Below is a recording of me reading my artist’s statement. The version of WordPress that I use will not allow me to upload this file so I have made a second recording via video and uploaded this via Youtube.
Category: Part 5 – Working with words
Part Five – Project 4 – Exercise 4.0 ‘Writing an artist’s statement’
I had written an artist’s statement previously as part of the ‘Concepts in Practice’ course that I successfully completed back in July 2019. However that was a much longer piece of writing, 2000+ words.
The requirement of my artist’s statement is to communicate what I do, how I do it and what inspires me to do it in a succinct statement. The length of which should be somewhere between 100 and 200 words. The purpose of the artist’s statement is similar in principle to a curriculum vitae. An introduction to the person and who they are and what they have done. However, I feel that it differs, in that it is more about what to expect from the artists work. Whereas a CV (curriculum vitae) is more about the persons experience.
I read through the requirements for an artist’s statement on the Artquest website and also the extract from the book ‘ How to write about contemporary art’. I have purchased the book and am working my way through it but hadn’t got to that section yet. Armed with the requisite information I made my initial attempt. It took much longer than I anticipated. The hardest part was getting started. Once I had got some words down it became a little easier although I continually re-wrote sections. The process was as much about trying to find the correct form of words, editing these, ensuring that the sentences made sense and that the whole statement was talking about me and my art practice. I used the work that I am doing for my ‘Parallel project’ as the focus for the statement.
Version 1, is shown below.
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Artists Statement
Mark A Taylor
My paintings are about the Fenland landscape where I live. Mainly using oil and acrylic paints my focus is on portraying a pictorial representation of this landscape.
I approach the subject in two distinct ways. The first, is to translate the landscape as I see it when I walk within it. The features of the landscape, the buildings and the place they occupy within it. The second is to look, close up, at objects within the landscape. To show what is hidden away from casual observation. This second approach culminates in paintings that are closer to abstraction.
My fascination lies in trying to depict the impact that the passing of time has on the landscape. I want to show the effect that the elements have on man-made objects. The degradation on them and how they slowly become absorbed back into the landscape.
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I will now leave this statement for a few days.
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My statement has now been revised. It came as no surprise to me that part of the first version needed to be completely re-written. What I wanted to say and how I wanted to say it remained the same. The words and how I articulated what I do and what drives me to do it changed. The revised statement had considerable input from Marian, my wife. We both read Version 1 which and highlighted the problem areas. I initially worked alone on rewording the problematic parts. As part of this process I read the reworded script out aloud. I found that this helped to find sections that didn’t flow. I came to a point where I was reasonably content with the statement. At this point I again involved Marian and with her assistance a final edit was completed. The resultant revised statement achieves my aim of stating what I do, why I do it, what it is about. I feel that it is a true representation of my art practice at this time. Final version below.
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Artists Statement
Mark A Taylor
My paintings are about the Fenland landscape in my locale. Mainly using oil and acrylic paints my focus is on portraying a pictorial representation of this space.
I approach the subject in two distinct ways. The first, is to try to convey what I see when I walk within it; to record the features, the buildings, structures and the space they occupy in this often austere environment.
The second approach is to examine objects close up; to show features that may be overlooked by the casual observer. This approach tends to produce paintings that are more abstract in outcome.
My fascination lies in trying to record the effects of the passing of time. To show the landscape as it is today. In doing so I want to show the impact that the elements have had on man-made objects, documenting their slow imperceptible deterioration.
Part five – Exercise 3.1 Part 2 ‘Series of text pieces’ and thoughts about titles and the use of words in art.
I made an edit of the poem ‘Forests forever’ that I had used for one of the painting titles in Exercise 3.0. The edited poem was split into three sentences which were then added to three paintings that I had painted during the course but had not used. The paintings with text were pulled together to create a brief slideshow.
The resultant words and images compliment each other and form a collective piece.
Having completed Exercises 3.0 & 3.1 I have contemplated the use of words in my own work and in the work of others. My thoughts were initially focussed on whether I should use a system for titling my work. At this stage I have reached the conclusion that for paintings where the subject is identifiable I should use a title that explains what, where and when. An example of this would be ‘Old Barn, Chatteris, Spring 2019’. This locks the painting into its time and place and identifies what it is. To call it something like ‘The erosion of agricultural heritage’ is to falsely give the painting an aura of gravitas that becomes pretentious and I feel detracts from the painting. Its better to inform the observer.
