http://eleanormacfarlane.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/final-exhibition-proposal.html
Quite an undertaking, but it seems to make sense. I also want, at this stage of the MA, to research some University study and reading skills, also towards possible PhD study. Sometimes it's only after trial that I see the relevance of learning such things - it's too overwhelming without seeing which bits to pick out and apply.
I am familiar with all the books in my bibliography to various degrees, and I didn't put anything there I hadn't at least read enough to grasp the gist. As Alexa said in a recent seminar about a book from her degree she is rereading - it's as if she hadn't read it before. I am finding that too - that reading is getting quite slow because of all the thinking. Perhaps it's time to really study and try to grasp those concepts enough to reiterate in notes. Somewhere to explore and organise all those thoughts and studies that spring from reading. Also extracting the ideas and how they relate to ideas in my work.
..........
Music:
Minimalism
Artists:
Christian Boltanski
Boyle Family
Stan Brakhage
Gavin Bryars
Stuart Geddes
Douglas Gordon
Christian Marclay
László Moholy-Nagy
Saskia Olde Wolbers
Elizabeth Price
Robert Rauchenburg
Pipilotti Rist
Philippe Vandenburg
Andy Warhol
Catherine Yass
Books:
1. Barthes, R. (1981) Camera Lucida: Reflections on Photography. London. Vintage.
2. Barthes, R. (1977) Image, Music, Text: Essays. London. Fontana.
3. Benjamin, W. (2008) The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. London. Penguin.
4. Berger, J. (1997) Ways of Seeing. London. Penguin.
5. Curtis, P. (ed.) (2013) Tate Britain Companion: A Guide to British Art. London. Tate.
6. Danchev, A. (ed.) (2011) 100 Artists’ Manifestos from the Futurists to the Stuckists. London. Penguin.
7. Elkins, J. (1998) The Object Stares Back: On the Nature of Seeing. San Diego. Harcourt Brace.
8. Elkins, J. (2010) Visual Cultures. Bristol. Intellect.
9. Harbison, R. (2000) Eccentric Spaces. Cambridge, Mass. MIT.
10. Hartridge, H. (1949) Colours and How We See Them. London. Bell.
11. Heartney, E. (2008) Art & Today. London. Phaidon.
12. Kirby, J. (2011) Techniques of Painting. London. National Gallery.
13. Meigh-Andrews, C. (2013) A History of Video Art. 2nd Revised edition. London. Bloomsbury Academic.
14. Mirzoeff, N. (1998) The Visual Culture Reader. London. Routledge.
15. Mundy, J. (2013) Lost Art: Missing Artworks of the Twentieth Century. London. Tate.
16. Sacks, O. (2008) Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain. London. Picador.
17. Scruton, R. (2009) Understanding Music: Philosophy and Interpretation. London. Continuum.
18. Sloane, P. (1966) Colour: Basic Principles and New Directions. London. Studio Vista.
19. Sontag, S. (2002) On Photography. London. Penguin.
20. Spalding, J. (2010) The Best Art You’ve Never seen: 101 Hidden Treasures From Around the World. London. Penguin.
21. Tanizaki, J. (2001) In Praise of Shadows. London. Vintage.
22. Rothenberg, D. (2012) Survival of the Beautiful: Art, Science and Evolution. London. Bloomsbury.
23. Weintraub, L. (2003) Making Contemporary Art: How Today's Artists Think and Work. London. Thames & Hudson.
10th March 2014
...................................................................................................................................................................
Art Research Practice
Since I made my initial research materials list, I have been working through them, reading, making notes and connecting ideas. The challenge is getting all those reflections blogged - there is a fair quantity which I hope to be quality. Naturally more books and materials have come into the mix - that's a never ending process. I have come to understand the differences between MA and PhD level research - structurally at least. At PhD, the research parameters become defined, and the process is as much collecting information as honing down the area to a narrower and narrower field, so that the expertise is in one defined discipline, even if that crosses disciplines it creates a new one. It all adds up to a point, the research title of the PhD, and the dissertation proves or backs that up. At MA level the researcher is still free to mix and create material from diverse disciplines...I don't know if I'm putting that well - of course the PhD researcher gathers from diverse disciplines, but is perhaps not as free to follow diversions once set upon a course, other than reformatting and rewriting the research title and proposal. In the MA I am free to choose material from outside what might be the canon of my research area.
