Hooray, I’ve finally finished the second report from last month’s Front Room art trail. It would have been done sooner but I’ve been down with The Never-Ending Virus Of Doom.

Kirsty Hall: 3 Score & 10, 2005, as shown at Front Room, Nov 2009

As well as doing the Red Thread performance piece, I decided to listen to the voices of reason (aka Dave Devereux and Cat Vincent) and NOT make another sculptural piece at such short notice. Instead, I installed 3 Score & 10, an existing sculpture which was completed in 2005 but which had only been shown twice before.

It was a wise choice. Not only was it a lot less stress but it looked stunning in the space. It was also hugely popular with visitors – sitting at the top of the stairs, I would often hear people exclaiming in wonder as they came up the staircase.

Kirsty Hall: 3 Score & 10, 2005, as shown at Front Room, Nov 2009

3 Score & 10 is part of an ongoing series of work exploring the meaning and measurement of time. It comprises 70 long pieces of string, each containing 365 hand-tied knots. The knots represent the number of days (including leap days) that you would experience if you lived to your biblically allotted 70 years. It contains 25,568 knots and took just under two years to complete.

Kirsty Hall: 3 Score & 10, 2005, as shown at Front Room, Nov 2009

This piece is different every time it’s installed. The first time, it fell neatly to the floor. The second time, it was shown in a tangle. And this third time, people were able to actually walk through the piece, which was very successful as it gave them a different visual experience from every angle.

Kirsty Hall: 3 Score & 10, 2005, as shown at Front Room, Nov 2009

I was fortunate enough to have many intense conversations with visitors about the meaning of time. One thing I noticed was that the majority were fascinated by how long the piece had taken to make and the fact that I’d done all the knotting myself. It confirmed my recent realisation that there is an intangible value in making these sort of pieces myself, even though it’s undoubtedly slow and inefficient.

Kirsty Hall: 3 Score & 10, 2005, as shown at Front Room, Nov 2009

One conversation that really moved me was with a model ship builder who was initially rather sceptical about my work until he suddenly connected it with the intricacy, repetition and length of time it took him to make his models, at which point he completely switched around and ‘got’ what I was doing. It’s these sort of moments that make showing art so worthwhile for me. I just love the generous way people open up to me and share their thoughts and ideas about what my work is about – it’s a huge privilege.

Kirsty Hall: 3 Score & 10, 2005, as shown at Front Room, Nov 2009

Here’s the first of two reports on the work I showed at the Front Room art trail in November.

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The statement I wrote for this piece:
Red Thread
2009
Red thread, white dress, gag, chair, table, plasters, scissors, pincushion, needles.

Red Thread is a brand new piece being performed for the first time at Front Room.

This piece is so new that even I’m not entirely sure what it’s about but part of the inspiration came from Snow White:

“Oh, how I wish that I had a daughter that had skin white as snow, lips red as blood, and hair black as ebony”.

Red thread has great magical significance in many cultures and is often used to make talismans or protective embroidery on clothes. It is usually associated with luck, protection or fertility. There is a particularly beautiful Chinese myth that an invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet – in that case, the entire world must be completely criss-crossed with invisible red lines.

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I don’t usually like photos of myself but I like the intensity of this one.

Kirsty Hall: Red Thread performance, Nov 2009

Wow, I really should have ironed that sheet! But I put it up at the last minute to hide a corridor and didn’t have access to an iron – it’s always these little things that catch you out. Apart from that, my preparation for this show was very good.

Kirsty Hall: Red Thread performance, Nov 2009

Cutting the knotted thread – many visitors noticed that both my pieces contained knots.

Kirsty Hall: Red Thread performance, Nov 2009

I enjoyed the way the thread spread over me like a virus. Someone said it reminded them of mushroom spores.

Kirsty Hall: Red Thread performance, Nov 2009

Doing the arms was tricky – I had to use my teeth to tie the knots.

Kirsty Hall: Red Thread performance, Nov 2009

The little stool that I completely covered in medical plasters – a process that amused my Twitter followers for several days.

Sigh, I love my cute little bird scissors.

Kirsty Hall: Red Thread performance, Nov 2009

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Overall this performance went well, although I discovered fairly quickly that being gagged didn’t work because people on art trails really want to talk to the artists and I needed to be available for that. So I abandoned that part for the duration. That’s one of the joyous things about performances, you can react instantly to things; it’s scary yet freeing. If I ever get the chance to repeat this piece in a more formal setting, I think the gag could still work.

