Optimism as Cultural Rebellion

NEW URL - Please Adjust Your Links

2009-11-05T00:48:00.006Z

Please visit the new home of my blog and portfolio: www.MatthewStone.co.uk

The Kiss

2009-10-30T22:34:00.000Z

2009-10-30T12:36:00.000Z

Skate at Somerset House! SHOWstudio presents: Matthew Stone

2009-10-28T13:47:00.005Z

On Friday December 4th on behalf of SHOWstudio I will be DJing for Skate at Somerset House!

Book now on 0844 847 1520 or HERE.

Tiffany & Co presents

SKATE at Somerset House

Skate beneath the stars in the heart of London this winter, as Somerset House ice rink celebrates its 10th birthday. The Skate Café & Bar is a great place to meet, with a range of hot foods, beers, spicy mulled wine and plenty of bubbly. Spectators are always welcome, so bring some friends and relax in the bar after your skate. Open all day and into the night, Somerset House ice rink is London’s favourite winter tradition.

"One of the most impressive skating backdrops in town - arguably in the world"

Time Out, The Best Of London 2009

17 November 2009 - 24 January 2010

Book now on 0844 847 1520 or HERE.

The Centre of the Universe - Triumph of the Will

2009-10-26T15:05:00.001Z

Katie Shillingford

2009-10-20T16:35:00.000+01:00

Sophie!

2009-10-19T21:59:00.001+01:00

I'm guessing from this Facebook profile picture, I found out who got it!

The Free Art Fair

2009-10-19T14:23:00.002+01:00

On Sunday at the Barbican I gave away this large-scale artwork "Ways of Becoming Each Other (Detail)" for free. It was part of the Free Art Fair 09, organised by Jasper Joffe.

I'm not sure who got the piece, but I left a post-it in the back promising to sign it if the new owner gets in touch! Does anyone know who has it? I'd love to document it in its final resting place.

Matthew Stone

2009-10-15T13:22:00.000+01:00

Simon says

2009-10-15T13:10:00.006+01:00

Street Dance

2009-10-15T13:04:00.001+01:00

2009-10-06T14:06:00.002+01:00

Rafael Rosendahl for Dazed&Confused.

2009-10-04T20:16:00.001+01:00

First Thursday 05 at Bistrotheque

2009-09-01T17:13:00.007+01:00

First Thursday 05

This Thursday at Bistrotheque from 8pm they will give away a limited-run of 100 posters featuring artwork drawn by me.

I will be delivering a short lecture set to music on the role of the shaman in relation to that of the artist.

Matthew Josephs will dj until midnight.

While pessimists may predict the future more accurately, Optimists create it.

2009-08-16T00:50:00.004+01:00

2009-08-12T13:38:00.004+01:00

2009-07-31T12:29:00.003+01:00

Click to read the publication

Stone Circle

2009-07-28T20:08:00.000+01:00

2009-07-24T16:49:00.001+01:00

2009-07-22T20:03:00.000+01:00

Age of Optimism

2009-07-21T18:02:00.000+01:00

Karley

2009-07-16T11:19:00.001+01:00

SLUTEVER.BLOGSPOT.COM

Happy yet, not to concrete.

2009-06-27T04:55:00.002+01:00

It is my feeling that this (perhaps enforced) reappraisal of values and global context will have a long-standing effect on the art that will be made.

We occur as the melody and thoughts on what it is to be contemporary, shifts. Post Modernism flounders sopping our feet, knowing that the new ways of being are happy yet, not to concrete.

The first urges and attempts to facilitate a "re-modernism" will fail and be forgotten. A new stance(s) will emerge that embraces the complexities of Post Modernism, but rejects its empty, pacifier Nihilism.

We must preserve an ever-expanding diversity and tolerance thereof.

I am known for speaking about Optimism, which I define as being the vital force that entangles itself with and then shapes the future. Rather than being a rhetoric charged but passive "hope" my "Optimism" actively designs and then through bold action shapes the future.

2009-06-24T20:53:00.003+01:00

Detail from FutureHindsight series 2007

Few know of what I speak now,

And of those who don't, even less suspect.
But the time has come to be direct.
I walk the earth, but my home is above,
Peopled with strings, a world of love.

True on earth, hardship brings community.
How dare I justify self-imposed immunity?
Our rarefied land of nobile sublimity,
Extracts and catalogues all of divinity.

