Private View at London Met

Last night was the Private View at London Met.  I had mixed feelings about attending, but wanted to celebrate the achievements of my fellow students, who had completed their course this year.

The show was in a section of Calcutta House, which may have been derelict beforehand, but had been given a lick of paint on the walls and the floors sanded.  I was surprised to find it made a good, spacious, exhibition venue.  The MABy Project group were on the second floor.  I have to say, I briefly looked at the ground and first floors where the Fine Art graduates were, and I just did not understand their work at all.

Gareth and Na'ama were my personal Best In Show awards.  Their work was in one section, well spaced, beautifully finished, conscientiously hung - really good finessing in the exhibiting of the work.  Gareth's artwork was atmospheric landscape, with a high level of skill to achieve the finish and patina.  Na'ama's work was sculpture of her hair, in metalwork with patination, by creating vessels to contrast an inside with an outside.  Their work was brilliant.

So having attended in the spirit of celebration, why did I come away feeling more than a little relieved that I had decided to withdraw from the course?  I had pleasant conversations with nearly everyone - students who had finished the course (Sophie, Gareth, Na'ama, Simal, Vlad, Nora); students who had decided to finish next year (Margaret, Lieta), tutors (Simone, Nick, Danielle).  Of those who asked me, I said I had made the right decision for me to leave the course and I was due to start at Coventry later in September.  Simone said I had proved I was able to do research and did not need to start again. I don't agree - the more I think about the Developing Project module, the more I realise I had no idea (and still have no idea) what it was about.  She was obviously bothered that I had jacked in the MA.  Also I think it shows London Met does not realise the poor esteem in which it is held by other organisations - I can't carry the credits across to other universities.  She also said I should not be a student rep again - I have no idea why - I did not think I said anything too out of line. There is something awry in the communication between me and Simone - I just don't understand what she is driving at.

Danielle asked what I was doing now, and I told her about my artwork being exhibited at the Institute of Education, and being shown alongside Caren Garden.  At which point she said networking was just as important as research ... which made me feel incredibly patronised.  I looked at the artwork that was successful to my eyes, and it all was by students who had spent a lot of time developing technique ... which in my opinion makes them very skilled technicians.  And I'm not interested in becoming a skilled technician ... I want to develop my thought.  And this seems to be what the tutors missed from my aims.

I left feeling quite disheartened and very glad to catch my train with seconds to spare, so I could just go home to my husband.

Image courtesy of Gareth Jones - Artist.

Today: About Gareth Jones - Artist

"Whilst language and ideologies appear to give fullness of expression, they fall short due to their fundamental limitations in conveying the ineffable. Philosophers Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari compare the generation of concepts to percepts – concepts are built using language (linguistics) to convey meaning, whereas percepts connect the seen to the felt, imagined, and non-lingual. 

Applying this to an artwork they say ‘the thing or the work of art - is a bloc of sensations or a compound of percepts and affects… …the artist creates blocs of percepts and affects.’
In looking at artwork, percepts and feelings generated are paramount - the non-verbal connection that builds between the work and the viewer. Is the power of art due to what it connects with at a fundamental level, rooted in our pre-verbal [or ante-verbal] mind? For communication, Language’s basis is ultimately embodiment which itself gives rise to gesture, visual expression and historically visual communication. 

I aim to delve into a deeper imagination of space and freedom [in these works] the idea of landscape. Investigating the nature of making and gesture, my approach is to compile over time, layer upon layer of washes, scratches, gestural and accidental marks – as an accretion of histories of acts until a wholeness develops – to convey the feeling of place or space."