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Mon, 15 October - Enquiry: Intersections and Articulations - Helen Rousseau Lecture

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Enquiry: Intersections and Articulations: Helen Rousseau lecture and seminar (procrastination, testing things in the studio) - KF

Mon, 15 October, 5pm – 7pm

Helen Rousseau - 

sculpture & installation - structure, precision and chance encounter

materiality and speed - slowness of materials - temporal

Gilbert Ryle - the concept of mind

procrastinations manifesto - 

drawing as process - moving towards something - amplifying itself when in its own process

Nicola Tyson

Tom McCathy - how Marinetti taught me to write

Jane Bennet - Vital Matter

O'doherty - Studio and Cube

performance based practice - sculpture pulls towards this

Jan Verwoert - control I am Here - Curating and the Educational Turn (pronounced Yan VerVert)

Misreadings - Fred Sandback

APT london - Mariam Holm-Hansen

reading group - August Collective- 1 week

Caroline Wright, Jamie Lee Patel

Role of curator is a present happening.

KF- notes from seminar - 

Key points: Themes and questions arising from the session;

Practices that don't quite settle

Practices in and out of the studio

Finding value

Different engines of practice

Considering the quality and speed of materials

You can slow down an experience

What is the temporal condition of sculpture?

What is brought into being through the work?

Can you see the process within the work- is it inherent?

What definitions to we put on practice?

Questions from HR

  1. Where is the edge of the work> How are the limits of a work established? take a particular example(s) of work (own or others) you are familiar with and discuss
  2. How do you make use of/i=understand/consider the 'in-between' in relations to your own practices? Take a particular example

Break out room 1 - Helen Rousseau, 15/10/2018

Jo, Mark, Mozhdeh, Katie

Where is the edge of the work? How are the limits of a work established? Take a particular example(s) of work (own or others) you are familiar with and discuss.

Mark: I was interested in the idea of edges between artists and audience.  I like the idea of the gallery/studio space is open and accessible

And takes away curator issue

Jo and Mozhdeh spoke about accessing galleries and types of galleries and how accessible these opportunities are globally and regionally. How are they accessed?

Katie: Not necessarily where but more ‘Who’ actually sets the edges of the work? Does the artist have a say in it, or does the work and/or the viewer decide? Once the work is out of the creator's hands its edges are its own. Does the work need an ‘edge’? Can it be open? Who requires the definition of ‘edge’?  

Kimberley: Emergent practices

Not really an edge but a punctuation, a comma or a stopping point, a moment to breathe

Other notes:

Hermeneutics?

Gorden Matta Clark

Joseph Kosuth

Preoccupy

On Kawara Date Paintings - the moment that you experience the 'I wish I thought of that' - the boxes, the lettering, the language THE RULES!!! of the Rules! I love this capturing moment in an intricate simplicity. 

THATS WHAT IT IS I"M STRIVING FOR AN INTRICATE SIMPLICITY.

yes, Martin Creed, On Kawara

Karla Black - formal - composition form materials

Monday, 1 Oct 2018 - Tutorial - KF

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Regarding the collage:

Incongruous

Gordon Matta-Clark  - I link to /James Turrell

Sam Griffin

How important is it that they existed before? this is about thinking how much the origins are important in the collages or images - could it be anything or is it in the details of the work already created or in specifically made images to deconstruct and reorder.

How important is it that it's my work?

film it & photograph

materials and interaction

thread of thought and connection, gathering, pull - rupture, a way of thinking

space -

&where we place ourselves -

planes - punching through and mapping

what happens outside the frame image & territory that is known - mapping

the territory of practice - table or frame

a photo of table & work, then sideways - multiview, what is beyond the piece - untangled threads, pulling away

google - the relationship of something I can’t grasp

What do I want? seeing the ‘other’ in it  

Manifesto- who you are

the lense

informing the work & the dialogue

& the entanglements of matter around the clarity & the perception

the knot & embroidery what is clear and ordered about the stitch and what is knotted and complicated. we discussed the difference between the front of embroidery and the back.

