I had my half way thingy today. It went really well- i managed to explain exactly what i was doing- which i don't always manage without getting all twisty faced and flustered =o
I had been getting quite nervous about the degree show and having the pieces that i want to represent my work ready and produced to the best possible standards i can achieve. But my tutor said not to worry about it too much- to keep it in the back of my mind and remember that pieces have to be installed- but not think of it first. It is important to carry on creating without presentation in mind up to a certain point- i suppose it just makes things less rigid.
so, i feel a bit a more relaxed about things now. I am enjoying the 3rd year so much- and i am really enjoying developing my understanding of the art world. I'm glad i havent discovered that i am going to hate it, because a passion to paint does not neccessarily translate in being able to work within the art industry.
But thankfully i think i am going to like it.
I am starting on some new groups of photographs and diagrams. I am aiming to present the idea of process. This is shown by documenting changes a particular place from one photograph to the next, using diagrams and using photos from film and digital. the piece says more than my garbled words.
Presentation on wednesday and i have just realised i have no images from 1st or 2nd year- ah well i'm not a fan of spending too much time talking about the past anyway
RR
Bloomberg new contemporary deadline has been extended! I messed up before and didn't get my submission in- phew.
So i have been photographing the log books from an on-line piece i have doing and getting all of the relative footage edited together from my recent exhibited video piece. I have also found the perfect place to exhibit one of my other pieces which is a collaboration between myself and Shebs Alom of mmu- the piece is performance shown on video. I am performing- and i am very nervous.
I have my presentation next week- so trying to get it clear in my head the 'journey' i have taken. Will no doubt do another blog about this- as i find it helps.
I also have my half way review thing which i am looking forward to- as after that point i am going to create a new set of works.
Mark Wallinger has just been on radio talking through the new exhibition he is curating at Hayward. I'm going down to the capital in two weeks- looking forward to see his show and his work as curator.
Any other suggestions of london exhibitions from any one?
Thinking of the degree show and what pieces or piece i want to represent my work is buzzing around my head constantly.
There is one piece that i was sure i wanted to be at the degree show and now i am not so sure. I get bored of ideas and pieces very quickly.
This is getting better though, as there was a point where i couldn't actually keep interested in an idea long enough to make anything from it last year.
The piece i have been thinking about using will feed off and 'use' elements of the show itself. as in a new piece will be created from it. This is the problem with a lot of my work- it doesnt end. There is no definate end point. As such, using a piece that seems more definately finished may be a better approach.
I don't know- i will most likely go with some last minute idea.
I am going to sit in a gallery tomorrow after the presentation and watch people looking at art as part of a new piece. I have chosen gallery 10 – the mezzanine court of the Whitworth gallery in Manchester. It is a very peaceful place and i love the architecture.
fun
I asked my girlfriend advice on how to keep a blog interesting (as she is a very successful gobshite and had best read blog on chortle comedy website) – she said to be honest- and to tell people everything.
So here is a little bit of a story. In my first year a painted very bad paintings. Very bad. I was happy and content in a relationship that was leading to dreams of a 'nice' house with 'nice' things and so on- you know the type. I was painting very bad paintings.
During the summer between 1st and second year this 3 and a half year relationship finished- to be more precise i had the piss ripped out of me- was cheated on and made to look like a tool… i was a mess.
I didnt want to go back to uni- what was the point? everything was worthless- bla.
But i did go back.
And i was angry and depressed- i produced work about the whole thing and about who it had turned me into- i left painting behind in search of faster forms of expression. I started trying to execute ideas when they first freshly came into my mind- i was producing better work- a lot better.
I haven't looked back- i am loving working with art objects/installation/video/process.
Dont ever be content.
Be challenged.
I will carry on with my story between other blogs.
Thanks for listening =)
ps. sorry for bad photo- camera troubles.
After my recent exhibition i have realised how annoying it is watching people viewing my work.
in the future i am going to avoid this by not going to my own opening nights and getting footage/photos when the place is shut.
I had a video installation- which consisted of two tv monitors facing each other. I was on one screen and vito acconci was on the other- this was a conversation scenario, so the two screens had to be viewed simultaneously- watching one person at a time kind of defied the point.
But thats what people did- stood in front of one screen for 5 minutes, then stood in front of the other screen for five minutes and then walked away. I put this down to people being so used to a certain way of viewing art. I dont know if anyone has seen the art gallery sketch on the comedy 'snuff box' but it is very much like that. I could have moved the screens closer together to make it more obvious that it was a conversation- but that would be ridiculous- instead i just learned that you have to deal with people making their own interpretations of your work- intended or not. This sounds like a very obvious thing to say, i know, its just the first non 2D piece i have exhibited =)
this has lead me to do some work which looks at how we view art- i will post more about this soon.
