Grace Haigh

Contemporary Art BA (Hons) - University of Huddersfield

[gracehaighcontemporaryart]

Final Major Project

Systems of practice: repetition (labor, action/gesture), materials (plastic ring-binder reinforcements), monochromatic visuals, print/ink text, capitalized font

System as representation: the network/grid, ‘Matrix’-esque horizontal lines, totem-like visual assemblage

[gracehaighcontemporaryart]

Final Major Project

Experimentation stage underway, with installation, projection and assemblage.

[gracehaighcontemporaryart]

Research and Development

A summation of the term.

There has been significant progression within my practice, which has resulted from continued research and development and investigation of contextual theory, linking to my dissertation research. From the investigation of gesture and documentation in regards to labour and the production line, to exploring challenging themes on augmented reality and the loss of identity, my practice has resulted in increasingly focused and intentional outcomes. The noticeable development has opened up interesting avenues into social contexts surrounding the advancement of technological systems and their affects on humans, while questioning the role of an artist. I have gained a deeper understanding of artists who are working within the realms of data-mining (James Bridle), those who are challenging the way we use technologies (Keiichi Matsuda) and online platforms to explore modernity in light of computational advancements (Mark Hasen and Ben Rubin) in the 21st century. These artists, among many others, have provided me with practical and theoretical inspiration, that is resulting in the practical exploration of increasingly important issues that relate to social, political and historical changes that are happening currently. 

Working with materials that remain firmly based in/from the ‘real world’ (e.g paper) I am exploring the tangibility of online/web based places - and information collated from - through repetitious scrutiny. The inquiry has led me to start asking questions concerning logic, authorship, identity and the role of information/data and how this helps us understand the world in which we live.  

I have several resources that will facilitate the next stage of my practice and research, including the following books:

- Borges, J.L. (1964). Labyrinths. USA/London: Penguin Books 

-  D'Ancona, M. (2017). Post Truth. London: Ebury Press

- Donald, J. & Carter, E. (Eds.) (1989). New Formations: Tecno-ecologies (8th ed.). London: Routledge

Books to be sourced include:

- Chris Hedges’ Empire of Illusion- The End of Literacy and the Triumph of the Specticle

- Open Systems (catalogue) - Mel Bocher

- The Object of Labor: Art, Cloth and Cultural Production, 2007, Joan Livingstone and John Ploof

[gracehaighcontemporaryart]

14 X 12 : Corridor exhibition - End of term one - 2017

[gracehaighcontemporaryart]

Research and Development (feedback from dissertation tutorial and practical development)

- Art and language disappearing? :Process and repetition is far more essential now in relation to A+L, I am presenting process and repetition from an informed stand point - hard headed as opposed to cathartic (more feminine) processes. Drawing the aspects of process and repetition back to A+L is a solid position to take. In relation to how A+L is still relevant in light of my research findings (both practically and academically) - the tyranny of logic is the link to spine of essay, and evident in A+L. A+L was exploring the dichotomy between the supremacy of language over the art object - we have almost entered the underside of that now, in relation to tweets having such impact in our lives today.

- Logic and their breakdown through process: through the metaphors of the machine/production line/Fordism/repetitious actions, the breakdown is a key aspect of the practice/dissertation.

- Replication: key word? - replication of text/data that relates to the web/databases- to almost viral affect. The language of the web is self replicating.

- Intuitive vs. tyranny of logic (where failure occurs) in setting up these systems and taking them to their illogical end.

- Identity crisis - spine of essay: current in modernity  and our responsibility as artists to shine a light on this.

- The discussion of Trump, in perpetuating 'fake news' in a 'post truth' society (online proliferation) is of interest.

- Interest in the stand point of technologies infiltrating our subconscious, resulting in psychological displacement-  as this (my argument) is psychologically damaging.

