The live/durational part of Bed was completed at 4.55pm on Saturday (started at 12.00 noon). The day was really good and I’m really pleased with way the piece turned out. The completed drawing surprised me with it’s beauty.
The process was both formal, in that I had a pre-determined task to complete, and informal, in so much as I chatted with my ‘audience’. Conversations ranged from the sizes of people’s bed and sleeping habits to the expectations one brings to looking at art. A woman stall-holder at the nearby market came three times to see the piece. On the second and third times she brought different friends – she initiated a heated discussion about what is and what isn’t art.
I hadn’t given much thought to how the finished drawing would look. It’s beauty caught me unaware and I found myself smiling and feeling very proud if it. There were a few moments when the drawing had the same quality as the sky above it. It was almost as if it stopped representing something real and took on a realtionship with light and space.
The piece will now be left to weather. I will go back and take periodic photographs of its erasure.
This was my first live work in about six years – I want to do more ….
I’ve been thinking a lot about BED, the live work I’m making for the Day of Intimacy event. And the more I think about it the more I think I want to write an accompanying essay or hand book!
What’s this desire to write about then? I can’t guarantee that it’s not an attempt to pre-empt criticism that the piece is juvenille. I can’t guarantee that it’s not an attempt to demonstrate how much I think about what appears to be simple work.
But outside of academia (which I am) does this kind of writing have a place? Who, and where, are my imagined readers?
I’m getting a bit anxous about how long the task I’ve set myself will take. Previous task vased durational work has taken considerably longer that I imagined it would. There’s something quite poetic about finishing it late in the evening – at bedtime.
The Hunters & Collectors ‘Meet the Artists’ event last night was really good. After a welcome and introduction by Linda Duffy (Co-curator) each of us spoke about our work in response to Linda’s question about source materials and process.
The discuss was very informal and relaxed with the audience and other artists making contributions and comments as we talked about the work.
It was great to have this opportunity. I found it fascinating to hear about other artist’s intentions and motivations. The areas of overlap and intersection between very different approaches was very interesting, perhaps it was a reflection of skillful curating that quite divergent artists were able to spark off each other. The discussion felt really vibrant and vital, as well as accessible and enjoyable!
I’m going to suggest this kind of event for future group shows I’m in. How lucky am I? – to spend an evening talking about my work with other artists and curators, having a glass of wine, and calling it work!
BED – the live work I’m making for the Day of Intimacy (Signals 5’s day of live and performance art) – will be my first live piece in about five years.
The task I’ve set myself is to chalk out an area the same size (and compass orientation) as my own bed. I’m starting at noon and really don’t know how long it will take – I’m imaging that I’ll finish the drawing in time to see some of the evening performances.
My intention was always to leave the drawing to weather. I imagine it being worn away by people walking over it as well as by rain, wind, sun. In the last few days I’ve become interested in how the piece lasts longer than the ‘one day’ of it’s making. The imagined erasure of the drawing has acquired weight.
Beds are already such loaded objects – I can’t help but think of their cultural associations with birth, death and marriage. Here I am planning to represent what is usually a private place very publicly.
BED starts 12.00 noon, Saturday 1 September. Antenna Studios, Haynes Lane, London SE19
www.myspace.com/signalsinlondon
I’ve just uploaded the digital pictures I took of my work in the show and they are really bad! Why can’t I take good pictures anymore? I used to do okay, so what’s happened? Perhaps it’s the camera, perhaps I spent more time looking through the view finder of my old SLR than I do now with a small digital.
I think I’m going to take some old fashioned slides and see if I like those more. I understand how an SLR and film work – I haven’t a clue about digital stuff – does it make a differnece if I understand it or not?
The most interesting picture I’ve got from Sunday was some grafitti on a locked door in the car park. The names in a heart have been scrubbed out, below the heart it says ‘GAY BOIZ’. I noticed it when I was about to drive home to John. I got back out of the car and photographed it. Were the ‘gay boiz’ names erased fom the heart? Did some ‘gay boiz’ erase other names and claim the heart for themselves? Is ‘gay boiz’ a declaration or an insult?
