A-N Blog Posts
The weeks (actually months) before the first workshop were very hectic. It is surprisingly difficult to work and be creative within an unknown field. The outcomes could lead to unexpected positive or disappointing conclusions. The main question for now is how to present each stage of the finding during the public workshops. How do you summarise the research and which technique will go ahead to be public but which could stay silent for longer?
At the current stage, my research is focused on finding techniques which might be useful for the recollection of memories from childhood. In the beginning, my mind was messy and overwhelmed with the theoretical readings I got from my mentors.
But when I started regular practice at the ceramic studio, slowly, the research started taking shape. In June/July, I visited the Yorkshire Sculpture Park and studied in situ the artwork of Barbara Hepworth, and Henry Moore. I walked in the fields of the sculpture park and felt the atmosphere of freedom, space and entanglement in nature, and I experienced unexpected creative and profound moments. Maybe it is trivial, but I noticed how chaotic ‘collective life in the forest’ is. Each tree, bush, and small plant is developed considering the mathematical structures of fractales. But the order becomes chaotic when they are entangled in-betweenness and togetherness in living next to each other. Every single one is struggling to get sun from the above and nutrition from the soil. I paralleled the human order and chaotic existence on streets, public spaces, academies, family gatherings, manifestations and art studios. These spaces are often seen as a den full of small treasures (human and non-human) but are hard to see in order, even when authorities are in place. There are main arteries and passages to put an order to chaos, but still, individuality shows off and attracts the sights. With this blog, I tried to put some order to my disordered and stressed state of the research. I believe that by working and physically engaging with the clay and AR I will finally have a new system and structure of unknown merge.
The first step was to go to Yorkshire Sculpture Park. I did sketches and took photographs—the process of sketching offers a relaxing time. I then recalled Tony Hull’s last year’s series of podcasts based on Drawing and Trauma Processing.
But, drawing took lots of time, and I felt that the time was slipping from me. I had only five days to absorb the atmosphere of the North. I found that my mind and sight are greedy for new information. So I walked around unknown spaces all day and evenings. This greediness pushed me to realise how short human life is on Earth and how lucky we are to experience it in the abundance of relationships and connections with different structures, human and non-human (including all types of species, even new digital creations). Every encounter brings a new turn for the mindset, sometimes minuscule and sometimes as huge as the sound of a thunderstorm. I also learned these days that the initial fear of going out and doing new things alone brings more information for sharing with my colleagues and trivial phrases such as ‘I was there’ and ‘I’ve seen it’. The process of standing at the new geo locations offers the body an unexperienced presence connected to new landscapes, sounds, visuals and past shreds of evidence embodied on the surrounding scapes. The traveller far from my location also released me from the anchored permanent location and made me the creature of the world with each of my cells and atoms. After COVID 19 this was my first trip alone into the country.
I visited the Barbara Hepworth Museum and The Mine. The following video links capture the essence of my trip.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CuSoM8qI2kK/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CuOuJxxI14S/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
https://www.instagram.com/p/CuOxfM7IMvH/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
I found that the tactile movements over surfaces bring sensations of forgotten experiences.
This was one of the directions I started following after the trip.
The contract with the studio Rochester Square started on 1 July 2023, and allowed me to dive into the world of clay, research and new discoveries.
Here are a few photos from the trip to Yorkshire Sculpture Park.
