The past few months have been building up to the h. Art Young Open exhibition in Hereford. Now the work is hung I can step back a little and consider my work (and the other 25 artists) while stewarding.
I’ve started painting small pieces on calico, stretched around a small circular piece of wood and I have been writing (roughly) legibly on this surface, my observations – my multi-sensory ‘listening’.
I am disappointed with the results – but then I shouldn’t believe that it would turn out any differently. I am trying to describe verbally, that which needs much more than words to get across. Words are dull, I find, when used in this way – a poor substitute for experience.
I’m finding the results dull:
– it doesn’t evoke the experience
– I am itching to add colour/ form
-using words is reductive
I want to find a more readable (in a non-verbal way) to convey listening.
I’m coming to the conclusion that my writing is more effective when illegible. Is this a cop out? I don’t think so – I reckon gestural writing has the potential to be more sensitive.
