The University of Bolton.

Monday came and went, in the middle of it I had the pleasurable experience of “having a good day”…

Yes, today started off very well indeed, having realised the gallery who represented me at the London Affordable Art Fair, which finished yesterday, hadn’t been in touch I thought I’d send an email enquiring how it went…

Not very good from all accounts, it hadn’t been a very successful event put down to the government announcing this week all the draconian cuts to the arts etc…but, ahh a glimmer of light, they sold one of my sculptures!! Fantastic news, I’m very pleased as always when someone appreciates something I made enough to part with their hard-earned cash..well done that person! Thank you.

Back to the other business of the day…I caught up with and introduced myself to Rob, Rob is the technician in the 3D workshop and so is a very important person to know. Rob and I had a good chat about my project and how to best move it forward, I am now booked in to have my face “cast” on Thursday morning! Hurray… the first step towards experimentation time, can’t wait, images of the process will be forth coming. I am currently struggling with the finish I want to achieve from the casts I am going to create..it will I think depend largely on how succesful my early experiments turn out. My desire is to create a fragile shell-like cast, I’d like to use plaster incorporating other material to give it a light, web like effect, at the moment I think I want them all to be predominately white. Of course these initial ideas will change as the project gets underway and I have to overcome obstacles, but I’m looking forward to the challenge of portraying my emotional and my “self” in to the art work.

In the afternoon we delivered a short presentation of our ideas so far for the essay, I have in the past used an application called “prezi” it’s available to use for free on the internet and I find it a great way to present visuals and text. This is the link to my presentation…

http://prezi.com/hwz6wvj0gwnd/exploring-the-value-…

It all seemed to be fine in the main, I do however need to be careful to consider the original titles we were given to work within, so a little tweaking of the main focus in the direction of “social responsibility and its influence on practice” and away I go! A first rough draft is to be handed in next Monday, so I’d better get organising the sections and headings in the next couple of days.

My project for this semester will be looking at, and examining the artistic values artists embed in to works they create. The next part of this blog is taken from some of my learning agreement I submitted .

Throughout my working practice and past studies I have been interested in the relationship between art and the viewer.

This has lead me to question whether the emotional content an artist might invest in a piece of art is lost or misinterpreted once it is released into the public domain. (Or the observer)

This reflection has inspired me to think about my own creative practice and the relationship between process, product and the observer.

This semesters work will investigate an ongoing and developing interest in the emotional content embedded in my artwork.

To inform this investigation I intend to produce a series of facemasks taken from a cast of my own face on a daily basis over a set number of days, the masks will be made from a plaster shell, (potential for further research into alternative casting materials).

To reflect and record my experience and the artistic emotion invested in each cast, I intend to take fragments of photographs of my facial expression and apply them to the surface of the mask, by taking this direct method of a cast and a graphic image I hope to portray a personal imprint into the art work offering a direct link and an immediate representation to the observer.

For the final presentation of the work I intend to display the collection on the floor, by doing this I intend to amplify and suggest the fragility and vulnerability of the human emotion.

The completed work will provide a narrative and a reflection of my experiences and emotions as I advance through the early stage of the MA.

So, the work will start next Monday morning, I nned to catch up with Roy in the plaster room and get alginated up!…should be fun but very messy! I’ll no doubt have some interesting photographs to post next week.

The trouble with some people is…

Do you know..It never ceases to amaze me when people confront you with the question, “Why are you doing a degree at your age?”. I’m not offended by the question, it’s more of a shock and a realisation of some Peoples attitude to education, some ask “what’s the point?” or “What will you do with it?”. I am sure it’s partly because my area of interest is in the arts and we all know how de-valued the arts are in some quarters, when I try to explain to the people who question my motive I tell them it isn’t about getting a certificate or a rubber stamp, to me that’s a by-product ,it really is all about the experience, the engagement with your subject, the gaining of “knowledge” and the growth you experience as a person, how its a completely enriching environment to be in, these are the reasons for “doing it!”. I am then usually greeted with either a vague nod of the head or a sympathetic smile! Ahh well!

Enough venting, on to more important matters!

Let me introduce you to my own space in the studio…a little sparse at the moment, but, it’s all mine!

So, this week, after a faltering start, turned out to be pretty good. My tutorial on Practice work with Peter on Wednesday went well, our learning agreements will remain open to change and re-negotiation as the semester progresses, which seems to make sence as that’s what surely its about, as long as we log and record reasons for changes in direction. I am predicting my own work will develop and change as influences of other artists practise is bound to make me shift slightly to ultimately result in a better, more rounded conclusion to my project. I need, need, need to get over to the Liverpool Biennial in the next couple of weeks, there’s such a wealth of material there I can’t afford to miss it. An artist Peter highlighted to me was “Roni Horn”, I have since found her work on the internet and yes, I found her work very relative to my own practice especially the work titled “Are you the Weather”, a series of portraits of her niece taken over a two month period…

“The viewer’s relationship to the portrait is very erotic because there is eye contact and ambiguity, and in my mind the ambiguity is very much about the viewer—about what the viewer wants from the subject.” ( Roni Horn)

Related Articles‘Roni Horn: White Dickinson’ (search.japantimes.co.jp)

The first semester is beginning to feel a little more settled. We have two more students who joined us last week so our group is now 7, a good size to have a diversity of specialism and opinions!

Last week we had our seminar on research methodologies which I actually found interesting! I am beginning to understand the benefit’s of doing all this research, at last the penny has dropped! I’m looking forward to discovering something which will influence my working practice, I’m sure. The draft proposals are in and awaiting feed back next week for both the research and study skills essay and the practical work.

Next on my to do list, I need to find some galleries and get out there looking at “Art”, I feel a little suffocated having not done any practical work for over a month let alone “experience” any kind of art, other than in books and theory. The anticipation of starting this semesters project is building…like I’m champing at the bit, ready to get going.

This week has been a difficult time for me as I have been suffering from what I think was a mysterious virus, which meant I was absent from University on Monday and missed my first tutorial with Ruth, I was looking forward to discussing my ideas for the impending essay and getting feed back from the rough draft, perhaps when I go in tomorrow I can catch up with her.

Tomorrow also holds in store our induction into the metal/ wood and 3D workshop areas in the morning, great, then I can start using them to begin my project. “Alleluia”

Smells like my old adversary…The fear of failure again!

I have resorted to come to my old friend, my blog. I can ask myself the question here, as it’s like I’m “allowing” myself to “talk”. My blog has become a refuge for me…somewhere I can come and reflect, sometimes as now is the case, quiet candidly. here I can relax, not worry about how my writing style will be perceived, in this space I can express myself freely and instinctively.

The question I want to ask myself is…

“What the hell has happened to me?”

I seem to be completely devoid of the ability to express my thoughts in a rational cohesive fashion!

I know the answer actually, I have got so hung up on using the “right” words and trying too hard, it seems to be blocking anything coming through. I write something, I’m talking about a sentence sometimes, read it…cringe, I alter it, re-read it…possibly change it again, resulting in a total mess and losing the message I was trying to convey. That is of course after I have struggled with the problem of physically getting the words and ideas, which are teaming around in my mind, down in text. Because a lack of ideas isn’t the problem, of no, I have ideas by the bucket load! Perhaps the underlying problem is making a decision on which thread of study to follow, the worry that it might not be the right choice. I believe, as I have said before if I think about it, the most difficult part of study is the beginning, and this has been the most difficult for me to date!

Well, I hope writing this down has provided me with a kick-start to stop!

Stop worrying, stop getting so anxious and stop being negative.

Start again, take a deep breath and simply let my ideas out of my head…Wish me luck !