Problems / challenges?

'there is never a problem without a gift for you in its hands. You seek the problem because you need its gifts' (Richard Bach)

OK - yesterday I went into college for the clear out - all the full time students have allocated studio spaces - it is our job to clear all the spaces and turn the studio into a gallery. It was fairly chaotic but a sense of all mucking in together. I met some lovely full time students that I am sharing a space with.

I also got to find out the space I have been allocated to show my work for assessment and for the degree show. It was not great news.

None of my 3 proposals seem to have been considered - with the tutor either not reading my very detailled diagrams and photographic proposal or not understanding my diagrams and photos of where I was asking for so I have been allocated a corner......behind a door.

 

The corner allocated is the one directly behind the door and the whole of the wall space to the plug socket.

Devastated doesn't come close.

I talked with two of my tutors who agreed it wasn't great but that I could see it as a challenge to make the most of it. The tutor who allocated the space insisted it was architectural and a great space. And after 6 years of this experience its hard not to take it personally. I considered the possibility of going up. Up into the roof space - that has interesting, unnoticed spaces. Lets keep in mind the point of my work is to draw attention to unnoticed space, to inject complexity into overlooked space. 

I went back to college later in the evening and took my projection with me - I had to see for myself what I could do with the space instead of worrying about it or complaining about it. I was determined not to be beaten by this, by the system - artists must have to work with spaces that aren't perfect and if I can pull this off then it will be a great learning experience....a gift.

 

The gallery space is not ready - there are wooden boards waiting for construction so its not an ideal environment but it was enough to get an idea that it would be ok.

The door is not great - I don't know how it will be on the night - its a fire door so I don't think it can be propped open, similarly it can't be removed but the positive aspects were that it is the first piece of work seen as the room is entered, the wall space is generous, if the door is allowed to close behind you the work can be viewed in its entireity and I think my work is strong enough to not be down heartened by the space behind the door - if anything it does what I want - it draws attention to an overlooked space - it draws you into that space and gets you to look where you wouldn't normally have looked.

I have been inspired by artists such as Sarah Sze and Hesoop Yeon and they actively use awkward and overlooked spaces.....so, I accept the gift and will continue. 

2 weeks to go

There are 2 weeks to go now until the assessment. I will try and keep this updated to show the process - and maybe to vent and stay calm.

I am feeling ok. The practice session really helped me to know whether it was going to work, how long it would take, what to do on the day etc. I have been knitting like crazy to create this huge piece of knitted wire to hang in front of the drawing.

I took the picture to show how long it is now - its about 6 feet and has taken me about 14 hours - luckily I can knit in front of the tv with the children - they are grateful as usually I am in a different room working!

Its a glorious piece of wire - so lusty and robust! I am loving teh photos I can get from it - something else to do - enlarge the pictures - I am thinking of putting some into some shows but that can wait.

So - tomorrow the department at college starts its clear up - everything needs to be removed from the space and stored and the spaces allocated - some time ago I put in a proposal for 3 prospective spaces and I have not  yet found out which one I have been allocated to put my work in. The walls have to be painted white and the floor has to be painted grey - I'm not sure about the floor as work needs to be installed and then taken away to paint the floor and then re-installed! Logistical nightmare. I am hoping to go along and help out tomorrow. Then I think we can start to install our work.

Mine will take approximately 7 hours to do - I have the children for the next 2 weeks (bad timing!) but I am planning to take them along for a couple of hours each day next week. I can do nothing this week for work and child commitments. Yes, that adds to my anxiety when I think about it.

On the home front - the house is all but finished and weirdly I spent all Saturday painting my new kitchen/family room! Mmm probably should have been doing art but I had to take my mind off something crappy happening in my personal life. The new room is a beautiful space and I have my posters bought at the Leeds Book Fair when I took part in that earlier this year - I have been saving them - they are my new inspiration and I love them!

I will sign off with some images of the wire.....

Practice Time

Ok, we are into the final few weeks.

At college we had our final tutorial and a walk round the proposed gallery space so that we could complete a pro forma detailling where and how we wish to install our work. There are few suitable corners to be honest but I found at least three options. My tutor seemed quite interested in my work and supportive of what I am trying to achieve so maybe she'll give me a good space!? Good news was that we are all focused and doing ok as the assessment deadline approaches.

As I went to my tutorial I was considering the relationship between the projection and the drawing - I knew that the drawing wasn't enough and that the projection was much more interesting and why but a couple of people had said what about both? My tutor included. The only way to find out for sure was to practice.

So this weekend I hired a studio space for the weekend. It was an opportunity to have a practice run - to intall in a studio space, to time the installation and to assess the effect in as close an environment to the real thing as possible.

