Zeitgeister

The extra-extra-ordinary pet boutique

2011-12-30T20:22:00.007Z

This is one of a secret club's workshops, I shouldn't forget to write about.

The extra-extra-ordinary pet boutique or den extra-extra-ordinære kæledyrsbutik as we called it in Danish, was a workshop a secret club was commissioned to develop for Aarhus Kommune Biblioteker, the city's libraries.

This paper based workshop was developed and designed for young children aged 5 to 11 and was held at the libraries at Åby and Skødstrup in September this year.

To get started, participating kids chose from our many templates to construct an animal mask that presented an amalgamation of all the features of all the animals they ever would have liked to have as a pet, if they could.

the face changer and other templates

One could combine the templates together in many different ways, so the possibilities to create rare, wonderfully strange, dangerous, funny and disarmingly charming pets were endless!

Here you can see our workshop at Skødstrup library, which was one of the nicest libraries I have ever been to.
Jane Kloster had joined a secret club for this event and all together we got going and created some amazing pet masks with the children and sometimes also their parents.

two related beasts show off their extra-ordinary fine ears

bits and pieces with potential

We repeated the workshop at the library in Åby, where some of the friends of a secret club returned.

You can see one of them here with Kenn! As it turned out, he was as in fact fast as lightning and it was hard to catch a glimpse of him - a wild little creature!
He had a broad winning smile and apparently asked to have some bum feathers too ;)

Antlors and horns of different types proved to be quite popular as well as super long floppy ears and sometimes excessive amounts of fur was asked for!

One could choose between black or white paper as a base for the mask and then pick from a wide range of coloured pieces of papers to cut out and add noses, whiskers, spots and stripes and more.

At the end of the afternoon, parents and their favourite pets left us, they seemed happy for having had the opportunity to play!

A little Christmas magic

2011-12-30T18:21:00.008Z

Shane Brox had an exhibition at Den Gamle By (The Old Town) this Christmas.
Being one of my favourite places in Aarhus, this open-air village museum with its historical buildings offers a fitting frame to Mr Brox' extra-ordinary glue-gun creations and arrangements of toys.

Apparently, suitcases full of beautiful old toys were lend to him by the museum to be arranged in his very individual way.
The display is amazing, it tells stories wherever you look. There is humour and irony and a critical view not only on urban living in particular but on life in general, that you can perceive if you look a little closer.

The following photograph on the right, to me is like a scene from Desperate Housewives, a bit plastic and surreal, the doll is doing her gardening, just like Bree van de Kamp.

In 2009, I spent Christmas in Denmark and that was when I first saw Shane Brox' childrens' Christmas program 'Shanes Verden' (Shane's World) on Danish TV. I felt truly inspired then and now I still admire the wonderful mix of toys of all different types, sizes and makes - toys made from tin, plastic, wood, knitted, sewn or glued - all blended together to tell stories and populate a magical and highly imaginative landscape.

Here is a trailer of 'Shanes Verden':

What I find so inspiring is that Shane Brox creates characters and toys from everyday objects (egg boxes, tetra paks, cardboard, etc.) that would usually end up in the bin. He certainly is not afraid of kitsch, but I think this lends his cardboard friends their special charm and an edge that makes them memorable and honestly, it is amazing to watch how he can fix together just about anything with a glue gun!

So I am a Shane Brox fan!
His work has been all over the shops this Christmas, and I am hoping that although there was a Shane Brox Advent calendar, one could buy and DIY kits and workshops one could attend, that the increasing popularity of his work will not turn his great ideas mainstream.

Mio, Kenn and I play with a huge Sammelsurium (a disordered and unsystematic collection) of objects and toys, too and love it. You can create an imaginative united world where everything finds its place!

As I am talking about Christmas magic, I have to mention also a long lived tradition in my house.

I am a real fan of Christmas stories and winter fairy tales and every year I watch Drei Haselnüsse für Aschenbrödel (Three wishes for Cinderella).
My very best friend from school days gave it to me on DVD, so although I haven't lived in Germany for a very long time, I don't have to miss out!
Thanks, Karin, you are the best!

Although from 1973, this film has aged incredibly well and I probably have watched it since I was 7 years old, every year, every Christmas. I guess, I am hopelessly romantic, but this film just propels me into this dream world and I can't think of anything more magic than galloping on a white horse through the snow and forest :)
It also makes me think of a naughty horse, I used to ride in London - I miss you, Jude!

This trailer is part two of the film, but it is the one with the horse, the snow and the forest:)

I am already looking forward to watching it next year!

Duplo Santa

2011-12-23T22:16:00.005Z

My little son Mio got a huge box of Lego Duplo for his
1st birthday.

We have a lot of fun with it- I build and he destroys :)

Merry Christmas!

Making ghost jam and other yummy stuff

2011-12-13T10:58:00.010Z

My obsession with making preserves started probably about three years ago.

Living in Brockley then, right next to the Brockley & Ladywell Cemetary gave Kenn and me the inspiration, because we found out that one can forage for the most amazing and succulent blackberries there.

They grow on thick scratchy bushes, the kind, that one would imagine grew around Sleeping Beauty as she lay there sleeping for too many years.

When picking berries, I usually dive right in to reach for the biggest berries and of course, I come out badly scratched on my arms and legs. Somehow, I never seem to care too much about it at the time, although I do get quite annoyed when I want to wear a skirt, but look like I have been in a fight with a couple of wild cats.

I even destroyed Kenn's favourite Muji raincoat this year (in the vain attempt to protect my skin). I didn't mean to poke hundreds of holes into it, it kind of just happened :( I guess I am getting a bit carried away when foraging!
I still feel guilty about the raincoat, but the jam was amazing, especially the one where we added a bit of vanilla!

Unfortunately, it wasn't ghost jam this year, as we don't live in Brockley anymore, but the Danish blackberries were also pretty yummy!

Each time, I draw individual labels for the jars of jam, marmalade and jelly and of course for the bottles of syrup.
It is fun to do and once the cupboard is full, without a label, I would not be able to remember what delicious treasure is in where.

This year, Kenn and I tried to preserve lots of new things too. We made an apple jam with cardamom, which is one of my favourite spices. We foraged for elderberries and pears, here in Aarhus and made syrup. From the elderflowers,we made cordial, which is very aromatic and refreshing! And when we where on holiday this summer, we picked lots and lots of rosehips. But to be honest, I thought they were a bit of a pain to clean and deseed!

