POOL

We were given a short folded booklet titled POOL on the morning we were being introduced to Neil Ayling, who for many years worked with Anthony Caro in his studio. The booklet included Neil Ayling and a few other artists, one side consisted of a series of short pieces of writing in the form of artist’s statements, and the other side was a conversation held between some of the participants. Although it was closely related to sculpture I found a few sections of this booklet very interesting, and there were a few specific elements that really got me thinking, even with just one word. The conversation on the back of the leaflet was also interesting, not only the things said but that process of recording and writing down a conversation had where important questions were raised. My group has decided to attempt one of these conversations, have a question as a starting point and write down what is recorded throughout the time period and publish it. There are often things in conversations that are extremely important but are forgotten in the mass of other things that are said, what an excellent way to get around this. 

The first short piece of writing that I found interesting to read was by Claire Baily. She stated:

‘I believe the challenge to us is to reform and rearticulate the ideas and visuals that we already know in order to ask deeper questions.’

‘I work often with mundane visual motifs, trying to manipulate and distort them into a new visual language.’

‘Through these methods I hope to create something more than we already have, something that hosts an internal world of formations and strategies that form a proposal to the viewer, rather than a finished article.’

I was surprised at how much this short piece of writing aligned perfectly with some of the things I had been discussing in my dissertation. Joseph Kosuth in his essay Intention(s) discusses the way in which artists have to manipulate given meanings of objects and materials, and through this make something new, something different, he talks of this being an increasingly difficult challenge. The ideas of visual language have been discussed in my dissertation, Conceptual Art was also briefly touched upon when talking of the role of the viewer in completing this artistic process. When Baily talks of a proposal to the viewer here, you get a sense that she means the work is finished by the viewer, not the artist. 

The next artist’s statement was by John Wallbank:

‘I begin a piece of work because I am trying to find something out or because I want to remember something. The work is a conglomeration of notes to myself.’

‘For me the difficulties thrown up by the peculiarities of particular materials are a stimulus to the development of different ways of making.’

‘Processes must be made explicit since they are a physical manifestation of my thinking process…’

I saw connections with my own studio work and this when I first read through it. I realised last year that the work I do in the studio is quite personal, although the subject might not have been back then, the reasons for making the work certainly were. I often link work with things that I am reading or have been thinking about, my practice differs often and it helps me concretise my thoughts or feelings on a particular subject by using visual language to explore these ideas in a new way. He talks of how the work is notes to himself, this is certainly the way I view my own work quite a lot of the time, particularly the parts that are not for an exhibition or show. 

Justin Matherly is a sculptor who also works in a similar way, he talks of his work being a visual representation of the process of his thoughts. There is something about working in this way that makes the work personal, however, if it is then being placed into an exhibition the viewer needs to be able to understand it. I have often questioned if I am working in this way why then would I need to show the work to someone in a gallery, is that important? I think its about understanding, I like to find understanding for myself and sharing this with others in that way I find exciting. I rely heavily on the writing of the artists statement and the writing about the work to bring a context to the piece in which the viewer can understand. 

There was one other section of this side of the leaflet that I found very interesting, it is quite a long chunk of writing by Sophie Hoyle:

‘One is always working with self-awareness and reflexivity of one’s values and choices, but is also working within subconscious frameworks of other systems for ordering information, other ways of thinking, other visual phenomena and other art practices. Where one develops certain ways of filtering and ordering information, as a midway point between all these other systems and your own; filtering the stimuli of the work in a complex, ever-evolving process.’ 

Once you get past the wordiness of this I found it references quite closely again to my dissertation. When discussing the value of the artist and the viewer in the creative process, I discussed this idea of self development, how a work of art is the development of the self. Again Hoyle also talks of the struggle of working with given rules of meaning.

The other side of the leaflet held the conversation between the different artists and writers. The conversation is about sculpture and space, it was interesting to read a piece of writing that is set out in this way. The conversation is very clear, and questions that form in your mind when you read through it are often answered as you are going a long, much like if you were having a discussion about a piece of writing that is already there. The idea of the writing appeals more to me than what is actually being said, however Olivia Bax mentions something in the conversation that I think is sometimes important to remember, and something that I need to take into consideration for my dissertation and my work:

‘Olivia: I find that the bits that I can’t explain in my own work are often the best. Sometimes you don’t know, or can’t explain why things work.’ 

This idea of the unknown is complicated. I personally feel that if someone asks me about my work I must be able to answer all of their questions, however this is very far from how it should be. When I look at my own work I see what I have seen from the beginning, what it means to me, where the different elements came from from my point of view, from my thoughts. It doesn’t mean to say that someone might see something different in the work that you have never noticed, how then can you offer an explanation for something that you never realised was there. Nor can you say that the person is wrong, because to them, in the work they see that, and this is just as important as anything you may have intended. There is no right or wrong, no opinion is of greater importance. I have never really thought about this in much depth, or at least never thought that it was completely okay for there to be things about your own work that you do not know. From now on I will be embracing this idea, and accepting that I do not need the theoretical answers for everything. I was questioned why I used black and white paint or photography, and my honest answer was because I do not like colour very much, and prefer monotone, I worried that this was not a good enough explanation. But then when I considered this again I realised that of course it was because it was honest. Someone else might think of a hundred different reasons why I should have used colour or why I have used black and white, but my answer would be because I like it.