Task 5

Exploratory Project - Wk 5 - 18/03/2018- 24/03/2018

    • Week 5 Mar 18th Be aware of burn out or possible stopping points, challenge with an activity from the list provided to move work in to another dimension/area/scale/technique. Mon 19 Mar: Tutorial DK  ART WEEK DUBAI 

Tutorial with David KeffordArt practice relies on uncertainty, being reactive – avoid catastrophism. Trying not to have the ‘big life decisions’ impact on practice. Finding the balance.Brief discussion on my background: commercial background, not being compliant, resistant/resilient – being confident in own skin – not worrying about where you fit in – an interloper – the knife edge of embracing or being interested in breaking boundaries. GRAYSON PERRY materials & context – overcome, uniqueness – allowing it to marinate, a long slow burnWhat do I want from the work – removal or inclusion. Feelings and emotions as part of the work – being incorporated without being confessional – ambiguity or elusive – not purely aesthetic – more human.-how to convey emotions/feeling through form – associations – memoriesDavid Keffords personal input: disconnect between audience & work is always unsatisfactory, create direct conversation - socially engaged – collab/performance – relational aesthetics – social spaceRoutine – maintain contact at Tashkeel – routine – how am I working with it, allow others to relate to – binary – order, chaos – organics – happy accidents – manifest – to what levels of extremity does this go? Create activities or task to push ie: drawing with opposite hand, mark making, doodling, regimented – a spontaneous act – be unknown, allow that to happen. Set actions, boundaries & structures to adhere to – ie: must be A5, in pencil etc. create own systems, what will the psychological affects be.Thinking of the square/frame as a cyclic form, allowing and recording the reflections – photos of the pieces – before they become pieces – the photos may be interesting.Immersive, environment – event – theatre – sensation – spectacle – all the tropes.Christian Boltanski – drawing on the senses, touch, materiality, incorporating it in.Franz West – Adaptives – kinetic work –Awareness that the professionalism of the art work and artwork have trapped me – not allowing work to expand the confinement of the frame/ the hand/ the art world.Caroline Broadhead – moving through the scale and work in to installation.Live performance – work into space. Take work and space out, remove from the commercial aspect, edge & messy – physical & mental mess.Cultivate an attitude of disruption – draw inspiration from the artists such as Turrell and Balka, move work from being easily digestible – move it in to discontent. Stop being the ‘good girl’ – move away from compliance, correctness, break the veneer – get under the skinMove in to sculpture – discuss the foam felt geo sculpture which looks heard but isn’t – subversive – artifice – ‘supposed to be this but actually this’ – think Richard Serra’s verb listMaking doodles etc,Project planning for spaceDiversify and expand into installation work.Actions (if any)

  • Move in to sculpture – discuss the foam felt geo sculpture which looks heard but isn’t
  • think Richard Serra’s verb list
  • Making doodles etc,
  • Project planning for space
  • Diversify and expand into installation work.
  • Create a system
  • Possible for performance
  • Research artist discussed and how they can inform work
  • Keep notes of reflections and discussions I’m having about my work.

  

Exploratory Project - Wk 2 - 25/02/2018- 03/03/2018

  • Week 2 Feb 25th Begin research reading and gathering, use Textile reader (Hemmings, 2012) and Everyday Reader (Highmore, 2002); texts related to touch, histories, colonialism, colour, routine, textile usage. Explore artists already working around my exploration (also links to contextual study).  Continue production experiments, break process down and source materials. 

So I have done some of the reading, and considered how to move my work forward. The asynchronous seminar felt like an unnecessary evil this week and was just a huge weight on top of all the other work. On top of 'daily life' as it were, it's been difficult to find a balance. Both of my other reading groups have come to an end, although Art Month, or March Madness as its affectionately known here, begins this week with exhibition openings and a plethora of talks, discussions and various other art events are taking place.

Actual physical work has taken a back seat this week as I tried to claw back some organisation ...oh and try to find a job! Arrgh!

Exploratory Project - Wk 1 - 18/02/2018- 24/02/2018

      • Week 1 Feb 18th Complete Mapping the territory, print large scale mindmap to work in to, use to outline concepts, generate ideas and moving forward. Produce outline plan first draft, produce some experiments regarding initial thoughts from current practice. 

    This week has been productive. I created, filled and bound 8 books. I then went on to dip some of the books in white paint mixtures. I built my initial time outlines for both the contextual study and the exploratory project (although I would like to break these down further). I also continued to add to my Contextual Map which I had printed out large scale and at the end of the week attended a peer critique session (the last one, the course has now finished, Yay!) which felt extremely brutal; more on that later. Overall though there has been a lot of reflection, mainly through discussion with peers and some realisations to take forward through the next few assignments.

