Artisticulate - Total Quality

Mick Kirkby Geddes and I revealed our interactive board game , "Artisticulate", to the crowd at the Art Market Pop-Up on the evening of the 23rd.

4 contestants, all wearing suitable head gear, move round the board picking up art materials and 

spinning the wheel of fortune.  The wheel sends the player back or forward using real life experiences of being an artist.  For example "Your work explodes in the kiln - go back one", "Your exhibition sells out- go forward one" (I'm not sure who experienced their work being burnt to a cinder by marauding Anarchists).

The delectable Emma Kirkby Geddes featured as our very own Debbie Magee.

When the first person bounds over the finish line the board-game aspect of Artisticulate comes to an end. Each player then chooses an object off the bonus shelf, and positions themself infront of one of our unique and eye-catching plinths.  When everyone is present and the atmosphere is super charged with creative juice they have 30 seconds to render the best piece of art they can out of the pieces they have collected.

2 random judges are chosen to work their way along, referring with each other, and choose a winner.  The winners, much to everyone else's envy, win a prize (made of paper mache):

Other examples of the works created:

All very inspiring stuff!

Who knows, maybe some day Artisticulate might be round your ways.......

ARTISTICULATE - TOTAL QUALITY

cavaman

For a while now I've been creating "Cavaman" figures out of the corks and wire stays off bottles of Cava.

                                                                              photo by john coombes


                                          "Angel with Umbrella" by Tristram Thirkell

Recently I've had the distinct privilege of working alongside Liz Walker, founder of Invisible Thread, (www.invisiblethread.co.uk) -  at the last Art Market (www.artmarkets.co.uk) and on one last year where we wowed the passing punters with our "Cavaman" scenes.

                                                                                                                          photo by john coombes

                 " Alice in wonderland" and "Gallic Cycling" by Tristram Thirkell and Liz Walker

Our productivity levels were slightly down this time round - we lavished our time on the first piece of our new oeuvre, "Rapunzel", and the in house catering demanded proper appreciation.

The alcohol consumption is a shared burden (between just about everyone we know) but we try and use the leftovers to reenact myths or whatever takes our fancy really.

                                                                                                                          photo by john coombes


                                    "Black Swan" by Tristram Thirkell and Liz Walker

"Snorkelling" and "Red Riding Hood" are currently in the making.  "Cavaman" will keep you updated!

"The bank of England says..."

                                                            "The bank of England says...."


So this is what the trampoline and abdominizers became.  It's about 6' tall and its eyes swing, independently.  Eerie....

on the off chance some poor so and so is reading this i'll fill you in.
woke up (always pleasantly surprising)
went to work
got home


Now this is where things got even more interesting.  Having received a stern reprimand for the "rubbish" on the drive (my pleas of "work in progress" witheringly ignored) i am endeavouring to create a rather large face out of an old trampoline stand and two 'Abdominizers' (they really work apparently - which is rather odd, i hear the reader say, for why were they in the skip?).  It's for the pop - up art market show.  I'm loosing the battle on the welding front - the metals are vastly different thicknesses and my welds eat up the thinner tube.  It's red hot magma meltdown. 

Here's a picture of my beautiful drive with the offending articles strewn over it.  if i manage to post another picture of them they might well have morphed into something....entirely different.  All heady stuff.

                             fig.21
Fig 21 has no forbears in the fig world.  It does however capture my stall at the art market.  Enjoy!

Had a groovy time exhibiting at the art market on the 10th.  Plenty of gorgeous stuff around and a steady stream of people.  Had some interesting feedback - strangely it was the kids that seemed to tune into the pieces more quickly than the adults.  Maybe when they start earning they'll come look me up and by my latest oeuvre! It'll be some strange currency by then - marzipan ingots or platinum pennies.
Onward with something for the pop up auction on the 23rd but first, a bath.  It's all heady stuff.

About Me

Welcome to my world

My name is Tristram Thirkell. I trained in furniture design, became a builder and am now evolving into an artist.  I've always been fascinated by my hands and together we explore all manner of creative avenues.  I am most intrigued by recycled art but have recently been awed by the power of welding and the myriad places it can take you.  The discipline of Hephaistos is one I am doing battle with as we speak.

I love 

The process of creating something that did not previously exist and discovering new perspectives, usually by taking a turn I didn't mean to.  

My inspiration 

My Wife to be, Victoria Robinson and my sculptor friend Brendan Hesmondhalgh who host The Art Market in Holmfirth, where I live. It is an amazing event for artists, designer and makers to be involved with. http://www.artmarkets.co.uk

Piles of discarded stuff is a bit of a turn-on, Stig of the dump stylee.  The new lease of life from a component that was designed for something totally different.  Constructivism and the De Stijl school are particular heroes.

Favourite piece of work to date has to be inventing a board game with Mick Kirkby Geddes that traces the journey of an artist, from zero to art hero or making a space helmet for my nephew out of a broken Flymo strimmer  

People that inspire me are De Stijl, Bahaus, Kandinsky, sky scrapers, Barcelona, building materials, Withnail and I, my grandma's knitted sweaters from the early nineties

Keep popping in for updates folks and Thank you for stopping by! :  )