This was a half day conference at the RCA. Some of the top names in the textile arena were in the audience, (Alice Kettle, and Gina Pierce from London Met) and others whose names escape me, (as well as me and Vanda!). Oddly, given the rarity of this type of event, some universities running higher degrees in this field, were unrepresented! The conference was to promote a new book The Handbook of Textile Culture which promises to be a major reference book for the decade. Just a quick flick through shows a very detailed bibliography for every essay - always a good indicator for a student.
I will focus on one presentation: Lived Lives - Materialising Stories of Young Irish Suicide. This was a moving presentation, sensitively given, about how Seamus McGuinness worked with bereaved parents to create several artworks. These artworks positively represented young Irish people who had killed themselves, over a 5 year period. From conversations with Irish staff where I worked, I was already aware that in Ireland, suicide is hugely stigmatised and if the nature of the death can be concealed, it will be. According to the people I have spoken to, this is because people who have ended their own life are not allowed to be buried in consecrated ground.
The artist, Seamus McGuinness, was studying for his PhD and worked with Dr Kevin Malone, clinical psychiatrist, St Vincent's University Hospital and they wanted to find out "what artworks can do in society" (p149). Seamus said one of the areas of difficulty was gaining agreement from the Ethics Committee to create the artworks. The main area of contention was that he wanted to use their images and first name - this categorically is precluded on grounds of confidentiality and anonymity as specified by the Ethics and Medical Research Committee, and to which Lived Lives had to adhere. However the factor which gained the required consent, was that one of the parents attended the Committee Hearing and asked them by what right the Committee could prevent her giving permission for her child to be named in this way. (p152)
There were both still and moving images of this artwork in the presentation. 21g was an artwork of 110 shirt collars ripped from shirts, suspended from the ceiling. 21g is the mythical decline in body weight at the moment of death, and 110 is the number of recognised suicides in Ireland in 2003. It was an incredibly moving image. There was a poignant comment made by a parent when viewing it "My son Patrick is in there somewhere". Seamus said it was at this point he realised the cloth was a conduit to the people represented in their absence, and the nature of the cloth was a critical factor by its tactility and memory as much as the presentation and form in space.
Seamus noted official lines of investigation often overlook the lay knowledge of the family members. He believes narratives and research methods which take lay knowledge into account create a potentially deeper comprehension. While my work is not in anything like as difficult a field as Seamus works, I think it is an interesting concept that "unique human insights or small memories …" create individuality and uniqueness. The essay in the book refers to Barthes 1993: 28 for "an ethical mode of listening" I need to read this.
There were some powerful quotes from parents. "I feel the best I have felt in 5 years, since my beloved first born child handed her life back to God". A positive outcome from an artwork, and a positive way describe the ending of a life.
Friday, 27 November 2015
Wednesday, 25 November 2015
A really good day at class
I was at uni yesterday and had a great tutorial with Linden, my tutor.
Linden is very enthusiastic about my sampler project, and we were talking about methodology (she gets very excited about different methods of research). I showed various bits of artwork I have done in Vanda's art class, so she could see how I work up ideas. Linden has listened to various stories I have told about friend's mothers and family members and has various methods of research she wants me to use. I was also told off! She is very keen that I should have one of Aunt Joan's knitted sweaters as part of my research. She was seriously unimpressed that I had not accepted one of the sweaters when Allison offered one! I need to talk to my cousin Allison to see whether there is one I can have.
Linden was very excited about the knitting book that I have inherited from Aunt Joan. I had planned to get it repaired by a bookbinder and was told not to, at least until I had done the research on the book. Now I have looked at every page of the book, I know Aunt Joan knitted the pram set, gloves, a boy's sweater and a ladies top. She ate a biscuit one day while knitting and also knitted in the garden soon after the grass had been mown!
I might also knit one of the patterns and wear it at either the 2015 end of year show, or the 2016 MA show. I think this is a great idea!
I told my Contextual Studies tutor, Lewis, about my ideas. Because of all the stories I tell about family, he wants me to do some oral history research. He was suggesting I find out whether family members are prepare to tell the family stories, and be recorded. At present I know nothing about how to do this, so I need to find out at my next tute with him. He was very keen that someone in the group should use oral history technique. I have known for some time that Narrative is important to my work, but had not realised it would be an important part of my research.
I also handed in my Literature Review. He was quite stunned. I thought it had to be in on Friday 27 November, and I am busy with other things today and tomorrow. So, obviously to my mind(!), the deadline comes forward. He seemed not to expect it until about a week later. Other class members seem confused about what is expected - a literature review or a report. As is my wont, I just went ahead and did as I thought fit.
So I have an idea. At present I have not spoken to Jim about all this, as he is not home until Sunday. Jim and I were planning to go to Scotland between Christmas and New Year, to see his friend Grace, (who is about 85, quite disabled, but feisty and happy), and we normally spend a few days with her while we visit Glasgow, then have a few days in Edinburgh, before coming home. This is not yet arranged. So I was wondering whether Jim and I could pop into see Allison and other family members either on the way up or back from Scotland. I suspect my Uncle Jimmy might be quite interested in the actual recording process, as he is a retired engineer. All my Dad's side of the family are supportive of my studies and I think they would be very keen and very interested in what I am doing.
Friday, 20 November 2015
Thoughts from the Swimming Pool: Literature Review
Today was my first swim in 5 weeks, due to illness and busy-ness occupying my time instead. I managed 1500m instead of my usual 1750, but I was pleased with my swim because it enabled my thinking.
I thought through my introduction for my literature review.
This literature review will cover contributory factors for my MA By Project: Valuing Women. The literature review will consider how culture demonstrates how social groups set value upon each other (Raymond Williams); the importance of metaphor in understanding underlying messages (Lakhoff and Johnson); the implications of Residual, Dominant and Emergent forms of culture (Raymond Williams); embodied cognition (Lambrous Malafouris); the significance of the object within western culture (Hudek); the gendering of the gaze (Laura Mulvey); and the use of stitch as a feminine medium (Rozika Parker). Additionally I will also consider examples of visual artworks,by Tracey Emin (Tent), by Grayson Perry (Who Are You?) and one by Cornelia Parker (Magna Carta).
This breaks down to about 300 words per item.
I started reading Lambrous Malafouris but then developed a migraine. So I took myself off the to chiropractor and he diagnosed "student's neck" and dealt with it. I had not met this chiropractor before, and it turns out he sees himself as a feminist as he was brought up in a single parent household and his mother was a strong woman! He was brought up to think a school community of 50% lesbians and the rest as strong independent women was normal, and was quite stunned to discover at age 18 that the rest of the world did not think likewise!
