Tutorials log and Work in Progress Seminars
17 Aug 2021 – Paul
Again, suggested I work in series
To allow more space for chance
To try variations of ideas
Look at Doyle Lane’s ‘weed pots’, particularly the glazing
Comments on the ceramic piece with bristles; – interesting changes from one material/surface to another; – from glaze to bristles, to a different form and glaze, to wool to concrete. Changes that have a rhythm and oddness.
Paul liked the way the glazes enhanced and helped describe the form. This is important; glaze needs to avoid looking contrived or ‘added’, (as an afterthought) or to decorate a piece.
Display/presentation: make it as deliberate and precise as the piece itself. Museum style is ok, [somewhat contrary to Kerry’s thoughts], – something to suggest preciousness. The important point is that it needs to be considered, as fundamental to how the work is perceived and read.
29 Jun 2021 – Kerry
I have several interesting strands of enquiry – drawing [with a relationship to language/writing], fabric sculpture, ceramic work, assemblage. Follow these without necessarily trying to bring them together; they will cross-fertilize and may at some point come together but don’t force it.
The way the canvas piece is stitched is quite sophisticated, the seams are interesting lines in the form.
There seem to be two parts to the plaster piece; the lumpy, irregular, polished surface of the bulbous part, and the evenly striated end with the orifice. Where these come together is the point of interest; a kind of wrongness that begs a question [my paraphrasing, I can’t recall Kerry’s exact words]
How to present work is really important, it’s fundamentally part of how the work is perceived. Avoid the obvious or expected ways of mounting and displaying; look for surprising solutions.
22 June 2021 – Paul
I need to be a ‘good student’ and get my research and contextual references together; all the stuff I’ve been looking at, listening to, visiting, doing, – from pottery course to YouTube videos
Need to think about how to present work [Heather said that putting the black velvet thing in a fish tank might be a bit too obvious]
Look at mixing materials and adding things together, for example multiple pots built up into a sculpt
Play with bringing unusual things together to find unexpected outcomes. [relates to my ideas about culturing serendipity]
We discussed my studio space and the importance of surrounding myself with things to respond to.
It seems I’m on the right track with playing with different materials.
Paul commented on my apparent move away from painting and suggested that ceramic glazing might be my replacement for it
Look at: Matthew Ronay, Ron Nagle, Ricky Swallow, Aron Angell, Jessie Wine
Reading: “That Continuous Thing” – Sara Matson and Sam Thorne
25 May 2021 – WiP seminar
Give yourself permission to play and experiment
‘trick’ yourself into work by just doing tests
Use different materials and scales to develop forms
Paul: a version of the canvas sculpture with black velvet and a red orifice would be something – [taking and stretch ideas further]
Amanda: the forms are strong and interesting, adding colour might detract from them. The things speak for themselves and don’t need painting on. Making more pieces and presenting them together, (as an installation?) might give an effect similar to a painting? The installation as a painting?
26 Jan 2021 – WiP seminar
Useful to look at artists I don’t like or are very different to me, in order to clarify/refine what really interests me , what I’m about.
Record processes, methods recipes etc as I go along; to use as reference. Method /process could be [is] fundamental to the outcome; – not a means to an end but the genesis of a thing.
Develop the articulation of differences and relationships between things. This is at the core of what interests me.
Look at Peter Voulkos
Conversation about my plaster piece: –
how it’s presented could/will provide another level of articulation, influence the balance between what’s being said and how it’s being said
need to step back from his piece now and reflect on the process and what I was trying to do or say, and how well, (or otherwise) I managed to do this.
13 Jan 2021 – Paul
Trust and have confidence that tutors and other students do see interesting things and value my work. There is something worth pursuing and I do have interesting work in me.
Paul said I’d made the weirdest work… which is a good thing. If I can make work that people think of as weird, even in a slightly good way, then I’ll be happy.
Don’t allow negative pressure or expectations to build from comparing myself with the writing/ideas/work of other artists.
Give myself permission to be an artist, to play and experiment.
