The trouble with some people is…
Do you know..It never ceases to amaze me when people confront you with the question, “Why are you doing a degree at your age?”. I’m not offended by the question, it’s more of a shock and a realisation of some Peoples attitude to education, some ask “what’s the point?” or “What will you do with it?”. I am sure it’s partly because my area of interest is in the arts and we all know how de-valued the arts are in some quarters, when I try to explain to the people who question my motive I tell them it isn’t about getting a certificate or a rubber stamp, to me that’s a by-product ,it really is all about the experience, the engagement with your subject, the gaining of “knowledge” and the growth you experience as a person, how its a completely enriching environment to be in, these are the reasons for “doing it!”. I am then usually greeted with either a vague nod of the head or a sympathetic smile! Ahh well!
Enough venting, on to more important matters!
Let me introduce you to my own space in the studio…a little sparse at the moment, but, it’s all mine! 
So, this week, after a faltering start, turned out to be pretty good. My tutorial on Practice work with Peter on Wednesday went well, our learning agreements will remain open to change and re-negotiation as the semester progresses, which seems to make sence as that’s what surely its about, as long as we log and record reasons for changes in direction. I am predicting my own work will develop and change as influences of other artists practise is bound to make me shift slightly to ultimately result in a better, more rounded conclusion to my project. I need, need, need to get over to the Liverpool Biennial in the next couple of weeks, there’s such a wealth of material there I can’t afford to miss it. An artist Peter highlighted to me was “Roni Horn”, I have since found her work on the internet and yes, I found her work very relative to my own practice especially the work titled “Are you the Weather”, a series of portraits of her niece taken over a two month period…
“The viewer’s relationship to the portrait is very erotic because there is eye contact and ambiguity, and in my mind the ambiguity is very much about the viewer—about what the viewer wants from the subject.” ( Roni Horn)
Related Articles
- ‘Roni Horn: White Dickinson’ (search.japantimes.co.jp)
My project for this semester will be looking at and examining the artistic values artists embed in to works they create. The next part of this blog is taken from some of my learning agreement I submitted .
Throughout my working practice and past studies I have been interested in the relationship between art and the viewer.
This has lead me to question whether the emotional content an artist might invest in a piece of art is lost or misinterpreted once it is released into the public domain. (Or the observer)
This reflection has inspired me to think about my own creative practice and the relationship between process, product and the observer.
This semesters work will investigate an ongoing and developing interest in the emotional content embedded in my artwork.
To inform this investigation I intend to produce a series of facemasks taken from a cast of my own face on a daily basis over a set number of days, the masks will be made from a plaster shell, (potential for further research into alternative casting materials).
To reflect and record my experience and the artistic emotion invested in each cast, I intend to take fragments of photographs of my facial expression and apply them to the surface of the mask, by taking this direct method of a cast and a graphic image I hope to portray a personal imprint into the art work offering a direct link and an immediate representation to the observer.
For the final presentation of the work I intend to display the collection on the floor, by doing this I intend to amplify and suggest the fragility and vulnerability of the human emotion.
The completed work will provide a narrative and a reflection of my experiences and emotions as I advance through the early stage of the MA.
So, the work will start next Monday morning, I nned to catch up with Roy in the plaster room and get alginated up!…should be fun but very messy! I’ll no doubt have some interesting photographs to post next week.
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