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Showing posts from 2011

Thailand

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I am in Thailand...... Beautiful scenery. We've driven past numerous cats and dogs that are everywhere dead by the side of the road, there was this incredible snake on the beach with a noose round it's neck...And all I am allowed to do is look....from afar. Because of course I am on the first family holiday in ten years and not an adventure of a lifetime. There's loads of jaw dropping roadkill here and I can't do anything about it. All I'm allowed to do is pick up dried squashed toads. I have to keep this secret from my family and hopefully eventually customs.  Where did this image come from Obviously I haven't brought a camera to one of the most beautiful place in the world so have nothing to show of my 'adventures' Any images I use are not mine-But the things might have looked quite a lot like that. ? The places I have seen have been full of bloody tourists. I haven't seen one of those beaches that are clear of people. I don't think it'

BIZARRE TAXIDERMY

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Alix Fox from Bizarre Magazine came round a few months ago. We had a great time at the bottom of my garden, opening up children's toy trunks full the dead things things I like to make sculptures out of... Somethings are obviously deeply offensive but viewed with a massive sense of humour it's fine.   I also showed her the ropes in regard to this D.I.Y Taxidermy stuff. Here we are in my studio having a gay old time. You really can do it yourself with things you have at home. Just use your imagination! ...That's all I had to work with. It was really strange having people round poking fun at your stuff and taking hundreds of photos. It's hard letting people into the deeply private world of me and my animals.  My art means a lot to me.... You'll have to dig a little deeper to find out why but it's in here I promise. I cover a lot of things up with humour- that's because I'm afraid I won't have anything intelligent enough to say. Comes from being surround

Artist Talk: Verbal Diarrhoea

TONIGHT!  (Wednesday 16th Nov 7pm) The Doodle Bar 33 Parkgate Road Battersea, SW11 4NP 'Fro m the creator of D.I.Y Taxidermy LIVE we bring you a special event. Charlie Tuesday Gates, ‘Taxidermist’, sculpture and performance artist will be talking about the inspirations behind her work and warped imagination. This is a story of triumph over absurdity.  From humble beginnings growing up on a Army Camp rubbish dump, to big dreams of working on the shopping channel- Teaching herself taxidermy and then bringing it to the stage….all in the style of a crazed substitute teacher.….Who’s possibly maybe drunk. This is a no holes barred talking & pictures event! So if you feel like getting inside the mind of Charlie Tuesday Gates and experiencing verbal diarrhea of an artistic kind, then come on down this Wednesday 16th Nov. 7.15 pm The Doodle Bar This talk is FREE! Love from Charlie Gates x *** There will be no big words, lots and lots of pictures and of course boo

Artist talk at the Doodle Bar 16th Nov

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For those of you who feel like getting inside my brain for one night then come on down to the  Doodle Bar  16th Nov! I'll be regurgitating it- talking about the who's, what's, where's and how I  come up with all these obscenities. My inspirations, what happened to me when I was young, deep and apparently meaning full stuff delivered with my own brand of humour. So if you were to scared to see a live show, now is your chance to just come look and listen very safely. You can even ask questions to my face. Follow everything all the time on   TWITTER & FACEBOOK! Love from Charlie Gates x

Time Out

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Lives less ordinary ..... London is jam-packed full of people who make a unique contribution to our city. This week we talk to Charlie Tuesday Gates, the taxidermist. A pretty tomboy – in jeans, baggy T-shirt and floral-print baseball cap when we meet – Charlie Tuesday Gates is all bubbly vivacity and infectious laughter. Get her talking about animals, and her eyes twinkle in childlike wonder as she enthuses about their beauty. It’s almost easy to forget that you’re surrounded by death. ‘I got this for my birthday last year,’ she chirps, pulling a battered leather suitcase from a shed. ‘It’s the first thing I ever did. You might want to stand back,’ she says, flipping open the lid. ‘This one smells a bit.’ There’s an odour like a rugby team’s sweaty sock collection, and a dessicated fox’s remains jut from a pile of salt. With tail and nose still intact, legs thrust aloft, it could simply be playing dead. Except for the ribcage protruding from peeled-back skin. Next to it lies a kitsch

THRILLING WONDER STORIES!

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I was asked to do a D.I.Y Taxidermy talk/demonstration at this event. THRILLING WONDER STORIES A t the Architectural Asscoiation. LIVE in NEW YORK & LONDON Read all about it in this article  by   The Guardian '.....  This is the Architectural Association's third annual speculative sci-fi-inspired design jam, where architects are invited to think way out of the box, their imaginations cross-fertilised by "mad scientists, literary astronauts, design mystics, graphic cowboys, mavericks, visionaries and luminaries". They're not joking. Guests in London this Friday and Saturday (there's a parallel event in New York) include Vincenzo Natali , director of warped sci-fi movies Cube and Splice, author Bruce Sterling , taxidermy artist  Charlie Tuesday Gates (hosting a live workshop) and special effects supremo Andy Lockley , the man who folded up Paris in Christopher Nolan's  Inception , among other feats. It's the shape of things to come, you know.

