Fishing Wire Experiments (20/02/2014)

I have taken my experiments with fishing wire in three different directions, paying attention to my varied interests in it physical properties or poetic connotations. The first route I have taken is to continue the use of fishing line to create mystery and uncertainty, as I did in my outcome to the Sculpture brief. Using subtlety as a medium to evoke mystery, I have manipulated straight lengths of yarn so that they bend in a seemingly impossible (or supernatural) course.

 In the left photo I have lit the installation so that both the yarn and the fishing wire is visible, and the right photo is an inverted image which illustrates the idea of lighting the installation in a darkened room. My aim in these explorations is to begin to question where the artwork stops, whether the fishing wire is part of the work or just a means of display. In my opinion the wire is undoubtedly part of the work, but I wonder whether this is the same for artists such as Cornelia Parker and Damian Ortega who use thin wires to suspend objects. To clarify, what I mean by a "part of the work" is whether the audience is asked to look at it and question it in the way they would the rest of the work.

The second thread of my material investigation is knitting with the fishing wire. I did not know how to knit beforehand and have never done it previously, but reading books about feminist art and the incorporation of traditional crafts into contemporary art made me want to try. I started to think about the significance of fishing wire, how it can trap and entangle and be oppressive, as opposed to the wool or yarn usually used in knitting which is associated with protection, warmth and comfort. I am also interested in the juxtaposition of the conventionally male and female occupations/pursuits of fishing and knitting, how they are joined in one material, one image. I love the visual connection that the knitting has to nets, which catch and ensnare, and webs, which have an added association with habitats and safety.

I find this experiment particularly weighty with potential connotations, and I feel I could find a lot of interest in it. However, it must be acknowledged that there are several flaws with this idea which I think will prevent me from taking the idea further. Although this was my first attempt, I am not experienced with knitting, and fishing wire was not made to be used in this way it must be questioned whether the maquette is good enough aesthetically. I am drawn to the image of it above because of how the strands are visible through each other and intertwine in a fascinating way as if made of glass. In real life scale this is not as visible and the piece loses those qualities. In order to do this n a large scale it would take a very, very long time and I'm not sure that I am willing to take that risk at present. I would certainly like to continue this idea in future, maybe with the medium of photography instead of sculpture.

The third main idea that I have been developing is wrapping objects in fishing line in a precise, measured manner so that it creates a solid 'material' from the thread. So far I have done this with metal, off-cuts and a balloon. An interesting and unexpected result with the metal offcuts is that the PVA glue reacts with the metal, leaving a yellow/brown residue on the surface of the fishing line.

 

 

 

 

Visually, these experiments have produced some really intriguing results. I love the way light passes through the ordered lines of the wire, and this is even more interesting with the added residue of the rusty metal. I feel like I have found a motif that I want to develop further but I'm not sure how I am goingto do this yet.



Project Proposal - 'Observing the Unseen' (22/01/2014)

I came up with 'Observing the Unseen' as the main heading for the new project. This title alludes to the qualities and throw away nature of the material I am choosing to work with... I have set myself fishing wire as a material, and my aim is to experiment with it in many different ways to test its potential in sculpture.

Fishing wire not only has many visual, tangible and physical properties that are interesting to my mind, it also has established poetic connotations that I am excited to investigate and understand. I am drawn to fishing wire because of its changeable aesthetic qualities, the way light shines through it, and how it can sit orderly on the reel or be irreversibly tangled and chaotic. Its ability to go unnoticed was something I explored in the Sculpture brief, using it as a means to mystify the viewer and question how my cardboard sculpture was suspended. I am fascinated with the concept of fishing wire as a means of suspension, of imagination and of logic as much as of objects. Having visited museums and galleries where artworks, as well as museum exhibits, are displayed with the use of fishing wire, I feel compelled to analyse how suspending objects changes our perception of them and why we are prepared to consciously set aside logic in these instances.

I began to investigate the concept of the invisible, unnoticed or overlooked in my work last year, drawing attention to unnoticed spaces and the hidden histories of locations around Falmouth. I think the real essence of what I wish to convey and inspire in my art is for people to look a little more at the things around them, to investigate their surroundings, to notice and then to appreciate the details and subtleties of their everyday environment.

I listened to an interview in which one of my favourite artists, Tara Donovan, described her method of practice; she said she set herself a material and conducted experiments in an almost scientific way in order to understand its properties fully. I recognise that I do this to some extent in my work already, but it is my aim for this coming project to pay particular attention to this as a way of working. Paired with this rigorous exploration of the material inspired by Donovan, will be the application of Richard Serra's "Verb List Compilation: Actions to Relate to Oneself" (1967 - 1978), which will provide me with and existing set of instructions with which to investigate the fishing wire. I like the idea of using words as a formula to making as I use words a lot in my work to stimulate ideas and to recognise the connotations that will be evoked by a work (an object, a material, a colour...).

