New Sculpture - "Burnt Dream" (SOLD)

Leo Cohen

Burnt Dream (2011)
Matches, Toothpicks, Glue
13 cm x 16cm x 7.5cm

(SOLD) to Private Collector near Birmingham

KWICK LOVE gets some press, Hackney Citizen

Click to expand article where mention of myself, the show and some artists is highlighted:

KWICK LOVE SUMMER EXHIBITION

KWICK LOVE

Summer Exhibition

Hackney Wicked Art Festival 2011

29 July - 31 July 2011

Opening Friday 29 July 6 to 10 PM

LEO COHEN
ALISON THOMSON

LUCIA RIVERO
BABETTE SEMMER
PATRICIA DELGADO
ANNA LOUISE HALE
JONNY MORGAN
SYDNEY SOUTHAM
JAMES BOMAN
HARUKA HASHIGUCHI
DAVID JONES
HENRY MACKAY-BULL
BEN NATHAN
BEN WESTLEY CLARKE
ALETEIA DANELUZ

32 Felstead Street
Hackney Wick
E9 5


Pop-Up Space courtesy of Premier Foods

Nearest Station: Hackney Wick

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Mayonnaise Hypochondriac?

Whilst the world grieves Amy Winehouse for probably dying from an overdose of Smack, sometimes I think about myself eating lots of mayonnaise and thinking well, we're all gonna go one day, I'll probably get a heart attack and she got a painless death. I don't mean to be a hypochondriac but sometimes I feel like I'm gonna die from the stuff but I like the taste, particularly Hellmans.

I've heard they give Methadone to old people anyway so they lose pain and fear. Death is inevitable, we'll all go one day. and If I haven't completed my work here due to a mayonnaise filled diet, it will be a shame but I'll be gone already so no more worries! Whilst I like this unknown expression "too many cemeteries filled with unfinished business", what if that was the way it was meant to be? So many legends have died at 27 - what's known as the curse of 27.

I wonder if I'll die at 27? I've got three years left. Better eat all the mayonnaise I can in that case and if I survive...then I'll have at least another 5 years left maybe? Plus smoking on top and my clogged arteries will really have fat to spill. Sometimes I get vaso-vagal just thinking about it. Jeez I must be a hypochondriac!

Accidents of Genius

Looking further into "accidental genius"... I came across nine other inventions born from mistakes or accidents that we probably, I probably took for granted these days.

Corn Flakes

In 1894, Dr. John Harvey Kellogg was the superintendent of the Battle Creek Sanitarium in Michigan. He and his brother Will Keith Kellogg were Seventh Day Adventists, and they were searching for wholesome foods to feed patients that also complied with the Adventists' strict vegetarian diet. When Will accidentally left some boiled wheat sitting out, it went stale by the time he returned. Rather than throw it away, the brothers sent it through rollers, hoping to make long sheets of dough, but they got flakes instead. They toasted the flakes, which were a big hit with patients, and patented them under the name Granose. The brothers experimented with other grains, including corn, and in 1906, Will created the Kellogg's company to sell the corn flakes. On principle, John refused to join the company because Will lowered the health benefits of the cereal by adding sugar.

Microwave ovens

The microwave oven is now a standard appliance in most American households, but it has only been around since the late 1940s. In 1945, Percy Spencer was experimenting with a new vacuum tube called a magnetron while doing research for the Raytheon Corporation. He was intrigued when the candy bar in his pocket began to melt, so he tried another experiment with popcorn. When it began to pop, Spencer immediately saw the potential in this revolutionary process. In 1947, Raytheon built the first microwave oven, the Radarange, which weighed 750 pounds, was 51/2 feet tall, and cost about $5,000. When the Radarange first became available for home use in the early 1950s, its bulky size and expensive price tag made it unpopular with consumers. But in 1967, a much more popular 100-volt, countertop version was introduced at a price of $495.

