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Monday, 18 Mar 2019 - Enquiry: Intersections and Articulations: Alexa Cox & InSiteArts

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Enquiry: Intersections and Articulations: Listen to audio files through LMS, titles to be advised

audio are saved in my drive for replay - no transcript made available.

Alexa Cox - Artist
interested in role of artist as storyteller - are we all storytellers? Is this not simply a default. How does it go from being a default to a determined practice and subject. What are the stories about? Does that matter?
Is it more the physicality of storytelling rather than the subject. Canvas works and drawings, multiple mediums, various surfaces. Series makes reference to stories and pages of a book. Does she makes books, does she need to? How does her work relate to Debjani Bhardwaj?


constant dialogue with making and research.

Artists she aligns with contemporary painters - storytelling and memory
Peter Doig, - construction and the painterly qualities
Paula Rego - storytelling, references literary characters.
Francesca Woodman - photographer - return to, sense of play and menace - power relationship of self and place - contact sheets that are drawn on, exciting.

Research is key in way work is made - changed over 4 years, reverse how initially worked. Changed from applying theory post-making to allowing the work to come from research. Developed a visual language - how it was interpreted by the viewer - partial trace figures - suggestion. - ambiguity - without loosing the viewer in the process of looking

Read broadly - outside of art theory - read stories - anthropologic texts that talk about journeys, the poetics of space - a large body of visual research - use photography to build a resource . - research through drawing and experimentation - like the freedom to create a lot of work with the pressure to make finished pieces - playful - a sense of mapping and drawing out ideas - the build up to create a bigger picture f practice - the link reoccurrence

writing, mind-mapping and venn diagrams to describe practice - was a revelation - bought clarity to properties as a maker - audience responded to the clarity with the same words without stimulus -

lines- a brief history- Tim Ingold - writing about the relationship of gesture and story telling - the retelling old stories and the gestures that are made by the hand. Discusses that meandering and deviation of journeys, to learn and discover new things by going of track, try to have a loose ideas and allow the practice to inform itself - challenge the making, ask why you have made an assumption- unless you challenge and risk take you might not find something that works for you . This links to my projection work - -need for constant and honest reflection - to allow practice to grow

traces - the in-between - the potential energy thats captured, the fleeting, capturing gesture - what is authenticity and truth? does the audiences know that you are preforming when they see the work

reduced colour palette allows focus on composition, the reduction of the subject -

excited about the idea of the edge of the frame - where does the image end, does it move across the surfaces, outside the surface, dissolving and emerging

Francis Bacon inspiration- the dealing of the surface, the oozing and dissolving of the figure and the surface of the canvas

now- moving towards research into landscape and memory - identified four strands to look at and create work around - this links to so many of our practices -

ppp - work on a small scale to allow it to be transportable .

My thoughts are that this interview reeks of MA fine art - OCA - the description of process, research and PPP along side the texts and authors we have been asked to read or recommended. I'm concerned by the numerous similarities that can be drawn within my own work and that of my peers, are we in danger of creating a bland outcome similar to those that have gone before? Can we all be inspired or lead by the same research/texts etc and still create meaningful and original work (yes, I know nothing is original but you know what I mean). To counter this point it is also fascinating that we are using similar or the same inspiration and research and coming out with variety of outcomes. Some of us take the same points from it, others read it differently. The Process works, as is visible here.

Sam Wilkinson - director of InSite Arts - London
exclusively with artists in public realm - various media artists - 20 yrs trading. Clients are non- arts organisations. Funding is mainly related to planning - arts culture and community -

roles: work takes a very long time to develop, raise aspiration and understanding of the role of art in a place, education on working with artists and establishing framework for artists to join project so it is positive for those involved. Strategy based, idea development - process to appoint artists, develop brief and work together.

most important thing is the brief, to be interesting and contribute tot h project. make it clear to allow artist to have freedom and also be relevant to context. be clear and give expectations relating to concept and ideas Important that space and time is given to artist to allow them to develop a body of research and creation to get the most out of it. relevant to artists own practice

space and time to develop ideas properly through research. we believe in the unexpected and building the potential for risk and to allow for exploration. A period of research is essential.

