Category Archives: in progress

She’s like…

She’s like…

So we’ve got yet another piece in the id-iom demolition sale. Just exactly when will the pot run dry? As with our others it’s starting at the austerity busting price of just 99p! Here’s the Ebay link.

I knew we had this one nailed when a friend came up with the title. Little did he know it at the time, as he was talking about something else entirely, but he had just helped me put this one to bed. I love it when a plan comes together…

She’s like a A3 screen print on paper with unique hand finishing. Signed on reverse

Cheers

id-iom

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Demolition porn

We’ve been threatening for a while now that we would show you some uncensored and filthy pictures of our old studio, the House of Pain(t), being demolished to make way for some new housing. And today’s the day.

I’m still standing.

Here she is on the last day she could be considered a complete house. But the skip is ready and waiting…

Pink room and 'Stand your ground'

Pink room and ‘Stand your ground’

The pink room has definitely looked better. Here’s a link to a panoramic shot of her in all her glory.

On reflection

On reflection

I’m not entirely sure why they stripped this bit of ceiling but at least the girls were still complete at this stage.

Heart Two Heart

This is a shot through one of the removed walls of one bedroom to another bedroom that had one of thread and paint installations in but has now been stripped of all extraneous fixtures and fittings. You can see a panoramic picture of the complete original piece here.

Thumbs up!

Thumbs up!

Here I am proudly still giving the thumbs up. All was okay at this point. But not any longer.

X ray vision

X ray vision

This is a shot from the room in which we had our ‘King Dog and the Angels‘ installation – which was our attempt to finish an uncompleted thread piece by Perspicere. The wall which has been removed also featured a painted piece called ‘Unnatural Selection‘ by Agent Provocateur.

A lonely face in a vacant place

A lonely face in a vacant place

I think there is a hole in the ceiling and a door covering a big hole in the floor to allow them to pass bits of fixtures and fittings down to the ground so they could make their way to the skip. I think this probably makes her feel even more lonely.

Classy through the bars shot!

Classy through the bars shot!

I think this is probably our most artistic shot although I would imagine it came about through a lack of attention whilst trying to focus on the house in the background. I think it best to just call it a happy accident.

Tell Tale signs – under attack. And check the floating chimney!

Here we can see Tell Tale Signs in the process of being demolished. My favourite thing about this pic is how the chimney is still floating above the piece supported by scaffolding. Odd. In fact, i’ve just noticed you can see a bit of The Mark of the Night Writer just below the chimney too.

A lonely face in a vacant place – on the way out…

Here’s about half of ‘A lonely face in a vacant place’ which has to be my favourite title of all the pieces we did at the House of Pain(t). I think she was just bricks on the floor about 20 mins after this was taken…

4 eyes

4 eyes

He really does look like his world is crashing in around him on this one. He’s seen better days.

Go Go Rankin!

Here’s what’s left of one of the downstairs sitting rooms. Although I’m notoriously rubbish with a camera I think I managed to put my Rankin head on for this shot. It’s one of my favourites and makes the day look much more pleasant than it was.

Our basement studio. Now clearly defunct.

This is not a particularly exciting shot but it shows what has happened to our domain in the basement. You can see through the window that it appears to be have been filled with rubble to allow the digger to ride on the ground above without causing it to collapse. What an ignoble end for such a prestigious spot…

The Lady on the Door

The lady on the back of the door was always somewhat problematic as we just couldn’t seem to get the nose right. In fact I’ve just checked and we never even put a picture of her up as we were so displeased with her nose. I don’t suppose it matters too much now. I am however quite proud of this shot though. She never looked so good.

Pile it high!

Pile it high!

If you look closely in the centre of the picture you can just about see an eye and a helicopter from the 125 Crest wall. The mountain of junk stretched up to the second story…

id-iom interior decoration at your service!

Here’s what’s left of our id-iom calling card in one of the downstairs sitting rooms. At least he is still looking happy – although not for much longer…

Knock, knock, knocking on heaven's door

Knock, knock, knocking on heaven’s door

What’s that you can see at the above the door? Oh, it’s sky because the entire second floor has been removed!

Wallpaste wall no more...

Wallpaste wall no more…

Other than the yellow of the digger providing a nice contrast that is not a happy piece of wall. No siree.

125 Crest wall. Those who are about to die. We salute you.

Much like the rest of the house this piece is now looking a little the worse for wear and surely aware of it’s imminent destruction. This crest piece was largely a tribute to the house herself. She was good to us…

Walking skull - now floating on air.

Walking skull – now floating on air.

He looks a little odd out of context but when he was completed he looked like he was walking on the top of a desk. I really should have given him some shadow. I still haven’t got him tattooed on me yet but he’s on the list…

Stairway to heaven

Stairway to heaven

Heaven (or perhaps Hell) is just about the only place this dangerously unsafe stairway is going to take you. A lovely view from the top though.

Just a pile of bricks

Just a pile of bricks

What was once a picture becomes just another pile of bricks.