In the MA, I set out my bibliography, and have kept to it, adding interconnections and new areas. I am often aware of how I could add to the bibliography itself, but time does not allow for all things at this stage, and my particular arrangement of books and materials have allowed me to set out the ideas I pursue in my thinking and practice, both in defining and identifying those ideas, giving them a form and structure, and in gathering new information, connections and areas to research further. Having a set of books and material to consider over the length of the Final Project while I have been making the art, has allowed me to test, explore and connect those research ideas with my artistic thoughts and intentions, and, I feel, as a result have deepened the project.
Previously, I have read and reread certain favourite art books, or browsed and added to my own collection of art books according to interest. I have also been fortunate over the years in my other occupation as a book reviewer, which has been a wonderful resource.
http://eleanormacfarlane.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/book-reviewing.html
When I review a book, I have to really tune into it, and to absorb it's tone to reflect that in the review. Often the Good Book Guide sends me books about art and culture, many of which have been very handy for the MA, and I have definitely absorbed some ideas into the Final Project. Among many others, this year I reviewed some books directly related to art, and others crossed my path:
Buchberg, K. Cullinan, N. Jodi Haupfman, J. et al (eds.) (2014) Henri Matisse: The Cut-Outs. London. Tate Publishing.
The great French artist Henri Matisse continued making work into old age when he became too infirm to continue with painting. During the ‘40s and 50’s, Matisse made increasingly complex and masterful works, using colour and natural forms to sculpt paper. The result is an extraordinary legacy of frankly joyous creativity and resourcefulness. Some of the images, notably Blue Nude on the cover, are well known, and while the impact of seeing the actual works with all their subtleties and expertise is considerable, superb reproduction values come close.
Accompanying a major exhibition, first shown first at Tate Modern in London, 2014, and travelling to the Museum of Modern Art in New York into 2015, the book is much more than a catalogue of works, containing additional information and essays. Most poignant are the photographs showing the works being made, stuck up on Matisse’s home and studio walls, and the artist himself, propped up in bed, cutting out sheer beauty.
Lizzie Siddal’s face is still one of the most famous in our culture, being the model for the renowned Pre-Raphaelite painting Ophelia by Millais. Her ethereal beauty became the Victorian ideal, but the tragedy of the figures she modelled for was reflected in her own life. Lizzie was the muse of the artist Rossetti who kept her in a state of despair. Often depicted as a doomed match between lovers from opposite ends of the social spectrum, the gap between the two was not really so great.
Lizzie was working in a hat shop when her unusual beauty was noticed by another artist, Deverell. Her cool demeanour and arresting looks brought her to the heart of the Pre-Raphaelite brotherhood, making her the subject of artistic and personal passions. Painted and remembered through myths and legends, Lizzie Siddal was so much more than a face. She was quick and capable, studied art and became an accomplished painter in her own right, but died at just 32, a laudanum addict.
There is a myth in art history that the rise of the self-portrait in about 1500 coincided with the development of good quality glass mirrors which allowed people to see themselves clearly for the first time. This so-called beginning of individualism does not account for ancient and mediaeval self-portraiture or that adequate polished metal mirrors had existed for centuries.
In contemporary times the self portrait is considered a confessional and psychological insight where the artist deliberately expresses the inner self rather than focussing on likeness. James Hall argues convincingly that his has always been the case, and finds evidence for such sophisticated language of art being used from antiquity through to illustrated manuscripts and famous oil paintings.
This cultural history is exceptionally rich in detail, and discusses significant works from artists famed for their self-portraits which reveal not just an unflinching individual view, but a sense of what it is to be human that we can all share. Some artists make their most intense work as self-portraits: Gustave Courbet said in 1854: I have done a good many self-portraits in my life, as my attitude gradually changed. One could say that I have written my autobiography.
It’s not just today when the most successful artists are the most enterprising and those with a confident sense of worth. In 1803, a young Turner stood his ground in asking an outrageous 300 guineas for a painting, then the going rate for an eminent old master, equivalent to £20,000 now. The Royal Academy came out on the painter’s side: … he did not see why Turner should not ask for such prices as no other persons could paint such pictures. Such negotiations, arguments and feuds could make or break an artist’s reputation.
