MA 2 Studio Practice

May 2019: Book making experiments

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Lines were collected on random papers, donated by students intrigued by their strange art teacher's activity. Without planning it produced a selection of books in colours that could be grouped together.

These books feel crude but necessary. The vulgarity of the bright colours and the primitive lines mirror the naivety of the children that created them. They are not what I am looking for in this project. To present the tangible line of time, the sophistication of something os beyond control need control and clarity. A cleanliness that does not discriminate the viewer. The colours will turn some people off, close them down to the viewing of the work. It certainly repulses me.

Mon 29 April 2019 - Crit group KF

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Notes from the table (literally):

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?

19-20th April 2019: Dawaran Music fest, Ras Al Khaimah, UAE

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I took a leap of faith and stepped out of my comfort zone. I had a contact at a music festival I was attending. I reached out and made a suggestion that I bring along my tine projector and play my video in one of the chillout tents, would that be okay?

The chill out tent I had proposed

He said he'd inquire for me...fast forward to the next day and I've been offered a 20ft sand dune as a projection surface. I made some calls, manage to borrow a 3300-lumen business projector, my husbands work laptop and pull together my previous video works on to memory sticks.

The set up was simple a seamless, this part of the art process gives me anxiety so happy when it works well.

Children climbing the dune.

From the bottom of the projection

The angle of the dune was fairly steep

My initial video choice was the one designed for the project, making and made, however, I only played this for about an hour as it was slow in comparison to the music and didn't fit well with the environment. I had a couple of interactions with it, a few asked questions but it was largely ignored. I proceeded to rotate between Wrote, Fractured Forms and Collage, each playing at x2 original speed. These all garnered interest, plenty of interaction and fabulous feedback. My ego was well and truly boosted.

Fractured form stop go x2 speed

Drop collage stop go x2 speed

On the visual side, the organisers were extremely happy with my activation, they commented on the refreshing nature of my analogue visuals as opposed to the 'usual digital art stuff' and that it complemented their aesthetic. They would be interested in working with me in future.

The participants loved it, they utilised the projector to immerse their forms into the artwork, dancing in front of it to create shadow forms, creating their own performance pieces. This changed my canvas to their bodies as they moved in front of the work and gave a living dimension to it. The work was constantly repeating but their movements were erratic and unpredictable.

The sand dune made a surprising good projection surface. A wonderfully surprising outcome occurred when projecting the piece 'Wrote', at the large scale and increased speed it was extremely readable and had a element of projection mapping. As the surface was the same as the video it gave the illusion of the words being etched in to the large sand dune with was on.

In total the works were displayed for 6-7 hours until the laptop battery died (my husband had left the adapter at work, best laid plans and all that!), They had tried to source another computer but everyone had Mac's and the projector would only work with PC.

What have I taken from this?

Wow, what a buzz! Seeing the work at such a arge scale was incredible, it was mesmerising to me and I created it! I found the entire experience inspiring I had not considered that outlet for work. It actually suited the pieces really well and they came accros as considered and fit for purpose. Upon reflectionI also relasied that a lot of my 'go-to' inspiration artsts are those that work with light art or projection, Dan Flavin, James Turrell (mt absoloute love), Jenny Holzer, Olafur Elliasson. The works from these artists have made an impact on me but I have not been able to comment on what it was, preiviously noting aspects like colour, atmospherics of the piece, scaleas reasons. After staging a projection or light piece myself it is about the claiming of teritory, a violence about projecting on to something preexisiting, the object, space or building already has a label, an owner or disgnation and the projections, frame or light piece then claims it without damage, framing it and confining it with the artwork, laying a stamp or signiture that is removed without trace.

My work possessed a part of that desert, that festival, the music and the audience. It then claimed them further when they moved in to it. It felt like an extension to the way the work, the patterns, claim me, they way it overtakes my thoughts and my time. The work claims me through the making, then claims the space through the projection.

https://vimeo.com/340555329

https://vimeo.com/340555233

So at the moment I have work looking at constancy, and work looking at possession/occupation, both works involve the aspect of collision, of either materiality or site.

