Seminar:
This week was a bit back to front and topsy-turvy, as I had the tutorial on Thursday and Seminar on Friday. We began by doing a group reading of Magic: A Gramarye For Artists by Jamie Sutcliffe. Before the class I read the few pages we had to study and highlighted and considered the sections I found stood out. I am new to both the relation of art and magic and also reading out loud in a group, so it was a valuable task. I did struggle bit with the point of view of the book and the explanation of some things, it seemed to me a bit vague and wordy at times, but I’m a bit cynical sometimes. I did eventually see the link in how our creative workflow can be inspired and externalised by using techniques similar to spellcasting.
Leading on from that, we then were paired up with another peer and we had to come up with a ‘spell’ or ‘score’ together. The purpose was to create this series of instructions that lead to creative making, a bit like a warm-up before a sporting activity. I was teamed up with Matteo and together we agreed on some of the things that help us start work. Our main series of commands were to make a drink and make sure you have food, clear and clean the workspace completely and get comfortable. Then, brain dump in words or marks anything you need to get out before you start and then you can begin making properly. I find myself always doing certain habits before stressful things, as an athlete I’m quite superstitious, so having a set of instructions and a plan to get focused helps me a lot.
Tutorial:
Here are some rough notes I took during the online tutorial. My idea was a lot more developed than last time, but I still need to answer questions like ‘why’ and ‘how’ when it comes to my intentions:
Sarah Amed and Kristian Nold.
Scope of interrogation, Auto theory, Palimpsest.
Thinking and/or feeling, what am I doing?
Use practice as research.
What parts of myself am I voicing?
Test audio in relation to the text.
It’s about documentation.
Research how I draw on other artists’ practices.
My project:
Here are some research slides I did on my artistic inspirations, both connected to my current project but also my general art practice.
In terms of final design, I am still considering and my main idea is still the installation. I know I needed a lot more pieces of writing though to use, so I’ve been experimenting with more poetic techniques now. These are some free verse pieces that I wrote and am going to transfer into handwriting. It is quite raw and I guess the poetic voice is quite honest, somewhat dark, which is what I want, but I also like the ambiguity about who this voice is:
————–
What’s the point in hiding the parts of you that you think won’t be loved, when those things need the most love.
What’s the point in trying to cover up shame, when the less we talk the deeper the wound gets.
What’s the point saying yes to things so many times that you end up disassociating from what’s actually here.
What’s the point of analysing every single un-perfect moment, when how can you ever be better without learning.
What’s the point in hiding so well and building a wall, when you really just want to be found and adored.
————
Not one more tear, stop it, don’t
Get up wipe away the fear, smile
Don’t look so hollow, smile again.
What do you do when there’s so
Little love in the world, hope?
I don’t want to hold onto something
Only for it to skip through my fingers
Like golden sand.
It’s ok to break, but come back soon
————-