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    To start the week I conducted a brief audit of work up until now; looking back over the Form Fracture Frame task my book explorations stood out to me. Being in a personally anxious time at the moment, the security the books provided was calling out, so I proceeded to channel my nervous energies in to book creation. I loved it. I didn’t overthink content, working with pre-existing fractures from my sketchbook and archive piles.

[vimeo 257514583 w=640 h=360]

Katie Venner-Woodbridge, hand bound books from Katie Venner-Woodbridge on Vimeohttps://player.vimeo.com/video/257514583

[vimeo 257514551 w=640 h=360]

Katie Venner-Woodbridge, 50 page Vellum book from Katie Venner-Woodbridge on Vimeohttps://player.vimeo.com/video/257514551

I believed initially I came up with the concept of dipping the books into white paint to discuss the ‘whitewashing’ of history, of my family and myself. The fact that we don’t get a say in our histories, only in our futures but that realistically they are also somewhat constricted by our geographies and biographies. However, reevaluating the process, and slowing down my thinking, this has more to do with the inaccessibility of my own thoughts and feelings, how I restrict sharing personal aspects and struggle with articulation, which can make my work inaccessible to others. An internal binding. I self-censor…and massively self-censor my artwork. The colour white is somewhat irrelevant other than I did not want a symbolic association, but in a cultural context, most colours do have some associations, so it is difficult to avoid this.

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Some of the books were partially dipped so with pages can still be slightly seen in the gaps, others were utterly submerged rendering the pages and work inside eligible.

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In the critique the self-censorship issue became glaringly obvious. I asked them to ‘cold read’ the work and feedback with their initial thoughts before I explained the context. I asked this to see if it could be read without text. My peers expressed frustration and annoyance about not being able to access my work, not understanding or seeing the point. There was no read for them without my context, which I was refusing to give. I was somewhat pleased that they were frustrated as this is a feeling I embed in my work, but I don’t feel they were frustrated for the right reasons. When I gave my highly edited context regarding everyday life, routines and chaos they couldn’t see it. Something was missing and they began to write me off. I was dying inside, it hit me then that this was a ‘do or die’ moment and I blurted out my real inspiration, my reasons for moving through the work. I instantly regretted it and my emotions began to take over, trying to hold it together I listened to the feedback and realized it changed. They softened slightly and said it made more sense. The advice offered was to make more use of it (my obsessive nature, anxiety and compulsion), to time stamp and create work to a routine. Log work and mass create. They offered artist suggestions and support and agreed to confidentiality, as I was afraid of judgment and being held back. It was one of the most painful things I have ever done, I am not sure if it was the right thing to do and I still feel sore and manipulated in to handing over that info. BUT I do see the positivity in their feedback. It makes sense; it brings in the links I miss in my fast thinking.

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So a couple of days later and I have discussed the feedback with outside parties, I have gone over the really negative points and looked at what they could have reflected about the audience rather than taking everything entirely personally. Moving forward I’m thinking about risks for the project ahead….

Here's some honesty…I don't believe I can draw very well. I have always wanted to be a fabulous drawer, I have friends who can render a realistic portrait in biro in minutes, but I have to work at it... really work at it, and it frustrates me. I hate feeling frustrated, so I tend to quit and move on to something instantly gratifying. I know that’s why my work has moved into abstraction, its less risky and I feel less vulnerable. It's also quick and fulfils the need and desire for meditation and release.

Thinking about this project and one of the risks that keep coming up is this aspect of drawing. It feels like a huge risk to move into drawing for this project, and it didn't make much sense until yesterday after the critique. I was thinking about a comment regarding embracing this everyday aspect, building routine into my work so it is visible and it connected me to a piece I did at college. We were asked to paint a large (150cm x 200cm) image of a ladder we had been using for activities; I was using a small 3 step set, as I don't like heights. Everyone painted these large-scale, elaborate images, abstracted and full of colour; I painted the whole paper black and drew my ladder slightly smaller than it actually was and reasonably realistically. I got very mixed reviews, and they were disappointed by my lack of 'flare'. At the time I was deep in depression and finding it hard to deal with the outlandish activities the course demanded, and I actually left and joined a smaller class at a different college. I regret that decision, most of the activities I participated in during those few weeks have stayed with me, and I return to them for inspiration, but c'est la vie.

