antony clarkson
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The Athole House Studio
Self-Isolation Artist Residency
30th March 2020 - 7th November 2021

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Over my career I have taken part in many artist residencies in various parts of the world; I have even organised and run a residency program myself. 2020 has brought new challenges to us all, I however intend to treat these challenges as opportunities. With this in mind today, the first day of my self-isolation having arrived back from my studio in the Untied States last night, I I launch my new blog which will become an integral part of this website as I redesign is over the coming weeks.

Artist Residencies give artists the space and perhaps more importantly the time to make new work; I intend to treat my time in self-isolation in the same way that I would if I were on an artist residency in another studio in another part of the world. Athole House Studio maybe one of my home studios but for me it is a work space, and lets face it, we all now have the time.

The Self-Isolation Residency 16th may 2020: Day 48

5/16/2020

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'The Distance of the Moon', Italo Calvino.

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Today I decided to return to a slightly different project, it’s something I’ve been considering for a while, I’ve even made other sketches in the past. I’m going back to it today for 2 reasons, the first is that I wanted a change and as it’s my residency its up to me what I do! But the second reason does have greater relevance to the blog as it addresses a specific aspect of the way I and indeed most artists make work; and that is the notion of inspiration.
 
In some ways I am quite different from a lot of other artist as my practice covers a wide number of disciplines; most artists tend to stick, loosely, to one area, painting, sculpture, print making etc. I on the other hand, and as I’m sure you’ve already realised work within a wide field within the visual arts. Not only does this free me to respond to inspiration in many ways, it also frees me to draw that inspiration form a wide variety of different stimuli. Often my work references art itself as its subject, but I like to think that I can draw inspiration from just about any aspect of the world. An area that I am very interested in but have seldom had the chance to explore previously is for want of a better word, ‘illustration’. No, there must be a better work, but this will suffice until I think of it. By illustration I mean it in its most literal term; visually illustrating a written medium.
 
It has to be said that I am a voracious reader and I read from a wide range of subjects. If I have a preference it is for what for what might be considered somewhat ‘surreal’ literature, particularly work by the predominately French Oulipo group. These were writers who generally gave themselves, ‘restraints’ in their writing technique to produce fresh approaches to the genre. Perhaps the best known, and certainly my two favourite members of the group were Georges Perec and Italo Calvino. And its to a Calvino short story that I go tonight. ‘The Distance of the Moon’ is one of my favourite short stories by Calvino, it’s actually one of his ‘Cosmicomics’, which I’d highly recommend you read, which is his main collection of short stories. Unlike seemingly similar collections of writings by other authors these all are linked, and it is that link that gives the collection its unique charm. ‘The Distance of the Moon’ is also available in the Penguin Modern Series with a couple other Cosmicomics for just £1 including delivery, so if you want a taste of his writing without an initial expense, I would also recommend this.
All of the above said I’m not going to go into detail about the story itself , you should read that for yourself, other than to say that the wonderful and unique imagery has need in my head for quite some time and now at last I have some time to explore it illustratively. It creates an image of a time when it was possible to travel to the moon by arcane means and reminds me of HG Wells ‘The First Man in the Moon’ and the wonderful film ‘The Mouse on the Moon, humorous and surreal, or do I have to call it steam-punk now? Anyway, as you can probably tell this is a work in progress, from initial sketches to a development drawing and then to a variant idea that I will probably pursue next. Watch this space for more developments!
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  • CODEX
    • plane >
      • Apophenia: An Uncanny Presence.
      • Control(s)
      • Personal Topographies
      • The Self-Isolation Residency
      • Americana
      • Mauve Skies
      • Scotland
      • Selected Drawing & Paintings,
      • The Teaching Years
      • Spatial Paintings 2006-2008
      • Paintings 2006
    • mass >
      • The Blind Men and the Elephant.
      • Spatial Conceptions 2014 - 2022
      • Painted Objects
      • Autograph
      • The Newtonian Nightmare
    • volume >
      • Enso nest
      • Someone else's storey
      • Shower, The Process Residency 2013,
      • Concrete Haiku
      • Atypical
      • The Murder of Crows.
      • Composition in White (Painting), The Breathe Residency:
      • Composition in White (Sculpture), The Breathe Residency:
      • Floorplan
      • Paper Scissors Rock
      • Pilgrimage
      • The Fifth Column
      • Tension
      • Arch
    • blogs >
      • The Self-Isolation Residency: Blog 2020-2021
      • Apophenia: An Uncanny Presence. 2022
    • artist statement
    • cv & education
    • contact