For my paintings where the subject is either obscured or the work is abstract I will employ a system where I will use song titles. My thought at this point is that the addition of a title, which may not initially have any connection to the painting, creates a moment where the observer has to stop and consider the title. This break allows the painting a brief respite from its examination. The observer considers the relevance of the title in comparison to the painting. The connection, if one is formed, is with the observer. I am conscious that this could get tiresome for observer and after a while there could be a switch off.
Connecting words and art can be a very powerful device. The image with a strong message can create new meaning to both the words and the image. Whether it is political propaganda, advertising, humour or telling a story the connection can reinforce both the words and the art into an entity that is much stronger than its constituent parts.
Part Five – Exercise 3.1 Part One- ‘Date series by On Kawara’
The ‘Date series’ of paintings by On Kawara, a Japanese conceptual artist, comprise nearly 3000 paintings in total. Each painting is created using the same methodology. The date on which the painting is made is painted in white lettering onto a dark background. The typeface is always the same, is in the centre of the canvas and is painted meticulously by hand. The size of the canvases are not uniform and the lettering is expanded or contracted in relevant proportion. The date is always documented in the language and grammatical conventions of the country in which the painting was made. If a painting is made in a country that doesn’t use the Roman alphabet then Esperanto is used. Where Paintings not completed on the day they are destroyed. Each year between 64 and 241 paintings were completed. Four examples of the paintings can be seen below along with a cutting of a newspaper of the day in question. This is also consistent across all the paintings.
On Kawara was an enigmatic and dedicated artist whose projects seemed to be as much about devotion as they were about art. In some respects the ‘Date series’ of work defines the artist and documents his lifetime, where he was and when. However it tells us nothing about what he was doing, why he was where he was, what he was thinking. They paintings themselves are stark images, regimented in there uniformity. They are undeniably factual but say nothing more about themselves other than where and when they were created. This in itself is more than most paintings tell us. The inclusion of cuttings from a newspaper of the day does give a clue to the circumstances in which the work was created. By the very nature of newspapers they are reporting on events in the days before the date in question and being only cuttings do not give a context to the painting. We are left to contemplate the passing of time in different places.
Part Five – Exercise 3.0 ‘Explore the role of the title’
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.
Part Five – Contextual focus point – Link 42 ‘An Oak Tree – Michael Craig Martin’
I view this work as an intellectual argument into what something is or appears to be. It is a challenge to the observer to take a step back and think again.
I am reminded of the work of Rene Magritte as in his painting titled ‘Cesi n’est pas une pipe – this is not a pipe’ which indeed it isn’t. It is a painting of a pipe. Therefore it is a representation of a pipe but it is not a pipe.
In the case of ‘An Oak Tree’ Michael has taken this argument a stage further. We are presented with what is clearly at first sight a glass of water on a glass shelf. However Michael informs us, the viewer, that we are in fact looking at an Oak tree. The objects are accompanied by a text in which we are informed why it is an oak tree. The text, written by the artist, in the form of an interview, challenges him to explain himself and ask why it is an Oak tree. The process of creating the Oak tree is presented along with the statement that the Oak tree exists in the mind and is physically present but in the form of a glass of water.
The piece is an example of conceptual art whereby the act of presentation, coupled with the dialogue, questions us to examine and think about what we perceive about the world in which we exist. In this example the artist describes what he has presented to us and explains why it is what it is.
This is better explained by the Michael in an interview on his website titled ‘I’m interested in language’. In this interview he states “I am interested in language and the way in which we interpret the world, understand the world, through the things we create.”
Part Five – Project 2 ‘Parallel Project’ Exercise 2 Reflective exercise
My Parallel project is now fully underway. I have a clear direction even though I have yet to decide whether the focus is going to be on close up studies or those which depict in the object in the landscape. At this point my guess is that I am likely to end up with a collection of works from which I will select those that form a collective narrative. I suspect that this will be a mixture of the two options. My focus is on exploring the impact the passing of time on buildings and machinery in the Fenland landscape. In doing this my focus will be on using paint in a textural way. The paintings will be pictorial in their execution but the object may not be identifiable. This will be particularly true of the close up paintings. These are more likely to have an abstract nature to them.