It was a very worthwhile thing to do. I learnt much. I was originally painting the line in a dark tone of ink - it wasn't working with the shadow however to change the tone of the line made it more difficult to differentiate between the line and the shadow. It was the right thing to do. It isn't enough as just a line, nor as a shadow - having both creates a third layer. It defines the shadow and also leaves a line on the wall when the viewer walks in front of the shadow raising the question 'is it the shadow or the line?'

    

So - thats the installation sorted....ha! Now on with the knitting! I ordered 5 reels of wire, knitted for 2 hours and got an 18 inch x 12 inch piece of knitting and no wire left! Ordered some more but it didn't arrive - I'll have a job load arrive tomorrow! My calculations reckon that I will need 50 reels to do 10 feet - at £3 a reel!! Its ok..

House wise the kitchen is in, the floor is down and I have been able to move some stuff from the conservatory to the new kitchen. Still need electrics and an oven and a cooker hood and then its on to the bathroom! Have to say am fairly worn out - had a day just chilling and reading back to work tomorrow.

nearly there

Its been a couple of weeks. I've been working but my house is being renovated so things have been somewhat chaotic! The wall between my kitchen and dining room has been taken down - I have no kitchen and am living out of boxes in the conservatory! It will only be for another week though so be ok!

Art wise I've been looking at the subtleties between a projected line and a drawn line. Still working in my corner I have definately decided on using the knitted wire, not the threads. I have found a resolved way of hanging the wire in front of the drawing ...it just a matter of deciding whether to do projection, drawing or both!

My plan is to fill the entire corner with the image of the knitted wire - the question is drawing or projection? Whilst the drawing is stunning there is something 'dead' about it - certainly when compared to the projection - the projection has many qualities that cannot be captured in a drawing.

Another option is to do both - really explore the concept of the line - where the drawn line ends and the projection starts - a couple of people have suggested that to me. And so to fully explore this, my plan is to do the installation in a studio so I can see for myself. It will also help me with the timings etc.

Another aspect for consideration if I project then the projector becomes a part of the installation - I can't simply place it on the floor and ta-da! Do I have the projector in a white square? Do I block out the edges so I am projecting a thinner space.....all to be resolved and 4 weeks to go!

This week we had our final tutorials - all went well, we seem focused and on with. We got our plan of action for the assessment and final show - we have to go in to clear out the studio space, paint the walls, paint the floor, install work. Then we have to go in for the assessment and again for 2 private views and then finally to take the work down and get our grade!

Much to do.

one step forward

OK - been working each evening - done another straight thread piece - experimenting with attachments - this time used white drawing pins which seemed to work better looks wise - especially if I paint them white along with the wall. Also worked out better to string the thing up from the bottom up and how to attach the thread by going over in one direction and under in the other! All relevant and useful findings. Still not sure if I will use the finished piece and where to put it.

On with more projections. Bargain time!! Found someone selling a portable overhead projector in Bradford! Bargain at £30! Hardly used in great condition - took a trip out there and now its mine! Very nice Indian man who sold it - he does portraits in crayon of his family - he showed me his full range - they were very good! Nice man.

So - today I used it to project my knitted wire. And wow!! Its fab!!

This is the projection onto my dining room wall - so overwhleming and impactful.

So I set off drawing. I drew the outline of the shadow in ink and realised my pen wouldn't be enough to fill in the shaded parts. First I used acrylic but it looked too painterly so in the end I used ink and a brush to make the lines. As I went on I felt unsure about the original lines and that it might be less contrived if I were to paint with ink immediately onto the wall - more honest if less 'neat' for not having lovely outline!
This was the result.....

Obviously its only part of the projection and I've had to do it on paper on the wall (discovered that ink doesn't like to be painted over and I can't get it off my wall!!)
I find it visually quite stunning.
Imagine a large portion of wall covered in this.....



Then once it was finished I considered placing the original knitted wire in front of the shadow - as I did with the stitches. This is where I am unsure. The original problems of the wire being less organic, less flowing and web like than the stitches has returned. It doesn't hang beautifully in front. Because it is knitted the pieces are much larger and can only hang in rows. I'm in a big of a quandry about it. How do I get round this??

I placed a large piece of the knitting in front of the drawing for now - the complexity hits me immediately - the wall of wire in front of the softer drawing form, the complication of not being able to see the drawing for the wire - the corner being somehow off limits - you are stopped from entering almost. Is that what I wanted to achieve? Maybe. I will have drawn attention to it and yet made the observer aware of it by stopping them for looking more closely.
Still the wire doesn't feel right to me - I will have to think some more.....thinking....feeling.....the two are polar to each other! My feeling tells me this is not right....I wanted something breathing in the space. I tried the threads in front but that didn't work either......My thinking tells me that if I were to do this on a large scale with a wall of wire in front it could look stunning (and it was an idea I had a while back about the scale but had discarded - funny that!) ......hmmm.