We also made hedgerow jelly (there is a great receipe from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall), which has a mix of apples and rosehips.

Recently, I experimented with making preserved lemons. The jury is still out on whether it is any good, as one is meant to leave it closed for at least four weeks. I am very curious!

A couple of weeks ago, we also tried our hands at making our very first batch of English orange marmalade.
The one where we added whiskey is now my absolute super-über favourite!
It is so good that I could eat it straight from the jar, although on a piece of fresh bread with butter, it is simply heaven!

Medal making fun with a secret club

2011-12-07T15:17:00.012Z

This September, at the Aarhus Festuge - the city's annual festival-
a secret club was commissioned to hold its famous medal making/faking workshop at the Tivoli on family sunday.

The workshop took place outside all day and to be protected from the elements a bit, for the first time, we used our own tent, which was of course embellished with our very own en hemmelig klub (a secret club) sign and customized bunting. I had even sewn a large schhh.org banner in matching colours!

The lovely Jane Kloster had joined a secret club for this event, and together we trained and assisted many kids and grown ups in medal making and faking.

In the morning, we had neatly laid out all workshop materials on a side table, but as the day wore on, it got so busy and just look at our table!
Coloured pieces of paper were everywhere, stencils were passed on from one child to the next, one had to dig to find our little treasure chest with the coins and even the miracle coin polish got tipped over twice...

It was great fun! At times we even had to ask people to come back in a little while, because there were no seats left.

Once a medal was completed, the participants could use our magnificent lie generator and roll Kenn's fabulous dice with symbols to come up with a tall tale of glory and honour to match their colourful creations.

Here are some of our proud medallists!

Bernadette Belvedere...

2011-12-07T14:11:00.007Z

... and the Tales from the Sneaky Crypt.

May I present to you, Bernadette Belvedere (aka Bernie), eccentric bon-vivant of Baton Rouge, who will be remembered and sadly missed as a bat extraordinaire.
It is said, that she tragically collided in flight with a chandelier after having lost her voice of sonar brilliance due to extensive, prolonged and uninterrupted singing at the Duke of Battington's 86th birthday pary.
She is survived by a battalion of befuddled nieces and nephews who discovered after her death, that Bernie had squandered away billions of baht left by her departed husband Bartholomew Belvedere (the late owner of Belvedere Batter Factory) on hosting lavish parties and entertaining her bohemian artist friends.

This was my sculpture for Sneaky Raccoon's Halloween Show, Tales from the Sneaky Crypt, held at the kidrobot store in London.
As I found out later, it was snapped up fairly quickly by an avid collector. This made me very happy, also because the profits went to charity (Macmillan Cancer Support).

Thanks Sneaky for inviting me to take part in the show!

Permission to Haunt

2011-11-01T14:27:00.017Z

It all happened on Halloween near St. Paul's Cathedral...

To indulge in some ghoulish fun, kids could apply for a permission to haunt One New Change, as it had come to our attention that this new shopping centre didn't have any ghosts at all!

A secret club did the concept development for this Halloween event for The House of Fairy Tales last year.

Kenn Munk and I had a lot of fun coming up with the concept, which was inspired by the old Fighting Fantasy system, but turning it into a geographical experience.
Children applied for a Permission to Haunt, which led them and their parents on an extraordinary explorational journey through the area.

With the ghost office being the first stop on this spooky adventure, children would receive the necessary paperwork to be trained either as an apparition or a poltergeist. Written instructions were posted all around the area, to encourage children to read themselves into a paranormal story, partly of their own making.

Ghostly office clerks and other ghoulish undead of many kinds were there to help them along with different playful challenges, but also sometimes just to confuse them with their overzealous ghost office bureaucracy.

Happy haunting!

Summer is gone...

2011-09-19T20:00:00.015+01:00

I love the Scandinavian way of escaping to a summer house to take a break. Being away from the city, surrounded by nature, lots of fresh air and a lake nearby or even better the sea, is my idea of relaxing.

This summer, we took some time out to drive from the East to the West coast of Denmark. This sounds farther than it actually is, but Denmark is only a small country. Including lots of breaks for our little guy, we got to the Ringkøbing Fjord in less than 6 hours.

We took a lot with us, so that we wouldn't need many shopping trips once we were there and would have all the things we need to get comfy in our little hideout. Baby has a lot of stuff too. And there was a moment when I thought, oh dear, we have become one of those families now; taking forever to get ready and bringing half the house along...

Kenn and I both felt still drained after two and a half months of severe sleep deprivation and chilling out involved more procrastination of the kind that is sitting with a can of beer or a glass of wine or trying out a new recipe for delicious barbecue spare ribs or simply watching TV. We had our sketchbooks with us, but I must admit my entries were a bit poor on this holiday. However, I enjoyed taking photographs of the things I encountered on walks and on the day trips we took!

I captured these little gems on a walk on the heath and in the forest, where I also disturbed a beautiful wild hare! I was as startled as he was, so no time to take a photograph. He was the most gigantic, gorgeous hare I have ever seen and he will live on as this amazing memory; whenever I tell about him, he grows bigger and bigger :)

Then, there also was this amazing kids' playhouse amidst the fields not far away from where we stayed - magic!
It makes me remember how much I wanted a tree house as a child. Actually, I think, I still want one now!

We wouldn't have dreamt of it, but on this holiday, baby learned to sleep 10 hours a night.
It must have been the peaceful quiet, the pitch black nights, the abundance of fresh sea air or the combination of all of the above, that have done it, or baby just decided that he had enough of seeing his parents' panda eyes getting the size of saucers.

So, the holiday was amazing!
Lots of walks through the heath and dunes, along the beach, in the sun and rain, little day adventures to explore the Fjord and what it had to offer. Here are a few of the highlights:

Nymindegab Museum with its fantastic sperm whale skeleton

and other beautiful stuff inside and out.

We took a trip to...

... where we saw someone's feathery collection in a cellar window...

and also visited the town's annual Sand Art Festival.