Upon our strings we soar on high,
Our thoughts as sound adorn the sky,
Partnered concepts find chords of truth,
Fractured themes bend to youth.

And with these gifts we can bestow
Fleeting clarity to those below,
The greatest artworks for all the ages,
and hero songs upon history's pages.

This is an excerpt from the Poem/Story "FutureHindsight" I co-wrote with Richard Elms in 2007.

When is a RULE not a RULE?

2009-06-23T23:02:00.004+01:00

"Everything is Possible" (Detail) - 2008 - Photographic print on vinyl and wood.

At one of my regular artist salons, I set the group task of generating a set of rules for artist's behaviour. This is clearly an odd task and was not one that many were particularly happy to engage with! The general consensus was that we did not have the right to prescribe the actions of others. Some refused point blank stating that there should be "No rules!", which somewhat mystically became rule number 7.

I set the task because I wanted to think and hear about the personal "rules" that my friends subjected themselves to. Even if they weren't prepared to believe that these rules should be applied universally. Perhaps they aren't even rules at all.

The rules were actually written on a cloth napkin, smeared with chocolate cake and then tied around the neck of a glass water bottle. At some point I will upload a picture of the napkin.

Please add responses and your personal rules in the comments.

These are the rules that were generated by the salon.

(As they were being created we acknowledged that at any time they might need to be destroyed entirely.)

1. No cocaine
2. Must be beautiful
3. Learn how to draw (respect doodles)
4. The work is more important than the man
5. Be informative
6. Shut up about the art-world
7. No rules
8. No work about money
9. Have discipline
10. Don't repeat anything more than three times
11. No irony
12. Psychological danger - Do it
13. Fuck semantics
14. Fashion is not art
15. Art is not fashion
16. Be totally convinced of your ideas at the same time ready to relinquish them entirely
17. Trust intuition
18. No hierarchy of education
19. Be melodramatic
20. Storytelling is SO important

To Most, Change is Unimaginable Until it Happens

2009-06-02T10:33:00.004+01:00

THE BUNKER at The Centre of the Universe

2009-05-20T18:13:00.004+01:00

The Centre of the Universe is a nomadic art space I run with Catherine Borra, Nina Trivedi, Olivia Hegarty, Gedvile Bunikyte & Jordan Hunt. We organise art exhibitions and events in spaces we have access to for free.

Our next event which is curated by Catherine Borra is titled THE BUNKER.

Not quite an exhibition, but a deep challenge to an environment. In an abandoned and unidentified post-war bunker, spreading out underneath Dalston, East London, this show is a response to the space it inhabits, and to the history it recalls.

THE BUNKER is propelled by the search for different spaces and modes of operation. Pushing our expectations for the future forward, we can trigger the motor of history to act, evolve and motion.

Please be in attendance.
Friday May 29th - 6-9pm
(The environment is very damp. Please wear appropriate shoes.)

(The Car Park end of) Abbot St, Hackney, London E8, UK
MAP
STREETVIEW

Mind Maps

2009-05-19T23:36:00.001+01:00

Gareth in Singapore

2009-05-18T11:42:00.001+01:00

You can see a slideshow of pictures I took backstage at Gareth's recent show in Singapore over at Dazed Digital HERE

Multiverse Poetry

2009-05-14T09:43:00.009+01:00

Install pictures from The BALTIC Gateshead. Colour documentation to follow..

Interconnected Echoes - Galerie Paul Freche (Paris)

2009-05-13T20:38:00.000+01:00

2009-05-13T20:35:00.000+01:00

The Co-existence of Uncompromised Visions

2009-04-18T11:49:00.009+01:00

Friday May 1st
Boyschool London.

RSVP FACEBOOK

Interconnected Echoes - Paris exhibition

2009-04-18T11:40:00.007+01:00

Matthew Stone's first solo show in Paris at Paul Frechés will include a new installation, photographs and drawings. Opening is Wednesday 22nd of April.

RSVP FACEBOOK

Uncompromised Visions Salon

2009-03-20T12:53:00.005Z

The Centre of the Universe are included as part of the RCA Curating degree show. Tomorrow (Sat 21st) I will be hosting one of my salons themed "Uncompromised Visions". I have asked regular salonieres to prepare texts and performances, submissions are very welcome.

Please feel free to come along from 3pm onwards. We will be downstairs in the RCA (Darwin Building) that is just next to the Royal Albert Hall. Tea, coffee and cakes will be served.

