Positive vs Negative, optimism vs pessimism, I find that this is a fight people fight their whole life. Being too optimistic can be problematic if they lose touch with reality and believe everything is dandelions and roses but end up stepping in poo because they forgot to be vigilant. I am not saying being negative all the time is good either! You spend all your time looking at dog poo you miss the beauty around you. So a happy mix would work best.
This applies to the art world as well. There needs to be art about positive and negative, both have their uses, pointing out the horror in the world in the art world can make the general public look again and think about the world more.
Goya’s disasters of war, for example, are very gruesome and show the horror that war can bring.
I want to be on the other end of the scale in my work create a bit of happiness to everyone who needs it. In my artwork since I want to be that annoyingly optimistic that it slaps happiness into your face.
Everyday is a very broad term one I find myself using alot. Everyday life, everyday stress, everyday object, everyday action. I use the word everyday to convey how it can be found in the world commonly from day to day.
I covered the everyday object in my dissertation which I called ideas over objects. It may not seem relevant to my work but it does have an aspect of it. I use toys and balls which may not be an everyday object for adults (teachers and parents excluded) but is an everyday occurrence for children to play. I want to someday bring play into the everyday life of adults.
My work is made in many different ways and so far this year it has taken the form of round things. I have looked around the studio and found there are a couple of others who seem to be doing spiricle shapes. Dave Brown is making beautiful big balls of his own and while we have different desires for our work the shape crops up in both our work. Here is his blog if anyone is interested: https://www.a-n.co.uk/blogs/the-reflective-nature-of-conciousness
I have also been looking at art that may not have been purposely made for the enjoyment of the participant.
An extract from the Tate website about Carsten Höller about Test Site
“Test Site, as the title declares, is an experimental project. Using the given characteristics of Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall, German artist Carsten Höller has taken advantage of the height of the space, and the vast museum audience, to test a hypothesis he has been investigating for some time concerning the possible effects of sliding. What would be the result of sliding if it was part of the daily routine? Can slides become part of our experiential and architectural life?” (Tate, 2017)
The slides that Holler put n the Tate were an amazing piece of art that many of the participants enjoyed and interacted readily with the artwork and while some may not have grasped the art behind it, they still had a good time. Holler wanted to see or test how different slides would affect the participant and he also wanted to broaden the use of slides not only for the use of playground and children but also into the aspect of art.
My artwork fits into the aspect of bringing something out of the realm of children’s play things and into the reality of art. This is only a secondary aspect of my art but no less important part. The taking of an everyday object and placing it into the art reality has been happening for a very long time, since the time of Duchamp.
Tate (2017) Carsten Höller: Interview. Available at: http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/unilever-series-carsten-holler-test-site/carsten-holler-interview (Accessed: 21st March 2017).
Play has become so important to me and my work but I must decide whether I show traces of my play or the play itself. I keep thinking about Richard Long and his a line made by walking, you never saw Long take his walk but you had the documentation of the work which instead conveyed the movement and conveyed the action itself along with the title of the work.
This may be a different subject area, Long looking into landscape art and myself the art of play but the important link is that of documentation.
I have been documenting in two ways:
Traces on paper after I’ve played and also I have been using video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXz2IY33W8M Both ways gives varying effect and would both be able to produce amazing work I shall just see what way my work will go.