Technically, this was truly amazing, how can one make things like this out of sand?!
But pretty instantly, I found myself in deep discussion with Kenn about art in general, what is art, etc.? Gawd! This is a bottomless pit we found ourselves in, we both agreed! Well, I wouldn't call this sand art 'art' really, but what is it then? Just because I don't like it in terms of its subject matter and particular style, it doesn't make it less of an art, I suppose. But I have also to admit that in my late teens, I really admired fantasy art of this kind and would have probably been tickled pink, had I seen this exhibition then.

One of our favourite places on this holiday was Abelines Gaard Museum.
It is kind of living history. Built from 1854 to 1871, it has been run as a farm by a widow called Abeline and her 5 children for more than half a century.

What an amazing place!
Packed with beautiful things of times long gone, lovingly arranged and laid out, it felt a bit like traveling time, as we walked from room to room.

The café was also very cosy. Once you had paid to enter the museum, you could come back again without paying on another day. I liked this and we returned to the museum to have another look around and also for the lovely coffee.
The Danes call this big blue enamel coffepot, Madame Blå. It works like a perculator and coffee is STRONG!

Here are some pictures of different rooms in the museum. It felt sometimes like people still lived there and just had left the room for a moment. I took a lot of inspiration from this place.

We also went to Varde, where Mio checked out the famous miniature town. Suddenly, things were a lot smaller than he was!
He really loved it and we had to hurry up to keep up with him!

On another day we drove to these hunter cabins in Værneengene.
On first sight they seemed deserted and although it was in the middle of the afternoon, it was a tiny bit spooky there.
Each cabin looked different and their owners most likely had built them themselves. Nobody was there, probably out hunting.
I imagined how in the evening the game hunters would return and sit together and drink beer and puff a pipe and tell their tales. If a foreigner would happen to pass by, it would get very, very quiet.

This image of a Fisherman is kind of iconic in Denmark. I have seen paintings of it again and again and wasn't surprised to find it on this hunter's cabin, however, this time as a relief!

Most days though, we would try to head to the beach, if the weather wasn't to rough.
The North Sea coast is breezy and we had to wrap up warm. Strolling along we saw quite a lot of jelly fish, but luckily we only encountered them on land. They had the most beautiful intense blue and turquoise colouration. Apparently the red ones are the ones to watch in the water, as they can sting.

Of course a secret club had to have its own little beach museum at Bjerregård Stranden!
We had scavenged the beach for interesting bits and pieces washed up by the seashore. It was a lot of fun, although sometimes things were a bit smelly. Anything found made from plastic had this really amazing washed out quality and caught my eye, as I searched for potential museum material.

It felt good making something while we were there, especially as we used found materials. The museum was only small, but things are still out there for people to see and also eventually to be claimed back by the elements!

To happy summer holiday memories! So long!

Meet the forest spirits...

2011-09-09T15:43:00.019+01:00

This summer a secret club prepared for a very special project indeed:
"Skovens Ånder", which is Danish for forest spirits.

For a long time we had wanted to do a kids' event in a forest that had a sense of magic about it. Forests are connected to some of my most treasured childhood memories. Forests can be places for adventures and many of my most loved stories begin with a forest as a place of magic and wonder.

So aiming to create a playful and imaginative reality, a secret club set about planning an activity for children and adults to enjoy on a Saturday afternoon in July in a forest near Aarhus.

There were many things to plan and prepare and Kenn and I kept busy, e.g. there were the beautiful forest spirit masks Kenn designed...

... and the prizes we created for the kids to find.

And finally in the two weeks running up to the event, two of our indispensable helpers, Jane and Line, joined me to make some costumes to wear on the day, involving lots of feathers and pine cones, Kenn and I had collected for weeks in anticipation. It was amazing how much the girls and I got done with some hard graft in a couple of days and in the end we had an outfit for each of us to transform us into proper forest spirits.

So then one fine Saturday in July a secret club met with a group of children and their parents in a forest.

Customizing their masks, they transformed themselves into amazing forest spirits who wandered the woods and picked up rubbish left behind by humans.
Along the way they were introduced to us, a number of other extraordinary forest spirits; some to listen to, some to talk to, some to play with, and some to discover.

As they made their way through the woods, the young forest spirits found themselves playing a game where they would win prizes simply by finding them.

On the rainy Sunday following that fine Saturday, Kenn and I met the forest spirits again (this time also with Mio) at the cinema "Øst for Paradis" where we watched "Spirited Away" - a wonderful Japanese animation about a whole world of other spirits, after having drawn beautiful pictures of some forest spirits friends.
These drawings will be later made into a short film.

was realised with help and support from Øst for Paradis, Camera Film, Børnekulturpuljen and The Danish Film Institute.

Thanks to the many friendly participants who signed up and joined us on Saturday and Sunday and of course big thanks to our fantastic helpers, Jane, Line and Sabrina, this event turned out rather magical!

And of course as always there was bunting too...
Until next time!

Bibs of the week

2011-08-13T21:45:00.006+01:00

My little son Mio has his way with food.

Looking at his bibs from day to day, I realize that I find the transformation from clean to dirty quite amazing!
The patterns of the aftermath are not only each day uniquely different but the range of colours, carrots and blueberries make is not to be underestimated.

My friend Maria once showed me the paintings she did with her eldest son, Sander, using squashed blueberries one summer, which really impressed me.
I guess, at the moment, Mio prefers the taste of blueberries to painting with them!

A secret clubhouse - et hemmeligt klubhus

2011-07-22T12:57:00.020+01:00

A secret club has just finished its June run of children's workshops at Skolemarken legeplads in Aarhus, Denmark.
Every Saturday in June, we set up our clubhouse in a little blue wooden cabin at this magnificent kids' playground and hosted a different event each week.

The 4th June had a mountaineering theme and because the playground is located in a neighbourhood called Frederiksbjerg, which means Frederik's mountain, children could climb and conquer that imaginary mountain (there are no mountains in Denmark!) and plant their flag at the top. Children followed a story trail and drew their own flags, made explorer beard masks and rare alpine flowers from paper to plant into flower pots. Along the way some also spotted a yeti or two and in order to warn other mountaineers of those rather intimidating beings, pictures of these sightings were painted and displayed at the cabin. The mountain folk (Kenn and I) were ready to help any stray explorer back on track.

