Streams

Friday 23 September 2011

We have been asked to visit the Bloomberg "New Contemporaries 2011" exhibition at the Site Gallery and S1 Artspace today to draw our favourite and our least favourite pieces, in a detailed, photographic style. I am dreading this project - I haven't drawn like this in a long while - but my dread is mixed with an anticipation and excitement: how will my drawings turn out? Will I be pleased with my efforts? I have always been taught that there is no point in copying an image exactly because since cameras were invented, there is no point in trying to achieve something a camera can achieve more effectively. 

My favorite pieces were Ute Klein's Resonanzgeflecht series, possibly for personal reasons (I have recently made the change to long-distance with my boyfriend and am finding the distance difficult to cope with), but I was also drawn to the formal aesthetics of the symmetry of the bodies in the interlocking of hands and arms which symbolise the symbiosis of the partners. 

 

I personally found that by drawing both figures in the same medium (graphite pencil), the connection between the couple was even more profound: the two bodies merged into one form. 

However, as I was drawing, I uncovered a strangeness in composition: there is a very dark shadow along the male arm which isn't mirrored on the female side - this slight imbalance upsets me - I feel that in a piece like this, the shapes and shadows should be regular, and this could easily have been remedied by rearranging the studio lighting.

My least favourite piece was Anne Katherin Schuhmann's Toria 1, because I found it desperately frustrating. I often wish that galleries supplied artist's sketchbooks so we can understand the processes that lead to the final piece. Here, I wondered whether Schuhmann was trying simply to draw the audience's attention to this figure who would normally not be noteworthy (similar to a 'readymade', the figure is afforded importance by being placed in a gallery context). If this is the aim, perhaps it would be more effective if the images were framed, rather than simply pinned on the wall. Perhaps the series refers to art history - as I drew, I wondered whether the model's fraying hair resembled a halo which are often painted on biblical figures in classic paintings. I haven't captured the model's expression effectively - her eyes were sad and unengaging, and her mouth might have turned at the corner (Mona Lisa's enigmatic smile perhaps?). 

Having researched Schuhmann, however, I was annoyed to find that this disconcertment I felt was intentional!

"The photograph is not transparent; it is opaque. The only thing you can do is look at it. I approach photography as a means of responding to the medium itself and its discursive underpinnings without attempting to pin things down. When something is put forward to us in order to perceive it, we normally feel the need to interpret it, to understand what it is trying to communicate. But how do we read an image? What happens if there is no narrative implied, no meaning to be identified? In examining the potential and limits of photographic representation, I try to open up ideas of what an image could be. There are disparate subjects and photographic techniques, without legible narratives, leading to various ways of reading that unfold new sensibilities. I want to leave the image open, without conclusion or definition. The authority of the photographic image as a document is undercut. Instead of revealing things, giving insight, photography appears to be a medium of concealment." (http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/ns/profile/Anne%20Kathrin%20+Schuhmann/2222)

She totally got me. 






Monday 26 September 2011 


Today we discussed different styles of drawing, which include but are not limited to still life/depictive, cartoon, mapping, sculptural, gestural, narrative, time based, graphic, architectural etc.
We were asked to make 40 drawings in 40 minutes of parts of the studio - I didn't want to use observational drawing, but I wanted an interesting way to map the studio space. I chose to make rubbings of the studio floor, there were loads of strange bits and blobs and cracks that picked up brilliantly when I was making the rubbings, below are two examples of the drawings I made:

 Col set us a project for the next three days; to make three one hour A2 drawings per day, employing a different style each day.






Tuesday 27 September 2011 

Today I made my first three drawings using a kind of mapping method that I have been developing for a couple of years; to crease and fold the paper around the object that I intend to draw, and then to work into the created creases, similarly to Louise Hopkins’ drawings onto crumpled paper. The first drawing (1) was made based on a tree in the grounds of my halls of residence which, interestingly, made it’s own marks of colour onto the paper which I later drew into and around (and which I think is actually the most effective of the three drawings I made today). The second drawing (2) was based on an hug between me and a friend - the creases this time were much softer and looser than when I wrapped the paper around the tree trunk, and I tried to keep the lines of the drawing softer and less spiky than in the first. The final drawing (3) was made by crumpling the paper in my hand, which only creased the centre of the paper. I tried hard not to elaborate too much on the existing shades and shadows because I believed them interesting enough in their own right, so I have tried to keep this third drawing, as well as the other two, very clean and simple, merely relying on the subjects to make the most interesting marks and shapes in their reaction with the paper.