I found my reading fascinating but hard work. It gave the detail that supported a conversation that Linden and I had had a couple of weeks ago. A lot of the stuff I have been looking at recently comes from 1930s, retheorised in 1980s, so I was very glad that Malafouris is writing in 2014 and it is cutting edge thinking. Having read, paraphrased and slept on it, I hope today to be able to write some of the detail in easy words, to be half way between the complexity of the author and the simplicity of my conversation with Linden.
I thought through my introduction for my literature review.
This literature review will cover contributory factors for my MA By Project: Valuing Women. The literature review will consider how culture demonstrates how social groups set value upon each other (Raymond Williams); the importance of metaphor in understanding underlying messages (Lakhoff and Johnson); the implications of Residual, Dominant and Emergent forms of culture (Raymond Williams); embodied cognition (Lambrous Malafouris); the significance of the object within western culture (Hudek); the gendering of the gaze (Laura Mulvey); and the use of stitch as a feminine medium (Rozika Parker). Additionally I will also consider examples of visual artworks,by Tracey Emin (Tent), by Grayson Perry (Who Are You?) and one by Cornelia Parker (Magna Carta).
This breaks down to about 300 words per item.
I started reading Lambrous Malafouris but then developed a migraine. So I took myself off the to chiropractor and he diagnosed "student's neck" and dealt with it. I had not met this chiropractor before, and it turns out he sees himself as a feminist as he was brought up in a single parent household and his mother was a strong woman! He was brought up to think a school community of 50% lesbians and the rest as strong independent women was normal, and was quite stunned to discover at age 18 that the rest of the world did not think likewise!
I found my reading fascinating but hard work. It gave the detail that supported a conversation that Linden and I had had a couple of weeks ago. A lot of the stuff I have been looking at recently comes from 1930s, retheorised in 1980s, so I was very glad that Malafouris is writing in 2014 and it is cutting edge thinking. Having read, paraphrased and slept on it, I hope today to be able to write some of the detail in easy words, to be half way between the complexity of the author and the simplicity of my conversation with Linden.
Thursday, 19 November 2015
Raymond Williams - Culture 1981, Fontana Press
P12. Culture: a developed state of mind; means of processes like the arts; informing spirit of a way; whole social order.
P13. Cultural practices become constitutive as it forms a signifying system through which a social order is apparent. Usually analysed and identified by all social, artistic and intellectual activities.
P26. Ideology - the formal and conscious beliefs of a class or social group and the characteristic world view or perspective of a class or social group, and their broader beliefs, attitudes, habits and feelings. Sociological analysis of culture operates via the senses to evaluate social class, politics, economics and occupation. The wider unseen feelings, attitudes and assumptions can only be measured by observed behaviour, but clearly mark the culture of a specific class. This is identified by lived experience of social practice and the cultural production of these groups demonstrates their beliefs via macro control systems (politics and faith), but also via drama, art, literature.
P27 Williams says there is a strong correlation between formal and conscious beliefs of class and group, the cultural production associated with it, via the perspectives and values that the group beliefs make normal and acceptable. What the group focusses on (both by attention and omission) leads to identifiable links between belief systems and artistic forms, and position and positioning.
P80 He used the Bloomsbury Group as an example of early 20thC culture.
They came from aristocracy and landed gentry. Their group featured:
- university educational achievement
- serve dominant social order and are a division of it
- values of higher education
- possession of general broad (not national or class) sculpture
- practice of intellectual and professional skills (plus dissidence via insistence on wholly open intellectual enquiry and opposed to stupidity and incompetence of political and economic leaders (!) )
NB Girls were largely excluded from education then.
P126 Social processes of art. Williams says art in its most sustained and popular forms attempts to position itself above society; whereas an analysis shows a disguised social (class) process. Historically the position of art practices with hierarchy has always taken place: court/peasant; aristocratic/folk; high/popular.
P130 The arts as social forms - signals of art. Consider Occasion and Place. When do we look at art? In a gallery - high art. On a street wall - low art. In a concert hall or theatre - high art. A busker - low art. A trip out or private view makes it an occasion. So when is it not occasion? In the domestic?
Does this mean Post Modernism has upset all this with the power of the individual?
P207 Culture as a signifying system. Distinguishable as a language that shows the thoughts and ideals via a body of signifying work. The artistic output moves from the individual to the institution via state of mind - individual practice - systems - the institutions and works exhibited.
P208 Culture is most easily shown and identified where it is most clearly displayed. Art in the public domain has to fit with other signifying systems - political; economic; social; technological; legal. Post modernism has made it much more individual.
Quite interesting but I am not sure where it takes me or what my conclusions are … yet.
P13. Cultural practices become constitutive as it forms a signifying system through which a social order is apparent. Usually analysed and identified by all social, artistic and intellectual activities.
P26. Ideology - the formal and conscious beliefs of a class or social group and the characteristic world view or perspective of a class or social group, and their broader beliefs, attitudes, habits and feelings. Sociological analysis of culture operates via the senses to evaluate social class, politics, economics and occupation. The wider unseen feelings, attitudes and assumptions can only be measured by observed behaviour, but clearly mark the culture of a specific class. This is identified by lived experience of social practice and the cultural production of these groups demonstrates their beliefs via macro control systems (politics and faith), but also via drama, art, literature.
P27 Williams says there is a strong correlation between formal and conscious beliefs of class and group, the cultural production associated with it, via the perspectives and values that the group beliefs make normal and acceptable. What the group focusses on (both by attention and omission) leads to identifiable links between belief systems and artistic forms, and position and positioning.
P80 He used the Bloomsbury Group as an example of early 20thC culture.
They came from aristocracy and landed gentry. Their group featured:
- university educational achievement
- serve dominant social order and are a division of it
- values of higher education
- possession of general broad (not national or class) sculpture
- practice of intellectual and professional skills (plus dissidence via insistence on wholly open intellectual enquiry and opposed to stupidity and incompetence of political and economic leaders (!) )
NB Girls were largely excluded from education then.
P126 Social processes of art. Williams says art in its most sustained and popular forms attempts to position itself above society; whereas an analysis shows a disguised social (class) process. Historically the position of art practices with hierarchy has always taken place: court/peasant; aristocratic/folk; high/popular.
P130 The arts as social forms - signals of art. Consider Occasion and Place. When do we look at art? In a gallery - high art. On a street wall - low art. In a concert hall or theatre - high art. A busker - low art. A trip out or private view makes it an occasion. So when is it not occasion? In the domestic?
Does this mean Post Modernism has upset all this with the power of the individual?
P207 Culture as a signifying system. Distinguishable as a language that shows the thoughts and ideals via a body of signifying work. The artistic output moves from the individual to the institution via state of mind - individual practice - systems - the institutions and works exhibited.
P208 Culture is most easily shown and identified where it is most clearly displayed. Art in the public domain has to fit with other signifying systems - political; economic; social; technological; legal. Post modernism has made it much more individual.
Quite interesting but I am not sure where it takes me or what my conclusions are … yet.