Floating magpie

Floating magpie

Like the Walking Skeleton this magpie once stood on a desk which made it look a little less odd. And there was a little ‘worm’ in the wall that it was about to eat. You can see that here if you like that kind of thing.

Licorice Eyes

It seems this little beauty is about to get swallowed whole by a big pile of debris. And she looked so glorious just a few short weeks ago…

Bobblehead

Bobblehead

Old bobblehead here looks a little wary doesn’t he? But then I suppose I would be too given the demo crew ripping the place up.

Wallpaste wall fluttering in the wind.

This was pretty much all that remained of the wall we wheatpasted with the various bits we had lying around when it came to clearing our stuff out of the basement. The end is nigh…

Tweet!

Tweet!

There will be little further tweeting from this location. And the cat may even get his food.

4 eyes defiant

This was the first room we managed to get completed and one of the last to go. The painting to the left of his head doesn’t really make much sense once they removed the wardrobe that we painted over. Although I like how he looks defiant despite the digger claw sitting ominously close.

Razed

Finally we have a shot showing the final stages of destruction. I think they have to dig out the basement once they’ve removed all above and then it’s time to start building again. It’s a good spot and we wish the new residents all the best when they finally move in.

We had our studio in the basement for 18 months and were then allowed to paint the entire place up prior to demolition. We had a great time applying a little id-iom decoration to just about every surface we could cover and, in a strange way, it’s quite pleasing seeing all that hard work being razed to the ground and reduced to rubble.You can’t stand in the way of progress. I just wish we could find another condemned building that we could give a good send off to…

Cheers

id-iom

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Looking back

Usually we’d drive back home with a car full of paint but this year though we tried to think ahead a little and ensure some art stuff was there on arrival. To facilitate this we took a new invention called the ‘aeroplane’ which is a fixed wing aircraft and is heavier than air but capable of flight using its wings to generate lift caused by the vehicle’s forward airspeed and the shape of the wings, if you’d ever believe such a thing! Travelling with 3 bags between the 2 of us was apparently a no-no (despite the fact that we’d read up on all their baggage rules and regulations and our combined bags were well below the required weight for two passengers). Luckily we managed to circumvent the Man’s rules by the simple expedient of putting one bag inside the other. Finally we were home safe!

Not ones to rest on our laurels we fought the elements to get a few new pieces up and had time to revisit a few older pieces that were still up to see how they have aged:

Jealousy

Jealousy was originally put up in summer 2010 and has certainly aged in that time. Plus someone has killed him by adding a red bullet hole in the middle of his forehead. Cest la vie…

Swedish Love Pump

Swedish Love Pump was originally put up in Xmas 2010 and looks like it won’t have long left before it’s unrecognisable. Maybe we’ll just paint over it next time.

Celebrity Wordsearch

Celebrity Wordsearch has faded fairly dramatically but I imagine the keen eyed can still work out who’s who.

We weren’t just catching up with old friends however, we also did a few more pre-planned pieces which will be forthcoming over the next few days. When we had got them all done we still had some paint left in the cans and time left on the clock we thought we’d do a little freehand to see what would come out…

Cartoon man

The cartoon man reveals little but his heart is pink. That is all.

My soul is BLACK

My soul is BLACK however probably reveals a little too much about our combined thought process and the fact that we still have an awful lot to learn about how to use a spraycan. Onwards and upwards…

Cheers

id-iom

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Odds and sods

You’ve seen pretty much all we have to offer at the House of Pain(t) - but not quite everything. Today we have a round up of all the stuff that hasn’t fitted in elsewhere. We’ve got some wheatpastes, stencils, bits of cardboard and a bit of wall…

Bobblehead

My least favourite bobbleheaded creature has to that stupid dog from the Churchill adverts. If i’m honest I’ve got little in the way of explanation for this piece or why he has what appears to be a bobblehead other than the wall was there and needed painting on. Not everything in this world can have a purpose…

Mupan flexing his muscles. Just a little.

Mupan has bigger muscles than you without even flexing. You know it and he knows it. Now on your way…

One too many

We all know the feeling (well, Team id-iom certainly does) of having just one drink too many in pursuit of a good time. The main problem is the more you drink the less self control you have – just when you need it most. Ah well, at least it’s the wekeend soon enough.

Tigers Only

Strange Facts #11 Siegfried and Roy once stayed in the House of Pain(t) (back when it was a normal house) and their tigers stayed with them in the basement. This was a warning sign above the door. And the male tiger always wore a hat. And that’s a fact. Or at least that’s what i was told…

Moustachio

We’re a little late for Movember but this gentleman is not the kind of man who only has a moustache for a month. No, siree. His is a permanent fixture and he’s proud of it.

I never really read superhero stuff as a kid

The funny thing about this piece is that i did read superhero stuff as a kid. Ha! Hey, irony, try that one on for size! I have a huge treasure trove of comics stashed away at home, an almost encyclopaedic knowledge of comic trivia and have even worked at a comics publisher. So there. Anyway, i digress.

