I called in at my studio on Monday evening to empty the flower vase which I suspected might be full of very past-it flowers, steeped in stagnant water. I was right and I’m glad I rescued them before the acrid smell of dead, mouldy flower stalks started to affect other artists’ enjoyment of the open plan space.
Being concerned with such matters – and what I’ve left out when I’m away from the studio – makes me question how appropriate an open space might continue to be for me in the long term. Unless I have time to leave my studio in a state that I’m happy with, it tends to play on my mind – niggling away and making me feel I have to go back there – often, when I haven’t really got time – and sometimes, when I just don’t want to be there.
I often think about how the open plan environment might impact on my way of working. Would my work have more of a chance to develop if I could close a door on my studio, whatever sort of state it might be in, and leave the work to just ‘be’ until I return to it – at a time when I want to, rather than feel compelled to? I sometimes wonder if certain aspects of the work might get lost in the process of tidying away – and perhaps, also, through hurrying the work along at too fast a pace? There’s a lot to be said for allowing things to take their natural course, I always think.
That said, it makes me feel tense to even think about any sort of additional disruption at this particular point in time. Stuart Mayes (artist/blogger of ‘Project Me’) posted a comment on my blog some weeks ago which I’ve conveniently pushed to the back of my mind:
‘… is there a way that you can make it more private so that you feel less exposed? Your studio should be somewhere that gives you the space you need to be the artist that you are!!’
I’ll no doubt want to address the points Stuart raised in due course. They touched a nerve, after all – I’m constantly struggling with issues around the concept of the public versus the private.
As it is, my time over the next few visits will be pretty much consumed with getting my studio back into some sort of order. More stuff has been added as a result of clearing my sister’s attic and my working space, not for the first time, has been completely taken over with boxes – getting some of them packed away will need to be my first priority if I have any hope of getting any work made. But like I said, even the thought of any imminent change of studio makes me tense and anxious – another thought for another day, then …
The author of the BBC article in the meantime claims that we have six times more ‘stuff’ than past generations:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-26921870
My intrigue about and research into collecting is ongoing. When did it all begin for me, and for what reason? Why did I choose to collect the things I did? What affected my decisions when it came to deciding what to keep from the home of my late Nana, for example? What drives other people to collect the things they do? What drives some people to collect and others to be able to detach and rid themselves of any emotion whatsoever in relation to the things around them. Is there a common denominator?
The questions continue …
