This is For You....

50 handmade postcards, all completely individual (made by myself and my friends), hidden in envelopes in London's free newspaper, 'The Evening Standard', at Waterloo station, ready for commuters to pick up and open whilst on their way home. With each card, a letter with an email address explaining this is part of an art project, and a gift for the finder, and asking in return could they let me know they received the card, and where abouts it ended up.

The purpose of this project being that
a) it's a nice, unselfish thing to do, which goes against the stereotypical view of Londoners on the public transport.
b) I just like the idea of brightening a complete strangers day- I think of how I'd react if I received one of the card...it would make my day
c) it interests me to see where these handmade gifts will end up, how far they'll spread, etc.

Of course I guessed the majority of busy Londoners people would probably not respond, and I was right. However the responses I got, were really great, and I think it's just nice to know that there are people out there who are willing to help a stranger. So Thank you to everyone who helped me, either by making cards, or responding to them.

Here are 2 examples of some of responses I got:

'Hello Georgie
We live in Liss in Hampshire and all four of us loved your card (parents and kids), thank you very much. We are sticking it up in our kitchen.
Enjoy your art course.
With very best wishes
Liz, the husband and the kids!'


'Hello Georgie, Thank you for your very lovely card! I work on brick lane in east london and was in Tolworth picking up camera equipment when I found your card on my train seat at Tolworth station. It brought a smile to my face and brightened up my morning. The number on the card is 18 and I have left it on my seat for the next person. Good luck with the art project, hope it all goes well. Max'

Assisting on Mens Health Magazine

I've recently assisted designer Kyle Bean with a shoot for this months Mens Health magazine. The brief was to make brains out of various materials. They didn't use all the images we did in the end (we also shot some that were made out of red wine, spilled meticulously to form the shape of a brain) but the ones they did use look great. I also (very excitingly) got a credit printed in the magazine for being the prop assistant, which is a first for me. I particularly like the toothpaste image:

 

'Glaze' Georgie Hodgson

I am very flattered to see that Wimbledon College of Art are using my work as the front picture for all their social media sites and advertisements. Have a look at the links below:

'Glaze' still, Georgie Hodgson, 2012

 

See the full video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pm74W9Y1qcw


This worldwide sponsored link on facebook:

 

 

Wimbledon College of Art Twitter: https://twitter.com/WimbledonUAL

Wimbledon College of Art Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WimbledonUAL

WCA Fine Art Homepage: http://www.wimbledon.arts.ac.uk/courses/courses-by-level/undergraduate-fine-art/ba-fine-art-sculpture/ 

Wimbledon College of Art Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/76394970@N08

                                                     

Sculpture Commission for Divine Chocolate

For the past 2 weeks I've been busy working with Divine, a Fairtrade Chocolate company, on a sculpture they commissioned me to make for them.

They wanted me to work with kids at Tower Hill Primary school to create a 'Fairtrade Warrior', which would go in their Pop-up shop on Monmouth Street, Covent Garden, for 2 weeks, to celebrate Fairtrade Fortnight.

They had pretty specific ideas about what they wanted the model to look like. It was to be on a plinth, 7ft tall, have a shield, and be a kind of 'Mayan' inspired humanoid figure, decorated by the kids in fairtrade packaging. They gave me a full brief, explained it had to be transportable aswell, and we had a few meetings about it.

My main concern was that I'm not a 'traditional' sculptor, and this sort of thing is out of my comfort zone. I haven't sculpted a human figure since A level, and certainly not one on this scale! I voiced my concerns to them, but they assured me it was just a bit of fun, and was mainly to get the kids involved in a creative Fairtrade project. I thought it sounded like a good challenge and was keen to give it a go, so it was agreed I'd have a week (!) to make it.

I really didn't have much of a clue of where to start, so I did some research, went to an amazing modelling shop (http://www.tiranti.co.uk/- would really recommend it, the staff were so helpful despite clearly thinking I was nuts!) and came up with a plan for a wooden 'stick man' inner structure, padded out with polystyrene, expanding foam and chicken wire, and plaster over the top!

Our stick man...!

I worked night and day in the basement of their offices for a solid week, and certainly came across a few obstacles along the way, but it was so much fun. Tom from Trading Visions and Sara from Dubble chocolate (a branch of Divine) who I dealt with mainly were such a pleasure to work with and we all kept a good sense of humour about it. It was honestly one of the most enjoyable jobs I've had, as it was so unlike anything I've ever done, and it was great to be involved in a project that wasn't taken too seriously.

It was also really interesting for me to learn more about Fairtrade. I got to meet some of the Farmers from Ghana which was amazing, and it made me realise how worthwhile the work of Fairtrade companies is.