5 Jan 2021 – Kerry
Use WiPs to talk about getting stuck. It happens to all artists. Don’t just wallow in it, talk [with other artists] about it.
Paul 19 Nov 2020 – studio
Talked about my plaster piece – suggested working with series, or having several pieces on the go at a time to avoid the pressure of everything riding on one outcome and to allow for making variations on a theme
14 Oct 2020 – Kerry
Choose / follow lines of work – enquiry processes – that don’t necessarily look related at the outset: drawings, assemblages, sculptures etc.
Reflect [and write it down!!] on what I’m thinking, doing, have done. Also on other research, (artists, reading, talks exhibitions etc) – where is all this leading/taking me?
Reflect [and write it down!!] on how I’m working and what my processes are (daydreaming for example) as well as what I’m producing and what I’m thinking about conceptually.
30 September 2020 – Anna
Make notes as I go! [I find this incredibly difficult as it means switching mode, but making notes later is even more difficult]
Artists to look at: Brancusi; his way of working, his studio as a work of art. Also; Gordon Brennan Annie Galaccio, Rebecca Horn
28 Sept 2020 – Joanna Hyslop
Artists to look at: Brice Marden, Lilian Tomasko, Erin Lawler, Nigel Hall, Mio Yamoto, (repetition Red Dot & Repetition Black Line work) Hiroyuki Hamada, (disparate materials brought together. Enclosed forms) Shirazeh Houshiary
25 Aug 2020 – Kerry
Record and reflect on everything that I’m doing; including daydreaming and playing with orange peel.
Set up Frameworks to work within to free up what I do; – define some parameters then let things happen. Then look at the work and reflect on it.
Look at the work of John Cage
Set up time for doing this. [an organized structure to work within; in a chaotic / impulsive way, rather than trying to work in an organized structured way.]
Find ways to trick myself, [to avoid the inhibiting pressure of ‘making art’] – think of everything as a study rather than a finished piece. Try to free up by moving away from thinking about ‘finished’ work.
Consciously work to remove pressures and expectations – devise strategies.
Do more with the charcoal drawings. Kerry and others think this is a rich seam.
Don’t try to make things beautiful, make them honest; – about the question, the exploration not necessarily the answer.
Kerry also pointed out that it’s ok to have formulated ideas and then work to realize them. Not all artists work in the same way, [ie loose, expressive, playful and constantly experimental] although this is what art schools seem to favour.
24 Aug 2020 – Anna Ray
Value my sketches
Make collages
Make a (white) space in which to record things properly
Think about making proposals or test pieces/experiments rather than ‘finished work’
Try new materials as a way of by-passing issues
Look at Eva Hesse – drawings, sculptures, use of string
Look at Brancusi
18 Aug 2020 – Paul
Need to take myself in hand – in terms of stepping back from the art, and thinking about how to manage myself as an artist.
Try stepping sideways, out of the studio maybe, to try something different. Think about how Andy Goldsworthy works with things outdoors.
Think about finding methods/processes that work more quickly, where I can get into the doing more easily. Remember, work generates work. I need to produce work
7 Jul 2020 – Paul
Suggested looking at Nan Shepherd, Philip Guston and ‘outsider art’
Collect stuff that interests me; visual ideas, images, music, artefacts, anything. Start to assemble/collage/collate and play with this.
Get things out of my head; – shift thinking into doing
Don’t let perfectionism get in the way
5 Jun 2020 – Paul
Find things to get lost in (in terms of doing/making).
Look at the concept of a Bricoleur, as opposed to that of a Jack of all trades (and master of none) – skillful use of a diverse and eclectic range of things; making work from whatever is to hand.
26 May 2020 – Kerry
Thinking about ‘making art’ and worrying about a lack of skills/experience is a problem.
The smaller work, where I’ve just got lost in the detail of the making, is the most interesting.
I need to take pressure off myself and just get busy making.
Use Practice 2 to work on this rather than thinking big just yet – maybe think about making small proposals for bigger work.