Chris Smith (former course leader for MA by Project)
Chris Smith led a seminar where we discussed 2 chapters of a PhD student, Andrew Gray, about Reflection In and Reflection On Practice.
He described how research practice had evolved from 1992 when Art PhDs were first being delivered. They started with:
Problem solving model ----------> How to improve professional practice
derived from Science/Medical programmes
1992 driven by requirement for Arts funding
Person Unfortunately cyclical model did not work
very well for Art.
Recipient External observations Schon and reflective practice fits here instead
- Understand your practice. Reflection and Reflexivity.
- Understand what constructs your world (I think I covered this in the intro to my Proposal. I think it can be summed up that I did not like being under-valued by my peer group at work, so I don't like other people being under-valued either, particularly when I represent that group - i.e. women)
- Understand what constructs the mirror. (Not sure what this is for me)
- What model is in your head when you draw conclusions. (not sure)
Consider Reflection In, and Reflection On. I don't think I reflection on my practice when I am creating. I am more likely to be reflecting on the people I am representing. Reflection on my practice comes after I have done it.
When writing the report of practice, consider to whom are you describing. Think about the difference to the audience Mother/child/mates when the question is asked "What did you do at school today?" Different language and content would be used.
Make description useful. Practice is messy. Make neat and tidy. Fit to audience. Prove/Improve.
Get a descipline. A self imposed method or set of rules - Dewey.
Definitional rules - difficult to apply
Preferential rules - judgmental. Easier. Is it a chair or a sculpture.
Naturalised ) Reflection in Actions
Constructed )
Use of Agency (I) gives a unique position/observational position, as opposed to social conditioning.
Grounded theory - data speaks to you.
Good to use rules to journey to an unknown destination. I might need help to identify and comprehend my rules.
Implicit models of reflection - messy/inconsistent/what we do.
Explicit models of reflection - consistent.
There is a need for supervisors and students to be able to pick up and run with suggestions for lines of enquiry.
Keeping a diary - description - themes come up. I need to work out how to use tags/keywords on my blog to be able to search themes later.
Be suspicious of authority. How does it fit in with your practice? Don't claim association of your practice with theory, especially via secondary texts. Always go to the original. Theory and practice need to dovetail well. Good integration required.
Methods are tools. No more than that. Are they useful? Appropriate? Will it give a useable output?
Studying for an MA is about understanding your own practice. You are expected to be working at the boundary of knowledge. Whereas a PhD contributes new knowledge to the field.
I am not sure whether I am practice based or practice led.
Get your stuff out, put it on a table and look at it. Seeing it as a collection will enable reflection and analysis. What work does the artwork do?
Colleneck (?) Art is a random collective practice - and we show who we are and what we know we are by our art output. Art is about rhetoric and speech. Identify your rules and move to difference. The rule is to break the rules.
Work out the format of your artwork. In my case the sampler contributes to the message. Banners could do the same.
Coherence will be measured. This is the perception and experience of materials used, and outlines an attribute of us. There is a reverberation between dialogue and materials. Part of the motor that brings things together. They are not seeking problem solving. Not knowing in action but discovering in action.
This was followed by a session with Lewis for Contextual Studies. I was somewhat alarmed to realise we are expected to produce a 3,000 word draft Literature Review by 27 November - about 10 days time! Time to get cracking.
He described how research practice had evolved from 1992 when Art PhDs were first being delivered. They started with:
Problem solving model ----------> How to improve professional practice
derived from Science/Medical programmes
1992 driven by requirement for Arts funding
Person Unfortunately cyclical model did not work
very well for Art.
Recipient External observations Schon and reflective practice fits here instead
- Understand your practice. Reflection and Reflexivity.
- Understand what constructs your world (I think I covered this in the intro to my Proposal. I think it can be summed up that I did not like being under-valued by my peer group at work, so I don't like other people being under-valued either, particularly when I represent that group - i.e. women)
- Understand what constructs the mirror. (Not sure what this is for me)
- What model is in your head when you draw conclusions. (not sure)
Consider Reflection In, and Reflection On. I don't think I reflection on my practice when I am creating. I am more likely to be reflecting on the people I am representing. Reflection on my practice comes after I have done it.
When writing the report of practice, consider to whom are you describing. Think about the difference to the audience Mother/child/mates when the question is asked "What did you do at school today?" Different language and content would be used.
Make description useful. Practice is messy. Make neat and tidy. Fit to audience. Prove/Improve.
Get a descipline. A self imposed method or set of rules - Dewey.
Definitional rules - difficult to apply
Preferential rules - judgmental. Easier. Is it a chair or a sculpture.
Naturalised ) Reflection in Actions
Constructed )
Use of Agency (I) gives a unique position/observational position, as opposed to social conditioning.
Grounded theory - data speaks to you.
Good to use rules to journey to an unknown destination. I might need help to identify and comprehend my rules.
Implicit models of reflection - messy/inconsistent/what we do.
Explicit models of reflection - consistent.
There is a need for supervisors and students to be able to pick up and run with suggestions for lines of enquiry.
Keeping a diary - description - themes come up. I need to work out how to use tags/keywords on my blog to be able to search themes later.
Be suspicious of authority. How does it fit in with your practice? Don't claim association of your practice with theory, especially via secondary texts. Always go to the original. Theory and practice need to dovetail well. Good integration required.
Methods are tools. No more than that. Are they useful? Appropriate? Will it give a useable output?
Studying for an MA is about understanding your own practice. You are expected to be working at the boundary of knowledge. Whereas a PhD contributes new knowledge to the field.
I am not sure whether I am practice based or practice led.
Get your stuff out, put it on a table and look at it. Seeing it as a collection will enable reflection and analysis. What work does the artwork do?
Colleneck (?) Art is a random collective practice - and we show who we are and what we know we are by our art output. Art is about rhetoric and speech. Identify your rules and move to difference. The rule is to break the rules.
Work out the format of your artwork. In my case the sampler contributes to the message. Banners could do the same.
Coherence will be measured. This is the perception and experience of materials used, and outlines an attribute of us. There is a reverberation between dialogue and materials. Part of the motor that brings things together. They are not seeking problem solving. Not knowing in action but discovering in action.
This was followed by a session with Lewis for Contextual Studies. I was somewhat alarmed to realise we are expected to produce a 3,000 word draft Literature Review by 27 November - about 10 days time! Time to get cracking.
Monday, 16 November 2015
Linden's lecture - Contemporary Art - 200 onwards.
I need to get this written up fast, as I have another day of lectures tomorrow.
Con - with
temporarius - time, pertaining to
Art - whatever you want it to be.
