http://www.a-n.co.uk/degrees_unedited/projects/single/520132 University College Falmouth Tue, 14 Feb 2012 18:55:18 +0000 a-n rss generator a-n The Artists Information Company and contributors edit@a-n.co.uk technical@a-n.co.uk http://www.a-n.co.uk/img/logo.gif http://www.a-n.co.uk/degrees_unedited/projects/single/520132 http://www.a-n.co.uk/degrees_unedited/projects/single/520132 I am juggling children this week as it is the Easter school holidays. I did manage to get to the forest though, which was great. I try to get there at least once a week for a day or I feel I am loosing touch with the real subject of my work. I went with my 2 children Coral(8) and Stefan(11) and a friend Christine. When we arrived I was reminded not all my trips to the forest are a pleasant experience and nature contains fear aswell as beauty. There was a notice on the gate about "10 horrific deaths" of sheep by uncontrolled dogs. This made us all uneasy, but is as much a part of the experience as the unfurling leaves we saw on the beach trees and the lizard in the sun. I made sound recordings in 5 spots in the forest with different atmospheres. This time there is talking in with the forest sounds.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/degrees_unedited/projects/single/520132 http://www.a-n.co.uk/degrees_unedited/projects/single/520132 Went to an interesting talk by an Isreali artist at the Centre for Contemporary Art in the Natural world at Haldon Forest. The artist is Shai Zakai, she's into initiating dialogues about ecological issues. I hope to take part in her show there in October which will consist of black shoeboxes filled with natural material to create her forest tunes library, showing damaged nature or nature with a personal story. I have to fill my box in some way, maybe I'll fill it with shadows! I like having a project that is easily achievable (maybe). My life is so full at the moment with kids and life organisation that filling a shoebox is a nice easy thing to fit in, just need to find a box.......... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/degrees_unedited/projects/single/520132 http://www.a-n.co.uk/degrees_unedited/projects/single/520132 They are logging the forest! My first thoughts were, oh no that wrecks my project then. But after meeting Dave from the  Forestry commission and Nick one of the logging contractors. I hope to use their knowledge in the artwork I do. People and their management of the trees are an integral part of the forest. Still hard to see it changed though. Funny studying something that is always transforming and shifting, never fixed. I like working outside in the environment rather than being in a studio too much, there is always change and interaction.  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/degrees_unedited/projects/single/520132 http://www.a-n.co.uk/degrees_unedited/projects/single/520132 Just spent a few days with fellow MA students at Appledore Festival. Our contribution was a fire and fury ritual, where the public was asked to deposit their anger on our anger posts, followed by a ritual burning of said anger on the beach with a bowl of Chilli thrown in! An interesting learning experience. I was surprised at how many people turned up at the Far Beach the next day (yes it was far from the town and hard to find) and felt a commitment to completing the clensing process. The tides were even working in our favour, coming in later on to put out the flames. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/degrees_unedited/projects/single/520132 http://www.a-n.co.uk/degrees_unedited/projects/single/520132 I feel happy to be back in the woods and creating work. I feel the work is developing a connective thread and a direction. Reflecting my interest in making site responsive work, I've started making "forest letters". It came out of the whole logging experience, I needed to voice my thoughts, and observations. The letters are paper scrolls that are visual or written resposes to being in the place at that moment. The scrolls are then rolled into bark cases, which are all over the forest since the logging took place. these are left in the woods for people to come across in the nature of  a message in a bottle, or chance encounter. I like this way of presenting the work, although over time they are nibbled and weathered. College is taking a back seat at the moment with no lectures etc. this is a good thing, as I am able to get down to some work. There is a window before the kids Summer holidays start. We have an evaluation point soon, which does wonders for motivation!... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/degrees_unedited/projects/single/520132 http://www.a-n.co.uk/degrees_unedited/projects/single/520132 Can't believe I haven't blogged for so long! Just returned from a camping, seminar weekend near Zennor Cornwall, organised by Bos Arts at NT Treveal Farm. Great fun and food for thought. My interim college show work reponded to the site too.  My "Making the Bed" work  sprang from conversations with Jon Brookes (country side manager at NT Treveal Farm). He spoke to me about the reintroduction of grazing to the coastal cliffs, which allows light to the soil, bringing biodiversity and wildflowers to the clifftops. However the issue has polarised local residents who share the landscape.  