To date I have found that Part Four of the course was where a made the biggest breakthrough in my realisation of the notions that I wanted to investigate. The experimentation with alternative materials, supports and applications assisted me to uncover a methodology to explore the topic. I see the progress that I have made to date is aligning with the aims of my practice. My interests lie in trying to convey light, movement, the passing of time, nostalgia without becoming sentimental and melancholic. I am still informed by the landscape in which I currently reside. This has been a recurring theme through my studies, and although I have ventured to other topics, I keep returning to it. I can see myself exploring this topics in the future and thoroughly expect to be taking it Level 3 (HE6).
The artists that are currently influencing my work, in terms of ambition, but not directly in terms of scope, are George Shaw and Peter Doig both of which will be the subject of my critical review.
Of the works completed to date I suspect that four pieces are likely to be in consideration for my Assessment submission. Two of these have recently been reworked following feedback and these are now closer to what I am striving for. They are replicated below.
I have yet to consider how I would want these paintings to be presented but I do expect that they will be able to hang together and convey a coherent narrative.
Part Five – Research Point 1 – Bob and Roberta Smith / Edward Ruscha
I do not intend to compare and contrast these two artists but rather explore their individual approaches to making art with words. I have not made extensive research into their individual practices. My intention was to examine a single work by each artist. To examine each piece and the impact that the artist was intending to illicit in the viewer. In both cases my interest was in trying to identify what cultural influences may have informed the work.
I’ll start with Bob and Roberta Smith. This is the pseudonym of Patrick Brill, a British contemporary artist, writer, musician, art education advocate and keynote speaker. Patrick comes from the leftfield canon of British artists. Although part of the established art movement he remains very much his own person choosing to do things his way. He comes from an artistic upbringing, his father was the landscape artist Frederick Brill who was head of the Chelsea school of art.
The work that I have chosen to examine is titled ‘Make art not war’ 1997. These words and other phrases are claimed to have been spoken to him by his father on his deathbed. Firstly what does the painting look like. It is square, 153 x 152 cm, painted on plywood using commercial paint. The background is split into two halves divided horizontally, the top section is painted white and the lower pale orange. Over this are painted the four words ‘Make Art Not War’. The typeface that Patrick has used is known as Signwriter’s block. This was developed in 1920 and was chosen, the artist explains in a video about the painting, as he enjoys the disciplined structure of the typeface. The letters are mostly black or blue except for two, one being white the other red.
The painting is part of a series of works that use humorous slogans which to promote art over violence. A further example being ‘Easels not guns’. The meaning of these paintings is fairly explicit in that their intention is to challenge the viewer to question human morality.
The simple message brought into the setting of an art gallery or museum forces the viewer to confront the message and to challenge their ideas of what a painting is. On its own a single painting can not change the world but it does set up a dialogue in which an alternative outlook is possible. In my opinion the painting is an expression of the culture and times in which it was created which has informed the artist. However the artist is not merely responding but is choosing to influence, is not making concessions but directing.
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The second artist and second painting is by an artist who comes from a different cultural back ground. Edward Ruscha is an American artist who is associated with the Pop art movement of the 1960’s. He is well known for his paintings, collages and photographs. Originally from Oklahoma he states that his eyes were opened and that his work is heavily influenced by Los Angeles. His interest in words and typography have provided the primary subject of his paintings, prints and photographers. The words either comes from conversations, jotted down or are taken from dictionaries.
The painting that I selected to examine is called ‘Review it, look it over and what ever’. It was completed in 2004. The painting is on a square canvas, 152 x 152 cms. The background image is a mountain rendered in monochrome of Payne’s grey. It has been created with acrylics, pencil and charcoal. Over the background image of the mountain the words, (1) Review it (2) look it over (3) and what ever, are written in three lines evenly spaced using a simple typeface. All letters are the same size.
