In this strange new world it was a strange new NUA we returned to on Monday 21st September. Masks, antibac everywhere and everyone wanting greet everyone returning but having to stand off at an acceptable distance. It was great to be back, it was great to see everyone, the uni has worked hard to make it safe for everyone returning and as a mature student I was pleased that I could feel safe. No individual studio space, at the moment does mean working in a new way but it also does mean that you need to think about things in a creative way, find a new way of working.
Our first brief 'Kickstart' was created to get us to become familiar with our surroundings and fellow students after such a long break. The first part was to just spend an hour responding to the environment and open studio space. After looking round at the empty spaces, with no dividers as last year it was a different space. It still bore the scars of last year; bits of paint on the walls, marks on the floor, evidence of where the dividers had been...
However the thing that I noticed most that was missing was everyone's faces, their expressions. I started to write a list of the sort of expressions that you couldn't see with only eyes visible. I wasn't sure what I was going to do with this but decided to start with these and see what could happen.
I wasn't sure how much emphasis I wanted to place on the masks but felt the first thing to do was see what they looked like if they were either written on the mask or had the message cut out of material and stitched on. I then had an idea to see if I could get my face printed on a mask to show my hidden expression. Clearly this would be a static expression and wouldn't change as my face does but it would be a start. I worked with my daughter who took a few pictures to see how it would work. I thin printed them onto transfer paper and ironed them on a white mask.
The reaction from viewers was interesting. From amusement to being quite freaked out by it. It certainly provoked a reaction, I shall see what happens when I wear it out for the general public to see.
The second part of the Kickstarter brief was to work in small (no more than 6 - the magic number...) and discuss each other's working practice and then pair up and look to create something the way the other person would, using their approach and thinking.
Our group of six discussed the different approaches we take with our practice and it was interesting to hear how we all work. I often struggle to put a theory with my output prior to creating anything, it is much more of a reaction to the situation, material, environment. Maybe this is a theory in itself. The first lecture and the next few will hopefully help me to define how I approach my work as I look deeper into theories and how other artists create their work and the reason behind their approaches. It should help me focus.
Following on from our meeting/briefing on Monday I have paired up with Joel, who although approaches some of his work in a similar way, he very much works in 2D, whereas I tend to stray down the 3D path, I just can't help it. Joel and I messaged each other and exchanged work to give a better idea of what we create. I took x2 pieces of Joel's work, one very figurative and detailed and one very abstract. With Joel's figurative work it looks like he works from a grid to put the image down, I printed out a copy of both, overlaid them and cut them up into grid sized pieces and then re-constructed a new piece. I always knew I was going to make it abstract but wanted to retain some formality and order. I may take a section and enlarge and paint that as a further iteration or see if Joel wants to...
This is the finished piece. While I was putting this together I was conscious of not letting any pieces that would have been close in the originals to be adjacent in this, I wanted it be a new work, even if it couldn't have existed without the originals.
Joel created an interesting piece using my materialistic approach, something he hasn't done before but actually enjoyed the process and the freedom. This was an interesting project and one that has produced a selection of very intriguing outputs as posted on the Virtual Studio hosted on the VLE. From the feedback in the Group Tutorial everyone seemed to embrace the process and opportunities it provided.
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