University Campus Suffolk

Presenting two completely different works in my degree show is has its advantages, it allows diversity of work, allowing the viewer to see the range you work in and not just seeing one particular piece and pigeon holing you into that one genre. As an artists point of view though, it has allowed me to experiment with many ideas, not getting bored or stuck with one particular, if I do then I have other pieces to be working on.

I think there is variety within my work; I seem to want it to be a factor of my work, where you perhaps never know where the artist is going next.

For my dissertation I was looking at activist art, in particular the art of Peter Kennard and Simon Bedwell. Kennard’s work is based around his views on war, government, corruption, oil, environment and the Earth itself. He has spent his career presenting his collage work to the masses, making people aware of what we as a race are doing to this planet. He views us as the problem, his work is a constant reminder that war, poverty, third world debt, are all man made situations that people in power choose to ignore or keep discreet for their own gains.

Kennard’s practice has always contained collage, that is what he is known for, taking photos and using a cut and paste method to create his work, but he has found times where his work has appeared outdated and repetitive, so in 2002 he joined forces with fellow activist artist Cat Picton Phillips to produce art in response to the invasion of Iraq, since then it has evolved to confront power and war across the globe. Using the form of digital collage it has given Kennard a new media to work in and produce works a lot quicker and on larger scale than ever before. KennardPhillips work shows daring confrontation, standing up to all governments worldwide and addressing issues that many shy away from. Although Kennard still makes handmade collage it is his variety in his practice that allows him to work on many different subjects at once.

Simon Bedwell is also an activist artist; however, where Kennard’s work was addressing the state of this world, Bedwell’s work was a direct protest against the YBA scene and the galleries that controlled the art that was shown within them during the 1990s. Bedwell made a name for himself as part of the collaborative group BANK; their main objective was to hold shows that did not follow the same regime of the big money galleries. BANK was against the corporations that controlled the art world through monetary value and their monthly exhibitions were made up of work by their members, often looking very thrown together, but always providing an entertaining event, BANK hit its heights in 1995 – 1996 and were critically acclaimed at this point. The problem being though that once BANK had hit success they became a part of that system they were fighting so hard to be against, with members rapidly leaving to pursue their own careers and success BANK disbanded completely. Bedwell is now a successful artist in his own right but he now seems to be embracing the big money corporations and has international shows at large galleries.

Has he lost sight of what originally made him fight against this system??

After so long of fighting against it, do you just have to accept you cannot win and so embrace the system for personal gain??

Is Kennard right with the way he has progressed through his practice??

The Sun uses Franklin Gothic Heavy Italicised for its title font; I have chosen to use this font in my work also. I feel if I replicate the font used by Britain’s most popular tabloid newspaper it will add punch to my work. By this I mean that the viewer will recognise the font from somewhere, they will relate to it, they may not know where from but it will act as a comfort to them to see something they recognise. I realise that this doesn’t necessarily apply to everyone but for most I feel it may.

So in order to transfer this font to stencils I will need to cut it in some way, I had two options, 1: I could get the words printed on the vinyl cutter we have here, although the vinyl won’t stick to the path outside and it seems like a large expense for something that would not be used for its real intention, or 2: Approach a school and ask them if I can use their laser cutter, apparently all schools are now equipped with laser cutter and yet a university with an art school does not, as luck would have it I actually have an old friend who is a teacher at a local school and she informed me they have three laser cutters.

So really this penultimate week at university is a waiting game for me, all the pieces are in place for the end of year show, I am waiting for the letters to be laser cut, as it stands today we are up to the letter V and I am just waiting for confirmation of placement for my CCTV cameras, the space is positioned in between the entrance doors and a second set of doors leading fully into the building, this is an ideal place as it gives the impression of capturing every movement that takes place going in and out of the building, once that is confirmed I can prep the space.

Not really that happy with laying the slabs, it started off as an idea for an installation space, I would have a whole room in which I would lay all the slabs within the space and have other work hanging on the walls, the viewer would then be forced (well, encouraged) to walk in the room to look at the other work, thus making it an interactive space. Having it outside means that people can dodge the work altogether if they choose. The slabs seem to be an unnecessary addition to the work as it’s the words that are the main focus…

But fear not…

I have found the solution and it has been given the go ahead by the lovely people in Estates. I’d heard there was a chalk pigment spray paint you could get hold of and it was a non-permanent paint, meaning that it could be washed off with water. Low and behold I have found it. Here is the email sent to Estates explaining my find and what it means to use it within my current work.

I wrote to you a while back explaining my idea for the Fine Art degree show, it was about placing down slabs on the pathway leading to the arts building. I would like to thank you for passing my details on to Mark as he helped me with my queries, however my proposal has changed somewhat now and now I am seeking your permission to go ahead with my new proposal.

The work itself is basically words on the path leading up to the entrance of the arts building, originally I was in contact with Mark about laying paving slabs on top of the path surface with words spray painted on and the H + S I would need to consider.

My work explores politics, in particular the common Buzzwords thrown around within the media and politicians, but taking emphasis on the printed words of newspapers, my proposal is to spray these buzzwords directly on the path leading to the arts building. My reasoning for this is because i would like the work to gradually be worn away over the duration of the two week art show, where news stories are remembered for a day and then replaced with new stories the next, so will my work as the flow of people over my sprayed words will wear away these words until there is just a trace of them, finally leading to them being forgotten.

I realise that there is an issue with spraying directly onto these paving bricks; however, I feel I have a solution for this. I have managed to find spray paint that is chalk based, meaning it washes straight off. It is a non-permanent spray that can be washed off with plain water or ideally a pressure washer which is available to me. I have the spray and am happy to give you a demonstration of how it washes off. I realise that if it rains it will wash off also but for me and my work that also reflects the fragility of the paper that the printed word is on.

I am very happy to talk to you in person about this and hope to hear from you soon

Karl Fountain, Fine Art

The reply I received was short and sweet:

It sounds like you have found an ideal solution, happy for you to proceed.

I feel that the best place for me to go would be the walkway, although this is subject to change, it just seems like the best option for maximum participation from people visiting the show. What will be a good part of the show is observing the people arriving along this stretch of path and seeing their reaction to the piece. What I should imagine to happen is that you will get several types of reactions from people, I am hoping to witness the people who are oblivious of the work and as they walk over it, panic that they have stepped on the work and quickly shuffle off of it. Others may really search around the work, viewing each word one by one, avoiding the words that they are perhaps drawn to, being over precious of the words meaning.

I’ve done a rough mock up on Photoshop of how the work can be placed within the space, I think with regards to health and safety I will have to create ramps on each side of the slabs in order to make it safe for the public. Ideally I would like to have this running straight to the doors of the building; however there is not enough clearance for the door to pass over the concrete slabs.

Here is a look at the possible sites for the piece of word art I am going to produce for the degree show. Just outside our building is a squared off area full of trees and seating, this area would not work as placement for the work but the path area that surrounds this square is the ideal place, it means that no matter what direction people come from they will have to walk over the work on the floor, interacting with the piece and becoming a part of the work.

There is the possibility of the steps as you walk diagonally across the squared seating area, this is often a cut that people choose to take rather than walking around it.