She described the crisis between Modernism and Post Modernism
Modernism Post Modernism
Trust absolute truth Reject truth - point out assumptions
Fact through logic and observation Facts created by assumptions
Desire for Absolute Doctrine Diverse doctrines
Emphasised logic proportions Emphasises story, journey, perspective
Role of images
Culture is now a discourse of ideas via postmodern techniques
Foucault - all participants are in operation of power. Not top down any more. The obsession with spectacle. (Does this account for society expecting to be entertained by others, rather than doing things themselves - in my view we have become a passive society).
Contemporary art operates with many themes from both modernism and post modernism. We recognise that these are no longer seen as clearly defined periods. Modernism made the assumption (Greenberg) Purity = logic, which PM challenges. Yet we pick and mix post 2000 which bits of each style we want to use.
Raymond Williams identified patterns with culture via Dominant, Residual and Emergent. In post 2000 Linden's analysis is:
Dominant - marketisation
Residual - bits from past (Mod/PM)
Emergent - Not yet recognised but present and significant
Art history used to indicate one style follows another, but this is now hugely challenged. Many names for post 2000. Post conceptual art; pseudo modernism; alter modernism.
Marketisation of art - 1990 on. Saatchi. M Thatcher spitting image. 1984-5 Miners strike. Everything building up to be less respectful and polite.
Telegraph merits of investing in art -v- property 1997-2015
FTSE up 45%
Picasso 462%
Central London property 407%
Wider London property 334%
UK property 205% Where would you put your money?
Mind you, stats are for averages for everything except Picasso where they have picked the highest yielding artist, not an average.
International Art Index - lists top 50 artists - buyers don't even look at the art. Just buy. This worries many artists. Glut causes price fall. Markets can be rigged by buying or preventing sales.
PR theory has recognised Art is good for PR. Cities and Governmnets use art as propaganda. Art represents towns. Turner prize is televised - bringing art and spectacle together. All big cities have art galleries - Whitworth in Manchester; Helsinki.
Artists catch the news - by being spectacult. Sensation 1997. RA. however sensation is diminishing - audience is jaded. People fed up of spectacle of Chapman bros destroying art.
Guy Debord identified Society of the Spectacle in 1967. Image obsessed and impact on us. We are image obsessed - and this is a very contemporary issue.
Most countries have a Biennale - good for global image and economic dynamism. Location becomes HQ for tourism and investment. But the other side is Joburg Biennale 1995 - excluded black community - and was thus seen as the sycophantic courting of the international art world - and not necessarily a good thing.
2001 Michael Landy Breakdown. Examination of consumerism. Mince all his possessions in derelict C&A store over 2 weeks. A reverse assembly belt. 100m of conveyor belts - 7,000 bags of stuff and sold it.
2008 D Hirst Sothebys Bypassed the Gallery and sold direct to auction. Demonstrated the insanity of the market. This took place on the day of Lehmans collapse. The sale was the work of art.
Market fundamentalism (Thatcherism? 1980s) says the market will solve all economic and social problems. Foucault - Discouse (a bit of knowledge) is a set of ideas shared between many. Market fundamentalism discourse says single point will trigger the rest e.g. the market will deliver.
Museums etc represent ideologies to shape our understanding of history, knowledge, natural world, objective scientific methods and subject influences. Modern field of research.
Trappings of investigation - post medium and spectacle. The vast uncoordinated. An effective research programme potential. Defines what we are and what we know and where we might go.
Post medium condition - Grayson Perry. "You are Here" Gave reasons for people going to art galleries.
Fundamentally Art sets up camp wherever it wants. Points out storytelling is important and reflects what we are. John Dewer - Art enables the experience of experience.
Con - with
temporarius - time, pertaining to
Art - whatever you want it to be.
She described the crisis between Modernism and Post Modernism
Modernism Post Modernism
Trust absolute truth Reject truth - point out assumptions
Fact through logic and observation Facts created by assumptions
Desire for Absolute Doctrine Diverse doctrines
Emphasised logic proportions Emphasises story, journey, perspective
Role of images
Culture is now a discourse of ideas via postmodern techniques
Foucault - all participants are in operation of power. Not top down any more. The obsession with spectacle. (Does this account for society expecting to be entertained by others, rather than doing things themselves - in my view we have become a passive society).
Contemporary art operates with many themes from both modernism and post modernism. We recognise that these are no longer seen as clearly defined periods. Modernism made the assumption (Greenberg) Purity = logic, which PM challenges. Yet we pick and mix post 2000 which bits of each style we want to use.
Raymond Williams identified patterns with culture via Dominant, Residual and Emergent. In post 2000 Linden's analysis is:
Dominant - marketisation
Residual - bits from past (Mod/PM)
Emergent - Not yet recognised but present and significant
Art history used to indicate one style follows another, but this is now hugely challenged. Many names for post 2000. Post conceptual art; pseudo modernism; alter modernism.
Marketisation of art - 1990 on. Saatchi. M Thatcher spitting image. 1984-5 Miners strike. Everything building up to be less respectful and polite.
Telegraph merits of investing in art -v- property 1997-2015
FTSE up 45%
Picasso 462%
Central London property 407%
Wider London property 334%
UK property 205% Where would you put your money?
Mind you, stats are for averages for everything except Picasso where they have picked the highest yielding artist, not an average.
International Art Index - lists top 50 artists - buyers don't even look at the art. Just buy. This worries many artists. Glut causes price fall. Markets can be rigged by buying or preventing sales.
PR theory has recognised Art is good for PR. Cities and Governmnets use art as propaganda. Art represents towns. Turner prize is televised - bringing art and spectacle together. All big cities have art galleries - Whitworth in Manchester; Helsinki.
Artists catch the news - by being spectacult. Sensation 1997. RA. however sensation is diminishing - audience is jaded. People fed up of spectacle of Chapman bros destroying art.
Guy Debord identified Society of the Spectacle in 1967. Image obsessed and impact on us. We are image obsessed - and this is a very contemporary issue.
Most countries have a Biennale - good for global image and economic dynamism. Location becomes HQ for tourism and investment. But the other side is Joburg Biennale 1995 - excluded black community - and was thus seen as the sycophantic courting of the international art world - and not necessarily a good thing.
2001 Michael Landy Breakdown. Examination of consumerism. Mince all his possessions in derelict C&A store over 2 weeks. A reverse assembly belt. 100m of conveyor belts - 7,000 bags of stuff and sold it.
2008 D Hirst Sothebys Bypassed the Gallery and sold direct to auction. Demonstrated the insanity of the market. This took place on the day of Lehmans collapse. The sale was the work of art.
Market fundamentalism (Thatcherism? 1980s) says the market will solve all economic and social problems. Foucault - Discouse (a bit of knowledge) is a set of ideas shared between many. Market fundamentalism discourse says single point will trigger the rest e.g. the market will deliver.
Museums etc represent ideologies to shape our understanding of history, knowledge, natural world, objective scientific methods and subject influences. Modern field of research.