AnOther Man

2009-03-19T17:57:00.002Z

My good friend Norman Rosenthal and I are in conversation in the new issue of AnOther Man.
The text is by William Oliver and the portrait above was shot by Robi Rodriguez.

2009-03-18T13:15:00.005Z

The Future lies in the Co-existence of Uncompromised Visions.

Baltic

2009-03-18T11:03:00.005Z

Last Friday (13th) I opened a big installation at Gateshead's BALTIC. I am yet to get the installation shots back. But will put them up as soon as I have them.

2009-01-31T09:37:00.001Z

Kashpoint Performance 2004

2008-12-23T12:35:00.007Z

For some people these would be the kind of images that might come back to haunt. But I love them! They are from 2004 and my friend Kabir, just posted them on Facebook.

Note my disco-ball shoes in the first picture. I made them specially for the performance which took place at Kashpoint.

Here's a close-up of the shoes! Click to see them up close....

S.C.U.M at the 100 Club

2008-12-12T14:13:00.004Z

S.C.U.M playing the 100 Club on Wednesday.

The Centre for Multidox Theories

2008-12-08T16:25:00.004Z

Hermann Hesse

"Oh, if only it were possible to find understanding," Joseph exclaimed. "If only there were a dogma to believe in. Everything is contradictory, everything tangential; there are no certainties anywhere. Everything can be interpreted one way and then again interpreted in the opposite sense. The whole of world history can be explained as development and progress and can also be seen as nothing but decadence and meaninglessness. Isn't there any truth? Is there no real and valid doctrine?"

The master had never heard him speak so fervently. He walked on in silence for a little, then said: "There is truth, my boy. But the doctrine you desire, absolute, perfect dogma that alone provides wisdom, does not exist. Nor should you long for a perfect doctrine, my friend. Rather, you should long for the perfection of yourself. The diety is within you, not in ideas and books. Truth is lived, not taught. Be prepared for conflicts, Joseph Knecht - I can see that they already have begun."

-Hermann Hesse, The Glass Bead Game.

2008-11-07T16:43:00.002Z

"And as they reached for God with their fingertips, their toes wrote stories in the sand."

London - October 2008

UNION Gallery

Filmed by:
Timothy Parsons
Duncan Williams

Special thanks to Trumpet Creepers.

2008-10-30T15:01:00.001Z

EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE

2008-10-19T15:36:00.001+01:00

Everything Is Possible.

London Performance

2008-10-12T20:01:00.005+01:00

London Performance: 15th October, 10pm -1am

Performance will start at 11pm

And as they reached for God with their fingertips, their toes wrote stories in the sand.

Cordy House
Curtain Road 87-95
Shoreditch
London
EC2A

Optimism podcast

2008-10-05T13:01:00.012+01:00

This is the first podcast in a series of audio essays that I will be publishing here. This one is the foreword I wrote for the OPTIMISM book that will be published with the exhibition. Details of where to buy the book will follow.

OPTIMISM Foreword - Matthew Stone - October 2008

To download right click and save as or on a mac press alt and then click the link.

OPTIMISM - The Art of Our Time

2008-10-05T12:24:00.002+01:00

Image: James Balmforth "DO NOT TIGHTEN" 2008 (Tarnished brass and 22 carat gold cast figure)

For the duration of this years Frieze week I have curated with the Hannah Barry Gallery a show of optimistic art and a book of essays entitled:

OPTIMISM - The Art of our Times

Through an unequivocally sincere take on the theme the show takes a determined stand against cynicism and apathy. If you haven't made it to any of my recent shows, this is a chance to see the culmination of my ideas and workings from the last few years.

The show is open from the 15th-20th October from 8am-8pm daily at the Hannah Barry Gallery. You can find us here.

The very regular train to Peckham Rye takes 5 mins from London Bridge and 10mins from Victoria.

There will be a special party 8pm-midnight on Friday the 17th, please join us to celebrate.

Francis Bacon on Optimism

2008-10-05T12:20:00.002+01:00

"My impulse is my life, my impulse is that I am an old man, but I am profoundly optimistic about nothing."

How can you be optimistic about nothing Francis?

"I can be. Just existing. For a moment. Just existing today makes me optimistic."

Optimistic about what?

"Nothing. I am optimistic about nothing. I am just born with that optimistic nature, I'm just optimistic about nothing."

