Review time



 

 

At this time of year a mid session review takes place, in the format of an informal meeting to discuss work so far and plans for the future.

 

Some people find this time quite stressful, having to explain themselves and being forced to reflect on their practice. However, it seems like a natural thing to do - reflect and plan and do, like a constant. It can be quite difficult to articulate thoughts and have a discussion which reflects this though. Alternative methods of critique could be used, but I believe being active in the process not just obliges you to express what your thoughts are but to really reflect on how you want to present them and be able to have some dialogue around it.

 

In preparation, I did a bit of a clear out in the studio space and selected a number of key images I wanted to talk about. Even the act of clearing out helps the process of deciding just what you want to talk about and how you will do it. Editing and selecting a limited number of works rather than having everything on show also refines the aesthetic.

 

Talking about your work can be hard but like most things it gets easier the more you do it and the better prepared you are. I feel as if the actual act of planning has become quite important in relation to the body of work that even planning for this kind of thing is necessary and feels as if it is another step in the process, where everything is linked.

 

 

Studio space, tidy, clean.

 

 

there is a lot more work to do but it is a good place to be in, knowing this and having time to decide on what to do next and how to do it.

 

Kms run last week : 30

Books on loan from the library : 19

 

Project Space

After further exploring a more installative approach in the recent exhibition, I spent time doing similar in a smaller space. The idea to investigate the use of a space and a variety of line and space/form combinations with more materials and this time incorporating smaller works into the made space.

Whilst the exhibition was a more considered response, this became more intuitive, with time to spend on different arrangements and groupings of things.

Adding in some patterned elements, alongside simple colour blocks and different surfaces. Just playfully putting great things together.

 

Using the space to its best advantage, in a way that fills it appropriately - similar to composing a canvas on a frame.

 

 

Pairing images together, not planned but with what appears to look right.

Putting pieces of finished and unfinished work into the composition. On reflection, it seems as if it should be planned more - be more obvious. It is not a decorative aspect but part of the piece and this should come across as a deliberate thing. Worth trying however.

 

Colour is one of the most important aspects of the aesthetic in my practice. I really enjoy how colour just seems to work, or get stuck in my mind and comes together - as above, two separately made/bought items happen to just fit, and the lines from the floor another serendipity.

So another engaging few days on which to reflect - what now/next? How to further develop this way of working, in relation to what I want to achieve from the work. This time of year now is concerned with a mid session review, which seems to have come at a good time - a reflective moment to put my ideas and plans together for the coming months.


Kms run last week: 34
Books on loan from the library: 12, editing process of dissertation begun

Flatpack Exhibition

This week saw a group of 5 final year students taking part in a pop-up exhibition.

We took the name from idea of something being put together quickly, which was our intention for this exhibition, to put it up in one day, have an opening event, and take it down the next. Although it was a short lived thing, I did plan a fair bit before. This was definitely helpful when it came to installing as I knew more or less what I was going to do and in what order. Only a few details remained to be sorted out in the doing. This has been a most helpful experience in planning and deciding what to put where, not just for an installation piece but for a show with others.

We spent most of the day putting the exhibition together, but at a fairly leisurely pace, helping out each other in the hanging and making decisions.

 

The space at first appeared quite large but we had plenty work between all of us to be able to choose and edit as we went along. The hardest part was probably dealing with the cold - an unheated venue in winter is probably not the best choice to make! However, overall the installation turned out more or less how I expected and worked well in the space it was in. Perhaps some of the works we all showed did not work well together or communicate as well as they could have and its worth noting that the decision to show together was taken a few month ago and its a point to show how quickly focus can change.

 

Another busy two weeks ahead with essay redrafts and end of semester crits, and a lot of thinking to do with where to go now with this work.

 

Kms run this week: 25ish

Books on loan from the library: 15?

 

 

Bigger Picture

In preparation for this week´s POP UP EXHIBITION, I spent a fair bit of time planning and trialling for an installation I plan to use as part of my contribution.

To be able to set up work like this as a group at this point is a good opportunity to test things out and as always gain more experience - its always a learning process.

Originally I would have liked to paint directly onto a wall but with restrictions of the gallery, its not possible. Looking for other possibilities, I have tried a variety of tape - it should be sticky but not too sticky. I had tried paper strips a few years ago and may opt for that as a last resort. Although it does change the aesthetic - a line is not a flat coloured surface.

 

And then experimentation with things that are not flat. A simple garden net, painted becomes something apart from the wall, a raised form creating pattern.

 

 

 

And then by chance, the idea of an object as part of the composition. Maybe objects from my collection can be used within the space.

 

 

 

Which also led onto trying some paintings and unfinished works in and on the lined wall drawing. This is yet another dimension. It is a case of seeing what works best for what is trying to be achieved. Essentially it is the aesthetic of the materials used and how they create the forms I want that is the most important part, and how that will fit into the space as a whole.

 

Kms run this week: about 24 /no races

Books on loan from the library: around 20

Not on show

 

 

 

 

Not selected, but not the end of the story!

 

 

Busy week, time passing rapidly, but again it feels the more you do the more you can do. It feels good to be busy and making things.

