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Stone drawings on sandpaper

 

A selection of the beautiful stone drawings realised by the many participants of my process led piece as part of Pre* @ Enjoy.

Drawn onto sandpaper these stone/charcoal drawings represent the ephemeral and physical qualities of raw materials; the need that each one of us has to make our own physical and palpable mark within the world. The delicate nature of these drawings means that in some cases the marks made are removed easily with slight of hand and movement, heightening their transient and ephemeral nature. 

Pre* @ Enjoy

Space set up

Audience participation

Interaction with raw materials was the main concept behind the work presented at Pre*. I wanted the audience to experience the physicality of creating drawings and marks with the mark making materials i had used when inhabiting the landscape. Presenting these materials alongside sandpaper offered a small insight into the experience of actually mark making within the landscape itself.
Giving the participant an opportunity to become close to these organic materials it was hoped their textures and resistance would generate a depth of thought and realisation of fulfilment; the real and physical world presenting opportunity to form process and outcome.

Appropriation of monofilamnet

The use of monofilament has now become a strong element as a material in the development of my FMP. After the success of Act vs Object exhibition and subsequent introduction of the knitted material into the rural environment, it holds many appropriations of the synthetic nature of the hyper-reality, the WWW, weaving binding to place space and environment as well as strong aesthetic qualities realized when presented with the element of light be it natural or artificial. There is also representation of the ordinary man and their importance of representation within society today. 

Pre* Exhibition

As a group (Level 6 Art & Design Interdisciplinary) we are holding an exhibition; Pre* at Enjoy Art Space between the 23^rd-25^th April. The exhibition is based around the theme of process and will consist of small workshops and discussion generated from work in preparation for our FMP exhibition; Post*

We all have an inherent need to leave our physical mark in the world and as part of this exhibition I will be inviting the audience to mark make themselves onto sandpaper and wet and dry paper with some of the mark making tools collected and used when within the rural landscape. This physical resistance of process can in some small and understated way replicate the action of drawing stone on stone within the landscape by using this abrasive surface.

Mark Making & Presence within the Landscape

The actions of presence within the landscape (see Mark making & Presence with the landscape blog) is now pushing my work forward. The physical process of drawing stone on stone is such a palpable action that it enables me to become close to the land itself through the stone used.  Nothing can replicate the physicality of the elements around me or the coarse rough feel of the mark making stone itself. The friction and resistance generated while drawing stone on stone brings me closer to the material and the space I inhabit.

Act vs Object

I took part in the exhibition Act vs Object at the Holy Trinity Church in Leeds. This was a great opportunity for me to test processeses created through the use of monofilament. There was great potential to use this material for binding architectural forms to the intereior of the church.

Binding these pillars together became a collaborative project. The creation of this part of the work highlighted the importance of physical interaction and the fulfilment of working together; something not experienced within the the digital world!

Handmade doweling knitting needles containing a length of knitted monofilament were placed upon a chair leading from the bound pillars. There were many connotations generated by the placing of this part of the piece; who once sat in the chair, the past, traditional craft. By positioning spot lights that directly shone on and through the work it enhanced not only the materiality of the monofilament itself but the space it inhabited.

Monofilament

Returning to my original starting point of this Final Major Project, the fishing nets at Filey, I am now exploring the idea of using monofilament as a material. I have always found the aesthetic quality of this synthetic material interesting and see the material as an appropriation of hyper-reality and the digital world.  I see potential in using this small but effective material as some kind of binder; binding space and place to create environment.

I begin to knit with the monofilament using needles fashioned from willow stems. This organic tool made from raw materials is important. It keeps me connected to the land. The process in itself reflects raw organic matter against a synthetically made material.  

Willow, Beech Form

In a lot of sense the whole reasoning of my work is the binding and belonging of us as individuals to each other and the environment we inhabit; the physicality and realness of this existence. By binding an environment with materials this in itself draws awareness to the space. With the influence of releasing encased stones at Scarr Reservoir (See Mark Making and Presence within the Landscape blog) I acquired some old bleached willow and along with Beech twigs bound them together to produce a domed like form.

Attaching the form to the environment (the studio space) made the form itself more physical and real, drawing attention to the space it inhabits. It now appears as a kind of parasite, an entity that does not belong there, a form, feeding off another. Technology feeding off humanity?????!!!!