Some off-the-cuff notes I made while writing the above piece and talking to a friend:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_art

An epiphany moment?! It lists James Turrell and Dan Flavin.... my favs

Is this a thing? Is this what I’ve been working towards?!

Projection mapping? If you think about all the things I’ve been mesmerised by....

I’ve even called my daughter Dawn for Christ sake!

Holy shit

I feel like I’m going to vomit with excitement and nerves.

This feels like a turning point but my brain has kicked in and is listing all the stuff I need to learn!

Mon 15 Apr 2019 Enquiry: Intersections and Articulations:

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Listen to audio files through LMS, titles to be advised

https://channel.louisiana.dk/video/karin-mamma-andersson-paintings-weapons

I chose to write about this video as it resonated with me the most. Her practice of collecting visual stimuli for her work, her love of books, and art history. Below are both notes and thoughts from the video:

material brain - in the studio. Its where artists can find the keys to open the doors to practice.

don't start over each time - need a lot of books to remind me of what is possible,

so many books, surrounded by art history - resonates with me as I love the materiality of books, I find comfort in the feel of the paper, turning the pages, the anticipation of what is coming next whether that is visually or narratively.

collect pictures from books and magazines - picture bank studio

art is a cycle - you know whether you are before or after an exhibition

after an exhibition you are vulnerable, you have handed over all your weapons, your self-confidence is at the gallery and the exhibition

You have to look at the pictures you have you've done to understand you actually did them.- I do this. I seem to detach from my work once it is completed and almost forget that I produced it. It is no longer from or about me, it has its own life and I need to reflect and revisit old work to remind myself that I actually did it.

Hard to start a new process right away as its almost like you have finished a story. - need to find new material that motivates you on to something new. - end of the MA year last year, it felt like a break and I needed to start something new. Sometimes it's not about starting new though, it might be about looking at it from a different angle.

Andersson then goes on to describe a series of photos of  1968 athlete that removes her clothing to finish the race and compares the nakedness to the stripping down of practice to find clarity. She discusses how artists strip down their practice to be seen and understood. This echoes my own path this year as I have simplified my practice down to lines and material away from the dense patterns I was using.

I found it quite heartening to hear her discuss the desire to create films, and that she refers to it as a ‘crazy dream’ I’m surprised that it is held at a distance like this, but perhaps space for film to enter her practice has not arisen yet. I think you know when a technique or material feels right, these things occur when the timing is correct and you are open to the opportunity.

Andersson goes on to describe her practice and particularly one painting and how it came together and the significance of colour.

Discussing development Andersson states that as an artist we go round in circles in different directions and that it is rarely a linear development. Likening it to a game of monopoly where you must go back to the start, so it feels like you have made a great deal of progress but from the outside, you haven't travelled very far. Similar to therapy were you must revisit issues repetitively to really get to the core and find the clarity.

She believes we are a product of our time and that it so more visible now more than ever due to the various communication networks we have that bring us together and allow us to share. It is fascinating to see artists that are separated by both distance and culture are actually inspired by similar themes.

I am inspired by her collections and categorising of inspirational images in her studio. I am envious of her space. I consider how we collect things now and her method is largely analogy, physical images stored in folders. I collect images but they are curated into digital boards on Pinterest or folders on my hard drive. I do feel that I get more from the actual printed images.

Andersson goes on to discuss that innate subjectivity of artists in their work. That even if you try to remove oneself from the work there is a signature that is present, that you can not pretend to be someone else an that it will show through the work.

She likens an exhibition to a dream as she states that there is no plot, no start or end, that exhibitions have a defuse and vague mood to them instead. I disagree with that, I think it is perfectly viable to have a plot or story to an exhibition. You can plan and construct a show to take the viewer on a journey, you can even go so far to provide instructions if you wish for it to be constructed or read in a particular manner. I think it is okay if she personally wishes for her shows to be diffuse and dreamlike but I think it's too far to say all exhibitions are like that.

I do agree with Andersson when she states that there is strength in growth and in being open to changing viewpoints and thoughts within the practice. To Be constantly reflective is how we can evolve and maintain a practice that is exciting and engaging without becoming stagnant.

