Monthly Archives: August 2011

Jar No 241

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Jar No 241
Kirsty Hall: Jar No 241, August 2011

Jar No 241 in situ
Kirsty Hall: Jar No 241 in situ, August 2011

Contents: Ink drawing with blue alcohol ink
Released into wild: 29/8/11 at 23.43
General Location: Clifton, Bristol
Status: Found by Theo’s dad on 06/09/11

Comments:

This is my favourite recent jar; it makes me think of the ocean.

Jar No 241 close up
Kirsty Hall: Jar No 241 close up, August 2011

Thanks

Thanks to Julie from 8Balloons, who published this brand new interview about the project this week.

I’m always willing to answer questions about my work, so if you’d like to feature me on your own blog, please get in touch.


Jar No 240

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Jar No 240
Kirsty Hall: Jar No 240, August 2011

Jar No 240 in situ 01
Kirsty Hall: Jar No 240 in situ, August 2011

Jar No 240 in situ 02
Kirsty Hall: Jar No 240 in situ, August 2011

Contents: Ink drawing
Released into wild: 28/8/11 at 23.50
General Location: Clifton, Bristol
Status: In situ

Comments:

This went out on an evening Jar Walk but the photos were so appallingly bad that I had to go back and take them again. Thankfully the jar was still there.

Jar No 240 close up

How to help

Want to see 3-D jars instead of drawings? Then please leave a donation so that I can buy some new materials!


Jar No 239

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Jar No 239
Kirsty Hall: Jar No 239, August 2011

Jar No 239 in situ
Kirsty Hall: Jar No 239 in situ, August 2011

Contents: Ink on photographic paper
Released into wild: 27/8/11 at 23.52
General Location: Clifton, Bristol
Status: Found by Theo’s mum & the kids

Comments:

This was definitely one of my favourite Jar Walks.

Jar No 239 close up
Kirsty Hall: Jar No 239 close up, August 2011

On the way back from walking this jar, I stopped to rest on a low wall outside Clifton Cathedral. Even though it’s only minutes from my house, I often sit there because it’s a favourite spot of mine.

While I was quietly appreciating the darkness, I saw someone come towards me with a torch. At first I thought they were unloading something from a car but then I realised they were methodically shining their torch on all the railings opposite.

‘Aha’, I thought, ‘I know what you’re doing.’

You see, shortly before leaving for my Jar Walk, I’d posted the entry for Jar No 236 and it just happened to be located opposite my happy sitting spot. In fact, I’d just been about to wander over and check if the jar was still in place.

I secretly watched him find the jar and then called out, “You’re hunting jars, aren’t you – I’m Kirsty”.

Now, I don’t usually introduce myself to strange men at night but it was obvious to me that this must be one of my regulars. Sure enough, it turned out to be Theo’s Dad, Toby. He’d seen the jar entry, realised he knew exactly where the railings were and had hurried out in the middle of the night convinced that one of the other regulars would beat him to it otherwise.

We were both delighted by our surprise meeting and had a lovely chat as he walked me home.

I’ve met up with a couple of Jar Finders before but this was the first time I’d seen someone actually hunting and then finding a jar. It was a special moment made all the more magical because it was completely accidental.


Jar No 238

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Jar No 238
Kirsty Hall: Jar No 238, August 2011

Jar No 238 in situ
Kirsty Hall: Jar No 238 in situ, August 2011

Contents: Ink drawing
Released into wild: 26/8/11 at 23.49
General Location: Clifton, Bristol
Status: Missing. If you’ve found this jar, please record it here.

