Joshibi 1

So, I decided I needed to put the lid on, shake things up good and proper and then see what came out: I needed to scare myself a bit.

I went to Japan; I studied at Joshibi; I learned loads; had a great time and was not ready to come back home. It may not have turned out to have been that scary, but now I’ve had some distance, I’m starting to realise exactly how much it’s turned things upside down.

To borrow somebody else’s words, “watashi no sekai ga hirogaru”. My world has spread. And that’s probably a good thing.

I’ve been looking at things differently:

  • Wandering around with a camera, wondering how to explain car boot sales.
  • Actually appreciating [some of] the architecture of Birmingham.
  • Oh yeah, and myself.

I’d been questioning the way I worked for a few months prior to going to Joshibi. I’d been doing the Professional Development sculpture course at Dudley, learning stone-carving, wood-carving, more welding, more ceramics and more casting – but not being quite sure how that was going to manifest itself in my work.

Then I had a bit of an early-hours-of-the-morning-eureka-moment. My best work wasn’t to do with what media I worked in, it was to do with the way I worked. Joshibi was a chance to try out a few hypotheses.

Rule #1: A clean canvas

Don’t take any materials/plans with me. Don’t resume any existing projects.

Rule #2: Learn new things

Well, it would be stupid not to.

Rule #3: It ain’t what you do, it’s the way that you do it.

OK Pugh, think defining the rules of the system and then leaving the rest to chance. Think putting yourself in a situation and then documenting the results. Think that compulsively collecting random things is entirely justifiable behaviour.

Rule #4: Relish being illiterate.

‘Cos it’ll be different next time I’m here.

I’m going to leave it there for now and have a think about what the results were…