Thursday, 16 October 2008
Review at Rhubarb
Today I went for my portfolio review with Rhubarb Rhubarb. I had mixed feeling about going - Rhubarb Rhubarb is very much a photography agency promoting photographic work from the West Midlands, yet I don't really see myself as a photographer despite my current work being largely lens based. In the end though I figured it couldn't do me any harm so I went.
It was actually really useful, the woman reviewing my work (Lorna, I think?) immediately spotted my problems, namely that the work I was producing wasn't what I wanted it to be, the things I'm trying to convey are getting lost somewhere between thought and image. There is a lot of potential in my work, I knew that already and she seemed to pick up on that ('a good start' I thing her words were) but, again same problem, that potential is getting lost somewhere. At the minute I'm struggling to figure out what exactly the work is: I know its not painting, and I think it might be lens based, but i lack confidence because I don't know what I'm doing. The solution suggested is to experiment, play around with cameras, film, printing the photographs myself and to go out more with my camera. Once I've done that and my work has progressed some I'm to go back for another review session.
While I'm feeling a lot more positive about my practice than I have been as of late, I know a PhD, which must come out of practice, even if it's a theoretical research project, is further away than I thought.
It was actually really useful, the woman reviewing my work (Lorna, I think?) immediately spotted my problems, namely that the work I was producing wasn't what I wanted it to be, the things I'm trying to convey are getting lost somewhere between thought and image. There is a lot of potential in my work, I knew that already and she seemed to pick up on that ('a good start' I thing her words were) but, again same problem, that potential is getting lost somewhere. At the minute I'm struggling to figure out what exactly the work is: I know its not painting, and I think it might be lens based, but i lack confidence because I don't know what I'm doing. The solution suggested is to experiment, play around with cameras, film, printing the photographs myself and to go out more with my camera. Once I've done that and my work has progressed some I'm to go back for another review session.
While I'm feeling a lot more positive about my practice than I have been as of late, I know a PhD, which must come out of practice, even if it's a theoretical research project, is further away than I thought.
Thursday, 9 October 2008
Notes on 'Ways of Seeing'
Notes on ‘Ways of Seeing’ (1972)
by Berger, J. Blomberg, S. Fox, C. et al
Chapter One
- The essay seems to take the central ideas from Benjamin’s ‘The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction’ (loss of ‘aura’, displacement of notions of ‘the original’) and situate them in a structuralist context
- Berger seems to be, much like Benjamin, be writing from a Marxist perspective. A lot of what is said seems to connect with the Situationist International. A lot of Situationist tactics are alluded to throughout the essay (e.g., detournement: ‘Because works of art are reproducible they can, theoretically, be used by anybody.’(p29) These could also be connected to postmodernism and, more recently, postproduction. The text is essentially Marxist, not postmodernist however.
- The premise of the essay, and indeed the book, divides up the world, like structuralism does, into signifiers and signifieds. Connections can be made with Lacan’s ‘mirror phase’ ‘Soon after we can see, we are aware that we can also be seen. The eye of the other combines with our own eye to make it fully credible that we are part of the visible world’ This notion of the other can be connected, and indeed is present in, (post)structuralism.
- ‘Adults and children sometimes have boards in their bedrooms or living-rooms on which they pin pieces of paper: letters, snapshots, reproductions of paintings, newspaper cuttings, original drawings, postcards. On each board all the images belong to the same language and all are more or less equal within it, because they have been chosen in a highly personal way to match and express the experience of the room’s inhabitant. Logically these boards should replace museums.’ (p30). Sums up the essay. Art should be appreciated for its use value rather than its originality, or uniqueness. This position is shared by postmodernism, neo-avant-garde and the Situationists (and etc). It is an essentially Marxist statement in this instance as it is directed towards removing the bourgeois hierarchy of modern museums and open up art to use by the lower classes.