Ebe Oke on Interconnected Echoes

2008-10-03T12:19:00.003+01:00

Its been a while since I updated my other blog. It seems it takes people a while to answer such epic questions. Thankfully the overtalented and ever-eccentric whirlwind musician, artist, poet and visionary Ebe Oke has supplied some incredible answers in his interview.

Ebe Oke on Interconnected Echoes.

Gareth Pugh s/s 09

2008-10-03T10:14:00.003+01:00

Each season I put together a runway soundtrack for my friend Gareth Pugh. This season he showed in Paris for the first time, to rave reviews.

You can download the soundtrack in full quality HERE.

Previous soundtracks to follow!

The FUTURE Radio Show

2008-09-22T11:30:00.006+01:00

I'm living in the FUTURE.

On Saturday afternoon I hosted a live radio show with some of my friends. The show functioned as an extension of the weekly artists salon I run. This time including discussion, live music and specially recorded sound-pieces.

Whilst our attitudes and opinions towards them remain separate, several collective concerns have emerged at the salon. There is a general mood and consensus that the FUTURE is something that we not only can, but must, shape with creativity and intelligence.

It was exciting to hear these thoughts expressed and to have them recorded so that people who don't attend the salon can engage with it too.

Download the show (2 hours: 281mb)

I will be doing another music orientated show on Wednesday 1st October at 10pm.
You can listen online here: http://dum.diesel.com/radio

Milan Rehearsal

2008-09-16T00:43:00.002+01:00

We had a great rehearsal this evening for the performance tomorrow.

"And as they reached for God with their fingertips, their toes wrote stories in the sand."

9pm at ASSAB ONE
associazione promozione arte contemporanea
Via Assab, 1
20132 Milano
tel +39 02 2828546 - + 39 348 2925085
fax +39 02 26111752
info@assab-one.org
http://www.assab-one.org

S.C.U.M

2008-09-12T17:18:00.005+01:00

Last night S.C.U.M played at the Shoreditch Church to mark the release of their debut single "Visions Arise".

Chrome Hoof

2008-09-12T14:01:00.001+01:00

Some pictures of Chrome Hoof at Offset festival.

Karley Sciortino

2008-09-12T13:50:00.002+01:00

With CONDUITS/Gea Politi, I will be presenting a dance-based performance and ritual on Wednesday 16th of September in Milan.

I have been working on it with my friend and writer Karley Sciortino (pictured below).

Read her incredible blog Slutever...

Matthew Stone - Saatchi Online Interview

2008-09-02T18:44:00.003+01:00

I can't remember who took this with my camera, but I like it.

I have an interview up today on the Saatchi Blog you can find it here.

Florence and the Machine

2008-09-02T15:17:00.004+01:00

Some of my images of Flo, from Florence & the Machine were published in this months i-D Magazine.

You can buy the issue HERE.

Make-shift studio

2008-08-24T22:20:00.001+01:00

My temporary studio in Peckham.

The Death of Post-Modernism

2008-07-24T11:38:00.004+01:00

A pattern has emerged at the regular artist's salon I host. It seems that each week we end up talking about the death of post-modernism.

Last week we ordered and ate this chocolate cake. We concluded that this does not make us a post-modern group. Many stated sincerely that we are not.

Peckham Skyline

2008-07-23T20:13:00.000+01:00

2008-07-22T01:35:00.005+01:00

"And as they reached for God with their fingertips, their toes wrote stories in the sand."

As part of "Bold Tendencies II - Monumental Sculpture on the Roof in Peckham". For more details please see HannahBarry.com.

Chris's Hands

2008-07-09T00:46:00.003+01:00

The beginning of the installation

2008-07-07T23:38:00.002+01:00

Dalston party (Friday the 13th)

2008-06-24T13:47:00.002+01:00

2008-06-06T19:25:00.001+01:00

2008-05-29T16:53:00.000+01:00

My Birthday

2008-05-29T16:46:00.003+01:00

2008-05-19T16:46:00.001+01:00

Nicola Lane on Interconnected Echoes

2008-03-29T15:08:00.005Z

New interview with artist Nicola Lane on Interconnected Echoes.

Interconnected Echoes functions as a basis for a series of interviews that ask people I admire big questions. As the interviews go along everybody questioned adds a question. These questions in turn become the basis of future interviews. Each question will link back to the answers of the person who asked it.

