David Booth - Broomhill Sculpture Prize

2010-10-12T13:46:00.000-07:00

The Judges Winner - Glynn Griffiths with Earth Seed
The Public Speaks Winner - Claudia Borgna with Oasis
(Public vote: Claudia, Charlie and joint 3rd place runners up Glynn and David Booth)

The judges also awarded a ‘special commendation' to David Pratt, Charlie Hawkins, Claudia Borgna and Dawn van Gerven.

Congratulations to everyone.

Thankyou to everyone who voted for me
- fantastic to have achieved joint 3rd place.

I have learnt alot from being a finalist and the experience undoubtedly contributed to my recent curated commission for Wirksworth Art Festival. This was a sculptural intervention in St. Mary’s Church whose context was derived from the population census statistics for 1801, 1901 and 2001 - comparing the figures and converting into a percentage comparison. The sculpture physically models the statistics on the changing population of Wirksworth, physically manifesting them using tens of thousands of coloured balloons using 3 colours each representing the percentage for a different century. The choice of balloons is their association to celebration and the way I have used them alludes to the way Wirksworth has successfully re-invented itself through the centuries. Created using 45,000 balloons and 2 sculpture were suspended in the church belltower - one representing the past 1801,1901 and the other representing the present 2001 - an image of this one is seen below. For more images and to keep in touch with my work please visit my website.

www.davidbooth.uk.com

2010-08-19T10:55:00.000-07:00

2010-08-08T12:05:00.000-07:00

2010-08-08T11:57:00.000-07:00

Visited Broomhill today so that I could show some pictures of how the landscape has changed in the last 3 months.

2010-06-28T12:38:00.000-07:00

2010-06-05T02:37:00.000-07:00

TITLE:
Punched 3611 times,
Folded multiple times,
Finally stood up.

MATERIALS: Foam-backed Vinyl Flooring, Steel Tube
SIZE: 8ft(h)x5ft(w)x4ft(d)

The reason for the aesthetic of folds in my sculpture is that it is a progression of earlier work which I have done on a smaller scale on the theme “Folded: Repetition, Distraction, Comfort”. This context came from a personal realisation that at times of stress, illness and grief distraction can offer an escape, time to heal and comfort. For me I needed this during and after my fathers diagnosis and death from bowel cancer and it was this that made me reassess my own life and make the decision to pursue my artistic ambitions and set me on this journey. I wanted to produce a sculpture that represented the journey to heal and recover - the folds are a metaphor for distraction techniques. People can choose to do tasks which range from jigsaws, knitting to distract, or in the extreme self harm or rocking movement - which can become a natural defence - to repress emotions that are unmanageable. The key is that the distraction is most effective if it is repetitive and the fold is my choice to represent that. The number of folds and their variety represents a measure of the journey.
The varied widths of folds represent how distraction techniques are not always as effective at different times; the folds will become calmer and smaller to signify comfort. I have chosen to thread the material on steel ( to illude to personal strength or support that you need to find ) and I have bent into organic aesthetic that reaches for the sky to represent life and growth. The material was chosen for its connection to the domestic and home, and because using ‘floor’ in a sculptural way that reaches up - underlines the escape that distraction does offer visually lifting you off the floor. For me, creativity is my escape.

The work is titled “Punched 3611 times, Folded multiple times, Finally stood up.”

This title underlines both the context and the making of the piece for which I punched 3611 holes to be able to thread the work.

2010-05-21T13:37:00.000-07:00

2010-05-21T13:30:00.000-07:00

2010-05-21T13:25:00.000-07:00

2010-05-21T12:39:00.000-07:00

All secured and set of at 08:00 Thursday and arrived at Broomhill in afternoon 12:30- good journey.
Brilliant day - weather's fantastic.

Agreed a spot for the sculpture - a beautiful setting
and a fantastic backdrop.

Worked hard Thursday afternoon and
finished off Friday morning. Really pleased
with how it looks.

2010-05-19T13:59:00.001-07:00

Moved the sculpture from the workshop and loaded in the van ready for journey to Devon tomorrow.
Covered a lot of the sculpture to protect it during the move.

I'll update the blog next week after the installation - fingers crossed for good weather.

2010-05-13T14:44:00.000-07:00

2010-05-13T14:28:00.000-07:00

Took sculpture out for a photoshoot!
- before it goes to Broomhill

I wanted to have a picture of the sculpture
in a different environment before it
goes to Devon.

Looking forward to installing sculpture
at Broomhill next week.

2010-05-08T10:13:00.000-07:00

Punched 3611 times
Folded multiple times
Finally stood up

2010-05-08T10:04:00.000-07:00

Counted the holes I've punched 3611

2010-05-03T03:31:00.000-07:00

I've booked transport of sculpture with www.artcarriage.co.uk

2010-04-26T12:43:00.000-07:00

Took sculpture off bench
and lay down on floor.
Steel Base plate deliberately made
circular with 'spoke' holes
so that sculpture can be rotated
onsite when deciding orientation
on installation.
Painting base with red-oxide to rust proof.

2010-04-26T12:35:00.000-07:00

Pieces cut and base welded on.

