab, let's do it again!'/'gotta go lie down'/'next time I'll just hold the coats' mixed feelings as you stagger away.)
I've thrown up some images here - mainly high points. Here's the kiddies craft workshop I 'helped' run. I don't know what to do with children, having none of my own (or anyone else's). Martin (Square Sunshine) said not to talk to them like they're children, so I treated them like they were 35. It sort of worked but some of my jokes fell flat.
These are labels I hand-made for the Poet Tree... and the little bits that fell out of the hole punch or were snipped off the corners which I keep finding in every orifice and aperture ... of the house!
People were encouraged to write a poem or quote a favourite poem and hang it on the birch in front of a local Church on the main road.
Youngsters wrote their name, artists drew a little picture. Poet 'A' didn't (to the best of my knowledge) write anything about masturbation - he saved that for the family friendly venue. *sigh*
And here's a rabble of people absolutely not 'swinging on the tree', Vicar!
Here are poets massing for attack - and less confused that expected given that someone (not me) had decided to veer so decisively from the printed programme (the one with MCs for each venue, where the quiet people didn't have to shout in the busy pubs, and visitors knew what was going on - the one that was agreed.)
We had 60 poets performing in half a dozen venues and 'on the streets'. More than 300 musicians and 120 artists took part in the festival weekend.
Here's me being a zombie with guest poet Kate Fox. She was marvelous - and would have had a better audience if someone (again, I'm not responsible) had actually booked the venue and we hadn't had to change it at 3 days notice. Also, it would have helped with publicity to get the final lineup more than 5mins before the start. You're reading between the lines aren't you? Yes, there have been traumas. Caught up in the moment, I forgot to take more pics. Below are some other people took.
But you know what? It was crackingly good! There was a real sense of community and feel-good factor about it - and no-one had seen that many people in Hoylake since the Open Championship in 2006... which I'll tell you about that one of these days.
I haven't slept for worry, wasted time on things that were changed later, have overloaded the internet so it keeps conking out now, probably shouldn't have tried to squeeze 3 parties into the mix, had a few fights, house is a mess, rest of my life had to be put on hold... but at least it was fun in the end, I met some lovely people and almost everyone's happy!
Now, where was I?
This continues from yesterday's post of quotes and pictures from street artist Banksy.
Of course, a lot of places are blighted by 'tagging' and hideous, pointless or offensive graffiti - but must we tar it all with the same brush?
Some interesting points were raised yesterday: Raining Acorns mentioned the windows of New York subway trains being obliterated with paint so you can't see which station you're at, but also directed me to her co-blogger Carol-Ann's marvelous post about a local street-painting festival - check it out.
Meanwhile Dave, who has laboured long and hard over The Great Wall of Norfolk called us to reflect upon the pride of the wall-owner, the love of a good, clean wall.
But I still think not every wall deserves to be revered. Bottom right, for example, is the uniformly horrible concrete wall around the Palestinian territories of the West Bank. Whatever your political views, this picture is poignant and well-exercised. It makes you 'think about stuff' - which I suppose is the purpose of art (although a real artist would phrase that better!).
Incidentally, I don't know what the words next to it say, but don't they detract from the effect?
Meanwhile, I stumbled across this post on Don't Panic RTFM blog about London's Hackney Road animal graffiti, an example of which is on the left.
Anyway... this brings me back to the patio, and what to do with my side of my neighbour's 4 metre erection... which I'll come back to when ... or rather IF it is ever completed!
*sighs*
One of the great things about working in the library is that I stumble across some very splendid books it wouldn't occur to me to look for.I picked up the excellent Wall and Piece
He has some very thought-provoking things to say about writing on walls:
"There is no elitism or hype... and nobody is put off by the price of admission."
"The people who run our cities don't understand graffiti ...they think nothing has the right to exist unless it makes a profit, which makes their opinion worthless."
"The people who truly deface our neighbourhoods are the companies that scrawl giant slogans across buildings and buses trying to make us feel inadequate unless we buy their stuff. They expect to be able to shout their message from every available surface but you're never allowed to answer back."