The 11th June was all about making things move! We had set up two zoetropes, made from a discarded old pram, and participating children had a go at drawing their own short animations. It was amazing to see how lively their drawings became - flowers were nodding their heads, cyclists speeded up and down a hilly landscape and colourful balls bounced up and down. Each premiere drew a little crowd. We also made thaumatropes and flickbooks that day. Thanks to Jane Kloster for being an amazing helper on the day!

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On 18th June we set up a camera obscura inside the secret clubhouse to introduce kids to the magic of seeing the world from a different perspective. Although the weather let us down a bit, we had some keen visitors who wanted to play. Once inside the cabin, one had to close the door and first get his/her eyes used to the surrounding darkness. After a few minutes one could see what was going on outside in front of the secret clubhouse projected on a screen, which was one or two dancing scientists in white lab coats dancing in the rain on their heads!
But unfortunately by 2pm the weather had turned from very grey to very wet and it was chucking down rain in buckets. So this workshop finished slightly earlier.

On the last Saturday, June 25th, a secret clubhouse became the centre of the world's smallest festival. I had made us special totem hats to wear, which you can see below. There was even a small one for baby Mio!
Fellow artist Ida Elke and her partner Mikael joined us with their extraordinary tombola and wish machine, that could send out your secret wish to the appropriate powers beyond. My friend Corinna also helped creating masks with some of the smaller children. Stories and fortunes were told and participating children made two rather impressive totem poles using cardboard that was cut to shape, painted and fixed together. On the day, kids could also play their animations from the 2nd Saturday in June again to each other.

We had a lot of fun and one of our regular guests didn't want to miss these Saturday activities for the world and came 2 hours late to a family party because of it. I think that is the best compliment - thanks, Tobias, also for the chocolate!

Also many thanks to the Børnekulturpuljen, who kindly supported these workshops!

Port Eliot - remembering last summer!

2011-05-18T19:46:00.013+01:00

Recently, our friend Helen visited us.
We met her through the House of Fairy Tales last year and it made me think about the great time we had traveling with them last July to Port Eliot Festival.This literary festival was on from 23rd to 25th July 2010 and held in the grounds of the Earl of St Germans Cornish estate at Port Eliot in Cornwall.

Not being one of the most fervent of festival goers myself, I must say, this was the most original and enjoyable festival I have ever been to.

House of Fairy Tales - Port Eliot 2010 video from RustyGray on Vimeo.

It offered art, music, poetry, film, comedy and very good food, had a lovely chilled out atmosphere, a breathtakingly beautiful setting and attracted a slightly more bohemian crowd of all ages.

At the time I was 5 months pregnant and going outside my comfort zone and camping out in a tent had slightly worried me, but a good air mattress and a power shower in the morning does wonders!
The other remarkable thing that really impressed me was that it was also the cleanest festival I have ever experienced! Each morning the rubbish had been cleared away, which made each day as fun as the one before, although it had started with typical festival weather - rain, and I had forgotten to bring my wellies!

At Port Eliot we had joined and set up camp with the House of Fairy Tales' wonderful traveling art circus. A secret club held a make/fake medals workshop, with slightly subversive undertones. Why subversive? -

Well, an ingenious passport concept of the House of Fairy Tales actively engage and complete tasks to a point system that eventually earns the participating child badges and eventually a medal. Our workshop's task was to help kids fake their own medals, however, they spent considerable time and effort on the making part, so they definitely did earn them!

Medals were made with our very own stencil templates, using coloured paper and children could choose a real coin (of discontinued currency), to polish and place in the centre. (We had mixed a special environmentally friendly polish containing lemon juice and vinegar.)

A secret club workshops focus on collaborative play as part of a learning experience that teaches important social and creative skills benefitting grown-ups and children alike. Furthermore we are highly experienced in use play as part of communication. See more here!

A storm in your hand - Okido magazine, April issue

2011-04-20T15:58:00.018+01:00

Hi again,
last month a secret club has been working on a feature for Okido's April issue, which is of course about the weather!

We have been thinking long and hard and finally decided on creating a DIY paper kit whirligig for the young readers, called A storm in your hand.

For a long time I have had an interest in folk and also outsider art.
There is a brilliant book called American Vernacular, which sits on my book shelf and is full of amazing and inspiring things, like hand carved wooden dolls and strange animals and other mechanical contraptions and of course there are some whirligigs!

Whirligigs are rather fabulous, really, as life is literally breathed into them as soon as there is a little breeze going.
For a long time Kenn and I wanted to make a whirligig and the idea for Okido magazine's weather issue was to make one that can be carried in one's hand and be played with on the go.

Below you can see some pictures of work-in-progress in my sketchbook:

working on the clouds

good and bad weather clouds

the ship-fish /fish-ship and instruction drawings

Kenn does a great layout!

Let's cut it out! I love the negative space that is left after all the important bits are cut out.

The finished whirligig by a secret club - front and back. Now get yourself the brand new Okido April issue, have fun and make yourself your very own whirligig!! :)

See it in action here:

Things I have seen in April

2011-04-20T12:48:00.012+01:00

I am enjoying the beginning of spring in Denmark!
On a recent walk to Mindeparken in Aarhus, I took some photographs of nature awakening after what seemed like a very long winter - but I guess I say that every year, when spring finally arrives!
The colour green is never as vivid and lush looking as in early spring and it makes me happy.

There are lots of anemona sylvestris growing on the forest floor. It's so beautiful!

Marselisborg Slot is nearby, which is the Queen's palace in Aarhus.
She is here for Easter, that's why the entrance is guarded. The guard looked awfully young and rather bored. Poor guy, he is walking 5 meters and then turns to walk those 5 meters again and again and again, back and forth. I am sure the day must feel like an eternity to him. The gate itself has some impressive forged iron roses - fit for a queen.

On my walk I also took a couple of photographs which I later turned black and white.
Although they don't look so much like spring anymore, they have their very own sense of drama, I think.

These crippled trees look like torches or gnarly fingers reaching up to the sky.

Naturally symmetrical forms in the park,

a song high up,

a thicket of thorns,

and finally man-made and naturally grown structures.

Spin a Yarn - remembering last June!

2011-01-02T17:16:00.020Z

Unbelievably, but true, I am still catching up with documenting art events, that I have done in collaboration with Kenn Munk last year under our newly formed a secret club.
The one I want to tell about here and now, took place on 26th June 2010 at the South London Gallery and the Sceaux Gardens Estate behind it.

