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.
Play for a child is very important it helps them learn the boundaries of life in the modern world. In a similar way, wolf pups play to practice skills children do the same thing, social, physical and emotional are areas that play can help develop. Adults already generally know the boundaries set in place by society and adults also generally also have less time to play than children, jobs, bills, relationships, along with a lot of other noise that takes over when you enter the adult world. As the Huffington post put it “Grownups aren’t supposed to play. We have problems. We’re too busy. We have important things to do.”(Robinson,2011.) Play is helpful in the adult world though it helps reduce stress and makes people more able to deal with set backs in their life. “he found that lack of play was just as important as other factors in predicting criminal behavior among murderers in Texas prisons. He also found that playing together helped couples rekindle their relationship and explore other forms of emotional intimacy” (Tartakovsky,2012) We can see that play in adults is indeed important so I will continue to look at the idea of play as an adult.
Robinson, j.(2011) ‘
The Key to Happiness: A Taboo for Adults?
‘,Huffington post
Tartakovsky, M. (2012). The Importance of Play for Adults. Psych Central. Retrieved on February 8, 2017, from https://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2012/11/15/the-importance-of-play-for-adults/
A whole month without blogging. The building stays the same but new lecturers will be teaching. New head of year fine art Vicky I have met before in college same as Simon Keep who will be taking us for professional practice. What this will do for my work is yet to be seen but Vicky has helped my art before so I feel confident that I will find tutorials with her informative and constructive.
My art is still in experiement phase but I think that will happen always because I have many ideas on how I can best achieve my aim. I have looked into using the bouncy balls as a mark-making tool and this seems to be very bold and make interesting patterns. I do feel that if I wanted to create an interactive/ participatory piece, that less people would get involved for fear of getting messy. counter to this, I want to get as many people involved so I can achieve my aims.
Aims:
- To create a participation piece that involves as many people as possible.
- make as many participants laugh or smile as possible.
- have that smile pass on through positive interactions to people who may have not even attended the art.
- explore the line between art and life.
So far I am playing with balls but in the future, I am thinking of more conceptual ways.
Have you ever gone and bought something random? If you’re an artist I’m guessing the answer is yes. I have bought (like the title says) 400 bouncy balls, now sparking the idea of filling a room with bouncy balls. I am inspired by Martin Creed’s half the air in a given space where half the air in the gallery was in balloons. I want to bring the same joy to people, to get them in a room with loads of balls and a camera (I need to document of course). I want to make people laugh and smile and I’ve found that bouncy balls do that.