- The comodification of art a major theme, especially painting. After mechanical reproduction any notion of originality lies in the work being the original of a reproduction, its value lies in its quantitative value not what the image contains; ‘The meaning of the original work no longer lies in what it uniquely says but what it uniquely is’. Central idea from Benjamin’s essay.
Chapter Seven
- Publicity: The colonisation of the everyday by capitalism. This is the central premise of this essay
- Publicity sells the past to the future; ‘Publicity images also belong to the moment in the sense that they must be continually renewed and made up-to-date. Yet they never speak of the present. Often they refer to the past and always they speak of the future.’ (p130). Again the debt to Benjamin is prominent, notions of mechanical reproduction are central.
- ‘Publicity is about social relations, not objects.’ (p132). Publicity is about potential: when you buy a product you buy potential for what you could be. The product embodies your relations to others, this is why publicity is never about the product itself, but potential.
- Publicity’s use of history significant: presents history as something to ‘dip into’ (again Marxist, links with postmodernism, situationism). Art and history lend the product a sense of authority and speak of social mobility. Again, the potential for what you could be.
- ‘Publicity turns consumption into a substitute for democracy. The choice of what one eats (or wears or drives) takes the place of significant political choice. Publicity helps to mask and compensate for all that is undemocratic within society. And it also masks what is happening in the rest of the world.’ (p149)
by Berger, J. Blomberg, S. Fox, C. et al
Chapter One
- The essay seems to take the central ideas from Benjamin’s ‘The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction’ (loss of ‘aura’, displacement of notions of ‘the original’) and situate them in a structuralist context
- Berger seems to be, much like Benjamin, be writing from a Marxist perspective. A lot of what is said seems to connect with the Situationist International. A lot of Situationist tactics are alluded to throughout the essay (e.g., detournement: ‘Because works of art are reproducible they can, theoretically, be used by anybody.’(p29) These could also be connected to postmodernism and, more recently, postproduction. The text is essentially Marxist, not postmodernist however.
- The premise of the essay, and indeed the book, divides up the world, like structuralism does, into signifiers and signifieds. Connections can be made with Lacan’s ‘mirror phase’ ‘Soon after we can see, we are aware that we can also be seen. The eye of the other combines with our own eye to make it fully credible that we are part of the visible world’ This notion of the other can be connected, and indeed is present in, (post)structuralism.
- ‘Adults and children sometimes have boards in their bedrooms or living-rooms on which they pin pieces of paper: letters, snapshots, reproductions of paintings, newspaper cuttings, original drawings, postcards. On each board all the images belong to the same language and all are more or less equal within it, because they have been chosen in a highly personal way to match and express the experience of the room’s inhabitant. Logically these boards should replace museums.’ (p30). Sums up the essay. Art should be appreciated for its use value rather than its originality, or uniqueness. This position is shared by postmodernism, neo-avant-garde and the Situationists (and etc). It is an essentially Marxist statement in this instance as it is directed towards removing the bourgeois hierarchy of modern museums and open up art to use by the lower classes.
- The comodification of art a major theme, especially painting. After mechanical reproduction any notion of originality lies in the work being the original of a reproduction, its value lies in its quantitative value not what the image contains; ‘The meaning of the original work no longer lies in what it uniquely says but what it uniquely is’. Central idea from Benjamin’s essay.
Chapter Seven
- Publicity: The colonisation of the everyday by capitalism. This is the central premise of this essay
- Publicity sells the past to the future; ‘Publicity images also belong to the moment in the sense that they must be continually renewed and made up-to-date. Yet they never speak of the present. Often they refer to the past and always they speak of the future.’ (p130). Again the debt to Benjamin is prominent, notions of mechanical reproduction are central.
- ‘Publicity is about social relations, not objects.’ (p132). Publicity is about potential: when you buy a product you buy potential for what you could be. The product embodies your relations to others, this is why publicity is never about the product itself, but potential.