"...graffiti is only dangerous in the mind of three kinds of people: politicians, advertising executives and graffiti writers."
I have never really graffiti'd anything - except in chalk (made-up gods for the new religion I founded. aged 9 - which was frowned upon). Oh and I was a guest of the New Zealand Chalksters in Auckland last year - they take 'guerilla* poetry' out onto the streets quite literally with giant chalks - they make an impact but not a permanent (i.e. criminal) one.
What do you think? Free art or menace to society?
Scrawl your replies below...
Continued in this post
* No poems about gorillas, please.
OK, so you write and you write but how do you get your writing published?Last week I went to an excellent 'Meet the Authors' afternoon - my favourite event of Wirral Bookfest (amidst stiff competition - I also saw Carol Ann Duffy!).
The authors were: Caroline Smailes* whose first novel was snapped up after she posted part of it online and has had a steady presence in Kindle's Top 100. Her beautiful Like Bees to Honey is out now and third novel is in the pipeline; Jon Mayhew author of gothic teen fantasy Mortlock, part of a three-book deal with Bloomsbury; 
and the late Nik Perring (he's not dead - he was just late) whose neat collection of short stories Not So Perfect is out now. They are all local (i.e. Wirral) authors whose first books have come out in the last few years and who are active on the net.
So I thought I'd share some of their top tips to wannabe best-selling novelists:
1. Write. Obvious as it sounds, it's were some of us fall to the ground straight away. Learn this equation: No words = no best-selling novel. You need lots of words - preferably ones that carry on from one another. 300 first pages do not a best-selling novel make either. Write and keep writing - you can mess around with it later, just get a first draft written
2. Hone your craft. Attend courses, read up, use online resources and communities for writers. Learn all you can about writing. But don't do this instead of writing (see above) - it's an easy mistake to make.
3. Blocked? Don't panic! All the authors agreed that there will be days you don't want to write. Nik mentioned 'Writer's Constipation' but the others managed to steer us away from the truly scattalogical! Don't punish yourself staring at a blank page/screen. Do something else - go for a walk or something. Just make sure you write when you can.
4. Read your own work aloud. Nik (I think it was Nik) said he records himself reading his work then plays it back. You'll be surprised what you'll pick up if you do this - odd phrasing, over-used words, clumsy sentence structure, unbelievable dialogue. As nik said - especially with the short story it has to be as perfect as you can make it before you send it off.
5. Log-on. Work to develop an online following before you approach an agent or publisher. If you want to stand out from the 'slush pile' it really helps to show your understanding of the importance of promoting your work generally. A good blog also demonstrates your writing style and discipline.
6. Engage with new technology. Many authors are more tech-savvy than traditional publishers. Caroline Smailes has generated new excitement around her 3-year old book by getting it published on Kindle - and although it is sold at a low price, 12,000 of people have brought it and authors get a better cut from electronic publishing. eBooks are especially useful to authors of specialist non-fiction as they are low-cost and can be targetted to niche audiences internationally via the net.
7. Ask the experts. Jon Mayhew's turning point was a Literary Consultancy weekend - it was pricey and, at time, brutal, but it polished his novel and gained him introductions to the literary agent that found him his future publisher.
8. Break a leg! Or an ankle. No, really. Jon Mayhew attributes part of his success to having broken his ankle and using the ensuing enforced idleness to knuckle down and finish his book. It was such a successful technique that he broke it a second time for the edits! He wasn't recommending this, just saying that you need to grab your opportunities to write when you get the chance to.
Write! I'm off to do some now... after I've just checked my emails, updated my anti-virus software, fed the cat (and I don't even have a cat!)...
What are the best tips for getting published that YOU have used, or have been given?
* I have already corresponded with Caroline via Twitter and her blog - proving that social media enables you to go up to someone and say: 'But we're already friends! You have to talk to me!' Caroline is even nicer in person than online.
