Annotated References

“A blind man can make art but a blind man can’t see art”.

LeWitt, S.

Published in 2007 by Art Monthly and Ridinghouse

Edited by P Bickers and A Wilson

Talking Art : Interviews with artists since 1976

Page 418

Line 17-18

London, United Kingdom

"Most ideas that are successful are ludicrously simple".

LeWitt, S.

Published in 1969

Edited by A Alberro and B Stimson

Conceptual art : A critical anthology

Page 13

Line 4-7

United States of America

https://monoskop.org/images/3/3d/LeWitt_Sol_1967_1999_

“Abstract painting is abstract. It confronts you”.

Pollock, J.

Published in August 1950

Edited by M Gayford and K Wright

The Grove Book of Art Writing

Page 546

United States of America

“For me, rhythms and things that repeat are comforting”.

Creed, M.

Published in December 2014

Interviewed by C Scott 

In Your Face : Interview

1 minute, 10 seconds

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pY3L0cNqDiw

Books

I found one of my ‘Sol LeWitt’ quotes in a book called ‘Talking art’. I feel like books a very reliable sources, which is why they are used in schools and universities all across the world. Books used in schools contain authoritative information and this can include comprehensive amounts of research, data, overviews and experts views. I find books interesting as I can find very thorough overviews of relevant topics. I really enjoy researching artists and I feel like books are useful when I require background information / research on a certain topic, when I want to add depth to my research or when I want to put a certain topic into context. In this case, I was able to take part in an in-depth research on relevant artists such as Sol LeWitt, Martin Creed and Jackson Pollock. I think the obvious advantage of this source is that they’re accessible and portable. I didn’t require a computer or any electrical information to read the book and I actually read the relevant section in the studio. Books are easy to ‘dip in and out’ of, and can be read anywhere. I feel like books are more reliable than websites because they are obviously well researched. They have been produced by publishers, therefore they’re more trustworthy as they have been through the process of selection, editing and proof reading. On the other hand, I may find it challenging so trust a source from a book because it can sometimes take years to write and publish them, therefore they are not always the best source for current topics. Artists produce work fairly quickly and art may become ‘out of date’ or ‘not relevant’ in society anymore, by the time another book is published. In the University library there were 6 or 7 copies of the ‘Talking art book,’ publishers will print a certain number of copies of a book and the material won’t be updated until a new edition is brought out and this could be several years later or not at all. It might also be a challenge to use a book for research because the Author may be biased towards a certain topic. I would find it hard to research a topic if the author’s views contradicted my views. Luckily for me, P Bickers and A Wilson weren’t biased and I found the text extremely interesting.

Websites

The other 3 of my 4 quotes were found online. I also find most online sources reliable and interesting, especially as websites can be updated very regularly and they provide up to date news and information about current events, trends and controversial topics. They also provide reliable statistics, interviews, newspaper articles, research reports and many other types of resources. Throughout this assignment task, I read many interviews with artists and I watched a few YouTube interviews. I enjoyed watching the Martin Creed interviews online, and I feel like these were the most reliable source because the editor couldn’t change what Martin Creed was saying although they are able to cut large chunks out and ask biased questions. Luckily, this didn’t happen. Search engines allow us to retrieve a large amount of information within a few seconds and I find it extremely useful how they are ranked in order, according to their relevance. I find it interesting how the most popular sites show first, saving lots of time because selecting which information is useful and which isn’t, can be time consuming. However, I find websites a challenging source as they can be updated by anyone and anybody can publish anything on the internet. Wikipedia is a prime example of this and I actually found one of my quotes by Jackson Pollock on Wikipedia, which is why this one was the most challenging for me. I believe that websites such as Wikipedia could be compared to a game of Chinese whispers, with a small amount of information getting changed slightly each time but overtime the source wouldn’t be accurate at all. I have also found that website information is sometimes outdated, biased or inaccurate information. When searching for my quotes, I tried to find up to date quotes because I would expect these to be most relevant to society today as well as my art practice. Often, books are provided in a digital format and they are easy to search or download but still many resources are still only available on paper. I would also find websites challenging sources because plagiarism and copyright issues are also a major problem with this source. I would suspect this is because it’s so easy to just ‘copy and paste’ large amounts of information.

