I’ve been experimenting with some of the marks I’ve developed in previous work where I mime the act of handwriting – working from left to right across the page in a motion a bit like a child pretending to write. Incidentally, through AN I came across Catherine Wynne-Patonhttp://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/previewPost/2666882 who does something similar in her work.
I’ve been trying different motions based on writing; a mime of writing in ball-point pen similar to previous work; a mime of writing done in the same way but with a paint brush; an attempt to do something similar but whilst holding two paint brushes the way you might hold a pair of chopsticks and a page filled with a stamp, apparently my name in Chinese, that I had made to sign official documents when I worked in Taiwan in 2004/5.
There are small art shops all over the art district of Chongqing. They have a huge selection of products all of which are incredibly cheap, but seem reasonably good quality. I’m not always sure exactly what I’m buying but have been pleasantly surprised by my purchases so far, except for the lack of Bic Biros. The shopkeeper, where I bought the paper for my writing experiments, decided this was the paper I needed because I bought Chinese paintbrushes at the same time. I’m guessing it’s paper for calligraphy. It’s a really nice texture and the dimensions are more like a scroll than the usual western paper sizes, which I like.
I’m not getting through my reading list as quickly as I’d expected – too distracted by my surroundings, the amazing amount of snack foods available and making my own work – but I am two thirds of the way through Philip Hensher’s Missing Ink. One of the main things it has made me think about is the dialogue between how we are taught to write and how much of ourselves or our ‘own hand’ we bring to our writing.
