Studio Update: March
Hello everyone,
I've been wanting to try a studio update once a month for a while now, but I kept forgetting. For a while I thought it'd be fun to do it as a video, but I really don't have the time to get that done. Or, if I'm being more honest with myself, I don't have the inclination - editing video, oof.
Before we get a bit stuck in, I had this awkward moment last weekend where I had to describe what I do. I was teaching a workshop on photobook making and one of the participants asked me 'so where do you fit?' - I was like, a bit hard pressed to answer. I make books, I'm also a publisher (these are different), I design books (but I'm not a designer), I write (though people don't often need that) and I also do a lot of exhibiting and teaching. To me all these things are just expressions of the same drive to create and participate, but when I stack them up together it can be a challenge to find how to explain it all.
I once heard someone say 'labels are like funerals', by which they meant that a label is for other people to understand you, not for you to understand yourself. I like that.
So I'm entering a pretty busy season of art making and publishing and there's a lot going on and just to add a bit of clarity and structure to this update: my art practice is made up of: Tall Poppy Press (publishing), making my own art (photography), writing (paid/unpaid) and teaching (workshops, etc). I'll give a little breakdown of what's going on with each.
It'll sound like a lot, but April and May are hectic times, June and July will be quieter. And, to be honest, I've invited this, I want this level of activity.
The reason it's particularly busy is that I have ALL of April off my day job and get to be an artist for a whole month. This has been semi-planned for a while, but was exacerbated by my current employer making staff redundant, which led to me getting a new job and negotiating so that I have a month off between them.
Tall Poppy Press
In March I published TPP's first book of 2023: Site Specific, in April promotion will continue as will (hopefully) sales. So far I've sent out about 100 books and I am on first name basis with everyone at my post office.
In April I am heading to Singapore to attend the Singapore Art Book Fair showcasing Tall Poppy's books. This is a bit of a leap for me, but 2023 for Tall Poppy is all about making a few bigger plays and seeing how they work out. If I sell enough to cover the travel and exhibiting fee, I'll be a happy man
I'm also entering a period of editing and designing. Tall Poppy's 2nd book for 2023 is due for release in July (with Morganna Magee), the 3rd is due for release in October (with Rebecca Najdowski) and the 4th book for 2023 is a bit of a secret (but a damn cool one) and will hopefully be a November release. So April sees me organising printing for Morganna's book and beginning the InDesign file, working on initial design concepts for Rebecca's book and starting the final book as well.
The final book will be a bit of a time sink just because there's some international slowness involved - anytime there's the need to share something with someone in a different time zones there's delays - it's inevitable and a bit lame
I also am starting to lock in 2024's book roster, with 2 confirmed already. It might seem a bit far ahead, but I find just giving everything a good amount of space is crucial.
Morganna and I have been thinking of running a first book award through Tall Poppy, so I need to finalise that and actually like make the platform that organises all the submissions.
The Tall Poppy website is also pretty janky and I'm umming and ahhing about when I pay someone to build me a better one
I have a few meetings related to publishing and book fairs but these are best left slightly private, still it's a part of the time I spend on this
I'm also working on merchandise and releasing a t shirt through Tall Poppy Press soon.
2. My own making
From tomorrow (30th of March), for about two weeks I will be in the middle of nowhere making photos every single day. I am heading up to corner country (where NSW, SA and QLD meet) to take pictures around and of the Dingo Proof Fence. Last year I worked a lot in predator protection zones (large outdoor sanctuaries with huge fences keeping invasive species out) and the more I worked in that the more I became interested in why we have a 5500km fence that protects foxes, cats and goats. I went down a rabbit hole and now I've been obsessed with the Dingo Fence. I've even started drawing the sort of photos and exhibition I hope to produce. So this first trip is key because it takes a lot to get out there and also having a few great images to start with makes continuing the work much easier. I've got a car loaded with backdrops, tripods, lights, cameras and water. Let's do it.
I'm going to start applying for a few things again. Last year I had like 6 rejections in a row one week and it just hurt me. I've licked my wounds and will be applying for the West Space mentorship, some grants and whatever else comes along.
I have an exhibition of The Killing Sink opening in Hobart on April 14th and will be there May 7th to give a talk about the work
I need to update my website, which always feels great, though I doubt many people notice it
I've been working a lot more in colour recently and have been enjoying experimenting and improving how I edit for the sort of colour that I enjoy looking at - I've been finding a lot of success in tinting shadows purple/blue and cooling images slightly - I've moved away from the super warm Jamie Hawksworth stuff I used to make
3. Writing
I'm working on a piece for Australian Geographic about camera traps and AI photography and its role in conservation and photography of wildlife. As AI becomes more normalised, there's an ongoing debate about authorship of images, yet camera traps have been widely used for years and no such debate arose. This is a piece where I'm not 100% that interested in the content (AI bores me shitless), but I want to write more for this publication and picking up a piece every month or two would be ideal.
4. Teaching
Towards the end of April I'm teaching a workshop in Perth. This means I'll be living at my in-laws and teaching over the two weekends that I am there.
I finished a workshop last weekend and need to collate feedback
I also need to schedule workshops for the rest of 2023 - I think I'll be teaching two more across the 2nd half of the year - one on editing and one on publishing.
So that's a little studio update from me. Lots happening, but lots I want to happen.
I won't be very active with these newsletters for the first half of April - I'll be back on it around the time I go to Singapore.
Matt