CHRIS DOBROWOLSKI
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        • Introduction
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        • Skyscape Escape
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Skyscape Escape

Picture'Escape' Wimbledon Space 2015 Photo:- Nick Manser

​Based on the plans of a 1930's homebuilt aeroplane design called the Flying Flea. 'Skyscape Escape' is made from tea chests and newspaper and powered by a 'Citreon 2cv' engine.

The designer, Henri Mignet, wrote a book on how to build the aeroplane that includes a chapter on how to fly it. This example is slightly modified as the original had a notorious design fault.
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Although the wings were made from newspaper articles about other projects they also included articles about the plane itself. This one on the underside of the wing was from 1996 in the 'London Evening Standard'
The newspapers used for the construction of the wings are all pages that somewhere include articles about other vehicles made by me.

Self promotion is a sometimes unaddressed issue of contemporary art. This aspect of 'Skyscape Escape' was a self conscious attempt to bring the artist's media image into the art gallery with the work.

​In the 1990’s, with the advent of the phenomenon of the ‘Young British Artist’, ‘artist’ as celebrity was more prominent than ever. Successful artists were 'well known' artists but I wanted to address the question, which came first? In a postmodern pluralist art world it was easy to be mistaken in thinking that the artists with the best media image were fêted as being the artists most lauded. My argument was that the ground for gauging the quality of art had shifted from the gallery into the media. In covering the wings of the plane with newspaper articles about myself I was attempting to bring that ground back into the gallery.
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'Wimbeldon Space' 2015. Photo: Nick Manser
Ultimately the ground shifted again anyway with the advent of the internet and social media making newspaper publicity a bit obsolete.  In some ways however its also quite a timeless debate looking at the sociopathic nature of artists and success.    (related article in the Guardian 2012)
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'Royal College of Art' 1996
​'Skyscape Escape' was made on limited resources over a period of ten years. It was begun in 1994 and flew for the first time in 2003 (more modifications were carried out in 2004). It was shown for the first time in 1996 at the R.C.A. on the roof of a garden shed. On that occasion the wings were temporary structures covered with photo copies on newsprint that were aged with tea and coffee. These were glued together with wall paper paste.

The shed was eventually abandoned. Its function in the art piece was ultimately that of a plinth that alluded to the 'outsider' or even 'anti-art' position of the work. This became a flawed connotation as not only had Cornelia Parker made her piece 'Cold Dark Matter' four years earlier but a whole string of Y.B.A.s used sheds in their work over the next few years (Tracey Emin, Simon Starling, John Frankland, Tracey Emin). The ‘shed’ had become well and truly appropriated by the contemporary art world. Ironically, as an unknown artist, I couldn’t use it anymore without it looking derivative. Luckily the shed was conceptually expendable.
The plane was displayed at an exhibition in Amsterdam in 2004. My invitation to be part of the show was a bit last minute and I went to Holland directly from the airfield. ​It was an ill conceived plan because at that time all my efforts had gone into trying to make the plane actually work. I hadn’t given enough consideration into rethinking how ‘Skyscape Escape’ was going to work in the context of an exhibition. I should have just said 'no' but I was wowed by the chance of being in an international show. Holland was a particularly bad choice at this time because a famous Dutch artist called Joost Conijn (who I didn’t really know much about at time) had just had a very well publicised film about himself made that told the story of how he also built and tried to fly a plane. His story documents his difficulties and disappointments which were similar to the ones I had experienced. However my experience had an extra layer of adversity that Conijn did not have to put up with. It was a 6 hour ferry ride to Holland for an outdoor show in one of the wettest Septembers on record.  There’s very little archival evidence of this exhibition anywhere. The only thing I had to show for my efforts at the end was a plane full of water and a damming couple of lines in a Dutch national newspaper (De Volksrant) saying ‘compared to Joost Conijn’s this work is quite boring’.  The fact that it was another newspaper article to stick on the aeroplane was an interesting if depressing irony.           ​​
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In 2015 I was offered a solo exhibition at the gallery 'Wimbledon Space'. The piece was adapted for the exhibition by the addition of my crash helmet and goggles. Projected on each eye piece was a film of the plane in split screen.

(Film 19 secs). by Dan Saul.

