2. interaction (I)
Feeling rather embarrassingly like a tourist and being the newbie that I am, I have been observing and generally taking in as much as possible from the surroundings. I am residing in the very nucleus of student activity and fresher nightlife. I don’t really mind this; the only worry is the burglary statistics. The police popped round the other day, which was at first deeply worrying, and then reassuring, then slightly worrying again. Best get some insurance for my laptop.
Anyway, having had little time to make artwork due to the chaos of the move (and because I left most of my art stuff back in Loughborough), I’ve been trying to reconfigure my creative interests using some words.
“… it is possible to suggest that what constitutes the world around us is not the nature of materials themselves, but the difference between them.” -Ian Monroe (from the essay Where Does One Thing End and the Next Begin. Collage: Assembling Contemporary Art. 2008)
It is true that tactility only exists through a differing of materials. It is an illusion- or more accurately, a suggestion of tactility I am trying to produce through making artwork in collage. Maybe our understanding of these images as real-life objects can tempt us to disregard the fact they are all in fact paper components, through a desire and imaginative willing?
Sometimes collaged combinations are successful because they react strongly off one another in provocative ways. Friction being how the strongest relationships are formed. -To over come it I mean. If you cant overcome that abrasive state, it may fail. I’m kind of referencing something I read about how our early relationships with our siblings teach important lessons in dealing with confrontation. Arguing, bitching, even physical fighting can occur in sibling rivalry, but it’s the making-up part that is so important. Knowing how to apologise and forgive. Stronger relationships are built through experiencing this process. I like this in regards to my artwork. I tend to anthropomorphise the cut outs for my collage, like a little child playing with arbitrary objects or toys. Do they like each other? Do they get on? Ha! Maybe they can learn to get on. I’ll leave them together for a few days, maybe they will eventually.
I’ve been thinking about Louise Bourgeois’ diary entries, of which I have read quite religiously in the past. They are overt and unashamedly intimate. I often question the importance of knowing the private reasoning behind an artist’s creations. At times I want to share my diary entries with the world, but some days later I am thankful I held back. I need to start gathering new material for collage. I have hundreds of books and magazines at home, but i feel the need to start a new collection here to represent the location in which i am making artwork. I’ve not noticed many charity shops in the city centre though, so my next mission is to travel a bit further out to find some..