In trying to understand the meaning of the painting I visited Tate Moderns website and found a video of Edward discussing his art and the processes he employs. In the video he explains that his backgrounds are just that backgrounds but then goes onto say why he often uses mountains tops as backgrounds. They suggest glory, beauty and evoke the sound of trumpets playing although there is no noise present. When words are added it creates tension. To me, a question is raised in that as the viewer you are immediately drawn to the words and to think about what they could mean? Why have they been placed in this setting? The words or phrase ask to be contemplated. Had they been written on a page in a book would I have stopped and thought about them? I think that this would be unlikely. In this case the phrase is in three parts. The first is a command ‘Review it’ followed by an instruction as to how to ‘look it over’. The conclusion ‘ and what ever’ is yours. It is left to the individual no answer is provided.
You, the observer, are challenged, questioned and instructed by a painting to do something more than merely to observe and then left free to move on. To me this is an instruction to look beyond what is presented or given to you, draw your owns conclusions and from there follow your own path.
Part Five – Project 1 Working with text – Exercise 1 Cut-up technique
For my first investigation into Cut-up techniques I used the lyrics to the song ‘Love will tear us apart’ by Joy Division. My rather naïve thought was that as the words were already in a poetic style and included poetic meaningful phrases that more would emerge. This proved to be an error as I found that I kept being drawn back to the song. Was this because I knew it too well and the echoes of the phrases called out for me to make them whole again?
The process and the results. I was aware of cut-up techniques having seen several examples over the years. This included a documentary on David Bowie where he was using the technique to create interesting phrases for song lyrics. I hadn’t directly used the technique myself but have tried using random unconnected phrases and illogical rhymes when trying to write lyrics for my own songs. I must admit that I never found it to be particularly successful. Like many things it needs to be worked at, learnt, refined. Initially I typed out the words to the song, printed it out and randomly cut it up into phrases. These were randomly placed on card. The result was overpowering, too many phrases and half sentences that made little or no sense.
Part of the problem, which I have already indicated was that I couldn’t divorce myself from the structure of the song. Trying to break away from this I reduced the length of the phrases by cutting them up.
I then randomly selected seven phrases and tried to form these into a sentence. I repeated the process several times, adding words, re-arranging until I eventually ended up with four sentences, see below.
The results were disappointing. I hadn’t revealed a hidden gem of a line that I had hoped for. Being realistic it was unlikely for all of the reasons that I have already touched upon.
The second part of the exercise was to try to form two or more coherent phrases and make these into collages/paintings. Having created the text in different fonts and sizes had lent the creation of simple collages that had the look of ransom notes or punk iconography.
The collage above is of four different results. Individually they are:
Question; Do you get a taste, so cold, as desperation again?
Poem / rhyme;
Appeal that we’ve kept, ambitions are low and we’re changing,
Is it something so, our respect runs, is my timing?
Through our lives feelings exposed, good just can’t
But, the bedroom won’t grow resentment.
A declaration;
Cry out, Function no more when routine bites hard, this might have been better as “When routine bites hard, function no more, cry out“
A second poem, in the form of a convoluted question
Why is taking different roads in your sleep and emotions that flawed?
Turned away in my mouth, so dry
Our ways and the love, takes hold
All my love will ride high
They all have some meaning, albeit vague in some cases. It had been a revealing exercise. To further examine the process and to get away from what I felt were, the constraints of using words and phrases that already had meaning, I tried did the exercise again but this time cutting out random phrases from a magazine, WWF Action.
The results, I again created an overall collage which has then been broken down into a number of phrases.
The first, an enquiring question with a statement.
What do you love most about the great ice bear, cheap food? In five years or so, a passion for pedalling for pangolins!
The second, a manifesto statement
“We did, the importance of ground zero for wildlife. Why is it everyone’s responsibility, together, beneath the landscape for life. A billion people could be affected by our seagrass by 2050.“
The third, humour?
“Intergovernmental climate change according to a staggering amount (of) IT”
Lastly a declaration
“Panel on climate change, the true price of looking, risks to oceans canopy!“
Conclusion: using words and phrases that, to me, were previously not consciously connected made the process of re-arranging the cut-ups easier to perform. Whether the results are more realised is questionable. As an idea generator I can see the value in this approach. It also ties into the work completed in Part Three, where the parts of a painting were taken apart. Dissection and reconstruction can create inspiration. It breaks down barriers in an unconscious way to form new possibilities.
Mark Taylor 'Studio Practice' 