Richard:
Very much a matter of fact?
The mad rush towards opening ‘Ipso Facto’, was in the end not so much of a mad rush – Ross had his wall drawing to do and, in and out of other jobs, I spent the week filling in with object placements and lighting for cornered installations and floor based arrangements. The result is what has been described as something that is coherent, so much as the show is fluid by way of one artists’s work supporting that of the other – and vica-versa.
I sit in the space now with sufficient perspective and time away under my belt. Business is hit with more business but I have taken time out – on this red plastic chair – to reflect a little (and get down and dirty with the floor to take exhibition shots).
Formally the show has come together well – whether the exhibition itself builds on the research strand that is this blog, is yet to be decided.
This evening will help decide this, a talk chaired by Artists talking’s online editor, visiting from London, that will build on discussions around web-logs and their placing in the birth and development of artistic relationships and collaboration. Hopefully a fair attendance will help us iron our any remaining thoughts and bring them to the surface.
In all I feel the show is successful in its attainment of being explorative. For now here are some shots of the work in the show.
And below is the blurb we presented in a hand out for the exhibition:
IPSO FACTO
New works by Richard Taylor and Ross Hamilton Frew
exploring drawing as a forum for collaborative exchange.
October 29 – November 18 2011
Thursday – Sunday 12-5pm
discussion: ‘web-logs and placing art practice’ Thursday November 10, 6-8pm
Richard and Ross have been working on this project since early 2011. First point of contact being a brief conversation in the Centre for Contemporary Arts in Glasgow (before Richard moved to Edinburgh and Ross moved to Lumsden), they were then set to embark on a journey leading to a better understanding of one another’s work.
This journey, its pit stops and pitfalls included, is mapped out in their blog
‘Drawing as a forum for collaborative exchange’ (tinyurl.com/IpsoFactoBlog).
The phrase ‘Ipso Facto’ translates to ‘matter of fact’ and was used by Jean-Paul Sartre in reference to Alberto Giacometti’s approach to rendering his drawings in sculptural form, and the conference these manifestations then had with the viewer. This terminology rings true within this exhibition and the project as a whole, as both artists have used the essence of drawing to develop their own production within a shared timescale and exhibition setup. For both artists their work has never been compromised to accommodate that of the other. Instead there is an equilibrium attributed to the what is shown, in terms of exploring collaborative and artistic partnership: both formally and conceptually.
As some works in the show were made prior to the exhibition’s installation, others have been made on site responding to direct conversations the objects have with each other in the space. Ross’s wall drawing, a direct formal response to Richard’s painted coffee table, has taken a week to complete. Meanwhile Richard’s carefully considered found objects map out the space next to his painted props, which build on pieces depicted in his figurative drawings.
A special event ‘web-logs and placing art practice’ will be held in the format of a discussion around blogging and its uses in the development of artist projects, whether individual or collaborative. After initial conversations both artists did not see one another face to face again until September 2011, instead they used their blog on Artists talking to converse, develop and propose new works, research strands and ideas. The discussion will be chaired by Artists talking’s online editor Andrew Bryant.
The artists would like to thank SUPERCLUB for this opportunity and Andrew Bryant in advance of his journey from London to chair the event.