Silly Putty

It bounces, it stretches, it breaks -- it's Silly Putty, the silicone-based plastic clay marketed as a children's toy by Binney & Smith, Inc. During World War II, while attempting to create a synthetic rubber substitute, James Wright dropped boric acid into silicone oil. The result was a polymerized substance that bounced, but it took several years to find a use for the product. Finally, in 1950, marketing expert Peter Hodgson saw its potential as a toy, renamed it Silly Putty, and a classic toy was born! Not only is it fun, Silly Putty also has practical uses -- it picks up dirt, lint, and pet hair; can stabilize wobbly furniture; and is useful in stress reduction, physical therapy, and in medical and scientific simulations. It was even used by the crew of Apollo 8 to secure tools in zero gravity. This also makes me think about the film "flubber" with Robin Williams.

Post-it Notes

A Post-it note is a small piece of paper with a strip of low-tack adhesive on the back that allows it to be temporarily attached to documents, walls, computer monitors, and just about anything else. The idea for the Post-it note was conceived in 1974 by Arthur Fry as a way of holding bookmarks in his hymnal while singing in the church choir. He was aware of an adhesive accidentally developed in 1968 by fellow 3M employee Spencer Silver. No application for the lightly sticky stuff was apparent until Fry's idea. The 3M Company was initially sceptical about the product's profitability, but in 1980, the product was introduced around the world. Today, Post-it notes are sold in more than 100 countries.

Saccharin

Saccharin, the oldest artificial sweetener, was accidentally discovered in 1879 by researcher Constantine Fahlberg, who was working at Johns Hopkins University in the laboratory of Professor Ira Remsen. Fahlberg's discovery came after he forgot to wash his hands before lunch. He had spilled a chemical on his hands and it, in turn, caused the bread he ate to taste unusually sweet. In 1880, the two scientists jointly published the discovery, but in 1884, Fahlberg obtained a patent and began mass-producing saccharin without Remsen. The use of saccharin did not become widespread until sugar was rationed during World War I, and its popularity increased during the 1960s and 1970s with the manufacture of Sweet'N Low and diet soft drinks.

Slinky

In 1943, naval engineer Richard James was trying to develop a spring that would support and stabilize sensitive equipment on ships. When one of the springs accidentally fell off a shelf, it continued moving, and James got the idea for a toy. His wife Betty came up with the name, and when the Slinky made its debut in late 1945, James sold 400 of the bouncy toys in 90 minutes. Today, more than 250 million Slinkys have been sold worldwide.

Crisps

If you can't eat just one crisp, blame it on Chef George Crum. He reportedly created the salty snack in 1853 at Moon's Lake House near Saratoga Springs, New York. Fed up with a customer who continuously sent his fried potatoes back, complaining that they were soggy and not crunchy enough, Crum sliced the potatoes as thin as possible, fried them in hot grease, then doused them with salt. Of course the customer loved them. "Saratoga Chips" quickly became a popular item at the lodge and throughout New England.

Eventually, the crisps were mass-produced for home consumption, but since they were stored in barrels or tins, they quickly went stale. Then, in the 1920s, Laura Scudder invented the airtight bag by ironing together two pieces of waxed paper, thus keeping the crisps fresh for longer. Today, crisps are packaged in plastic or foil bags.

Fireworks

Fireworks originated in China some 2,000 years ago, and legend has it that they were accidentally invented by a cook who mixed together charcoal, sulfur, and saltpeter -- all items commonly found in kitchens in those days. The mixture burned and when compressed in a bamboo tube, it exploded. There's no record of whether it was the cook's last day on the job.

Play-Doh

One smell most people remember from childhood is the odour of Play-Doh, the brightly-coloured, nontoxic modelling clay. Play-Doh was accidentally invented in 1955 by Joseph and Noah McVicker while trying to make wallpaper cleaner. It was marketed a year later by toy manufacturer Rainbow Crafts. More than 700 million pounds of Play-Doh have sold since then, but the recipe remains a secret.

http://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/scientific-experiments/9-things-invented-or-discovered-by-accident9.htm

Imperfect World: Basis for New Work

In Kabbalah, it is understood that this world is like a corridor to the next. We are to understand it as a sort of experimental, accidental space. Perhaps an imperfect place.

