So its group crit time, Kimberley had prepped me in the tutorial to be open to negative feedback but it doesn't really prepare you for it. Its been a tough ol'week in life in general so perhaps my armour was not as strong as I and hoped.
The prep from the tutorial was to 'define the experience that you are currently having – process methodology – material encounter, an entanglement of material, define it and flip it, frame it, deliver something – use different language – share at the group crit: don’t let it demoralise if they are negative – I’m testing it,
'don’t let it demoralise if they are negative – I’m testing it,'
In discussing my work with colleagues at work today key words were highlighted, the minimalism of the pieces - the maximalism of the multiples, distance of the bound work - the intimacy of the poetry,
In trying to discuss the work, which is difficult, I formed words prior to the crit: muting of voice - restriction of other (touch, sight etc) - question of consent - the artist gives consent to the viewer by displaying the work to consume it - is it possible to withdraw one's consent? - the knowledge of the work exists but it can't be consumed.
Changing the language used: mechanism, operations, systems, agency of ...
I've been open about the confusion I have about my own work but my peers seemed even more perplexed than I had expected.
It was highlighted that the prior knowledge of the surface of the tiles provided the expectation to view the beautiful tiles - the frustration of their restriction is informed by that knowledge. If the bound work is displayed without the knowledge of the content the anticipation and expectation is very different and may not exist at all.
It is 'mean' to restrict the surface of the work within the stacks, IF you know that the surface exists. If you do not know what the surface looks like there may be no feeling towards it.
See it without seeing it - prior knowledges changes perception
is it about control? my response was 'always'
so to consider the feedback: the work is not being read in a clear way. I have had positive feedback on the aesthetics of the tiles from both the cohort crit and peers and mentors outside the programme. I, too, think they are extremely aesthetically pleasing but they lack control which does not sit comfortably. Stacking adds control but hides the surface. Can they be stacked with space? or placed in formation to show some of the surface? does the whole surface need to be shown or covered?
I need to really dig in for the contextual research study.
I continue with the wax explorations, adding charcoal and graphite to the liquid parafin wax. The colour density is varied, the charcoal disperses completely with the liquid.
The graphite does not submit and settles on the bottom of the cast which then becomes the top surface when removed. As the wax becomes more diluted the graphite groups with its own kind.
In preparation for the Group critique on Monday I have started to take rough images of the work in format, stacking the smaller tiles.
I am intrigued by the volume of the works. I am also provoked by the distance the images give to the work.
The distance between the materials is awkward. The last images portrays this in the arrangement as well. We know that if either pile becomes unstable it is likely to off balance the other, the materials colliding and probably fragmenting.
Binding the materials does not add stability. The action of binding was in itself destabilising and complicated, placing the work in a compromised position.
I want to explore the mechanisms of binding the work, through the materials used (soft ribbons, rubber bands, bandages, paper, tape), and the operations such as punching holes to lace them together, spearing them, melting them, plastering the plaster ones together, binding them with twine while still soft or brittle.
TO DO:
Revisit old work and bind piles together (Using old work for prototyping makes more senses due to time constraints)
Reflectors and ring light. White and black paper roll for photos
White paint books and piles of accordion fold books - bind and stack - unfolded and closed
CONTEXTUAL STUDY
Working through mechanisms of creation and meaning and the need to hide the meaning from the audience to enable the operations to happen. Privacy and restrictions in a country of privacy. The restriction of person and personality. Silencing the work in the manner I silence my practice and my thoughts. What does it mean to withhold practice?
the relationship of operations of creating and consuming.
To bind, to control, to hold in, to scaffold, to contain, to conceal, to seal.
Distance of viewer and artist to work. Weight of artist visible, haptic inherent - viewer dissociation, an enforced segregation.
Orphans of Silence: Poetry workshop with Eleanor Hooker
exquisite corpse excercise:
Two lines to choose from, the group had to agree: 1. Outside, the same darkening snowflake 2.A clock that has lost its hands
The group chose number 2, I liked number 1. We each wrote the line at the top of our page, then followed with a response and began to shuffle the paper on to the next person, this continued until we had 11 poems with 11 lines provided by each of the participants.
