One Green Dress...

At 7am this morning I took one green dress into Chester and left it in a tree at the end of a residential street, somewhere near Habitat. In a slight diversion from the general concept, whereby I have no idea who will discover the items I distribute, this dress was for somebody in particular to find...

I have a lovely friend who lives in a house next to the tree, in fact she can see it from her bedroom window. I happened to know that she loved this particular dress when it was on my stall, and had mentioned to her that I might surprise her one day by leaving it in the tree outside her house.

Having planted this idea in my friend's head, I liked to imagine that each morning as she opened her blinds she would glance at the tree, to see if the dress was there, or if as per usual, it was empty.

Today, after many empty tree mornings, there was the green dress.

I liken this process to that of me, checking my withlovefromtheartist email account time after time to find it empty, until the mini-miraculous occurrs and I log in to find a reply waiting for me. The non-replies make the replies more momentous...likewise, hopefully, a bit of suspense made the dress all the more delicious for my friend.

Fingers crossed for a Green Dress reply!

withlovefromtheartist@gmail.

x

FOUND!!!

The brogues I left in Manchester were found by the lovely Ingrid Rosson - here's the photo she emailed me. This is the first response I've had and I was over the moon to receive it... :-)

Dancing Shoes in Manchester...

Yesterday (Thurs 8th July) I left 4 pairs of vintage shoes around Chorlton in Manchester...

. ..first off this pair of leather heels, hooked into the fenching around a tree outside Johnson's dry cleaners on Wilbraham Road...

... next this lovely little pair of ladies brogues, left tucked behind the toilet in Battery Park juice bar on Wilbraham Road...

...these multicoloured beauties -1980s stilettos , left under a table outside Battery Park...

...Finally these metallic, taupe and white heels, left hooked onto railings on Manchester Road, on the bridge near Wild at Heart cafe...

Phase One: Ymuno Festival

Last weekend I left six bags for strangers to find at the Ymuno Festival in Wales.

I played it a little bit safe by choosing this first location... assuming that festival goers are music loving arty types and therefore more likely to respond...

Here are the gifts I gave...

...A blue leather handbag with long thin strap, last seen late Friday night, amongst a pile of bean bags and rugs in the big Teepee...

...a brown leather box bag with chain handle, last seen late on Friday night on the handle of a spade. By morning it was nowhere to be seen...

...a white 1980s leather handbag with long strap, last seen blowing about with the bunting
on fencing outside the girl's toilets...

...a pretty little beaded bag with chain handle. I left this (semi-camouflaged) on the floor of the TeePee on sunny Saturday afternoon. One of my spies witnessed it being found by a little girl, and later being carried into the camping area by a young couple...

...a navy blue handbag with metal fastening and long strap, last seen on the door handle of this shop advertising quirky wedding-wear...

...a big canvas clutch bag with detachable strap, last seen sitting on a wall by the barn, early evening on Saturday. I walked past again ten minutes later and the bag had already vanished...

...finally, this black patent handbag with metal detail on the front, last seen late late late on Saturday night, resting against a pillar in the teepee...

...So now I wait to hear from those that found. Allowing for the shaking off of festival hangovers and back-to-work syndrome, I'm still hopeful for at least one response. Do me proud Ymuno!




withlovefromtheartist@gmail.com

x

INTRODUCTION

Exchanging an Item for an Image...

Over the past year, as a newly graduated artist, I have been supplementing my income by running a vintage stall, selling clothing and home ware from the 60s 70s and 80s.

This has involved the highly enjoyable process of: searching for beautiful bargains (in charity shops, flea markets and at car boot sales), cleaning them up and then selling them on for a profit.

I've found that there's something liberating about this transient kind of ownership. It's given me license to buy lots of lovely things; to handle them and look at them, absorbing their charm for a short while… before letting them go and continuing the hunt. Somehow I wasn't sad to say goodbye.

This process led me to question the nature of how we relate to and appreciate objects. How important is physical ownership? Is just looking enough?

Recently I decided to call time on my deliciously indulgent money making pursuit - which was increasingly filling up my time, my bedroom, and my thoughts, in order to focus on my artwork and spend more time in my studio. What began as a means to support my artistic practice had taken over a bit too much...

However, the issues of ownership and transience which arose from my time spent buying and selling have become interesting as a creative process in their own right, and I want to explore them further...

So, I've decided to subvert the trading process by sending the remaining stock from my vintage stall out into the world as 'gifts'. These will be placed strategically in public places - hanging in trees, on railings, from lamp posts...waiting to be found.

In place of a price tag each item will have attached to it a note for its 'finder'. This will simply request photographic documentation of the item in its new context, wherever it should end up...to be sent to withlovefromtheartist@gmail.com. Effectively I hope to exchange an item, for an image, in a kind of reverse ebay transaction.

Of course I can't control who will find my objects, whether or not they will be appreciated, or whether my request for an emailed image will be honoured. This element of chance is part of the substance of the project - exploring the nature of exchanging objects.

I'll be using this blog to document the progress of the things I send out, posting photographs of them in situ where I abandon them to fate, and then (hopefully) posting the photographs I receive via email.

Fingers crossed, I'll have somethng to report soon. Watch This Space...