Whereas my last studio was too cold and poorly insulated, my new space is too hot due to lack of ventilation!
Having come in early in the morning the space was unbelievably humid and totally non-conducive to art making. Not to be deterred, I decided to move my materials outside and work there instead – an interesting proposition in light of previous discussions which site the importance of the studio as a containing space.
Relative to last week, my studio session today felt sluggish. The scope of my activities was limited to shredding, gluing and winding paper into reels as part of a series sculptural forms that are inspired by Bion’s theory of containment. It’s a production process that I’ve become well-versed in even though it feels somewhat repetitive and unvaried. I started to wonder why am I doing this?
Subsequently in watching What Do Artists Do All Day? and hearing Cornelia Parker’s own rationale for being an artist; and the contentious relationship between work and play, I started to consider my own approach to art making. Hence should the business of making art always be fun or; does being an artist, imply that fun and intuitiveness are always tempered by other external factors (e.g. material costs, time restraints/ deadlines, the availability of equipment, other commercial pressures….etc)?
‘My theory about why I’m an artist and why I do what I do is play was a guilty pleasure and so I think I’ve chosen a career where play is ok although it’s hard work. It’s as if work and play are very conflated in my work’
What Do Artists Do All Day? (BBC iPlayer, 2013)
…. The relationship between work and play within the context of art practice is definitely worth revisiting. Moreover why might notions of play be pertinent to art therapy as well?
Related links:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b02tg2z2/What_Do_Artists_Do_All_Day_Cornelia_Parker/