I've always pictured this world to be an accident and imperfect, often without thinking Kabbalistically, but that this world is an imperfect accident of genius! A world in which there is so much knowledge to delve into, to gain, and numerous areas of research to discover, unearth and explore. Infinite places to go, activities to do, leisures to occupy oneself with, hobbies to in which one becomes immersed. But at the same time, the question is always there saying to me inside "what is the purpose?" Where is the ultimate definitive point? What is the goal and why? the target boy, what's the target..? ha! Just like the song, "there's no beginning and there'll be no end..."

In some respects all life becomes repetitive. An endless cycle with endless amounts of heirs and inheritance. To which point are we to progress? And why should the next generation pick up the pieces of a world which, at times, could be seen as futile for such reasons. Endless procreation. A new generation having to deal with the problems in the world. Metaphorically speaking life is like the wagon replaced by the car, the purpose is to get to places quicker, but why do we need to get to places?

I ask myself what is perfection, what is the cure? This leads me to consider utopia. I would say that equilibrium is certainly a state of perfection. One direction then leads me to consider socialist utopia, which I explored in my installation Oil-Of-Course. And though it makes perfect sense where everyone is equal, there are still plain and simple black and white differences in ethnicity, identity and culture which means we will never all be the same, and will constantly be identified as different by some stupid person. I rule that philosophy out. But it is that type of perfection that is absolutely impossible to achieve in this world. A world of dualities where there is always going to be oppositions, "chalk and cheese" as I love to call it!

Perhaps that is why in a democracy it is okay when a politician is elected leader and proceeds to make constant mistakes. We all shout angrily, but we all know prior to election even, that making mistakes is only human, and that the responsibility of making big decisions is not something we desire to take on board. Steven Poliakoff is great at making films about rich and wealthy people, those with money give it to others to make decisions for them. They hate responsibility and do not want to be left with ethical and moral decisions. (The corruption of NGOs) do I dare slip that in. Better have others making decisions for so long as it doesn't affect yours truly!

An imperfect world means that in some senses of those words we are all imperfect in our characters and our being. Unbalanced? Caught between ethics and morality? to be good or bad, right and wrong, but of course never really knowing what this is? ...And who decides? Why?

Well perhaps it is this strive to reach infinity, an impossible destination that is the imperfection of our life. Aiming for the ultimate thing, the source, the shelf we cannot reach. Taking father's works and continuing his research. Or perhaps the mason trade. Like daddy who was in the Navy, I think I'll join the navy. Spewing repetitive cycles like a bad acid trip. But look at how beautiful the colours of the ride is! (get my drift?)

Aronfosky's film Pi is a visual way to imagine this futility and imperfection. The source, the code, the numerical value, the philosophical equation to eternal, infinite wisdom and understanding is what we supposedly gain in the world to come. To seek perfection one cannot live in a world of imperfection, and as Danny gets closer and closer to the number, the key to solving the absolute impossible causes his seizures get worse and worse.

We could take Tarkovsky's Stalker, when they enter the Zone and similarly, each professional wishes to gain wisdom and understanding to answer their ultimate questions and reasons for being on the earth, but as they get closer and closer to the source, existence gets harder and more dangerous, more complex and more surreal, booby traps. At one point, one man seeks to sabotage the zone with a stick of dynamite so no one can ever find out the meanings to their lives.

Turning back towards the world, our world, it seems as though we are inevitably trapped within boundaries and limitations and that no matter where we go or how far we get, we are always caught within a set of brackets. (Birth Death) (Left Right) (Here There)

We are, so to speak, like life caught in a condom, wriggling around inside, alive (and arguably dead), yet unable to swim towards that source, (and metaphorically speaking :[] )...that egg on the other side.

This is the basis for a new piece of work, sketches, I put down onto paper...

Berlin: Spreepark Video

After Amsterdam I visited Berlin. This is a video by Ying who is a photographer, but this time I'm taking pictures when we all hung out in the abandoned theme park in Treptower called Spreepark. He made it on his iphone. x