Playtime

I've had a busy couple of years out and about with my work, so I thought it might be good to stop chasing after opportunities and freewheel for a while. I have a lot to think about in terms of where I'm headed creatively and how I'll sustain my practice during the difficult economic times ahead.

Working towards exhibitions and events is helpful in giving me a sense of purpose and making me resolve ideas. However, I also end up on a bit of a treadmill, ignoring interesting diversions and side alleys.

So, I'm back in the studio with no brief and no deadline for the first time in at least six months. I'm allowing my mind to wander without too much worry about where it's all heading. So far I've made number of small random objects from materials that were lying around the studio, had a go at simple book making and infused small swatches of paper with a number of different smells ... And I'm reading Mrs Dalloway by Virgina Woolf.

DIY review

Julie McCalden The Desire to Create

I have written about a new artist-led project in Exeter - 'DIY' - on a-n Reviews Unedited. Read it here.

Includes work by Adam Garrett, Chiara Gill, Hanna Downing, James Burgess, Jessica Mautner, Jo Willoughby, Julie McCalden, Mark Houghton, Megan Hoggins, Michele Louise Schiocchet, Sarah Farmer

DIY, Bookcycle Warehouse, Water Lane, EX2 8BZ. Saturday 18th September – Saturday 16th October. Thursdays to Saturdays 10am to 6pm and Sundays 11am to 4pm, or by appointment. http://surfacearts.co.uk/

Art hikes

To Plymouth to see Dean Knight's Modern Sculpture at Project Space 11. I also popped in on Ambulation at Plymouth Arts Centre and Material Actions at Plymouth College of Art's brand new gallery space (formerly the Viewpoint Gallery). Back at the other end of Devon, I was hoping to top it all off with the opening of the Exeter Contemporary Open 2010 but I'd worn out both my feet and my eyes.

Highlight of the day was Modern Sculpture, a homage to minimalism ensconsed in a lock-up unit in the middle of a bustling market. In Material Actions, a survey of contemporary textile art, I particularly enjoyed Eleanor Morgan singing to a spider. However it's Ambulation - an exhibition accompanying a series of events around walking as artistic practice - that's given me most to think about.

Walking is source material I've employed myself on a number of occasions, but never fully resolved. Last Saturday, I joined Katie Etheridge for her performance walk called 'Life in Silhouette' at the National Trust's A la Ronde property in Exmouth. Mirroring the multifaceted house and its eccentric collections, it was a fascinating accumulation of personal and official histories.

Today at Ambulation, I watched an excellent film by Siobhan Mckeown of Phil Smith's performance walk 'Beef, Beer and Royal Steps' which also combined fascinating titbits of history and science with personal anecdotes - this time relating to Plymouth's Royal William Yard.

There's always the danger of the performer becoming little more than an eccentric tour guide in this kind of context, so both Phil Smith and Katie Etheridge position themselves as unreliable narrators, weaving many red herrings and loose ends into their stories.

The practice of psychogeography (developed and redefined as mythogeography by Phil Smith and others) seems to tick all the boxes when it comes to walking as contemporary practice. Its sociable, humorous and elaborate style is in direct contrast to the spare and serious documentation of private experience offered by the likes of Richard Long and Hamish Fulton.

There's room for both in the big wide world of art, of course...

Better late than never

Despite the fact that I live just 20 minutes down the road, today was my first ever visit to the Bill Douglas Centre, which houses a diverse collection of material relating to the history of film and visual media. This treasure trove of ideas, inspiration and information is curated by Phil Wickham.

Open every weekday from 10am to 5pm (except for Bank Holidays and between Christmas and New Year).

The Bill Douglas Centre for the History of Cinema and Popular Culture, University of Exeter, The Old Library, Prince of Wales Road, Exeter EX4 4SB

Is there a right way to write about art?

Last Thursday, the Spacex Review Group brought together people interested in writing and talking about art. Attendees ranged from a music reviewer to a software developer. We were also joined by a group of artists who are currently in Exeter working on an exhibition with Surface Arts. I spoke to the group, alongside David Trigg, an art writer from Bristol.

I was half expecting it to be a how-to session - the practicalities of getting your work reviewed or your writing published, but we had a well-informed audience and we started to get to grips with some of the really gritty issues around art writing.

For example, the authority of the reviewer's position (and how it's changed since the democratisation of comment via social media), the right of the reviewer to pronounce on what's good or bad (and where it leaves artists, curators and audiences if there are no arbiters of quality), and whether reviews should be written from a transparently personal viewpoint or in a more objective style (and what this means with regard to the implied status of the writer in relation to the work). We even discussed whether visual art needs to be written about at all!

I was also keen to stress the importance of writing about art as a way of documenting and sharing the work that's produced (much of it ephemeral), and in keeping Exeter on the contemporary art map.

Next session in a couple of months. Visit www.spacex.org.uk for details.