My 4 Quotations

“A blind man can make art but a blind man can’t see art”.


I strongly believe that art is not what you see but what you make others see. This is important to me and I find it interesting when I produce one piece of work but people interpret it in a different way to how I intended. An example of this could be in the studio, I often produce a piece of work with one intention in mind, but my teachers and peers often see it from a different perspective which helps me to develop my ideas and not be so narrow minded. I especially like this quote because I believe that nearly every single person in the world can produce art, regardless of their age, gender, ethnicity, religion or disability. Everybody has an imagination but some may find it hard to express or apply their ideas through art. This could be through paintings, drawings, sculptures, performances or photographs. Personally, I like to produce work that simply ‘looks good’ and is often made up using geometric shapes and is quite linear, clean and sometimes there is no obvious narrative. I could imagine that the artwork of a blind person wouldn’t be as structured as mine but I would appreciate it due to the emotional power it would probably have on the audience. Colour is very important to me and I often associate different colours with different feelings and emotions. In the studio, when I’m struggling to ‘make work’ or come up with ideas I just like experiment with colour and make spontaneous development pieces. Then, I feel more confident and positive about the project or task set. Just ‘doing things’ helps me sometimes, even if it is simple and solid, it’s like a walking stick or a hand rail. Something to hold onto in an ever changing world. I would imagine that a blind person wouldn’t engage with colour in the same way as me, so perhaps the artist’s emotions would become clear through the texture or how the material was applied. Unlike my work, I would expect it to have a texture and be capable of being touched. Throughout the second semester I will experiment with the idea of my work becoming more ‘tangible’ because I think my visual wall structures could become more substantial and striking if they were perceptible by touch.

“Most ideas that are successful are ludicrously simple. Successful ideas generally have the appearance of simplicity because they seem inevitable. In terms of idea the artist is free to even surprise himself”.

I liked this quote because the words ‘successful’ and ‘simple’ stood out to me. Before I started University I never would have associated these two words because at school we were encouraged to impress our teachers by researching as many artists as we could, experiment with as much media as we could and develop as many ideas as we could. My final pieces appeared to have no real focus and I found that the end result often looked too hectic and unorganised. I think it’s important to see a thought process throughout a project, which is why I always try to make sure that my sketchbooks show a journey or a smooth transition between ideas. Then, I surprised myself as I have become more selective and have started to narrow my ideas down more efficiently. I do a lot of work during activities I participate in throughout the day and then my mind seems to reject / select certain ideas. Some ideas seem interesting at the time but they end up not being effective. I’ve learnt that the simplest of ideas produce the most affective outcomes. Some people like ‘simple art’ whilst others don’t. From discussions in the studio, I feel like some people really overthink a piece, making it quite hard to understand. Sometimes, you can’t even pin it down but that’s like love or like magic.  It would be unrealistic for people to expect you to love somebody you didn’t even like. I don’t expect everybody to understand or like my work but it’s always good when people like it. At university I have become very interested in looking at abstract and the geometric form, often influencing other ideas but I didn’t want to get into the backwaters of philosophy. That wasn’t me and now I mainly like to focus on conceptualists and minimalism. Minimalist artists often rely on industrial materials which is why I like to work with paint or tape, directly onto wood or canvas. Some materials are vulnerable and demonstrate their own vulnerability to decay or become destroyed, which links in well with my current ‘crash sites’ project in the studio. Like my wall structures using tape, I feel like Sol Lewitt’s conceptual pieces were seen to be quite ‘basic’ which isn’t a bad thing because a piece of work no longer requires to have an actual material presence in order to be considered ‘art.’

“Abstract painting is abstract. It confronts you. There was a reviewer a while back who wrote that my pictures didn't have any beginning or any end. He didn't meant it as a compliment, but it was. It was a fine compliment. Only he didn't know it”.