Trappings of investigation - post medium and spectacle. The vast uncoordinated. An effective research programme potential. Defines what we are and what we know and where we might go.
Post medium condition - Grayson Perry. "You are Here" Gave reasons for people going to art galleries.
Fundamentally Art sets up camp wherever it wants. Points out storytelling is important and reflects what we are. John Dewer - Art enables the experience of experience.
Saturday, 14 November 2015
Preparation for Pecha Kucha presentation
The subject we have been given is Soho Square - Front and Back.
Pecha Kucha presentations give you 20 seconds to talk about each slide, so you are limited to key points about each one. It makes presentations modern - a bullet point, or soundbite, about image. I think I have enough information, showing how I have taken a given subject, but given it a slant to focus on specific groups of people - which is what I am interested in.
I think it is a useful technique, which has forced me to use images in my presentations. Previously I have used script bullet points, as I am quite literate. It is a presentation technique which is very useful for people with dyslexia, and has given me a more visual style to add to my repertoire.
 |
| I was looking at different people represented in Soho Square. The Catholic Church serves Spanish and Chinese communities as well as English speaking |
 |
| I chose to interpret Front and Back as Front and Other Inside the church, it became apparent the unscrupulous prey on the faithful. So Front gives one message of welcome, and Other gives a different message - of hazard. |
 |
| The House of Charity does not make its purpose clear from the front. |
 |
| From the side, The House of St Barnabas tells passers-by that it works with the homeless |
 |
| As a House of Charity it accepts alms from passers-by |
 |
| From the side, you can see the penny chute drops the coins into a secure area in the adjoining building |
 |
| From the front, or road side, the street art coloured pigeons appear puzzling |
 |
| From the back, or pavement side, the artwork is explained. It is about homelessness, ownership, acceptance or marginalisation for those seeking a natural home or acceptance in society |
 |
| The front shows an imposing facade stating it is a hospital which serves Women, and is supported by Voluntary Contributions |
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| The side shows today it is the Soho NHS Walk-in Centre, and serves a large Chinese community. |
Pecha Kucha presentations give you 20 seconds to talk about each slide, so you are limited to key points about each one. It makes presentations modern - a bullet point, or soundbite, about image. I think I have enough information, showing how I have taken a given subject, but given it a slant to focus on specific groups of people - which is what I am interested in.
I think it is a useful technique, which has forced me to use images in my presentations. Previously I have used script bullet points, as I am quite literate. It is a presentation technique which is very useful for people with dyslexia, and has given me a more visual style to add to my repertoire.
Friday, 13 November 2015
Raymond Williams - Keywords. An idea.
I have had a quick skim of Raymond Williams Keywords. He came up with the theory that at any one time, social culture had elements of Dominant, Residual and Emergent. There are many different beliefs and practices going on concurrently, but some are historically more long lived (and may be out-of-date), some take precedence, and others are comparatively new and still evolving.
If I think of my 6 samplers that I want to make, I wonder whether I can fit my six women to this theory. I would like to have two women in each category. I see my Aunt Joan (stay at home housewife and mother) as fitting with the Residual theory. Miss Evans as a Geography student at Girton 1942-45 and subsequent headmistress might fit with Dominant from a culture that valued education, but could also be Residual because during her educational years, women were not awarded a Bachelors degree! Women at Girton (and other universities) were only awarded degrees from 1948. In order for her to have letters after her name (on the School sign at the entrance to Beal Grammar for Girls), she had to get her MA, and was never allowed to put BA, MA.
Mrs Evans, Sharon's Mum who took me swimming, worked full time when it was unusual for women with a family, to work. I am not sure where she would fit. Emergent? Or Dominant, because she carried out the usual motherly, caring skills? Mrs Konieczny, Anita's Mum, I think would fit with Residual, because of the way in which her family treated her. She was a qualified nurse but was instructed to give up her job, and work unpaid, as carer to elderly family members. There was an expectation that her role was to serve them, with no thought to the impact on her personal life. When she met and married her husband, this couple wrote her out of their will!
The fifth person I would like to include in one of my samplers is one of my former tutors. I have a lot of time for this tutor, because of the commitment and energy she puts into sharing her skills with students. This tutor also represents a couple of minority groups, who previously have been under-represented (and under-valued in my opinion) and I would very much like her to consent to being one of my subjects for portrayal. I can see her in no other category than Emergent.
Who else would I like to portray, who might be deemed Dominant?
If I think of my 6 samplers that I want to make, I wonder whether I can fit my six women to this theory. I would like to have two women in each category. I see my Aunt Joan (stay at home housewife and mother) as fitting with the Residual theory. Miss Evans as a Geography student at Girton 1942-45 and subsequent headmistress might fit with Dominant from a culture that valued education, but could also be Residual because during her educational years, women were not awarded a Bachelors degree! Women at Girton (and other universities) were only awarded degrees from 1948. In order for her to have letters after her name (on the School sign at the entrance to Beal Grammar for Girls), she had to get her MA, and was never allowed to put BA, MA.
Mrs Evans, Sharon's Mum who took me swimming, worked full time when it was unusual for women with a family, to work. I am not sure where she would fit. Emergent? Or Dominant, because she carried out the usual motherly, caring skills? Mrs Konieczny, Anita's Mum, I think would fit with Residual, because of the way in which her family treated her. She was a qualified nurse but was instructed to give up her job, and work unpaid, as carer to elderly family members. There was an expectation that her role was to serve them, with no thought to the impact on her personal life. When she met and married her husband, this couple wrote her out of their will!
The fifth person I would like to include in one of my samplers is one of my former tutors. I have a lot of time for this tutor, because of the commitment and energy she puts into sharing her skills with students. This tutor also represents a couple of minority groups, who previously have been under-represented (and under-valued in my opinion) and I would very much like her to consent to being one of my subjects for portrayal. I can see her in no other category than Emergent.
Who else would I like to portray, who might be deemed Dominant?
Wednesday, 11 November 2015
Metaphors We Live By - Lakoff and Johnson
I have been reading. A Metaphor is a figure of speech by which a thing is spoken of, as being that which it only resembles, e.g. when a ferocious man is said to be a tiger.
Lakoff & Johnson have observed that metaphor is pervasive in everyday life - we think, act and speak in metaphor. However it is fairly difficult to evidence thinking and acting in metaphor so it is easier to start the analysis with language. If you can understand one kind of thing in terms of another, you have grasped the essence of metaphor.
They demonstrated this by the statement "argument is war".
"Your claims are indefensible
He attacked every weak point in my argument
His criticisms were right on target
I demolished his argument" etc.
The language used above is not poetic, fanciful or rhetorical. It is literal. If we talk about arguments because that is how we think about them, and act accordingly, analysing the language leads us to a conclusion that metaphor could control our lives. Lakoff and Johnson state the human conceptual system is metaphorically structured and defined.
