#291: Hope (Crushed and preserved)

A narcissus pressed and mounted.

#290: Commuter Coach Cartoons

Cartoon sketches of people onboard a commuter coach.

1: Wake-up buddies.

One commuter sits asleep while a second reaches over and taps them on the shoulder saying, “We’re here.”

2: Listening to Medúlla.

A commuter on the coach, in the dark, listening to an mp3 player, gently smiling.

3: Death of a favourite character.

A commuter reading a book on the back seat of the coach, looking a little angry, a tear rolling down their cheek.

4: “He’s asleep, then.”

A commuter fast asleep in their seat, snoring loudly.

5: Breakdown (of coach).

A line of commuters walking, heads down and tired, from one coach to another at the side of the motorway.

6: The scenery.

A commuter looking out of the window at a huge expanse of countryside heading off into the distance.

7: Still working.

A commuter in the dark lit up by the glow of their laptop.

8: The Tourist.

A view from outside the coach looking at one of the windows where a commuter stares out in wonder.

9: After the thud.

Commuters looking up at the roof in shock and fear.

10: Home at last.

A weary-eyed commuter smiling and chatting as they stand by the driver waiting for the coach to stop.  

11: Breakdown (of self).

A commuter leaving the coach early, sweating, the driver asking, “Are you sure?”

#288: Practicing Joy and #289: Performing Joy

Imagine doing something that brings you joy.

*

Do something that brings you joy.

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Cave, Nick (2024) Nearly 300 Red Hand Files are in, and I feel you know us contributors a little... (The Red Hand Files #299).  Available at: https://www.theredhandfiles.com/where-or-how-do-you-find-joy/ (Accessed: 4th September 2024).

#287: Why do I have to scrub off where I come from in order to fit in to your vision of an equal society?

Oil on canvas triptych - all of the paintings are the same orientation but the ones on either side are larger than the one in the centre.

Left-hand side: A word painting of the following: “He said, ‘You’re part of the problem. You are creating a barrier between yourself and our society by putting that label on yourself. And we should all be leaving our religions and our roots at the door and living as equals.’ That’s a beautiful idea. But why do I have to scrub off where I come from in order to fit in to your vision of an equal society?” Dina Amer.

Centre: A painting where the canvas is full of figures that are identical shapeless blobs with blank faces.

Right-hand side: A word painting of the following: YOUR Utopia: a room full of blank faces and identical forms. 

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Rose, Steve (2023) ‘I buckled when I saw her remains’ – the biopic about ‘Europe’s first female suicide bomber’. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/jan/25/europes-first-female-suicide-bomber-hasna-ait-boulahcen-paris-attacks-dina-amer (Accessed: 26th January 2023).

#286: Every Generation/Movement (Optimistic View)

A GIF of a plant taking root, growing out the ground, flowering, spreading its seed and starting the process elsewhere.

#285: Every Generation/Movement (Pessimistic View)

A GIF of a footprint in sand that is quickly washed away by the tide.

#284: Education (It is what you make of it and what you do with it)

A cartoon showing the inside of a factory with one giant machine through which runs a long conveyor belt.  Children, joined in a chain, are loaded in at one end and come out of the other after going through five large box parts labelled, “Infants,” “Juniors,” “Secondary,” “Further” and “Higher.”  Various ingredients (Knowledge, Confidence, Ability, Skills etc…) are loaded into each one (and taken out too); and the children gradually get older as they pass between boxes on the conveyor belts.  

All are led away, individually, at the end, whether from the Secondary, Further or Higher box, to a door marked, “Exit,” where someone is ready to shake their hand and give them a certificate before they walk through into darkness.

#283: Human-Nature

A series of pictures showing creatures interacting with humanity in a mixture of ways - from birds drinking water from statue fountains and owls flying through barns to turtles caught in rubbish, badgers stopping to admire graffiti of badgers and captured cheetah cubs in captivity.

#282: Consensual Hallucination

The images produced in your mind when reading a book, listening to music, watching a film, or undertaking a similar activity.

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Title from: Brooks, Xan (2023) Interview: Suede’s Mat Osman: ‘The biggest difference between Richard and me is that he has no interest in being cool’. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/apr/29/suede-mat-osman-novel-richard-osman-brother-ghost-theatre (Accessed: 15th May 2023).

#281: The Flag of Your Nation

The flag that you imagine after reading the title.  

It could be the flag of your nation, state, county, town or area where you live.  

Or it could be the flag of you yourself, your own nation that consists of only you.  What colours, what pictures, what symbols, what mottos would the flag of your nation consist of?

#280: The Workers at the Gates

The statues of an agricultural worker carrying newly harvested wheat and a sickle and a blacksmith holding a hammer and scroll that face the gates of Buckingham Palace.

#279: The Shop Triptych: Shop Window / Shop Floor / Out the back

An installation in three parts that together form a full size replica of a retail unit.  The viewer enters at one end, and is free to roam through the whole installation before leaving at the far end.  

The first part is the shop window.  In it are the highlights of you - all the best things that you would like others to know about you - the things that you think would make people want to get to know you.  

You could position a person or stand outside with the purpose of distributing leaflets to summarise yourself and entice people inside (whether straight away or later).

Inside is the shop floor.  This is similar to the shop window but goes into more depth and shows more about everything that makes up you.  Divided into different areas, or departments, the shelves are filled with items that represent different elements of you whether that be hobbies, interests, personality traits, career and so on.

There are no tills but you could still have a front desk or information point where you could position yourself to answer enquiries, or have a box in which questions could be posted for you to answer later (or a tablet on which questions can be submitted).

The third and final part is everything "out the back".  This consists of the storeroom, office and staff room.  The storeroom and staff room are reached by a corridor that runs from the shop floor to the back door.  

The storeroom is where you keep everything that you would like to stay hidden.  Above the storeroom is an office, from which the viewer can secretly look out at the shop floor and beyond the storeroom, along a corridor.  The office and staff room are designed for you to hide in while either working or resting.  They can be left locked or kept open.

Once they have finished looking around, visitors exit through the back door.

#278: Follow The Doubter’s Path

A picture of a stone path with grass on either side.  On the path are painted the following two phrases: 

Take Care and Thought when making Choices

Always Question until you have found the Right Path

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His Dark Materials: Season 3, Episode 3: The Intention Craft (2022) BBC, Released: 18th December 2023. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p0dgc88r/his-dark-materials-series-3-3-the-intention-craft.

#277: It is always New Year

Oil on canvas.  A view from behind of a naked person walking towards an open door (one of several in a wall).  Through these doors can be seen further doors and more beyond them.

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Hessel, Katy (@thegreatwomenartists) (2024b) “As 2025 approaches, I'm thinking about Dorothea Tanning, and in particular her painting "Birthday" (1942 – image 1)...” [Instagram] Available at: https://www.instagram.com/p/DECl8YnILOU/?img_index=1 (Accessed: 26th December 2024).

Tanning, Dorothea (1942) Birthday [Oil on canvas]. Philadelphia Museum of Art. See: https://philamuseum.org/collection/object/93232