I like this quote because it states a fact. “Abstract painting is abstract” almost makes me question myself. Is abstract painting really abstract? When somebody mentions ‘abstract art’ I automatically think of a piece of work with no physical existence or no obvious narrative. It’s art which doesn’t represent external reality but seeks to achieve the same effect by using different lines, shapes, colours and sometimes textures. I’ve noticed that often pieces or lines have been extracted or removed. Jackson Pollock’s work could be a prime example of this and although I don’t like to separate line from colour, I really like the idea of detaching the two as it’s a different way of describing pictorial space. ‘Confronts’ is the main word which stands out to me. I would assume that ‘confronting’ meant a group of people coming face to face with one another with argumentative intent.I initially thought of other words such as resist, tackle and challenge. I understand why some may find it hard to understand abstract art, therefore I have really tried to challenge the view of “My five year old could do that” because I find it interesting that people express their creativity by creating visual experiences, which seem to be more ‘free’. I thought about a group of people facing up to one another to deal with a problem or difficulty. I thought about my work ‘confronting’ the viewers and I like the idea or allowing the viewer to decide what the artwork is about. I like the fact that my work can be interpreted in many different ways – you have to open up to your intuition. Personally, I think that Jackson Pollock’s work is quite hard to understand because there’s no obvious beginning or end. Knowing the artists thought process for creating a certain piece of work often adds a further layer or meaning and value to each of the viewer’s interpretations. I feel like Jackson Pollock’s work represents his touch and unsettled life as he was growing up. My arranged geometric shapes could represent structure and stability. I wouldn’t like my work to have a negative effect on the viewers, but I would like to ‘challenge’ their perspective to some extent. I have challenged myself in the studio by thinking mainly about the design and shapes, as well as the colour I’ve chosen to use. For my previous project I used black tape on a white wall but for my current ‘crash sites’ project I decided to go for ‘red’ because I associate this colour with blood, fire, danger and determination. An artist always has to be determined to produce a high quality piece of work.

“For me, rhythm and things that repeat are comforting”.

During this interview Martin Creed states that he tries to live his life in the world that he finds himself in. He says that “most of the time I don’t feel so good” and I find this very interesting, especially as repetition is so integral in his work. I decided to pick this quote because I also find rhythms and repetition comforting and that maybe the reason why I like to listen to music whilst producing artwork. He compares this to a fence which runs around the perimeter of a jungle – it helps you to enjoy looking without getting eaten by the lions inside.  This suggests that pattern and reputation makes him feel safe and secure but without it, he may feel vulnerable and insecure. You could also compare this to the rails at the side of a baby’s cot. It refers to a ‘safe place.’ A few months ago I would have just associated with ‘rhythm’ with sound and syllables in music but more recently, I have learnt that rhythm is also a regular movement of pattern and colour. When I’m producing work, I like to create patterns, a flow or a tempo within my wall structures because I enjoy making work which is aesthetically pleasing to the audience. Occasionally, I achieve this by erasing or stressing certain lines or shapes but most of the time I like to keep my work simple. I feel comfortable playing with precision and I often I do this by paying attention to vectors and co-ordinates - which often end up splintering into new pieces, new paintings, new compositions, new colours and new places. I feel comfortable producing work this way. I would say my paintings are slow and precise but at the same time, I would describe them as ‘open structures’. I think they’re ‘open structures’ in the sense of the meaning and the colour. I like the audience to interpret my work in whatever way they want to. There is no obvious narrative within my work and on the face of it, there’s no relation to reality what so ever.

Liz West

Yesterday, Liz West visited Uni and gave a presentation during one of our lectures. We have a guest speaker most Wednesday's but this one was definitely my favourite.

Liz is currently exhibiting her work at

1. Canary Wharf, London
2. Broadgate, London
3. Leeds college of art, Leeds
4. The Met theatre, Bury.

I would really like to visit at least one of her exhibitions. I will definitely be going to see her show at Leeds College of Art. I really liked the photographs of her 'colour wheel alumni exhibition' which is open until 27th January as part of the college's 170th birthday celebrations.