I’m not sure if you will have seen a film called Super (which i quite enjoyed – maybe i should start doing film reviews too?) but the girl in this picture reminds me of his female sidekick Boltie (played by Ellen Page).

I’m a mole and I live in a hole

How on earth this mole seems to be climbing out of a pot that wouldn’t even fit him in I have no clue. Suffice it to say the mole was sat in the basement and needed a new home before we moved out.

We’ve got one final wall to show in the next day or two then we’ll hopefully have some demolition porn and then the House of Pain(t) will be no more. We will also have the video that the guys from Spraying Bricks shot that should be out before Xmas and also a little video for posterity that we shot ourselves (when it’s finally all edited together). Bring on the next condemned building…

Cheers

id-iom

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A portrait of the artist as a young man

Well our time in the House of Pain(t) has finally drawn to a close and the demolition crew have already moved in. Apparently they’ve done whatever internal work they needed to do and the place will start tumbling to the ground later today. We should hopefully have some pics we can show before too long too and I wouldn’t mind collecting a memento or two if we can while we are at it…

Anyway, onto today’s piece ‘A portrait of the artist as a young man’. I have clearly stolen the title from the James Joyce novel of the same name. That’s probably where the similarities begin and end. It’s based on a photograph of me taken a couple of years ago and features me giving a big thumbs up whilst wearing my best winning smile. I think the fact that my smile is obscured behind the respirator I’m wearing just goes to make me look that bit more enigmatic. Either that or vacant. I’m not really sure which.

I think after today there’s only the panorama to reveal from this room then a couple more bits and we’re all done. Oh well, onwards and upwards…

Cheers

id-iom

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King Dog and the Angels

King Dog and the Angels

King Dog and the Angels

When we started working upstairs at the House of Pain(t) we invited a couple of friends along to help out. In one of the upstairs rooms Perspicere went to work doing a thread piece that my poor photography skills just don’t do justice to as it’s pretty elaborate and nebulous (it’s the thinner dark thread you can just about make out in the background). He even came back the next week to try and get it completed but then had to leave early due to a small domestic emergency. After doing pretty much all the rest of the house we had his not-quite-completed room to contend with. As there were so many nails in the walls and thread all over the place the only thing we could really do was continue his work to some degree.

So we decided to make it some kind of  angel and ‘laser’ protected shrine to a strange canine king that is looking benignly down on a pair of kissing angels. It sounds odd now I’ve written it down but it seemed the only course of action we could reasonably take at that time.  You have to use your imagination a little to pretend the red threads are laser beams protecting the shrine but i must stress that the effect is really much better if you see it in person (which you can’t). The angels had been lurking in the basement for some project that never came to pass and they just took up too much space to be transported onwards with us. I hope they’re happy.

Cheers

id-iom

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Look me in the eyes

Look me in the eyes

Well we could hardly paint up the entire house up without getting at least one semi-naked girl in there. It just wouldn’t seem right. So today we are remedying that with this a topless young lady who’s relaxing with her arms behind her head. Just like i like to do sometimes. Although as a general rule I prefer a good sit down or a snooze. But that wouldn’t make such a good picture…

Cheers

id-iom

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Tears of a Care Bear

Tears of a Care Bear

This is what happens when you make Care Bears cry. As we saw yesterday the Care Bear had turned to drink in order to soothe his broken heart. His belly insignia had turned to rain clouds and the weather had responded. However, when Care Bears are depressed they are still dangerously volatile magic creatures so one should always apply caution. A Care Bear rain-bow is almost as rare as unicorn’s tears but a lot more spectacular – and will drown you far more quickly…

Cheers

id-iom

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Unrequited Love Bear

Unrequited Love Bear

I know that love is meant to be blind but it was never really going to work out was it? We have The Girl with the Pelmet Crown and a Care Bear. She’s a frosty and aristocratic human-looking character and he’s a Care Bear. No wonder he’s resorted to drinking to soothe his ragged nerves.

We can only imagine the pain when he exposed his feelings and she ruthlessly snubbed him and crushed his dreams in the process. And now between them they’ve smoked enough cigarettes that the entire room is filled with clouds. Hopefully he’ll get over it some day…

Cheers

id-iom

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The Girl with the Pelmet Crown

The Girl with the Pelmet Crown

I’m pretty sure the pelmet (if that’s what it is) was the starting point for this piece and for the whole room. It’s always fun to work with whatever objects are already on a wall and to try and incorporate them into the piece to produce something that is site specific.

Anyway when you have a pelmet-like device on the wall what do you do? Well, you add a rather frosty looking lady smoking a cigarette who seems to be wearing the pelmet-thing as some kind ethereal crown or halo that seems to float serenely above her shock of jet black hair. It would also appear that she’s been smoking that much that clouds are now beginning to form in the air around her. She seems to be something of a contradiction in terms. I do wonder what a girl like that would be capable of. You’ll have to stay tuned to ‘The House of Pain(t)’ to find out…

Cheers

id-iom

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