Ant Macari exhibition at Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art, Sunderland, was amazing. I was astonished at the sheer amount of work but the breadth and depth of the content was inspiring. That was last Wednesday at the preview so I need to see it again.
Also managed a visit to Yorkshire Sculpture Park on Friday and saw, Soliloquy by Shirin Neshat. The space used to show the work was in the Georgian Chapel which gave greater resonance to the images and soundtrack of this haunting work. This was a dual screen projection of Neshat within two landscapes representing her homeland and her home in exile.
Visited Kettle’s Yard Gallery in Cambridge on Tuesday and enjoyed the variety of work that is in their current exhibition of work donated to raise funds for Kettle’s Yard Development Appeal. A diverse range of 2D and 3D works. Favourites included ‘Crack and Warp Column’ by David Nash, and Phylidda Barlow’s ‘untitled:crushedrolleddropped’, but there were lots of things to like.
On the home front, I am still chasing crows and other assorted corvids. My studio space took on a very white appearance last week and some meditations on performance issues are starting to coalesce into plans. I cannot say too much yet as there is much to decide.
Alastair MacLennan performance/actuation on Saturday at 25SG, excellent. There was also a talk by Ben Ponton and discussion about documentation in Performance Art on Sunday.
The ephemeral nature of performance and its resistance to commodification are some of its attractions, but these ideals could be undermined by photo and video documentation. Many artists have attempted to control the documentation of their work in order to retain the nature of the performance. Others have used the documentation to provide another layer to their work.
With the ease of use of image capture technology it is increasingly popular for the audience/witnesses of a performance to record video and still images without the express permission of the artist. As artists we need to decide how we can respond to these prevailing conditions in a way that fits with our own values and purpose in making art.
I must admit that it’s ephemeral nature and audience engagement are two of the things that attract me to performance. The need to record the work whilst doing a Fine Art course have involved me in recording parts of the performance work for the purposes of assessment. If applying for funding, commissions or competitions it is also likely that I will need images of previous work for the application.
I have not resolved the issues of documentation for myself. I tend towards the wish to reach a wider audience through social network and other internet platforms but I am also trying out other methods for recording and responding to my performances.
Assessment results due tomorrow. Today I am feeling positive about what I am doing with only small reservations about the ways in which everything will come together.
Sorry that I managed to lose the video link I placed here twice. I need to find out what went wrong.
Sorting sketchbook images and trying to work out where to next. That suggests that I have finished something, but I am not sure that I have. My tutorial today went well and my personal tutor said that my work made 70% sense which she said was OK for this point in my MA. When she looked at my Corvid notebook she thought that the photos and sketches looked like preparation for a painting and my prints looked like they were trying to tell a story.
I am not sure of my direction but I can usually find a way by making work and sketches and photographs and prints so I guess I just have to keep working and things will turn out.
I now have a lovely smooth surfaced gessoed board that is tending to terrify me. Assessment tomorrow……………..
Another busy day at Northern Print. I was working with some copper plates that I had etched using a soft ground. Tried some Spit Bite but didn’t get anything stronger so I applied hard ground and line etch and then aquatint. Because they have now had several processes the prints from the plates are starting to look a bit more interesting.
Nearly missed out on my corvid photo today as I was indoors quite a bit, but the rooks came to visit at dusk.
Assessment looming for post grad certificate stage next week. I spent yesterday and most of today editing video of performances into short enough but long enough pieces for consumption in the crit. It is difficult to get the video document to represent the essence of the performance. I need to consider how I want to document performances that has meaning for me.
I also produced a new cut of a video I made a few months ago but I have been working on production and improvements and think that it is much better. This is a work in itself rather than a piece of documentation.
Critical Studies lecture and seminar today was on Relational Aesthetics. Lecturer presented, amongst others, the work of Santiago Sierra. I would be interested to hear what other people think about his work as an example of Relational Aesthetics.
Since tutorials last week I have begun a journal which I am aiming to use daily to document my interactions with Corvids. I will choose a photograph each day, taken using my phone, and draw and write a few words to respond to these actions.