Liz creates vivid environments that mix luminous colour with light. She works in a variety of media and she aims to provoke a heightened sensory awareness in the viewer through her works. I really liked how she is interested in exploring how sensory phenomena can invoke psychological and physical responses, tapping into the relationships we may have with colour.

West's investigation into the relationship between colour and light is often realised through an engagement between materiality and a given site. West uses light as a material that radiates outside of its boundaries and containers in large and open spaces (like old co-op buildings, churches and the streets of Manchester). She playfully refracts light through using translucent, transparent or reflective materials, directing the flow of artificial and natural light.

Our understanding of colour can only be realised through the presence of light. By playing and adjusting colour, West brings out the intensity and composition of her spatial arrangements.

Installations
Seven fold, Autumn lights, Our colour, Our spectral vision, Our colour reflection, Your colour perception, Through no. 3, An additive mix, Through No. 1, Solstice ritual, Complimentary afterimage, Shifting Luminosity, Vanishing boundaries, Tempo, an additive mixture, Difference is important, Chamber series.

Her 'Our colour' installation was one of my favourites, I love how all the colour and pigment runs into each other. I wondered if my feelings / emotions would change as I passed through a certain colour? I like how the walls, ceiling and floor are shiny, smooth and light in colour. I assume that if the room has carpet the coloured light would be absorbed and the piece wouldn't be so effective. Liz stated that this room was used by a wide variety of people including skateboarders and people meditating.

Drawings
Equal amounts of blue, Restricted juxtaposition, Subjective mixtures, Consumed.

I honestly loved all of Liz's work and it has inspired me a lot - especially as I love working with bright vivid colours myself. Although it would be quite hard for me to work effectively with 'light and space' at the moment, she has still given me some very good ideas which ill be working on throughout my current projects - crash sites, art/activism and drawing transformations.

I found it extremely interesting and a little emotional listening to her talk about personal, sensitive subjects.

Its always great to hear about the journey of a practicing artist - it gives me hope for the future!

Here are some images of Liz West's work.

Question Time!

Q: How old were you when you realised you wanted to be an artist?
A: "I think I was about 18. I never really knew what I wanted to do in the future until I did art at A-level. Iv always loved sketching and painting but I think just saw this as a hobby until I did the art foundation course. That's when it got serious."

Q: What do you like to draw?
A: "To be honest, I don't really enjoy drawing. I mean, I do like it but I prefer working with other materials like paint, tape and on a much larger scale. I always used to think art was just about drawing, but I found it quite hard to sit down and produce good work with just pencils or pens."

Q: Was art your favourite subject at school? If so, why?
A: "In school my favourite subject was definitely art but I also loved geography. I wasn't very academic and found written exams quite hard. Along with PE, art was a nice break from the rest of my time table. Although there was ALOT of work to do, I didn't mind as much because I enjoyed doing it."

Q: Would you recommend art at college/university?
A: "Yes, I would. For me, the art foundation course at college helped loads. It was there I really started to develop as an artist / figure out my own style of work. University allows me to be more independent and although there are loads of routes you can take, I'm glad I picked University."

Q: How is university going?
A: "Uni is going well. We've just received grades and feedback from some assignments we submitted before Christmas. I got 71.00 and 75.00 (which probably doesn't mean anything to you) but these were my first pieces of written work and I'm very proud of my marks. I hope to improve on them in the future."

Q: Do you have any advice for students applying for an art course next year?
A: "Don't be scared. Its natural to be nervous at first but your confidence, creativity and skills will improve throughout the year. I think it's important to find an audience for your work, so people can connect with it - this will come naturally over time and its nothing to worry about. Also, just keep at it and be persistent. Consistency is key!"

Q: Who are your favourite artists?
A: "Iv looked at hundreds of artists over the past few years. At the moment my favourite artists are Sol Lewitt, Teesha Moor and Martin Creed. Different artists are introduced to me on a daily basis and I love researching and developing ideas, using artists as inspiration."

