Update on Piece - 30.04.15

The general structure of the drawing is complete and all the made components and shapes are in place. I used a white pencil and talk to contrast the brown of the paper and the dark grey of the pencil. I also felt that this complemented many of the pieces in House Proud, as there is a section containing a lack of colour and is composed generally of white, brown, grey and black. Ideally this piece would be more suited to that area but it will all depend on what happens when I meet with Kate and the group on Monday 05th of May.

I'm happy with it at this stage. It is fulfilling everything that I want it to and is exceeding my own expectations as a piece. Some smaller details need to be added, and I may use pen to enhance the contrast and definition of some structures but overall, I do not need to make any major structural changes to the drawing composition.

Progress on Piece for House Proud - 29.04.15

I have been making great progress in a short space of time on this piece. Yesterday I was able to get most of the grid and framework down to draw in, while today I began constructing the drawing itself, working intuitively and creating a dialogue between the lines and shapes so that while there were no strict rules to follow, there was a subtle system and flow to the fictional shapes.
The next stage for this piece will be to complete the pencil outline of the 'design' and tidy up the lines, making sure that they are both bold and sharp and are both visible but subtle.

LAUNCH OF FACEBOOK EVENT + FEATURES IN PUBLICATIONS

I think this is a fantastic photograph for the cover photo as it says everything about the brand that we want it to: re-inventing the creative potential and function of materials, re-using materials, make-do-and-mend, value, and questioning the sustainability of design.

CLICK HERE FOR FACEBOOK EVENT

The event was also mentioned on two platforms, The Skinny and the Creative Tourist site:

While it gives the credit of the event to the Department of Interactive Arts, which doesn't exist, we turned a blind eye!

Beginning the Piece - 28.04.15

I saved these long sheets of packing paper from an Amazon order I received. A key element of my own practice is using discarded, otherwise disposable and gifted materials to work with and on. As a result of this, I often use the materials as a starting point for a piece of work and use it as a catalyst to form ideas. What drew me to these sheets of paper was their length and dimensions: the resemblance to wallpaper gave me the connection I needed to create a piece of work that stayed true to the original ideas of the workshop and performance piece but would hopefully illustrate the ideas more clearly to an audience.

The first step was to create a grid in which I could work: this ensures that the angles are generally correct and that there is a coherent flow throughout the piece, which can be problematic when working on this scale. The grid gave me the framework to allude to a pattern without it actually being repetitive in any way. It simultaneously gave the drawing limits while also giving it complete freedom to go where it may. In this way, the drawing itself is coherent with my ideas about a piece that is both art and design: organic and yet methodical.

In some ways this has deviated slightly from the initial idea of the workshop: the initial concept was to create drawings that were inspired and informed by flat-pack furniture instructions, and using the instructions themselves to directly guide a drawing. While I have kept the visual language of the flat-pack furniture instructions, I found that the process of drawing organically within a framework supported the idea of 'designed art' or an 'art design' far more than using the instructions to make a drawing.

The dimensions also allude to a piece of wallpaper and subsequently a design, while the free, hand-drawn element of the piece also suggests that it could be a stand alone piece of art in itself. I feel the contradictory nature of this piece echoes the issues that seem to surround art and design as individual practices and areas: they are terms which are linked up until a certain point in creative study and then they are divided and kept separate.

And here we find our link to House Proud: I noted in a previous blog post that Kate Jesson has curated an exhibition that contains examples of art and design in a context that encourages them to be seen as equal, linked and bound. Hopefully, my piece of work in response to this exhibition will only strengthen this idea.

