seminar 2 - Context of place part 2

following on from the previous week, we were separated into groups of 4 and asked to choose separate locations in the city which meant something to us in an "interesting, exciting and/or emotional" way. My group - after some lengthy discussion - decided to take the class to the area beneath aberdeens busiest street beside the underground nightclub 'the tunnels'. as a champion of this location i obviously felt very strongly about it, the first thing about the site as you approach from one of the two subterranean entrances, is the air of disuse permeating the area. Having been raised out with the city limits, it is the derelict nature of the location with i found particularly unsettling the first time i experienced it. Considering the vibrant nightlife which the location enjoys most nights it can be hard to believe that it is in such a state of disrepair, replete with mounds of presumably decades old pigeon droppings and various other detritus - of which, most has come from human activity and presence - the area is certainly not the most sought after real estate in Aberdeen. In fact, i not only see the location as a metaphor of city life, but also a damning inditement of the way that aberdeen city council is running our city. First of all we have the surrounding area of relative opulence - which was until very recently (october 2009) the fulcrum of retail in aberdeen - and whilst not being the most grandiose architecture in the city, is still well above the average for aberdeen. simply because the area is out of sight the level of care given to the environment is diminished, and whilst i acknowledge the council must prioritize in order to render the most effective service i simply cannot condone the complete neglect shown to the area. Unlike the civil, candy coated veneer of the streets above, in which one can clearly envisage being able to walk freely at any hour without fear, the tunnels can easily be imagined as the haunt of some of the most wretched and vile elements of society, indeed, on many occasions i have seen first hand the evidence of 'hard core' drug use, is this an acceptable way to run a city? To actively encourage people (consumers) to congregate around an area such as this ? It is as if the council are merely interested in competing in the 'famed' "Britain in bloom" competition - which in all fairness it has won a record breaking 10 times, try telling that to the families of drug addicts within the city and see what they think the money could be better used for. Don't get me wrong, i realise the benefits which winning a national competition such as britian in bloom can bring - it helps raise the profile of the city which in theory raises levels of investment and contributed to civic pride, but should a city which is reportedly in £50 million of debt even be competing in such an extravagance?

Despite all my misgivings about the area, i cannot help but enjoy going to the tunnels for a night out, and it pains me to say that i would not enjoy it as much if the environment was as wholesome as your everyday shopping centre. Its run down facade contributes to the atmosphere of the occasion and sense of collectiveness and unity experienced by the people who frequent the area - its not a nice place but we make that sacrifice because we enjoy the venue. In fact i enjoy it precisely because it is so removed from that persona of a safe place, the deviant nature of these feelings stems from a desire to remove myself from the nanny states constant vigil, and it is evidently a desire shared by others in a society were the maintenance of appearance is evidently more - or less as the case may be - important than the security of its citizens.

seminar 1 - research methods

our first tutorial at grays saw the class sitting around a table together for the first time. a new experience for some perhaps, but for me it seemed as though i was covering old ground - but it is this ground which forms the foundations of all good work and a refresher course is always worth it when you are covering such important topics.

first up were the obligatory mentions of mind mapping sketchbooks - these are as i have mentioned the most widely used techniques throughout the creative industries and although i find them at times rather clunky, they can offer insight into your work from both a perspective of introspection and from that the outsider (or examiner). because of this last point it is no surprise that within the environment of an art school we are being told about these things first and foremost.

up next was the reflective journal. i am a huge fan of this method of documentation - perhaps because I simply love the thought of publishing my work, which at the end of the day is usually an ambition of most artists/designers. the advent of blogs and the online support of these free, and instantly global channels of distribution has allowed people like me, who are up and coming in the artistic industries, to have a voice. the single biggest challenge facing newcomers to the field is getting you're work shown, this method allows you to do that in a controlled environment. Add to this the fact that if you are indeed using a weblog as a method of deliberately framing you're practice and ideology then you will have a ready made artistic statement - giving people a greater insight into why you are doing what you are doing. since starting the masters program however i have come to realise that this is not always a desirable situation, or at least not to some of my peers - who seem to value the mystique created by the ambiguity created by a lack of commentary by the artist. As a research method, into my own practice - i find it highly valuable.

Coming from a design background, many of the research methods were familiar - in fact i have used all of them to various degrees of success. The importance here is that although they are the essentially the same techniques, they are viewed slightly differently in the art world than in the design world where quantifiable results are seen as the proof needed to prove assumptions made by the designer or to illustrate the market's needs. in the art world it seems as though the very same techniques are used to a different effect - for instance, artists seem to view the information gathered in a far more emotional way, rather than in an informational way. from this it would seem that artists are more concerned with eliciting an emotional response in their work rather say solving a problem of sorts. this is not to say that a well designed product does not create an emotional experience - in reality it is actually what product designers are actually doing - but they are doing it in a far more packaged and accessible way. In contrast, the artist creates something which - for better, or for worse - is less accessible but which is also elicits a similar emotional response. This inaccessibility is what creates the aura or cloud of elitism around the artistic world - where in almost every case, people need to reach a higher level of thought to pierce.

something new which i got from this seminar was a far better understanding of curating. in the past i had never given it much thought, after this seminar however i realise the huge potential that exists within this practice, the way in which you're work is shown has always been important but when you can add to your work through the way in which it is shown - by placing it within a specific context or place for example - you are giving your work a better chance of being understood and being more effective.