- Taking an un-ergonomic approach to living : Computers are changing the way humans operate. This links back to the tyranny of logic : the machines were designed (surely?) to take the brunt of mechanised progression and allow humans to remain human/natural (non augmented) however we appear to be moving into a realm of combining human and machine (augmented reality) - which I am claiming - is displacing human psyche in a way that is not fully understood or comprehensible at this time, as we don't have the language skills/cognitive awareness to understand how this is impacting people - our introduction and inclusion of  technologies and the digital has infiltrated our lives quicker than we are able to humanly process. As I have referred in past discussions, we are 'HUMANOT'.

[gracehaighcontemporaryart]

IAN KIAER INTERVIEW

Research and Development

An interview with Ian Kiaer, a London based artist who works with found materials and minimalist sculptural form in exploring invented narratives derived from literal readings of art history, philosophy, theories and architectural histories. He explores the ‘social interaction with the constructed environment, alluding to both utopian ideals and their failure.’ (Saatchi Gallery)

Kiaer speaks about his interest in the model, claiming that it is structured in the way it carries ideas, be it representative, experimental or in projecting conceptual utopian futures. The model remains flexible however, in the way it holds the quality of being makeshift and informal. The ‘tone of presentation’ (expressionivisive, 2011) is an important aspect of Kiaer’s work, expressing an interest in the limit of the artwork and how it can fail to carry information.

Here, Kiaer introduces the Russian architect Konstantin Melnikov as an inspiration for art making, specifically the latter days of Melnikov’s life. He describes how Melnikov had been involved in designing Vladimir Lenin’s tomb - his first commission was essentially a death work. He wasn’t interested in the popular revolutionary constructivists movement in architectural practice of the 1920s, as his work was more esoteric and by the the 1930s, under the Stalin regime, his architectural practice had been shut down. He remained at home, a house he had built to facilitate his practice, named Cylindrical House Studio. During this period, Melnikov took to painting, engaging only in this as a form of creative practice, eventually dying in his home in 1972. Kiaer’s fascination with this story stems from the idea that through being entombed in his house - a place that had been designed to conjoin the acts of thinking/working and dwelling - it had become a place that he was no longer able to professionally operate in. Melnikov was a contemporary of Kazimir Malevich, who had brought forward the notion of the death of painting. In some way Melnikov was fulfilling Malevich’s prophesy, in that he painted through his own demise (his career and initial creative practice) and was painting through his own death - a final death piece. (expressionivisive, 2011)

Kiaer’s practice in relation to this story interests me, as it reflects the ideas that I am involved in with my practice, concerning the use of minimalism and monochrome as statements on utopian/distopian futures. Similarly to Melnikov, whose practice became one of a hermetic existence, I too explore ideas of hermetic action and the loss of an identity. In my case, the focus lies in exploring these themes through hermetic data collation and re-presentation (and the ‘tone of presentation’) with the aim to expose the potential social loss of identity within the advancement of technologies in the 21st century - the death of an identity.

Reference list

espressionivisive. (2011, Dec. 11). IAN KIAER INTERVIEW [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15rRaQHI_14

Saatchi Gallery. (n/d). IAN KIAER. Retrieved from http://www.saatchigallery.com/artists/ian_kiaer.htm

[gracehaighcontemporaryart]

Lisson Gallery, London: 5th Oct. - 10th Dec. 

Images - part two: personal collection.

[gracehaighcontemporaryart]

Lisson Gallery, London: 5th Oct. - 10th Dec.

Images - part one: personal collection.

[gracehaighcontemporaryart]

Research and Development

Peter Downsbrough was born in New Jersey, in 1940 but is now based in Brussels.  A multidisciplinary artist working with photography and film, sculpture and text, he explores space and place through observations and interactions with architecture.  His use of text, line, assemblage in relation to space and the use of the colour black, link with my practice in that it 'comprises works consisting of lines, letters, cuts, and the spaces in between, which relate to the architectural space and call into question the linearity of both space and language.' (artists’ books, 2016)

His mark making/drawings also relate to my research and development through the use of a notebook. The exploration of form ‘along with exploring the page as a space, with lines, words and geometric shapes’ is one that I adhere to concurrently alongside my installation work.