The company will research initially but the considered research that goes deeper is believed to be where the artist comes in to push the boundaries. Allowing the artist to explore and research the area/project themselves can lead to exciting outcomes that may not have been projected if the client or supervisors had control of the creativity.

Great to see a company that understands and supports the needs of the artist and it process required to make work. They actively promote the research aspect, providing some initial start points, knowing their artists well enough to make considered decisions about suitability and requirements. The education they provide to the organisations they partner with is invaluable, it allows the artists time and space to provide enriching outcomes that enhance and add to the communities or projects they are working with.

Monday, 4 Mar 2019 - Contextual study tutorial KF

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Contextual Study tutorials - KF

When Monday, 4 Mar 2019

Reflections since the last tutorial

Too many keywords which reflects the broad and loose thinking - Materiality, Collision - movement, fragments, fractions, Repetition, Tactility, Defamiliarizing, Layering, Boundaries - constraint, containment, Consumption, Space - constraint, Visibility, Transparency, Binding, Drawing, Performances (added from Rhoda’s feedback)

Initial questions were: To what extent could collisions in drawing reflect materiality of practice? or How can the practice of drawing reflect the materiality of collision? -  these are uncomfortable and don’t feel like they are reflecting practice right now. They feel like an attempt to make something sound important or interesting to fulfil criteria which would make writing about them difficult and lacklustre.

Definitely need to provide definitions with the writing to clarify the viewpoint being examined and not allow for assumptions. Rhoda had asked for clarification of tactility, and Kimberley had discussed the notion of event and collision.

Through Testing Boundaries I am exploring the collision of making and made and producing work that brings these two together. layering them, in performance and documentation. Kimberley had provided the suggestion of Richards Serra’s Drawing as a verb. An addition from KF: this was an an example of how the action of art relates to the language that was discussed in the tutorial.

Rhoda had cited that she was clear on my thinking once she had seen the drawing in practice on the making day.

Discussion and recommendations

Keywords in discussion:

density, feeling the drawing, tactility, process, questioning accuracy, act of doing a drawing

questioning accuracy - criterion of drawing - what is a drawing, what is and isn't, ways to determine a drawing, the boundaries of making something by drawing that doesn’t represent a drawing.

Act of drawing - process - action or performance of drawing, act of making, about the maker - action of the mark - leads to….

… the significance of outcome - value of outcome - the performativity of drawing, action and it being viewed - define

focus more on the ACT than performance - understanding of the artist in the act, who is seeing it, who is it seeking out, is it the intentionality that makes it the work? or is it the product that makes it the work? an addition form KF: yes we discussed how performativity sits differently from the act of drawing and this is why we questioned how you were identifying the important focus of the drawing.

filming the layering, moving on of practice - Process on Process - staggering of process -

reflecting on process and being seen, understanding that it is all drawing, what drawing id?

2000 words - the so what? - a series of questions, how do I allow them to support my thinking? purpose of practice? clarify density.

scaffold with others thinking - ideology may be the same but practice is different, think about what you do know rather than what you don’t know.

me: Agnes Martin, Ellsworth Kelly ( I couldn’t think of any more which was frustrating as I’ve read so much!) (Susan Morris, Robert Morris, Kenneth Martin, John Latham, Joan Jonas)

Kimberley: Sol Lewitt, Richard Long, Tacita Dean - read the beginnings of the Vitamin D 1-2 books

In discussion these words came out: layer, pressure, embedding/mark, erasing - create a Venn diagram - how this impacts the practice.

Feeling a lot clearer after the discussion. excited to listen back to the tutorial as I know that will really help. I am looking forward to writing as I feel this will give me further clarity and confidence in having a ‘practice about practice’ and moving away from the overly conceptual aspects I was clinging uncomfortably on to.

Agreed actions (if any)

  • 10 keywords
  • 5 keywords
  • 3 questions for myself as possibilities to claim space
  • can drawing enable….
  • is it the physicality of drawing…..
  • this is what I am doing, this is what I’m interested in - land it in the practice
  • be specific as my practice is specific
  • email Kimberley in the next 3 weeks to check in that question is focused and working.