 

It is also a time for reflection on plans for the work - step back a little and reassess my own plan, how can I use what has been made and looked at to my advantage or in a different way?

 



Kms run last week: just 23
Books on loan from the library: around 17, still 1.40 fine due...

Studio space

 

 

This is what my studio space looks like now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kms run last week: 24

Books on loan from the library: 21

Writing, eating, not painting

It´s a lot colder and eating more seems like a good idea.

Academic writing and reading also makes me want to eat more.

However the dissertation aspect of my course is relatively small and should really be classed as an essay. Like most things which are daunting, once you get started, you find it is not so bad or hard after all. I like stuff about material culture, objects and general stuff. So I´m writing about some of my furniture.

Something old and something new. An unlikely family heirloom and a cheap piece from IKEA. They are such apparently "normal" pieces of everyday furniture that investigating them seems both fascinating and odd.

 

The sofa. It is probably 30 years old.

 

 

Billy bookshelf. Also 30 years old (the design, not our one)

 

 



 Having not made anything specific to enter into an open exhibition (deadline Friday) I intend to enter something from earlier this year - well it can either be rejected or accepted. Photo to follow.

After handing in some sort of draft of an essay, I am eager to paint from all the drawings I have been accumulating. Pictures to follow.

Kms run his week - 23
Books on loan from the library - too many

A new direction?

Its been almost 2 weeks since I was away running the Amsterdam Marathon.

Beforehand, there was plenty time to see a few things: the newly re-opened Stedelijk museum is bigger than its previous incarnation, and we saw just about half.
Philip Guston http://www.stedelijk.nl/en/artwork/68-painting-smoking-eating
Willlem De Kooning http://www.stedelijk.nl/en/artwork/21-rosy-fingered-dawn-at-louse-point
Just two of many. Its the technique/surface and the way of portaying a subject that makes me want to know more.
http://www.stedelijk.nl/en

It´s a mostly mental thing and after running the marathon I don´t want to do much and everything feels a little pointless. It takes a week to establish a better working routine (although I´m breaking it again today). But it seems to work - in the studio before 9am, work until after lunch and then library. Run in the afternoon, although it is now dark at 5pm.

I´m not sure about the objects and things. They are just not interesting enough - maybe there needs be a lot more to start with which can then be paired down reduced, edited and considered.

I started a series of drawings like this:

 

 

Which are interiors, which leads us back to domestic space rather than singular objects.

 

 

So, last week my studio looked like this:

 



Which doesn´t look like a lot as we are now in week 7.


Kms run last week: 4!
Book on loan from the library: 16?

Ikea

The week before last I went to Ikea. Walking up to the familiar blue and yellow box like edifice, it does put you in a certain mood. (fear?/excitement?)

It´s a place that you can live (almost) so it seems natural to eat there (even if it is not a meal time).

I spent about 3 hours immersed, drawing and observing. It´s a kind of chilled out place - people wander about, take off their jackets, feel at home. I got a good few drawings and spent around 6 pounds - I don´t think it is possible to leave without buying something.

I love how there is such an abundance of stuff there. We can all go and buy all the same stuff in their catalogue if we want. We can mix and match and create our own piece of it.


Books on loan from the library - between 12 and 9
Kms run week before last - 32
Kms run last week - 25

2nd into 3rd

Time passes quickly and the schedule fills up.

Experimentation with gloss paint and collation of images dictates the studio work, otherwise writing a "study plan" for the year. (I see this is indeed included in one of the learning outcomes - organisation...)

Today I bought a juicer a little like this, but yellow. The plastic molded shape is just great. I also got some colourned lanterns, the colour not so pure and striking as plastic things, but more like the distressed look, good as an opposite to the shiny colours.

15 books on loan from the library
75km run this week

pause : 8 months

After a (long) time away from updating . . . a new academic year begins.

It started with a book, made with images collected from my time in Japan, being on show at the London Art Book Fair. Every year one of the tutors takes student work down to show.

This is my book with the others on show.

http://ecasecondcenturypress.blogspot.co.uk/ is the blog in which you can find out more.

The school year starts slowly and it becomes quite apparent the long break between the last semester and this has been necessary in terms of getting away from the environment and concentrating on something different, reflecting on works made. However, the feeling of getting started rather than continuing is heavier.

Keeping a good(ish) schedule
Running a lot
16 books on loan from the library

Installation

Some images of how I used the space to show some of the work I have completed here in Japan.

More Food

Instant noodles

Microwave "cup" cake mix

Expensive fruit example

"Bread"

Miso packets

Typical canteen selection

Small Painted Studies

Small developmental studies, December/January

Hikone

I took a trip out to Hikone. It is on the edge of Lake Biwa, Japan´s largest freshwater lake. It is just about an hour away from Kyoto by train.

This is the lake

And something I found by the water´s edge

The main attraction is the castle which is a national heritage site. First I walked up a large hill on the other side of town to see the old castle ruins, there wasn´t much to see, but the view wasn´t so bad.

Inside the castle, it is mostly original and all made of wood.

Included with the entrance fee is admission to Genkyu-en gardens.

I also saw this temple/shrine which was inside a big shed:

More interesting man-hole covers:



If something can be decorated, in Japan it is.

Lovely post-box