piggymalone: October 2012

Tuesday, 30 October 2012

This is an idea of attempting to map one of the most important components of my sketchbook library- the conversation it induces. Here I plan to write transcriptions of the conversations that took place during the workshops and attaching them through the frame, to the objects that were touched by the hands of the body of the mouths that uttered the words.

Research presentation so far

-->

Sketchbook Library

Libraries are places
where I spend most of my waking
life, or it seems that way most of the time. You’d assume libraries are
normally in place to lend books out
to the public or a place to go and read
books, if you’re not going to take them out. At the National Library of
Scotland, for example, there is not a book there that they don’t have, that you
can access, but on the condition that you read it there. You are not able to
take books out at the National Library, they are too precious, and need to be
available to the public at all times. I love going to the National Library of
Scotland because of these strict rules. Others include, that you can only go
into the reading room with paper, pencil and computer. No water, no ink,
no phones- it is a strictly silent working area. And, boy, do you get work
done.  Then there’s also the main university library which I
have spent so much time in now that I only go when I really need to, and
there’s no other option, which normally means that I have to go there when there
is a book there but no where else or if it’s very late at night and I need to work. All the university libraries are
shut. I have spent many nights in the main library working until about 2am in
the morning. It’s a great place to work late at night, compared to the day time
when it feels like a shopping mall- lots
of girls window shopping for boys and boys window
shopping for girls. Few purchases are made- I do know of a few friends who have
been asked out in the library, some have been laid. How fun! Not very serious. It’s meant to be serious, isn’t
it? The Library? Work? It’s somewhere where enrich our minds, not our bodies, of intellect
not our handicrafts. Why is that the
case? Is it impossible to enrich our minds and handicrafts in the library? I am
an art student, how do I use the
library for my art studies? Well, I read a lot of theory books, I translate the words and sentences, process the in
my brain and either use them to strengthen my essays or they will feed into creative mode of production, occasions
flick on a switch in my head at which point it whirls into action and I start
seeing lots of objects and people, and hearing voices and imagining situations. Pictures in books can do
this for me, but written concepts can too. Like at exhibitions, one can feel creatively inspired, it’s like that but
with books and their pictures. I went to the Wide Open School last summer at
the Southbank Centre- it was a month-long event that transformed the Southbank
Centre’s Hayward Gallery into a school where the public could enrol in classes
according to subject, teacher or date. I could only make it down for a few days
as I had work commitments up in Edinburgh. On 7th July I attended Haegue Yang’s Vita Activa-  a Korean artist who uses a lot of basic
manual skills to produce her work with. There is something about returning to
the roots and basics of our functioning in this very developed and complex
world that we all live in. Everything we encounter was built from foundations.
So what are those foundations? Those basic
structures? Are they dried out or can we continue to generate something new and
enriching from them? Yang Hague was an extremely humble figure and she created
an extremely democratic space in her class room. There are tables laid out in a
circular formation and she had employed outside specialists to come in and
teach their skills to the class. In such a large class, we ended up helping our
neighbours and talking amongst ourselves for hours, once the basic skill had
been learned. In the morning we leanrned some origami technqiues and in the
afternoon we learned some knitting
techniques. At the end of the morning, when we had made the origami, all of the
finished pieces were placed on a table
in the centre of the room and in the afternoon, all of the knitted pieces were sewed together. For some reason, I
ended up naturally filling the role of sewer as I sat with Yang Hague and she
and the rest of the table I was at talked amongst ourselves. The following day
I attended a discussion held by the Californian collective The Public School who had invited theorist Mark Fisher, as part of their new External Programme, to talk about
his book Capitalist Realism which
links depression to the current neo-liberalist state of the world and
the pressures it places upon us. Then there was Susan Philipz sound workshop, and the Public Faculty’s discussions,
inspired by Joseph Beuy’s Untitled
Sun State from 1974. Black boards as
drawings that unite the cosmic and terrestrial, and idea state in which the