Comments:

“Drawing is like making an expressive gesture with the advantage of permanence.”
Henri Matisse

Jar No 238 close up
Kirsty Hall: Jar No 238 close up, August 2011


Jar No 237

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Jar No 237
Kirsty Hall: Jar No 237, August 2011

Jar No 237 in situ 01
Kirsty Hall: Jar No 237 in situ, August 2011

Jar No 237 in situ 02
Kirsty Hall: Jar No 237 in situ, August 2011

Contents: Ink and glaze pen drawing
Released into wild: 25/8/11 at 23.56
General Location: Clifton, Bristol
Status: In situ

Comments:

“The artist is a receptacle for emotions that come from all over the place: from the sky, from the earth, from a scrap of paper, from a passing shape, from a spider’s web.”
Pablo Picasso

Jar No 237 close up
Kirsty Hall: Jar No 237 close up, August 2011

As usual, Picasso was bang on the money.

It is pointless to ask me about my drawings, they just come bubbling up from everywhere. They are not ideas, they are feelings. The sculptures ans projects, now those are based in ideas. But not my drawings.


Jar No 236

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Jar No 236
Kirsty Hall: Jar No 236, August 2011

Jar No 236 in situ
Kirsty Hall: Jar No 236 in situ, August 2011

Contents: Ink drawing on photograph
Released into wild: 24/8/11 at 23.54
General Location: Clifton, Bristol
Status: Found by Toby, Theo’s Dad – and by pure serendipity, I happened to see him find it!

Comments:

This was the wettest Jar Walks I’ve had for months. It was absolutely pouring down and I even took an umbrella, which I rarely bother with because they annoy me.

Jar No 236 close up 01
Kirsty Hall: Jar No 236 close up, August 2011

I didn’t get far before deciding that I’d had enough and I retreated home with much relief – sometimes the walks are more of an empty formality than a meaningful exploration.


Jar No 235

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Jar No 235
Kirsty Hall: Jar No 235, August 2011

Jar No 235 in situ
Kirsty Hall: Jar No 235 in situ, August 2011

Contents: Ink drawing and thread
Released into wild: 23/8/11 at 23.58
General Location: Clifton, Bristol
Status: Found by Theo’s dad on 24/08/11

Comments:

Often drawings lie around for a good long while before I use them. This one had been sitting in my ‘maybe’ pile since the start of the year but it never felt right. It was originally a long thin, bowl-shaped drawing. I kept putting it in jars but it lacked something. Looking at it again for probably the 50th time, I suddenly realised that it simply needed to be cut in half. A pair of scissors, a piece of thread, a bit of duct tape and five minutes later, I had a finished jar.

Jar No 235 close up
Kirsty Hall: Jar No 235 close up, August 2011

I am unsentimental about my drawings: I feel no compunction about cutting them up; burning them; covering them with ink, paint or gesso; tearing them and generally being mean to them. I threw the other half of this one in the bin!

It isn’t that I don’t value my art – despite the fact that I’m spending a year giving it away, I value it highly – I just have complete faith that if a piece doesn’t work out, then I can always make another one.


Jar No 234

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Jar No 234
Kirsty Hall: Jar No 234, August 2011

Jar No 234 in situ 01
Kirsty Hall: Jar No 234 in situ, August 2011

Jar No 234 in situ 02
Kirsty Hall: Jar No 234 in situ, August 2011

Contents: Transparent paper, glaze pen, thread
Released into wild: 22/8/11 at 23.55
General Location: Clifton, Bristol
Status: Found by Richard on 9/9/11

Comments:

I’ve been feeling very low lately and was doubting my worth in the world (mostly because of financial woes).

So my honey sent me this quote to cheer me up.

“Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought.”
Albert Szent-Gyorgyi

Afterwards he wrote; “That’s what you do. You’re amazing. Never forget it.”

Jar No 234 close up 01
Kirsty Hall: Jar No 234 close up, August 2011

How do you remember that you’re amazing without getting big-headed?

In truth, I know that what I do is very small. It doesn’t cure cancer. It doesn’t feed people (not even me!) and it doesn’t revolutionise the world. It’s not rocket science, it’s bits of paper and thread in jam jars! It’s actually quite easy to stay humble when that’s your art practice.