Thoughts the next day (after discussion with students regarding documenting work)

The act of drawing in a performative context or in a private and personal aspect. The initial; exploration began with the creation of a 'walked' drawing video. This process was repeated in a different location and a change of ground.

The viewing of the work being made at the time was unimportant and felt like a 'show' which was not the intention, the audience was initially enlisted as a support and to provide aids in filming and looking.

So to discuss the act of drawing as either performative or function based within the context of the practice, how the collision of made and making transforms the reading of the piece. How can they coexist? The beginnings are always separate, it is not possible for the made to preexist the making, the making always preexists the made. In juxtaposing them in film their space and time is collided and colluded. Visibly it appears as if the drawing is being traced, the ghostly shadow of a hand moves over the paper, the image becomes darker as the images conjoin in the making process.

I wish to explore further how the drawings will be read if the making is repetitively screened over the top, staggering the intervals of the videos. the possibility of misalignment, reflecting the impossibility of making and made being mutual and coexisting. How can this transfer of time and space conflict blur or transpose on the the viewers reading of the work.

Reactions to video in environments

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4th March 2019 - year 10 -

It was set up at the beginning of the class, they were aware of my movement across the room but paid no heed to what i was doing. I rested the projector against the wall so the video was displayed on the ceiling. It went unnoticed for the first 15mins, when an interuption to the lesson occurred with other students coming it it was spotted by one female student. She exclaimed at first then proffered her confusion before realising the tablet projector was providing the image. The initial reaction drew the attention of the other classmates who also exclaimed their confusion.

They are a very open group and we're happy to discuss their thoughts. The main thing was where the image was coming from, initially they thought it was a 'ghost' or a mysterious phenomena, they didn't pay much attention to the image other that it was 'some girl drawing' on the ceiling.

We discusssed the video and the conflict of made and making, how it looked like someone tracing something. What it actually was and what I was going to do with it.

5th March - yr 9. - math cover. Out of context of the art room. The students are mostly familiar as I have or do teach them art. One of them noticed when I set up the projector on the teachers desk. No questions were asked. Even when I obviously watched the video myself they did not engage with the projection. It has been playing for 21minutes and they have not reacted.

Mon, 25 February 2019 - Professional Practice seminar - CW

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Professional Practice seminar - CW

PPP and audience -

reference to Docherty and the white cube - is it enough to make work for the self, is it important that work is made for people or space - how is it encountered, does it need happenstance, or planned to view -

White cube - the audience - spectator, viewer, observer, perceiver - I tend to say, consumer -

CW- list - witness, observer, audience, participant, spectator, perceiver, viewer, collaborator, partner, conspirator, - the consumer - investigator, invigilator, instigator, the enquirer

peer, look, study, dismiss, power struggle -

How is the audience perceived with he works

how is the work seen

how does the display of the work affect it

15 mins in a breakout room to discuss the audience for our work and what the other person thinks - alternative audiences and ways to engage with them. analyse what role they are taking

Break out with Mark, which is great as Les had suggested I talk to him about the work.

we discuss the projection of work and he suggests. pocket-sized projectors for a phone - Samsung - luminaire phone - will look in to this.

both of us are currently working on the unintentional audience. On producing work/displaying work where it will be happened upon or where the choice of consumption is removed from the audience as they will encounter it unscheduled to them. WE discuss how i may display my work, possibly through the school the newsletter and other published or accessible forms. Then we discuss the lack of access, projecting it into a sealed box or a room that's locked - a sign that says in this room is a video but you can't go in. a non-audience - deliberately not allowing it. the daylight and throw windows and into a room from the outdoors - people will see the projector, they are aware of the happening but perhaps not the work. the visible and the non-visible - when it's happening in a contained room they are aware of it, but when the source is moved outside it creates a new sense of audience - the layers - don't plug it in or leave the lens cover on.

doesn't feel like its art - to busy doing masters in fine art to do the art you want to do.

guerilla audience taking - how to get an audience without having to ask for one. the work has been put to the side to create work for the task, its lead to interesting work but not that was expected. un intention audience - but it is intentional for us as artists, but their consumption is unintentional to them.