We were commissioned by the House of Fairy Tales and the South London Gallery to think up and develop an outdoor event for children, that involved 'play' and was meant to be based on the theme of 'string' to tie in with an ongoing artist-in-residency scheme at the time.

As Kenn and I are both very interested in storytelling in all its forms, we came up with this event:

By following twisted chords of brightly coloured wool, participants were making their way through a small park area to explore and create their own storylines. Instructions given by the Collectress and the ParKing helped participants to spot signs, discover objects and solve riddles, have conversations with the Rabbit People and get involved in other fun stuff to do, e.g. joining a wild tribe or making jumpy things.

We made lots of hand-painted signs to put up in the little park behind the gallery...

giving directions and instructions to the participating children.

Each story 'found' is different and unique and at the end is told to the Collectress, who swaps intriguing objects for a good yarn!

Kenn and I got a small group of artists on board to realize this event:
Melanie and Tessa Williams who made lovely jumpy things with the kids, Sarah Snaith who painted happiness on little faces, Pernille Hanibal who painted signs and offered a helping hand to participants along the story telling track, Aithche Smythe who made some great mirror props, Masaki Miwa who helped with tribe regalia and John Baker and friends, who made some noise with anyone who dared.

Thanks guys for making it a very special day!

The End!

From a secret club's Advent calendar

2010-12-20T14:27:00.014Z

Here is some of the artwork, I have created for a secret club's Advent calendar.
Kenn and I exchanged envelopes with collage materials each Advent Sunday before Christmas.
The challenge was that we both had to create an illustration with the given elements.

You can see my first collage the 'Lion Man' below and the little Santa's hat that Kenn and I created as a downloadable do-it-yourself kit for door number 6 of the Advent calendar.

There is also a photograph of our fire place, that I have decorated for Christmas and also my collage from the second Advent collage challenge, 'Big Bear', below.

Kenn and I had a lot of fun making images and thinking of stories and things to add to our Advent calendar.
Of the images I created, I am particularly pleased with the one on the left below. Ages ago, I had bought a picture frame in Denmark and it had a photo of an unknown, but very charming looking granny in it. Of course I kept it. Together with a few other things thrown in, its intention is to tell a 'story' about delicious food, enjoyed with the family at Christmas.

Finally, on the last Sunday before Christmas, I made the illustration on the right. From the bits and pieces I was given in my collage envelope, I imagined what 'daydreaming' could look like... I guess, standing on a table does have the potential to change one's perspective somewhat. Something to be tried more often!

Happy Christmas!

Enjoy Advent with us!

2010-12-12T17:24:00.005Z

A secret club has a rather special Advent calendar online.

Yes, it is the 12th December today, but if you haven't found our Advent calendar yet, then here is your chance to check it out and find and open 12 small doors in one go! There will be new things to discover and play with every day, right up to Christmas!

This Sunday, 12th December 2010:

2010-12-11T19:44:00.010Z

Kenn Munk and I have formed a secret club for our creative explorations and collaborations. Check out a secret club's website: www.schhh.org
There, in true Christmas spirit, we have also created our own special Advent calendar that you can explore day by day. Check it out!

But more about Beard Up now. This is a Santa Style beard workshop, that will be hosted by a secret club at Hanbury Hall, 22 Hanbury Street, London E1 6QR (opposite Sunday Up Market & The Old Truman Brewery).
It is part of the Garudio Studiage Christmas Extravaganza that will definitely get you into the festive mood, if you are not already in it!

A secret club has been busy preparing... Here you can see the Santa Style beard templates that we will be using in the workshop...

and also the extra special and absolutely free a secret club paper bags.

A Monster for London - an update

2010-10-08T11:13:00.017+01:00

As you might remember, I posted an invite for A Monster for London way back in April this year. The event was a sound success and lots of other cool projects have happened since, if only I was a bit faster reporting about them...but here is finally an update on the event!

Kenn Munk and I developed and designed A Monster for London- a workshop based on creating monstrous paper-finger-puppets and a battle game somewhere between Rock-Paper-Scissors and Top Trumps.
You can see one of our monsters in action here:

On 30th April, as part of the V&A Friday Late event, Stitched Up, we performed this operation as slightly deranged professors and doctors, together with our estimeed colleagues, Aithche and Masaki, and helped visitors in truely Frankensteinian fashion to 'stitch together' their own scary creations.

This was our monster maker stall just before it got busy...

... and here are some of the rubber stamps, Kenn Munk and I have designed and got made especially for the event. On the right is also my professional lab coat with my scientific awards.

The night was incredibly busy, with around 4000 visitors hitting the V&A Museum and our workshop had nearly 250 eager monster makers queueing up to have a go.

Participants really got into creating their own paper-finger-puppet-monster and could choose from a range of 'body part', 'visage' and 'extremities' rubber stamps, patching together their very own menace.
We met some lovely people, who were very happy to get involved in making, playing and some fantastic acting!

After having constructed a monster, the monster-makers had the opportunity to pitch their creation against a choice of famous London landmarks, which you can see below.
Kenn and I had brainstormed together as to which London sites to pick and how to represent them a little more playfully. Kenn made them all, but I was proud to have come up with the idea for Battersea power station, which was basically a terrier lying on his back with his legs stretched out... not sure whether people got the idea! Some of the other landmarks were clearly much easier to recognise.

In the end, the outcome of the battle decided what kind of 'heart' the monster could earn. So if the monster was scary and powerful enough to defeat the chosen London landmark, than it would deserve to rule London and be 'king', whereas if it lost the fight, it would turn into one of us, a mere daily commuter...

Here is some of the work-in-progress for the design of the rubber stamps from my sketchbook and also some monsters I patched together to try out the rubber stamps, when we got them back from the manufacturer.

All photographs by Kenn Munk and Annabelle Hartmann.

The Enchanted Palace - an update

2010-07-27T21:52:00.012+01:00

Finally, I am getting around to report on the Enchanted Palace show at Kensington Place, London, in which my artwork is featured.
The show opened all the way back in March this year, on Friday 26th March 2010 to be precise.