My point is, I found some catharsis at the time in painting those steps as mundane as they appeared. Thinking about building routine into my work I looked around my room and realised that I have a tendency to purchase simple objects that fulfil a need, I keep life simple and mundane, flare is left to artwork, singing and dancing, my objects and possessions are basic. What if my risk is to draw these objects, use them for my repetition and pattern beginnings? Key points from critique:

  • Too many ideas in one project
  • Keep it simple and dive in further
  • Really push the boundaries of routine and repetition by assigning times or routine to work etc. Make it obsessive, mountains of work.
  • Avoid bringing in subjects of race and history - allow others to add that if they wish.
  • Look at maps and the routine travels
  • Find artists that have obsessively mapped/logged work
  • Think Sharif and Kusama

IN PROGRESS - Task 5 - Exploratory Project - Outline

Deadlines:

  • Monday 12 March: Tutorial AR
  • Monday 19 March: Tutorial DK
  • Monday 26 March: Exploratory Project - Challenges and Learnings - Seminar
  • Monday 23 April: Group Crits 1/2 cohort
  • Monday 30 April: Tutorial AR
  • Finish: 11 May upload images by 24.00 for group evaluation and seminar on 14 May
  • Monday 14 May: Exploratory Project Seminar / evaluation
  • Monday 4 June: DEADLINE FOR PRACTICAL WORK SUBMISSION - End of unit review AR/CW

AimEncourage greater speculative and experimental approaches to visual research and making.Emphasis on risk taking, risks that are personal to you.  Curiosity and suspension of your usual judgement are crucial. Reflect carefully.Choose an area to explore that will challenge you.You may need to change your plan as you go along.Not expected to produce fully resolved work;The quality of the exploration is key.Outline Project PlanUsing the structure below, produce an outline project plan to be discussed in tutorials on 12 March and uploaded to your MA journal:

