Milkshake: A Summary

Next Friday, that would be the 8th of March, a collective exhibition going by the name of Milkshake is to open at the Upper Gallaries in St. James Cavalier, Valletta.  For all of those who have been following my blog, it was quite obvious that I've been putting my heart in the project, working long hours and considering a couple of concepts.

The two main concepts were both based around a series of paintings, one being about mermaids and seahorses, while the other revolved around view points and mind states from within the queer community.

Why mermaids and seahorses?

Since in the beginning I was strongly considering focusing on gender bending as the only theme behind my project.  The seahorse and mermaid were to be used for their peculiar physical properties and habits.  With the seahorse, it is the male that carries the eggs and gives birth, while with a mermaid, it does not have a definite sex from the waist down.

The idea was to create a scenario where the seahorse and mermaid interact, an environment where androgyny and gender bending are the norm.

In order to fuel this concept, I wanted to personally meet a young MTF, but unfortunately I did not find such individual and the project was put on hold...though I still got loads of sketches that I plan to explore in the near future, sketches which I plan to blow up on canvas.  By blow up I mean 3 metres by 2 metres.

Mind states

The idea of depicting mind states was a fusion of two research tools: interviews and Tumblr.  With the interviews, I had selected four people between the age of 19 to 23 and discussed with them issues such as the relation with their body, the definition of queer and what it's like to be queer in Malta.

I only managed to do only one decent write-up about an interview, which can be read here.

Although I do not have an active Tumblr account, it was always intriguing to me how young people are using that platform to communicate mostly through image sharing.  This heavy dependence on images to express any kind of feeling directed the graphic style that I adapted in the final works for Milkshake.

The Process

The core work was done between May-July, starting from the creation of frames, canvas stretching and priming.

The process was quite slow, for various reasons, such as travelling, other projects and general apathy.  A major issue with the works was the fact that I had to keep shifting spaces in which to work, meaning that I could not set up once and blast my way through the work.

However, I ended up finishing way before scheduled, which allowed me to discuss the finished works with artists and friends alike, adjusting where necessary.

One of my works was used in a local newspaper article which introduced the project to the general public.

Setting up

So far I have met curator Lisa Gwen, and since my installation can be set up in various formats, we played around with ideas and formats in order to find what works best with the space and other's works.



Project

For more general information about the project, visit; http://milkshaketheproject.wordpress.com/

Facebook Page/Website

For updates and pictures of my works, kindly subscribe to my Facebook page.


eHopefully my website would be up and running early next week.

Of Spirals and Cut Ups

Sometimes, I really hate the fact that I have many projects going on simultaneously: it would be much easier to start and finish projects one by one.  I have always worked in blasts, then having a break from a theme and revisit it later. As said before, I am getting into Jeanette Winterson lately, and in her introduction for "Oranges are not the Fruit" she writes the following:

 "I don't really see the point of reading in straight lines.  We don't think like that and we don't live like that.  Our mental processes are closer to a maze than a motorway, every turning yields another turning, not symmetrical, not obvious."

Winterson describes this novel as a spiral novel, where the action is happening in circles rather than in the linear form we are accustomed with in writing.

I can really connect with such thinking, and also reminds me of the Cut-Up technique which I have been applying in my work for years now.  Having came across William Burroughs and his techniques through Kurt Cobain when I was a teen, I have always been fascinated by the uncontrolled element of cut up, where images are removed from their original dimension and combined, altered and placed in a new one to create something that can exists on it's own.

Artworks involving cut up are the most realistic of all works, because they reflect the way we think.  We don't remember everything from a day, we remember what was most relevant for us, what we would need to know in order to have a better future...all these tiny elements are organized by our mind to create  tailor-made reality.  That is what I try to convey in my larger works, where I use a variety of sources which interests me and links them together, creating a new mindscape on canvas.

