Getting on with life...

Today I have visited the Blue Monkey studio in Eastbourne to consider a space and it's implications, registered this drawing called Longman for the Jerwood drawing prize, submitted a proposal for the De La Warr Pavilion's Big Draw in October and visited my work in Hailsham at Gallery North soon to come down at the end of the month.

Next month I will be selecting some work to hang in the Towner Gallery cafe space and hearing whether my submission to the Hop Gallery Open, Lewis, has been successful.

Drawing

Internal terrain 1

Internal terrain 2

Internal terrain edge 3

External terrain
Wet, dripping. Heavy green trees, mud and blue bells a steam flowing fast and big drops of rain falling on the page. Cold and slippery ferns uncurling, birdsong and drops.

Accidental triangles

I love work when I discover edges, events that were not planned. Spontaneous results of creativity or openness. These triangle collages are just this, they are glimpses of movement, of colour, lightness, playfulness, geometry and a little puzzling. like catching something from the corner of your eye.

Disconnect is progressing slowly ....I like it but I don't know where it's heading yet. Playing a waiting and looking game now.

Disconnect series 1

Back painting again, this time a series called Disconnect, these are self portraits (in the sense of reflecting a state of mind). The series is an accumulation of knowledge, thought, memories and identity. I identify with the black form at present though my guess is that I may transfer..... only time will tell. Triangles are my hidden identity.

There are hints of landmass, tidal movement,standing water, space, height, air, lightness, colour, playfulness and naivety.

These are works in progress.

Looking at one of my first abstract paintings Galley Hill, there is a force pushing from the right onto the space the black form inhabits. Its edges cover and recede in the space between. Connecting and disconnecting.

Art that disappears into thin air...

In my research to find out more about ready made art, I have come across an artist called Heubler * who in the 60's made work which was at first known as minimal but then progressed towards conceptual. He was interested in a fusion of language and made pieces called Location and Duration. He would follow rules laid down arbitrarly in advance according to which events, spatial or temporal relationships are documented and are not accessible to direct perception.

He was one of three artists who challenged Greenbergs opinion that art should be visual. The three, Heubler, Weiner and Barry all focussed on a reality and a view of language expressed.

A thought.....The flag pole is a ready made, is the transparent flag?

Weiner understood language as a 'transitionary vehicle' and as a material that takes on sculptural qualities when it is read. He developed work in 'series', the series became more important than each individual piece. Pieces he identified in series were such as a mark of water on a step or a wall, 1969 or an object secured on a threshold.

In 1969 Robert Barry made art that literally dissolved into thin air for 1969 march 1969, an exhibition which took the form of a catalogue, Barry announced that on 5 th march he would release 5 cubic feet of helium into the atmosphere, before this he had exhibited audible radio waves.

I like this idea that art is visual but is more than this, meaning can be extended beyond the piece itself. It is also a happening... one that only happens in the viewers mind, it might be tangible or it might be a 'physical chemical reaction, imperceptible but actually present. So the person performing the art work ie the releasing of the helium, knows it to be a reality but anyone watching or reading about it has to suspend normal notions of logic and reality as they can see nothing hear nothing feel nothing.

A bit like spiritual experiences where on lookers feel excluded and don't 'get it' while the person experiencing it feels what they identify as God/the spirit or whatever named deity they believe in.

Art is a spiritual experience. Except when you feel excluded.

* I was reading Conceptual Art by Daniel Marzona.

Lighten up!

Your work isn't a high stakes nail biting professional challenge.

It's a form of play. Lighten up and have fun with it.

Sol Le Witt.

Identity 4 - the fear factor

The fear factor
Up till recently heroes were celebrated for their ability to go the distance and to show exceptional qualities including humility, chivalry, selflessness, intelligence, persistence, wisdom and bravery. Nowadays it's more about being famous, muscular, bold, rich, talented or fantastic by or just for themselves. We are losing sight of a rich vein of character, of meaning of life or resonne d'être. We are becoming 2 dimensional, observers unwilling participants. I have often organised an activity and asked people to take part; mostly children are fine with this but ask parents to do something alongside and it's nearly impossible. Is it because there is no previous experience of risk taking? Perhaps past histories of failure and bad learning experiences put people off. We inhibit ourselves, build strong walls as fortresses against the attack of participation, against being exposed or looking vulnerable. This isn't a class thing either it affects everybody.

I did an art workshop once about 'edges' we were simply making marks using edges of paper, card or other materials rubbing chalk ,graphite or charcoal on them. All the participants were fine with this except one woman who simply would not and could not make any mark on the paper at all. What is it that prevents someone from being able to make a mark even when friends are doing it all around? She was very hostile and her emotions were clearly very raw. This changed the atmosphere of the workshop completely. Instead of fun and lack of judgement there was suddenly a need for making her feel better and normal, and the others began finding meaning or pictures within marks....the logical side of the brain took over the creative right side and the left brain limiting walls started going up.

Confusing celebrity or even just survival (terrorist attacks or accidents) with heroism is common, but what impact does this have on our children, I have just been to Disney with mine and am trying to encourage them to think of their traits and characteristics rather than simply killing each other in mortal combat! I want them to understand there is more to life than just being a hero in terms of the superficiality of Ben 10 or a power ranger or even a disney character, like a dashing prince. That these characters do more than win every battle, they leave home, journey, encounter fear and failure, have to overcome these feelings of hopelessness and believe that they can win through by their actual experiences. Just like the famous Greek myths and legends.

Good modern stories or tv cartoons do still pay lip service to these character traits, though perhaps it's too hard to see this through the cheap computer graphics that replace good old fashioned animation, the new Fireman Sam or much worse American cartoons who's faces do not move and only the lips do (apologies for no example here but I refuse to watch them and therefore cannot remember their names and my children are in bed) but our culture does not encourage us to develop these traits for ourselves, we may borrow them from screen or computer games where we do not face reality. But nothing beats the feeling of conquering your greatest fears or completing a quest where you have been the hero. It's those feelings and that knowledge gained through learned experience that will get you through the fear. Not empathetic crying or cheering through the X factor!