A clock that has lost its hands can not scratch itself from times of despair only breaking open fathomless hanging, suspenseful on the blank hole of memories and dreams. It dreams itself in another space shapes its new horizons where sons and daughters rise and leave leaving spaces and no shadows to miss paving ways for new life breaking promises like twigs sticky fingers
lines i remember and want to save: tongue searching for substance lost echoey hollow silence like empty boxes in storage
Lessons learned: Abstract nouns weaken a poem, use concrete nouns as it creates an image of a physical thing, allowing for specific metaphors giving the reader something to hold on to and 'see' as they read.
I submitted work that was from the writing workshop with Les in MA2, it was a piece that I felt comfortable with as I have shared it with classmates and wanted to get some outsider feedback:
you tarnish me, my fingers are dirty, you dirty me I'm dirty you're soft in a hard form you make marks, but not alone you need me to make marks, you mark me I need you to make marks I inhale you, I don't want to but you are there, In my breath, uninvited, tiny invasions violations, creeping into my orifices, under my nails, in the cracks of my skin, on my skin I need you, I use you, you use me to spread yourself, I spread you, you disseminate across the surface, across me, on to my skin. Its dark, you're dark, you make me dark, I use you lightly but you are still darker than the light, I make you darker, not darker than yourself, You touch me, I touch you, we come together, we collide, I make a collision using you. I use you There is sound, you are silent but your movement makes sound, I move you to make sound, you and I generate sound, we generate, generate sound, marks, dust, traces, little traces of touch. I no longer have you but you're still with me. I see you. I feel you. you make me dirty. I wash. *compressed Charcoal*
It was read by Danabelle Gutierrez, a poet based in Dubai, she has a couple of books published and I have seen her perform her work so it felt like a massive privilege for her to read it. She did so beautifully. It was strange to be removed from the work in that manner but I was pleased that it was read in the tone and pace I had intended, which in itself is good feedback.
The work was likened to Richard Siken https://bodyliterature.com/2014/04/28/richard-siken/ I take any form of comparison as a complement, to evoke a memory of some thing you have read and enjoyed is a good thing I feel, in the manner that paintings are compared and added to taxonomies of style and subject.
Eleanor Hooker gave the wonderful feedback that the poem sounds like 'Jupiter', referencing the recording by nasa of the sounds of Jupiter picked up by satellites. She also explained that there is more room for 'show don't tell' providing some description is not a bad thing and can give purchase to the reader, and that I should not be afraid of the movement thats coming through in the poem.
It was then that I realised I am doing myself a disservice by keeping all this work hidden and sharing so discriminatorily. I need feedback to grow and improve; not all I will receive will be useful, not everyone with connect with it, just like the visual work and thats okay. But the two are inherently linked and need to share the same space to allow the dialogue to happen.
Use the frottage technique to draw a line in an existing book - encounters with surface
Draw a line through the book with charcoal - that line is a lie (it was broken by pages sticking together) - erase the lie, process of erasing is evident as it alters the book again, abrasive to the surface, leaving a trace of the original line on the surface and altering the marks that were there before the line.
Not a book - an object that acts like a book, but how is it read? How is it viewed? The line is like a horizon but if it is hung it becomes a seam? Does a seam have to bring two things together? What does that mean for the seams of the book pages?
Truth - erasing - trace -
Constancy of print block line, it is fractured but the fractures are on the seams of the book, is it still a line if it comes in multiple parts?
Truth of line - frottage - felt forced - looking for interesting surfaces - how can one create a gathered line that speaks of truth? What is the truth it is speaking? Is it fo time? What time? Does it matter?