seminar 10 - alexander kokoli

The final seminar of the semester was part two of Alexander Kokoli's discussion about artist statements. The seminar was centered around "the difficult partnership between writing and creative practice" and the factors contributing to the success and failure of an artist's statement.

so what is an artist's statement anyway? well according to numerous sources an artist's statement is a document or body of text, concerned with informing the reader about the artists motivations and sensibilities. An artist's statement is also a companion to a body of work - without the work the statement cannot - or should not exist.

whilst not being part of your work per se, it is still makes a very important contribution, there is a symbiosis that exists between the text and the art. the statement is there to inform but it is not there to tell the entire story of the work, one of the biggest problems I have encountered when attempting to write a such a statement is finding the appropriate balance within the amount of information volunteered and what i should neglect to mention. This is a problem because when people read what you put in front of them they will inevitably draw their own conclusions from what you have written, thus we must resist the urge to 'unpack' our works intentions and meaning within a body of text - which is at best an imperfect medium. in doing this we preempt the aforementioned usurpation, and ensure that there is as little room as possible for the misappropriation of you're work, allowing you to maintain the highest degree of ownership over you're work.

another point of consideration is the language used to construct an artist's statement, unlike many other artistic writings it should not contain jargon - this is a statement for everyone, not just the learned few. the use of everyday language is therefore preferable to that of the art world which has its own distinct dialect and grammar. this is in fact one of the problems i have had - separating the statement from the work - as the statement tends to become 'work' in its own right.

As with all endeavors, the approach taken toward creating your artist's statement will dictate its content. With this in mind Kokoli highlighted several ideological perspectives which can be adopted in order to make your statement say what you want it to. For instance, one can write your statement as a manifesto, containing your motivations and influences or you can use it to contextualise your work, by identifying which niche your work fits whether in your own world, the art world or the real world. furthermore, your statement can also serve as a way of informing people of the methodology or techniques employed in your creative process. whilst your statement does not have to include information on all of these 'categories' it is best to include some. preventing yourself from becoming bogged down can be tricky but being as concise as possible is one sure way of writing an effective artist's statement. The biggest challenge is therefore being as concise as everyday language will allow not forgetting that the writing should not outshine or detract from the work on show. the statement should acknowledge the context of the work on show and exploit it all the while maintaining a measured sense of clarity in order for it to be as easily assimilated as possible by the reader and also allowing room for a certain level of introspective extrapolation or interpretation.

something i have touched upon earlier was the protective role of the statement. Art, being in the public eye - becomes in a way public, belonging to everyone - and because of this everyone has their own thing to say about your art. creating an artist's statement is a way of safeguarding what your art is intended to be. To me is about ownership, it is about preventing people from convoluting your work's message whilst at the same time allowing sufficient room to maneuver, which allows you to defend your work if the need be. The artistic world is renowned for taking a square peg and twisting it to fit a round hole, or in other words - artistic commentators will talk about your work and in essence make it theirs, by using it to serve their needs. without an artist's statement your work - and by extension yourself are far more vulnerable to becoming enveloped by some other completely unrelated ideology - detracting from your work. an example of one such situation can be seen in the music industry: during the 'new rave' movement, many bands and groups were associated with the sound of 'new rave' without ever having wanted to be simply because they did not take the time differentiate themselves. as it happens the 'new rave' phenomenon now seems to have been a fabrication of the NME (new music express - a popular music magazine) as many of the groups most associated with new rave have since publicly distanced themselves from being complicit in the movement - this analogy may be somewhat clunky but the fundamental principles are the same.

seminar 9 - alexandra kokoli

for this week we were summoned to the dark recesses of the architecture building, on a particularly miserable day - thankfully the bright enthusiasm of Alexandra Kokoli invigorated us in what proved to be a very enjoyable seminar. the question posed to us at the very beginning of the session was "what distinguishes the way artists write from the way others write?". not an easy question, but here goes; first of all, artists have a unique way of thinking which allows them to communicate their intended message far better than any words ever can - though that does not stop most form trying (including myself). because artists are first and foremost visual communicators, you may think that creating a supporting text could be construed as an admission of failure on the artist's part, but it is simply not that clear cut. for me it is about explaining my work, it is about giving the work i produced a credence which would not be possible otherwise. so due to my insecurities about my own work i produce a body of text which i feel vindicates my work and practice - so that it may be called art. when engaged in the process of writing about your own work you are in a sense completing the piece in question. in doing so you are creating a final summary of whatever you have produced - perhaps this is partly influenced by the cognitive need to achieve ownership over you're work. we have all read critiques of other peoples' art in which the commentator or 'expert' in question has drawn meanings from it which were simply not intended, in a way the writings of an artist are an attempt to prevent your work from being stolen from you by these critics who are giving a ready made opinion to those who simply cannot form their own. because of this, artists can be highly "militant" in their discourse 0f other artists work, often berating the work of their contemporaries. interestingly something ms Kokoli mentioned during the seminar was that in a way when Artists write about other artists they are in fact writing aboiut themselves and their own practices - indirectly referencing their own methodology. so what makes the way artists write especially different to the way that a biologist would write? well the focus in no longer on imperical fact, instead the emphasis is on opinions, and there can be no absolutes in opinions - there are no incorrect opinions and there are no correct opinions - instead there are contextual viewpoints which offer a readily 'comsumable' opinion of a works meaning.