I also managed to persuade a few people to join me in sewing. Even without the gag they were quite reluctant, possibly partly because of fears of blocking a narrow space but also, I think, because it’s a strangely intimate act.

Oh dear, I’m hopelessly late in getting this out here. But if you’re anywhere close to Bristol, I’m showing in the Front Room art trail this weekend and I’d love to see you.

I’m at 105 Oxford Street, Bristol, BS3 4RL where I’ll be showing some sculpture and premiering a brand new performance piece. It’s the first year that I’ve taken part in the trail, so I’m pretty excited.

The opening is on Friday 20th from 6 – 9pm and then the trail is open from 12 – 6pm on both Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd November.

Front Room aka The Totterdown Art Trail is the longest running art trail in Bristol. People in Totterdown kindly open their houses up as venues, so not only can you see lots of fantastic local art but you also get to have a good nose at other people’s decorating choices! If you’re in or near Bristol, it’s an excellent day out with lots going on including workshops for kids and a street party on the Saturday. The Front Room website has more details and maps.

Check out the beautiful staircase I’ve got – it’s a very ‘Kirsty’ sort of space, all greys and whites with fantastic light streaming in from a huge skylight on the top landing.

Kirsty Hall: Totterdown Staircase, Sept 2009

Kirsty Hall: Totterdown Staircase, Sept 2009

I’ll be performing in the space where that pile of books is.

Kirsty Hall: Totterdown Staircase, Sept 2009

I’m doing a new performance piece called Red Thread where I’ll be sewing red thread to a white dress whilst I’m wearing it. In a deliberate contrast to my Pin Ritual story-telling performances, I’ll be gagged so that I can only communicate with my hands and eyes and I’ll be encouraging people to sew bits of thread to me. It should be… interesting! It’s a piece that I’ve been working out in my head for a couple of years, so I’m pleased to finally be bringing it to fruition.

The ice age is coming, the sun is zooming in
Engines stop running and the wheat is growing thin
A nuclear error, but I have no fear
Cause London is drowning – and I, I live by the river

London Calling – The Clash

Kirsty Hall: The Thames, Feb 2009

I’m not a natural London person – I usually find it a tiring and challenging place – but it definitely has its charms. And being near the Thames always makes me fall under London’s grimy spell.

Kirsty Hall: The Thames, Feb 2009

I don’t know what Londoners think about the river but I always experience it as a dark, brooding, magical presence in the centre of the city.

Kirsty Hall: The Thames, Feb 2009

On Friday night I walked along the river between The Hayward gallery and Tate Modern. The trees along the path sparkled with blue fairy lights. It was warmer than usual for February and lovers sat on benches wrapped up in each other and oblivious to the world. A man knelt on a small sandy beach making a large sand sculpture of a face while a woman drew a love heart with a stick and added her own and her lover’s initials. A swan flew past with a haunting cry that echoed strangely over the water.

And everywhere the river lapped at the land like a thirsty beast.

Having a lovely but tiring time in London. Did some pinning yesterday afternoon, which was quiet but delightful as the sun was pouring in through the pins above my head. Rachael took a photo of me that I really like, normally I don’t much like images of myself but I think this one has a very romantic and timeless quality.

Off to pin some more now while waiting for some internet friends from Ravelry to turn up. I feel a little sad to be taking the pins down today; they feel as if they belong here. Although I expect that the lovely people at Prick Your Finger will be finding little memorial pins in their floorboards for years to come!

Hey, what the hell happened to February? I know it’s a short month but how is it possible that I’m going back to London to take down the Pin show this week? It only seems like five minutes since I put it up.

I’ve been meaning to blog about the exhibition opening at Prick Your Finger since it happened but for some reason I was finding this blog post very difficult to complete. It’s only just occurred to me today that it’s because I’ve been having a CFS crash since London. I’ve been exhausted, unmotivated, dizzy, getting frequent headaches and crucially, having immense trouble concentrating on words. But because it’s not quite as dramatic as it used to be, it’s become far easier for me to miss when I’m crashing. Ah, the joys of having a chronic condition – it’s a constant education!

Anyway, the opening was pretty successful. Sadly Rachael from Prick Your Finger was ill and couldn’t be there but Louise and Rosemary from the shop were wonderfully supportive and we had a lovely afternoon tea party with cake, biscuits and fine company.

Lots of people came, including some people I knew well (thank you, Dave and Daniel for your support) and several people whom I knew online but hadn’t met before. I was particularly delighted to meet Felix from The Domestic Soundscape, whose work I greatly admire. I didn’t know she was going to be there, so that was an exciting surprise. It was also fantastic to meet Katherine from Making A Mark and Mornington, whom I know from the wonderful LSG group on Ravelry.