social order is conceived as a living organism. It appeared that in these institutional spaces of contemporary
art, knowledge was being produced in new and alternative ways to the common,
dominating structures. Or existing structures were being used in different
ways. Rather the education being supplementary to the exhibition, it was the
exhibition. This is so interesting because I believe that a lot of the social
problems we have in the country boil down to bad parenting and
mis-education.  Art and its
institutions can provide a space for experimentation and microtopias as places
for social exchange theorized by Nicholas Bourriaud’s
in his Relational Aesthetic. However, with education and learning as the
premise, it has the potential to be more than conviviality between art elites
(which is what always bothered me about this theory), but modes of knowledge
production between the public.  As
simultaneously a soft and implicit critique on dominating structures but ultimately
a space for exploration and enrichment of the self and others within a civil
society. So there was also the Marther Rosler
Library at the Stills Gallery back in 2008 in which was the artist Marther
Rosler’s entire book collection presented to the public as a library archive.
The public was invited the to browse freely as a well as being able to
participate in a variety of classes that were held in conjunction with the
event. Then there’s was my tutor Zoe Walker’s
Art Lending Library, a part of the Glasgow International art festival last year
which I took part in. This was a mobile library which housed over 60 works of
art for the public to browse, engage with and then loan out and take back home
for a few days. This took the notion of the library to another conceptual
level, where, in the place of books were works of art and instead of reading
them, the public could interact with them in other ways. This year we all
graduate from the Intermedia
department and was thinking about the institution within which we all study
together- ECA and how this art institution of learning transforms itself
institutionally for a week into a gallery- commercial
or non-profit- that’s up for debate.  How successful is this transformation? What needs to be
altered for this transformation to take place? What needs to be added? What
needs to be taken away? What needs to be extenuated? What needs to be concealed?
Our messy studio spaces indeed need to be concealed or even taken away, and in
place white clean walls are set in place. The foyer, rather being a place for art supply deliveries  needs to be transform into a reception
to welcome visitors and to provide assistance. It is this transformation that I
am interested in. And  what is
needed for this transformation to be as effective and interesting as possible.
It is for this reason, that, among many other interventions, I wish to set up a
sketch-book library. Where I would like to ask to borrow any sketchbooks available (regardless of
how old they are) of this year group. Catalogue and house them in my make-shift
and ever-expanding library. I hope that this library, in its diversity and
collectivity will be a reflection of the Intermedia department. I think good
relations are important, so I hope that through this project, I will be able to
get to know you all a lot better. In a way to do so, with this library I would
like to hold daily classes of a few hours of paper skills. Such as calligraphy classes, embroidery classes and book-binding classes, where the photocopied
pages of the archived sketchbooks find a new lease of life in these new
collectively made paper creations. Here are some photographs of my first experiment with this sketchbook library
taken over two days of workshops. We ended up creating new books from the
sketchbooks. The time we spent together creating and exchanging skills was also important. We learned and enjoyed ourselves
together. We talked about the project but we also talked about each other, and
other daily chit chat. This was a really enjoyable experience that I hope that
we could share together, but also with the public when they come to view our
final efforts in our show in June. 
From these open ended situation, like Yang Hague’s origami sessions at
the Wide Open School, it is unknown what the specific outcome is. However, I am
interested in the process being the focus, not the pre-determined outcome. I
believe that much can be gained from examining and placing precedence on the
process- the outcome will come later. The epicentre of this activity will
physically manifest itself from within my 3-dimensional frame which I like to
use in my practice to constantly remind myself of what I am framing, what I am
questioning, what exists within the frame in relation to outside the frame. Can
these spaces be switched? Can they exist in both? As we explore and develop the
once-marked preliminary and research processes in our sketchbooks, the frame is
placed on this activity itself, another process. A perpetual process I hope
with innumerable outcomes.  

