DEGREES UNEDITED

# 1 [15 September 2009]

Brush off The Worries

The summer of rain is almost over, and then I must get back to the hard work. I have been too busy enjoying Viru beer and red wine, dancing about and lazing on the sofa. I should have started a dissertation by now....

However, this is probably the last time in my life that I will have such lazy days and so I embrace them! 5 days left....

# 2 [18 September 2009]

So, the dissertation has begun! I have chosen a subject that I am very passionate about, fire.

Today I have been reading about the wily Prometheus and it got me thinking...

As artists, there is an undeniable force in our nature that pushes us to know and to create, despite the dangers or consequences that lie ahead.  We act as providers of knowledge and truth; in doing so do we suffer from a “Prometheus Complex?” 

# 3 [20 September 2009]

"Life doesn't last; art doesn't last"

I finally made it up to the Fruitmarket in Edinburgh to see Eva Hesse's Studioworks. I've always been a fan of her work, and the diverse range of ephemeral materials and techniques in this show continue to inspire me.

Fold, pin, pierce, cut, layer, wrap....the physical act of making can create a contemplative space and a more sensory experience for creating work, which I often find myself in during production. Each piece was made intimately with her hands, and in showing these test pieces, the process between thinking and making is revealed. Elements from the cabinets downstairs begin to build up into larger, more active works upstairs. Lying dead in the cabinets, they come alive on the walls, showing the openended nature of her work.

The most fascinating aspect for me was the deterioration and temporal aspect of the work. It is not timeless, in fact, time is built in to the sculpture, and this life span is what makes the art precious.

The works, especially the papier mache pieces, remind me of ancient relics and how museums like Pitt Rivers choose to present their artefacts. It was unknown how Hesse's test pieces were intended to be encountered, they become indeterminate, and it is up to the curators to make decisions on use and display in light of what is already known about her art.

# 4 [23 September 2009]

Printmaking Nomads

In our University, we printmakers are shipped about every year (sometimes more than once through the semester) due to changes happening in our department..I know it helps our practice, but this year my studio is currently a storage room! Some heavy lifting is needed today so that I can get the numerous lockers and plan chests out and get to work!

Yesterday I went to Durham to see "Inkubator 2" at the DLI Museum. An exhibition of artists' books set in an unconventional setting of four areas: The Annexe, The Study, The Log Cabin and The Landscape. Each of these areas are places we might read, learn, think and reflect in, and in adding wallpaper and chairs, the gallery attempts to create a domestic area, moving away from institutional spaces. However, I expected there to be more books, or there to be larger bookshelves, and specific lighting to help us really immerse ourselves in the setting, it wasn't possible to forget that I was in an institution.

It was impossible to note down each book, but two higlights for me were Miranda Schofield's "Hearth" and Finlay Taylor "De-Composition" due to the content and form of the books. Each  book was fascinating, being able to handle them meant hours could be spent there (I had limited time, so stuck to an hour and a half). It got me wondering what books mean to artists, and what they mean to me.

# 5 [29 September 2009]

Thinking about learning contracts...

As part of our professional practice module we have to do either a placement or a learning contract. As I've taken up a few placements in the past (and still no closer to knowing what I'll do at the end of this) I think a learning contract will be best for me.

A friend of mine tutors in the Architecture Department at the University and has promised to show me their laser cutter. This will increase my range of physical mark making; I often work in pontilist effect either through burning, cutting or incising and I am interested to see what this machine can do!

It will mean having to use CAD (I'm not great with technology) but hopefully it will be fun. Hopefully my tutor will agree, otherwise I'll have to get thinking of something else!

# 6 [30 September 2009]

Planning Learning Contracts....

This is just a follow on from the last post about further methods to develop my visual language...

My tutor liked the idea of using the laser cutter as it allows technology to become incorporated. He also suggested trying water jet cutting at the glass museum...now I'm very excited about that!

# 7 [30 September 2009]

Oh, and I will add some photos of my work eventually!

# 8 [28 October 2009]

Notes from a nerve-wracking presentation...

Nathalie Bouleau Chabot: Third year Printmaker

Before I joined the course I studied one year of Fashion, things like pattern cutting and pin marking have influenced my style of working, and my clean, precise attitude probably comes from there too.

The use of paper is central to my practice and I am occupied in dealing with line, gesture and interruption to reveal paradoxical qualities of intent/accident reveal/ conceal substance / light and fragment/whole.

My work is difficult to photograph, an issue I will have to work on further in the course.