Like Robert Barry, Sol LeWitt and Lawrence Weiner, Downsbrough uses the book medium as an important outlet within his creative practice. Incorporating text and line, minimalistic (although he claims he is a 'maximist') maps, photographs and colour, architecture, typography and linguistics are explored through his use of partially obscured shapes, text and typographic elements. (Artists' books. 2016)

Downsbrough is an artist whose work has been explored in relation to my dissertation.

Image 1(left):  Two Lines, January, 1973,rubber stamp on paper 12 x 8 inch / 30 x 21 cm Image 2(right):  Two Lines on Three Sheets of Paper, 1976 rubber stamp on paper 11 x 9 inch / 27.5 x 21.5 cm (Galerie Thomas Zander, n/d)

Reference list

artists' books. (2016, Nov. 6). Peter Downsbrough 'Prospectus' [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCOMFsAmelw

Galerie Thomas Zander. (n/d). Peter Downsbrough. Retrieved from http://www.galeriezander.com/en/artist/peter_downsbrough/information

[gracehaighcontemporaryart]

Jannis Kounellis: Gray is the Color of Our Time

Take a look behind Greek artist Jannis Kounellis’ raw and powerful work: “There’s no distance between me and the dialogue established years ago, which sees m...

Research and Development

Jannis Kounellis (b.1936 d. 2017) was a Greek-Italian contemporary artist, recognised as a key figure in the Italian Arte Povera movement that began in the late 1960s-70s. Arte Povera (translated ‘poor-art’) marked a shift from the use of a flat plain to installation style art works, which explored non traditional ‘everyday’ objects as material, in challenging the ‘values of the commercialised contemporary gallery system.’ (Tate, n/d)

In this interview Kounellis speaks of painting as a language that refers logic, explaining that painting in Greek translates as 'drawing of life'. For him, his practice comes from the interest of man being at the centre of life - as it refers to distance, form and shape, the qualities of our surroundings and how these are viewed and presented in a language of itself (art), stating that we 'continue with the experience of touching the surface, of living by toughing the surface'. (Louisiana Channel, 2015) He refers here to the tactile experience of producing works that are a reflection of our lives. Canvas, for him is too idealistic, and this no longer represents the time in which we live. Iron however, shows rust as it ages and deteriorates, and presents the weight that polarises a space and this in turn is reality.

Reference list:

Louisiana Channel. (2015, Mar. 10). Jannis Kounellis: Gray is the Color of Our Time [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfSqgpzXbdw

Tate. (n/d). Arte Povera. Retrieved from http://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/a/arte-povera

Tate. (n/d). Jannis Kounellis. Retrieved from http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/jannis-kounellis-1438

[gracehaighcontemporaryart]

Research and Development

In terms of my practice being dictated to some degree by the limitations of the material and rigorous processes, I may find a future focus in allowing the object to be autonomous, bringing about a sense of authorship to the pieces produced - similarly to how I used the investigation of by-products to propel the practice (in the past two years). Having said that, I don't feel as if my practice, or indeed the material in use, has come to a point where it has been fully exhausted.

My dissertation has been exploring the relationship artists have with data/information mining/collating as a way of producing a meaningful discussion on the advancement of the digital in the 21st century, with the consideration of the influence of the group Art and Language (from the 1960s/70s) in how they used text/language to explore ideas of what it meant to make art at that time. The investigation has been proposed in order to allow further insight into my practice, having said that, my research is unavoidably heading into the world of artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR) and virtual realities (VR). These themes seemed at first to be far flung from the critical investigation of art practices of Art and Language (AL). However there are links with the synthesis of text, language, data and information, in examining the functionality of these forms of investigation, as a way to ascertain meaning.  It might be worth remembering that coding relies on numbers to produce outcomes, similar to the form and role of language - so in light of this assignment of value/understanding that we place on these systems of communication, the question of limitation arises again; limitation of text/data as material, of process and to what point these elements will withstand before collapse - meaning/lack of meaning of data/text/symbols of understanding. My work focuses on the advancement of human vs. the advancement of the machine, or better yet, questioning whether these are indeed advancements (and if so, who for?) or limitations.

By reducing these assumed symbols through repetition, editing, correlation, documentation and assemblage, the investigation of system breakdowns appears to be asking the question of when- at what point does the limit/breakdown/collapse/atrophy occur within the systems in which we (humankind) abide by - what is real/what is reality?