Wednesday 28 September 2011


In these images I have picked one setting and drawn for an hour the movement of humans. The first drawing (4) was made during Col’s lecture where I sketched him moving between the desktop computer and the projection screens to either side of him. I continued this method later in the day when I took a seat at Barker’s Pool and drew pedestrians walking past for an hour (5). The final drawing (6) I made while watching Dirty Dancing, but I believe this one is the least effective: because I had no static field of vision there are no regularities in the drawing and so the lines of faces and feet lack any kind of consistency, which is confusing to the eye and renders my hour’s work a mass of scribbles.

Thursday 29 September 2011


Today I took a long time to decide what style to try because I wanted to continue the theme of layering from yesterday, but I also wanted to use the paper itself as an integral part of the drawing as I did with the first creased drawings I made. Due to this case of writer’s block, I have had to cheat a little bit, using one piece of paper to make three ‘drawings’. I sliced tiny strips up the paper for an hour, then laid them on my scanner to create abstract drawings (7,8,9) that are reminiscent of Wolfgang Tillman’s photographic experiments. I think all of these pieces have worked remarkably well and are aesthetically interesting experiments, particularly in the way that the strands come in and out of focus and begin to resemble something more than just some cartridge paper, even if they aren’t an especially profound comment on anything. 

Friday 30th September 2011

In today's Stream, I showed my 9 1-hour drawings and it was decided that although there wasn't progression each day (ie drawing 3 hasn't progressed from drawing 1) there was a sense of progression over the course of the three days and the nine drawings. I have been advised to try and move away from my style of drawing and to embrace styles which are new or difficult to me: this is a tricky one for me because I spent last year trying to develop and refine my style, so in order to be more experimental I'll have to move away from the drawings I like to make... I'll try! 

We have been set a couple of tasks for the weekend, to make a four hour drawing in one style and to research the Jerwood drawing prize and find an artist whose work I find interesting and an artist whose work I don't find interesting.

Saturday 1st October 2011

I have no idea what I am going to draw for my 4-hour drawing, so I have chosen to do the Jerwood Drawing research today.

My favourite piece is Burst by James Eden and Olly Rooks who entered the Jerwood Drawing Prize in 2010. Burst is a film of graphite balloon bursts, where the graphite dust in the balloons make marks on paper as they break apart. I am really intrigued by this process, it's such a clever method of describing a serendipitous movement, and produces such beautiful, ethereal results.

Burst James Eden and Olly Rooks (2010)

image from the Jerwood Drawing Prize catalogue

James Eden has other amazing work: Meth Drawings (2008) are a series of drawings where Eden pours methylated spirit onto watercolour paper and sets it on fire, causing the meths to evaporate, leaving scorch marks and purple dye on the paper. 

Meth Drawings James Eden (2008) 

Similarly, Wax Drawings (2008) deals with the unpredictable, fluid movement of melting wax.

Wax Drawings James Eden (2008)

All images of James Eden's work have been taken from his website http://www.jamesedenartist.com/ - it's very good, please take a look at some of his other work!

I've just e-mailed him to tell him that I love his work and also to suggest he tries tracing paper, because it burns in an interesting way.

His work also reminds me of George Rowlett's Solar Burns pieces and of Ori Gersht's Time After Time and  Blow Up.

49 Yellow Solar Burns, each in the time it takes sunlight to reach Earth Charles Ross (2003)

(image source)

Time After Time Ori Gersht (2007)

(image source)

My least favourite piece of work in the Jerwood Drawing Prize is Tess Jaray's Window. Blue. 

Window. Blue. Tess Jaray (2009)

(image from the Jerwood Drawing Prize catalogue)

She says she is "attempting to make some sense of the obsessive searching for patterns and repetition in nature and art". I don't really know what she is talking about; I feel no obsessive need to find pattern in nature or in art (not that I'm aware of, anyway!).

