The room isn't so quiet today. I opened the window and now I can hear the road works that are happening right outside.
  Yesterday I went to Homebase, bought a water pump for one of the monuments, hooked up the water pump to test it out, shot water all over the room and realised that the water pump is pretty powerful. I also designed a possible monument for when Cliff Richard dies (although, as Sarah pointed out to me, that may well never happen).
  I also sat around a lot and got freaked out by what I was doing, which I feel is probably quite normal for this sort of thing. Although this is the first sustained (i.e. more than two or three day) residency I've done, so I don't know how I worked that out. But focusing on a single body of work, every day, all the time, is totally different to how I normally work. I usually have about five different projects on the go, along with making music, playing gigs and working at the gallery, so I don't have to get to the freak out stage - I can just flip between things and not got bored. This sustained pressure to keep the same lines of enquiry open, and yet still feel inventive and interested, is quite a tiring way to work. Tiring but worthwhile. I think.

Anyway, I was thinking about titles for the show as I'll have to write a press release to send out (the announcement of my residency is up here). The focus has shifted almost entirely to monuments now, so here are the choices. Perhaps someone else could pick on the basis of what sounds coolest?
  1. Possible Monuments
  2. Impossible Monuments
  3. Hypothetical Monuments
  4. Contiguous Monuments
  5. Infeasible Monuments and Hypothetical Objects
 Something like that.

After my post yesterday, someone pointed out that in Vilnius, Lithuania they have a statue of Frank Zappa. No one knows why.
Actually, that isn't true. Some people know why, but it isn't a very good reason. The guy who made the bust is an old sculptor who worked in the Soviet era, so he did it in the style of his busts of Lenin etc. That is probably why he looks so sombre and powerful.

Today I will:
  • Get loads of cardboard from the market
  • Build my monument to the stolen Henry Moore statue
  • Phone West Midlands Transport to see if I can rent a bus for a night
  • Eat a sandwich
  • Do the Guardian Crossword
Those last two don't seem that  integral, but trust me when I say that if they don't get done, then the whole day could fall apart.