24.02.2020 - Group Critique Feedback - hmmmm....

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.

14.02.2020-22.02.2020 Progress for Group Critique Mon 24 Feb

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.

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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.

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In preparation for the Group critique on Monday I have started to take rough images of the work in format, stacking the smaller tiles.

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I am intrigued by the volume of the works. I am also provoked by the distance the images give to the work.

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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.

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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.

Exclusion

Occluded viewership

Artists to explore:

Charnel-Joseph H Boutros

Ryan gander

07.02.2020 - poetry workshop - Eleanor Hooker

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.

26.12.2019 - Rain room, Sharjah Islamic Arts Festival & Sharjah Art Foundation

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Week 13 - Exhibition review presentations - Mon 16.12.2019

Monday, 7 Jan 2019 - 21st Jan Asynchronous Seminar (drawn from issues raised in Krzysztof‘s lecture) - CW

Asynchronous Seminar (drawn from issues raised in Krzysztof‘s lecture) - CW
When Monday, 7 Jan 2019 Description Via LMS, written contributions over two weeks

On Thursday, 17 January 2019 05:17:35 UTC+4, Jo Nichols wrote:
Is it the artist not the art that drives its value? If we look to the Vermeer fake this certainly is true. The gate keepers of the art world, the institutions and the gallery owners certainly seem to hold the power as they can set the price, push the sale, hype the artist. Therefor if one chooses to work out side of such institutions the struggle for financial success is much grater and artists are not necessarily good business people able to push their own works worth. The artists however who make the artwork hold the top trump cards as the institutions would have no currency to trade without them. 

My first response on seminar was to Jo's point (see above quote): To reply to Jo's point, regarding whether it is the artist, not the art that drives its value, I would agree with this and take it a step further. The art market works to trends as do almost all markets. This leads to gallerists, curators and institutions seeking artwork made by a particular group of artists who are in favour at the time. Does this lead us to a point where the work isn't as important as an artist might like to think it is, but rather their gender, race, biography, struggles etc speak more to the consumer than the work itself does? Would the work still be in favour if it was produced by an artist coming to the art market with a more 'privileged' backstory? 

Second response purely to lecture: Does removing oneself from the art world simply bring about isolation and loss of confidence or does it feed integrity? - I've recently discussed this question with a group of artists in the studio I am a member of. We discussed the aspect of visibility, and what would it mean to be invisible, how could we become invisible and let the artwork speak for itself? There is an element of creating 'dead art' by removing oneself from the art world. If work is not seen than can it be classed as professional work or merely an act to pass the time? Does the work itself have more integrity if the bias surrounding artist biographies is removed? If all artworks could be viewed in neutrality would it lead to purer/truer readings, literally allowing the work to speak for itself? - hide quoted text -

Elaine's response to me: interesting question Katie, I guess for me it depends on your audience. I think bios, statements etc can be helpful in giving the audience some kind of ‘in’ into the work, I remember in college for our degree show our department advocated for no statement, title, name but audience were frequently asking some kind of information on the works. I also remember writing a paper on anonymous artists where I found that anonymous artists were really playing the same game only without a name re publicity,  even inviting press to talk and write about the work. 

My third response, this time to Elaine: I agree Elaine, regarding the anonymous artists, we all have to play the same game regarding publicity and getting work out there. The one thing is that an anonymous artist really has to make sure the work speaks for itself if they don't have the additional resource of biography for insight. On the other hand, it may allow them to comment on issues that they may otherwise be criticised for if their identity was in the public, ie: white artists commenting on race relations, or male artists commenting on feminism. In these situations, the strength may be in the fact that the artist is an unknown and that work is viewed for its narrative. If the artist's identity was exposed they may be criticised for coming from a place of privilege or domination regardless of whether their work had a strong and positive impact. - show quoted text -