We also made it into a local newspaper- unfortunately our warrior wasn't quite finished here but there's some pics of the kids with him: http://www.london-se1.co.uk/news/view/6656?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+SE1newstwitter+%28SE1+news+for+Twitter%29

So here he is, our crazy warrior, made in a week:

In all his glory with his shield, at the Pop-up shop

They decided to make him carrying a shopping basket of Fairtrade products

A proud sculptor!

Spray Painting Plant Pots

My favourite new gift idea....buying cheap plant pots and spray painting them :)

 

My most recent ones for Mothers day:

 

Art Department Work with Partizan

I recently did a 17 hour shift on the set for a music video for Gabrielle Aplin. The video was directed by Kinga Burza, Art Directed by Anna Rhodes.

I was the Art Department Runner, so was involved mainly in helping Anna and the other Art Department crew create and build the set, and arrange and organise the props. It was hard work, but a fun and busy shoot to be involved with, in an amazing location.

The Final Video's just been released, watch it here:

Matthew Williamson Window Installation- 'Changing Seasons'

An evolving shop window installation I am assisting Designer Kyle Bean with, for Matthew Williamson's Central London store.
This is an on-going project; the window will change every 3 months. Looking forward to the next install!

Click on the photos to see full size images:
(Photos courtesy of Kyle Bean, more images to be found at www.kylebean.co.uk)

Melody's Echo Chamber Music Video (Art Department)

I was an Art Department assistant for this music video, for Melody's Echo Chamber. (See earlier blog post). It was produced by Partizan (http://www.partizan.com/), Directed by Zaiba Jabbar, Art Direction by Aoife McKim. Looks good!

Assisting Designer Kyle Bean

I have been lucky enough to assist one of my favourite Designers this week, Kyle Bean. Kyle is represented by Blink Art, and has produced some incredibly clever and extremely well realised projects for a lot of big clients like Hermés, Libertys, and Selfridges. See his work here: http://www.kylebean.co.uk

I got in contact with Kyle a few weeks ago, showed him some of my work, and he very kindly allowed me to assist him in his latest project; an installation for top fashion designer Matthew Williamson’s shop window in Central London.

The Brief that Matthew Williamson himself had set, was for a design that could be appropriate all year round, but could also be changed and adjusted throughout the year, in line with his collections. Kyle proposed the idea of a wooden, hand-built tree, decorated with various materials, which would change ‘seasonally’ every few months.

This season (the first one) saw the tree decorated with coloured easter eggs, resembling buds on a tree. I helped Kyle in the Blink studios in Soho, to prime, sand and spray paint polystyrene eggs, and transport them to the Matthew Williamson store. I also photographed and filmed the process for Kyle.

It was a really great experience for me to be able to spend time and chat with someone who I completely aspire to. Kyle gave me a lot of great advice, and an insight into how he got to where he is now. I also helped him brainstorm for his next project, a magazine cover, which was fun.

He has asked me to assist him with this project all year round, so I look forward to next time!

Photos of the installation to come soon.

                                              Kyle Bean for CUT Magazine: 'Soft Guerilla' series.

 

Work Experience- Pretzel Films

I've recently spent a week working at Pretzel films, a Production company in London, with a number of talented Directors, who make everything from short films and adverts to music videos.

I was an in-house runner for a week, and my duties included everything from general office work, to helping the Directors with specific projects and tasks.

The main thing I gained from this work experience, was knowledge and experience of working in-house for a Production company. I've done a lot of on-set running, but to actually see day-to-day life within a Production company, and how that works, was really interesting, and gave me more of an idea of what it would be like to work full-time in Production.

Another highlight was actually being able to chat to the Directors and Producers. Often when running on a shoot, because it can get a bit manic, you don't get to talk to people as much. But I got some great advice, particularly from the younger Directors, who had only a few years ago been in a similar position to the one I'm in now.

Sometimes it can be a bit intimidating to go up and chat to more senior members and Directors, but everyone went out of their way to chat to me which was really nice.

All in all, it was a really beneficial experience- Pretzel has a great group of people working there. Have a look at their work here: http://pretzelfilms.com/#home

Here's one of my favourite films from Pretzel, Directed by Jamie Maule-Ffinch, who was really kind to me and gave me a lot of valuable career advice:

Work Experience- Art Department on Music Video shoot

My Recent work experience on a live set, for a music video with Partizan.

It was an early start day (7am in Croydon!) shooting in an abandoned and run-down night club. I was involved in the Art Department, which consisted of myself and 2 others.

It was a busy shoot for us, I was involved in arranging props and flowers, and creating a stained-glass window back drop for a specific shot. Although it was freezing cold, and a long day, I really enjoyed it!

I find it very rewarding- I enjoy spending hours designing and making sets and props, then to see it all coming together and looking good in the final shot is always nice. Plus there's always a real buzz on set, which I love.

Here's a couple of pictures from the set (taken by Archie Hollway):