Unfamiliars: Tales for the Fireside 2

Putting together my contribution for the Unfamiliars: Tales for the Fireside 2 zine started by considering the title, the first thing that came to mind for me was the first line of many fairy tales, 'once upon a time'. The use of these phases would draw upon shared public language and resonate with others familiar with fairy tales. 

Once upon a time...

From taking this initial start point I then explored how to expand this. I often work with automatic writing due to its nonsensical outcomes. I employed my smartphone here, to create digital automatic texts which followed on from the phases, 'once upon a time'. 

To create these outcomes I entered the phase and then selected the predicted text, this adds a personal element to the outcome as the phone draws on my most used language. I wanted to move away from these outcomes - mostly as it turns out I am not that exciting and the outcome was not as playful as I had hoped!

Digital Automatic Writing

The second exploration on the start phrase was to look at synonyms for the words, finding words that mean the same thing as each word component. This exploration is the one I decided to develop, it allowed me to start breaking the language and moving it away from the shared public language of the initial phase and move towards something more Dada. The change is slight but enough to distort the reading a little. 

Synonyms

Once each of the words in the phrase had been replaced I start to put them together using my ACcomplte4 plaster letters. The maternity of the final outcome is not particularly important, it is just the medium I am currently interested in working in.

Final Outcome

See the final copy in print, available to buy at Tales for the fireside // Hand Embellished Limited Magazine | Etsy 

Words with Found Letters - Part Two

 

Some writing about my practice.

Some writing about my practice, with a focus on the automatic.

In short:

My practice explores the use of text/site. The work produced is usually temporary, drawing on notions of time and place, duration and mutability. This is echoed in the use of language, as that too is affected by these factors. Nothing is fixed and my practice focuses very much on nowness.

In Long:

My practice is heavily involved in the use of language and linguistics, I rely on the notion of a shared public language which can be accessed and interpreted in an infinite amount of ways by the reader. Art allows us to elevate the everyday, making people consider these things, such as language in new ways.

I have been using automatic writing for many years and find it a great way to kick start my creative process. The words that emerge are often nonsensical – something that I find refreshing in a world that depends on us being sensible. However, everyday themes tend appear too – bring the work back to reality and making it relatable to an audience. I have exhibited automatic writing in numerous ways and am always struck by how other people find their own connections in something that has been created in my world, highlighting our connections to others and the importance of community/communication. The connection between language and time also interest me as it is fleeting and ever-changing nature.

The intention of my practice is to engage the audience and creating a dialectical relationship between the art and the audience and the art the its surrounding. I work both digitally and with installations to achieve this. I have always considered the installation and the removal of my installations as performative. However, these are usually performances without an audience.

Examples:

2020

2019

2015

A Four Lettered Word - Part Four

This project has ind of fallen away a little. This is as I always have more than one project on at any one time. However, I have played with digitally altering the image. This was an attempt to blur the text.

While this did work, I worry that it makes the text too unreadable - the central letters feel OK to me, but the outer letters are becoming lost.

I am note sure where I will go with this idea, or if it will just fade away into the night. 

I think that i is good to remember that not all projects and ideas will work out, that is just part of the creative journey. 

Playing Cubes Revisited

Playing Cubes was one of my favourite things to come out of my art practice in 2019. The concept for this piece came about in March. The cubes started their lives as paper cubes and then fabric cubes before becoming the plaster cubes that I considered a finished piece.

The name of the piece came from the notion of games and playing, as influenced by Dadaism (and children’s playing cubes). The intention was also that the language used within the title would let the audience know that the work was intended to be interacted with.

My art practice takes a DIY approach, making use of materials which are often inexpensive (Vam, 2017) and using processes that are easily accessible (Benjamin, 2015). The process of making the cubes took a few weeks, as I work on a small scale and have a DIY ethos, the production is much slower than something that is mass produced. It was also important to me that the cubes where note simply re-produced (on a production line). By handcrafting each cube my multiples to retain the quality of being an original, this is important as it means that the aura of the original is not lost (Benjamin, 2015, p.70). each cube is an individual, with its own aesthetic. They are 'originals', which are multiples of sorts (Judovitz, 1998). As they are assembled of pre-existing gestures and conventions.

The process to create each plaster cube is as followed; each cube is set in a handmade 5x5x5cm paper cube, lined with petroleum jelly and then filled with hand mixed plaster. They are then left to dry. The process was a simple one, but effective. There was something quite ritualistic about it, as I followed the processes. The number of cubes created was not pre-set, each time I unwrapped the new cubes and added them to the existing pile of complete cubes I felt compelled to create more. The process only stopped once had submitted them to the Colchester Art Society Summer Exhibition, as at this point the work felt ‘done’. Had I not submitted the work for exhibition it is entirely possible I would still be making plaster cubes now.

The focus of my practice is the use of a shared public language, this resulted in the addition of the lettering to the playing cubes. Etching of the letters into the cubes was labour intensive and time consuming, with each hand carved into the set plaster, utilising my own font, ACcomplete4. The letter choice was random as did not have any preconceived ideas of a word or phrase. Instead wanting the audience to interacted with them–played with them. The cubes play into notions of breaking up language (Deleuze, 1997), as they use linguistic units (Katamba and Kerswill, 2009), rather than pre-set text.  They also allow us to consider how we make sense of things (Peirce, 1931-58), the work allows the audience to make their own sense of language.

Due to the gallery context in which the Playing Cubes where exhibited in I am unsure how much playing went on with the cubes. Galleries are highly controlled spaces (O’Doherty, 1986), in which we usually just look at work.

I am now revisiting the cubes in conjunction with The Road Sign Collection. I have decided to revisit the cubes as there is something pleasing in their simplicity, I also want to explore the notion of play more as I go forward. Currently I have returned to the paper cubes, however I may experiment with other materials going forward. These cubes remain the same size as the originals, but going forward I want to explore increased scale, as the road signs used for inspiration are large.

Reference

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

Deleuze, G. (1997) Essays Critical and Clinical. University of Minnesota Press.

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

Katamba, F. and Kerswill, P. (2009) English Language: Description, Variation and Context. Palgrave; 2009 edition. 

O’Doherty, B. (1986) Inside the White Cube. University of California Press.

Peirce, C. S. (1931-58): Collected Writings (8 Vols.). Ed. Charles Hartshorne, Paul Weiss & Arthur W Burks. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press

Vam. (2017) Plywood: Material of the Modern World. [online] https://www.vam.ac.uk/exhibitions/plywood-material-of-the-modern-world. [accessed 02/01/20].