Een begin

Sleurkunst begint vandag

Ik had twee boten

I

I did a few talks last year and I used this object, which is a grapfruit fork, to point towards a few different ideas. I used it to point to a piece of work I like wanted to reference, One and three chairs, by Joseph Kosuth; to Plato's Allegory of the Cave; and also I used it to point to the idea of a portmanteux, because people thought it was called a "spork". None of these reasons are why I am again drawing attention to it.

I have been thinking about the idea of the art object being a precious one. I have used a variety of objects for various "art" purposes, and in fact now have a good collection of these objects sitting in the corner of the studio. Ever since R.Mutt, we're aware of the consequences of placing an object in the gallery. I find these concequences difficult to let go.

II

I was putting away some things in the house, and I found the grapefruit fork lying in amongst a pile of notes, papers and magazines in my bedroom. I picked it up, and took it to the kitchen. I opened the drawer and threw it in to the "small spoon" section without giving it much thought. As soon as it hit the pile already in there, and became intermixed with the other spoons and grapefruit forks (about 6-10 in total), I panicked. I grabbed for the one I thought I had just discarded so casually moments before, and shut the drawer quickly. The one I returned to the drawer was quite obviously different from the others, noted by the attachment I clearly have with it. I am not 100% sure it was the one I had used in the talks that I took out.

III

I had done a show with some friends after finishing at art college, and in my shed I had a box of the stuff that was left over from when it closed. I had a pair of speakers, one of my friends works that he couldn't collect, and some materials. In the bag with materials I found the grapefruit fork I had used in the talk I gave at that show. My process for selecting the fork was this; I went to the kitchen, half talking to my Mum, saying something like "While I remember, I'm just going to grab one of those fork things, I'm going to use it in the talk next week", and I opened the drawer and took out the fork and then went and stuck it in my bag so I wouldn't forget it. Once I found that fork in the shed, I was faced with something I never wanted to be faced with. I had two grapefruit forks with the same power, yet I really was only supposed to have one. I put tape round the one that I found in the shed, so I could tell the difference between them, and I added them both to my pile of objects.

IV

Idea for an absurd Aktion.

Materials : all the grapefruit forks in my kitchen, and the two I have in my pile of objects (with the tape removed from the one which has it), a big-ish box, sellotape.

Action to be carried out : Put all the grapefruit forks into the box, tape it up, and place it on my desk.

Say out loud "You are all just grapefruit forks, from my Mum's kitchen. Two of you have been used to illustrate a point in my talk, however, you remain only a grapefruit fork. I release you from all responsibility from this secondary function, and I give you back your original identity as an anonymous grapefruit fork, only to be used on the occasion of eating grapefruit, or when there are no more teaspoons in the drawer and no one can be bothered washing one".

Shake the box vigorously.

Put it down, open it, and put the forks back in the drawer.

I am now free from this ridiculous burden/spell which I have been under. It is just a grapefruit fork.

V

I've never been a great fan of grapefruit to be honest, they are too sour.

KILL YOUR TIMID NOTION 2010

DUNDEE CONTEMPORARY ARTS, 21–28 FEB 2010

Yuck ’n Yum loves KYTN so much that we have spent hours in our bedrooms
lovingly compiling a super cool mixtape. To show how much we admire KYTN we
are sharing the fruits of our labour with their friends throughout the
festival.

YNY will transmit a 7 track mixtape via Bluetooth technology. Each day of
the festival one track will be transmitted, with all seven becoming
available for download on our website at the weekend of the festival. To
acquire the audio remember to turn your Bluetooth on!

The tracks being transmitted will feature works by local and Yuck ’n Yum
affiliated artists alongside KYTN performers.
These audio tracks will be transmitted straight to your phone for free.

remember, TURN YOUR BLUETOOTH ON!

My day is Tuesday, and the other artists involved are Edward Shallow, Ultra-Red, Ben Robinson, I Like Yellow Things, Dawn Campbell and The Box

I used to bring a beer or two into the studio in my final year at art college to drink while I was working. We'd always had a few beers in the studio some nights before we headed out. That was different though. 

I'm going to make a few changes to the layout and keep posting things here.