2008-03-25T14:14:00.002Z

2008-03-17T17:14:00.001Z

In conversation about Derek

2008-03-17T16:25:00.003Z

Image: Derek Jarman Blue 1993 Courtesy of Basilisk Communications

Derek Jarman curated by Isaac Julien at the Serpentine Gallery continues until April 14th. I would urge you to go and to allocate enough time to watch the films properly.

On Saturday I was honoured to have been asked by Norman Rosenthal to join him and Maggie Hambling and question them both about their memories of Derek.

I recorded the talk which you can download here:

Derek Jarman: Norman Rosenthal and Maggie Hambling at the Serpentine Gallery 15/03/08
(Questions by Matthew Stone)

Political Fashion on SHOWstudio

2008-03-14T22:40:00.005Z

As part of Nick Knights Political Fashion series for his website SHOWstudio; I made a film that was screened today. The brief was to create a short film that expressed a political thought through fashion.

Click below to see my film.

Matthew STONE - Untitled (Political Fashion)

the possibility of being born

2008-03-14T10:35:00.001Z

"... NON ENTIA ENIM LICET QUODAMMODO LEVIBUSQUE HOMINIBUS FACILIUS ATQUE INCURIOSIUS VERBIS REDDERE QUAM ENTIA, VERUNTAMEN PIO DILIGENTIQUE RERUM SCRIPTORI PLANE ALITER RES SE HABET: NIHIL TANTUM REPUGNAT NE VERBIS ILLUSTRETUR, AT NIHIL ADEO NECESSE EST ANTE HOMINUM OCULOS PROPONERE UT CERTAS QUASDAM RES, QUAS ESSE NEQUE DEMONSTRARI NEQUE PROBARI POTEST, QUAE CONTRA EO IPSO, QUOD PII DILIGENTESQUE VIRI ILLLAS QUASI UT ENTIA TRACTANT, ENTI NASCENDIQUE FACULTATI PAULULUM APPROINQUANT.

ALBERTUS SECUNDUS
tract. de. cristall. spirit. ed. Clangor. et Collof. lib.I cap.28

In Joseph Knecht's translation:

... For although in a certain sense and for light-minded persons non-existent things can be more easily and irresponsibly represented in words than existing things, for the serious and conscientious historian it is just the reverse. Nothing is harder, yet nothing is more necessary, than to speak of certain things whose existence is neither demonstrable nor probable. The very fact that serious and conscientious men treat them as existing things, bring them a step closer to existence and to the possibility of being born."

(The Glass Bead Game, Hermann Hesse)

2008-03-12T18:43:00.001Z

Collaborative performance in Milan

2008-03-11T14:41:00.003Z

Opening night collaborative performance curated by Matthew Stone.

Featuring actions, music and video from:

Theo ADAMS
Kerri GALLACHER and Lauren DILLARD (Chupacabra)
Karley SCIORTINO
Matthew STONE
Chycca TATSUMI
Katsunobu YAGUCHI

Installing Milan

2008-03-11T14:35:00.003Z

Below are a selection of images from my show in Milan:

CONDUITS/Gea POLITI Present:

"The Songs of the Spheres in the Palm of Your Hand" Matthew STONE

First installation picture from Milan

2008-03-06T18:29:00.004Z

Gea POLITI interviews Matthew STONE

2008-02-29T21:16:00.006Z

I have a solo show opening in Milan on Wednesday 5th of March. It will be the inaugural show for a new space called CONDUITS run by Flash Art's Gea Politi.

Gea interviews me below. Scroll down for the interview translated in Italian.

CONDUITS / GEA POLITI PRESENTA:

Matthew STONE

THE SONGS OF THE SPHERES IN THE PALM OF YOUR HAND
I SUONI DELLE SFERE NEL PALMO DELLA TUA MANO

5 MARCH - APRIL / 5 MARZO - APRILE

Opening: 5 March, 7pm - featuring a collaborative series of performances curated by Matthew Stone
Inaugurazione: 5 Marzo, ore 19:00 - con una serie di performance curate da Matthew Stone

Gea Politi: Andre Berne-Joffroy, Paul Valéry's secretary, said of Michelangelo Merisi: "What begins in the work of Caravaggio is, quite simply, modern painting." Do you consider yourself modern or a revisionist or better a modern revisionist?

Matthew Stone: Modern is such a difficult term for me. It could be that to refer to anything as modern would be a revisionary act. There is a tendency to assume that following these paths of thought can only lead to nihilistic dead ends, but I don’t think so.