Later on in the film, she goes back to the process of filling a void when her studio is empty and that she feels weak when her works are not around her. There is a desire to produce something better than last time and to be more precise and elegant in her expression. That for artists it is a drive that keeps us motivated.

Friday 12th April 2019: PPP - Feedback.

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screenshot of plan part 1

screenshot of plan part 2

I decided to reformat my PPP, I felt like a spreadsheet was easier to read and allows the comparison between each year to show its development.

Feedback from CW:
PPP is well set out
reflected effectively on previous version
brought up to date and allows usefulness going forward.

impressive list of online databases, networks and platforms
noted “Online platforms have been utilised but not to full potential due to time constraints.” Perhaps better served to limit the number to the most relevant and concentrate on keeping them active and useful.

Research collaboration possibilities with a neuroscientist, or a textile manufacturer, fellow artists, and/or a designer. Perhaps one of will develop naturally if the context and situation is right.
Be open to potential opportunities but do not over commit.

Fri 5 Apr 2019 - visiting lecturer tutorials

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Visiting Lecturer tutorials

Catherine Baker

I found this tutorial, much like the previous one with Catherine Baker, really useful. Catherine manages to extract the conciseness I strive for from my words, which of course is her job! Below are some of the notes from the session:

What was I working on since the last tutorial:

  • Worked on changing focus,
  • thinking about engagement
  • clarity of intentions
  • created some drawings as performance and as video pieces.
  • Made leporellos but they are not all filled.
  • It feels complicated to fill them with the line drawings from my sketchbook.
  • One is filled with this and it feels heavy and confusing.
  • NOT CHAOS - collision
  • Generally feeling lost and struggling with time-management, the desire to complex/labour intensive work and the frustration of not creating ‘enough’

My thoughts and discussions with Catherine Baker:

Catherine’s suggestion: If the demands on time are too much make work that is fast, think about the process and allow the work for the course to be quick. That’s okay too. Proposed making work that is not time laborious, for the course. Making processes that happen quickly, like printing etc - This is a great point. I was worried about simplified work not reading well, that things have to be overly intricate but Catherine pointed out that my initial line pieces had more strength and clarity than the following dense pieces.

Clear message in the initial line works of materials mounted side by side -  consistency - constant - constancy the line, simple, humble act, the physical thing and the simple technology of the pencil and the outcome is different depending on the surrounding - the interpretation is dictated by what the line encounters - beautifully simple and articulate about the process - the materials dichotomy and horizon line, constant in life, also denotes movement or boundary.

They then became too organised. The order stops it being responded to in the same way. Auditing it took away from it. The constant is the line, and that's enough - over ordered it, the interesting things were the line meeting the unpredictable backgrounds.

Leporello - the line is constant - it is time- the time in the material - the paper - trees, the time to grow, - material that articulates a relationship to time, wood veneers, feel like paper, and have the grain of life in them. Think about materials that the line might encounter and illustrate time. The paper has this in its process, like the wood veneers. Wood veneers - maple, soft grain, oak burr, time is in the material itself.

Can you describe time in a non-numeric fashion, light and dark, - moon calendar - sun rise and set, etc, gradation that suggests time, not man made but something that is more tangible human, gradients, the looping and constant - This feels like it needs to go into the video works. These manifestations are becoming addictive and feel like a natural progression of the work, looking at the process and the final piece, how it is staged for the testing boundaries project.

Sand drawing - Draw, draw out, draw in, draw breathe, opening, drawing, drawback, - has texture and the poem and process work well, how does this change when the subject is varied, if the writing becomes about drawing or if the act is drawing rather than writing.

Anna Barriball - draw -  paper over a fireplace, frottage piece - breathing drawing

Human connection to life - comes back to the Constancy of time.

Articulate the fundamentals of the pages, it frames the constancy on the line, the way the line behaves in response to what it contacts - the size of the page, the traces, damage, emboss.

Print processes - embrace the reveal of printmaking - ink a plate

Mono printing - it will give you a line that you don't see develop and will make you more aware of the line happening, the line will only reveal itself once you lift it off.