This is the gorgeous image that was produced for the official flyer (not by me!).
More information on:
The Enchanted Palace

Until early 2012, the historic State Apartments at the palace are imaginatively transformed, offering a magical array of art and fashion installations by Vivienne Westwood, William Tempest, Stephen Jones, Boudicca, Aminaka Wilmont and Echo Morgan, with performance art by Wildworks.

My artwork is included in the Cabinet of Curiosities, curated by Echo Morgan.
Echo kindly invited me to contribute to her fabulous cabinet along with a host of other artists and designers.
Thanks Echo for thinking of me, it has been a lot of fun!!!

I have created three pieces of artwork.

This one is called The Seven Ages Of Victoria.
The underlying concept is inspired by ʻThe Seven Ages of Manʼ by William Shakespeare. Each of the seven small glass bottles contains the ʻessenceʼ of a key episode or event in Queen Victoriaʼs life, with the entire series representing her lifeʼs journey from childhood to her Golden Jubilee.
The different visual elements and objects displayed inside or with each bottle act as metaphors to invoke a notion of remembrance of a truly remarkable woman.

The titles of the individual items in this piece are:

No.1: Teasing Canaries
No.2: A System of Loneliness
No.3: More than an Idea
No.4: Love of a Life
No.5: The Greatest
No.6: Dark is Worn
No.7: Jubilee

Here are also a few pictures, taken when installing the artwork:

My second piece of artwork is called In The Woods.

This piece is inspired by a personal childhood memory of looking for mushrooms with my father. It is part of a larger body of works exploring storytelling through the use of visual metaphor to communicate an uncanny chemistry of associations to the viewer. On the one hand, I used to hugely enjoy the exclusive quality time with my father on our forest excursions. On the other hand, I also always experienced the creeping fear of getting lost or being left behind to fight for myself like Hänsel and Gretel in the Brothers Grimm fairytale.

Our memories are often distorted and in part fictional, but nevertheless form our identity and ʻhistoryʼ of us as an individual. The artwork plays on a notion of the Victorian age with its taste for dark and wonderous storytelling.

And finally the third piece I made, which is titled Canaries.

This piece is a painted portrait of the young princess Victoria.
It is said that she enjoyed teasing the canaries.

Photographs by Kenn Munk and Annabelle Hartmann.

Esteemed Ladies and Gentlemen,

2010-04-28T21:25:00.011+01:00

You are cordially invited to make an outlandish, yet familiar monstrosity in our lab by combining elements, starting with a fitting ESSENCE. Add a frightening VISAGE and prepare it for smashing-trashing-grabbing action by adding EXTREMETIES.

Your terrible creation will gain its HEART by attacking a famous London Landmark. The outcome of the melee determines what kind of HEART the monster will get.

The event is free and is part of V&A's Stitched up Friday Late

A Monster For London is brought to you by Annabelle Hartmann and Kenn Munk.

Sneak peeks may appear here.

Huge thanks to Tea & Make for making this happen.

The Artic brings permafrost to Okido!

2010-03-20T22:19:00.013Z

On Saturday 13th March, Okido hosted our popular mask making workshop The Artic.
Kenn Munk and I transformed their shop in Brixton Market with icicles, snow flakes and frozen mountains into a frosty landscape - on the inside and out!

In our creative workshop, kids and adults could "grow" impressive explorer beards in no time or turn into friendly and sometimes fiercely growling polar bears.
It was a busy afternoon with lots of friendly people, enjoying being imaginative together for a couple of hours...

Many thanks to everyone at Okido for having us and for creating such a wonderful and relaxed atmosphere and providing us with delicious coffee!!

And of course a big THANKS! to all our adventurous participants for the fantastic artwork they created and the good conversations we had while making masks and flags with us - it has been a super day!

This is Kenn Munk and I in action helping kids cutting templates and talking about ideas and dishing colour markers out.
Here are also some of the amazing flags that claimed some of the highest icy mountain peeks...

... adventurous explorers have left their mark!

Photos by Kenn Munk and Erik Ekengren

More about the Rabbit People...

2010-02-14T14:52:00.009Z

This is a close-up of Stella.
She is one of the Rabbit People I am exhibiting at G40 The Summit in March 2010 in the USA.
Below you can see what happens if you pull the string of this "jumping jack" character I have made.

Stella jumps!

Here you can also see Stella's friend, Oscar.

Oscar seems a bit shy.
But if you pull the string ...

...he says "hi"!

Come and see them in real life at:

For more information on the show, go to:
http://www.artwhino.com/g40
http://www.crystalcity.org/artful/g40artists

The Rabbit People and I

The Rabbit People

2010-02-13T19:55:00.011Z

I have been working on a new project, The Rabbit People.
They have been appearing in my sketchbook and have occupied my mind ever since. Whenever I looked inside my little notebook, there were more until they had turned into a small population.

from my sketchbook

Last week, I decided that the Rabbit People needed to come out of the sketchbook, space was getting crowded for them.
I experimented with turning the drawn characters into something more three-dimensional, hoping to breathe more life into them.

I cut stencils from paper (and later from cardboard) with the plan to put these together to create a series of "jumping jacks".
Initially, I wanted to stick to the concept of the traditional jumping jack toy, where when pulling on a string both, arms and legs of the character wiggle about. But as I was developing my ideas further, I decided to "animate" my rabbit people only in part. This strengthened the individuality of each rabbit character, each one having his/her own "personality".
The photographs below, show some of my work-in-progress.

work-in-progress

to be continued...

Things I've seen in February...

2010-02-13T16:10:00.015Z

The handmade food café in Blackheath is lovely to sit in on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon.
I sometimes go there to sketch. Last time, I tried a delicious beetroot-cellery-apple juice, which was also intensely magenta! I really like this colour combination: pink and yellow -
it makes me think of spring.
And then there was the Totoro bun! Almost too cute to eat - it made me remember the Japanese animé My neighbour Totoro (Hayao Miyazaki/Studio Ghibli/1988), which I like a lot.

Walking in Hackney last Wednesday, I saw this wild horse high up on the facade of a house. Things like this shadow of a tree makes me want to draw more!

Winter in Århus

2010-02-13T15:32:00.018Z

In December last year I spent some time in Århus, Denmark.
There was lots of snow, which made me very happy!

