Project Re-think
Since looking at the José Camarón piece, ‘An oriental (Turkish/Algerian) woman’ it has got me re-looking at some artist images I had taken off the Internet. The images are of famous female contemporary artists either framed in a real life situation or documented at a performance. I particularly like Tracey Emin’s leg and knickers shot as she holds her paintbrush. I have thought about re-enacting this image for a photograph. To expand on this collection of images I could project the images onto me. There is something about the ephemeral projected image that can’t be pinned down. The light that creates the image offers an openness that a printed photograph doesn’t. Recently I have been creating digitally printed artist multiples and thought I would like to do more of this on the AA2A residency. However I want to take more risks and feel like creating a more ambitious installation. I am planning to get a tour of Media City and find out what resources are available through the university. I am envisaging the use of a large blacked out space, although I could use the photographic studio to experiment with projected images. Currently I am juggling a number of projects with part-time work and finding it difficult to get into the university. Although my practice is very research based with the actual physical making coming in at the end. I would like to plan some tutorials with the students and hope this can be arranged for December time.
-
-
Stepping in and out of frames
This week I have been researching further into the José Camarón piece, ‘An oriental (Turkish/Algerian) woman’. My search started on the Internet and I found out that the piece is currently being shown at the British Museum. I emailed the research team and they kindly sent me more information about the artwork. I really like how the work is classified and described. The artwork is either photographed or scanned using black and white/colour coded bars and ruler at the edges of the frame. My first response from the British Museum did not include any information about the content of the work. However after contacting them again they sent me the following text:
Bibliography
McDonald 2012, pp.226–7.
One of Camarón’s most striking sheets, this brush drawing is based on Carle Van Loo’s Sultana Taking Coffee painted in the early 1750s and now in the Hermitage Museum, St Petersberg. Camarón would certainly have known of the painting through the print by Jacques Firmin Beauvarlet published around 1771. This provides a terminus ante quem for the drawing, making it one of the few that can be dated with any certainty. The similarities between the works are mainly in the dress of the seated woman, the small stool by her side and the curtained backdrop. But Camarón also introduced significant changes to make her more exotic, even alluring: she is turned more to face the viewer, smoke a pipe rather than taking coffee, her eyelids are heavily made up and there are beauty spots on her temple. A black servant stands in the background (her colour indicated by the shading on her face and wash on her arms) and in the garden beyond set upon plinth is a sculpture of a child riding a Sphinx that is very similar to the piece placed in the gardens of Palace of La Granja when they were created in the mid eighteenth century.
Learning more about the work only makes me want to do something with it. I feel a connection with the unknown woman in the drawing. The content seems to be more about the symbolism and style. As a performer I want you to see me and in my retail work I am someone who serves to the customers needs. I like the setting of the piece, a lady holding court and I would like to create a performance using this structure.
Introduction to the Induction
I feel like a student again going to university for the first time. The Fine Art Department at The University of Salford is a neat and compact building made up of studios, workshops and project spaces. After our quick tour around the building I got to have a lunch with another AA2A’er John Powell Jones who is an illustrator & designer (http://www.savwo.co.uk/home/). It’s always nice to see who else is involved in the residency and get to know new artists. From this introduction the residency feels very open and flexible which suits the way I work. My mind is going already thinking of ways to engage the students with my work and adapting my ideas to the space. I thought I would need a studio space, however the project spaces feel a better fit. I tend to only use the studio to accumulate materials and make props for a performance, which happens just before the live piece. Most of my research is done online and outside of the studio. I plan to work towards a project one day a week that will be shown at the university. At the moment I am fixated with this image I happened to come across titled ‘An oriental (Turkish/Algerian) woman’ by the artist Jose Camarón. I like the title of the piece and the contrasting figures of the lady in the fore ground demanding my gaze and the servant waiting in the background. I wonder if the title of the piece came from the artist or has been named by someone else as I don’t believe the forward slash was invented back in those days…
Residency Plan
Access to the AA2A scheme at Salford will give me the time, space and funds to make new work. In my arts education I have studied Fine Art, however I want to attend the university of Salford as it specialises in performance research which I feel will benefit my practice. I hope to meet new artists working with performance, share my own practice with students and make new work.
I work in retail and as an arts educator at the Chinese Arts Centre in Manchester. These roles come through in my performances using the artist as ‘leader’ and ‘showing the way’ sometimes with profound or humorous affect. My performances happen on the streets and I feel intervention is the best way to engage new audiences with art. I intend to incorporate this way of working with a roaming artist talk or art crit with the students at Salford university.
I am co-founder of the new micro art gallery PAPER based in Mirabel studios in Manchester. This has involved working with early career artists to develop their work to a professional standard. I want to share my experience of setting up the gallery and having studio space in the form of a visit for students. To support my practice I am developing a series of printed multiples such as limited edition photographic prints and personalised postcards to sell through the gallery. I would like to explore this further and experiment with large format printing.
Staying up to date with changes in technology is really important for my work, however I am struggling to maintain access to the equipment I need. Through the scheme I intend to work through the full process of editing, DVD production, and distribution. Recently I have been distributing my videos on-line, however I feel a DVD visually offers a higher quality and can create a legacy for the work. I hope from the scheme to be more confident in my work-flow and set myself up with the right equipment I need for the future.