the unpicking

repetition & what is found

What do we overlook -

contain, contrast & leave out

tendrils

What is lost and what is found in repetition

Agreed actions:

  • explore collage further - continue with own work collage as that has urgency and explore the possibilities of found image collage, how does that change the work?
  • consider the territory of the work - where does it start and finish? what happens outside of these parameters? How does that affect the work? Consider the frame.
  • delve into the possibility of the thread and its tendrils, what does the repetition of embroidery do for the work? How does this thread metaphorically and physically move through and within it?
  • Keep notes of reflections and discussions I’m having about my work.
  • question scale and the imagery that is on the outside of the frame?


29/09/2018 - Update: Work Over the Summer - Where I am Now

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In our initial meeting on September 17th, I remember saying I felt like I hadn't been very productive. However, in drawing my work together in preparation for a tutorial I realised I had actually produced a relatively good amount of work, I was being proactive but for the enjoyment, which is perhaps why I had dismissed it.

I took the time to revisit my photo collages. When I had created these pages I had always intended to paint the left page to merge the images together. My mental disposition means I get distracted, easily, really easily, and when I do drift off into my thoughts my visual focus tends to blur, meaning the visage in front of me turns into a hazy merging of lines and shapes. When this happens 'Distraction Point Two' creeps in and I veer away from my thoughts and into the patterns. These pages are an attempt to make sense of the visual clutter, the cyclic process of distraction and focus, the redefining of attention. These feel like an interpretation of the visual clutter of daily life, the distraction techniques used to keep us focused inwards.

On the pages above I returned to the process of layering. The aspect of preservation and building up feels indicative of many cities or even countries, especially where I am now. Preserving tradition and cultural ideals while building up and merging into emerging markets, opening doors for layers of society from other locations to lay foundations and develop something new for themselves and the inviting country/city.

Rough sketchbook notes: I had a couple of sit-downs both alone and with a friend and visited the goals and ideas I have in mind for the course.

These charcoal pieces were done in a frenzy, a physical manifestation of the speeding anxiety that seared through during the summer. These fragmentations that represented daily routine were metaphorically torn apart in the summer creating angst and instability. I question how I could recreate that instability and anxiety in a gallery setting without endangering the viewer.

Excitingly these works were created while leading a drawing workshop at my studio space. Evidence of collaboration of materials between myself and my guests. One member bought with her some children's watercolour crayons, they were slick in texture, almost like a lipstick and oddly satisfying to work with. I avoid colour but there was an inner rebellion against myself that urged me to explore them. I don't hate this work. The colour adds another dimension but for the use of colour to continue I need to explore the reasoning further. The psychology of colour is pertinent as I would not want misinterpretations or forced ones either.

Lastly, I am currently working in to collage. I feel like the work needs to become heavier, mirroring the change in daily routine since returning to work. Also looking at the daily routines of many families that become dense with activities, social engagements, errands etc. This process of collage is addictive and therapeutic, I envision many more of these coming into fruition. The papers are photocopies of early sketchbook pages, I would like to explore developing these into paintings, perhaps using modelling paste to build texture, something to squeezing into as we squeeze so much into each day.

Questions:

Is now the time to make work for the sake of it and allow the research I have already done to sink in? Do I keep on researching? Once you've begun researching do you ever actually stop, making that last question void?

I want to maintain the elements of repetition, that is fundamentally important to me, do I need textile techniques to do that? (embroidery)

Do I want to be labelled?...

constructivism - abstract - nonobjective - reductive art - radical art - postminimalism - formalism

Do labels matter? How can I change a label? Who gives work labels?

Reading the book '100 Artists' Manifestos', questioning whether I wish to be associated or inspired by movements/artists whose morality and ethics I question.  Can you still appreciate an artwork even if you are fundamentally against the believes and concepts behind the work?

21/09/2018 - Gallery Visit: Ways of Seeing, NYUAD Gallery, Abu Dhabi.

