Intervention Under Sink in Painting Bays I

 This is an image of 'Intervention Under Sink in Painting Bays I'. It is an almost invisible work, consisting of a length of canvas thread installed under a sink and poured repeatedly with Lukas IV oil medium. The work has a tension within it; it looks as if it could have been formed from the sink, yet if the viewer looks closer it becomes apparent this is improbable, and it has been installed.

 As the reader can see the work is almost imperceptible. I do not know how many people, if any, have seen the work without being told it is there. This does not bother me however, I like the notion of rewarding anyone who does notice it, yet simultaneously I like the idea it is a secret work. To me it seems more of an intervention, and gives the work a parasitic feel if it is unseen.

Project Space VI

 Project Space VI

 Canvas, Lukas IV oil medium, Fishing line, Staples.

This is Project Space VI, made last week. The work stretches from a pipe, near the floor under the window, at one side of the room; and the top of the wall under a high, narrow window at the other side of the room. There is a walk-through intersecting the room at right angles to the work. This means everyone who walks through the space has to either duck under or step over the piece. The large white paper installation hanging from the ceiling is by Vicki Ley and the foil sculptures are Olivis Rowlatt's work. 

 Project Space VI is harking back to previous works in that it is cutting up space and so forcing the viewer to interact with and encounter the work. However there are faults with the piece. The main one being that the canvas lines poured with Lukas IV have merely become a tool for cutting up the space. Which is a result of having exploited this format too much I think. The process and making of the work has become a means to an end; rather than an intrinsic part of the work which is possibly more important than the finished product.

The work was successful at showing the mark of the viewer though. These images show how undetectable and almost invisible Project Space VI is. This makes the work a little disconcerting for viewers who walk through the space. The canvas threads which have jumped up and clung to the fishing wire and each other; shown in the image above, have done so because someone tripped over the fishing wire when the Lukas IV medium was still drying. The tangled threads are jarring in comparison to the regimented lines of the unaltered threads.

Interventions

As it is the start of third year I have been thinking about how to modify and expand my work. I want to keep the compelling elements and take out the parts I feel I have explored. I want to continue forming and making spaces with the threads. I will build spaces for them to inhabit so the viewer experiences them in a near perfect environment. Conversely I have been scouting around for sites where I can install a few threads as an intervention. I am looking for sites in which the works will look as if they could almost have formed themselves. Though I still wish it to be obvious that they are paintings. There is a contradiction here, though one which I hope will create tension in the work.

Under sinks, from pipes and from trees are sites I am looking at and experimenting with. Threads hanging from under sinks and pipes may look slightly grotesque and put the viewer in mind of slime and tendrils of mineral deposits. Whereas hanging from trees the threads will look much more like sap, and perhaps even bodily. I have started testing these ideas and will update the blog soon with progress.

Garden II

Continuation of installations in the garden; Garden II which was made as Garden I was taken down.

Garden I

As I have no studio space at the moment I have started to make some work in the garden. I have made an installation connecting two parts of the garden using white thread.

This is not a million miles away from my studio work, creating planes in space and affecting the way people are allowed to move around the space. However it is certainly very different making work in an outside space. You have very little control over the environment. There is more to work with but there are more restrictions. 

Owing to the less than perfect surroundings it is easy to be less of a perfectionist, the work seems more free. For example the ties connecting the thread to the fence are not all exactly the same and I have not trimmed the excess thread. It seems futile to do so when the fence panels themselves are so decrepit and imperfect. 

 I had barely finished installing the work and spiders were already colonising it.

Enslave Your Senses I

I was recently in Enslave Your Senses Chapel Arts Centre, Bath. The exhibition was exploring work which is not just visual but which explores and activates other senses.

I installed and performed Enslave Your Senses I. Which consisted of three lines of fishing wire stretching across the room. From these lines threads unpicked from canvas were hung in a grid formation. I spooned golden syrup onto the threads, causing it to trip and spin along the canvas threads to the floor.

It was an interesting experience, being the first time I have installed a work without being able to staple into the walls. This proved a huge problem but one which was eventually solved by using the ventilation grills. It was also the first time I have performed a piece. The performances certainly served to animate the work and to give another dimension to the piece. It seemed much more a discussion between the work and the audience. The level of surprise and delight from the audience at the behaviour of the golden syrup was brilliant. The lighting of the work gave a very dramatic spin to the performance and made the work seem alive as the remnants of the syrup slowly seeped and flower down the threads.