I Sent Dame Tracey Emin a Tin of Beans

It's the get-my-head-out-of-my-arse edition of the Weekly Art Practice, issue 65 | The Outsider Artist known as SLART.

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I’ll talk about Dame Tracey’s beans in a bit. But first, I wanted to share one of those flyaway comments that just hits you and makes you think, “Oh yeah! You’re right!”

I was with my 2-year-old daughter after work. It was a sunny day, so I took her out for a walk. We wandered over to my studio, then to the library, and I suddenly had a thirst for a pint of Guinness, so we popped into a café/bar. The waiter greeted us, told us to go sit over there, and said he’d be right over.

Then I waited. And waited. And waited for the waiter.

No one came over. I was giving my daughter her snacks and water, secretly seething inside. After 20 minutes, We left.

As we were heading out, the owner asked, “Were you seen to in the end?”
I said “No,” trying to be friendly but behind gritted teeth. He apologised profusely and gave us a lolly pop each.

It wasn’t until later that afternoon, when I explained what had happened, to my wife, she replied, “You need to sort yourself out.”
I was taken aback at first. But then it hit me.

I’m not that 19-year-old, cripplingly shy, awkward person who used to find it hard to order a pint in a pub anymore. But there was a remnant of an old neurological pattern in my brain that got triggered in that bar, and I was playing out that same old behaviour in real time.

All mixed in with the part of me that used to like to play victim, so I didn’t have to face the world.

Her comment triggered a realisation that got properly embodied and generalised into something like,

“If I’m doing things like this... what else am I stopping myself doing, by accident?”

It’s opened up a new level of self-confidence and awareness, which is really freeing.

Now, Tracey’s baked beans…

After giving Matt Berry a flyer to Memento Vivere back in January, I’ve been on a mission asking people I admire to attend the exhibition opening on 6^th September. I had the idea to send mustard to Tracey Emin to get her attention, hold on, don’t go, there’s a method to my madness. Firstly, it costs very little to send this English mustard via Amazon. Cheaper than printing flyers and a buying a stamp, in the UK it costs £1.65 for a stamp alone, and I haven’t got £100s to spend on flyering.

So, I sent the mustard. Then after I sent Tracey the mustard, I came across and cheaper products, such as beans.

Next came the beans…

Then came the sweetcorn (well this cost more but it fit with my pun)…

And lasta but not leasta, it was a bag of pasta…

My wife thinks I’m crazy.

Maybe I am? But you have to be a bit crazy to stand out these days, flyers get thrown in the bin, and people are busy-minded. Tracey will either a) not even see it, as I posted it to TKE Studios in Margate - don’t know how often she’s there. b) laugh her ass off or c) get really pissed off. Of the latter two, at least I’ll get her attention! Let me add that one parcel will be sent to Tracey Emin per day over the 4 days. So I’ll update you if I hear anything before next week’s post :-D.

The other exciting news this week is that I have secured the venue for Art B.R.U.T on 16-29th June as part of Swindon Arts Fringe. I’m happy to announce that we have a space in Swindon Art Museum to display local outsider artists’ work for the two weeks, and it’ll also be for sale! More on this soon. I hope you can make it to the opening on 16th June!

That is all for now, take care everyone.

Memento Vivere: Remember to Live.

Have a great Saturday.

Best wishes,

SLART.

P.S. One more thing, could you please leave a 4 or 5-star (Hopefully not 1,2 or 3) review on my SLART Google page? I'm looking to enhance my online presence as an artist, and this small, straightforward, and swift action would be immensely beneficial. Cheers!

P.P.S. Big shout-out to Gary Mansfield and his brilliant podcast, Ministry of Arts! I came across it on Instagram and I’m buzzing to be a guest on it soon. Can’t wait!