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2003, one of my early test 'hops' down the runway. Seddlescomb. No pilots liscence, minimal training. Understanably I look a little anxious.
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The rudder was built slighty differently to the wings in that it was skinned with pages of 'Henri Mignet's' book that I had used to build the plane.
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My favorite local newspaper article. 'Hull Daily Mail'., 2002. If I had a goal with the idea of making the wings from my own 'naff' media image this was it! In the article the journalist actually addresses the role that the media plays in trivialising art. At the time I had never seen a self critical article in a local newspaper before. I like to think the work held a mirror to populist press and casued this little 'short circuit' in the system just before the internet made it less relevant.
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As well as explaining how to build the plane the book also had a handy brief chapter at the back on 'How to fly!'
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The engine was from a Citroen 2 CV. It seemed an appropriate engine as its lineage was from the same pre war French era as the plane. I took a self consciously eccentric approach to the visual aspects of the engine. At the bottom you can see a white enamel cup that held the oil filter. On the top, the silver air filter was actually made from my mums aluminium teapot. To the left of this is an upside down milk bottle containing the drip feed oil supply for the the propellors chain drive.
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My well thumbed original copy of Henri Mignet's 'Flying Flea' book.
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The chapter on how to build the fuselage. It's one of the more straight forward processes. All written in a very easy going style; it reiminded of the Harry Enfield comedic charater 'Mr Cholmondley Warner'. Even the more complicated elements like the propellor and even 'How to Fly' are written in the same worryingly 'laissez-faire' manner.
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The part of the runway I was using had a bit of a hill and this was taken as I took off having climbed up it. My highest recorded 'hop'; it would have have kept going but unfortunately I had reached the limit of my abilities to pilot it. I hit the ground very hard seconds later in an effort to hastily land. (see earllier film) Photo:Jo Newman
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The film in the helmet included a section where the split screen synched up to show my eyes looking out of the goggles. The idea was at the limit of the capabilities of the projectors and unfortuantely one broke before the end of the show and proper documentation. It would be nice to do it again one day but with better kit.
The Flying Flea design encouraged many inexperienced people to attempt to fly their own plane in the 1930's. This and a major aeronautical design flaw led to 13 fatalities and the the plane was soon banned.   Part of the split screen film playing in the helmet had a sequence of historical still images of crashed Fleas and artistic representations of Icaraus.  These images were alternately 'jump cut' between the left and right eye pieces of the goggles in time to the music 'Wagner's'  'Ride of the Valkyries.'     
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All the historical Flea images were reproduced from the book  'Henri Mignet and His Flying Fleas' by Ken Ellis and the Icarus Images are as follows.  'Icarus and Daedalus' by Frederic Leighton; 'The Fall Of Icarus' by Carlo Saraceni;  'The Sun, or the Fall of Icarus' by Merry-Joseph Blondel; 'The Fall of Icarus', French circa 1660.
(Film 4 mins' 35 secs.) . I used some of this Super 8 footage in the 'helmet split screen film' but this edit was made primarily as the penaltimate film in the perfromance lecture 'Landscape, Seascape, Skyscape, Escape'.  In the context of the lecture I don't let on that the plane actually flys only that it is potentially lethal. Consequently the long build up increases the tension in the auidience to the point where they usually clap, cheer or gasp spontaneously.as it finally lumbers into the air.   Music: 'Wagner' ,'Ride of the Valkyries'.    
For 'Sketch for Aeroplane Series'  click on the image below
Sketch for Aeroplane series
  • Home
  • in the art gallery
    • Transit Transition >
      • Train Wave
      • The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner
      • Self Evaluation
      • something About Global Capitalism But Less Ernest
      • The Man From Human Resources Is Coming to See You
      • The Ofsted Inspection
      • The Risk Assessment
      • Personal development training day
      • My Matchbox Toy Lorry
      • The Zero Hours Contract
      • The Plinth
    • Remnants Of Utopia >
      • Austerity Miniature Mayday Parade
      • The Contract
      • Agitprop/anti-agitprop Train
      • Siberia
      • How We Won The War
      • Revolutionary Reminder
      • The Marketing Team
    • Antarctica >
      • Project Outline
      • Antarctica Essay
      • Reviews
      • Sledge
      • Toy Sledge
      • Airfix Antarctic Aeroplane Hoover
      • Eating Penguins
      • The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner
      • Toy Snowmobile
      • Rat Box, Bird Island
      • Rejection Letters
      • The Last Roll Of Kodachrome In The World
      • John Deere Gator And Specimen
      • There Are No More Dogs In Antarctica
      • Furthest South- J C B
      • Captain Scotts Bookshelf
