POLARCAP NO MORE STARS PRESENTS AUGUST 2007 1119101.indd19101.indd 1 224/7/074/7/07 005:52:405:52:40 www.polarcap.org.uk ISBN no is 978-0-9556302-1-7 Polarcap Publications July 2007 1119101.indd19101.indd 2 224/7/074/7/07 005:52:445:52:44 NO MORE STARS Polarcap is pleased to present its second exhibition “No More Stars”. Taking it’s name from an anagram of “astronomers”, the exhibition refl ects on the words of the science-fi ction writer Philip K Dick “Once you have opened your mind to the notion of fake, then you are ready to think yourself into another universe entirely”. This questioning of “reality” is intrinsic in the thinking processes of artists today in our media saturated world. No More Stars is a joint venue exhibition held simultaneously at Edinburgh College of Art and West Barns Studios as part of the 4th Edinburgh Art Festival and has been made possible by the generous support of East Lothian Council, Edinburgh College of Art and in collaboration with Galerie Brigitte Weiss, Zurich. Polarcap [Contemporary Arts Projects] is a new organisation based in West Barns Studios, Dunbar and is committed to promoting the visual arts in East Lothian and beyond through its continuing programme of exhibitions and publications. Graeme Todd, Liz Adamson. Polarcao Ltd 1119101.indd19101.indd 3 224/7/074/7/07 005:52:445:52:44 Neil Mulholland Random Son of a Bitch Uh, I feel in writing mood. What else can I say? I know. No boss at the moment - what more could a typical run of I usually get up at 6.15am in the morning because I the mill bastard say was better? I think today is gonna be always do. I try to make it to the 7:15am bus, and then I spent tidying up. I fi nd that even the simple act of clearing take the 7:30am ferry. On the ferry I usually practice off a bulletin board can make a room feel more open. You talking with a friend. This is ‘morning chat’. We tend to really don’t have to ask yourself why you bother. I plan to talk about what we’ve done that morning so far. Today work for about 3.7 hours. Let’s hope it’s a nice easy day! I talk about getting up at 6:15am and ‘just’ making the Now I am offi cial - at least I hope so. ferry we’re on (even although I easily made it). This takes about eight minutes. Then at 7:38am I get on the bus on At around 10:00am we have breakfast (for some people the other side. The bus drives right to work. it’s probably more lunch). We have scrambled eggs bacon, all sorts of different toast, bagels. I always take a When I don’t sit right at a window I am always lost and I bagel. Then I put some margarine on it which everybody have no idea when to get out. I need to invent some thinks is odd because you are supposed to put cream landmarks so I know when to get off. So far I never over cheese on it. I eat one thing at a time. If I do more than shoot, but I got off too early twice last week and the week one activity at a time, I have to take too much time out before that I got off once early, although it seemed as attempting to identify which activity is primary. Eating one though I’d got off three times early. I know I’ve only made thing at a time means that my diet dooesn’t have to be this trip for something like four years and three weeks, but grouped into categories. Uh, I feel in the mood for one to me it seems like nine years and fi ve weeks. The fi rst thing at a time. What else can I say? I know. I was going week seemed like a year and the second week seemed to say where we have breakfast but I wasn’t allowed to for like fi ve years and the third week seemed like a year terrorist threat reasons. I was told. again and the fourth week seemed like eight weeks and the fi fth week, that seemed just like a week. Well, that’s By the way: I have a huge NON-fl at screen computer. It’s not too bad. I could happily spend my whole life making funny because people always think of Europe as sooooo the trip. Getting off early this way I get some fresh air at advanced. Not so! But we do have a great corporate least. culture and very bright people. 1119101.indd19101.indd 4 224/7/074/7/07 005:52:445:52:44 Then at 1:00pm we usually go to get some lunch. We In the evening I spent 5.1 hours doing leisure activities at either go outside or inside. I usually have a sandwich or the local leisure activities centre (I am a member of a gym cold pasta. Today I thought we would rate all the people for the gay and wanna be celebrities. The gym opened in our team according to our rating scheme, C5 for good, 7 years ago - but they still have the grand opening sign C9 for the not so. But we talked about diversity. Interest- hanging outside with the balloons.) I spent 1.8 hours do- ingly someone mentioned that diversity regarding race, or ing household activities. During the remaining 4.8 hours, sexual orientation doesn’t guarantee that people will have I ate, drank, shopped and watched TV. I don’t remember different opinions. So everybody was like, What? Who? what I had for dinner but it was good. Watching TV was Gay? I didn’t know! Really? So as you can imagine we the leisure activity that occupied the most time tonight. It had a fun afternoon. Then back to work and eat in front of normally accounts for about half of my leisure time on av- your computer. At around 7pm I get out and back home. erage. Socialising, such as visiting with friends or attend- Having 8.6 hours sleep, today it really was a good day in ing or hosting social events, can be the next most com- work. I seem to get in the mood, to just get right into the mon leisure activity, accounting for about three-quarters working mood. I can be bothered to do everything today. of an hour per day. But today I just watched TV mostly. Let’s hope it’s exactly the same tomorrow. There’s not, I think, a single episode of Damn Average Victim that I didn’t see. Tonight’s episode featured John This is a picture of an outdoor pool. As you can see there Smeaton singing the words of Plath’s Ennui: is almost nobody there. Jeopardy is jejune now: naïve knight Some highlights from the day include: fi nds ogres out-of-date and dragons unheard of, while blasé princesses indict • Working about an hour less than employed men. tilts at terror as downright absurd • This guy calls me and says he is excited about my resume and asks if I was interested in a new position. to the tune of Jerry Lee Lewis’s Great Balls of Fire played He didn’t tell me what the job was. out by WAGS repeatedly kicking blazing jihadists in the • Spending about an hour less than employed adult testicles to create different yell tones. Weird :( I must have women (18 years and over) doing household activities gone to bed around a quarter after ten. I need a lot of and caring for household members. sleep, and so I like to be in bed by then. I must have read a while. The latest one by Shane Ritchie or something in that style. I am pretty tired! yawn. Otherwise not much news. Ah... yes. :) 1119101.indd19101.indd 5 224/7/074/7/07 005:52:445:52:44 Graeme Todd Utopos ha Bocas peu la chama polta chamaan. Bargol he maglomi baccan soma gymnosophon Agrama gymnosophon labarembacha bodamilomin. Volvalva barchin herman, la lavolvola dramme pagloni. Utopos me General from not island made island. Alone I of-lands all without philosophy State philosophical I-have-formed for - mortals. Willingly I-impart my things, not not-willingly I-accept better-ones. Nowhere Nothing Fuckup, acrylic on panel, 105 x 120cm, 2007 Graeme Todd Born in Glasgow in 1962, studied Fine Art at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, Dundee. Has exhibited extensively including solo shows at the Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh, Kunsthaus Glarus, Switzerland, Leeds Metropolitan University and Osaka Contemporary Arts Centre. Lives and works in East Lothian and is a lecturer in Drawing and Painting at ECA. 1119101.indd19101.indd 6 224/7/074/7/07 005:52:445:52:44 1119101.indd19101.indd 7 224/7/074/7/07 005:52:445:52:44 David Chieppo I have championed many things. I have kissed gorgeous girls, not only farewell notes and fought rather rough men; and unfi nished letters, brown-skinned blonds thank you cards and blue-eyed brunettes, and change of address forms, big and small, but other things worthy of praise. thick and thin. I have championed the third grade, fourth grade tough they were, and fi fth grade too. but I championed them. middle school, high school I have spent time with loners, and everything in between, hustlers and hoodlums.