Making work on site was an interesting take on a college show, bringing its own particular practical and emotional stresses. The main one being I was relying on other people to help make the piece happen, and it all had to happen at the last minute. A farmer friend near home was called upon to come up with friends near Zennor who could provide the small bales that can be lifted by hand, and the National Trust provided help with the trailer etc. It all worked out beautifully on the day and the weekend was glorious which meant I could site the work in the milking yard where I wanted it. If it had been a bad forecast it would have been in a barn, or the bales would have been ruined and the calves would have gone hungry! The joys of a rural practice!... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/degrees_unedited/projects/single/520132 http://www.a-n.co.uk/degrees_unedited/projects/single/520132 I love this quote by Joseph Campbell in The Power of Myth "People say what we're all seeking is a meaning for life. I don't think that's what we're really seeking. I think that what we're seeking is an experience of being alive..." These words struck me. With my artwork I am exploring this experience of being fully attentive to the everyday experience of What Is. This reflects my interest in meditation and Taoism. I have begun the practice of making Chinese ink drawings in the woods of boundaries, paths, the marginal and in between. I think this could be a rich area for me to cultivate. I'd like to make 52 drawings! I am making the drawings on site then re making them in the studio adding colour. This is an experiment in memory and mark. By re-making the drawings am I adding to them in any way? What is added and what is lost?... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/degrees_unedited/projects/single/520132 http://www.a-n.co.uk/degrees_unedited/projects/single/520132 College has started in earnest again, so I'm back to my ususal tired mode from too much travelling and sleeping on a friend's floor. I have been doing quite a bit of research in the library though, and come up with some interesting books. Always a dilema as to the balance of reading v work, sometimes the ideas can seem so interesting. I'm interested in the research/practice debate beginning in Carolyn Sheppherd's profile interview.  ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/degrees_unedited/projects/single/520132 http://www.a-n.co.uk/degrees_unedited/projects/single/520132 College has started in earnest again, so I'm back to my usual tired mode from too much travelling and sleeping on a friend's floor. I have been doing quite a bit of research in the library though, and come up with some interesting books. Always a dilemma as to the balance of reading v work, sometimes the ideas can seem so seductive. I'm interested in the research/practice debate beginning in Carolyn Shepherd's profile interview. I must remember not to overlook the value of learning through making. I like it when the making processes echo the concepts explored in the reading and academic research. My previous work was purely intuitive, and it was hard to develop this way. I think to make thoughtful art the conceptual base needs strengthening too. Maybe debates in the blog will help me to be more reflective. I need to continue drawing as research, a thread that was started as a college seminar and which I need to remember to practice. Richard Taylor's blog is great for looking at drawing as research. the image is my first pinhole image from a can camera left in the woods. More on this later....... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/degrees_unedited/projects/single/520132 http://www.a-n.co.uk/degrees_unedited/projects/single/520132 The blogger interview was well worth taking part in. It is interesting to be pushed to approach your art practice from a different perspective. My aim this week is to bury myself in work. Why do I always feel like this when kids holidays loom? Went to the woods on friday, my last day of freedom before the holidays. Now I am in my final year I am finding it difficult to relax and experiment so much. Need to resolve this mental boundary.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/degrees_unedited/projects/single/520132 http://www.a-n.co.uk/degrees_unedited/projects/single/520132 This week has been about exploring presence and absence through drawing! I've been continuing with the 52 ink drawings in the woods, and am now re-making them in the studio. Re making the marks and adding colours from memory and intuition. This will be for a crit next week where I will hopefully get constructive feedback. (Pictures later as I'm on my daughters speedy new computer.) I heard this on the channel 4 programme "Where is modern Art Now?" and thought it was a good quote "Navigating the unknown is what artists do best." ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/degrees_unedited/projects/single/520132 http://www.a-n.co.uk/degrees_unedited/projects/single/520132 Just made a series of ink drawings responding to place for my college crit. We have a project space to show work in progress or present finished work as an exhibition. I have chosen to show work in process. All the work to do with the wood is part of the same piece, it is evolving and in process. Managed to get tennis elbow from too much brush painting! I hope the crit is useful on Tuesday. It will be useful for me to see the work up together as it is supposed to be seen that way and my studio space isn't big enough.