Announcing the new Exhibition ‘Convention Habit or Custom' in which I am taking part in from Friday 26^th April - Friday 10^th May 2013 at the New Bridge Project, 16 New Bridge Street Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 8AW.  It is loosely based upon the Public House where planned and random events will take place from a wide variety of individuals and groups. My role in this is that of a fortune teller reading playing cards!  It promises to be unique and an exciting experience and further details of the exhibition can found at www.lloyd-wilson.co.uk 

AA2A artist David Lisser's plans for a Violin push bike sound fascinating and the moment you see his plans on his studio wall you would be forgiven for thinking you had stepped into a futuristic science lab. From his designs he intends to build a push bike where the speed and gear have an effect on the sound produced by the violin on various routes, producing a sound map. David has already produced a proto type which works and may be calling on students to test out the real thing. Below are 2 of his plans for his Violin Push Bike.

The highlight for me in 2012 was the Q&A sessions with the AA2A artists which were organised and hosted by myself and Zara.

They were arranged at short notice, but they still all accepted our invitation to attend, which we really appreciated.

The first one was held on Tuesday 4th December with Jenny Purrett and Matthew Hearn of Spectrum and hosted by myself.  They spoke very openly about their journey as artists and their practice up to date. The one key point to emerge and invaluable advice to all art students was 'networking' and how important it was to make contacts and be part of a wider art community.  They talked about the different types of residencies available and mentioned that they are often advertised in art magazines like a-n, which if subscribed to, offered free insurance for public liability if staging an exhibition.  One other tip given was if leaving a card with contact details on, try leaving it in places like a hairdressers as it can be surprizing on how much work can be got from non- art environments.

Jenny and Matthew were equally generous with their time by allowing the students present to talk about their own practice, their hopes and aspirations after graduation, which I would like to thank them both for on behalf of all of us.

The second one was hosted by Zara with David Lisser, Rebecca Travis and Sebastian Trend

It was the first time a Q&A session had been arranged, so hopefully it will go from strengtht to strength and next years AA2A reps will be able to build on this year.

Both sessions were recorded and I have included links:-

https://www.dropbox.com/s/1bdxud0ttoxvec5/5.12.12%20AA2A%20Q%26A%20Rebecca%20Travis%2C%20David%20Lisser%20sebastian%20Trend.m4a

https://www.dropbox.com/s/gencg6457g2gogl/4.12.12%20AA2A%20Q%26A%20Jenny%20Purrett%20and%20Matthew%20Hearn.m4a

Sound plays an important part in my practice in the form of guided meditations with Northumbria University's chaplain; as a result meditation has become part of practice which allows me to explore Inner Lanscapes in response to the poet John Clare.

As part of a group presentation, Ruth Sheldon, Rachel Knight and I conducted an experiment by playing two different types of sounds ( city noises and beach waves) and after each sound we asked the other students to draw for 60 seconds.  Afterwards we compared the findings; the beach waves produced more curvy lines, whereas the city noise produced more pointed lines. 

It wasn't really conclusive, however after watching Imagine, with Alan Yentob, BBC1, 10.35pm Tues, 27th Nov 12, it would seem  that sound does affect the chemicals in the brain.  It would seem that Mozart calms children and low frequency notes makes people sad, like those sung by the singer Adele.   

Last week saw the AA2A artists, David Lisser, Spectrum, Rebecca Travis and Jenny Purrett give a talk in the Lipman Theatre about their work. It was amazing to see the vast range of different practices each artist had. It was also good from a student’s view point to see that you can make a living as an artist once left Uni. It was a very interesting talk and promises to be an exciting time in the coming months at Northumbria University.