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Fred Sandback and Hassan Sharif fulfilled my vision

Gustav Metzger challenged my thinking

Grayson Perry tickled my fancy

David Claerbout blew my mind

James Turrell comforted my soul.

Grayson Perry, A Map of Days, 2013, etching from four plates, 119.5 x 161 cm (my photos of artwork)

James Webb, Scream, 2008, signed certificate, speakers, assorted wires, audio, museum barrier, dimensions variable (my photos of artwork)

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Cindy Sherman, Untitled #466, 2008, colour photograph, 246.1 x 162.6 cm (my photos of artwork)

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Hans-Peter Feldman, One on One (milky Way), 2012, chocolate box and sign, dimensions variable

(my photos of artwork)

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Andreas Gursky, Dubai World I, 2007, c-print, 307 x 223.3 x 6.2 cm (my photos of artwork)

Michelangelo Pistoletto, METRO QUADRATO INFINITO, 1966/2018, sculpture, string, 240 x 240 cm (my photos of artwork)

Gustav Metzger, To Walk Into - Massacre on the Mount, Jerusalem, November 8, 1990. 1996/2018, photograph on PVC and linen cover, 238 x 395 x 30 cm (my photos of artwork)

David Claerbout, The Algiers' Section of a Happy Moment, 2008, single-channel video projection, b/w, stereo, 37 mins (my photos of artwork)

James Turrell, Alta (Pink), 1968, cross corner projection, dimensions variable (my photos of artwork)

Hassan Sharif, Knots, 2012-2016, cotton rope and stainless steel, 380 x 350 cm (my photos of artwork)

Sharif fills the space - the opposite of how I'm told he was as a person. The rope and knots are so clear yet lost in mass. It was higher when I saw it last - it took up less floor space and it felt like you could walk in to it - this feels deflated, or maybe growing tired from moving from place to place. 

Fred Sandback, Untitled (Sculptural Study, Twenty-two-part Vertical Construction), 1991/2018, black and red acrylic yarn, dimensions variable (my photos of artwork)

I want to lie on the floor, I want to ping it and run about in them.

Not Pictured: Kim Tschang-Yeul - water drop -a painting and a reference - does the artist want you to look at both, are they the same - is one incidence and one action?

Not pictured: Gustav Metzger - Historic Photographs: To Crawl Into - Anschluss, Vienna, March 1983, 1996/2011 - the linen was so heavy, my shoulders ached from bearing the weight - the actual weight and the metaphoric weight - the women in the large photo are scrubbing the floor while children look on - I crawl on top of them struggling to lift the fabric to see them, I haven't seen them before, I don't know them but for a moment I'm with them, in a similar position but with the privilege of choice, of participation, rights - can I ever emphasise? do I need to? is the moment enough - a token -its history, past, I cannot change.

  

Mon, 17 September - Introduction to MA 2 - KF (CW between 17:00 - 18:30)

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In a new exercise for this year, I will be sharing my session notes. These are the moments when I have thoughts about my own practice which are intertwined with the dialogue and other members works. Sometimes they will make sense, many times they probably won't. It allows me to store those moments that feel so urgent at the time and need to be preserved for the times when 'the desert is a little dry' or 'the fog is a little dense'.Session outline (from google calendar):Introduction to MA 2 - KF (CW between 17:00 - 18:30)DescriptionSummary of Unit: Testing Your Boundaries, Intersections and Articulations, Risks, Failures and Learning NB Exploratory Project, the exploration continues Introduction, including information on continual reflection and evaluation in journals and active contribution in group sessions Share summer experience in small groups. Aims for the year ahead, verbally and in journals