Snow Rabbit Day!! Kenn and I met Mr Rabbit in the garden, who told us that there is no such thing as snowmen:)

While in Denmark, I took only few photos, which I regret now, because it was a truly beautiful trip.

at the beach at Kålø

a lonely tree, also at Kålø

in the forest (Kålø)

seagulls at the coast (Egå)

Kenn Munk took the next two photos.

Blue skies over the bird estate

Humpback Gunship by Benjamin Gilbert
I love this amazing sculpture by the Australian artist. It is installed near the Aros art museum in Århus.

...and finally, my Masters graduation!

2010-01-04T15:28:00.009Z

After my Masters award ceremony on 2nd December 2009 I was all smiles...

... and went celebrating with Kenn afterwards, although without the funny hat.
We had the most amazing fish and chips at The Princess of Shoreditch. This gastro pub is great if you are looking for a friendly service and some lovely food in a relaxed surrounding.

Studying for my Masters in Fine Art was a lot of hard work, but also an intense personal journey, as half way through, I lost my Mum.
Doing something creatively which I became increasingly passionate about, helped to occupy my mind, when it got very tough. I have dedicated my research to my Mum, as she always loved learning new things and has instilled the same curiosity in me. I love you, Mum.

Having done my BA (hons) in Illustration over 10 years ago, returning to studying for my MA was at the beginning very testing. I needed the challenge and found it an incredible valuable experience that broadened my horizon and reconfirmed my passion for making things with my hands.
I strongly recommend it, if you want to keep your head and hands busy!

Fantasy Zoo - Private View

2009-11-26T22:20:00.021Z

This is a group show by Garudio Studiage and Friends
at the Crypt Gallery in St Pancras Church, Euston Road, London NW1 2BA.

The Private View is on Saturday 28th November from 11am - 6pm.

You might also want to check out the Christmas Sale, which is on the same day.

The exhibition will run from Friday 27th November to Tuesday 1st December,
open daily from 11am - 6pm.

More info at:
Fantasy Zoo, Garudio Studiage, Kenn Munk

I will be showing My Animal Friends, a series of 'shrines' dedicated to a childhood memory.

The pristine white surface of the porcelain casts is a personal metaphor for the interior walls my siblings and I chose to populate with drawings of our favourite animals, one day when our parents were out.
The artwork plays on the invigorating confidence, which can drive our actions as children and the beauty of enjoying the moment to such an extent, that time and looming consequences of our actions seem to disappear.

The warm softness of the coat of animals is ever tempting. At any age, it can make one extremely happy, when a friendly, soft, breathing animal allows us to stroke it and connect with it through the sense of touch.

Old Skoolin for the Children show 2009

2009-10-16T15:24:00.009+01:00

This Art Show/Fundraiser/Concert will be presented by Art Whino and WHALER's Creation.
It is a 4 city concert and art show tour that brings together the best visual and musical artists to benefit programs that support foster care and adoption programs. Legendary founder of the hip-hop movement Darryl "DMC" McDaniels of Run-DMC will perform old skool, throw back shows true to the roots of the genre. Over 100 of Art Whino's internationally renowned talents from the underground street art world will be showcasing their old scool, 80's themed creations.

The first event will take place at:

The Portals Theater, 1236 Maryland Ave, SW, Washington, DC 20024
Saturday, Nov 7th 2009, from 6-12pm.

more show info:
http://whalerstour.worldpress.com

purchase tickets:
http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?dispatch=loadSelectionData&eventId=2958754

And here is my artwork featured in the show:

Kleiner Onkel, shrine, approx.5.5x7x3.5cm

back view

This shrine is inspired by one of my favourite children's TV programmes, Pippi Langstrumpf, when I was a little girl, growing up in Germany. The story created by the famous Swedish author Astrid Lindgren, was made into a popular TV series. In its German version, Pippi's horse was called Kleiner Onkel.

The Private View with 650

2009-10-06T09:31:00.029+01:00

The PV of the Pause... Show 2009 was a real success. 650 people came through the door and checked it out!
All evening I spent talking to people pretty much standing in the same spot, with 1 step to the right or left occasionally.
It was a great night!

As usual I was talking a lot with my hands, like here with Sneaky Racoon and partner.

I didn't get to take any pictures on the PV night, but thankfully my friends helped me out.

Stories of Adventure

This is one of the 2D pieces of artwork, I created in conjunction with my shrines.
Initially, I had made a small shrine in a book, by carving into the pages to represent a childhood memory about my grandmother.
Later, I created this collage based on the same story. In the end I preferred this piece. The picture frame is made from skirting board I found.

I managed to take a photo of 'my wall' in the show, just before it all got going and the doors opened for the Private View.

This is the table of reports, just opposite of my show space. My final report had over 21.000 words!
I love writing, clearly... Mine is the blue one in the bottom right hand corner.
In the background is Monika's lovely calligraphy work.

Three of my shrines:
The Sky is full of Birds (1), Papersounds and My Animal Friends (3).

from left to right: Rae, a friend and Adi.

The Sky is full of Birds (2)

This picture frame again I have made from found bits of skirting board and then varnished it with England's favourite: 'Magnolia' shade of gloss paint.
The artwork shows a tiny cut-out silhouette of a bird.

Two of my smaller shrines: In the Woods (2) and Fridays
I made the table top with help from Peter and Andy. The 'foot' I found in the streets. Dripping paint gave it the finishing touches.

I got a beautiful bouquet of flowers from Sieun and Erik! Thanks guys! And sorry I lost the card:(

Visitors to the show could 'build their own catalogue'. All artists had postcards printed. So people could pick their favourites and take them away in an envelope.

This is a piece of work by the very talented metal work designer Adi Toch.
She had a series of vessels on show, but this is my favourite. It is a hand-held object. When you look down into the hole, you are met by your own reflection, due to a small amount of oil on the inside.

This amazing mirror corner is by Rae Mearkle. I never got tired of taking photos of it...

Lyndsey Dangerfield's pop-up shop installation, also of course a fully working shop, where visitors could indulge in consumerism with a touch of ironic self-reflection.

Lovely ceramic artwork by Hye-Soog.

The morning after the PV. At first it was really quiet, but then there was a another steady stream of visitors.
A big thanks to everybody who helped me with the development of my work, feedback, suggestions, technical advice and inspiration. Special thanks to Kenn Munk! Big thanks also to Fred Gatley.
Many thanks also to my dear friends, old and new and everybody who came to the show and PV!