It is more than fulfilling showing my work to different people and all of them come with a valid interpretation of my work.  I rarely explain my sources to the viewer, since I want the viewer to link the various references in a work by himself, building a personal relation with my works.  Some, or most people are lazy or lack creativity, and may feel confused and lost in front of my works..they expect to play the viewer's stereotypical part and just view and critizise.  I believe that's all passe, just like works and installations that try to involve the viewer through physical means.  In these days of virtual reality where the use of the image is playing a major part in young people's life (getting to know someone through his/her photos on FB, expressing your personality thru reblogging etc), the interpretations and reaction towards the image are the way forward.

First Registrations Ever

Back in the 90's, Rhythm is a Dancer blasting out from every bar and car, Escorts, Capris, Triumphs, all modified and tinted up...memories of being a kid during a 90's summer in Malta.  I can remember that all of us boys wanted to get our left ear pierced  (either a petite gold ring or chunky fake silver one), get a cool car, write the name of our favourite song along the windscreen and go to rave parties, which were the new place to be and where young ones did drugs and had a blast...yeah a couple died, but most didn't. 

The four prints above capture the spirit of a country which back to 15 years ago was more laid back and laws and regulations were easy to bend.  Linking teenage love, cheesy pop songs and fatalities, these works were done in bold, sharp contrasting colours that shows an in your face attitude.

The works are 30 by 15cms, done in 3-colour registration.  Considering it was my first time working in this manner, I can say they were a huge success.  If anyone is interested in purchasing any of the prints, kindly contact me on falzonryan@hotmail.com.  Prices are chopped down for the rest of 2012!

Being Busy

So ye, I haven't posted anything in like a month.  I have to say it's been quite a bumpy, busy and noisy...if I have to compare it to anything, it would be to an engine belonging to the old Maltese buses, some BMC that's been around from the 1950's.

Knowing that Christmas times and the first two months of the new year ain't my most productive times, I am ready to start working on the final paintings for my next big exhibition, which would be held in March.  My exhibit would consist of an installation of small paintings.  So far, I got 30 of them, but I am sure the number would increase once I start working on the final projects and more ideas would flow in.

Part of Milkshake project consisted of creating a small introduction for the public, which would describe us as artists and gives the public a brief overview of the participants environment and background.

Last month I was contacted by Katryna Storace, singer and guitarist from local band Stolen Creep, for an interview about the punk scene in Malta in relation to the Pussy Riot issue.  Here's the link to the article, which was published in one of the top Sunday newspapers on the island: http://www.sundaycircle.com/2012/10/punks-not-dead/

I really liked the final outcome of the interview, it's an interview that gives quite an interesting mix of opinions from three guys who's involved in the local punk scene.

And for those who never heard Stolen Creep, here is their video from their EP "Throw your Heart to the Sea".

Back from Berlin...again

I haven't been updating my blog at all for the simple reason that I was in Berlin for most of August, and I rarely had an hour or two to spare on updating the blog.

The visit to Berlin this time differed a lot my my previous visit in many ways: the major difference was that I was doing a work experience with T616 office, preparing all the promotion material for the 12th edition of the InternationalLiteratur Festival.  This year, it is going to be held in Berliner Festspiele, a lovely place which i visited during the press conference of the literature festival.

During my first day at work, the team discussed the cover for the catalogue.  The theme of this year's festival is "Europe Now", and questions the place of literature and arts in Europe while it is in an economic turmoil. One of the suggested covers showed me on a cow, holding a revolver and the Maltese cross, but it was rejected as being too comical.

Apart from working on the sponsors pages in the programme and posters, I also had a meeting with the Maltese Embassy in Berlin, where I had to promote the festival and get support for the screening of experimental films related to religion in Malta.  These films were done by 6 media students from MCAST, the college from which I graduated.

It was a pity that I couldn't stay for the festival, which is taking place between the 5th until the 16th September...but I strongly suggest anyone who can make it to go.  The link for the festival's homepage is the following http://www.literaturfestival.com/

Apart from working at the office, I also had some meetings with art galleries in Berlin, and we discussed the possibilities of collaborations in the near future.  Hopefully such collaborations would be more possible if I follow my plan to settle in Berlin by next April/May.

