First week back at college

... and a new form of "TravelWriting" - the empty centre -

Tuesday's seminar gave people a chance to get feedback on the work they'd done over the holiday, mostly for their major project. Some people explained their work, and some gave no explanation but asked for questions about it. An interesting day, and I found it very energizing to be "back at work". The class and tutors gave me several new leads and avenues to pursue - and by the next morning this had percolated into a subsidiary project with a whole new emphasis, more of which later.

One topic that came up was electronic books -- we all seemed to have opinions about them, but only one person had ever used one! He brought it in next day; "can you read in the dark" we asked - no, it's not that kind of screen, but it does have its own little light -

The lecture on Wednesday afternoon was by Vong Phaophanit, whose neon tubes have found their way into all sorts of places. Fascinating - see his work here. Encountering Neon Rice Field in 1993, and What Falls to the Ground just last year, were big art experiences for me.

The library discovery of the week was the "x hours in the Pacific Ocean" drawings of Nottingham artist Peter Matthews. While teaching in Mexico he stapled paper to a board, which floated in the water; clutching waterproof pens, he stood in the water beside the board and drew for 2, 4, 7, even 11 hours -
He's drawing the experience of being in the ocean ... how do you draw the sea?
(Don't try this off UK shores, or at this time of year.)