They then categorise the groups into which metaphors fall: orientational, ontological, structural etc
A structural metaphor is Time is Money, where one concept is metaphorically structured as another. Lakoff and Johnson focus on how in Western culture time is perceived as a valuable commodity, and a limited resource to achieve goals. Doesn't this show we are part of a consumer society! However there many cultures and societies where this is not true - only industrialised societies do this. Western society consider time as something that can be spent, wasted, budgeted, invested or squandered, and the metaphor can be observed in people's actions.
An orientational metaphor gives a concept of spatial orientation e.g. Happy is Up, as demonstrated by the expression "I'm feeling up today". So Happy is Up; Sad is Down. "You are in high spirits, I'm feeling down".
Conscious is Up; Unconscious is Down: "Wake up; He fell asleep"
Health and Life are Up; Sickness and Death are Down": "He's at the peak of health; He's sinking fast."
Having Control of Force is Up; Being Subject to Control of Force is Down: "I am on top of the situation; He ranks above me in strength."
More is Up; Less is Down: "My income rose last year; When too hot, turn the heat down".
Rational is Up; Emotional is Down. "The discussion fell to the emotional level but I raised it back up to the rational plane".
Ontological metaphors enable us to understand our experiences as objects or substances e.g. Inflation is an Entity - inflation is taking its toll at the checkout, or the Mind is a Machine "My imagination is firing on all cylinders".
However, my field of interest lies in metaphors that relate to women. I have noted the phrases "he fathered a child" and "she fell pregnant". I think there is a difference in the use of positive and negative orientational metaphor. The association with the man is paternalistic by the use of the word "fathered", fits with the Morality is Strength metaphor described by Zoltan Kovecses, where there upright (male) person remains good. But the association with the woman is negative by the downward direction of the word "fell".
Additionally there is the phrase "he was the breadwinner and she was the homemaker". Could this indicate Competitive Success is Up and Maker is Down? Not sure. I think winner is definitely Up but I am not sure about the maker being down, although I feel it is lesser. Perhaps it would be clearer if the whole words breadwinner and homemaker are considered.
Maybe I should collect more examples! There must be lots.
Lakoff & Johnson have observed that metaphor is pervasive in everyday life - we think, act and speak in metaphor. However it is fairly difficult to evidence thinking and acting in metaphor so it is easier to start the analysis with language. If you can understand one kind of thing in terms of another, you have grasped the essence of metaphor.
They demonstrated this by the statement "argument is war".
"Your claims are indefensible
He attacked every weak point in my argument
His criticisms were right on target
I demolished his argument" etc.
The language used above is not poetic, fanciful or rhetorical. It is literal. If we talk about arguments because that is how we think about them, and act accordingly, analysing the language leads us to a conclusion that metaphor could control our lives. Lakoff and Johnson state the human conceptual system is metaphorically structured and defined.
They then categorise the groups into which metaphors fall: orientational, ontological, structural etc
A structural metaphor is Time is Money, where one concept is metaphorically structured as another. Lakoff and Johnson focus on how in Western culture time is perceived as a valuable commodity, and a limited resource to achieve goals. Doesn't this show we are part of a consumer society! However there many cultures and societies where this is not true - only industrialised societies do this. Western society consider time as something that can be spent, wasted, budgeted, invested or squandered, and the metaphor can be observed in people's actions.
An orientational metaphor gives a concept of spatial orientation e.g. Happy is Up, as demonstrated by the expression "I'm feeling up today". So Happy is Up; Sad is Down. "You are in high spirits, I'm feeling down".
Conscious is Up; Unconscious is Down: "Wake up; He fell asleep"
Health and Life are Up; Sickness and Death are Down": "He's at the peak of health; He's sinking fast."
Having Control of Force is Up; Being Subject to Control of Force is Down: "I am on top of the situation; He ranks above me in strength."
More is Up; Less is Down: "My income rose last year; When too hot, turn the heat down".
Rational is Up; Emotional is Down. "The discussion fell to the emotional level but I raised it back up to the rational plane".
Ontological metaphors enable us to understand our experiences as objects or substances e.g. Inflation is an Entity - inflation is taking its toll at the checkout, or the Mind is a Machine "My imagination is firing on all cylinders".
However, my field of interest lies in metaphors that relate to women. I have noted the phrases "he fathered a child" and "she fell pregnant". I think there is a difference in the use of positive and negative orientational metaphor. The association with the man is paternalistic by the use of the word "fathered", fits with the Morality is Strength metaphor described by Zoltan Kovecses, where there upright (male) person remains good. But the association with the woman is negative by the downward direction of the word "fell".
Additionally there is the phrase "he was the breadwinner and she was the homemaker". Could this indicate Competitive Success is Up and Maker is Down? Not sure. I think winner is definitely Up but I am not sure about the maker being down, although I feel it is lesser. Perhaps it would be clearer if the whole words breadwinner and homemaker are considered.
Maybe I should collect more examples! There must be lots.
Tuesday, 10 November 2015
A Strong Tutorial
I had a good tutorial with Linden at uni today. I think I went well over time, but we covered extensive ground. I have not finished thinking yet.
We discussed my draft proposal. I had described the culture in which I had worked, and Linden recommended I read Raymond Williams and Foucault. Williams was from a mining village in Wales and ended up at Cambridge post WW2, but discovered what his peer group meant by culture was completely different to what he meant by culture. He became interested in keywords, contemporary cognitive science and considered Residual, Dominant and Emergent culture.
We discussed Saucerre and how later thinkers concluded his work was flawed. Saucerre talked about the signifier and the signified and the relationship between them. However later thinkers feel the sign is arbitrary - it arises from accident rather than rule. His theory deals with sound, not meaning in language, and treats the sign as static, not moving with change or time. Because we are sensory beings, our bodies ground our value systems in our senses and his theory of semiotics does not take this into account.
The aim of my artwork proposal was clear: I am to take the theme of valuing under-valued people further than my BA, by considering women outside my family, celebrating skills and talents, both minor and major, to recognise and give value to their achievements. The body of work will utilise some historically significant format that women have used to express themselves, either personally or publicly (samplers, banners, garters). I need to "set rules for practice" - I am not sure what this entails (but I seem to have hit quite a lot of the requirements for the proposal, without being aware of what I was doing!). I was recommended to read Rosalind Krauss. I think she wrote about the Post Medium Condition. Art is no longer a technique which requires dedication to a sole medium - it is an argument about criticality in relation to other art. Concept is what is most important and in order to convey the concept, the artist uses the most appropriate technique and medium. This is what I feel I do, so this suits me!
I was also recommended to read:
Lambrous Malafouris ch 5 How things shape the mind;
Stuart Hall Representation: Cultural Representation and Signifying Practices;
Kathy Myers, Understains;
Laura Mulvey, Visual Pleasures and Narrative Cinema on the gendering of the gaze.
