reflections on teaching events

Inside empty Wenban woodyard, Lewes

This section contains some reflections on teaching experiences during the MA. Others can be found within the journal sections.

Autumn Term

Painting as Research : introduction

Geraint : Spectre of ruins

G talked about : ruins of Swansea , cyclical nature or ruins, industrial ruins. Copper industry. How the landscape is used now – community allotments and reclamation . includes an Amazon distribution centre ( link to architecture of new industries – Guardian Rowan Moore, )

And other mentions that I have read and included in unit 1 : Ruin Lust, Brian Dillon and Tate Britain exhibition.

Thomas Jones, Welsh painter who painted bits of buildings in a way unusual for his time. He focussed on bits that were overlooked, and showed them in a very gentle, personal and understated way. John Ormond – Welsh poet, from Swansea, made film 1960 Borrowed Pasture about 2 Polish soldiers struggling to make a living from a derelict farm in Camarthenshire.

Ceri Richards and the book Black Apples of Gower by Ian Sinclair which I have read.

Bunker Archaeology Virilio. The Atlantic wall. Also JG Ballard and Jane and Louise Wilson, 2008. (Agnes Varda and JR photos on the bunkers on Normandy beach)

Becher photos archiving industrial architecture, documenting but not specifying. Brutalist architecture – modernism in ruins ( ruins of modernity book - )

Laura Oldfield Ford. All of the above have been mentioned before but it is very interesting and of course Edgelands – which I did read but found oddly lacking. Its very male and doesn’t reach parts of say Alice Mah. (Edensor). And George Shaw. And then he mentioned Lara Almacegui who I mentioned in unit 1 essay.

Zoe mendelson

Talked about a difffent kind of ruin. Hoarding as a kind of collage. Collage is everywhere. Grey Gardens as functioning ruin. And concept of hoard – digging does not always prove valuable. Definition of a hoard. In archaeology, digging down, going back. .

Wiseman films – ruination over time.

Maysles Grey Gardens film. Oscillating boundary between a collection and a hoard, ultimate entropy.

Schwitters Merzbau, reminds me of my built environment sculpture in my bedroom while at art college in Bristol in 1983.

Anna made the following suggestions in the tutorial :

think about making a sound recording. I have tried to do this actually on phone but not great and maybe should borrow something to make a better recording. We talked about finding other ways for viewers to experience the site - made sound recordings, installations, and using a journal. And bringing elements of site in to gallery space...She mentioned Hayley Newman's wax rubbings, and also archaeology and architecture, and Jane Rendell at the Bartlett UCl, and Forensic Architecture at ICA. We also talked about Paul Nash, Gordon Matta-Clark, and Tacita Deans blackboard drawings.

I have realised that it really helps to prepare well for a tutorial, to make notes about what you want to tell them, and question you have. Much of units 1 & 2 I was probably going to tutorials expecting the tutor to do all the work, but actually you get more out of it that you actually want if you prepare what you want to tell them. (I remember doing this for a tutorial with Mark Fairnington however, and he talked about completely different things, which were also useful !).

Notes for tutorial Wednesday 26thJune 2019 with Anna Bunting – Branch

I have with me draft of unit 4 essay. I am aware that I need to create a more coherent structure this time. I have an introduction and a conclusion and I am trying to bring together the various strands. Also, I have diary entries which need to tie in to main text more specifically, eg. Paragraph about wildflowers with text about Gandy and biodiversity in wastelands. Also, I might include appendix so that can include quotes, notes etc. on particular areas.

Section on how I am interested in feelings of being within abandoned, empty spaces in relation to phenomonology and Situationists and practise of walking. Refs to Meleau Ponty, Debord, Solnit.

Section on 60s Land Art, and difference geographically in this country and US, and how Land art has evolved since then and relevance now. Reference to Uncommon Ground exhibition catalogue, Hayward Gallery, 2013.

Section on Lucy Lippard and her book Undermining. About politics of land use and how relates to Phoenix site. And Who owns the land, Shrubsole, about land ownership in England, not Wales and Scotland as have different laws.

Section on Brachen of Berlin, film by Matthew Gandy seen at Birkbeck this year and refs to his writing. How relates to biodiversity of Phoenix site and reference to wildflower identification and how relates to my practice.

Section on Doreen Massey and social constellations.

How ties in to feelings of place and space. Ref to Casey re place need not be physical. How memories change over time and trauma, disruption heals over. Refs to metaphor of body/place/architecture. Ref to my work in particular folding, referencing folded photographs.

I am recording diary entries as an audio part of my degree show. Shall I include voice recordings in my unit 4 essay submission ?

Notes for tutorial Thursday 14thMarch with Anna Bunting-Branch

Is it reasonable to assume from feedback that I can continue with research initiated in unit 2 ? I feel as if main feedback is that it requires a narrowing down, and deeper focus on some, though probably not all, of the subject areas. If there are areas of repetition, is that likely to be a problem ?