- Publicity’s use of history significant: presents history as something to ‘dip into’ (again Marxist, links with postmodernism, situationism). Art and history lend the product a sense of authority and speak of social mobility. Again, the potential for what you could be.
- ‘Publicity turns consumption into a substitute for democracy. The choice of what one eats (or wears or drives) takes the place of significant political choice. Publicity helps to mask and compensate for all that is undemocratic within society. And it also masks what is happening in the rest of the world.’ (p149)
Tuesday, 7 October 2008
updates and ideas
I've had a few ideas for work recently so I thought I'd post them on here. Basically, this is what Im up to at the minute:
I'm working with a local poet/writer called Emma Purshouse. We plan to produce some work to submit to the open exhibition at the riverside gallery in London, the theme being 'Age and Memory'. I dont normally do things like this - I hate themed open submission things - but this seemed like a good common ground for us to produce something, and the deadlines the end of November, so that gives us a good timeframe to get out and produce something. I'd either like to produce a film or photography/text/sound stuff, somewhere between Patrick Keiler's film 'London', psychogeography and 'Nadja' by Andre Breton.
I've also had an idea for a sort of site specific work, based on the idea of desire lines. The idea is to use lines painted on the floor to mark out routes across Wolverhampton. I've contacted the council and have been referred to Wolverhampton art gallery, so the next step is to email them and see if this is possible. What I'd like is to get a dialogue going between people to work out what the project could be.
Theres more but those are the two things at the forefront of my mind at this juncture.
I'm working with a local poet/writer called Emma Purshouse. We plan to produce some work to submit to the open exhibition at the riverside gallery in London, the theme being 'Age and Memory'. I dont normally do things like this - I hate themed open submission things - but this seemed like a good common ground for us to produce something, and the deadlines the end of November, so that gives us a good timeframe to get out and produce something. I'd either like to produce a film or photography/text/sound stuff, somewhere between Patrick Keiler's film 'London', psychogeography and 'Nadja' by Andre Breton.
I've also had an idea for a sort of site specific work, based on the idea of desire lines. The idea is to use lines painted on the floor to mark out routes across Wolverhampton. I've contacted the council and have been referred to Wolverhampton art gallery, so the next step is to email them and see if this is possible. What I'd like is to get a dialogue going between people to work out what the project could be.
Theres more but those are the two things at the forefront of my mind at this juncture.
Friday, 26 September 2008
Lets play at being lecturers
today was my first day teaching the undergrads. Its unpaid work experience of course - I'm still a long way from being good and experienced enough to get a job as a lecturer - but hopefully doing this will help me develop skills that will help me get paid to do it when I'm finally ready. I'm helping out with the second year drawing elective module: basically its a series of workshops introducing them to an 'expanded field of drawing' as it was refered to today. Then they'll have time to develop their own 'drawings' - used in the expanded sense, whatever they may be - for assesement. I'll also be giving a talk/lecture/presentation on my own work and how that relates to the stuff they're doing, and really this is exactly what my work is about. The idea that drawing - or any form of practice - can be a moment, or a document of an event was what really came across, for me at least (It'll be interesting to see how many of the students picked up on it).
It's been really usefull actually because its given me a new perspective on my practice; I've been thinking about giving the presentation and how I can relate that to this expanded field of drawing and this has made me realise that drawing in the expanded sense is what I do, its all drawing: my video's, photographs, writings (and etc) are all documents of various events, moments, processes, (and etc). This very blog, the words you are reading now are a drawing. I was reading an article today about the problem of presenting 'process based' art. This really struck a chord as I've been saying for a long time that my practice is process based. As I understood it, the problem seemed to be about finality: when is something finished? What is the end product? The problem being that with a lot of these process based practices, the project is never finished, and there isn't any 'final piece' - a horrible term that I've fought against for years because of this very issue - these things are part of an ongoing process. Yet when this work is exhibited, it is read as being an end product, and doesn't really provide enough of a 'way in' to allow us, as viewers, to read the work as part of an self-perpetuating process, which of course it is. With this kind of work there are never any conclusions, only more questions, never any end products, only documentation.
