Thursday 16 April 2009
12 Photographs (the Centre of the Universe)
An idea Helen and I bounced around whilst we were out for a walk yesterday: from my flat, walk for a set amount of time (10mins, half an hour, 2 hours whatever) in all 12 directions of the compass. Once I reach that point I take a photograph of whatever I see (using a decent dslr this time I think). The images are then displayed, along with notes made along the way, recordings etc. On Kawara springs to mind. I like the idea. The problem I have with it though, is that its, again, about a journey I've made and will the viewer be able to engage with it? I dont know if this matters, I think sometimes you can loose sight of the fact that when you are productive and producing work, viewed as a practice it is interesting.
Wednesday 15 April 2009
Filmmaking, Research, Walking and 'Blogging'
I haven't updated for a while, so here's a synopsis of the goings on with me:
- Filmmaking. It seems I'm making films again. My current practice consists of walking and documenting. My original intention for this documentation was to produce an installation with images, texts, drawings, projections etc covering the walls, recorded sounds playing, the idea being that the viewer would enter the space and be able to explore, constructing their own journeys from my documents. This still may happen, but on advice from Alistair, I threw together some images, stuck a voiceover on it and made a film. The film seemed to achieve some of what I was planning for the instalation, in that it took the viewer on their own journey through wolverhampton. So I'm now persuing the film idea: a series of images with a voiceover, all produced by walking. The success of the film - and indeed what I need the installation to be - is that it is no longer merely documentation (and why should anyone care about a journey i went on and recorded?) but becomes an 'artwork' that accomodates the viewer and allows them to go on their own journeys.
- Research. I am currently persuing a PhD. I've put in an application for funding, which is currently making its way through the long bureaucratic procedures it has to pass through, and I'm writing a research proposal. The idea for the research comes from my practice, but is separate from it. Its very liberating to be able to separate the theory from the practice, as it was getting to the stage where they were hindering rather than helping one another. The title for the progect is: The Spatial/Cultural Politics of Walking: Psychogeography, the Everyday and Post-Object Aesthetics'. What that means is, I'm interested in examining the potential of psychogeography and its interventions in the everyday for, what I've termed, post-object aesthetics. The main objects of my research are Henri Lefebvre's theories of space and the everyday and the Situationist International. The aim of the research is to get to what it is that makes the practice interesting. The PhD will be theoretical however; 90,000 words, no practice. This wont mean me giving up on practice completely (although it will be difficult to continue with it), and I do have genuine academic ambitions. How theory affects the practice will be an interesting one.
- Walking. I'm still walking, sticking my pins in the map and documenting, though not as much as I should be. I'm using twitter as a log of my walks, plus I have a large map of Wolverhampton that Matthew got from the planning dept on which I mark where I've been.
- 'Blogging'. Another outcome of my walks will (hopefully) be a website, or blog. I want to produce something that, again, allows the viewer to make their own journeys, and a blog or website seems like a good way to 'activate' spectatorship. Working along the lines of the map - territory dialectic, I want to produce a site that the viewer has to navigate via the documentation; ie, without navigation menus etc, the only way to get around would be to click on images etc.
- Filmmaking. It seems I'm making films again. My current practice consists of walking and documenting. My original intention for this documentation was to produce an installation with images, texts, drawings, projections etc covering the walls, recorded sounds playing, the idea being that the viewer would enter the space and be able to explore, constructing their own journeys from my documents. This still may happen, but on advice from Alistair, I threw together some images, stuck a voiceover on it and made a film. The film seemed to achieve some of what I was planning for the instalation, in that it took the viewer on their own journey through wolverhampton. So I'm now persuing the film idea: a series of images with a voiceover, all produced by walking. The success of the film - and indeed what I need the installation to be - is that it is no longer merely documentation (and why should anyone care about a journey i went on and recorded?) but becomes an 'artwork' that accomodates the viewer and allows them to go on their own journeys.
- Research. I am currently persuing a PhD. I've put in an application for funding, which is currently making its way through the long bureaucratic procedures it has to pass through, and I'm writing a research proposal. The idea for the research comes from my practice, but is separate from it. Its very liberating to be able to separate the theory from the practice, as it was getting to the stage where they were hindering rather than helping one another. The title for the progect is: The Spatial/Cultural Politics of Walking: Psychogeography, the Everyday and Post-Object Aesthetics'. What that means is, I'm interested in examining the potential of psychogeography and its interventions in the everyday for, what I've termed, post-object aesthetics. The main objects of my research are Henri Lefebvre's theories of space and the everyday and the Situationist International. The aim of the research is to get to what it is that makes the practice interesting. The PhD will be theoretical however; 90,000 words, no practice. This wont mean me giving up on practice completely (although it will be difficult to continue with it), and I do have genuine academic ambitions. How theory affects the practice will be an interesting one.
- Walking. I'm still walking, sticking my pins in the map and documenting, though not as much as I should be. I'm using twitter as a log of my walks, plus I have a large map of Wolverhampton that Matthew got from the planning dept on which I mark where I've been.
- 'Blogging'. Another outcome of my walks will (hopefully) be a website, or blog. I want to produce something that, again, allows the viewer to make their own journeys, and a blog or website seems like a good way to 'activate' spectatorship. Working along the lines of the map - territory dialectic, I want to produce a site that the viewer has to navigate via the documentation; ie, without navigation menus etc, the only way to get around would be to click on images etc.
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