I had a great response from some people who were interested in my work, when asked where’s your piece then I just said you have to find it, this seemed to cause a bit of a stir, either annoying people because I wouldn’t reveal anything or really making them engage and look around the gallery space, looking in areas that they wouldn’t typically look at, which is fantastic.
Sheila confronted me last night, asking where my work is. I said to her, you have to find it. She said in “art school” I need to let them in and I’m unteachable. I am wondering, if you had these concerns about my work then as my teacher you should have brought this up in my crit or though out this whole project. I am still a student, I don’t know everything, I am here to develop my ideas but also I am here to get a degree and I am aware that I do need to do stuff to meet marking criteria, if you knew that what I was doing wasn’t going to allow me to meet that criteria why did you sit back and let me do it?
I feel strongly about how I want to do my work, I feel it truly reflects the person I am and my feelings towards being at art school, having to put on exhibitions and make art in general. I am concerned about the fact that we are encouraged to “think outside the box” and be different, but in the end all you really want us to do is make a waxwork about memory and put it on a plinth.
I am feeling very belittled, because although I have not produced any physical evidence of my work I have put a lot of time, thought and consideration into why this wouldn’t be appropriate, and now you have made me out to be some lazy arse person that is just trying to get away with doing as little work as possible. If you had bothered to speak to me, acknowledge my existence both in myself and my work, and read my writings and explanations, then you would be aware of all my considerations into my work.
I’m aware that I do have to produce a sketchbook, rationale and explain my ideas and document what I’m doing to conform to the whole “art school” criteria. I spend a lot of my time writing down what I do and why I am doing it and why I consciously made a decision not to reveal where my work is. If you had bothered to read anything that I’ve written for you, to let you in, then you would know this and not be confronting me at the exhibition opening night about the whereabouts of my work.
I am very concerned that there is no place for me at this art school anymore. I am spending a lot of money to come here, hoping to learn some fantastic skills and gain confidence in myself, but although I am learning stuff such as how to deal with arseholes and how fucked up the art world really is, I think I could learn this without having to spend another 3 grand of my money next year. The only reason I would continue to do my degree is so that I could go onto do a teaching course later in my life, but by doing the work I want to do I’m not going to achieve a high enough grade to do this anyway. Teaching is such an important job, whether it be at primary level or degree, it is so important that we are given full support at this stage, especially doing something as fickle as fine art. We are paying you to inspire us, to encourage us so and help us gain confidence in ourselves and our work. I know this is probably completely trivial to you because I am a shy person and don’t voice my opinions much or make a big song and dance every time I go to college, I am an unimportant person to you, I don’t think anyone deserves to feel like that. If anyone’s read this, cheers, last night was amazing by the way, it’s obvious we don’t need their help; we can put on a bloody good show on our own.
I totally agree. anyone who has been following your work on this blog, or if given the opportunity, read your sketchbooks or spoken to you in depth about it, then i totally think that they should understand what the work is about.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of a piece of art in a gallery that is not on a plinth for all to see.
What do you look at when you are not looking at anything? I think this phrase best describes what your work is, for me anyway.
When you are not concentrating and your eyes wander off into space, you might just find something, which occasionally you do. Little stickers or objects stuck in obscure places. It makes you think "i wonder who put that there or why it is even there?"
I had alot of fun finding some of your pieces around the gallery.
I still think the plaque for your work would have been good just on the floor or on a blank wall. :]
Thankyou. I kept my name tag thingy in my pocket for the opening. Maybe I should have done something with it. Like flush it down the toilet. Or yes a blank wall. Im thinking now it would have been better if i'd let others know that I was in the exhibition. If i'd put my name tag on a wall at least people would have known that I was in the show, but where? And make people aware that there is something there to find and maybe they could start looking. Gary said at the beginning, now we are aware your work is out there we can start looking. I will definately consider the idea regarding how I can subtley suggest that my existance is real. I do want people to be aware, but also my real audience is for those that are observant enough to notice. To look closer....
ReplyDeleteTo be honest i was most impressed that one of
ReplyDeleteyour card ones was still there from last term!
They're all there you just have to use your EYES
ReplyDeleteHavnt looked at these blogs since last academic year. Sorry to hear that you were dissapointed in the responce to the work. Sometimes it's in the nature of the game people are playing and its hard to move from one way of thinking about things to another. Dont take it personal, perhaps the best artists were never noticed at all. But then were they really artists?
ReplyDelete