      • Antarctic Toy Portraits
    • Landscape, Seascape, Skyscape , Escape >
      • Seascape Escape (No.1)
      • Landscape Escape (No.1)
      • Seascape Escape (No.2)
      • Timescape Escape
      • Landscape Escape (No.2) >
        • Sketches for Tank
      • Skyscape Escape
      • Essay/ Catalogue >
        • Introduction
        • Seascape Escape
        • Landscape Escape No. 1
        • Seascape Escape No.2
        • Landscape Escape No.2
        • Skyscape Escape
        • Timescape Escape
        • End-Piece
      • Reviews and Press
    • Offer Must End Soon >
      • Essay Jess Twyman
      • Reviews
      • Offer Must End Soon
      • Buy My Painting!
      • "Buy My Painting!" For the hard of hearing.
      • "Don't Make Me Take It All Back Home With Me!"
      • How We Won The War
      • "Stop me and buy one!"
      • 'The Cornfield'... free gift inside
      • "Catalogue!"
      • The Contemporary Art Scene
      • Camera Crash
      • "Untitled" hanging itself
      • Buy My Fucking Painting!
      • Absolut Ship !
      • Executive Toy!
      • Art Stunt Suicide Disaster
      • Roll up, Roll up. Get your Art here!
    • Big Country >
      • Big Country
      • The box you stick your head into
      • Europa, Hoek van Holland to Vladivostok
      • Caravans
      • magazine article
    • All at Sea
    • & Model >
      • Reviews
    • Give Me The Money
    • Music and domestic appliances >
      • Sketch for aeroplane
      • The Plinth
      • Cold War Monument
      • Wagon Wheels
      • Vacuum Cleaner Circle
    • ...on the wall...in boxes >
      • My Shitty Studio No.2
      • Sketch for aeroplane No.6
      • Landscape, Seascape, Skyscape, Fire Escape
      • My horrible studio No.1
      • Untitled 240 Volts
      • On the way to the beach party
      • Toy Me No.2
      • It's for you
    • Sweet Jars, glass cases on books >
      • Thatcher
      • The council estate is coming
      • Attack drone and books
      • Muck Spreader
      • Trojan Horse
      • Security Camera
      • Move
      • Epsom Printer, Tank, God
      • Contemporary art- its the law!
      • Tank Caravans Paint Brush
      • Buy to Let
      • Section 21
  • On The Stage
    • All Roads Lead To Rome >
      • Project outline
      • reviews
    • Antarctica >
      • Project Outline
      • Reviews
    • Poland 3 Iran 2 >
      • Project Outline
      • Reviews
    • Landscape, Seascape, Skyscape , Escape >
      • Project Outline
      • Reviews
      • tours and extra stuff
    • How NOT to make a living as an Artist
    • Toy Stories
  • Outside the art gallery
    • Auspicious Phoenix Recycling Palace
    • Covid lockdown with Boris >
      • Boris zip wire
      • Covidtrix
      • what is the truth but a lie agreed upon
    • Goat Train
    • washed up Car - go >
      • Project Outline
      • Reviews
      • 'EK52 UDP'
      • 'VK02 GFK'
      • 'Y194 LPP'
      • Washed Up Car-go (Hastings)
      • Washed Up Car- go (Brighton)
    • Vanishing Point >
      • Project Outline
      • Reviews
      • Red Sports Car, East To West
      • Studebaker Camera Car, Going To The Beach
      • Kite And Candy, Buick
      • Kennedy Lincoln Continental
      • Ambulance Emergency
      • Pink Mustang, at the Golden Gate Bridge
      • Matchbox
      • Instant Gratification
    • Badgast Residency >
      • Short Essay
      • De Wrede Zee
      • Fish
      • Chips
      • Windmill
      • Panorama Mesdag
    • Selfie Slot Car Racing >
      • Project Outline
      • Film by Andy Wiltshire
      • Librarian Pit Crew
      • Experiments with sound
      • Selfie Slot Car Racing at Firstsite Gallery
      • Flitwick Library
    • Coventry Transport Museum Residency >
      • Coventry Concept
      • Poetry Vending Machine
    • Cheap Cheap >
      • Review
    • A Portrait of Casper DeBoer
    • Cranes
    • Hessle Road Residency >
      • Hessle Road (continued)
    • Reisbureau Mareado >
      • Mareado (Continued)
      • City magazine review
    • Windmills >
      • Aerial, wind, sun and radio
      • Guitar Played by the Wind >
        • Winners and Losers
      • Self Portrait
      • Jesus punches banker
    • Performance Sculptures >
      • The groundsman
      • All seeing bicycle lamp
      • Pasta 4 one
      • Revolutionary Reminder
  • publications
    • Solo projects >
      • Escape >
        • Read an Extract
      • Antarctica
      • Offer Must End Soon
      • Tangents
      • Landscape, Seascape, Skyscape , Escape
      • Aerial, wind, sun and radio
    • Group Projects >
      • oceans
      • Talk to me
      • & Model
      • Middlesbrough Art Weekender
      • Translating the Street
      • 1st Sino/british Cont. Art, Yentai
      • Performance, Transport And Mobility
      • Inbetween PS1, New York and Shanghai
      • Odd Coupling
      • Landscapes of Exploration
      • Flip Shift Show Switch
      • Baudrillard Now
      • The Juddykes
      • Dr Roberts Magic Bus
      • Continental Breakfast
      • Lat (living Apart Together)
      • North. Amsterdam 2004
      • Westwijk, Vlaardingen, De Strip
      • Da Da Da Strategies Against Marketecture
      • Reisburo Mareado (The Travel Brochure)
      • Catalogus Mareado
      • Kunst Over De Grens
      • This Flat Earth
      • The Uses of an Artist
      • Kettles Yard Open 97
      • Royal College Of Art Centenary Year
      • Millennium Encyclopedia
    • Press
  • About / contact
    • Biog
    • CV >
      • Solo Exhibitions
      • Live Art
      • Residencies / Commissions
      • Group Exhibitions
      • Education
      • Career History
      • Media Coverage
    • Contact
    • are you on the right website?