“Threadburn” was an accidental test piece, which was actually chosen to be shown in Japan along with three other works

Primitive and universal aspects are of interest to me. Last year I looked at modern and vernacular architecture, exploring lines. Marks and Traces can vary in the information they offer. The physical act and process of making, through methods such as burning, pouncing, piercing or cutting are important to me, as are the laborious, repetitive actions required to construct pieces of work.

This year, I am looking at the circle as a symbol and a motif. The symbols of man are infinite in their complexity but simple in their rules. The dot and the circle are symbols of the first order of all humans. A recurrent motif in architecture of every civilisation, they can show the reflective self-awareness that is present in all humans of all cultures and locations.

I will also become more sculptural, thinking about how we physically look at work. When I work, a contemplative space is created wherein I am more fully able to reflect on my own sensory experience. I want to create a similar meditative space for the viewer where they can experience the familiar through my work in infinite ways; with mark making acting as a form of contact between artist and medium, artist and audience and audience and work.

# 9 [28 October 2009]

My first "artist talk" happened last week and thankfully it wasn't as intimidating as I had expected it to be. At times I felt I could hear my own voice and had no control over what I was saying, my passion took over.

Our group was interesting, as I only knew the work of two others. I learnt that no matter whether you like the work visually, the ideas that underpin it, and the artist's attitude to their practice is always the most important thing. I also discovered that we all experience the same anxieties and periods of being lost or stuck. This was very reassuring.

A major issue I will have to face is the documentation of my work. The pieces I have been working on this year are extremely difficult to photograph- would I tackle this with a professional photographer? Or decide that they should not be photographed at all?

An example of the difficulty in showing my work is here. Only slight marks can be seen, a very different experience is offered when viewed in reality...

# 10 [28 October 2009]

To go along with the laser cutting I will be working on this semester, I will also attend this Symposium in Loughborough where my tutor, Sian Bowen, will be the key note speaker...

Cutting Edge : Lasers and Creativity

Loughborough University School of Art and Design 4 November 2009

Symposium Programme

             9:00    Registration and Coffee

            10:15  Welcome

                        Kerry Walton

                        Professor Marsha Meskimmon, Director of School of Art and Design

10:20  Introduction  Professor Terence Kavanagh, Dean of Faculty of Social Sciences

            10:30  Keynote

            Siân Bowen

11:15  Slow Cutting - Jenny Smith

          11:40  BREAK

11:50  Between emerging and commonplace - laser technology and the creative space - Marlene Little

12:15  Carbon Based Forms - Rachel Nee

            12:40  Panel discussion Siân Bowen, Jenny Smith, Marlene Little, Rachel Nee

13:00  LUNCH

13:45  Jacob Schlaepfer -   Rob Huddleston and Paul Whittaker

14:10  RESURFACED : an exploration of 'design for upcycling' through laser finishing for textiles - Kate Goldsworthy

14:35  Laser Processing for the Creative Industries - Sarah O'Hana

15:00  Panel discussion

Rob Huddleston, Paul Whittaker, Kate Goldsworthy, Sarah O'Hana

 15:15  BREAK with refreshments

15:30  Distance=Planned Decisions - Joanne Berry

15:55 Lasers: Forming a relationship in the Making - Sarah Silve

16:20 Laser Facilitation in the Context of Hybrid Technology - John Angus

16:45  Panel discussion

Joanne Berry, Sarah Silve, John Angus

17:00  Close 

17:05  Drinks reception

18:00  End

 Cutting Edge : Lasers and Creativity

 Loughborough University School of Art and Design 4 November 2009 

Symposium Programme

9.30 - 6.00    Laser Demonstration

                        Barry Abson and David Barkham from Cad Cam Technology

                        Drawing Research Room

9.30 - 6.00    3 minute Rolling PowerPoint Presentations

                        Jenny Addrison, Parveen Bazaz, Roberta Bernabei, Libby Day,

Dan Heath, Faith Kane, Janette Matthews, Lauren Moriarty,

                        Sarah Robertson, Kerry Walton, 4d Designs -  Mike Radford.

                        Post Graduate Teaching Space

                        Project Space

                        Presenters will be available for discussion at lunch break, 13.00 - 13.45

                        and 5.00 - 6.00 during the drinks reception

9.30 - 6.00    Exhibition of Products

                        Parveen Bazaz, 4d Design

                        Post Graduate Teaching Space 

 This event will be recorded to retain a record of the day.

Proceedings will be published.