One of the things that I really like about Linden, is that she is very good at recommending reading. I am prepared to do the "hard reading" but find it a bit disheartening when what you choose/find is not in the right area, having taken books home, and plodded through them. So having someone who can target your energies is most helpful.
We also discussed imagery as the site (sight) of struggle. I like Gustav Courbet and his Stonepickers picture - portraying the lowest in society when the trend was about the great and the good. I see analogies with my work here.
We discussed postmodernism and how it deals with hierarchies in gender, ethnicity and orientation but does not deal with class. I have concerns about how PM can be cruel and my concerns about how this is portrayed on television, when it appears acceptable to set people up for a fall and then humiliate them in public. I find this distasteful and it affects my feeling about the whole genre. I think there is too much grief in the world and I don't find it acceptable to mock the afflicted.
I was advised to do some content analysis. Maybe about the representation of women in the popular imagination. Set some rule like portray of women in quiz shows in one evening on tv, or putting "women" into google images and seeing what patterns and trends you can see in the first 25 images that come up.
4 books from the library for starters. Not a lot then!
We discussed my draft proposal. I had described the culture in which I had worked, and Linden recommended I read Raymond Williams and Foucault. Williams was from a mining village in Wales and ended up at Cambridge post WW2, but discovered what his peer group meant by culture was completely different to what he meant by culture. He became interested in keywords, contemporary cognitive science and considered Residual, Dominant and Emergent culture.
We discussed Saucerre and how later thinkers concluded his work was flawed. Saucerre talked about the signifier and the signified and the relationship between them. However later thinkers feel the sign is arbitrary - it arises from accident rather than rule. His theory deals with sound, not meaning in language, and treats the sign as static, not moving with change or time. Because we are sensory beings, our bodies ground our value systems in our senses and his theory of semiotics does not take this into account.
The aim of my artwork proposal was clear: I am to take the theme of valuing under-valued people further than my BA, by considering women outside my family, celebrating skills and talents, both minor and major, to recognise and give value to their achievements. The body of work will utilise some historically significant format that women have used to express themselves, either personally or publicly (samplers, banners, garters). I need to "set rules for practice" - I am not sure what this entails (but I seem to have hit quite a lot of the requirements for the proposal, without being aware of what I was doing!). I was recommended to read Rosalind Krauss. I think she wrote about the Post Medium Condition. Art is no longer a technique which requires dedication to a sole medium - it is an argument about criticality in relation to other art. Concept is what is most important and in order to convey the concept, the artist uses the most appropriate technique and medium. This is what I feel I do, so this suits me!
I was also recommended to read:
Lambrous Malafouris ch 5 How things shape the mind;
Stuart Hall Representation: Cultural Representation and Signifying Practices;
Kathy Myers, Understains;
Laura Mulvey, Visual Pleasures and Narrative Cinema on the gendering of the gaze.
One of the things that I really like about Linden, is that she is very good at recommending reading. I am prepared to do the "hard reading" but find it a bit disheartening when what you choose/find is not in the right area, having taken books home, and plodded through them. So having someone who can target your energies is most helpful.
We also discussed imagery as the site (sight) of struggle. I like Gustav Courbet and his Stonepickers picture - portraying the lowest in society when the trend was about the great and the good. I see analogies with my work here.
We discussed postmodernism and how it deals with hierarchies in gender, ethnicity and orientation but does not deal with class. I have concerns about how PM can be cruel and my concerns about how this is portrayed on television, when it appears acceptable to set people up for a fall and then humiliate them in public. I find this distasteful and it affects my feeling about the whole genre. I think there is too much grief in the world and I don't find it acceptable to mock the afflicted.
I was advised to do some content analysis. Maybe about the representation of women in the popular imagination. Set some rule like portray of women in quiz shows in one evening on tv, or putting "women" into google images and seeing what patterns and trends you can see in the first 25 images that come up.
4 books from the library for starters. Not a lot then!
Sunday, 8 November 2015
Thoughts from the Bike Ride
I went for a 26 mile bike ride with Maurice today. This is the first time I have ridden for 3 weeks - my cold has lain on my chest for the last 2 weeks.
However, as usual, the exercise enabled me to come up with an idea. As I am thinking about doing a sampler about 6 ordinary women, it occurred to me that I should create a sketchbook about each one. I had a trial run at last art class where I made a little sketchbook about swimming, using my goggles as the object. But now, I have decided to interview Sharon and Anita about their respective Mums and see whether each is ok with me using her Mum as a subject for work. This will require an ethics form to be completed from uni, and I will stress that they can withdraw consent at every stage. I hope they don't, as I intend to be respectful and celebratory of what these women were.
I have thought quite a lot more about a suitable venue for this collection to be exhibited. I love the NPG and this is where I have been so inspired by Grayson Perry's work. But let's face it, I am never going to get exhibited there! But while out pedalling this morning, it occurred to me that Mrs Evans, Mrs Konieczny and Miss Evans (my old headmistress) all lived in Ilford. It is possible I could approach Valentines Mansion, National Trust property, in Ilford and see whether they might want a display that celebrated local women?
I had a tutorial with my tutor, Lewis. One of the things that came up was that I produce quite a lot of work. Another student does heaps of research and analysis, and makes one choice item. I am the opposite. I do a lot of research, but then do quite a lot of work. For my BA, I had 5 collections. Ihave been thinking about other formats for celebrating female achievements. I think the banner is symbolic of campaigners - this might fit well with suffragettes, unionists and other campaigners. So this might be a second collection.
I have been thinking about scale. Samplers are small, and choice. Banners are larger and attention seeking. I was wondering about going really big - I remember seeing huge images of Eleanor Simmonds and Tom Daly on the side of Westfield Shopping Centre. I wonder whether an artist could get their work portrayed that way? You would need to fit your artwork to a corporate agenda … and equality is on most large organisations mission statements. Hmmm!
Another thing that has been exercising my mind, is that I am interested in under-valued people. I am not anti-men. I don't want to alienate men who might be part of my audience. Have not finished thinking about this one yet. I might pose this as a question for the group presentation I need to give in early December.
However, as usual, the exercise enabled me to come up with an idea. As I am thinking about doing a sampler about 6 ordinary women, it occurred to me that I should create a sketchbook about each one. I had a trial run at last art class where I made a little sketchbook about swimming, using my goggles as the object. But now, I have decided to interview Sharon and Anita about their respective Mums and see whether each is ok with me using her Mum as a subject for work. This will require an ethics form to be completed from uni, and I will stress that they can withdraw consent at every stage. I hope they don't, as I intend to be respectful and celebratory of what these women were.
I have thought quite a lot more about a suitable venue for this collection to be exhibited. I love the NPG and this is where I have been so inspired by Grayson Perry's work. But let's face it, I am never going to get exhibited there! But while out pedalling this morning, it occurred to me that Mrs Evans, Mrs Konieczny and Miss Evans (my old headmistress) all lived in Ilford. It is possible I could approach Valentines Mansion, National Trust property, in Ilford and see whether they might want a display that celebrated local women?