[gracehaighcontemporaryart]

Research and Development

I seem to be functioning in the gray area between online systems and practical art making techniques (installation, material use, assemblage of object and text). A group critique that took place in my studio, reengaged me with my practice in a positive way (having spent a good few weeks working solidly on my dissertation - which is being approached from the position of further investigation into my personal practice, reinforcing my understanding of the subject matter I am working with) receiving positive feedback in terms of the areas in which my practice discusses. An interesting point came up from the group crit. when one person asked if my work concerned feminism - relating to a feminist struggle - because of the repetitious use of the word MAN. (This word has been edited/reduced from the statement I AM MANUSCRIPT.) Perhaps this is to do with the use of text as a material - the form of the letters and the challenge of logical communication. Generalising, there could be an assumption that ordered and logical communication such as text, could be seen as masculine, and maybe the object, or spoken word could be seen as more feminine. My use of monochromatic (black on white) statements might allude to this as well. For the most part, the concern of whether my work appears to question ideas around issues of (stereotypical) gender, is not at the forefront of the work.

Through dictation of material and process led practice, I have restrained the colour pallet I use when making work. This is partly due to the emotive and subjective aspects of colour that resonates with individuals either consciously or subconsciously - I do not wish the viewer to stray from the point I am trying to make; the use of colours (or lack of) has been chosen very carefully to reflect the ideas surrounding that of the machine, labour, repetitious activity, banality, computational systems of work/production. The use of black in my work also relates to Kazimir Malevich's Black Square, (Schor, 2006) and what that represented in relation to the death of painting.

I mention this, not as an overarching aspect of my work, but one that might hint at the question, as to if this might occur with the advancement of augmented reality (AR), such as in Keiichi Matsuda's Hyper-Reality (Keiichi Matsuda, 2016) - whose work has been discussed in my dissertation. A concern which I touched upon in the essay, aided by Owen Hopkins' article concerning the idea of AR in relation to architecture of the future, and is one that I find interesting - he says 'Why bother with windows facing a particular view, when we can decide whether we're looking out on London, Paris, a Tuscan landscape or even the Great Barrier Reef?' (Hopkins, 2017) This could effectively mean that the facades of buildings, interiors of our homes, and even the contents of our galleries could be (pun) blank canvases on which our digitally allocated, and/or commercially controlled projections would overlay.

Reference list:

Keiichi Matsuda. (2016, May 19). HYPER-REALITY [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJg02ivYzSs

Hopkins, O. (2017). "Augmented reality heralds the abolition of architectural practice as we know it". Retrieved from https://www.dezeen.com/2017/01/31/owen-hopkins-opinion-augmented-reality-heralds-abolition-current-architecture-practice/

Schor, G.R. (2006). Black Moods. Retrieved from http://www.tate.org.uk/context-comment/articles/black-moods

[gracehaighcontemporaryart]

Joseph Beuys

Planning stage -

As a group we planned our intervention outcomes on a large scroll of paper. Through gestural performance (in Beuysian-esque style) we used long sticks with pens attached at the end -adhering to the exploration of process in regards to labour - to draw/scribe the potential ideas for the gallery occupation. This resulted in a large, viewable plan that we could discuss over at length - which we did.

The ideas proposed ranged from individual - almost hidden - interventions around the gallery setting. For example, one member of the group, an illustrator, had plans to create in-situ lino prints of people visiting the gallery. I made plans to make a couple of mittens to hand out to people at the oak tree, positioned outside the entrance to Leeds gallery, so they could interact with the oak tree - a symbolic reference to Beuys, not only in regards to the tree, but in the use of felt as a protective, insulative reoccurring material in Beuys' practice throughout his career.  

Greater group interventions were planned, such as a séance style meditation-come-performance event, which would take place (either two to three times during the day-long intervention) in a large open room, on the top level of the gallery. The piece included long periods of standing, sitting and collective, synchronised slow/abrupt movements that responded to members of the public entering the space. This would have been interesting as a spectator, but also as a performer, in that the rooms ceiling was glass and the light changing in the space was likely to be interesting in depicting the tone and ambiance of the room.

