The next adventure begins….

I did a BBC Radio interview yesterday morning live. Was interviewed by Ian Perry, who’d just come back from his holidays. We talked about my USA road trip which starts today, my work, this blog and my website. If i can get hold of the recording, I’ll post it on here.

The journey has started very well. I found myself bumped upto business class, so had a glass of champagne to take off. How very nice!

One of the questions the BBC producer had written for Ian to ask me was, is it appropriate for an environmental artist like me to be doing a road trip?

My answer is yes. The purpose of my trip is to go see and bring back what ive seen and learnt, to better teach and inspire more people. I’m involved in teaching eco building and sculptural art to people in Britain, having learnt techniques in Africa and the UK over the years. I plan to share what i learn from the States with the community back in the  United Kingdom primarily, but am intending to run eco encounters internationally in the future.

So, in the States, I’m going to be researching eco building methods, and im particularly looking for pioneers to learn from. I will be visiting eco architectural sites, meeting and interviewing eco artists, soaking up the landscapes that have influenced major artists like James Turrell, Georgia O’Keefe and Frank Lloyd Wright.

I’ll  be spending time with artists and even a Shaman from the Pueblo Indian Tribe – peoples who still live close to the earth.

I’ll be walking in the footsteps of environmental artists and making work in situ out in the states too. When im in the cities i’ll be checking out the local artists scenes and the major art galleries too.

I have some fixed points on my journey, – some people to meet up with along the way, some sights id like to see, but have left my itinerary pretty open too, so as to allow spontaneity and whimsy.

As i sit here writing, waiting for my connection to LA in Calgary, Canada, i’m incredibly excited to have been given this opportunity. I plan to use it well.

Catching up with myself before i leave again

Its been a few months since i returned from Mali. In this time, I’ve been developing a number of international eco art projects, I have mentioned earlier in my blog. If youre joining me now for the first time I’ll briefly explain. Im a UK based contemporary eco artist and the biggest thing I’m working on is the Olympic Mile Project, nicknamed ‘The Mile’.

My idea is to create a mile long sculpture made of 100,000 donated, used sports shoes, in 2012, which will tour first in the UK and Europe and then travel to Mali. I’m hoping ‘The Mile’ will be the landmark piece at an Eco Art Festival that I’m aiming to set up with a fantastic African Curator, in Ségou in 2013. After the opening, shoes from ‘The Mile’ will then be distributed to people who need them.

Malian singing star, Salif Keita’s foundation which promotes the health, welfare and fair treatment of Albinos, will be amongst those who benefit from the donation of the shoes.

In addition, I’m collecting inspirational people’s sports shoes over the next year and then plan to make an installation with them, all about inspiration, including an opportunity to be filmed in the shoes of these heroes, before they are auctioned. This will raise both the profile of the Olympic Mile project and money which can then be used for this massive project.

I’ve had incredibly positive responses from everyone I’ve approached so far and am on the hunt for further contacts for celebrities. If you know anyone famous please do pass on my request for their old trainers, or other leisure shoes, signed please.

After originally meeting the World Music superstar, Salif Keita, during a festival in Ségou in February last, I met up with him again after his wonderful London, Barbican gig in April.

Never one to miss an opportunity to dance, id found myself invited to dance up on stage with the band!

The following day after a very positive meeting, discussing ecological issues, potential solutions, and my current artwork, Salif donated his trainers to my celebrity sports shoes collection, which will raise money for ‘The Mile’. Salif is the Unicef Goodwill Ambassador for Arts and Sports and an inspiration to countless millions of fans across the globe.

I notice with delight that he’s currently performing the rest of his La Diférénce tour in the very same shoes I went out to buy for him (with his cash) to replace the ones he gave me for the project.

Disaster

Desperately sad after the news that Seydou, my Dogon guest has been refused his entry visa. The UK immigration service is bolting its doors firmly against anyone Muslim, anyone African and anyone black, but especially anyone who is all of those. I guess this is not news.

Does our government really represent our views on immigration – aren’t they being swayed by tabloid headlines? – taking too much of a belt and braces approach.

THIS MAN IN NOT A TERRORIST! He is a beautiful human being who could have helped some of us open a door to another way of being. He had no intention of staying here; he loves his family, his job and his country far too much.

We are both terribly disappointed, and angry. It’s hard not to be. It’s so easy for us, Brits to move around the world. To get into Mali, I just have to turn up and pay on the door. For him to do the Visa application he had to travel to Senegal – for two days by coach, to Dakar and back and on the coach overnight, suffer banditry – at gun point in Senegal. Everyone on the coach was robbed of mobiles and cash – thankfully not papers supporting his visa application – all to have his ‘biometrics’ done – finger print scan, and digital photo. No interview, no conversation. Then a three page rejection letter. The form might just as well have said

Application for a Visa to visit England? No way!!!