Jaray also says that "I wanted a feeling of tension stretched almost to breaking point, with something not only of the precision of a spider's web but also of a spider's web's naturalness, both purposeful and with the inevitability of nature". I suppose that the curve of the marks represents the tension to which she refers, but this piece has nothing natural about it: it is entirely engineered, manufactured. There seems to be precision, but the piece lacks the purpose which she was trying to express. 

I believe that this piece doesn't demonstrate Jaray's intentions effectively. I also believe that pattern has been investigated more effectively by other artists like Yayoi Kusama who engulfs her audience in pattern in a more "natural" (Kusama's work is based on hallucinations she has experienced since she was a child) way.

Gleaming Lights of the Souls Yayoi Kusama (2008)

(image source)

Sunday 2 October 2011

Today was a beautiful day: I went to the Peace Gardens in town because I hate being inside when the weather's nice. In the Peace Gardens, I took lots of photographs of people playing in the fountain:

Using these photographs, I decided I would make a large drawing layering the images over each other. 

I printed the pictures and imposed a grid over each one:

I drew and enlarged grid onto a piece of A2 paper, and began drawing each image onto the same sheet, using the grid as a guide. The final drawing was unsuccessful and I really don't want to bring it in tomorrow to show everyone...

Monday 3 October 2011

This morning I was completely freaking out about having to show my drawing when I had an idea! I pinned my drawing to my window and traced an area of it, in order to take the marks out of context, to flatten the layers and create one line drawing. Then I cut around the lines, I was thinking I would create a Tord Boontje type piece, but it didn't work out quite as I had intended:

I quite liked these pieces, but I was more interested in my 'cutting mat'... I used a box file to cut onto and the marks on the file were really interesting and subtle. 

We were set another task today, to 'map' the studio on a piece of A4 paper. I began by folding the paper into the corners and edges of surfaces in the studio like the sides of cupboards, tables, boxes etc. Initially, I was going to make a grid, like a tartan, out of the folds, because tartan is representative of landscape and I wanted to make a 'landscape' of the studio. As I pushed the paper into a corner, however, my nail varnish rubbed away onto the paper, so I started to think about colour that I could incorporate into the drawing. I found dust on the steps, a brick which I rubbed onto the drawing, some flour on the floor... 

I also creased the paper around other objects like a plug socket, a nail and the sink, and I drew into some of the creases. I still felt like I had created some sort of landscape through the process of embossing the paper using the studio. 

I was asked today what I thought was the most successful part of the drawing: I think that the individual subtleties of the drawing are the most interesting. Perhaps I could enlarge sections of the drawing to draw attention or afford importance to the tiny shapes and colours which I found in my immediate surroundings.

We have been set a new task for this week, to make 16 A5 drawings in one clear style. Each drawing must contain 3 objects, but one object will be changed after each drawing. The last drawing, therefore, will contain my favourite three objects as I refine and develop my ideas about my drawing. 

4-6 October 2011

I have decided to make 'touch' drawings: I will feel each object, blindfolded, and attempt to draw the sensations on my hand. 

I began with drawing objects like a belt, a scarf, a glove, a conker, a necklace etc. As I moved through the drawings, I started selecting objects based on their texture or softness, choosing gloves and teddy bears over belts and nail files. 

This selection process made me think of other sorts of 'objects' I feel in my hands, and I started to try and draw the feelings of hairspray, mousse, body cream, talcum powder etc. My final three objects were sudocrem, hair mousse and talcum powder: I wanted contrasting sensations; the coldness of the mousse, the gloopiness of the sudocrem and the softness of the talcum powder.

7 October

Today we discussed the role of the audience in relation to my work - was it necessary for an audience to be informed of the processes involved in creating my work or is my work an introverted, cathartic way of expressing my own experience? I had never thought about this before, I was simply trying to record an haptic experience. 

For Monday, we have to make 2 new drawings using these three objects in two distinct styles.

9 October

Yesterday I went to London to see the Gerhard Richter exhibition at the Tate Modern and my friend Will told me he thought that a series of drawings exhibited resembled musical scores. I have been thinking, maybe I will try and continue working with my objects in a sensory way - maybe I will make music from them that can be listened to? 

