It’s been the first week back after our two week Easter break. I spent the whole two weeks in my home city, Bath. It was nice to escape London for a couple of weeks and to recharge my batteries, it was odd getting back on the tube again on Monday. I was getting pretty tired at the end of last term. I did have to spend the two weeks writing my research paper, but I was able to do most of that outdoors due to the ace weather that we had. Now that I have been back in the studio, and handed the research paper in, I feel I have a little more direction in where I am going. I always seem to get a lot out of writing these essays, and my bibliography is now rather long. We had a research statement/poster event today where each of us on the course produced our statement and displayed it, which then formed a discussion. My statement follows below along with the image I used on the poster. I need to write a new artist statement (my “current” one is from last April and so out of date now!) and this research statement can be my starting point.
Research Statement
Within my studio practice, I am exploring structures that are reminiscent of those found within the urban environment. I am interested in structures that are imposing and have a sense of eeriness about them.
Within my research, I have been exploring how people experience certain aspects of the urban environment. Anxieties such as claustrophobia and agoraphobia that both became a prominent illness during the rise of modernism were a starting point. The questions that I am now forming concern not only urban spaces, but sites which have a historical significance, and perhaps a sinister history.
Does the history of a site effect those that come into contact with it? Is nostalgia associated with ideas of utopia, or a failed attempt of building a utopia? If these spaces have such a negative effect on people, are the spaces in control? Do people belong in here? Is there a conflict between the user and the man made environment? This is reminiscent of science fiction where man’s creation turns on its creator.