It's been really usefull actually because its given me a new perspective on my practice; I've been thinking about giving the presentation and how I can relate that to this expanded field of drawing and this has made me realise that drawing in the expanded sense is what I do, its all drawing: my video's, photographs, writings (and etc) are all documents of various events, moments, processes, (and etc). This very blog, the words you are reading now are a drawing. I was reading an article today about the problem of presenting 'process based' art. This really struck a chord as I've been saying for a long time that my practice is process based. As I understood it, the problem seemed to be about finality: when is something finished? What is the end product? The problem being that with a lot of these process based practices, the project is never finished, and there isn't any 'final piece' - a horrible term that I've fought against for years because of this very issue - these things are part of an ongoing process. Yet when this work is exhibited, it is read as being an end product, and doesn't really provide enough of a 'way in' to allow us, as viewers, to read the work as part of an self-perpetuating process, which of course it is. With this kind of work there are never any conclusions, only more questions, never any end products, only documentation.
Tuesday, 23 September 2008
Back to School
First day back at uni today. We had a group seminar with our second year group and the six full time students from the first year group. It was mainly a session of introductions and updates, but it was really good to see everyone again and talk about art. I find the support a group of fellow students provides extremely helpful.
We've also had a change of studio, our old MA room has been given over to the undergraduates and instead we've got a space on the ground floor that was filled with third year undergrads last year. Its a really good move as the room is bigger, the light is better and we've even got a desk area for seminars. I will miss having a pc in the room though, as a lot of my time spent in the studio was using the computer. It's still going to be rather cramped in there, as there's ten part time first years as well as the six full time students, and along with the ten or so in our group that makes 26, so board space is going to be at a premium. We have, however, decided to keep one wall free for displaying work, so those who don't/can't use the MA studio as much as others have somewhere to put their stuff up. I suspect I might be one of those people as I dont know how much I'll be able to use the MA room. Having a space at eagleworks will probably mean I'll spend the majority of my studio time there and use the MA room for displaying work.
I've also arranged with Maggie (one of the lecturers on the undergraduate course) to do some teaching, unpaid of course, but its valuable work experience and looks pretty good on the cv. So then this coming friday I'll be helping run a drawing workshop with the second years (I think),then maybe doing some work with the undergrads doing the dissertation module. should be fun.
We've also had a change of studio, our old MA room has been given over to the undergraduates and instead we've got a space on the ground floor that was filled with third year undergrads last year. Its a really good move as the room is bigger, the light is better and we've even got a desk area for seminars. I will miss having a pc in the room though, as a lot of my time spent in the studio was using the computer. It's still going to be rather cramped in there, as there's ten part time first years as well as the six full time students, and along with the ten or so in our group that makes 26, so board space is going to be at a premium. We have, however, decided to keep one wall free for displaying work, so those who don't/can't use the MA studio as much as others have somewhere to put their stuff up. I suspect I might be one of those people as I dont know how much I'll be able to use the MA room. Having a space at eagleworks will probably mean I'll spend the majority of my studio time there and use the MA room for displaying work.
I've also arranged with Maggie (one of the lecturers on the undergraduate course) to do some teaching, unpaid of course, but its valuable work experience and looks pretty good on the cv. So then this coming friday I'll be helping run a drawing workshop with the second years (I think),then maybe doing some work with the undergrads doing the dissertation module. should be fun.
Monday, 22 September 2008
one thing to tick off my list
I've just booked train tickets to London for the super 8 workshop at Nowhere Lab. It still amazes me how it can cost so much to travel relatively short distances in this country. I have Latvian roots and I've been there a few times. Over there you could probably travel half way across Russia for the same price as a return ticket to London. Still it feels like I'm finally getting things done.
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