accessibility - exclusivity - engagement - comfort and awareness - authenticity and it does the same job if the job is an engagement or a change in thinking - the art world has an exclusivity - self-importance -

not making claims about the work - that we as makers make connections that others don't see - the potential to make a claim that appears unsubstantiated - what the work is about and what is actually visible etc. Where language sits with artwork, how artwork reaches people and its cloaked in the text.

the first audience is the person assessing the open call/ exhibition selection.

how do open calls help move an artist practice - what do they bring to the work, the career, etc

doe it enables the production of work, dies it refine medium or practice - explore boundaries - medium specificity - theme specificity - how to apply to and gain feedback from an open call.

PPP - 1000 - 1500 words - including last years words.

career plan - summary and map of practice - one year ahead, three years head, 5 years ahead. - dreams aspirations - realistic,
identify networks, need for skills or facilities, appropriate ways of presenting other professional considerations
work back into it in a different colour for this year -
be honest - where you are, where you want to be, etc.

reflection of Testing boundaries- - what do we take away, did it work. Would we continue, what would we keep. how have we changed etc. what have we learnt and have we found a seem of investigation that is burgeoning etc.

Mon, 18 February 2019 - Peer review contextual study - KF

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Peer review contextual study - KF

15 mins on one person - really be generous and question the writing - go deep, ask the questions - how, why, where? tell me the answer. find the parts that feel like a hurdle. the parts that challenge. make sure that what is being said is clear - not over complicated - know overarching comments that may be stumbling blocks.

Feedback FROM Rhoda -

After the making day - my description on the work I was doing and the fibres helped with Rhoda’s understanding of the 500 words

Performance of drawing - the recording of the drawing - the contrast of the time of working - the projection of the work on top of the finished piece - use the drawing and the programme to do it.

The last paragraph - the layering of the discussion and my practice- really tightly - reprition of   - the accuracy of the drawing so it looks like a print

My practice is integral to the writing - a

Add performance to the keywords as it is a performance -

The tactility of drawing and the fibres covered in a drawing - could they be collected - fibres really intrigued Rhodas thoughts and what was left behind- - what's left before - what left behind

Carbon paper - whats left behind- - really embedded in practice- the tactility and the performance are being enacted in the work I’m doing - a layering in the drawing the writing and the practice -

Keep the work narrow and not to broad - not as linked with the collisions but more linked with the tactility and the performance -

The speculative act of working and drawing - and know - how do we know - the layers of the work have now become the performance layered over the made - the making and the made -

Feb 2019, Empty book making

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Decided to make some books ready for experiments. Thinking about density, time, the act of drawing. How can the books link to the act, become performative objects for and of drawing?

A small but lengthy book. I have yet to measure any of them but they were all made to be uncomfortable to read or handle.

The tactility of this book really thrilled me. I found some off cuts of heavyweight drawing paper to use for the covers. The rest of the papers are sugar, craft or cartridge so although the length and the varying shapes of the pages make the book unwieldy it has a strength to it.

The book above is made with preused layout papers. Dependent on what it is filled with it should give a layered effect.

A book of found papers

The largest book I could make with materials available. A little over A3 in size, cardboard to hold the heavy papers together.

This book has been filled. It was time consuming and consumed a part of me in the process. The time and density is reflected in the patterna dnt he layers of graphite that line its pages.

Monday, 4 Feb 2019 - Enquiry: Testing your Boundaries Tutorials - LB

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Enquiry: Testing your Boundaries Tutorials - LB

WhenMonday, 4 Feb 2019

Tutorial documentation for Les Bicknell 04.02.19

Brainstorm of ideas and possibilities:

Poems in a bottle and throw them out to sea - don’t want to contribute to ocean pollution, would have to be biodegradable

Post to random address with a return address of course! - would need postage to be prepaid, what would they do with it? Is there an expectation of participation? How would you feel to have work thrust upon you? - would almost defo have a high failure/non-return rate.

Publish a book/pamphlet - group publication - was in process but has gone quiet. Now to explore my own personal publication. Researching poetry publications and recitals - not sure I’m ready for performance but we’ll see.

