After some feedback from various friends on how the t-shirts look, I have created a couple more products:
The “bishop” T-shirt is now available in good liturgical colours: black and purple.
Also, the “King” T-shirt has been altered, and now says: “It’s good to be the King…”:
Tags: t-shirt, t-shirts, it’s good to be the king, bishop, chess, piece, pieces, chess-piece, chess-pieces, mik-a-nik, artbizness, spreadshirt
11.37pm
A shadow hovers from the past
tonight. And as I lay in bed
I feel my heart beat just too fast.
I turn. I wait. I think it passed
I need to know. I check it’s dead.
A shadow hovers from the past.
Some things grow to be too vast,
and as those things press in my head
I feel my heart beat just too fast.
And when I think that I’ve surpassed
the creeping, cold, despairing dread
a shadow hovers from the past.
A different thought that might contrast
but thinking back to what was said
I feel my heart beat just too fast.
And as I give it up at last
and put it down to how I’m bred
a shadow hovers from the past,
I feel my heart beat just too fast.
Tags: poetry, poem, pome, radcliffe, villanelle, artbizness, 11.37 pm
And finally….
We’ve launched our t-shirt range.
Mik-a-Nik t-shirts was founded in 2007, when textile designer Nico Yates and artist/poet Michael L Radcliffe started doodling on Post-It notes with a felt marker. To see the resulting t-shirt, click on our webshop:
http://www.artbizness.spreadshirt.net
The t-shirts are all 100% cotton, except the Fruit of the Loom t-shirts which are 95% cotton, 5% lycra.
We will be keeping an eye on the site, and if there’s anything you think we could improve, we’d love to hear from you. If there’s any special orders you’d like, then let us know and we’ll try our best to accomodate your wishes.
We hope you enjoy them!
Tags: chess, chess piece, chess pieces, bishop, t-shirt, t-shirts, t shirt, t shirts, funny, american apparel, fruit of the loom, artbizness, mik-a-nik, spreadshirt, nico, spico, radcliffe
You think you know, but do not know me well
I found another place, another hell
It’s mine, and mine alone, you cannot touch it
The secret place where only I can dwell.
My thoughts were pure, no mediation needed.
Concerned that all my thoughts would go unheeded
I ran away and hid in public places.
How ignorant. You’re proud that you succeeded.
Acceptance only happens when you’re solo –
you’ve got the time to play it back in slo-mo
and realise you made the better choices
than those accusing you of greater lows.
A confidence appeared from God knows where
a loneliness that’s hard enough to bear
and friends appear, concerned, and bring temptations
as power shifts from things no longer there.
This is my first attempt at a “rubai” form of poetry. The form grabbed me, as its origins came from the need to pass around subversive information without being detected. I think there may be more verses, and it needs a little work.
Tags: artbizness, poem, pome, underground, rubai, poetry, work-in-progress
Their skins are taut, their eyes are bright – they’re royals.
I bet the most expensive balms of man
are slathered on each night, preventing boils
from ruining the smoothness of one’s tan
whilst one’s on horseback flouting hunting bans.
For this and other crimes, you’d best take note –
Republicans are desperate to vote.
technorati tags:poem, pome, poetry, rime royal, artbizness, radcliffe
On a good note, I think I’ve finally finished this work on paper.
It took a while. The thing looks quite stark, but I like that. It’s very arresting. Supernaturally so, I would say. A photo doesn’t really do it justice. Its impact is much greater in the flesh. I’m going to frame it sometime soon.
To me, I can see Thomas’ desire to measure everything, and test. I can see the struggle for perfection, and the route there. I can see St. Thomas in a contemporary way.
If you’d like it on your own wall, let me know.
technorati tags:art, artbizness, Michael L Radcliffe, Mike Radcliffe, contemporary art, graph paper, work-in-progress, st thomas, saint thomas, experience, presence
There comes a time in the life of every painting when you think you’ve gone too far and buggered it up.
Today, readers, was that day.
Sometimes its just a perception on the part of the artist due to getting out the wrong side of bed that morning. Sometimes you really do bugger it up.
Anyway, its usually the biggest obstacle to getting a work finished. You like what you’ve done so far, you know you have to do a bit more, but you’re petrified of doing anything to it, because you’re scared of making the wrong mark. To the point where you don’t want to touch it. Ever again.
I think the saving grace is that the figures are so strong and threatening, that I’d have to do quite a lot to it to destroy their impact. In fact, its almost worth trying to tone them down, to leaven their impact a bit so that they’re not so overpowering.
I’ve also got to find some way to put bread and wine on the table that they’re sitting around.
Maybe it’ll look better in the morning.
technorati tags:radcliffe, moot, icon, work-in-progress, rublev, trinity,
The Turner Prize has gone wierd again.
This year’s nominations include Mark Wallinger, and Mike Nelson, who have both been nominated before (and whose work I’m quite fond of), Zarina Bhimji, and Nathan Coley.
They’ve moved the whole she-bang up to Tate Liverpool.
There’s a retrospective show of past winners at Tate Britain.
Does any one know how much a train to Liverpool costs? Or should I just watch it on TV?
technorati tags:radcliffe, the turner prize tate britain,tate liverpool, mark wallinger, mike nelson, zarina bhimji, nathan coley
Just got back from the Jochem Hendricks show at the Haunch of Venison Gallery.
It’s a great show. The ground floor has a series of works on paper made by one of those machines that draws a line that follows where your eyes look.
On the second floor there are glass baubles that are half-filled with sand. They look like individual womens’ breasts, which is quite funny. There are also artificial diamonds surrounded by feathers on plinths.
However, on arrival on the top floor I realised very quickly that it was probably just about the worst show possible to take a 2-year-old to. It has 8 stuffed dogs all poised and looking straight at you as you ascend the stairs (see photo).
Our 2-year-old is very good though. She didn’t touch anything. Honest.
Generally fun though. He’s put together some things in a nice contrasting way, juxtapositions that make you feel lovely. Things created versus things that are natural. Its an interesting thought. Discuss.
One of my friends who came was wondering whether I was going to talk endlessly for hours about the work (like his other arty friends), but I don’t really like doing that. Good works tend to need bit of time for you to think about them. You can keep responding to them or getting new things out of them for a long time, but I prefer to walk away and come back another day – leave things time to settle. And this is a good show to do that with.
technorati tags:radcliffe, jochem hendricks, haunch of venison, pack
But I’m not avin time for people like
that. D’you get me? Scuse me bein rude but
your bike’s there. How’d I get dis up the step?
I don’t think you got no sense. Thank you.
technorati tags:radcliffe, poetry, poem, pome, minor altercation
artbizness 