“A Haecceity has neither beginning nor end, origin nor destination; it is always in the middle. ”
Alan, Taylor, Haecceity (he ke’ti) 1996- The University of Texas at Arlington, http:///www.uta.edu/english/apt/d&g/haeccity,html
A week into my residency and the installation of the first gallery drawing I feel that the drawing and the installation as a whole is now beginning to flow.
As with any new piece of work you have to build an understanding with it and this work has been no different. The first few days felt like it was an archeological dig where I was excavating the drawing physically from the wall. I have found the Limestone much harder to work with than I had anticipated. Compared to charcoal it is much less responsive and demands a new way of approaching mark making. Each piece has its own characteristics, colour and feel which is reflected through the mark it leaves on the wall.
The drawings are very much sites of action where the marks are the beginning of seeing and experiencing a memory or reimagined space.
Listening to ‘Only Artists’ (Radio 4)with Humphrey Ocean and Mark Alexander there was a rather lovely conversation about how marks laid down are the beginning of a conversation; to put down the first mark creates a dialogue from within until something new emerges. This seemed particularly relevant to me as was drawing. Playing with the idea that maybe I am uncovering something that has always been there but has only just materialized in to physical space.
The gallery space itself is quite different to any I have worked in previously it’s location means that it is a transient space, one where visitors expect to move through in order to reach the main collections. Through the drawing I am inviting those audiences to deviate from their expected journey, to dwell and consider an evolving, incomplete work but also to encounter the artist who is present in the space.
Many visitors have been kind enough to take time to discuss the work and my role in the space which has been insightful and interesting helping me to understand how my work is perceived. It has been important for me to remember that I am not trying to create a definitive view, the drawing must remain transient and the audience must be allowed to explore and consider what is beyond the physical marks on the wall.