  1. What are your starting points? – be specific 
    • What am I thinking about?The fundamentals of the Everyday - to date practices has addressed a concern for the decay of social decorum and the prevalence of neglect for the Everyday. - systematic disintegration leading to encasing the chaos in a confined space. How is communication and daily practices affected in environments where these vary due to cultural expectations? Is this discord accepted and how?Looking at: the bourgeoisie and their elevation from the everyday. Does this elevation exists today: does status or wealth create a simplified routine?; what are the commonalities and differences according to sociocultural factors?; or are the basic components of living so intrinsic that routines are fundamentally equivalent? Lefebvre, Rhythmanalysis creates a science of analysing daily rhythms,  inherent in my work. How do the rhythms of daily experience filter in to art? how has this shown up historically? how this affects artists and the current market?Whitewashing, genre, inherited genres (gender, race, age, class), control, space, confinement, touch, personal space, routine, space of routine, repetition, chaos, fragmentation...
  2. What are you curious about? 
    • What am I reading, what is drawing me in? What artists am I curious about? What materials am I curious about? What techniques do I want to explore? Currently reading on Colonialism, deconstructing Colonialism, post-Colonialism, Orientialism, 'whitewashing', the narrative of history, identity politics; these subjects specific to the gulf or UK 'commonwealth' - that term in itsself. Coexistence and intergroup cooperation. Transience, permanent impermanence, 'migrant, expat, national'. Time and consumption of time in routine. Routine, culture and place. Negotiation of routine, time. The chaos of routine, how routines are shaped, deconstructed and reconstructed. Textiles and routine, domesticity, the sense of touch and everyday life, pattern, repetition and fracturing/fragmenting.Artist in the region, looking at pattern, similar concepts, or materials? Whats more important to my practice? Can I find artists that come under all of those headings? Do I use contemporary artists, peers? or art historical references? Do they need to be highly successful or can they be emerging?Books, layers, lines, disruption, neutrality, binary, repetition, paper, paint, wet, dry, encrusted, texture, touch, comfort, weight/wait, time passing. fabric, stitch, fragility, density, opacity, fibre, cloth, natural/degradable, dissolvable...
  3. What strategies will you adopt? 
    • How Am I going to do this? Be structured and methodical, keeps clear notes - probably best to use this platform so it's in one place. Feel self conscious about that but can use passwords. Keep to the timeline, reference it regularly, make a time planner to map out slots during the weeks to accommodate each task for the course and other commitments. Thank goodness reading groups end this week! Photograph, document, upload, repeat... 
  4. What are your personal risks?  
    • What scares me? Is it practical risks, theoretical risks or personal/private risks? This scares me... being distracted. Not producing enough, not understanding or misinterpreting the task or feedback. Underachieving, I know what I am capable of but seem to hold myself back, becoming self critical and apprehensive until I give up as it feels like the safest option. Comparison scares me, wanting to achieve and understand things in the manner of my peers. 
  1. What challenges do you anticipate?  
    • Time, organisation, overwhelm, distraction, feelings of imposterism, insecurity, comparison, fear.  
  2. Plan an outline programme over 13 weeks; build in time for reflection and evaluation: 
    • Week 1 Feb 18th Complete Mapping the territory, print large scale mindmap to work in to, use to outline concepts, generate ideas and moving forward. Produce outline plan first draft, produce some experiments regarding initial thoughts from current practice. 
    • Week 2 Feb 25th Begin research reading and gathering, use Textile reader (Hemmings, 2012) and Everyday Reader (Highmore, 2002); texts related to touch, histories, colonialism, colour, routine, textile usage. Explore artists already working around my exploration (also links to contextual study).  Continue production experiments, break process down and source materials. 
    • Week 3 Mar 4th  Reflect on current production, note relationship to readings, additional areas to explore or possible changes in direction etc.  
    • Week 4 Mar 11th Continue with production, once each moment of production is 'completed' as such, reflect immediately to stay on top and also revisit and compare with previous productions - Mon 12 Mar: Tutorial AR  
    • Week 5 Mar 18th Be aware of burn out or possible stopping points, challenge with an activity from the list provided to move work in to another dimension/area/scale/technique. Mon 19 Mar: Tutorial DK  ART WEEK DUBAI 
    • Week 6 Mar 25th Production, again being aware of reflection, and managing the other course commitments, refer to course-mates for progress and feedback, communicate strengths and weaknesses and possible areas for consultation Mon 26 Mar: Exploratory Project - Challenges and Learnings - Seminar  
    • Week 7 Apr 1st HALF WAY POINT good time to review the current body of work, what is successful and what isn't. Can anything be 'rescued' or needs to be cast off? is it fulfilling the initial concept and ideas? Does it need to? Has it produced new ways of thinking? Changed direction? What unexpected things have emerged? Have I challenged myself? Does this still feel safe? How can I take even more risks? Prepare for making day. Create a list of questions to pose to group for structured and meaningful feedback. Sat 7th Apr: Making Day 
    • Week 8 Apr 8th Production, again being aware of reflection, and managing the other course commitments, move forward using findings and feedback from making day. 
    • Week 9 Apr 15th Production, utilise activities list if stuck or needing an extra challenge. Prepare for Group crit next week. 
    • Week 10 Apr 22nd Production, self reflection and future planning. Prepare for tutorial with AR next week Mon 23 Apr: Group Crits 1/2 cohort 
    • Week 11 Apr 29th Production, again being aware of reflection, and managing the other course commitments, move work forward using critique from tutorial  Mon 30 Apr: Tutorial AR  
    • Week 12 May 6th Reflection and assessment of progress, prepare for group evaluation, clarify thoughts and findings, plan for future development of practice Finish: 11 May: upload images by 24.00 for group evaluation and seminar on 14 May  
    • Week 13 May 13th  Deadlines for contextual study and PPP, thinking about submitting work for assessment, evaluate progress and outcomes. Mon 14 May: Exploratory Project Seminar / evaluation - Mon 4 Jun: DEADLINE FOR PRACTICAL WORK SUBMISSION - End of unit review AR/CW 
  3. Meet in a small group at least twice throughout the project. MZ, RF, KVW - GCC collective (although that is an actual collective that exists so may need a new name!)

Suggestions for Activity from project brief:

  • immersing yourself in a subject or narrowing your subject
  • breaking a habit or acquiring a habit
  • generating lots of visual ideas from one source or trying the same idea again and again
  • changing scale, mass, speed, volume, orientation
  • moving into colour or moving into monochrome
  • testing materials or learning a new technique
  • using drawing or photographs of existing work to rework pieces
  • combining, juxtaposing or sequencing existing work
  • encouraging ambiguity, taking risks, doing something open-ended, pushing a piece of work as far as you can
  • collaborating with someone or something else
  • responding to an artefact or archive
  • producing a series of experiments
  • constructing work from multiple parts
  • exploring collapse and disintegration
  • borrowing strategies from other fields

Project evaluation  Use the following to structure your evaluation in your MA journal, feel free to amend or add categories/questions. What did you discover?What went well and why? What did not go so well and why? Comment on what have you learnt about:

  • Your making and thinking process
  • Your use of resources
  • Your capacity to take risks
  • How you cope with problems and challenges

How will you use what you have learnt in the future?You will be asked to share your experience of this project in one-to-one conversations with others in the group.