Good to be back. Strange to be back. After two weeks of Independent study and waiting to see what the tutors have thought about my work, development and written work. First things first... briefing on this Unit, submitting the Statement Of Intent and deciding what Workshop to do in this Unit.
Lots to consider for this unit. More intense and focussed than the previous one, writing a 2,000 word piece, a verbal presentation and exhibition proposal. All of these elements need to be supported with a body of creative work, research and supporting documentation and a reflective journal along with any further items created during the unit.
First things first, the one to one tutorial. Disappointing part was the tutor had not seen all of of my work and wasn't aware of a lot of the thing I had created. This didn't help in trying to find where I could have improved or tried a different approach with certain elements. However the session was positive and we discussed some things I could research. One being 'The Craftsman' by Richard Sennet.
I have yet to purchase this book but reading a review in The Guardian I need to clearly add it to my reading list. (https://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/feb/09/society). Clearly Sennet investigates we as humans take great pleasure, delight and dedication in far more than what you would normally consider a craft. Yes pottery, leatherwork but also poaching a fish or health professionals working in the NHS. 'These are magic human moments no machines can replicate.' Better get over to Amazon and order it...
Next big thing was to choose the Workshop for the first part of unit. The difficult part was you could only choose 1 of 5...
HYBRID
PAINTING
PRINT
SCULPTURE A (Site)
SCULPTURE B (Cast)
After carefully considering the options and what I wanted to do and what I felt comfortable with I decided to go for SCULPTURE B. An area I really didn't think I would go for in a previous life but it is something I have little knowledge of and would learn the most from. I still feel I could have chosen any of them for all different reasons but just kept thinking I will learn so much more in this workshop and who knows where it will take me, which is pretty much what my Statement Of Intent was about.
STATEMENT OF INTENT - Unit 1b
'In Unit BA1b I will look to hone my pathways with selected workshops and continue to explore beyond them. I will to continue to use the technical areas to develop any ideas I may have. My work will be developed with the idea of ‘not-knowing’ making sure the process is more important than the outcome. Hopefully there will be multiple strategies in progress at the same time, some may work, some may not.
I will look to explore ideas that can use the 3D Workshop and Print Rooms as these areas interest me but I do not want to discount other areas, directions or media that may surprise me, whether this be painting, sculpture or video or whatever. Nothing to be discounted. The more I explore the more chance outcomes could happen.
To ensure I consider the areas and keywords that interest me. Any ideas that need developing I will make sure are risk assessed before I undertake any work that may require it. I will also make sure that anything I do is ethical and respectful. This should not limit my thinking and exploration.
As before I will consider the possibility of displaying any work as required but this will depend on the directions I take and whatever outcomes are created.
All work will be documented, recorded and reflected upon. Discussions with my tutors will help guide me and reassure me that the directions I am exploring have merit, worth and depth.
As with any of my work I shall continue to look to contextualise my discoveries with artists looking at similar areas, materials or issues. I shall research this and show these on my web/blog. I will also continue to read from the recommended reading and my own interests, embracing different thinking, the ‘every day’ and ‘not knowing’. '
We were also giving some reading for this week. I think this is a good way of engaging with the next week's lecture and seminar. There is no guarantee that everyone will actually read the piece(s) but it does focus the thinking and session. This week we are asked to look at Charles Baudelaire - The Painter Of Modern Life.
An interesting piece and something that must have challenged thinking in it's time. It does come across dated but reading it 160 years after it was written you have to put yourself back into that moment in time to try and understand the context it was written in and how it would have been received.
October (Association Of Artistic Labour) - Declaration.
Another interesting area to delve into. I found a piece in the Guardian that discussed the declaration but also the more you read the more you found out how fundamental this was to the way art changed in this part of the world and moment in time and how it affected art much further afield than the confines of the soviet union. It was fundamental to change and 'What they created was probably the most intensive and creative art and architectural movement of the 20th century' (https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2011/nov/04/russian-avant-garde-constructivists).
Drawing Workshop - An exercise in drawing using your Statement Of Intent and previous workshop experience. While I was thinking about which direction to take and with my Statement Of Intent discussing 'not-knowing' and the journey being more important than the destination I was unsure of what I was going to do. While I was thinking I noticed the low winter light coming into the corridor at NUA. So took a few images to see if these could be considered.
I then decided to go for a wander and see if I could find any objects that I could combine to make something new. My piece was an intuitive sculpture, almost doodling with with my hands looking to see how the objects complemented or contrasted with and against each other. The first item I found was a dog's vet collar, bizarre item, found within 15 feet of St George's and it wasn't until I was about to return to uni did I find the other part, a plastic studded strip, presumably to deter pigeons. It has dog collar qualities and when twisted gave a more angry and ferocious feeling to it.
I decided to keep the collar in the state I found it, not removing the leaves and then combining the two items with wire, knitting the elements together and forcing the twists and items to become a new structure, to project and be able to stand or be mounted on the wall. I have considered whether the items could or should have been cleaned and maybe even painted white to neutralise the items and let the form shout out more, although would this lose the history and origins of the found pieces?