The main core of my research is around space and place, in relation to ruins, urban regeneration, gentrification, land use and Land art, placemaking, and post industrial failure of capitalism. This quote by Lucy Lippard pinpoints the : “Once you know the local you realise how connected it is to global capitalism; its tentacles are everywhere… its all interrelated – gravel, development, water, tourism, adobe architecture, Land art, rock art and so on. “ Artforum, May 12 2014

Currently I am reading Lippard Undermining, a wild ride through land use, politics, and art in the changing west. My studio practice is oscillating between images of both ruins, demolition sites and building sites, with a focus on materials.

I am also reading more of Ruins, ed… Hell and Schonle… and in particular quote Kerstin Brandt ruins are “as memory traces of an abandoned set of futures”

I have made references to the following in both my previous essays and intend to read more of their writings to give better depth to my referencing : Merleau-Ponty, Levebre, De Certeau, Bachelard, Bejamin.

Jane Rendell gives a really good overview of Land art in her Art and Architecture which I intend to reference again, with more reading of Lippard and history of Smithson, Holt etc. And how has evolved in contemporary sense, Alys, conceptual site specific, place making, festivals etc.

I have watched and made notes on Cara Courages presentation on place making and also attended Verity Jane Keefes talk recently at Wimbledon. I will continue to read and reference Clare Doherty, Situation MIT / Whitechapel . I also contacted Suzanne Heath in relation to my Unit 3, an art consultant for place making and have referenced Preston …. And I have a long email from a colleague of hers, a site specific artist called … which I will pursue further.

I also acknowledge the significance of urban and rural, areas of wasteland, as areas of liminality, representing an alterity which can be a factor in creative process. Quote Laura Oldfield Ford here : “significant radial points of countercultural activity “ For me, my wandering and being in empty bits of wasteland, is a personal activity, as my diary entries attest to. It is in part a journey of grief, for my sister who died recently. My preoccupation with the ruins, echoes, remnants and traces which make up some of my practice, are suggestions for how we find ways to preserve and remember people.

As suggested in the feedback, I will attempt to develop the diary entries and use them as key breaks within the main body of text and possibly as introductions to next subjects. Though I personally quite like a certain randomness and quotidian quality to the diary parts, to set them apart from other parts of research.

As my studio practice evolves into a kind of archive, which may change depending on where/how it is exhibited; it might be pertinent to look at artists who have used archives and different methods of storage and display. If I have books of rubbings for example, do I let audience look through voluntarily, or do I have them open at specific pages.

I will continue research into artists whose work involves social practice, and the politics of public art, place making, art washing in the context of gentrification etc. I am looking at artist Rebecca Chesney and how she works with place, and in particular at the extended art project in Preston, In certain places as an example of site specific art. I am exploring options for a phd to continue my research.

nterim show Lewisham art house

Crit Wednesday 13th june

With John Greenwood and Katie Pratt

The hanging of the show on one wall in a very condensed space (within a grey painted lozenge shape echoing shape of windows ) looked stunning and quite unusual . It was put together with full time students, a 'hanging committee " and Simon callery. But it made this crit very difficult as we couldn’t all fit around work which was very close together. This meant quite a few people sat on the margins , actually a ledge around gallery and didn’t participate. It seemed that we spent too long talking about things like Sean adding text next to his work after the hang … and also some paintings just provoked more discussion thatn others. I did feel the tight hang didn’t give the work room to breathe and certain aspects such as side views of pieces weren’t particularly appreciated. Also some work benefited from a close hang, others really didn't. The Catalogue was great – it provided really good statements by everyone and a pic of everyone’s work.Good experience of how to write for these sort of catalogues and "resist sounding too institutionalised " Pratt. There were discussions around spirituality and how it "couldn’t be found in bubble wrap " according to Greenwood . And Emma was interesting about revered plastic waste in Bali. Also it was mentioned “ our culture , here “ in reference to the work (Greenwood, again ). Much of the crit was a mild batting of disagreements between Pratt and Greenwood. Pratt mentioned Tachiste, Arte Povera, and Supports Surfaces in relation to my piece. And also Clough.

Tutorial with Benet Spencer and comments on p/t course.

27th April 2019

I took pieces of work I was making for the Nunnery show, including new paper pieces for 'netting' and sewn paper 'sand bags'. I had been at my mothers house looking after her after an operation and had integrated sewing into my practice as. a way to make things that were easily portable and light and didn't take up much room to make or make lots of mess. I had done some sewing with my mother as well, she was very keen to get involved with what I was doing while she was immobile !

Also, there was the option to have this tutorial as a group crit instead but other p/t students preferred one to one. On reflection, I might have liked a group crit for the main reason that you have a bit longer to install some work and look at it instead of rushing in and quickly getting out some work or looking at photos. This highlights again one of the drawbacks of our p/t course, though there are many good points too !, which was the lack of a project space just for us. where we could leave stuff and play around installing pieces, especially my work which is on / off the wall, on the floor, 3d etc. Each time I have shown my recent work I have had no idea how it would turn out until Ive finally installed it which is tricky.

