After presenting my ideas (as initial thoughts as I’m still reading around the subject) at college I have been told….
1. They say I have two many interests and I should find one area of research.
My response to this at the moment is my work is eclectic. My drawings are my musings on life, often just small talk.
Matisse said “Art should be something like a good armchair in which to rest from physical fatigue.” I quite like this quote, I would also add, to rest from mental fatigue.
2. They say it is important how I present my work such as size of paper and torn pages out of a sketch book as it affects the reading of the work.
I’m not convinced it makes much difference. Take the Simone drawings for instance (with hair over face), they are at the moment drawn on torn pages from a sketchbook, they were not ever meant to be kept in a sketchbook, I just happened to want to use the paper up. The reading of this can be seen as more secretive and private as from a sketch book or as a bit tatty, not adhering to the tyranny of the straight edge. If I cut the edge then possibly it is seen as less private but also more traditional, it seems I am bound by the tyranny of convention. I believe that art is quite personal in any case, we are putting our ideas out there to be judged so what does it matter if I give the impression of torn out of a sketchbook. In fact I don’t mind either way but others seem to. People read the work in all sorts of ways, some people have said ‘monster’, others have said ‘extreme shame and sadness’. When in fact it’s a drawing of a friend who has her wig on back to front, so I see it as a friendly image about self-image and identity. I really don’t mind what people read in my work as long as some one likes it. I was planning on making a series of the Simones from different angles which will give a different reading of it in any case. It’s quite odd to show unfinished work as it can never be read properly in any case.
The reason why I don’t think I mind how my work is read is that I don’t feel I want to say any one thing or that one thing is more important than another. I like to think I might be amusing, entertaining, inspiring or uplifting some people. But I don’t want to be dogmatic or preaching. I think having your basic needs met is far more important than art (however I feel compelled to make art as part of my self-actualisation), I have been looking at Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, proposed by Abraham Maslow in his 1943 paper A Theory of Human Motivation. He talk’s about having your needs met on different levels starting from Physiological, Safety, Love/belonging, Esteem and Self-actualisation. Until your basic needs are met you can not then go on to a higher level (I believe this model is used by social workers when assessing patients). I think it is interesting as there is a lot of talk about getting the masses (working class) interested in art and culture, but until their more basic needs are met I’m sure they are unlikely to want to engage in these sorts of high brow pleasures.
3. They say the work is about pattern.
I’ve been looking at pattern through formations. I’ve researched sacred geometry but it doesn’t really rock my boat. What I like about the formations and taking them out of context is the element of the slightly bizarre imagry to signify how we are pushed and pulled, lined up and controlled in our lives to conform to society’s ideals. We believe what we are told by parents, teachers, governments, doctors until at some point we learn that there are different schools of thought about everything, it’s all just opinion. It seems the most charismatic thinkers, scientists and researchers are the ones who’s ideas get believed (not necessarily anything to do with being right).
