Today I had a tutorial with artist Jonathan Parson’s we talked about my work from our London show and the Crit show before that, so both of my fishing net pieces. Jonathan said and I have to agree that both piece although three dimensional where very pictorial, due largely to the way that they where installed. The single net from the crit show suspended from the corner of the room as if in motion.
He liked the concept of transforming one element of an already existing object and said that I should research into the history of nets and their function within an art context and not get too bogged down with ‘the grid’. Talking to Jonathan really made me consider the installation of my work, I have a habit of having a ‘vision’ in my head of how the object should be installed often similar to the original context in which that object would be placed or hung outside of the gallery. It is important moving forward that instead of instinctively going for that method of installation to plan and experiment with the context, questioning how the object is viewed and by who, controlling the way in which the piece is viewed.
He told me to look at a few artists not particular artists rather types of methods of creating significance within a work. Artists like Tamoko Takahashi create significance through the grouping of objects, she assembles a mass of materials ‘objects’ installing them freeform into a space, each grouping has its own narrative, the installation becoming gentle conceptual, focused on an unprejudiced exploration of classification, selection and systems ordering and their relation to aesthetic pleasure.
The other method Jonathan suggested I take a look at is used by David Hammons, he makes objects, iconic and stand alone pieces. This method is more like what I was trying to achieve with my work. He works with low value found objects transforming them into something else. His piece ‘Spade with Chain’ adjusts the readymade and adds construction and ‘craft’ to it, there is links with the processes and the subject matter.
Moving forward Jonathan asked me some questions to think about. Questions that would help me understand what my practice was about and how it could be developed. Why do I do art? What is my current focus? What are the main things I research?
Why do I do art? This must be the hardest question that anyone could have asked me, the truth is I do not know. There are many reasons, I get pretty involved with the physical making of art that is probably the bit I enjoy the most, if I am ever stuck its making that gets me out of it. However the theoretical side to art really interests me, from relational aesthetics to semiotics, but I do have trouble relating it to my work. What is my current focus? My current focus is redundancy, unused overlooked objects, the readymade. What are the main things I research? At the moment I am researching possible objects to alter/ transform with the addition of paperclips.
Of course these answers will change so I will ask myself these questions at intervals throughout the next couple of years.
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