At this point in time I believe that I know have a clear understanding of what my work is, and is going to be in the coming months. Through the process of making work and writing this blog I feel that I have come to understand and begin to define my work. My basic and initial intention is to create a piece of work that is visually and perhaps physically sufficient enough in its wholeness to sustain an interest from a viewer. Through the materials of wood and rope I have begun to explore this idea, creating something that can hold itself as an art object with the use of pattern and identifiable shapes. Giving focus to the simplicity of the work and its constructed materials, I am trying to create a visual depth the raw materials through process and reduction.
Behind the finished object and its intent to be sufficient in itself, I have also developed an interest in the process of making that object. Because of the minimalistic and reductive approach that I have given to the work, the use of material has been really reductive, meaning that a natural attention to process has developed. This is primarily due to the natural properties of rope. Rope is a very ‘usable’ material in that it can be used for many things, but these uses are often repetitive. To wrap, to knot or to pull the rope, these are all repetitive actions and through making work I have inevitably been performing these actions time and time again. These physical interactions bring me closer to the material, but they also focus my attention of performing these actions. Initially it had not occurred to me but over time I began to realise how repetitive my working process was.
The rope and its combination with the wooden objects are also important as the wooden object provides the space for the rope. The wooden shapes and their placing within a space give the rope an area to interact with. In conjunction with Judd’s opinion of the whole and construction of work, I like to use fewer parts and fewer aspects in my work. Keeping the number of parts reductive and again giving focus to the few parts that remain, the wood interacts well with the rope, showing little separation of parts. Having a solid object that flows and interacts well with a malleable material helps secure the piece within a space and also gives the work a unity and a sense of the whole and ‘wholeness’ reducing the temptation to examine the work in individual parts.
One aspect I am still considering is viewer interaction. I initially rejected the idea of making an interaction piece as I believed that making interactive work detracts from the primary concept of my work. I am worried that the viewer will see the work as an interactive piece and nothing else. However I am beginning to see the logic in an interactive piece, as my work is partly about experiencing the materials visual as well as physically. The extent of the interaction is now my main consideration. If I am to attempt collaboration between the work and the viewer it needs to be a subtle one. I need to avoid detracting from the physicality of the work but at the same time need people to physically experience the material. Because of my positioning of the rope at the moment is floor based I am inclined to simple give the viewer the opportunity to walk across the rope. This actively gets the viewer to feel the repetition of process of ‘To Curl’ the rope under their feet. I am still considering ideas at the moment.
