Over the next year, I see myself engaging in a number of activities arising directly from the MA:
- continue experimenting with:
- methodology
- techniques
- ways of communicating ideas and proposing work
- deliver the project proposal (PP):
- different iterations of
- responding to submission requests
- expanding on each component with new works
- continue the blog journal as a:
- place for reflection,
- living document
- sketchbook
- source of ideas
Writing
The journal provides a rich source of material that I intend to develop as a series of writings in different formats including;
- Essays
- Academic papers
- Short fiction
- Poetry
The idea is to start by publishing in academia.edu and work my way from there towards other forms of publication, from zines to journals, monographs to reviews.
Photography
In the past, I have not only used photography as a documentary medium and exhibited works that have arisen out of a separate methodology to that of the rest of my work. Until now, I found it difficult lt to integrate this into my main area of activity.
The MA process has enabled me to see how photography can be fully integrated into my practice. I intend to experiment with techniques and approaches, developing photographic works that use my three-dimensional pieces as subject matter. In response to changes that have taken place in the arts, I have researched and identified a possible demand for works that reinterpret my sculptural work thereby increasing it accessibility albeit from a different perspective. which is not as physically accessible at the moment.
Sound
During the making of the Symposium 2 video, I developed an idea from an experiment I did earlier in the year, using a ceramic form as an acoustic chamber. I included some of this in the video’s soundtrack. I intend to experiment with different forms and how they affect a variety of sounds. I can use such recordings to compose music tracks for an eventual album. This could also be extended to performances featuring the voice and sculptures.
At the outset of the MA, I set myself the challenge of integrating sound and sculpture. I was looking for a way of avoiding the former becoming an accompaniment and the latter an instrument. Arising out of the project proposal, the way of shaping sound with sculptural chambers that I am working with is an exciting and fertile area that resolves my initial question regarding the bringing together of the two modalities and integrates them much more closely than I have done before.
Cables
The online show collaboration with Aristotle has been an enjoyable and fruitful experience. When he first brought Cables to our attention, I thought that this was a time consuming and most dreadful programme. I have tried Blender, this takes too long when physical modelling is so much more satisfying and quicker. I have tried architectural rendering programmes for mockups, why would I use these when I can draw? Again this takes up time I could be working more satisfyingly. But curiosity got the better of me. I looked into it and found that it is in fact fairly straightforward. Yes, like all these things, there is a lot to learn, but the information available is clear and to the point and the actual workflow could not be easier considering how powerful this node-based multimedia visual programming software is. It has opened out a direct and engaging way to present work. It also begs to make work for online in its own right. This again is another positive outcome of the coronavirus lockdown.
Research
The research statement was critical in developing ideas that subsequently led me to consider the relationship between sculpture and sound and how the whole can be seen as functioning in terms of the object-subject relationship between it and the recipient. Further research turned this into a series of videos for the Research Discussion which centred on object-subject relationships, the living-presence response and an eventually touching on Thing Theory. Although I do not agree with much of what Thing Theory has to say, it is a very useful way of describing certain behaviours regarding artworks, particularly the question of function and purpose, or whether an artwork needs to be useful or merely purposeful. All this paves the way for developing a research proposal and question for a future doctoral study. which might also lead to a wider consideration of how physical still sculptures made for real space are received and perceived in virtual space. Such a line of research can also be approached as a series of discrete short papers as outlined above.
Sculpture
I will, of course, continue to develop the sculpture in its own right. As I explained in the Symposium 2 video, the physical nature of working with resistant, plastic material is an essential aspect of my life. Building a body of such works is an exciting prospect and combining it with all the possibilities I have outlined and have yet to conceive of, fills me with a great deal of energy and joy for the future.
Other Explorations
No doubt there will be other things to explore: each step brings with it a different horizon. I have experimented with new techniques, equipment and software during the MA. Some are not for me, others offer rich opportunities. Then there are things I would have liked to have done and did not. I shall leave that for another post…