I am for an Art
I am for an art that is fragmented, broken, stripped to its bare materials, wandering through spaces
I am for an art that is interested in surfaces, the discarded, the lesser known, the unseen detritus, what lies beneath, brutalism –
Where I can encounter things I like and run with it, I don’t know who cares about what I’m looking at but I get excited by new things, new objects, new images, new processes.
I am for an art that stimulates me, allows me to learn, to be in a constant state of production. I want to make to create to build a body of work that I can learn from.
I am for an art that is trial and error, that I can fuck up and move on, that I can build upon, that I can rip up and throw away, art that I can have a huge tantrum about but then feel the satisfaction of knowing I’ve finally created something.
I am for an art of mess, although I find myself very formally presenting work, I like clean lines, precise forms, a contrast between smooth surfaces and the crunchy lumpy surface of rock.
I am for an art that I can pick up from the street, I like collecting, I want to build up a collection of rocks. I am for an art that is concrete, although I want my materials to be more eco-friendly. I like Brutalism, the ugliness and beauty of the material.
I am for an art that is a pattern, a code a sequence. I like geometry
The ability to have a hundred ideas at a time, I hate that I never seem to have enough time to make everything.
I am for an art of visiting the gallery, of meeting new people, of discussing art, of enjoying art, of seeing the importance of art
I am for an art in which I can perform or be part of a performance, an event, a loud and lively space.
I am for an art that I can freely explore an idea to its limits, an art that I can reiterate, build upon, create something terrible and then rework it.
I am for an art that gets me obsessed, that fuels my mind, that I can repeatedly explore and re make, an art that is reproduceable, editioned.
I am for an art that I can collaborate, that I can engage with people. An art that find my practice split into tiny sub sections, a series of solo projects, attempting to avoid an artist’s ego but also another subset of works I enjoy with others. An art that allows me to build a conversation with people, an art that I can learn from others, discover things I didn’t know, work with others who can do things better than me, who know more, who share similar passions.
I am for an art that allows me to explore my interests, what I find interesting about the world. An art that is historical, that is prehistory, that is folklore that is a lost civilisation, that confuses, inspires, makes someone stop and think.
I am for an art that is not constrained to one single message or material, I am for an art that is nomad, that wonders, never stays in a place (place being a metaphor for process/object/idea) that moves freely and evolves. I don’t want to fall into being a one trick pony, I don’t want to just have that one thing that I do, I want to try everything.
I am for an art that allows me to try out any idea. An art that is ritual, an art where the process is art. I see something that someone else has made and I want to make it. I see a process being done and I want to do that process. I want to be good at something, to be technical, to be skilled, but also to let go, be minimal.
I am for an art that gets bored easily, that can make something quickly, I am not for an art that takes forever to finish, that constantly tweaks, at the same time I enjoy the process and don’t mind investing time to create something.
I am for an art that is obsolete, that is lost. I am for an art that is noisy, that’s chaotic, that moves that’s kinetic. I am for an art that is layered.
Lines, pattern, form, texture, lumps, cracks, splinters, eco, landscapes, ecologies, colour, sequence, mountains, stone, rock, building, process, making, art, trying not to be a cliché art-jerk, art on the floor, art without plinths, art as an installation, art using natural materials, arts in a landscape, art using stones, art as assemblage, artist as shaman.
20 Rules for my art to exist by
1. Prioritise wellbeing
2. Question everything
3. Reduce things down to their bare minimum
4. Always be conceptual
5. Concrete
6. Avoiding being too serious
7. Never use plinths
8. Find value in the discarded everyday
9. Take inspiration from everything
10. Make work about stuff
11. Appropriate
12. Use a found object and remake it
13. Making in series
14. Be interested in surface, texture and pattern
15. Collaborate
16. Support other artists
17. Process becomes art
18. Not to be constrained to one material or message
19. Explore the materiality of things
20. Build conversations with others
Being excited to create
Learning a new process
Making art about something I don’t know how to do
Not regurgitating old ideas
Trial and error
Causing people to question – make a relation between language, object and understanding / perception / reception
Collaborate – find connection in other artists
An art that is constantly archiving
This can help provide a supported framework for creating my own artwork ...
Concretism:
An artistic movement emphasizing the concrete reality of shape and colour independent of representation or symbolism. 2. The practice of writing concrete poetry.
Spatialism is an art movement founded by Italian artist Lucio Fontana in Milan in 1947 in which he proposed to synthesize colour, sound, space, movement, and time into a new type of art. ... In it he spoke of a new "spatial" art in keeping with the spirit of the post-war age.
Relationship between concrete - as a material and as an understanding. How it is related to space - a combination of different elements such as movement, colour and sound - very much visual stimuli
Concretism and Spatialism are based on the dynamics of language seen as a thing in itself, independent of any content.
Theo Van Doesburg:
Art is universal. The work of art must be entirely conceived and formed by the mind before its execution. Technique must be mechanical – exact, anti-impressionistic
Bibliography:
Caws, M., 2001. Manifesto: A Century of Isms. 1st ed. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.