I like the idea of being beyond history. I know that if I was born in any other age, in essence I would still be working on the same things as I am now. I see parallels, echoes and interconnections linking throughout all of time. In that sense my work is trans-historical.

GP: Why do you choose some sort of radical naturalism (you even show imperfections in bodies) combined with a dramatic, even theatrical use of chiaroscuro?

MS: I am keen that my work is aware and honest about its own aesthetic. Lots of artists seem to use a minimalist visual language to imply that they are free from the trappings of aesthetics.

I simply make no such claims.

GP: When we are looking at your work it is quite clear that you are stealing from different times and medias…

MS: I wouldn’t deny that.
For me it could be the cave painters of Lascaux, Caravaggio, Abramovic, Klein, Hirst, Beuys, my closest friends and lovers or Warhol. I see them as contemporaries; it doesn’t matter if some of their bodies are gone. Their ideas are alive.

GP: In your works there are people who are part of your trusted inner circle, who always stay. May you explain this working process?

MS: I believe in collaboration. The people in my work are always part of my life and I love and respect them creatively. I would hope that people see the magic I see in that process and in them as individuals.

GP: "I have no single connection with a single other person: I am the most solitary of persons" – Kierkegaard - Are you one person or part of it?

MS: I feel like I am trying to find the edge of where one person ends and the other begins. I feel so much a part of it, that I often wonder whether we are really individuals at all.

GP: Sexuality is the lyricism of the masses – as Baudelaire wrote in Mon coeur mis à nu - is your heart getting more and more naked through the bodies you show in your work? Are those bodies your journal intime?

MS: Yes definitely. But with it I am not just putting myself out there, I am putting us there. Us is very important. And by us, I mean humanity.

Gea Politi: Andre Berne-Joffroy, segretario di Paul Valéry, diceva di Michelangelo Merisi: “Ciò che ha inizio con il lavoro di Caravaggio è, semplicemente, pittura moderna”. Ti consideri moderno, un revisionista, o meglio un revisionista moderno?

Matthew Stone: Moderno è una parola talmente difficile per me. Può darsi che definire qualcosa “moderno” sia un atto di revisionismo. Si tende a credere che seguire questi schemi di pensiero possa solo portare a esiti nichilisti, ma io non la penso così.
Mi piace l’idea di essere oltre la storia. So che se fossi nato in qualsiasi altra epoca, nella sostanza starei ancora lavorando alle stesse cose su cui sto lavorando ora. Vedo parallelismi, echi e interconnessioni che si collegano attraverso il tempo. In questo senso il mio lavoro è transtorico.

GP: Come mai scegli una sorta di naturalismo radicale (nei corpi mostri anche imperfezioni) combinato con un utilizzo del chiaroscuro drammatico, anche teatrale?

MS: Desidero che il mio lavoro sia cosciente e onesto riguardo alla sua estetica. Moltissimi artisti sembrano utilizzare un linguaggio minimalista per sottintendere il fatto che sono liberi dalle trappole dell’estetica. Io semplicemente, non ho tali pretese.

GP: Quando si guarda il tuo lavoro, è piuttosto chiaro che stai rubando da diverse epoche e tecniche…

MS: Non potrei negarlo.
Per me potrebbero essere le pitture murali di Lascaux, Caravaggio, Abramovic, Klein, Hirst, Beuys, i miei migliori amici e amanti, o Warhol. Io li vedo come contemporanei; non importa se alcuni dei loro corpi sono andati. Le loro idee sono ancora vive.

GP: Nelle tue opere ci sono persone che fanno parte della tua stretta cerchia di amici, che sono sempre con te. Potresti spiegare questo processo lavorativo?

MS: Credo nella collaborazione. Le persone che compaiono nel mio lavoro sono sempre parte della mia vita, e io le amo e le rispetto dal punto di vista creativo. Mi piacerebbe che la gente vedesse la magia che io vedo in questo processo, e in loro come individui.

GP: “Non ho una singola connessione con un’altra singola persona: sono la più solitaria delle persone” – Kierkegaard – Tu sei una persona o sei parte di questo?

MS: Mi sento come se stessi cercando di trovare il confine in cui una persona finisce e l’altra incomincia. Mi sento talmente parte di questo, che spesso mi domando se siamo davvero degli individui.