Benet made some useful comments about these pieces :

regarding the stitching - emphasised need to draw attention to repetitive labour of sewing , over sew to make it stand out more maybe using a brighter colour. He talked about making some my components too like the real thing - hazard tape for example - as the loses any ambiguity - these ubiquitous plastic things are all around us as part of our daily imagery and it doesn't take much to signify them so I an be more sophisticated about references to them, and be less obvious. I'm not sure I agreed with this entirely but I definitely took it on board and tried with next installation to change colour and materials of hazard tape. He suggested taking / stripping colours to and relocating elsewhere in the work. He affirmed the importance of maintaining the personal narrative in my work, I mentioned about my sister, and that this was a layer of the work which I was always not sure how much to reveal or not. He talked about final show, to get planning now and make decisions early on about how you want you work to look like. This was tricky for me to visualise... it will be difficult to imagine as I'm sure I will still have to make most of the work in my studio at home.

4th July

Tutorial with Matthew Krishanu

I explained practice and showed writing and photographs and small bits of work . I said how I was trying to work with different materials but still feel like a painter.

He mentioned Phyllida Barlow and how her work feels like a painter. I agreed, but I don’t always respond to her work as it seems to lack context …But I really like the energy and thrown together appearance of it.

We talked about drawings… he asked if I made on site or from photos. I said had made drawings literally on site on walls. I think I will maybe use this as prompt to do more drawings actually outside, in sketchbook or maybe on prepared collages ?

I talked about history of the site and social history and how to bring strands of history and geography into practice. Mentioned town hall show in August and he was v encouraging on how to use this to display not neck like gallery results of investigations and maybe do something to involve public, not something like oh tell us your memories of site, but more like find samples from site of materials and bring in to make a collection, a mini museum(my word, jam jars ?).

He talked about making set up/ installation in studio/ gallery space recreating part of site is actually what museums have been doing for centuries, recreating Hindu temple eg British museum.

I talked about topography and geology of site referencing Doreen Massey quote how everything is moving and how to describe Englishness as inherent in this chalk cliffs garden of England area is false as moved from elsewhere like all of us all from everywhere, use the movement of chalk , the Downs, as metaphor M suggested. Also river, I said, but also,remembering his ref to river in talk last week as metaphor for other side, otherness, alterity.

Earlier, M talked about spiral quality of developing themes within your practice over time with recurring of core themes, picking up more resonance along the way , my words.

We talked about how casting process creates a record, whereas I am more interested in creating an emotional response and interpretation .

He mentioned Mark Dion and his generosity of practice in making his installations accessible and participatory. Also, Irene Kopelman for her interdisciplinary practice and work nature/science. And paintings of Eva Hesse.

We talked about how to use the municipal space, the town hall foyer, for my exhibition in August, like a community notice board to display work . Finally, he suggested I keep throwing out different trajectories as it will unfold which ones to hold onto.

Contextual Practice Tutorial with Anna Bunting-Branch 28/2/18

Core ideas of studio practice, how I intend to develop these through writing and the references that contextualise and help form these ideas. am currently making work about an empty industrial site In Lewes where I live. The area is a liminal space, a kind of wasteland, with overlooked, marginal areas and I am drawn to the temporality of its recent histories and layers of erasure and overall sense of absence. It is a brownfield site - up for development although the whole site has just been sold on by the developrs and the future isn’t certain. I am also writing a journal in a diary form and interested in presenting my writing using this format. The most recent work has involved making drawings in situ on walls of an abandoned building. I am recording these with photos and sketchbook drawings. This feels like an exploration of the materiality of the site and also a thriftiness around materials.. chipboard, concrete, plywood, briefs blocks, and other stuff that is lying around. I have also been working on cardboard with paint and drawing as cardboard is a plentiful and often discarded material. I am looking at how expanded forms of painting can make sense of the physicality of the site and also trying to understand what draws me to these kind of abandoned spaces, a kind of ruin lust or am I more concerned with the idea of ruins as a continuum. The site in question will be demolished; the traces of past industry and the personal histories will probably be erased and forgotten and a large building site will take its place, Its materials and aesthetic also interesting.

I am exploring the following in relation to my practice :

Industrial history of riverside in Lewes

Pre industrial history, medieval history and prehistory. Archeology.

Current use of part of site as supermarket and car parks.

Ecology of plants that grow in wastelands, mosses and ruderals

Bibliography

Geography and eco geography of urban wastelands - Matthew Gandy Aesthetics, ecology and urban wastelands.

Alice Mah and her vision of ruins as along a continuum - “between creation and destruction, fixity and motion, expansion and contraction “ and her assertion that industrial ruination Is first and foremost experienced by people : Industrial Ruination, community and place.