Art and business has always had a close interrelationship, and in Victorian times, old money and newly-made industrial wealth displayed status by commissioning work and amassing collections. The growing middle classes had a voracious appetite for reproductions while industrialisation provided opportunities to satisfy public demand for novelty. All this meant that old trades and practices underwent rapid transformations, sometimes for the worse – mixing paint was no longer the job of studio apprentices, but new manufacturing process were unreliable: early Reynolds portraits notoriously lost trueness of colour due to poor materials. One subject Sir Walter Blackett wrote of his faded portrait:
Painting of old was surely well designed
To keep the features of the dead in mind,
But this great rascal has reversed the plan,
And made his pictures die before the man.
A fascinating look at the nitty-gritty behind the scenes of thriving and surviving in the art world.
A fascinating and knowing meander through the byways of the artworld from an author who has spent decades as an art dealer and specialist. Along the way, Philip Hook has absorbed many insights and anecdotes which he shares in his conversational fashion.
Art terms and attitudes are explained, and Hook goes some way to revealing the mysteries of how artworks are priced and valued. This is an informative and readable book which covers an extensive array of cultural narratives and personal passions. The A-Z format includes under Fakes a typically self-deprecating experience when Hook was an expert on TV’s Antique Roadshow and presented with what he thought were early twentieth century paintings – they had been painted the week before.
From the auction house and collectors’ point of view, the commerce of art is the wheel of the artworld. Buying a bronze for £65 million may be the high point of a lifetime of collecting, however there may be other motivations: an expert collector of Picasso’s works bought an unusually poor drawing by him because I had to do it, you know. The drawing was so bad it had to be taken out of circulation.
Historian Alexander Lee delves into the fascinatingly seedier side of the Renaissance, exploring the effects of plague, misfortune and unrest on a society rich with extremes of wealth and poverty, genius and cruelty.
While the Renaissance was a flowering of civilisation and culture, with a world of new ideas opening up, social and sexual manners were in turmoil. Art from late 15th century Florence shows off considerable opulence, but the reality was a scrum of prostitutes, beggars and thieves rubbing shoulders with the privileged few.
A family which has fascinated for centuries, the Medici’s epitomise the hypocrisy of compromised religion and politics. Their story reveals the intricacies of Renaissance society, and the links between money, status and power. A theme throughout the book is the fate of artists such as Michelangelo, and the compromises necessary in order to gain commissions from patrons.
Exceptionally well referenced, this history reads like prose and examines the lot of the individual. Legislation reveals attitudes: The Bonfire of the Vanities in 1498 was a mass burning of women’s elaborate clothes outlawed as being too exciting for men.
Malcolm J. (2013) Forty-One False Starts; Essays on Artists and Writers. London. Granta.
Writing about art is an art in itself, at its best offering insights into ideas that can be impenetrable and confusing. Janet Malcolm is like that knowledgeable friend who points out the human element. She’s an insider in that she knows and interviews artists and writers, but enough of an outsider as a journalist to maintain an inquisitive view.
One of America’s leading cultural writers, Malcolm’s reflective writing offers genuine nuggets of wisdom in very readable essays. The painter David Sales, who achieved fame and fortune in the 1980’s, confides his doubts and insecurities: When I work, I feel I’m doing everything wrong.
Artist, potter, transvestite and all round personable bloke Grayson Perry shares his insights into the mysterious practices of the art world. Often what happens between galleries, collectors and curators is just as much a mystery to artists as to everyone else. Perry seeks to answer such questions as what is contemporary art all about, who decides its value and worth, and how can an artist get noticed?
Considerable wit and frankness combine to make a readable contribution to pricking a few pretentions and pushing open the doors of galleries. Art is for everyone, not just those in the know, although a little knowledge does help. Perry is knowledgeable and open to sharing. He concludes that the desired value of art is seriousness, and he proves that seriousness does not have to be po-faced.
When I won the Turner Prize…they asked me “Grayson, are you a loveable character or are you a serious artist?”…Can’t I be both?
In his mid-seventies, amongst the popular and critical acclaim to his major exhibition A Bigger Picture at the Royal Academy in 2012, Hockney appeared to be an artist at the peak of his profession. Still energetic and creative, and exploring new ideas in paintings, he says: It’s not an end, it’s another beginning. I’m only just beginning my middle period.
In addition to sumptuous paintings with a heightened sensibility for colour and the atmosphere of the countryside, Hockney is also known as an early adopter of technology, pioneering iPad drawings. As a painter he is not universally acclaimed, but as an artist his contribution and influence are considerable.
Hockney has a knack for plain speaking artistic truths, perhaps a legacy of his native Yorkshire: I’m not that concerned with art world criticism and opinion of my work. I know I’m keeping modernism alive with my ideas about seeing and depicting.
