The period supported by the grant has almost come to the end and this will be my final blog post. I stated in my application that by this point I would, possibly, have completed one finished object. Following a tentative start, I began committing to a technique, material or idea, only to find that it produced multiple avenues of enquiry. The result is a studio full of parts of works that will at some point come together – rough metal structures that resemble beds, lumps of clear resin, small, highly textured concrete casts, several silicon moulds, piles of semi-technical drawings, instructional notes stuck to pieces of rock and twigs. Happily, I feel now that I am in the middle of a process, rather than at the end.
At this reflective time of the year, I thought it appropriate to share some of the lessons I have taken from this period of learning and making.
I applied for the Professional Development Bursary in order that I could learn new skills and techniques and refresh old ones, but also in order to evolve my everyday studio practice. My practice was – is – fairly academic, rooted in research, reading and planning. I made work and tentatively used workshops when I had an exhibition.
I still like to use my studio like an office, for activities like drawing, planning and note-taking, and will continue to do so much of the time. But having it set up for making has meant I enjoy working there more. I arrive and am able to work on some ongoing task immediately. I listen to the radio and podcast and sometimes chat to my studio mates without having to interrupt what I am doing. Most importantly, I have come to realise that thinking can still take place when you are using your hands, and that making is a form of research.
Over the past nine or so months I have come to realise the extent to which I have been focused on exhibitions rather than on having a sustainable studio practice. I have been slowly coming to terms with the notion that a fulfilling and engaging practice might be almost as important, or as important, as showing finished work.
Developing a new way of working – or new work – usually requires an investment of time, money, or both, but considered investments of the latter means that less of the former is wasted.
I have found that I tend to get things ‘right’ on or around the third attempt. I’m still not sure what this means for making work for exhibitions, especially at short notice.
Sometimes things don’t work. This is frustrating short term, but very useful long term.
Making begets making as it creates new problems and possibilities.
Appropriately, today I will spend a few hours planning what I will make at the beginning of the new year.
JB, December 2016
