i’ve done a lot of talking this week already. i feel better about my work. i promised to write my blog but i’ve mainly been writing in my sketchbook and reflecting on tutorials by typing them up and adding notes so i’m all worded out for now.
It’s Monday or Non-day for me.
Last night, as every Sunday night I listened to Ivor Cutler on BBC Radio 4Extra.
Today I watched Marnia Abramovic on Channel Tate and the Gustav Metzer.
I tidied the study room and made curry then slumped in front of Apprentice with a jar of Nutella.
Tomorrow I will cycle to the sea.
And get frames.
word for the day : Covert
Today I played a character in Laura (http://lauraeldret.com/index.htm) Eldrets film Power and Service.
Set on site in Swanage, Dorset the cast was a group of volunteers who had created a character with the theme of power and service.
I came up with my character after a dream I had whilst staying with a friend in London. When I woke up I tried to explain but then resorted to drawing the image I’d dreamt of.
That day I went looking for the costume to match my drawing. I started by looking for the right material. I thought I might make it from scratch, but then whilst browsing the vintage shops on Brick Lane I came across THE dress.
It was more amazing than what I had or could have dreamt of. I tried it on and as I did up the buttons it felt like it was made for my body. I did a deal and handed over the plastic. It was mine!
Today it came together, the dress, the quill tattoo, the gloves, the paper mask and a skull. Slick! It attracted attention – as planned.
Is there a name for this character? Not just yet. She has been formed maybe now she should get out more.
Sally O’Reilly (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sally_O%27Reilly) will watch the finished film and create a script. Maybe I should write a script for this character I have created. She has been quiet I don’t know if she can speak and her action is limited. Maybe she is present and silent?
Yesterday I was thinking and discussing intellect, emotion and instinct. I was asked where does instinct come from and does it evolve?
I’ve started to do a bit of research into this. I’ve re-checked out Performing the Body, Performing the Text which gives a good background into performance within art history. I’ve also been watching the BBC documentary Born to Survive which attempts to explain where our instincts come from.
I’ve not finished either because most of today I have spent with the 1st Year Fine Art students in a workshop titled Stitch as part of their ‘possibilities and process’ assignment. I asked to be involved because I have no idea about Fine Art training at degree level and I was terribly nosey to find out.
Julia Faltman who was running the course invited me to be part of the workshop because I’d mentioned that my degree was in textiles. This made todays workshop interesting from the point of view of how the idea of using textiles was presented to a group of Fine Art students.
As a textile student the emphasis was on technique. Understanding the history and mechanics of the machines we were using and the various ways to adapt them to our design. First we had to show that we had mastered the tecnique then we could explore applications of it. At the time I fould this difficult I always wanted to push the limits of the process not necessarily with an outcome in mind.
It seemed like todays presentation of stitch in art was much more open to exploration and discovery rather than mastering a craft. each of the students reponded differently. Some were comfortable with basic processes and were confident with getting on and making. Some needed more guidance and inspiration and some had signed up believing it to be Sketch not Stitch and were begrudgingly sewing plain stitch onto calico and waiting for the day to end.
In a way I could sympathise with them. During the Textile Craft degree I began to feel that this wasn’t what I thought I’d signed up to. Everyone else seemed confident and able to produce functional outcomes. I thought about it too much and got confused in the endless strands of possibilities my mind offered. I wanted to make something different. I wanted to ask questions. Often I would make hideous failures that were neither pretty or ugly enough to be desirable to the eye. But still I got through it and I’ve learned a lot about the practicalities of making. Sometimes you have to try even when it is likely that it is over ambitious.
Another thing I came accross today was the book Hand+Made, The performative Impulse of Art and Craft. In it is a quote by Glenn Adamson (V and A) ‘Craft only exists in motion’
Is this why I have been drawn to performance? Is it that craft by it’s nature is performative? It is a process using the body to create…
It’s the new term, I’m back from Estonia and London and today I held the first peer critique session.
Writing the blog has been great, but actually having a discussion face to face with other artists, talking things out, much like writing helps me clarify my ideas. Talking unlike writing flows unconstrained by written grammar. It is a direct communication, immediate reaction and response allowing ideas to develop as they are verbalised.
Now it is time again to reflect and focus, (right after I get through the list of to do that continues to grow) and I think the blog is the place to do this.
Time must be made – I need to reinstate the habit that gives it’s title to this blog.
