Repeats: Artist Research

Since developing my lino prints I have become increasingly interested in repeats. This is something has has always been in the background of my practice, as I have often talked about collections, multiples and originals. The use of a print plays into this notion perfectly.

As is increasingly so with my artist-teacher practice, the development has been informed by my art teaching. As I began to put together an 'Intro to Pop Art' course I was reminded of the classic repeats of Warhol and of other that I had come across over the years.

My practice feels as if it is playing into notions of Pop Art, accidentally, as until I started writing a course on it I cannot say that I had given it much thought within or outside of my practice. However, if Pop Art relies upon the use of popular or everyday objects*, then my use of road signs fits that characteristic. The movement also gives a nod to mass produced items, thinks cans of soup...but again this is a parallel I can make with the road signs (and something that I have talked about in previous blog posts).

*On reflection I am surprised that I had not looked into Pop Art before in relation to my own art practice, given that it has always drawn on the everyday.

Abbie Cairns, 2020

One of the things that draws me into the repeats is the intention of them. The process and the decision making behind deciding to make many, rather than one. What does there being more than one add to the piece? And what does it take away? Is it part of the story telling? Or done to fill a page?

This is something that initially drew me to Andy Warhol's Marilyn Diptych, as the repeats are used clearly to depict the narrative of Marilyn herself. While the repeats may not all be identical the subject matter is clearly one of the same.

Andy Warhol, Marilyn Diptych, 1962

Looking at the effect that this has on text is interesting as the text used is drawn from shared public language  (Wittgenstein in Kripke, 1984) and the instructions given fall into social contracts that we know to follow (Rousseau, 1998). However, by repeating those words they are then read differently - it is unexpected and gives them a different context. Repeated words can become order like, or mantra like, depending on the tone used and how they are interpreted by the reader. Word choice too will play a part. With the repeat of 'end' for example, the quantitation to that word are already quite negative and so seeing them over and over can make it feel quite daunting. In the print itself there is little context or reference to what it is ending, however the arrows suggest that it could be a certain direction. However, this direction could be real, or imagined, or conceptual. 


The text originally comes from The Road Sign Collection and while already part of a 'popular' culture item, taking the text and repeating it gives it a propaganda edge - like when the circus comes to town and you find whole walls plastered with the same poster promoting the same event, over and over.

Abbie Cairns, 2020

These outcomes reminded me of an artist that I had come across previously, Scott Myles. This print highlights a lit of the characteristics that I have been exploring and enjoying. The use of the repeat, but with each still as an original. 

The use of recognisable text from 'real life' and a colour scheme which nods to the gestures and conventions of signs (Judovitz, 1998), but created as an art object, rather than a fictional sign - and should never be exhibited above a door (Tate, 2020b). I find this playful and enjoy how it elevates the text into the art world, this is what I am doing with The Road Sign Collection. My signs will never make it onto a path or motorway. but they should not anyway, they should be viewed in an art setting away from their original context to allow new readings of them to be undertaken by the audience. 

Scott Myles, Double Exit, 2004

The use of multiple can mean that the reproductions produced lack something that the original has (Benjamin, 2015), however these prints (and hopefully my own too) seem to eschew this as each print is slightly different and original. 

References

Benjamin, W. (2015) Illuminations. London: Penguin. 

Judovitz, D. (1998) Unpacking Duchamp: Art in Transit. University of California Press. 

Kripke, S. (1984) Wittgenstein Rules and Private Language. John Wiley & Sons; New Ed edition.

Rousseau, J. J. (1998) The Social Contract. Wordsworth Editions.

Tate. (2020a) Andy Warhol: Marilyn Diptych, 1962. [online] Available at: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/warhol-marilyn-diptych-t03093. [accessed 14/04/20].

Tate. (2020b) Scott Myles: Double Exit, 2004. [online] Available at: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/myles-double-exit-t11902. [accessed 28/04/20].