TIME OUT Halloween specail-Lives less ordinary

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Time Out came round. Alexi Duggins and photographer R ob Greig to be precise. Together Alexi and I skinned a magpie and chatted about what, why, how- the in's and out's of it all. And here's the finished article. My studio, 'Number 11' and me on page 12.  A better version will appear one day spontaneously. The magpie is now a beautiful headpiece.  More beautiful creations here.... Mind Like Magpie

PHOTOS: D.I.Y Taxidermy at Corsica Studio

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10 lucky people were picked at random for a special workshop with me.  When the guests arrived they got to choose their new pet. In 2 hours, we skinned and stuffed our new fury friends. Rabbits WHERE DID THEY COME FROM? Number 11. Rescued from a skip during lambing season. 'SILENCE OF THE LAMBS' LIFE, DEATH, PRIZES! Previously on Life, Death and Prizes... Massive Katie Price fan. See ' Jordan's Pussy'   Exotic Pets in the D.I.Y Taxidermy Workshop Overall the workshop went well. These ten students really embraced the D.I.Y ethos - Using untraditional methods, inexpensive and accessible materials, we embarked on our journey through life and death... It was a bit like an after school club. They were fantastic, a joy to teach! Look at those smiles! However the rabbits I had brought from the internet to stuff were in appalling condition. I felt hideous about it. These creatures were intended to be fed to exotic pets like large snakes, but the

What It Said On The Tin.....

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The D.I.Y Taxidermy show was  FULL ON. Described as: '' Intense'  Morris Wild ' Truly awe inspiring and amazing!!! ' Jack Wilkinson Having to do a workshop back to back with a show was heavy. The most intense 9 hours of my life. Very stressful- a bit like internal bleeding. I said some pretty funny stuff (funny in my head) but maybe my humour was too in the future sometimes with these extreme jokes...Jokes like the fact I don't like to wear gloves because it's like wearing a condom- you can't feel anything- 'Fox in a Box' The other classic was a response to someone asking where this taxidermy started and I replied that it could have come from me accidently burying my gerbils alive...... or seeing my friend having sex with a dog- Was this too far? If you look at it in the sense that it was a PERFORMANCE f rom a crazy subsitute teacher who was really an artist  then it was spot on. Spot on in the fact that it made no sense and it was the r

D.I.Y Taxidermy LIVE Oct 2nd Corsica Studios

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Yes that's right D.I.Y Taxidermy is back! LIVE SUNDAY 2ND OCT 6pm CORSICA STUDIOS Elephant and Castle SE171LB The 5th instalment of D.I.Y Taxidermy -This time we're going to town with lazers, smoke machines and wall to wall projectors.... not forgetting the all important stuffing. D.I.Y TAXIDERMY: A live demonstration, performance & artist talk all rolled into one. ' A bit like a biology lesson from your crazy substitute teacher...who is really an artist. ' In about an hour Gates talks an audience through her D.I.Y process (emphasis is heavily on the D.I.Y aspect). Delivered in a 'shopping channel' style, She gives you handy hints & tips for using basic everyday objects, where to source animal parts legally & personal preservation methods, giving a unique insight into this seemingly dark art and mind of an artist. The audience is encouraged to participate and generally be involved in the creation of a new artwork. Here's what happened

Future Cinema does Lost Boys

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& I will be doing a D.I.Y Taxidermy workshop at this amazing  interactive cinema event the 3rd Sept. Grandpas lodge will be re-created and inside you can genuinely get your hands dirty as you learn to skin and stuff an animal with me and Granpa too! " FUTURE CINEMA BRINGS CALIFORNIA TO LONDON IN A SECRET LOCATION PRESENTING THE CULT FILMS “THE  LOST BOYS Future Cinema, the creators of Secret Cinema, announced two very special film experiences in partnership with California Tourism. “California Classics” will see 80s cult classics “The  Lost Boys ” (Saturday 3rd September) brought to life as Future Cinema transforms a secret site along the banks of the River Thames into the sunny shores of California. The weekend will allow the audience a unique opportunity to relive their favourite films from the 80s, in true California style. The pioneers of Live Cinema, Future Cinema will fully immerse the audience in the films by bringing the beautiful beaches, surf and seaside amusemen