Isn’t this a fabulous drawing. It’s by Johanna, whom I know from the Cafe Kino knitting group. I hadn’t seen Johanna for a little while, so it was great to catch up and I was pleased to discover that she’d done a drawing of the event. I always love it when my work gets other people’s creative juices flowing and there was a fair bit going on during the opening – as you can see from the drawing, at one point I was surrounded by crocheters.

The show also got some write-ups:
Abi from Craftycrafty.tv is a friend of Dave’s. Dave is the best networker I know, his contact list is legendary and he’s very generous at introducing people. I met Abi and her friend, Clare at Dave’s book launch on the Thursday night and they were both kind enough to come along to the opening. Abi then wrote about the show.

Amelia’s Magazine also did a fantastic write-up about the show. And my friend Camilla was kind enough to blog about it even though she couldn’t come along. And Katherine mentioned the show in one of her weekly round-up posts.

If anyone else feels like passing on the word about the show, I’d be grateful because obviously I’d like as many people as possible to see it and it finishes this Saturday so it’s your last chance to get along to see it.

Wow, London is hectic and exhausting. I am always amazed that anyone manages to live here but I know loads of people who absolutely thrive on it. Just traveling around tires me out but I expect if you live here, you get used to it. And I suspect that I always try to pack far too much in when I’m here: since Wednesday I’ve installed a show, meet up with several different friends, visited four art exhibitions and gone to a book launch party!

I arrived safely on Wednesday lunchtime and managed, with some difficulty, to drag my suitcase and a long and unwieldy art tube across London on the tube. I had planned to send the exhibition by courier but in the end, I decided that didn’t feel safe to me and so I packed it all up and carried it. It wasn’t too bad but I was very thankful to arrive at the space and be fed a sandwich and a much-needed cup of tea.

After I’d revived, I hung the show. I finished it all on the Wednesday afternoon just before my friend, Alice arrived to take me out for a cup of tea and a chat.

The show is installed in the window and the adjacent corner of the shop and I’m very pleased with how it looks. Quiver looks lovely in the window, really intriguing and mysterious from outside and all glittery and enticing once you get inside and can touch it.

I went back today to do my first session of pinning. I enjoyed sitting next to the window, partly concealed by Quiver and pinning away while the world went by. We had a few visitors but it was fairly quiet. It felt like a respite after several busy days. The shop is a delightful place to sit and pin – the walls are a riot of colour and texture with mostly British yarns from small producers and wonderful art yarns jostling with books, equipment and crazy kits for things like pink knitted beards! And Rachael, Louise and Rosemary who run the space couldn’t be lovelier; the three of them have a genuine passion for art and textiles that I’m really enjoying.

Right, I’m off for a cup of herbal tea and an early night because tomorrow is probably going to be hectic.

Just a reminder: if you’re in the London area, I shall be pinning at Prick Your Finger from 2 – 6pm tomorrow and I’d love to see you.

I am delighted to announce that my first ever London show will take place this month at Prick Your Finger, which is a haberdashers crossed with an art space – an inspired combination, if you ask me.

I emailed the lovely folks at Prick Your Finger in late December to see if they were interested in showing my work. I was aware of the performances and knitting activism of one of the founders, Rachael Matthews from the Cast Off knitting club. I’d also been following their blog after discovering a link to it when I was researching artists who use darning.

Not only did they instantly email me back to say that they loved my work but they asked me if I could do an exhibition in January and February because they had an unexpected gap in their schedule. I immediately said yes.

I’m going to be showing some of my pin work, which I’m very excited about because several of the pin pieces – including Quiver – have only been shown once before. Plus it’s been an age since I did my beloved Pin Ritual performance.

Kirsty Hall: Pin Ritual Performance, Dec 2001

Prick Your Finger is at 260 Globe Road, Bethnal Green, E2 OJD and the opening hours are Tuesday to Friday from 12 – 6pm and Saturday 11am – 6pm. The show opens on Friday 23rd January and runs until Saturday 28th February. If you’re in London, I hope you’ll get along to see it.

There will be an official opening on Saturday 24th January from 2-6pm. If you’re in the area please do come along and meet me. I will be performing Pin Ritual and I believe there are plans for tea and cakes.

There will also be additional pin performances on the following days:

Friday 23rd January from 1-3pm
Friday 27th February 1-3pm
Saturday 28th February, again 1-3pm

If you visit when I’m not performing, there will be a book of pin stories to read and you’ll have the opportunity to leave your own pin story.