Jar No 234 close up 02
Kirsty Hall: Jar No 234 close up, August 2011

But in their own small way, I know that my jars encourage people to look beyond the obvious and pay attention. And perhaps they make people think a little.

I also know the jars have encouraged several people to explore their own creativity. It sounds corny but if this project helps even one person to undertake their own project, then I will have done some good in the world… unless their project is world domination using zombie hordes, of course, in which case, I apologise in advance.

Adopt-A-Jar

Want a unique present for yourself or someone else? Why not be the only person in the world to adopt a jar on your special day?


Jars for Richard

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Richard had a couple of good finds back in July….

Jar No 201

Jar No 201
Kirsty Hall: Jar No 201, July 2011

Jar No 180

Jar No 180
Kirsty Hall: Jar No 180, June 2011

I’ve seen or collected a jar: Collected a jar

Number on lid of jar (Please include this, it’s the important bit!):
201, 201 and 180

Your name (optional): Richard

Date jar found (optional): 26 July

Where is the jar now? (optional): At home with my others

You’ve written ‘Jar No 201‘ twice Richard, do you have a third jar with a similar number?

ETA: Richard kindly got back to me to tell me that he actually found Jar No 202 not Jar No 201 twice.

Jar No 202

Jar No 202
Kirsty Hall: Jar No 202, July 2011

Now I’m wondering if I accidentally wrote 201 on two jars. Honestly, it wouldn’t surprise me. I try to keep the jars straight but it’s easy to get confused, especially if I’m not up to date on the blog.

……………

Theo and his family also worked out where Jar No 180 was but it was gone when they got there – obviously Richard beat them to it.

I wonder if my regular Jar Hunters feel competitive with each other? I’ve been considering organising a meet-up but perhaps they’d all just sit and glare at each other, ‘grrrr – you stole MY jar, I knew where it was but you got there first’.


Richard’s been successful this month too…

Jar No 105

Jar No 105
Kirsty Hall: Jar No 105, April 2011

Jar No 223

Jar No 223
Kirsty Hall: Jar No 223, August 2011

I’ve seen or collected a jar: Collected a jar

Number on lid of jar (Please include this, it’s the important bit!):
105 and 223

Your name (optional): Richard

Date jar found (optional): 17 August

Where is the jar now? (optional): At home with my others. It is great
finding a jar that has been in the wild for a while.

Wow, it’s amazing to hear that Jar No 105 has finally been found after four months in the wild. Most jars are found within a month and I think this jar claims the record for being outside for the longest before being found.

I’m also delighted that Richard has reported Jar No 223 because I’m particularly fond of that one and I went looking for it a couple of nights ago and was sad not to find it. But here it is again, turned up safe.


Jar No 233

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Jar No 233
Kirsty Hall: Jar No 233, August 2011

Jar No 233 in situ
Kirsty Hall: Jar No 233 in situ, August 2011

Contents: Ink drawing
Released into wild: 21/8/11 at 23.58
General Location: Clifton, Bristol
Status: Found by Theo’s brother, Max

Comments:

There is something painful in the familiar. A child of the nuclear 80′s, I can rarely escape thoughts of total disaster, so for years I’ve walked around cities imagining them overgrown, derelict and fading into myth.

Jar No 233 close up
Kirsty Hall: Jar No 233, August 2011

Shortly after placing this jar, I noticed a Royal Mail postbox built into a wall and felt a sudden stabbing knowledge that one day this cosy bright red icon of Britishness would surely fade away.

Perhaps our civilisation will be lost completely, leaving future archaeologists to puzzle over the strange rusting boxes they occasionally find in crumbling walls. Perhaps we will evolve a different system and letter boxes will become a strange museum relic that baffles small children unable to comprehend why we physically sent small pieces of paper around the world.

This is partly why I have such a fascination for small familiar things: it’s that knowledge that we don’t fully see these things because the ubiquitous becomes invisible. Yet we expect those small familiar things to always be there. But things change. Meanings become lost, societies move on and before you know it, the everyday things of your childhood are gone away to museums.