Collateral Damage 2012 JOHN MOORES painting prize 2012 “Who to believe?”

In an Al Jazeera English interview on April 19, 2010, WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange explained why WikiLeaks titled the video “Collateral Murder”:

And you can see that they also deliberately target Saaed, a wounded man there on the ground, despite their earlier belief that they didn’t have the rules of engagement — that the rules of engagement did not permit them to kill Saeed when he was wounded. When he is rescued, suddenly that belief changed. You can see in this particular image he is lying on the ground and the people in the van have been separated, but they still deliberately target him. This is why we called it Collateral Murder. In the first example maybe it’s collateral exaggeration or incompetence when they strafe the initial gathering, this is recklessness bordering on murder, but you couldn’t say for sure that was murder. But this particular event — this is clearly murder.

Regarding the title Toby Harnden in the Daily Telegraph wrote: “Oddly enough, it was Stephen Colbert, ostensibly a comedian, who skewered him”:

“The army described this as a group that gave resistance at the time, that doesn’t seem to be happening. But there are armed men in the group, they did find a rocket propelled grenade among the group, the Reuters photographers who were regrettably killed, were not identified…You have edited this tape, and you have given it a title called ‘collateral murder.’ That’s not leaking, that’s a pure editorial.”

source: wikipedia

Seed Paper 11.VIII.2011

If you have been following this blog you will know that I have mentioned Seed paper a number of times. I had not heard of this until a chance encounter with the boys at Transmission Creative in Hope Mill. The paper is impregnated with seeds and once the message has been delivered it can then be planted and the seeds grow….brilliant.

The idea came to me that I could get seed paper made with Wildflower Meadow seeds and then print or make something out of it to be displayed as an art object or in a gallery setting. I contacted a manufacturer who kindly sent me some samples. In the meantime I began thinking about the initial aim of the Killing Jar project which was to paraphrase ” document the fatalities of the Afghan conflict in a more direct way than the current media allows…” I havent lost sight of this just let myself drift a little with different ideas. The keyword here is the media, and I began thinking about using the media directly in a different form…seedpaper.

I looked into making paper and decided that I could use recycled newspapers to make my own seed paper to impregnate with wildflower meadow seeds. By using the original newspapers that seem to be skirting major issues surrounding this conflict, or only half reporting the true Human Cost I would be I able to document the fatalities in a more direct way…and come full circle on my initial idea.

So as this is still a developing thought I will show you the progress of the seed paper samples that I am testing:

The paper has to be soaked in water overnight to start the germination process….

It is then planted in soil and covered over , the soil also was soaked over night and will be kept moist until the seeds begin to germinate…..

Watch this space to see how the seed paper develops….if it does. One concern I have with making my own paper is that the pulp is obviously extremely wet when the seeds are added and what is to stop them growing directly in the paper?….I m sure I will find out as I begin to experiment with the paper making process.

Meadowland 10 week Progress

Over 10 weeks in and the Meadow has started to bloom, already I have seen Holly blue and Red Admiral Butterflies about (not been quick enough to photograph) the meadow has a resident colony of hover flies and a whole host of other flying insects and bugs including bee’s. The diversity of plants and grasses growing is amazing and I am extremely pleased with the results.

This is probably one of the smallest wildflower meadows in England but never the less it is still providing much-needed habitat in an urban setting severely lacking in green spaces and planted green spaces at that. As an exercise in growth interventions it shows what is possible in the most unassuming of areas,  looking back at the plot of land before it was planted. I have learnt how necessary strong light and good drainage are in the success of certain parts of the meadow over others and will take this forward in future interventions.

The next stage of this project is to deliver the ideas and message to a wider audience, I have already been experimenting with seed paper as you will see in a future blog entry and also looking at other methods of delivery.

As an art experiment I am gaining strength in allowing a process to develop in time that reveals itself to me, rather than deciding what direction the work should take. This is a new approach for me and one that can be scary and exciting at the same time. You have to court both chance and failure and with only a rough plan in your head both are equally important. I have many grand idea and schemes but to just let this one grow in its own time and space has been an invaluable learning experience.

Meadowland 7 to 8 week progress

An excerpt from my recent biography statement for LIME arts helped me to define what it is I am doing,

More recently James has been experimenting with non-art objects, elements of Sound Art, Film and Social Sculpture. His practise is constantly evolving to communicate his ideas more effectively and to wider audiences. His latest project Meadowland uses growth interventions to highlight the sickness of our Social Organism.

“Through this  process of social sculpture I want to create a dialogue between threatened habitat and the ill health of the social organism.”

I want to develop a document that will help me plan out the steps needed to launch this project nationwide or at the very least locally, looking for locations to stage or implement these growth interventions as I call them. The Meadow is the starting point and different locations in the urban built environment will help to spread the message. I want to develop a  pack or guerilla planting kit that will allow interested parties to create their own interventions. This could be  in the form of seed kit, or seed document that is impregnated with wildflower seeds and contains the instructions printed on the paper, the pack could consist of just a simple letter that is planted…….

Meadowland 6 week photos

6 weeks in and the Meadow is now taking shape, the dry period has meant watering at least three times a week, It takes about 8 trips with my watering can, but I find this extremely relaxing as I make sure that each new growth receives it share of water.

I’m amazed at the diversity of the plants and seeds that are growing and also interested to see that insects are already populating this patch, sightings include hoverflies, wasps, bees and other creepy crawlies that I have yet to identify, think I need to invest in a good Macro lens for my camera.

Here is the saviour of the meadow my trusty watering can…..

During this time I have also been looking into seed paper…a printable source of recycled paper that contains seeds, you can determine what type of seeds are impregnated into the paper. I might use this in my project as a way of communicating the message of sustainable habitats and the endangered Meadows of the UK……

Meadowland 5 Week Photos

This was taken on Saturday after a watering, good job I popped in as it was a scorching weekend. Individual plants really developing now.

This view shows the coverage so far, you can see that the top right corner and edge is struggling due to te shade of the surrounding trees.

This picture shows how the plants thrive on direct sunlight, I watched this little plant get peppered with sunlight and was doing much better than its neighbours, this led  me to start thinking about how this could be seen as painting with light and the meadow becomes a living painting ( or work of art…)

I have also been reading more into Joseph Beuys and getting to grip with the term social sculpture:

” Beuys created the term Social Sculpture to illustrate his idea of arts potential to transform society. As an artwork it includes human activity, that strives to structure and shape society and environment. The central idea of a social sculpture is an artist, who creates structures in society using language, thought, action and object.”

This point of view invites followers to realise they are an important part of a whole not only an individual.

Meadowland 001 4 Week Progress

4 week progress and the Meadow is begining to take shape, Id say about 65% of the area has now started sprouting but there is a large area that doesnt seem to be growing. The trees are obviously casting to much of a shadow on this patch so unfortunately the meadow isn’t really going to fill the plot equally. The areas where the sun blasts through the trees are really vigorous so it’s almost like painting with light as the area that shines through gives the most growth.

I recently spoke with a neighbour of mine who was walking along canal paths in Worsley and sowing wildflower seeds, again he found that after a few weeks hardly any had sprouted, I think that we take for granted how important sunlight is in the development of new life and especially seedlings, if the conditions are not right they will just not grow.

If the guerilla interventions I have planned are to be succesful then the chosen plots will have to have good full sunlight for most of the day, so most plots will have to be south facing.