BNI+sample

During BNI meetings the members take it turn to do a 10 minute presentations, in order to be able to go into greater detail on what it is their business does. On one such occasion, when it was my turn, I took the opportunity to do a short sample drawing exercise of the type that I might (or have done) in a teaching or workshop situation.

This is a visual version of Chinese Whispers that in this form originated as a Surrealist game amongst groups of artists at various gatherings. The traditional version of Chinese Whispers goes like this-:

In this visual version, One person draws from a subject in front of them, which - ideally - only they can see. If at all possible, the person who starts this off should be chosen as being the best draughts-person of the group. Then the rest of the group starting from next to the originator, draw by copying the drawing of the person next to them. This project is best when the life model is utilised as the subject, although in this instance we improvised with a plastic model of a crocodile.

With the drawings displayed below notice how by the 3rd drawing we had significantly moved to a caricature of the subject, causing the 4th person to exaggerate that by adding a significant hunch to the crocodile's body. This process continues by simplifying the form until by drawing eight the crocodile is no longer recognisable as the one we started with. Another interesting feature had been how the front and back legs of the crocodile began to move significantly closer together between drawings # 4-8. After drawing 8 the metamorphosis of the body stays relatively similar, whereas the crocodile's legs start to mutate wildly. At the final drawing (13) we appear to be at the point where the form is going to break completely loose, it is a shame that we hadn't got a larger group to see where this could have taken us.

This is a great project for getting across the relationship between realism and abstraction, as well as the development from the former to the latter. In our reflective feedback at the end of this exercise this was discussed with the group, as well as the wider issues of teamwork , passing information and other areas that can be equated to business practices. It was significant in that the group moved the drawing around in stages (e:g body first, legs later).

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BNI Chelsea
	From September 2002, I have been a member of the Chelsea Chapter of Business Network International (BNI), The World's No.1 Business Referral Organisation. This is a group of central London based businesses that meets weekly, and whose primary objective is to pass quality referrals to it's fellow members. The main focal point of the meeting s are the member 60 seconds, where the members take it in turn to stand up and state who they are, their business and what they are looking for. Later in the meeting referrals are passed based on this information. For me, this has meant 1) that I have sold works to other members, and 2) I utilise this network as a tool to develop ongoing art and business partnerships As BNI has a strict code of conduct ensuring that only quality businesses remain members, you can be assured that you are getting a quality service.

Sample project, undertaken @ BNI meeting - May 2003
	During BNI meetings the members take it turn to do a 10 minute presentations, in order to be able to go into greater detail on what it is their business does. On one such occasion, when it was my turn, I took the opportunity to do a short sample drawing exercise of the type that I might (or have done) in a teaching or workshop situation. This is a visual version of Chinese Whispers that in this form originated as a Surrealist game amongst groups of artists at various gatherings. The traditional version of Chinese Whispers goes like this-: "Sit in a circle and ask one person to start the whisper. They need to think of a short phrase or message to send around the circle. They whisper this into the ear of the person to their left, who then passes on around the circle. By the time the message gets back to the starter you usually end up with some hilarious results" (From the Eventswise website) In this visual version, One person draws from a subject in front of them, which - ideally - only they can see. If at all possible, the person who starts this off should be chosen as being the best draughts-person of the group. Then the rest of the group starting from next to the originator, draw by copying the drawing of the person next to them. This project is best when the life model is utilised as the subject, although in this instance we improvised with a plastic model of a crocodile. With the drawings displayed below notice how by the 3rd drawing we had significantly moved to a caricature of the subject, causing the 4th person to exaggerate that by adding a significant hunch to the crocodile's body. This process continues by simplifying the form until by drawing eight the crocodile is no longer recognisable as the one we started with. Another interesting feature had been how the front and back legs of the crocodile began to move significantly closer together between drawings # 4-8. After drawing 8 the metamorphosis of the body stays relatively similar, whereas the crocodile's legs start to mutate wildly. At the final drawing (13) we appear to be at the point where the form is going to break completely loose, it is a shame that we hadn't got a larger group to see where this could have taken us. This is a great project for getting across the relationship between realism and abstraction, as well as the development from the former to the latter. In our reflective feedback at the end of this exercise this was discussed with the group, as well as the wider issues of teamwork , passing information and other areas that can be equated to business practices. It was significant in that the group moved the drawing around in stages (e:g body first, legs later).



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