To date I have not really thought too deeply about how or why I title my work. In most cases my titles are descriptive. Usually descriptive as to what the painting is and / or where it is. For my abstract paintings these mainly remain untitled. I am mindful that there is a thin line between a good title and a potentially pretentious one. A good title can make the work come to life, it can indicate what the artist was trying to communicate. It can also give the observer information which may not necessarily be obvious. A good title can lift a painting or other artwork to a higher level. A pretentious title, although perhaps being well meaning, can create a barrier between the artist and the observer. In some cases it can have a detrimental impact in that there is no obvious link between the title and the work.
This exercise is my first serious look at giving my work titles beyond the descriptive. The only other instance where I have used a title where I have took a phrase and appropriated it to my work was for my Assignment 2 piece. This piece was a ‘Combine’ type piece that was constructed using discarded bits of electrical equipment and old wires. I entitled the work ‘Totally Wired’ which is a title of an iconic song by The Fall. A post punk band from Manchester which have been favourites of mine for many years. The work and the title went together well and I liked making the link to the song. I felt that it gave the piece extra importance to me.
I decided that I would look to do something similar for this exercise. Before embarking on this I selected ten paintings that I had completed during my studies with OCA.
I would use these for the exercise. In the first instance I used the suggested ten prompts as the basis for the titles. The results are shown below, each painting has its original title in brackets, the prompt, and the new title.
A poem by Maria Newberry ‘Forests forever’
“A call for reflection on the role of the delicate forests of Canada and whether we need everything it produces. We need to make shifts in our use of the forest.”
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I went through the exercise again but this time I took the titles from the names of albums by The Fall. I limited myself to album titles only so as to limit the choice. I have again shown the painting but this time with its new title only.
Some of these title work very well. To me they do not seem pretentious. I particularly like, 5, ‘Bend sinister, 6, ‘Grotesque’, 7, ‘Live at the witch trials’ and 10, ‘Cerebral caustic’ in each case they give a new meaning to the paintings.
Mark Taylor 'Studio Practice' 