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Heaven Can Wait

There’s certainly a lot to look at in this video, isn’t there? Although maybe the most disconcerting part is realising that Beck’s head is starting to resemble a gingery lightbulb. It’s directed by Keith Schofield, and you can see more of his work on his website here: http://keithschofield.com/. I’d say his stuff has a glossy oddness to it. It’s healthy, clean-cut and safe California-style surrealism, but very pretty for all that.

His site also contains treatments for the videos, which are fascinating. For this one, he says:

Each scene will have a clear purpose. It’s just that no scene will connect to any other one. They won’t connect to anything. And I want nearly every shot to be a “WOW!” moment – a big set piece that any other video would spend 3 minutes on.

Which I’d say is pretty much what he delivers.

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The Story of Grass #4

Hughes and I launched issue 4 of our art/humour/widdicombe zine The Story of Grass last night, at the opening of our latest exhibition at Peg Powler Gallery. It was a bit of a mad rush – the zine had to be finished (Hughes and I jammed on the last couple of pages and the results are spiffy) and then Hughes went AWOL for an hour or two while I panicked and then it was off to Staples to get it photocopied, and we arrived at the gallery with thirty minutes to put the pictures up. We flung them bastards at the walls like it was pebbledash with faces and layers of meaning and were finished with 3 minutes to spare. Instant exhibition!

So the zine is done! This one features:

    Less pages!
    Less writing!
    More colour!
    More Widdicombe!
    Same price!

And the same old quote from Bob Mortimer on the cover.

It’s arty and funny and weird and it will make you taller, if that’s what you’d like.

24 photocopied pages, incl. 8 in colour and probably 3 funny ones.

Buy it here: http://thestoryofgrass.bigcartel.com/product/the-story-of-grass-4

‘I liked The Story of Grass. I laughed until I stopped then started up again more firmly.’ – Bob Mortimer

‘Wonderfully surreal and darkly comic’ – Silent Words Speak Loudest

‘Frankly hilarious. It owes something to the Vic Reeves school of comedy, and maybe a bit of early Viz’ – The Crack magazine

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Wonder Showzen

Wonder Showzen is Sesame Street as beamed from a bad planet. It’s amazingly inventive, offensive and funny. You’ll love it, trust me.

I am currently writing jokes for The Story of Grass. Hughes is en fuego, and I’m struggling to keep up. So far responding to his art has led me into making jokes about Lana Turner, weasels, John F. Kennedy, Twitter, Michael Bay, soup and Graham The Three-Headed God of Accessorising, Thunder and Good Hygiene. And there are still a few pages left to fill. What will tomorrow bring?

Oh, the Peg Powler words exhibition launch went good. There’s some brilliant art on display (and one playfully offensive piece by Stuart Faulkner which isn’t on display but which AJ might show you if you ask him nicely. Faulkner’s other stuff is kitsch and funny – his painting of Noah’s Ark was a highlight for me). Get down to it! Here are the Peg Powlers obscuring the U and W of my meisterwerk, The A-Z of Writing.

Thank you, the Peg Powlers, for framing my stuff!

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Peg Powler + Arc: Words

Tuesday night at 6pm is the first chance to see February’s set of exhibitions happening on Level 2 in Stockton’s art centre, ARC, curated by Peg Powler. You can see the exhibitions anytime throughout February (Monday-Saturday, whenever the Arc is open).

Part of the exhibition is a section called ‘Words’ – a themed exhibition featuring:

-Michael Duckett
-David B (of The Modern Lonely)
-AJ Garrett
-James Harris
-Elle Green
-Tom Flynn
-Aimée Charlotte
-Josie Long

I have 27 manageably-sized bits of art hanging up there, each one throbbing with up to three levels of meaning and seven possible emotional responses. Email me if you’d like a set of guidelines as to how best to “enjoy” the work, but the main advice I can give is to stand around two to three hundred metres away and imagine they’re brilliant.

I’ll be at the launch. See you there?

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Shark Ridden Waters

Sharks frighten me, with their grumpy faces and cold, dead eyes, like David Mitchell’s eyes, but this song is not about grumpy sharks, it’s about splitting up with a French girl. The French frighten me, with their grumpy faces etc etc…

What a gorgeous song! Blissed-out pop with lush harmonies and a dude with a beard playing a plinky-plonky solo on a toy phone. Nice work, bearded dude. From the bearded dude’s forthcoming solo album Hotel Shampoo.

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Watching The Grass Grow

The Story of Grass #4 will be launched at Peg Powler Gallery on Tuesday 8th February, 6pm as we also launch our new Harris + Hughes exhibition at the same venue. Hughes is busy drawing octopises and volcanoes and I have done some jokes about sharks and Kiera Knightley so now we only have around six pages left to fill. Expect filler!

I put together the prototype cover this afternoon. Gus says: “this is a very realistic depiction indeed. one poor man lacking the strength to even stand up and the other has a sore hand from drawing. just like real life”.

The Story of Grass. Just like real life. Before I go, let’s remind ourselves of what the lovely Bob Mortimer says about it:

‘I liked The Story of Grass. I laughed until I stopped then started up again more firmly.’ – Bob Mortimer

28 pages, with all twenty-six letters of the alphabet, all seven of the colours in the rainbow and three very bad words represented, you’d be very foolish indeed not to buy three or so copies.

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Hippy Monday

Because really, sometimes you need 24 hippies in quasi-military outfits singing about being excited and delighted to get your week jumpstarted in style. What are the Spree up to these days?

Bonus: The Polyphonic Spree cover The Psychedelic Furs. Everyone wins!

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Words: Peg Powler + Arc Exhibition

This February, on the first floor of Stockton’s Arc, the splendid Mr Garrett and Miss Little of Peg Powler Gallery start curating an art space. Their first exhibition? ‘Words’ – a group show featuring; James Harris, David B (of ‘The Modern Lonely’), Michael Duckett, Amy Williams, AJ Garrett, Elle Green. Paintings by Ex-Pink Grease- Stuart Faulkner plus a solo show by: Alyson Agar. The Peg Powler Permanent Collection will be displayed from February to April.

They’re framing my A-Z of Writing. Fancy!