2010-04-26T12:22:00.000-07:00

Cover work in cling-film
to protect it while moving
work onto bench.

2010-04-26T12:11:00.000-07:00

I have collected all the holes that I have punched
to make my sculpture. I'm going to keep them and
make some new work with them - it took such a
repetitive effort and time that I feel compelled to make
work that will get the most out of them!

Going to get round to count them
- wonder how many holes I've had to punch...

2010-04-21T11:29:00.000-07:00

Next step will be to weld the base onto
sculpture.

2010-04-20T13:31:00.000-07:00

Punching holes ready for threading

2010-04-18T11:56:00.000-07:00

As I'm cutting the lino into strips and punching holes by hand, I have become very aware of how to space the holes to obtain the folds that I want. I have deliberately cut various widths of strips so that I'm able to choose the pieces to thread - the wider strips can be used to add perceived weight. Referring back to the context of my work - the folds are my metaphor for distraction techniques and how their repetition can be used to provide comfort and escape. The varied widths of folds represent how distraction techniques are not always as effective at different times; the folds will become calmer and smaller to signify comfort. I have chosen to thread the lino on steel ( illude to personal strength or support that you need to find ) and I have bent into organic inspired stems that reach for the sky - as the lino is folded on the stems to represent life and growth. A vital element to the work is that it has an organic aesthetic suggesting growth - that will be enhanced by its outdoor site - and that reaches for the sky.

2010-04-18T04:51:00.000-07:00

Starting to take shape.

2010-04-15T14:28:00.000-07:00

Cutting linoleum into strips and punching holes
to fold and thread

2010-04-09T11:25:00.000-07:00

I've started to experiment with threading
the linoleum folds

2010-04-09T11:06:00.000-07:00

Fifth coat of paint on sculpture.
Lay sculpture down whilst applying
final touches.

2010-04-07T11:37:00.000-07:00

2010-04-07T10:51:00.000-07:00

Back in workshop today. Starting putting coats of white solvent gloss over the base coats of red oxide. This will take about another 2 days - waiting for drying.

Also began cutting linoleum into strips and punching holes.

2010-04-03T12:52:00.001-07:00

I have had to consider how I was going to make the holes in the linoleum so that I can thread onto steel. I located set of hole punches that I can use with hammer to punch each hole - this is going to take some time!

Decided I'm going to collect the punched out 'holes'. I've located a foam-backed linoleum that is the same colour front/back/edge. I've started punching some holes - workshop closed over the Easter so I won't be able to continue working on sculpture until tuesday.

2010-04-01T14:00:00.000-07:00

I manipulated the steel and trialled different compositions until I was satisfied, then I fixed the pieces in position using wire and string so that I could weld the pieces together - having to think carefully about the best places for the welds that would hold the structure but still allow the sculpture to be threaded. Next I welded bolts into the ends of the tubes to enable me to have a thread that I will be able to use to 'terminate' the stems and hold the threaded material. Next I have given the steel 2 coats of red-oxide paint to weatherproof the steel.

2010-04-01T13:47:00.000-07:00

2010-04-01T13:19:00.000-07:00

Began by working with material - having decided to scale sculpture up after visiting steel works I selected to use steel tube rather than bar which I can get in 6 metre lengths.
I ordered 6 x 6m steel tube lengths and had them delivered to the workshop. I have located a pipe bending machine that I am going to use to manipulate the steel into organic shapes.

This is a great machine that enables me to adjust the curve and move/rotate the steel as it is guided through to produce the shapes I wanted.

2010-04-01T13:00:00.000-07:00

Sketching ideas

2010-03-31T13:18:00.000-07:00

Really pleased to have been selected as one of the ten finalists for the Broomhill Sculpture prize, and looking forward to developing my proposal. I intend to use steel and linoleum as my materials and have made initial maquettes out of elastic bands to explore shapes and forms.

Background to my work
The reason for the aesthetic of folds in my sculpture is that it is a progression of earlier work which I have done on a smaller scale on the theme “Folded: Repetition, Distraction, Comfort”.
This theme came from a personal realisation of the comfort that distraction can give at times of stress, illness and grief, that this can offer an escape , time to heal and comfort. For me I needed this during and after my fathers diagnosis and death from bowel cancer and it was this that made me reassess my own life and make the decision to pursue my artistic ambitions and set me on this journey. I wanted to produce a sculpture that represented the journey to heal and recover - the folds are a metaphor for distraction techniques. People can choose to do tasks which range from jigsaws, knitting to distract, or in the extreme self harm or rocking movement - which can become a natural defence - to repress emotions that are unmanageable. The key is that the distraction is most effective if it is repetitive and the fold is my choice to represent that. The number of folds and their variety represents a measure of the journey. The material - linoleum - was chosen for its connection to the domestic and home, and because using it, ‘floor’, in a sculptural way that reaches up underlines the escape that distraction does offer visually lifting you off the floor. For me creativity is my escape. Through this sculpture I want to increase the fluidity and organic qualities to push the inspiration and belief that it can be achieved. The work will fit into the outdoor environment - borrowing aesthetic references from fungal growths.