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/degrees_unedited/projects/single/520132 http://www.a-n.co.uk/degrees_unedited/projects/single/520132 The crit went well, and I got some thoughtful feedback on the work. It feels like a real privilege to have a group of people spend focused time with your work. They seemed to understand it. In our crit format the artist stays pretty much silent, which means you get a good idea of what your art work is saying. Recently, I have left 5 pinhole can cameras secreted in the woods. I will collect them 4th January (the day before I go back to Falmouth), they will have had a month to capture what they have seen. I feel so impatient to see what will be on the paper. For me this is an essential ingredient of the art, the sense of wonder and surprise.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/degrees_unedited/projects/single/520132 http://www.a-n.co.uk/degrees_unedited/projects/single/520132 The final stretch of the course is upon us and I have a sneaky feeling time is going to speed up from now until August and the final show. I am still wrapped up in experimental mode and resisting the idea of having to make decisions on the form of the final show. I collected the pinhole cameras and dissapointingly only one (the one placed in a clearing in the woods) showed any image. They had been left for a month and I think the light levels were too low and alot got covered with snow, also the pin hole was maybe too small for the light levels. I was so looking forward to the results and travelled through icey conditions to fetch them. I will contine trying, it is part of the process afterall.   I did have one insight from the failed work. I realised the act of weathering on the film paper interested me as much as the image. I like the notion of the place having a part in the art. I like Carolyn Shepherd's recent blog entry on a similar subject; the historical resonance of found materials. ... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/degrees_unedited/projects/single/520132 http://www.a-n.co.uk/degrees_unedited/projects/single/520132 Just beginning to realise how dissapointed I was with the pinhole camera failure. How much is bouncing back from these hiccups a part of having resilience as an artist? I recently read an interesting book. Hare brain, Tortoise Mind by Guy Claxton where, amongst other things he spoke about resilient learners, those that carried on dispite setbacks. I rekon that is what I shall be doing now. It is nice to write something without footnotes! We have started a series of seminars to support our essay writing. the seminars are great but the footnoting is not! Another version of the one pinhole that worked.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/degrees_unedited/projects/single/520132 http://www.a-n.co.uk/degrees_unedited/projects/single/520132 My computer has died, so no pictures this post. How do you balance the theory/writing with the art? Mybe its worse on an MA course, i just don't seem to be able to flit seamlessly from writing to making. I have started doodleing words in my sketchbook maybe it will become a bridge between the world of intellect and spirit?!... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/degrees_unedited/projects/single/520132 http://www.a-n.co.uk/degrees_unedited/projects/single/520132 In essay mode now. We've been told we need the 1st draft in by the 23rd March. I have only just started it! The essay helps make sense of the work in words, but its hard to do the art work and write about it I find. Today is working on a presentation for the lecture theatre and the essay of course.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/degrees_unedited/projects/single/520132 http://www.a-n.co.uk/degrees_unedited/projects/single/520132 I visited the Jerwood Drawing Prize exhibition at the Burton Art Gallery in Bideford on friday. It was an interesting experience, which made me acknowlege the importance of drawing in my own practice.  This prize shows the huge diversity in contemporary drawing practice. I particularly liked the large ink drawing of a fragmented woven piece of fabric by Chie Konishi. The work was on 150x200cm piece of tracing paper, and it spoke to me of the vulnerability and strength I'd like to embody in my own work.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/degrees_unedited/projects/single/520132 http://www.a-n.co.uk/degrees_unedited/projects/single/520132 Only a few months to go before the MA show in a room at Lamorva Painting studio. My work is so concerned with the approach and process i am finding it difficult to be goal orientated and think about making final pieces. i am resisting the finality of this! I hung the 52 ink drawings in Andy's studio, and was surprised how they looked collectively. I think that's the key. I have been working over time so to suddenly make something new for the show is maybe not a good idea?....... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/degrees_unedited/projects/single/520132 http://www.a-n.co.uk/degrees_unedited/projects/single/520132 This is the final week before the MA assessments and the show opens to the public. I have finally found a soulution to my angst over the final show. I was finding it difficult to see how I could show the process I have been engaged in in the woods effectively and in the spirit in which it was made. I have ended up with what I see as a form of 'poetic documentation'. Responding to the huge room I have been given to show in, as well as showing glimpses of the work in the wood. I don't feel it is finished yet. The final month has been a challenge, but I am pleased with how the space has developed. Now interested to see how the show is recieved, especially by the people who know my pre-MA textile practice.... Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.a-n.co.uk/degrees_unedited/projects/single/520132