To test the boundaries they need to first be defined:
What are my boundaries:
This project, the physicality of contacting people - phone conversations make me feel sick, I get nervous at public speaking and I am not confident in my work, I sometimes feel like being an artist is a copout and I don't fully believe in myself or my work. I undervalue myself and am not very good at ‘putting myself out there’. (Eek!) Easily intimidated and compare myself to others to my own discouragement. I commonly think that if someone is doing something similar I should probably give up as its already been covered
So the limits of my work at the beginning of the project:
My work has been exhibited in gallery spaces - group shows
Work is traditional media - textiles, ceramic, paper
Largely concept - based on scope of people and routine - philosophy led
Audience is the arts community - friends rarely come as I don't invite them.
How to test the boundaries:
Work in new media
Exhibit work outside the gallery space
Rework concept, what am I actually exploring?
Find a new audience - an unwitting one? One that knows me but not my work? Invite friends to exhibition openings.
So what did I do?
It doesn’t feel like much (which makes me question my expectations of myself):
I performed a drawing work in class around students as they worked - this was projected onto the wall using the visualizer
My drawing performance for the students. I utilized the visualizer on my desk and the projector. (disclaimer: this is not the original piece, I forgot to take a photo of it in the set up so I printed a photo of it so I could do this! haha! )
I made video works and then submitted one of these for a group show
https://vimeo.com/304603717
This was initially a poem, I have felt unsure about including my writing as part of my practice but at this point it didn’t feel like a had a choice. The work became a video as I waited for my colleagues to submit their texts, I advanced my piece to performance. It is part of the Tashkeel group show Play, which opened on 12/03/2019. While the setting is the same as previous work, the audience for videos works differ somewhat.
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I submitted pieces I felt were ‘failures’ to a group show discussing artistic process and the act of failure, I also held workshops around expressive drawing techniques that lead to failures and took part in a panel discussion.
I produced a drawing piece during making day, filmed its production, edited it and overlaid it onto the finished piece and projected this in classrooms and public spaces.
The piece in production
Projected in Math during a cover period
Projected discreetly in Art
Projected on the big screen in Art
In the park by a road
Outside the supermarket
A driver stopped to watch
On a villa wall
Next to the liquor store and rider parking
The feedback
Drawing as performance:
When performing the act of drawing in front of students it was mainly awe which is flattering.
It was a useful device to open dialogue about artist expectations, talent vs hard work, process vs product.
They were keen to see the progress, coming in to check each lesson.
Some emulated in their own work, some did not engage with it at all but at that level art is not optional.
A few students used me as an example of why they won’t take art as they were intimidated and felt that they could not keep up with the expectations.
Video work in the gallery:
Those that commented gave congratulations, which is expected at an opening, although felt a little forced. There was not much dialogue. Some were surprised I had submitted a video piece.
In critique with my artist group they only remarked on my hair tie around the wrist and asked I re-shoot without it. The gallery did not require this.
Work in the House of Failure exhibition:
Non-art audience, mainly families and tourists with a keen interest or stumbling upon it. It was part of the SIKKA art fair which is set in the historical district and runs parallel with the Art Dubai fair (commercial).
Hard to understand why it was a failure.
Workshops: most left happy, having created a mass of work that they had fun creating. Many did not take the work.
Video work in a displaced context:
The students: art classes noticed it, it took them time as they were in activities. Most thought it was ‘a ghost’, a couple actually jumped, then they would take a moment and realise it was my hand. They were more confused about where it was coming from. Maths students made no comment and as far as I’m aware only one actually saw it.
The the big projector they noticed it quicker and made connections to my work. They thought it was ‘creepy’ or that I was tracing an existing work. Once I explained they looked a little perplexed but would open a discussion about the concept.
In public, some cars slowed down, many passed without notice. A man in a car watched me set up and watched the video while he waited for his wife. As they drove away they paused in the car in front of it.
One man stood outside of his car, smoking and watched. I took a creepy selfie to capture him! Ha!
What can I take from this?
Video work feels like it's hard done by. I’m guilty of it myself, I will pass by in a gallery due to time constraints or lack of focus. The showing of the video work left me a little empty and also a little embarrassed, like I could have tried harder.