Private View!

2009-09-04T19:30:00.020+01:00

For the last 2 years I have worked on a self-initiated project:

Always With Me:
Stories from my Childhood

At the same time this has become my MA in Fine Art.

The Private View is on 10th September 2009 from 6-8pm at
London Metropolitan University
Central House, 3rd floor, studio CE3-17
59-63 Whitechapel High Street, London E1 7PF
The show will be on from 10-14 September.

Here, I present my latest work, which is a series of 'shrines' dedicated to childhood memories.
I investigate childhood memory and storytelling from a personal individual perspective and experience of memory work.
My childhood memories have an almost religious importance to me, in this project I have developed a series of 'visual stories' based on these memories, which are displayed in the form of shrines. Similar to souvenirs, my 'shrines' are to create a feeling of anticipation and intend to visually communicate and celebrate a sense of longing, magic and enchantment.
In my work I aim to confront the viewer with a conceptual blend of commonly accepted iconography and my individual metaphors.
Craftsmanship and the notion of 'play' are vital aspects of my working method.
Discarded and forgotten by others, found objects are re-interpreted and given a new lease of life by becoming part of my storytelling 'shrines'.

The Sky is full of Birds, shrine
Annabelle Hartmann 2009

The Sky is full of Birds (close-up)

In the Woods (2) close-up

For this shrine I have used a small porcelain doll torso, I bought at a Berlin flea-market. I liked it a lot immediately and knew I had made a good find.
I sculpted legs to fit and made a cloak from fabric, then I painted the figure.
It is meant to represent me as a small child in the forest.
The shrine in its entirety, is below:

In the Woods (2), shrine,12x12x17cm
Annabelle Hartmann 2009

Friday, shrine
Annabelle Hartmann 2009

This is a very small portable shrine, approx.10x4x6cm
It is telling a story about my grandma.
As a child I spent most fridays with my siblings at my grandma's house.
There was always a plate with sweets awaiting us, which we munched-up pretty much instantly.
My grandma had great stories to tell. I especially loved the ones about her dog.

Papersounds, shrine
Annabelle Hartmann 2009

When I made this shrine, I was very inspired by road shrines.
I used an old zigar box I found, and also wooden elements, acrylics, paper, a 'keyhole' and photographic imagery.
Below you can see a photo I have taken of this shrine in situ.

The next two shrines, you can see below, are slip casts made from porcelain.
The surface is spray-painted with matte white emulsion paint after the firing process. I then drew on them with graphite pencil. These two work as a set and they are some of the largest shrines I have made, measuring approx. 43x68x14cm.

My Animal Friends (1) and (2)
Annabelle Hartmann 2009

There is a third porcelain shrine to see too, come and have a look at the Private View of my show Thursday evening!

The Artic @ Tea&Make

2009-08-23T16:27:00.005+01:00

Yesterday, The Artic was at Tea&Make at St Saviours in Forest Hill.

Kenn and me created The Artic, a stall with cool stuff and a mask making workshop. Here you can see me with a fabulous explorer beard, ready to go on expedition.

We met a lot of very nice people who liked our beards...

People could also make Polar Bear masks, which were particularly popular with kids! Everybody made their own mask, sometimes with a little help.

We also sold The Artic buttons...

...and my Qee Eskimo toy...

It was a great day!

Where have I been?

2009-06-17T09:54:00.003+01:00

It has been ages since I have made my last post! Time flies, especially when having to write a big chunky MA final report.However, I have spotted some rather interesting things lately. Have a look!

Doors are watching me!

Mysterious rabbits hop the streets of London!

Ahhh!

I want to live with the bees!

2009-04-14T19:55:00.003+01:00

This is a beehouse in Lürzdorf, near Gößweinstein in Frankonia, Germany, that I spotted hiking.

Easter at the beach in Egå!

2009-04-14T19:47:00.004+01:00

Beautiful, but cold weather at the beach in Egå, near Århus, Denmark.
I love the colours of the boats on shore.

Herbert Baglione spotted in Aarhus!

2009-03-01T12:40:00.004Z

ghost bikes

2009-02-08T18:57:00.005Z

One of my students told me about the phenomenon of Ghost Bikes recently!

A Ghost Bike, i.e. a bike painted all white tied to a railing for instance,
marks the spot where a cyclist met an unfortunate death in a road accident.
Until last weekend I had never seen one - but then I was walking home from visiting a friend
down Kingsland High Street.

R.I.P. Ninian Donald!

Chinese New Year Happy Thoughts

2009-02-01T22:09:00.005Z

V&A late night's theme last Friday was 'Chinese New Year'.
Folding colourful paper boats in the V&A workshop, sending happy thoughts to special people...

Symmetrical thoughts

2009-01-06T20:10:00.005Z

Thinking about symmetry, asymmetry, dissymmetry, antisymmetry...

Researching, I find out that we assume symmetry is natural,
yet perfect symmetry doesn't really exist anywhere in the world.
A freckle on a face is proving dissymmetry!

Symmetry creates harmony and stability in images and objects,
because redundancy establishes predictability, we quickly accept
what we see as belonging to our universe of familiar objects.
Interest is established by breaking symmetry in subtle ways,
which requires more attention by the viewer.

This is part of on ongoing project.
To be continued...

New Year's Day out!

2009-01-02T19:48:00.008Z

On New Year's Day Kenn and me and 24.998 other people decided to go to Kew Gardens!
The journey there was a bit tedious: walking to station, train to another station, change trains, changing to rail replacement bus at other station, changing to different train yet again, walking,...

but then we were there!

It was worth it, although the queue for the treetop walkway was far too long. We decided to skip it.

Inside the greenhouse was another one we could explore, and Little Robin says hi!

Happy New Year 2009!

2009-01-02T19:15:00.003Z

New Year's eve Kenn and me went for a midnight picnic on Blackheath.
Champagne, chicken salad and tuna bagels were yummy in the cold and we were surrounded by fireworks and strange flying objects in the sky, which turned out to be miniature hot air balloons! This year's resolution: Be brave!!!

My blog is finally here...

2008-12-20T14:01:00.010Z

Thanks, Kenn! My blog is now in action...

Encounter: Rold Skov, Denmark, summer 2008.