I had a tutorial with my tutor, Lewis. One of the things that came up was that I produce quite a lot of work. Another student does heaps of research and analysis, and makes one choice item. I am the opposite. I do a lot of research, but then do quite a lot of work. For my BA, I had 5 collections. Ihave been thinking about other formats for celebrating female achievements. I think the banner is symbolic of campaigners - this might fit well with suffragettes, unionists and other campaigners. So this might be a second collection.
I have been thinking about scale. Samplers are small, and choice. Banners are larger and attention seeking. I was wondering about going really big - I remember seeing huge images of Eleanor Simmonds and Tom Daly on the side of Westfield Shopping Centre. I wonder whether an artist could get their work portrayed that way? You would need to fit your artwork to a corporate agenda … and equality is on most large organisations mission statements. Hmmm!
Another thing that has been exercising my mind, is that I am interested in under-valued people. I am not anti-men. I don't want to alienate men who might be part of my audience. Have not finished thinking about this one yet. I might pose this as a question for the group presentation I need to give in early December.
Wednesday, 4 November 2015
Writing my blog instead of riding my bike!
I am still full of the cold. I have had it for 8 days and I am not impressed. I wanted to do the Easy Rider bike ride today, but can't breathe well enough. So I will write up my class notes instead.
I think I have worked out something significant about how I want to use the sampler as an object. Samplers were worked by women and often portrayed something that was valued by the woman who made it. I think I want to use samplers to portray something valued of women.
I thought about ob - ject (thrown against) and ab - ject (thrown away). I intend to throw quite a lot of meaning against the sampler. I want to use the sampler as a vehicle to carry the meanings I throw against it.
I have also thought about how to make my series of works about women, appealing to a diverse audience. Often work that is about one group can exclude others. If I want my work to appeal to men as well, how do I achieve that? I am not a banner waving feminist. I believe women are hugely under-valued and frequently typecast into less important roles. But I want to use persuasion and positive representation to increase our profile. So do I need to include other types of people - ethnic minority, disabled, gay, ….? Actually, was this what Grayson Perry did in the National Portrait Gallery? He included all sorts of different people, including a straight white man (Liberal politician Chris Huhne). I think I need to get the first couple designed and done before I expand the range.
In class we discussed
Variation -v- consistency
Collection -v- series
Butterfly -v- linear
I think a collection of work has variation and the style and subject matter can butterfly about.
Whereas a series of work develops from one to next in a linear progress with consistent themes.
I could see a series of samplers about women. But I could also see a set of work on banners, about suffragettes from different countries (we were a long way behind in worldwide female suffrage); a set of tea towels about cooks who have improved cooking skills (not necessarily women!); a set of religious traditional clothing about the faithful who have achieved inter-faith tolerance ….
We were shown a form that helped identify your rules that define what you are trying to achieve:
Aim of the piece
To draw attention to the skills and talents of women
My Strategy for Achieving this:
Make samplers that are about women and their skills, rather than by a woman and what she values.
So the woman, as well as being the subject, becomes the object against which meaning is thrown.
The extent and ways in which I achieved my aim
The extent and ways in which my strategy did not work.
We discussed the difference between Essays, Reports, and Proposal:
Proposal - about the future, what you plan to do.
Report - A historical account of your process and outcomes. What went well/badly
Essays - more about argument and review of a subject.
We discussed making a plan for work. Use post-it notes to cover all key points of what you want to research. Put important comments or quotes on the back. Collect together and sequence them. Something like an organogram in business.
We get feedback on our draft proposals next week, and then need to present to the group on 8 December. We articulate the purpose of our proposals, and be clear what we want the group to contribute. 10 mins presentation, 20 mins discussion. My first thought is that I need to get the men to say what I need to include in my Valuing Women work, to appeal to men as well.
Gareth had a helpful suggestion when he saw my Artist Research folder. He creates an artistography - 50 words per artist stating why the work is significant to him. I have noted key words about each artist already. Would 50 words add to this? Not sure.
I think I have worked out something significant about how I want to use the sampler as an object. Samplers were worked by women and often portrayed something that was valued by the woman who made it. I think I want to use samplers to portray something valued of women.
I thought about ob - ject (thrown against) and ab - ject (thrown away). I intend to throw quite a lot of meaning against the sampler. I want to use the sampler as a vehicle to carry the meanings I throw against it.
I have also thought about how to make my series of works about women, appealing to a diverse audience. Often work that is about one group can exclude others. If I want my work to appeal to men as well, how do I achieve that? I am not a banner waving feminist. I believe women are hugely under-valued and frequently typecast into less important roles. But I want to use persuasion and positive representation to increase our profile. So do I need to include other types of people - ethnic minority, disabled, gay, ….? Actually, was this what Grayson Perry did in the National Portrait Gallery? He included all sorts of different people, including a straight white man (Liberal politician Chris Huhne). I think I need to get the first couple designed and done before I expand the range.
In class we discussed
Variation -v- consistency
Collection -v- series
Butterfly -v- linear
I think a collection of work has variation and the style and subject matter can butterfly about.
Whereas a series of work develops from one to next in a linear progress with consistent themes.
I could see a series of samplers about women. But I could also see a set of work on banners, about suffragettes from different countries (we were a long way behind in worldwide female suffrage); a set of tea towels about cooks who have improved cooking skills (not necessarily women!); a set of religious traditional clothing about the faithful who have achieved inter-faith tolerance ….
We were shown a form that helped identify your rules that define what you are trying to achieve:
Aim of the piece
To draw attention to the skills and talents of women
My Strategy for Achieving this:
Make samplers that are about women and their skills, rather than by a woman and what she values.
So the woman, as well as being the subject, becomes the object against which meaning is thrown.
The extent and ways in which I achieved my aim
The extent and ways in which my strategy did not work.
We discussed the difference between Essays, Reports, and Proposal:
Proposal - about the future, what you plan to do.
Report - A historical account of your process and outcomes. What went well/badly
Essays - more about argument and review of a subject.
We discussed making a plan for work. Use post-it notes to cover all key points of what you want to research. Put important comments or quotes on the back. Collect together and sequence them. Something like an organogram in business.
We get feedback on our draft proposals next week, and then need to present to the group on 8 December. We articulate the purpose of our proposals, and be clear what we want the group to contribute. 10 mins presentation, 20 mins discussion. My first thought is that I need to get the men to say what I need to include in my Valuing Women work, to appeal to men as well.
Gareth had a helpful suggestion when he saw my Artist Research folder. He creates an artistography - 50 words per artist stating why the work is significant to him. I have noted key words about each artist already. Would 50 words add to this? Not sure.
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