This second volume of biography takes us from the mid 1970’s when Hockney is already an established artist, and traces how he came to be still flowering and engaged in older life. Life in America, many friendships and encounters with fellow artists and cultural characters, and always the prolific work ethic, make a fascinating character profile of an extraordinary and complex man with quiet charisma.
Watson, R. and Rappaport, H. (2013) Capturing the Light; A True Story of Genius, Rivalry and the Birth of Photography. London. Macmillan.
The invention and development of photography has clearly been a major driver of our entire culture over the last couple of centuries, without which our way of life seems inconceivable. However, the true history of photography’s conception is a collection of inspired individual pioneers, sometimes working away at an isolated passion, at times motivated by rivalry.
History often traces the development of photography from the Camera Obscura, through various Shadowgrams to the beginnings of the camera. Usually credited with the first recognisable photographic process, Louis Daguerre’s Daguerreotype was the French invention which captured a negative image on a mirrored copper plate. However, Englishman Henry Fox Talbot’s Calotype process recorded images on paper coated with silver nitrate. Both processes emerged in the 1830s and became enmired with conflicting publicity as the photographic miracle and craze swept all levels of society. Industrial jealousies and a proliferation of new inventions added complication to the definitive version of the origins of photography.
Capturing the Light dives in to this fascinating Victorian world to research the truth of which man took the first actual photograph. Illustrations of early examples add life to the cast of eccentric characters.
My reason for mentioning this additional mini-bibliography is that ideas there have fed into my thinking and may well have been included in my project bibliography but for timing. For the project I have kept my research linear although the nature of research is not really linear, following defined pathways. The point of research is not only to reforge what has already been discovered, but to create new pathways, new connections and overlaps, and in the process, perhaps to create new knowledge.
How wonderful it is, however, to read and absorb ideas that so many creative, artistic and scholarly people have left and are producing. If only I had another decade to read all about architecture and visit sites to fully appreciate that field. And then another decade or two to scratch the surface of archaeology. And novels: I used to be fairly well read, but I am falling behind! Music, concerts, history, science, social sciences...The world is so full of knowledge and treasures - I don't think there ever was a time when one could truly be a Renaissance person, having a working knowledge of all fields. And even in one field, in art, and then contemporary art, and then contemporary moving image, there is just so much to know and understand' and from various perspectives. I don't feel defeated by knowledge, but truly amazed.
Perhaps making art is one way to interpret our own individual matrix of understanding and knowledge, fragmentary as it is. Research is our way of tracing through the catacombs of knowledge which echoes with memories, impressions and apprehensions.
It leads me to a new type of practice beyond the MA, where making and research is more integrated. Unless I ever do commit to reapplying for a PhD, I will be relatively free to define my own research parameters, but I realise that somewhat defining those pentameters, giving each project a bibliography and research proposal of its own, deepens the project and links it to other areas of culture. Additionally, I would at times like to work and research in museums, galleries or institutions as artist in residence, and create art and research projects - I now have a much better understanding of how to approach this and create appropriate proposals. I've seen some exhibition materials recently (but not the exhibitions) for upcoming shows which seem to be integrated art and research in ways that appealed to me - they were not overly curated, but genuine fine art and research projects.
6th November 2014
...................................................................................................................................................................
Beck, J. and Cornford, M. (2014) The Art School and the Culture Shed. Surrey. Kingston University.
This is a wonderful slim volume of an ongoing project where the two authors, who are an artist and a writer who also teach, document former art schools, the kind most towns in Britain once had, and which are now mostly lost. Often purpose built, these buildings also spoke of a time when there was an understanding that art was an option in a smaller place. It's very poignant, and also discusses the concepts of studying art and the politics that come into play as facilities become more integrated into larger institutions.
11th November 2014
...................................................................................................................................................................
Beck, J. and Cornford, M. (2014) The Art School and the Culture Shed. Surrey. Kingston University.
This is a wonderful slim volume of an ongoing project where the two authors, who are an artist and a writer who also teach, document former art schools, the kind most towns in Britain once had, and which are now mostly lost. Often purpose built, these buildings also spoke of a time when there was an understanding that art was an option in a smaller place. It's very poignant, and also discusses the concepts of studying art and the politics that come into play as facilities become more integrated into larger institutions.
11th November 2014
No comments:
Post a Comment