Projecting outside made my work feel insignificant, which actually makes me want to make more work as it really doesn’t matter! People passed by but were not interested. Some noticed and paused. A couple of guys hung around by a car and watched. It wasn’t important though and I questioned what I was expecting. Did I think that the road would come to a standstill and I would be heralded a genius? Of course not. Did I think some might stop and question? Maybe, but did I need that? I was self-conscious, I felt guilty taking over a wall that wasn’t mine, I felt self aware, like I was flashing too much skin on the side of the road.
Performance felt similar but as I was fully present it offered more dialogue, more interaction. I was intrigued by the assumed unattainability of the outcome and how many perceived it as ‘talent’ rather than learned skill.
The display of ‘failure’ produced some dialogue, this was mainly from non-artist audience claiming that even the failures were better than their skill base. They felt like the failure was token, or that it should not be discussed adn we should be more positive. This left me feeling frustrated.
The development of concept/context:
Feels less strained. It is flowing a little easier. I’m reinvigorated and keen to work, frustrated by time management and non-masters commitments. I am concerned about it form of the drawings and whether the abstract lines/shape/forms need to be justified or whether I can continue with them. The constraint of the linear forms feels necessary for the exploration of collision between process and product. I feel that organic forms distract the focus from the materiality of drawing and drawn, that the abstract is needed to allow the collision to take place.
The boundary of making and made is now being tested. How is it viewed and perceived by an audience, how much does education play a part in the perception of process and product? Can process and product exist at the same time? Although process will always be in reflection of the product as the work is deemed unfinished if it is still being worked on so it there for ‘in progress’.
On the 3rd of December, we will be having an Open Discussion in which we can have time to discuss emerging issues within our practice/writing/thinking. what do you NEED to discuss and share - what is exciting you - what is preoccupying, puzzling, interesting you. Can you share a question, or an image or a quote, or text or….. by Friday 30th, please.
we can see the practices you are involved with as a whole, not just making, not just thinking, not just theory…...all of it.
Make it useful!
KF- how we manifest practice - Charles Garoian - how we make things concrete, how we see things differently when they are outside of our heads
https://youtu.be/MKY6VN2Tsis
conceptual wonderings, the ideas of what practice can be and how we find our route through it.
Slide show - - how do we take risks? the ways we all take risks are different and appropriate to our own practices. Kettles Yard - small things are shifted and made a little more interesting - Jim Eade - Keep off the grass - signs that were ignored and then one that wasn't - things that we are afraid of that we don't know, the sudden fear of what we don't know. - whats our grass? what are we afraid of?
my question - think through the making - that is your research - allows there to be concrete links through the process and be embedded in the practice - so we are researching through the materials
Art pursues knowledge and yet resists the assimilative urge to know. This is the why, the what and the how - the questioning through our stuff not just in our heads
Speculative and emergent - a relationship with the work - acknowledging the movement - try to feel unity while in flux - understanding that I am part of the relationship -
Greenhill - thinking and the aspects - can you replace the word making - is that what I need - this list, to consider that practice and thinking are the same, that research is the making, that thinking needs to happen through the making - let the making research and think for me.
meeting point - this is something I want to articulate - how do I make these ideas come together - worrying away materially and conceptually - trying to get to the foothold. trying to find the foundations -
the questions are mapping the practice and doing so appropriately - the difference between thinking and making - having an intention and playing purposefully.
audio film from Joseph Bouys - link to come.
My moment was actually at the end of the session - I have included the notes from othere members moments below my feedback.
Changing a practice - more art based from design led
Influence or guidance - how to get comfortable
Can a practice change dramatically with a simple term change?
outside sources impacting directly on practice - to credit? ownership?
materials led vs research led - help!
KF - entanglements happen - differentiate between what you know, what you learn and what you are influenced by and how to unpick it. constantly influenced but don't reference it all - when you find something that influences perfectly and understands your position within it - how do you determine which part is yours. the drawings are coming from me - it's been read through my work - she saw it and offered it - she saw it and found it there in the work.
jv - would the it help to stop questioning?