Of real interest to me today I found an artist through another blog - the artist is called Heesop Yoon - http://heeseopyoon.com/index.html. The work is very similar to mine and for similar reasons - I love it. Tape is the main media used but the effect is what I would like to generate. My issue is I set myself the brief of drawing in space - it has to have a 3 dimensional aspect......doesn't it??

I also went to a friends house - they don't clean much and up on the ceiling in the corner were cobwebs of dust - and they reminded me of my work - at the window was a bamboo blind broken and wonky and it reminded me of my straight threads - funny - immediately my work became valid! ha ha!

Quiet without the children.
Sat outside watching the birds - I'm very lucky to have birds visiting my garden a lot! Two wood pigeons nest building in my tree and then landed straight in front of me a little bird, beautiful yellow across its back and a bright red face......a goldfinch!! Never seen one before! How lucky am I?!

And grateful on a very quiet day!

More tomorrow .......











Distractions

The children are away for a week and while the cats are away the mouse will play!!

I am dedicating these next evenings to my work - I really only have 5 weeks now to get my work to a place I am content with before final assessment..........

.......And I got distracted! I was browsing through my friends blogs -so much talent out there! I am always drawn by collages - it must be something to do with the chaos thing...anyway I saw the work of Jose Parla - http://www.joseparla.com/ - his work is inspired by grafitti but built up of layers and incorporates the chaotic line that is similar to my work....so I got distracted and thought I could build up layers in the corners and THEN place my threads in front

This was my attempt - acryllic, pigment, paper, wax and wire and threads. So much fun! Yum!





Then I put the threads in front of it

Maybe there is some mileage in it but I hear this little voice reminding me I am supposed to be drawing attention to SPACE - that was the point of the intricacies of the wire and the thread and the drawing.....maybe save this for later? Or think on a bit more.....

I get too distracted. The thing with this process is you don't stop having ideas and I guess one of the skills is to know which ones to listen to and which ones to park until later!

At the same time I am still considering the space in which to display my work - I will try and get some photos - I am concerned that the space I initially thought was suitable is too small and unnoticed - whilst that is the point of my work I don't want to do myself an injustice - I want it to be seen and considered not walked  past.....mmm.

Have done some more straight thread work - considering the attachments at the moment. Tacks are the best as they hold the thread in place - have tried panel pins - good colour but not a big enough head - the thread slips off, transparent drawing pins are too obtrusive, tacks are black. Tonight I painted the tacks white - not bad but still interfering. Especially as the line is relatively short -I think if the line was quite a distance the attachment wouldn't interfere - maybe that will be the answer. I have ordered white drawing pins and white map pins - see what they are like. I also tried other threads - the thread really does have to have meaning though. I tried my sari threads but they are too think -the rayon is the best ideally thick cotton as my great grandfather was a cotton trader!

Other than this tonight I made a yellow split pea dahl recipe - low fat, healthy and can be eaten with pitta - this was my stove top tonight! No time to eat - hungry now! ; ))

threads.........

Last night at college we started the preparation process for where we place our work in the end of year show and assessment. I haven't been feeling so sure of my direction and took the opportunity to have a chat with my tutor. This proved really helpful. I can certainly say I feel supported in my process right now!

She pointed out that I needed to consider the tonal qualities of my work - for example the white stitches against the grey ink background - if the stitches fit in tonally I may feel differently. Also I need to consider the attachments I use in the straight thread piece - I knew that - I have a range to try!

So onward with some more work today.
I have placed grey stitches in front of the drawn stitches and immediately it works much better! I had dismissed it but it has come to life again for me.

The work takes on new meaning  - drawing on many levels - the 2d of the wall, the 3d of the stitches and the shadow. I am going to try it with my knitted stitches and see if I can put some wire form in the corner too.

Additionally, I made another straight thread piece. I am still working out what these pieces mean to me. Its something about coming out from a corner, occupying a corner, repetition, calm.....this time I took the threads to a point on the ceiling. I certainly like the result and the process of creating - building and forming in the corner

I had to cover the background in paper as I am working in the same corner! Not a brilliant photo. My feeling is the scale is too big for the potential spaces available to me at college but I'm interested in taking the threads out into the space.

College presents new challenges. A lot of the upper corners are occupied by pipes and girders - there are very few clear, straight corners. I am ambivalent between accepting the challenge of one of these spaces or staying with the clear corners. We are allowed to select three locations and put them in order of preference. We need to put together a proposal explaining how we will use each space and why it is important to the presentation of our work. Then the proposals will be considered in line with all the others and the best space for the work allocated. So now I need to be thinking of what I will show where. My tutor encouraged me to show both forms - the chaos and the calm.....

In the meantime I got some interesting photos from all this work which I will use for the show brochure....