Skywriting - if only I had a plane?????? - other options: Drone? Banner? Drone with a banner? Sticker on the side of a plane!

Wrote poems in the toilet - illegal to vandalise property, could be down in chalk pen or something washable, they would only be seen for a short time and then wiped away.

Stickers - distribute - like the AC adverts around Dubai - again could be classed as vandalism. A lot of street artists have ‘tag’ stickers they use - see Fats and Katie Wilson etc.

Put them in pigeon holes - at my work and other peoples? Could I recruit friends to distribute pieces of work like stickers of postcards into their places of work?

Stand in a public place and recite without warning - performance piece - would anyone take notice? Does that matter? Would need to be documented so at least one guaranteed audience member.

Print on a massive banner and hang off the school - the house - neighbours house - a limited audience - school are up for use of some space though.

Postcards for purchase? - gifts. come back to the postage one above. Could place them in the community boards (was that one of Les’s ideas?), or in galleries and exhibitions around Dubai, would need a distraction - guerilla art.

Put it in the school newsletter - limited audience, not sure its the right boundary to test.

Embroidery on to clothes and wear it - or paint on to clothes (Ivanka Trump coat repercussions) or t-shirts and give them out. - labourers - free printed t-shirts - what does that say about me and my work, using my privilege?

Different words on t-shirts and move people about - make a video or a performance in a public place.

Submit a video for open calls - check craft council and art res programmes - a-n website. - from Elaine.

Possible collaboration with friend Ben - graphic design background - the boundary of working with others will be pushed!

Labour camps - reaction
Translate poetry into Hindi and distribute it in al Quoz
What does that contrast say - with regard to privilege?

The business card like the lucky-lucky girls - Tart cards - calling cards - stuck in windows of cars.
Implement on one stretch of road and then collect the next day and count, consider all collected as loved.
What would they say? - Pose a question...  ‘we have collided. Is this art?’ ‘Bring your collisions to me, make me feel something’ ‘Are you able to break me? Let's collide and find out’ ‘You want me, my child wants uni tuition, call now’

A considered pause - I am a card stuck in your window.


What does it need to represent?

Human trafficking
Can we subvert that
Be funny
Without being illegal - defamation

The collision of ideals, lifestyles.

What emotional response do the cards envoke?

Guilt, lust, pity….

17th Jan 2019 - Tart card research and ‘pilgrimage’ to Tecom (now Barsha Heights):

Current drawing practice:

These are A4 graphite:

This is A3 graphite, being completed at work with an audience of pupils each session:

Nice little article written by a researcher:

https://wellcomecollection.org/articles/W6NvHSoAACYA0A72

These are fab and I'm envious that it has already been done like this, although I would not have come up with that idea:

https://www.wallpaper.com/art/sex-issue-type-tart-cards-0#pic_15033

These simply contain examples of 'Tart cards' from various locations:

https://dangerousminds.net/comments/london_calling_a_look_at_vintage_tart_cards_used_by_english_prostitutes

https://www.dissidentreality.com/galleries/tart-cards-prostitute-advertisement-cards/

Notes from the tutorial -

What do I want to gain from the opportunity

Don't make it fit if it doesn’t

Do things that are intriguing -

School news latter - the interest that that audience might have. Giving a visibility.

Use the class - a way in to thinking about challenging and changing

The dialogue is fascinating - enabling other people to see it or hear it - the value of art to evolve the thinking behind it. Give out a piece of work. People can come collect it, a give away of the pieces. Focus the audience into members of staff and the children etc on a daily.

What is success? Would it be the conversation with parents and guardians -

Free art - a political act - you don’t have a choice you have to take this. The conversations that people have.

Educational aspects - have the making projected - can it exist somewhere else? Project on to the windows me making the work. Project on to the windows - in the street the making - - on a street.

Recording the making - projecting it to be viewed - projecting the making on to the work being made. Very exciting - both there and not there - the thing that it is and the thing it will be.

Mark - really knows how to play - not getting arrested! There's a flow and a transgressive element to it - his interventions -

Battle drawing  - tie hands opposite and draw a portrait -