I recorded the sounds of the three objects (sudocrem, talc and mousse).

I decided to make a drawing based on the sound waves that GarageBand made when I recorded the sounds. 

As the drawing began quite gesturally, I thought I would try and refine the marks I was making because in musical scores, there has to be a set of rules that can be followed so that it can be universally understood by musicians. Therefore, I redrew the marks I had originally made to create a sort of language which might describe the sounds made.

For my second drawing, I want to challenge the ideas brought up in the last stream - I want the audience to share in my experience. I  have made a scent piece, where I have placed the objects in a box and will invite my audience to smell the items. 

10 October 2011

It has been generally agreed that my scent piece was less successful than my sound piece, meaning that it is not necessary for the audience to experience what I experience when I am making work. Col described the two pieces as "Chalk and Cheese"...

We have been set a SUPER DRAWING TASK for the week beginning 24 October for our 10% Assessment...

11-24 October

I think that for this über-drawing I will continue with the idea of the musical score; but this time I will map my body (or even my bedroom) with the sounds of my beauty routine: the sound of me combing my hair, filing my nails etc. With these sounds I will devise some sort of notational system where I will pictorially depict the noises.

First of all I recorded the sounds of getting ready: I recorded the sound of shaving my legs,  drying myself with a towel after a shower, combing through my wet hair, clipping my toenails and filing my nails. These sounds are all fairly subtle and I am interested in the idea of drawing an audience’s attention to these everyday, but perhaps overlooked noises. I have layered the sounds, so that they all play at the same time, and also trail off as I finish each task - it takes over seven minutes to comb through my hair, far longer than the time it takes to shave my legs. 

At this point I was a bit confused about how I would create my ‘score’, how would I visually represent these noises? In the previous ‘score’ I made, the marks were based on the sound waves that the computer generated in the program I used to record the original three sounds. These sounds, however, are very quiet, and there is very little fluctuation in the sound waves to work from.  

Beginning with the ‘shaving’ soundtrack, I made a couple of contour drawings (quick drawings made not looking at all at the paper). I tried then to listen to the track and draw marks based on the shapes I had made in the contour drawings according to the length of the sound, the volume, pitch etc. 

While the ‘score’ I drew is quite interesting (I think it looks a bit like a language or code), I felt like the marks I had made were too considered, too engineered. I returned to Richter’s pieces which are full of gesture and movement, and I remembered a process that I have experimented with in the past, the process of using graphite dust to make drawings. When I was first shown how to use graphite dust, it was for making drawings of my hands, and I was told to moisturise, place my hand on the paper, then dust the powdered graphite over the mark with a makeup brush. This process seemed entirely appropriate for this piece, because it incorporates the literal materials of my routine into the artwork, so I used the objects (the razor, the comb, the nail file) to create the marks.

I have decided that I really like these marks, but I have been researching John Cage's musical drawings and am interested in the grid format he uses onto which he makes his notation. I want to impose some sort of rule on the marks that I make - just as in musical notations, where there are regular intervals, time signatures etc., I wanted to create limits onto which I can make these graphite marks. I chose, therefore, to draw a grid representing the beats of the track. This meant that I could mark the sound’s duration and their volume, allowing me to make a more accurate score. I repeated the process for hair combing, leg shaving and nail filing. 

Aesthetically, I think these drawings are highly effective - I had them pinned portrait on my noticeboard and a housemate said they resembled guitar frets, so I think that the audience will find the inherent musicality into the work. Having said that, I think that the materiality of the work and the process involved in creating the work are integral to it’s successfulness. 

I am interested as to whether this piece would work as a score, a script: if I gave it to someone else, would they be able to recreate my action of combing hair based on the notation I have provided? It would be interesting to find out whether I can choreograph a performance using my drawings as instructions - this would be similar to a John Cage piece, where he organises groups of people to make music based on chance. I have also been thinking about the similarities between recorded sound, like filing my nails, and the sound a pencil or a pen makes when it comes into contact with paper. I have been wondering if I could make a drawing by copying the abrasive sound of a file removing some fingernail by substituting the abrasive sound of the paper removing some pencil lead.