Mozhdeh response to me and Elaine: @Katie, ‘Yes’ a good art speak but as you and Elaine mentioned publicity is important in the contemporary world of art, it seems in the art today 'the artist is a part and it's not a part' of its work of art. 
Although the intention of being an anonymous artist has some interesting aspects and differences for some artists and the curiosity of being an unnamed artist maybe grab attention, the success of that is still conditional and very much depend on 'anonymous publicity'! @Elaine as Elaine points out. 
In the other hand I think the form of art play the main role in this matter, as for some art forms it not possible to be unknown, as the artist is the main element in the existence of artwork, and also the artist location and geographical, cultural ability, knowledge, and understanding of art and this concept is something to be considered!!
Talking about the geographical matters and possibilities bring to my mind this question ‘who is the anonymous artist? the artist who chosen to be behind her/his work of art or who has been forced to be a kind of 'muted artist' under regional, political, cultural, race, gender, identity etc. sensitivity and or pressure of its surroundings!! How much these issues effects on artist activities and or limited the ways and choices for the artist and or being an artist?

Mon, 12 November -Group Crit - KF

Group Crit - KF

When: Mon, 12 November, 5pm – 8pm

[googleapps domain="docs" dir="presentation/d/e/2PACX-1vTlAeq-V-1u-XMps3TcAydhPWbC3IOCLxsXNY80nUW5XrrAJ7sMZc3Xkf_OtJXCoZASuTl-QufUmZhm/embed" query="start=false&loop=false&delayms=3000" width="960" height="749" /]

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1K_23Vx6Y-MLVYRKwPeCC9NAq229YqpH541n7HM-5xlw/edit?usp=sharing

MA Group Crit notes: 

My thoughts about the presentation above:

• Chaos Stagnant
• wanting to explore process and materials but struggling to link the work
• and then Catherine Baker happened!
• materials led practice - I don't know what that is or how to approach it - unlearning design background.
• it felt good and the feeling of feeling felt good!
• the sensuality of the materials.

Feedback from cohort:

Continuum of calm across a rocky road - put an object in (to the book form)

thread  - the thread has potential

took the line with me - over concrete and drag graphite - temporality - 

possibility and a period of time.

fabric or glass - horizon/division

space and anxiety - draw lines on to different elements - powerful and architecture of space - in a space

boundaries and bound - continuum- Jacobs ladder

windows - line above and below

sewing a line through lots of different things

the terminology refreshes

reframe

understand the material process of being an artist - going through the process of making

scale

What happens when you take the line outside?

or a line that disappears after a bit of time - prisons - the great escape - soil dumping.

francis alys

materials that graphite can't stick to

what happens walking through that line?

integrate previous in to current

Anthony Gormley - steel lines crossing a space @ketttles yard - walk under/around

do you feel more comfortable using textile techniques? as in sewing a line as you did in your previous work?

I'm interested in knowing if this work in direct response with your feelings? What happens when you rotate some of these pages so that the line is broken up? - I wanted to ask you about scale too

what about the speed at which you work?

maybe a daily project?

yeah Katie - 30 day daily task?

aesthetically pleasing.

24/04/2018 - Exploratory Project - Group Crits

Exploratory Project Crit Group PresentationSlides:Part 1: Books & objects Book - dipping, pages, closed

 

Part 2: paper collages for painted works

the need for painting - the feeling

Part 3: Structure

Paper structures - the upcoming experiments

paused due to material sourcing (laser cutter and acrylic)

Part 4: Stitched/Strung

Stitched pieces - the fabric experiments

Part 5: Text

Questions:

Scale - go big or go even smaller? Thinking chapman brothers mini scenes, minutiae, pulling the viewer in, OR larger scale, overwhelm, frustration, confusion.

These pieces feel linked, is there space for a performance piece? - would need a movement class, have a possible collab.

Responses:

How much engagement does the audience needs to have with the work?Touch them, and open them, etcHow do I want my audience/ how do people interact-expectations, Focus groups. Create a experience or being excessive-Inclusion of audiences/children etcDo they need to come together or exists separately?Separate-Individually paper collages– AmazingMovement– Gymnast/contortionist trying to getMinor chaos-the strings and the different intentionAre so the work as installation stringpiece and losing contortionist or gymnast or and using contortionists for gymnasts to move around the piece as performance all allowing audience to move around as personal performance.Audience through the work so do they make you work? Laser cut pieces for installation? Large-scale-room and Intel-Keep Separate works through of Videos.