Notes:
Testing practice
Contextual awareness
Audience
Testing boundaries - put work into the public
This is the year to make ideas visible
engaged maker - trying it out
resources for each other - share knowledge
Formulaic provocations
disparate and joined
materiality of practice - how it changes people.
Materially grounded.
In what routes to we communicate these narratives.
extending, commitment, curiosity, creatively minded
contextualised practice - social, ethical, political
How do we know our ideas are being manifest?
What do I want to test in my practice? Why?
Patience within my practice - tackling my ADHD and actually spending time on doing something, allowing it to evolve and not imparting expectations.
What, why, how am I doing it?
Who is it for?
So what? - Who cares?
Vulnerability and responsibility.
Testing boundaries -
create work and out in public that you wouldn't normally, i.e.: not white cube - instead park bench
gather data and see communication
who is it for?
loyal to a piece of work you don't want to be loyal to any more.
Performative?
our work doesn't care about us once its out there!
fight the algorithm - reject or don't fight - find the difficult things.
the exhibition that I remember are the ones that irritated.
Kimberley Foster - Tate exchange
cake - throwing it all together to make a new cake
Allan Kaprow - the blurring of art and life
attention alters what is attended.
General booklist - reading - add your content
microphone - contact microphone, hydrophone
sounds of things
Stephen Pippin - pinhole camera.

07/06/2018 - Evaluation and reflection: Task 2 & Task 5 Exploratory Project

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EvaluationMy project is a journey through experiments and materials, a gathering of mini explorations that link together like branches of a tree. Without the need for a defined outcome, the Exploratory project was the perfect opportunity to 'play' and work inside different disciplines without judgement or expectation. The ideal space to dip into techniques to expand my horizons. Next, I would like to hone into one thing and exhaust it, explore it as far as I can.Takeaways: okay to be multidisciplinary, try things out, use the opportunity to experiment.What pushed me? fear of failure, excitement in techniques.Alongside wanting to do well and push my practice I was urged on by my own excitement in the processes and outcomes of each of the experiments. When something became stuck or didn't offer an immediate resoltion I was able too to put it down and move on to another area of the project.Sculpture: not yet comfortable & resisted so didn't see it through. The use of the laser cutter and unfamiliar materials seemed to be a step too far for me, I wasn't able to progress in this area as much as I would have liked.Books: materiality - only just touched on material exploration. In Tutor and Peer critiques, the books were received relatively well, there was interest in them as books and as art objects once sealed with paint, however, the materiality was questioned. I began to experiment with paper making but was not able to explore bookmaking with my own paper on the timescale.Scale: I resisted large scale for fear of not completing & challenging timescale - wanted to get the most out of the project. Again the personal issue of fear of failure held me back here, I did not want to start a large piece that showed slow progress for a project that was about exploring. I wanted to use the time as effectively as possible, so maintained smaller works to allow for more outcomes, I wanted quantity in this instance.Could push materials further - explore the stitched paper & its delicacy. The use of handmade paper and how the stitch interacts with it.Digital: needing to acquire new skills, self-taught studio set up, lighting, stop-go, adobe premier - I taught myself basic video creation and editing skills during this project which was fun and quite fulfilling. I am happy with the test videos I have created, I think there is more scope for using video as a medium to record performance.My expectations of making and the resistance to outsource - laser cutter or manufacturing - I am a traditionalist at heart and find it difficult to put value into concepts rather than material so if the work is created by other on my behalf I am challenged by this. I would like to place this directly into the work, consider if I can create work that requires the audience to do the 'making'.Destruction of work: - removal of 'precious' feelings towards work and seeing it all for what it is. Unpicking work became a piece in itself and the outcome was aesthetically pleasing. I absolutely loved this aspect of the work, both the dipping of the books and the unpicking of the textiles that was filmed. It was liberating to not feel chained to a final piece, to allow them to evolve into something more and something else.Overall the risk-taking aspect was the most profound takeaway from this project. I wish to make work and to destroy it, or evolve it with another process.The submission:It feels so small. It's tough to really pull your work into a small sendable package for assessment. To work out how you might be able to tell you story/express your thoughts in a succinct manner in a few pieces.It was however also quite cathartic and liberating to find that I could express my work in a minimal way.img_2024img_2034img_2023img_2030.jpgimg_2032.jpgimg_2036img_2020.jpgimg_2026img_2028.jpg