This will be pre-recorded and played over images that will be projected behind me while I make a performance





  

Infinite exhibition October

Wednesday, 17 October 2012

Who is my audience that I am engaging with? For now, the Intermedia department.

Conversations with Dean about life drawing

Dean- Life drawing in first year, and not outlawed. It’s not beyond first year, its there on a need-basis. Not within Intermedia, but as part of the whole school.

Jessica- Steve mentioned that you were thinking about doing life drawing

Dean- Yeah. What this a while ago?

Jessica- quite recently because I went to observe a life drawing class this week, it was design and fine art first year in the Mural room. Stephen mentioned you’d been interested in running classes?

Dean- Well it was a really important part of my education, the earlier parts than my later, and drawing is anyway part of my practice. It’s central to my work. I would have liked to have taught it. I was taught to draw in quite a rigorous way from the age of 16. A lot of my work has been about it. I thought I could bring something to it. But, I can’t do it because I have this new role within the art school so the amount of teaching that I do is less but means that other people can come in and teach. So I was going to do it, but I can’t.

Jessica- You think that drawing is important for your own practice. Do you think that it’s important for others’ or art education in general? Is it important to draw or perhaps not so much in this day and age?

Dean- It’s not so much the drawing actually, it’s the looking that’s important. That’s what I think. You can learn to draw anything, like a room for example. But for me its… I don’t know if it’s psychological…but there’s something about looking at a person. There’s something about that that focuses the looking. To be honest, the majority of drawing that people do are rubbish, always are. There are some good ones, but generally. So the problem with it is that life drawing is used as a crutch for real practice, and I hate anything that pretends to be real. You know, its bogus, that expression ‘the real world’- its all the world! I think life drawing does a very particular thing about looking. And I less that less now- less looking.

Jessica- Less looking?

Dean- In a way, yeah. But along with that, there are less people with a philosophical disposition.

Jessica- So what do you think it’s been replaced by?

Dean- I don’t know. Interestingly, the Internet gets in the way. So there’s laziness. I think the Internet in general has replaced a lot of stuff, there is a lot of activity that goes on on the Internet. I spend a lot of time with students now saying ‘can you just print that out?’. If you ever ask someone to look at an artist they’ll just Google it straight away rather than having a relationship with the thing.

Jessica- It’s something about engagement, isn’t it?

Dean- It is

Jessica- Looking and engaging and questioning stuff that you wouldn’t necessarily do on the Internet because its all there.

Dean- But I don’t want to be a Luddite either. I don’t want to be anti-internet. And the philosophical bit, I read at A-Level I read Descartes and Nietzsche, Hume and Locke, and now I don’t think people do. I don’t think people now have the same sort of philosophical skills

Jessica- Or the inclination to think about certain things

Dean- or look around or question. If you can trust your perception, it’s a good basis for art

Jessica- After speaking to Annetta, she finds it very meditative.

Dean- Yeah, I do. In a way, my life drawing, I could chuck them away afterwards, I wasn’t really bothered. But there was something about the process of doing them that was like mediation, and really seeing something. It was a real attention to looking. It’s a bit like theory, life drawing. Because it prepares or anticipates what you might do. It’s a kind of training. But it can also be used wrong in art schools sometimes, I think.

Jessica- People sometimes place too much emphasis on the drawings and don’t think about the process they’re going through as they’re doing it.

create a bookshelf as central feature

tables also built under the structure, connected into it

from anegla http://creatingacontext.co.uk/wip_g5

E.C.ALLI-N-T-E-R-M-E-D-I-A

tour guides

proposition the history of art department to advertise the opportunity for history of art students to come through to the art college, spend time with the artists and their works of art, and prepare responses to the work that will appear in the final degree show.