GP: La sessualità è il lirismo delle masse – come scrisse Baudelaire in Mon coeur mis à nu - il tuo cuore si sta via via mettendo a nudo attraverso i corpi che mostri nel tuo lavoro? Quei corpi sono il tuo journal intime?

MS: Sì, assolutamente. Ma con questo non sto esponendo solo me stesso, sto mettendo tutti noi là fuori. “Noi” è molto importante. E con “noi” intendo l’umanità.

On writing.

2008-02-28T18:28:00.002Z

As I start to write a statement, a sort of linguistic baggage begins to drag the ideas down into ideology. It seems as if the characters themselves, by their nature, dictate a line of thought as fixed and concrete as their own bold advance across the page.

Without a sense of the poetic every statement I make deviates from the expanded and libertarian sense in which I perceive it, into an unfriendly and definitive clarity.

Matthew STONE

GOTHIC

2008-02-13T11:03:00.003Z

I have two pieces of new work in a London group show.

GOTHIC

Franko B
Luke Brennan & Delaney Martin
Adrian Di Duca
Tessa Farmer
Neil Hamon
Liane Lang
Kate MccGwire
Jonathan McLeod
Roz Mortimer
Matthew Stone
Douglas White

curated by Richard Ducker

Private view:
Friday, 22 February 2008, 6- 9 pm

GOTHIC runs from 23 February - 16 March 2008
Gallery open: Friday - Sunday, 1-6 pm

Fieldgate Gallery
14 Fieldgate Street, London E1 1 ES
07957 228351 or fieldgategallery@gmail.com
www.fieldgategallery.com

2008-02-04T18:16:00.000Z

Matthew Stone: I was working with Chris and Tara amongst others in my studio yesterday and this picture (taken on my mobile phone again) stood out.

Sir Norman Rosenthal on Interconnected Echoes

2008-02-02T20:38:00.000Z

Sir Norman Rosenthal has just left his position as director of exhibitions at the Royal Academy. I have been lucky enough to interview him for my other blog Interconnected Echoes.

Matthew STONE and friends interview Sir Norman Rosenthal.

Go read!

!WOWOW! in Berlin

2008-01-29T13:48:00.000Z

A powerful text will accompany these images when Karley Sciortino bothers to write it.
!WOWOW! were invited to curate a room as part of Berlin's Transmediale Festival.
I shot all the pictures on my mobile phone.

Please click on the first image and read.

Megalithic Dance Piece I (After Prometheus Bound)

2008-01-28T21:00:00.000Z

As part of an evening of events curated by !WOWOW! at the Tate Britain; Megalithic Dance Piece I (After Prometheus Bound) was a live performance featuring seven choreographed dancing stones. The stone's (which Prometheus was tied to) danced to celebrate both the emancipation of Prometheus as described in Percy Bysshe Shelley's " Prometheus Unbound" and their own newfound freedom from their enforced roles as his oppressors.

With special thanks to Tara Grant.

2008-01-21T19:55:00.000Z

Stone Circle

2008-01-08T02:25:00.001Z

These are preparatory images for the performance I presented at the !WOWOW!/PLASTIQUE FANTASTIQUE 'Late at Tate' Britain on Friday night. Tara Grant (pictured in the centre of the circle with Lusia Bucko) helped me build them.

Pictures and video from the actual night to follow.

Underage Boombox

2008-01-07T20:38:00.000Z

On the day before Christmas Eve Boombox hosted an underage (14-18yr olds) version of their now notorious parties. For the Daily Mail readers among us, do not worry NO alcohol was served whatsoever.

However... there were two boys kissing on stage for at least half an hour. NO LIE.

Chris Howe

2007-12-18T18:35:00.000Z

Matthew Stone limited edition artwork available.

This screenprint of Chris is available in an edition of 50 hand signed, 42 x 59cm
on heavy-weight paper for £200 + postage.

email: ArtShaman@gmail.com

Russia

2007-12-14T15:32:00.001Z

I was shown round Moscow by Roman Mazurenko who runs an amazing Russian online magazine called LAM (Look at Me).

"Look at me" quite literally in this issue. He put me on the cover.

ICA Talk - The way we work

2007-12-13T20:47:00.000Z

On the 19th of November I contributed to a series of talks on collaboration at the I.C.A. When I was preparing I talked through a lot of my ideas with Chycca, so in the end we decided she should speak too.