I also managed to see some good shows this time, bands which included Star Fucking Hipsters at CLASH, Diva Kolletiv, Cut my Skin, E-egal and COR in Postdam, at a venue called Archiv.

So we are back in Malta, where the studio hunting and collaboration partners continue.  I plan to finish off pending work, mostly paintings and the car crash series, and work for an exhibition early next year.

Ir-Ragel

As said in the previous post, currently I got nowhere to work...During the last month I had been busy clearing out the studio and helping out in the project held in the house in which I had practiced as an artist for the last months.

I was on easy mode during this month, enjoying the Maltese summer to the full with loads of beer, chilling on sandy beaches at night sipping wine, loads of swimming, reggae parties, so on and so forth.

During the second weekend of July (13-14) a he project , entitled Ir-Ragel (translates to The Man in my language, Maltese) was open to the public.  It consisted of a collaboration between author Glen Calleja and visual artist Robert Zahra.  The two collaborated together on the idea of man and the various roles and situations the man could be seen in.  The writing, all in Maltese, depicted the man in different perspectives, raging from of a breadwinner to a rapist.  The combination of media and form used to create the writing conveyed Calleja's idea of the man as someone which is all the time adjusting his position, while living up to his expectations and position that he has to hold in a particular environment.  For example, the idea of the man as a pillar was given by the text written in pencil, small words in different handwriting written over and over again to form a huge rectangle.  A bold black motto outlining the main theme behind the background text was written on top of the words, at the top of the text pillar.

The contradictions found within a man were also seen in Zahra's site-specific designs, where rough, sketchy images in charcoal and pencil were balanced out with floral-motif stencils.  Plastic doilies were used as stencils, doilies that were used by the artist's grandmother to whom the house belonged to.  

The room which served as my studio was turned into an installation, incorporating audio and audience participation.  Various layers were written on paper, and pasted on top of each other in a way that once the top layer is ripped, it reveals another layers.  The text consisted of sweeping statements, all starting with the work "Huwa", which translates to "He is".  Here's a short clip from the installation, along with a forgotten clip from my camera.

No More Studio Anymore

Once again I got no place to work, expect from my crammed bedroom...the studio I have been using courtesy of Robert Zahra, an artist friend of mine, is to be demolished soon to give way to a residence. I used to have a  room at the back of this 300 year old house, situated in a rural area within 10 minutes on foot from my house.

 I used to love the natural light that was present nearly all day round in my space.  Formerly a kitchen, it had a homely charm, with green tiles decorated with orange flowers and an old cupboard used to store food in, with slits in the handles to carry out the stink of cheese (yes, it dates from the time where cheese was put in cupboards not fridges).

Today I primed the last batch of canvas that I would be using for the androgyny series which I started months ago.  The series would be made up of 20 paintings, and I am considering of calling it "GAS".  The name derived from a discussing I had last night, and someone said that when you start to get involved with people from the same sex, it's like being young again and you 're just started dating and waiting for your first heart break.  In other words, my series is about the rediscovery of lust for life, where everyone you meet and everything you do gets you high and it's all new and exciting and push oneself to ephemeral emotional peaks which are rarely reached again later on in life.

The name also derives from the fact that gas, as a material in itself, is fluid and combines with which is best for the material to exist.  This pansexual fluidity is reflected in the nature of the works, where random scribblings can be seen in the background, scribblings that if put together can be seen as whole personality of someone who doesn't conform with the notions of sex.


So yeah, right now I'm on the look out for a new studio...I already visited one in Naxxar, which is already in use by a very good friend of mine, who's more into sculpture and traditional work with a contemporary twist.  The place is a former truck garage, it can take up to three trucks, the type used for construction.  At the moment it needs a major clean up and once that is done, I can move in.  Visiting artist studios in Berlin and sharing Robert's studio have consolidated my beliefs that working in isolation, locked up on your own producing work and protected it so that no one see it before it is officially exhibited is a loser's attitude.