Q: Who has inspired you?
A: "A lot of artists have inspired me over the years but mainly my tutors and my GSCE teacher."

Q: Do you definitely want to be an art teacher?
A: "I've always wanted to be a teacher since I was about 8 years old. I thought I wanted to be a primary school teacher or a PE teacher because I loved football. I would definitely like to be a teacher of art in the future but I'd also like to be able to produce and sell my own artwork. That would be cool."

Q: What do you do in your spare time?
A: "When I'm not at Uni, I'm often doing art work at home or in the library. I work on Saturdays and Sundays but in my spare time I like to go shopping."

Q: What is your favourite colour?
A: "I like red, pink and light blue but my favourite colour would have to be purple."

Q: How was the transition from college to Uni?
A: "The transition was much easier than I thought it would be. I think I was well prepared for Uni after completing my final piece at college. I knew exactly what to expect and what was expected of me. I think the University open days and workshops also helped."

Q: Do you enjoy living out for Uni? Is it a good experience?
A: "I do enjoy living out and I have enjoyed meeting new friends. I like the fact that my halls are in walking distance from the campus and I feel like Iv settled in well but I also like that I'm not too far away from home and I can go back whenever I want."

Q: Do you enjoy your course?
A: "Yes, I definitely like my course. Even though I'm only timetabled in 3 days a week, I find myself working on my project briefs for 5 or 6 days a week. All the tutors are a massive help, suggest really good ideas and are open to any questions I may have."

Q: In terms of art, do you have a favourite quote?
A: ''Art it not what you see, but what you make others see.''

Q: What music do you listen to and does it influence your work?
A: "At the moment I'm listening to Arctic Monkeys, Little Mix, Ed Sheeran and Robbie Williams. In fact, I got Robbie tickets for Christmas and I can not wait! In school, music influenced my work loads because I liked to include lyrics... it doesn't really influence my work so much now, but when I'm working I like to listen to the charts. I like all types of music."

Studio Practice : Identity

Identity

Following on from the previous project, I continued to develop my ideas on physical context by looking at place, scale and the audience of visual work and how it impacts the meaning of the work. This project helped me expand my knowledge as I was able to further develop and explore themes of ‘identity and narrative’. I found this interesting, especially as I was able to compare modern artists with artists from the past. It was interesting to see how both worked with the themes of ‘identity and narrative’ and how they experimented with images, processes, objects and materials. I found that new narratives were created, providing me with a rich and varied source of inspiration throughout this project.

Elsworth Kelly was the first artist I looked at, as he was really influential after the war. She became well known for his bright canvasses after influencing the development of minimalism and pop art. He maintained persistent focus on the dynamic relationships between shape form and colour, which definitely interests me. I like how Kelly created irregular shaped canvasses as well as flat sculptures and line drawings, which challenged my conception of ‘space’.

I thought Elsworth Kelly would be a good artist to look at because I’d like viewers to be able to identify my work and experience it with physical responses to the works structure and surrounding space. Real life observations are the backbone of Kelly’s abstraction works. He said “They are replications of the shapes, shadows, and other visual experiences in the world around me”.  When creating my final piece for this project I used mainly Elsworth Kelly (along with Rhys Coren) as inspiration and used bold, contrasting colours, free of recognisable imagery and brushstrokes. Here is an image of Rhys Coren's work - a representation of a football strip. I did something similar. 

http://www.seventeengallery.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/IMG_6223-1.jpg

Sarah Morris is another artist I researched. She has been producing abstract paintings and films describing mainly urban and social factors in different cities. She looks closely at architectural details along with the psychology of a city. She began her career producing graphic paintings and I would describe them as ‘dramatic,’ especially with the emotive language used in newspapers/advertising headlines. Her recent series of work is about Rio, Brazil and she seems to have looked at the contrast between ‘urban Rio’ with the city’s beaches, fruit stands etc. From looking at her paintings, I would imagine Rio has lots of hospitals, factories, modern architecture and (football) stadiums, especially after hosting the Olympics in 2016.

http://www.tate.org.uk/art/images/work/P/P78/P78599_10.jpg

I thought about certain colours I was going to use in the piece of work and seen as football is something I’m definitely interested in, I decided to go down that route. I thought about the team I support along with their identity (Manchester City)

Home kit – light blue/dark blue

Away kit – black/red

Third kit – orange/purple

This links in with my project as it’s about the identity of a certain place, like I would associate ‘Big Ben’ and ‘The Eye’ with London and ‘Eiffel tower’ and ‘Champagne’ with Paris.