KF - don't have to do either or - allows you to play you can do both and allow them to coexist and that they are interdependent and correspondent. complementary - what its doing is enriching - don't have to say whether I am practice-led- or concept based - push the 'what I am doing' sometimes labelling it actually blocks us in to a corner - shift it out of the head and allow the work to happen and realise that the thinking and creating happens at the same time. Let it happen and the drawings take shape.
chatbox:
-We are all building on the work of those before us
- we all need a framework to give our practices context! you are tethered!
- By a chair?! You seemed so happy on making day getting into the materials
- I guess the difference between design based practice and art based practice is intention even if the outcome is the same physically
- I recognize what you say. I can easily get overwhelmed by my thoughts. That is why I tend to focus more on making because I know my head will continuously do its work; this makes its way easier for me.
- I always thought that fine art is a deeper version of other art/design disciplines
- Some of the best scientists are artists too
- also Katie: embrace the experiences from the past. I always try to use whatever I developed in the past
KF - the shift from the architectural - to joins and then built - back into drawing and flattening. all the work to happen - allow the drawings to grow in their potential - just let them grow and be surprised by it. Interesting questions of authorship and influence - do my work! collision - disruption - confidence - drawing colliding.
Immediate reaction after the session:
That felt really awkward - there was a point where the pause for feedback was too long and no one had anything to say to me. How do I read that? Were my questions not challenging or engaging enough, was everyone just over it and I was the unfortunate soul a the end of the session no-one could be bothered to engage with as they all wanted their beds? I feel like I'm at a different point to the other members - I spent last year questioning my research and how it feeds into my work while everyone went through materials and making and now I'm going through materials while everyone builds on their research and concepts. Is there something wrong with my practice? is it weak? Some days I question what I'm doing here and if I belong - the language frequently evades me and I spend so much time looking things up to play catch up.
Perhaps sleep will help.
Takeaways from other peoples moments:
questioning time - images that are timeless - or from time? unmooring time - I’m thinking about the way we digest time - the photo is a second in time - a time-lapse is time past but sped up - the piece at Ways of Seeing in NYUAD
tactile materiality and physical experience of visual experience - the tactile eye by Jennifer Barber
Paul Klee - taking an line for a walk -
lens based media - analogue vs digital - scale, time and distance - how close you become to something -
carve out time - using the commute to make work - the car journey productive.
Is the possibility more compelling than the product? How much consideration should there be for the audience? How much research do they need to see? Is a poem enough to let them in? KVW - My students and I had a conversation about the conceptuality of space last week - the fact that we talk about space being ‘out there’ but that we are also in space - it’s around us and in us - a vacuum is still something though—nothingness is still a 'thing’ A metaphor - Zen nothingness
Interpretation of objects - looking for a similarity of object - for validation? symbolism - semiotics - scientific drawing to understand an art practice studying objects - how they speak to us - question how long is culturally acceptable to listen to an object?
Are all art pieces related/connected to ethical questions? Is the term political correctness* intertwined with the term ethical responsible? Are artists expected to be politically correct/ethical responsible? Or are they may be expected to sometimes deviate from it? Related to the previous question, to what extent can artist behave ‘unethically’ for the sake of increasing awareness or making a statement?
if we are seen to be misrepresenting something - being open to the fact that you might trigger someone or something. Do I need to know what happened next? blocked the path - put our work out there consistently. working with others narratives to be simple, but multiple layers can add to the complexity. the chance element is really interesting the butterfly effect - that aspect of a happening having a massive impact or a nothing impact and not knowing work put out there - let it off and it's beyond the control - the instigator playfulness is fascinating and reminds me of this http://playthecitynowornever.com/
KF - punctuation of every day - situationist's - happenings - a shift has happened with the work as you can see it and it is beyond you. People being annoyed by it - slinkachu - model people enacting things with the debris of daily life
