This is the last week of my residency at Hospitalfield. In the last update I discussed my research into the possibilities of displaying object-based work:
“I’ve been researching techniques found in jewellery as starting points for thinking about hanging methods – clasps, rings, bolts and strings…this interest has something to do with thinking about an exhibition space as a body and the works as something this ‘body’ can wear.”
I have been doing lots of drawing to help me work out these ideas. I am eager to start making, but I am also aware that I want to exhaust all the possibilities on paper before my return to Glasgow, where I will have less time and space for this type of work.
The drawings show an object which I think of as a primary, sculptural object, being held in mid-air by ropes, pieces of metal that resemble bolts, clasps or loops, and chains.
The ‘primary’ object usually takes the form of a body plan of a human, but is often made up of elements of objects that support the management of the body: pharmaceuticals, containers for oils and lotions, rubber dial pads, plastic water bottles, etc. I am thinking of these in a loose way as the decorative part of a piece of jewellery – the statement.
It is important that the weight of the object is made clear in the way the support structure behaves and how the object sits within it.
I have also been looking at Eva Hesse’s larger sculptural work, especially ones in which lengths of material support other objects by allowing them to hang and sit in or on them.
JB
I am currently on residency at Hospitalfield, Arbroath, for four week period. The residency is housed in a beautiful arts and crafts building close to the sea. There are seven artists taking part, including myself. We eat together at set times and cross paths during the day, but work fairly separately. The combination of time alone in the studio and being able to discuss what we have been doing has been very useful.
I have been using the time and space here to reflect on the progress I’ve made already on the new, experimental works funded by the bursary.
Some thoughts:
I’ve been thinking about how to combine something that appears handmade with something that appears manufactured, rather like when something is owned by someone for a long time and the thing takes on an impression of how it is used.
I’ve been researching techniques found in jewellery as starting points for thinking about hanging methods – clasps, rings, bolts and strings. My work recently has been concerned with abstract body-forms, so I guess this interest has something to do with thinking about an exhibition space as a body and the works as something this ‘body’ can wear.
Making objects does not come as ‘naturally’ to me as making images, hence my desire to develop this side of my work. If image making is the ‘main’ strand of my practice, are objects simply props or supports for images? Is this because I see images as more descriptive and the objects I make as more abstract? This could be an oversimplification on my part. While I am here, I will continue to think about whether I want this to change, or whether this is non-issue, after all.
JB