Sarah Morris shifted her focus towards Paris in 2014, where she obviously explored cultural, economic and social typologies by looking into Louis Vuitton in Paris; along with champagne, perfume and fashion – the artist explores concepts of national identity.

Skills and aptitudes

In one of our recent CPiC lectures we looked at the skills we possess and the skills we feel like we need to improve, especially if we want to work in a professional environment in the future. I did find this lecture useful because it was about applying creative abilities into a job in the art industry. It was also nice to know what other students thought of me after taking part in the group activity.

Before this lecture I wasn’t so sure on the difference between skills, aptitudes and characteristics. Now, I am much more confident between the three. I learnt that a skill is the learned activity to carry out a task with pre-determined results often given within a certain amount of time / energy. An example of this could be learning to drive. An aptitude is a natural ability to do something. An example for this could be a child with an aptitude for painting and drawing. A characteristic is a feature of quality belonging typically to a person, place or thing.

This skills map shows different categories, containing many different skills which are all required in a professional work environment. Before studying the mind map, I looked at what I thought were the most important professional attributes. These were

• Leadership skills
• Interpersonal skills
• Problem solving skills
• Self-motivation
• Efficient
• Detail oriented
• The ability to prioritise
• Team player
• Reliable
• Ability to multitask

I have highlighted the skills I feel like I already possess (pink) and the skills I felt like I needed to improve upon (green). I found this part quite difficult and I didn’t quite understand what some of the terms meant e.g. ‘Classifying and synthesizing’. As I mentioned, we took part in a group activity which was very useful but at the same time I feel like it became more challenging as others thought I had skills which I didn’t think I had, so then I thought about examples and experiences to ensure that the skill was highlighted in the correct color for me – pink or green?

From having a general look at the map, it seems to be that ‘Co-operating’ is an area where my skills are rather good as I believe I have good listening skills, I can give or accept constructive criticism, I can support others, motivate others and I can present a positive personal image. Other skills I have highlighted in pink include ‘attention to quality’ and ‘working on your own initiative’ which are particularly useful to have whilst studying an art degree. I feel like ‘Creativity’ is one of my main strengths and I’ve always wondered why some people are able to generate loads of ideas super fast and think creatively, whilst others seem to struggle to do so?

‘’The best way to have a good idea is to have lots of ideas’’ – Linus Pauling.

I have used green on the skills which I think could be better, it’s not that I’m really bad at them. For example, speaking in front of an audience is something I’d always found difficult at school. I was able to do it; I just wasn’t very confident at it. I found that I knew the information, and what I want to say I just became nervous and slightly hesitant.

My ICT skills aren’t fantastic but I know what I need to know. I can use my E-mails, Word, Publisher, PowerPoint and Excel with confidence. In comparison to others, my IT skills are bad – I wish I knew how to use photoshop, for example. My telephone skills could easily be improved – I think it’s because we don’t use the telephone in an education environment or in a professional practice, but I’m presuming over the next few years we will begin to use the telephone more in a professional manner as we start to get jobs. We communicate with our teachers, lecturers and fellow students in person. I think some of the skills will come more naturally as we get older and more mature.

I found this ‘skills map’ analysis exercise very useful in order for me to improve. If I was to do this exercise again I would definitely have a third color, where I would highlight the skills I wasn’t 100% sure about. Most of the skills could’ve been either pink or green and I found it challenging to distinguish between the two because a lot of the time it would change, depending on the circumstances.