Throughout the day we had made plans to carry out small group occupations throughout the space, the encouraged members of the public to participate and collaborate with the interventions, bringing about an awareness that they too, occupied the gallery space as much as we did.

Unfortunately, due to ill health I was unable to attend the ultimate occupations event. This was particularly frustrating and upsetting, as I had participated quite heavily in the planning and proposal stages of the event and had been invested in the outcomes of the day.

[gracehaighcontemporaryart]

Research and Development (within the long essay)

-Good historical research so far

-Good key texts: can begin to start building the argument

-Could 'mash up' the structure of the essay by utilising the Art-Language methodology as a method for writing the text - be more creative - as it may free up the structure to include more creativity (however that needs to be stated) - can afford to be more experimental

-Remain creative in the endeavour of essay writing

-Exploit data art sections and relate it firmly within practice - keep it current

-Use Art-Language to support arguments for 21st century data artists

-Themes to be established and explored in chapters/headings, subheadings - arguments and views

-Tip: use appendix if struggling with the disruption within academic writing vs personal reflection on practice - quote self from the appendix (primary research)

-Dichotomy between art and language's rigidity

-Essay should be clarifying and helping me to understand where I'm going in personal practice, and unearthing the issues, focuses, forecasts, etc. going on in my Final Major Project (discussing around the issues) - The 'spine' of the essay will come through in time

[gracehaighcontemporaryart]

Joseph Beuys at Tate Modern, London. 15/11/17.

[gracehaighcontemporaryart]

‘This major exhibition brings together sculpture and drawings from the 1950s onwards, drawn from the ARTIST ROOMS collection, as well as the National Galleries of Scotland and Tate. These works show the strong scientific basis for Beuys’ art and his pioneering use of materials such as felt, fat, wax and copper. At the heart of the exhibition is the sculpture Scala Napoletana (1985), made only a few months before the artist’s death in 1986.’ (2017)

Myself and three fellow students have been accepted to participate in Occupations: working with artist James Thompson over two days in-situ within Leeds Art Gallery’s Joseph Beuys exhibition. We have been invited to explore and debate the theme of ‘occupations’ through our personal and collective artistic practices, and asked to transform the Gallery into a live space of production, responding to Joseph Beuys’ provocation ‘everyone is an artist’ as we navigate our surroundings to construct our own conception of reality.

Reference list

Leeds City Council. (2017). ARTIST ROOMS: Joseph Beuys. Retrieved from http://www.leeds.gov.uk/museumsandgalleries/Pages/leedsartgallery/Beuys.aspx

[gracehaighcontemporaryart]

Research and Development

R+D and Final Major Project formative assessment feedback:

·         Reflection on F.M.P space: important to consider degree show space (no wonky walls) in terms of presentation (solving problems).

·         Monochromatic exhibition taking place in London (go see while on trip) for further R+D.

·         Feel focused on the terms of my practice at this stage.

·         Building portfolio (towards a not yet concluded work) which are rigorous, disciplined, and significant. The search for aesthetic is subconsciously acting throughout the practice with a sense of truth in the work - not manufactured - genuinely, through research. The 'conversation' between research and practice is working well.

·         Resolving technical, aesthetic problems: analysing on the fine edge - honing down the language that I'm utilising in order to try and find out where I'm going next - Tip: allow the project to have fluidity: more finished pieces will begin to happen, but don't be bound by the monochromatic (e.g.) It's a positive is that I work through doing..so keep doing.

·         I am explaining through the objects, which are specific in choice.

·         Need to get more resolved pieces up (within the installation).

·         Interesting point on the photographs of the installation, as the images cut out the noise/background/surrounding of the studio: opening up questions of the object and presentation, and how this is important in my practice.

·         More referenced artist research to be included in the blog.

·         Depth and breadth of research, raising relevant questions that will begin to be concluded in the work produced next term.

·         Research intentions are there and very much embedded within the practice.

·         Tip: Keep remodeling installation and keep documenting.