Need to start advertising this in January

Need to get in touch with the end of year exhibition organisers to see if we can advertise on the website

Intermedia SHOP

Idea: first term getting to know working environment, Intermedia students to spend more time with each other to then make the degree show the most successful one yet!

first run of sketchbook library

Need more space

more time

perhaps bookshelves as central piece

need more book shelves

books as key focus with activity happening around

design book shelves

an an exhibition, have it as a separate space for reflection and activity

work alongside to the main exhibition body

at the Fruitmarket gallery, they have a separate reading space (images to come)

i want the epicenter as the library

want the setup to function first and foremost as a library

anglea- books in library normally have a scientific or academic tone, research. Using an artistic content.

Sketchbook is personal, you might not be able to 'read' the sketch book, or you read it and misunderstand.d I like to ask the question- what really is really comprehensible. What am I comprehending?

individual writing and individual reading, more importantly. Each person reads book in different way from the previous and the next

to have a library that's incomprehensible

Sunday, 14 October 2012

strickland distribution

Sunday, 7 October 2012

Life drawing research- posing myself as a life model

I have decided to investigate further, the issues of life drawing in Edinburgh College of Art by becoming a life drawing model myself. 

This way, I may be able to orchestrate my situation that I wish to create as myself being the model/posing questions. 

Myself being the model was one of the first things Annette queried in our first tutorial together. She was right in thinking that by placing myself as the model- i will bring many more levels meaning the pieces that may convoluted the real aspiration of the project, which is to discuss issues of the art school from the point of view of students and tutors. The first, being the presence/absence of life drawing.

email correspondance between myself and the organiser of life drawing at the art college:

Hi Sherry, 

here are the forms all filled out (and my CV) 
attached. I couldn't sign them as I filled them out on the computer. 
However, perhaps I could sign then when we meet up?

Hope this is OK. And please let me know if there is anything else you require from me for the job!

I look forward to hearing back form you soon.

Best, Jessica

> From: s.landles@ed.ac.uk
> To: jessicadunleavy@hotmail.com
> Date: Fri, 5 Oct 2012 12:08:46 +0100
> Subject: Application forms - Life Model
>
> Hi Jessica. The forms are attached here. You would be working at Grade 3 with an hourly rate of 8.41. Do let me know if you have any problems printing these off. They can come back to me via internal mail. See you soon.
>
> Best wishes,
> Sherrey Landles
> Administrator (Art and Design Studies )
> Office of Lifelong Learning
> Paterson's Land
> Holyrood Road
> Edinburgh, EH8 8AQ
> 0131 650 4400
> www.ed.ac.uk/short-courses/art
>
>
>
>
> --
> The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in
> Scotland, with registration number SC005336.
>

Transcript from my interview with Gregory Steckelmacher, Edinburgh College of Art School Representative

Meeting took place on Thursday 4th October in my studio space, on the issues of life drawing at Edinburgh College of Art...

G- the problem as I perceive it, as lots of
others do too, is that although life drawing is included in the design
curriculum…

J- What is it you study?

G- Costume design. 

J- OK

G- It isn’t
included in the art curriculum. And I find that an incredibly big problem
because personally I think you don’t wan to do something that is figurative- if
your interests are more abstract or in sculpture- whatever you like, I think if
you still want to do life drawing, which I think a lot of people do, then they
should have access to it. 

J- ACCESS

G- I mean, at the moment, the access to it is very limited. If there
is no life drawing on your course, then you have to speak to any friend that
you know who has it, and  say “Can
I come along to your lessons?”. And of course that doesn’t always work, because
it might be that those lessons are already full and so forth. And also there is
not a strong facility there. It’s all about who you know and how you happen to
know them.

J- Yes

G- So I have spoken to Christ about it and he seems quite positive

J- What are his thoughts on life drawing?

G- He thinks that there should be ways to get it back.

J- So is it something that we have lost?

G- I am not quite sure how it was

J- Sure

G- I’ll tell you that my impression is, that generally, life drawing
has been taken out art school teaching because it is considered as quite
old-fashioned. Which is something I disagree with.