An mp3 of our section can be found here:

Matthew Stone & Chycca Tatsumi - The Way We Work (Collaboration) - I.C.A London - 19/11/07

Simon Costin at the V & A

2007-12-13T11:19:00.001Z

On Friday 30th of November at the V&A Museum, Simon Costin, internationally respected set designer who does Gareth Pugh's shows, collaborated with the English National Ballet School on a performance piece. Gareth and I dj'ed in the foyer..

Interconnected Echoes

2007-12-05T10:24:00.000Z

I have a new blog titled "Interconnected Echoes". You can find it here:

INTERCONNECTED ECHOES

Interconnected Echoes functions as a basis for a series of interviews that ask people I admire big questions. As the interviews go along everybody questioned adds a question. These questions in turn become the basis of future interviews. Each question will link back to the answers of the person who asked it.

Last pictures from Greece

2007-11-23T10:22:00.001Z

Javier Peres –

"Matthew you disappeared for hours on the island yesterday...where did you go?? I heard it had something to do with a goat, a paper skirt and Terence KOH? Care to explain?"

Matthew Stone -

"Ha-ha! I think on closer examination of the photos it’s a sheep! Do you think that if we print that it’s a goat it will be? Well we drove out to the beach and did beach things, we drank pink champagne and sandy tequila, threw stones in the sea to decry the lack of talent in the world, laughed a lot and then drove back to the beautiful hotel listening to electroclash (did you know Frank Sinatra is dead?). On route, we kept stopping and taking photos of each other. Pretty standard for happy holidays I think! The first place we pull up to is a little church and when we get to the foot of it there is a little white goat waiting for us; only it’s dead. So we are like.. “What the fuck!?”, but only in a celebratory sense. Because weirdly. It wasn’t surprising.

I was taught long ago that in the right company, under the right sky, these things just… well.. happen.

Then we left the goat and raced onwards chasing the sun over the hills and down a steep cliff to a private beach. Terence paid the guy who claimed he owned the beach €100 just to let us scramble down this almost sheer face. It was worth it though, because as we climbed down onto the rocky beach, we saw the top lip of the sun gasp a final breath of Grecian air and then as the sun drowned, Terence stepped into the sea wearing the Comme des Garçons paper skirt.

It seems the sea is a fan of couture because she claimed most of it."

These images and the text are an excerpt from an interview with Javier Peres featured in this month's i-D magazine.

2007-11-22T15:08:00.000Z

Last Friday I felt lucky to attend a tea party hosted by Scottee, Chycca Tatsumi and The-o. Scottee serves a beautiful battenburg cake.

More details can be found on The-O's blog.

More installation shots

2007-11-10T13:15:00.000Z

My good friend Todd Hart's entrance to the bloggerati arrived with his hugely popular blog DalstonOxfamShop. He recently sent me these installation shots after visiting Athens. I thought they gave a better indication of the angles and the structure that supported the final install.

Tears from the eye of the storm

2007-10-22T15:38:00.000+01:00

This new work is in a group show in Athens titled "Gravity's Rainbow". The top image shows the final install and the second the original image. Full details of the show can be found below.

Gravity's Rainbow

October 20 - November 24, 2007

Peres Projects Athens

15 Leonidou
10437 Athens Greece

Group show GRAVITY'S RAINBOW, its title taken from that of the famed postmodern Thomas Pynchon novel, includes several new works by the following artists:

ASSUME VIVID ASTRO FOCUS
Dan ATTOE
Amie DICKE
Kaye DONACHIE
Matt GREENE
John KLECKNER
Bruce LABRUCE
Paul LEE
Kirstine ROEPSTORFF
Matthew STONE
Mark TITCHNER
Marcus KNUPP

Opening Hours: Thursday - Friday 5 - 9PM Saturday - Sunday 2 - 9PM and by appointment

For further information or reproductions please contact Peres Projects Berlin at tel. +49 30 6162 6962 or athens@peresprojects.com.

Peres Projects Athens presents Gravity's Rainbow as part of ReMap KM, a collaborative project running parallel to the 1st International Athens Biennial. For more information visit http://www.remapkm.com

Special thanks to Daytona Visual for the printing.

Javier Peres in Dazed & Confused

2007-10-19T18:31:00.000+01:00

This picture of Javier Peres was shot in Mykonos. It takes up a glorious two pages in the current issue of Dazed & Confused. One area in the image was blurred slightly for reasons I simply can't imagine. Here it is in all its unedited glory...

Chycca Tatsumi

2007-10-19T18:23:00.000+01:00