It becomes less habitual - repeat a process that they have done forever, the drawing unfolds before us, or a print approach it becomes less visually dominant - it engages more of a physicality - more about the implements, the forces, the delicacies, - elevate the processing to another space - This is a great activity for making day, the ideal opportunity to test this out.

So think about: The constancy is the line, page made from strips, then a page that is large surface, embed the relationship to time, a photo of the chalk line, photography the lines I want to draw in the immediacy of environment, some might be in the studio, chalk on sandpaper, the gravity of line. Explore the material behaviour - trying to break the habit by giving up control. Fluids run, visual dominance, books are just a for to bring them together - material inquiries - the time is evident in the things themselves,

Punctuate the book with happenings that have happened somewhere else - episodes and

Assembling the happenings -

Taking a walk that makes me aware - break the habit -

A work at British art show 6 - take shoes off and take another pair of footwear - by changing your physical being the way you engage with the environment - interruptions - the constant is the line -

Do I want to disrupt the line, or unknown, the order already exists in the things that I’m doing.

Philosophical - the synchronicity of the independent of the artist to shift to a place of being an artefact - it cannot be that until its free of the artist -  

Anthony Mccall - five-minute drawing -

Susan Morris drawing - movement. Waist height in the sea - embedded in the marks is the process -

The way you make the books - depth - experimental - impact series - artist books -

Exploring the different physicality - that's not visual - tacit dimension.

Tom Marrhoin - one-second sculptures - photographs - he defines them as sculptures but they have a strong sense of drawing - they are time but in a different way the materiality articulates time. How to disrupt the physical processes - in a material way how can I disrupt it?

Habitually - organise it due to my circumstances - to find clarity - in ordering it I have lost the sense of inquiry - what happens if …

Bring the play back in.  - PLAY with purpose.

What do I want to achieve - what is my agenda? Connect to impact perhaps?

Artist book collection - hong kong - open call in April - register with Impact - Tracey etc

Notes from Catherine Baker:

In response to your “Each book equates to a measure of time” comment we discuss how your response to time was numerical and that it might be worth considering material that in themselves represent time more explicitly.

Constancy of the line and its behaviour, disrupted mark as it encounters materials…perhaps less ordered responses that appear habitual in origin.

Look up the IMPACT Series, next one in 09. 2020 for which the call is likely to be March 2020? https://www.uwe.ac.uk/sca/research/cfpr/dissemination/conferences/impact.html, I’ve Transferred the immense 1000+ page document from the last one which was IMPACT 10. This will, I’m confident, help you locate fellow contextual bed-fellows.

Tracey journal: https://www.lboro.ac.uk/microsites/sota/tracey/  https://www.lboro.ac.uk/microsites/sota/tracey/journal/index.html

Think about your logistics, practicalities, try out some printmaking techniques, explore losing visual dominant methodologies’ that enable you to amend a process as it occurs.

The University of West of England has a good Artists books section as does the IMPACT 10 proceedings document – plus see the attached.

Going forward:

  • simplify
  • believe
  • go with it
  • test out various materials
  • work with printing
  • be proactive about open calls and journals
  • Be less ordered but be constant

Sat 6 April 2019 -Making day

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Making day: group 1 - KF

Printing and book-making

I made some books up before the making day, I used the time on the day to work on the feedback from Catherine Baker (the tutorial was the day before) and work with some simple lines, collisions of materials and explore some mark-making and printing.

  • small leporello
  • graphite frottage line

  • mixed paper book
  • charcoal continuous line
  • charcoal was not lifted
  • these pages stuck together
  • i filled the line but it felt untrue
  • I erased all of the line to deny the lie

  • book making from found materials
  • book of found papers
  • drawing a line on lino with a brush
  • printing the line
  • outcome of drawn line on lino
  • I cut a block instead and used it as a stamp to get a more consistent line

  • inked up perspex for mono printing line
  • the texture of the ink
  • preparing to print
  • prints drying
  • prints drying

Notes from the table (literally):

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?