J- Why?

G- Because I think it trains the eye. But I don’t want to push it as
a mandatory part of the curriculum because then you get the equivalent, but in
reverse, when people say: ‘We don’t want to do life drawing’, and complain and
then it becomes a waste.

J- So it’s about having the option?

G- Yeah, it’s about having the option. What one of the things that
Chris has said, is that he gets asked about life drawing a lot outside of the
university. People will ask why it is not allowed. And he will say that it is
allowed, but only in design. What’s your opinion on it? Do you want life
drawing?

J- Yeah, I’m interesting on life drawing as a space to work but also
to discuss. Whenever I do life drawing, I find it very meditative and I think
that it would be a nice environment where some feels inclined to talk as they
work- I’m always conscious about how quiet the life drawing room is. I am not
sure if that’s an issue regarding the model and making them feel more relaxed,
rather than having people around them talking the whole time. I am interested,
as an experiment, to tie-in my concerns in my contemporary art practice with an
exercise that is so basic and fundamental to art- life drawing. 

G- I’m not sure there’d be much I’d be able to help you there with.

J- Yeah sure. But, am I right in thinking that surely the Fine Art
department has a budget for life models.

G- I have no idea. All I know is that it isn’t on the curriculum.
People that are painting, sculpture, intermedia and photography do not have
life drawing as part of their courses throughout their four years. I may be
wrong, but I am under the understanding that that is the case. My friends in
second year painting and photography have complained because they find it
ridiculous that it’s in design but not in Fine Art. I think the money is there,
it’s just a case of how there is access to it. 

J- The money must be there, it’s not a huge expenditure. 

G- I agree. I think there is a way to do it, its just a way of
finding out the way to do it. And I am going to push for it.

J- And how envisage these classes? Would they be just for the Fine
Art School, or mixed with, say, the design department?

G- As I imagine now, they would be a series of drop-in life drawing
classes held every week.

J- OK

G- It would depend on the demand. Also, finding a tutor and a model
every week for a class that would have 15 drop in places every week, sign up
the week before, or the day before. 

J- I think you may have an issue of numbers early on, but then later
on, you’ll probably even out and you’ll only have about that many people
turning up anyway. I did an exchange in Munich and there was also ways a life
model room and they had various types of life modeling going on every day. All
day, they would have a model in. For example, Monday would be drawing, Tuesday
would be painting, Wednesday would be something else. People could come in as
they pleased. A constant room of modeling that people could go to. Because, it
is a nice starting point for people to go to, if you’re having a tough time
knowing where to start with an idea. 

G- Yeah, exactly. I love life drawing because I just love drawing
the body. J- And it’s so bizarre that it’s so split up into different
departments. It would be nice to have a drop-in situation where any one from
any department could come in and use the facility. 

G- Because also, people outside ECA, in the wider university are
interested too. There is a demand for life drawing.

J- Yeah. So you would have a tutor in there leading the class?

G- I feel I am at the stage where I don’t like so much the tutored
stuff. I love having a tutor there because they can see things that you can’t,
but I also love having a model and drawing a pose for 5 hours- just developing
it how I want. 

J- Yeah

G- The university Art Society organized their own life drawing
classes, and they’re always over-subscribed. I think they have too many in
their tutor classes there. They could probably run two sessions a week and make
more than enough money back. 

J- So you’re talking about starting an initiative where people pay?
Don’t you think it’s something that should be free?

G- No I think it should be something that’s free. Or even a nominal
£1.50 to pay for materials. But as an artist, you would probably have your own
materials anyway.

J- I think there are ways to do it, and I’m going to push for it. I
think the reason why it is not provided, is because our culture has developed
within art teaching that is a bit traditional and elitist and I think there are
people who don’t care about life drawing, that the feel that its not
necessarily. I’m not saying that its right or wrong. If they don’t want to do
it, I would feel equally bad in enforcing them to do it. 