Casting Workshop (31/01/2014)

The casting workshop was enjoyable and very interesting because I had no idea about the process beforehand - I really enjoyed the feeling of learning something completely new and having to follow instructions. I surprised myself at how much I took to making the initial clay mould. I haven't used clay since I was little, but I was very pleased with how my figure turned out.

 

I really liked being able to mould the clay with my hands - it reaffirmed to me that I prefer processes where I can directly manipulate the material (as opposed to using wood or metal). I found the cool, solidity of the clay quite relaxing to work with, which was unexpected. I would be interested in filming my hands as they work with the material, having watched a short video by the artist Michel François...

Michel Francois - Déjà vu (hallu) - 2002

One of the casting examples we were shown caught my imagination over the others and I have started to think how it might relate to my own practice. It was a clay cast of a polystyrene ball which had had shells glued all over the surface, and it looked like a strange rock form or fossil. I found it really interesting how casting can be used to mask the identity of the object in this way (had I not been told what the original object was, I couldn't have guessed). Previously I had thought that there was a truthfulness to casting because it produces an exact replica of the form, but in this case the cast was deceptive, eliminating visual clues like an object that has been painted one colour. I'd love to explore this idea further, I think there is quite a lot of potential work there to be made.

I was happy with the wax cast I produced... I find wax a fascinating material because of how quickly it changes from liquid to solid, and has quite a unique texture. I tried to document the process fully so that it will help me remember it in future.

 

 

Metal Workshop (21/01/2014)

I think the metal workshop was invaluable for me, because it is so important that I feel able to go into the workshop and to approach the technicians for help. I was very nervous in doing the welding, but was extremely pleased and relieved once I realised that I could do it (without injuring/burning myself/anyone else). I think it was quite a big step for me in overcoming my fear of using the machinery, and I would definitely be able to do it again.

The object we made (an enlarged squashed bottle) wasn't particularly inspiring but it was quite nice to be able to learn and experiment without the pressure of having to make something impressive.



The bottle in progress

In terms of my own practice, the thing which I discovered through the workshop, which I might want to look at again was the offcuts of the square steel pipes. I collected some of these as I liked the modular forms, which reminded me of Vincent Mauger's pipe works.

Assessment One

Preparing for the assessment mostly involved organising and arranging my work. I struggled a little as I was indecisive over how to present my work, in particular the drawings and supporting works which I didn't want to draw too much attention to. In the end I was happy with the work I submitted, arranging key pieces of work on the walls of my space in chronological order and putting the rest in a book.

My main concern was that my area looked very formal in comparison to other people's - I'd arranged it very cleanly and systematically. However, I thought (and think) it is important for the work to be coherent and presented with clarity so that my process can be understood by someone who isn't familiar with it.

I spent some time thinking about how I might display the installation I made in the sculpture week, which I the work I am probably most proud to have produced in the last term. Documenting it with photographs had been fairly difficult because of the space it was in and the use of yarn, which did not show up on many of the photographs. I decided to submit several photographs which showed the work from different aspects and the cardboard sculpture itself. I also made an additional 'mini installation' with the yarn in the corner of my space to showcase what it had looked like. I think the use of the yarn is something I may want to investigate in my next project as I am interested in the linear formations which can be made when it is pulled taught.

Tutorial

I had my first tutorial, which went really well and gave me a lot to think about. It is very interesting how one conversation can change my outlook on my work... The main thing that I took from the discussion was how I use and look at subjects which have something quite phobic about them e.g. the wasps nest, the macro photograph of the eye, mould... I think I have realised this to some extent before, mostly through other people's reactions to these things (I enjoy seeing the horrified/surprised/squirming response people have), but I've never given any great consideration to it or why I choose these subjects. It was quite a revelation to hear this and begin to recognise this in my work, and it seems the more I look, the more I find which relates to phobias and provokes phobic responses; I have thought about it a lot since and think it could be a basis for the next project. I really want to pick apart what it is that makes something 'scary' and the notions of attraction and repulsion which, with phobias, often overlap.

I was pleased to hear that my work looks to be on track for the assessment. I felt like I needed some reassurance at this stage because it is the first time being assessed in this way. As I have attended as much of the course as possible and produced work consistently throughout the term I don't feel anxious to make work to be assessed.

Tumblr

In October I set up a Tumblr account as a way to find out about more artists and also to remember them and document my findings as a blog. Since then it has provided some unanticipated benefits to my practice... I find the way in which the images are displayed really inspiring - as they are next to each other, I begin to link things together, a colour or formal motif.. it is surprising what and how many similarities there are between things. Juxtaposition is a really helpful tool for developing ideas, as well as considering the associations that a viewer might make when looking at the work.

 

This holiday I have been looking at Tumblr quite a lot and have found so many examples of art, architecture, design and photographs of the natural world that I feel really relate to my practice. I have had a lot of ideas this holiday, which I think is a direct consequence of seeing these images. When I return to Falmouth I think it is important that I keep up the momentum of researching in this way and to the extent that I am.. although I will also have the addition of the library resources and lectures.