SCULPTURE BUILDING @ INTERACTIVE ARTS STUDIO, THE BOX - 28.04.15

Meeting @ Manchester Art Gallery - 27.04.15

• Feedback about intensive week - what worked and what didn't, what did you enjoy/didn't enjoy and what have you taken away from it to use for the Thursday Late event?
• How to apply that to BROKE - how can what we've learned be applied to the evening and BROKE as a fictional brand.
• Report back about manifesto and writing for hand outs etc - most is up to date, my piece is currently being made and I am in the process of drafting and re-drafting the information for the hand out and the information label that will accompany the work. This includes update on individual contribution - ONLY 5 PEOPLE IN THE GROUP TURNED UP. With two weeks to go until the event, it was not only unprofessional and embarrassing but it made it really difficult to ascertain exactly what stage we were at as a group and what was left to do. We couldn't answer a lot of the questions about workshops and individual pieces which really put a strain on the effectiveness of the meeting.
• Two groups - MANIFESTO, EVENT PLAN AND LAUNCH OF FACEBOOK EVENT - we were unable to carry out these essential tasks as there were not enough members of the group present, which also meant that the Facebook group was not launched as soon as it could have been, effecting the reach of the event among social media audiences.
• Context is everything, find out exactly where BROKE sits in terms of House Proud and Eastern Exchanges and strengthen the links between the event concept and the work.
  
  - we managed to tackle this problem by seeing BROKE as a company in its early stages and is using Manchester Art Gallery as a 'think tank'/creative hub for the night. This way, the workshops are contextualised: this is where were are generating ideas, coming up with designs and really pushing the hands-on, do-it-yourself ethos of the BROKE brand. The members of Unit X would ideally be all wearing white t-shirts with the BROKE logo on the breast, fashioned like a work uniform - it gives the evening more of a theme, a look and a vibe that visitors can latch onto. This also tackles the issue of the manifesto:

"As a result of a collaboration between Manchester School of Art and Manchester Art Gallery (Unit X), the Broke Collective invite you to a Thursday Late takeover in a playful and interactive experiment exploring our perceptions and questioning our consumption of home design. 

The Broke Collective present you it's latest project; an innovative furniture/ homeware company in its early stages, BRÖKE. MAG's current exhibition House Proud will be used as a platform to launch an 'ideas think tank' in which Broke will present, explore and encourage conversation about its developing ethos. 

Broke expect this Thursday Late event to take us through the history of home design, to look at our current attitudes towards home design and explore the future for it.

Expect interactive workshops, artistic interventions, performances, films and plenty more. Drinks will be flowing, the Broke Collective will be out in force and carpet taste will be discussed."

• Stickers have also been sorted for the night by Sam Whitham, and are what we will all be wearing on white t-shirts so that the public can identify who is 'working' for the company.

Eastern Exchanges Tour for the Visually Impaired (with audio description) - 23.04.15

I was not aware of the level that MAG caters to all audiences until I observed how one of these tours operated. Additionally this can be seen in the number of different activities and learning engagements that MAG make available to the public. It was upon being made aware of all these different activities that I truly saw MAG as a cultural hub for Manchester.
Listening to the audio description enriched my own experience of the exhibition, having already been on a tour of Eastern Exchanges on Monday. As a form of engagement, this could also be something that those who are not visually impaired might enjoy. It was such a valuable experience, and I was amazed at the number of people who attended.

Art Bites with Informal Conversation with Meg Parnell and Queen's Park Visit - 22.04.15

The Art Bites are a half an hour conversation and discussion about two pieces of art from the permanent collection at Manchester Art Gallery. It was interesting to sit in and experiences the Art Bites, as it gives a real insight into how MAG approach learning and engagement for the public, and this is a really good example of this and why it is important.
The length of the discussion is perfect - 15 minutes on each painting is just enough to have an extended discussion without losing the interest of the public. By looking at art with that level of observation is a skill that can be taken outside of the gallery. Increased perception and awareness of the world around us is a useful skills and can enrich all experiences. It's interesting to see how greatly opinions differ, and how they often do not match the intention of the artist, and that this is completely fine - there is no right or wrong answer. Sometimes, those leading the Art Bites will not research the paintings they want to discuss with everyone prior to the conversation and so have no preconceptions about the pieces.
I thoroughly enjoyed Art Bites and it's something that I would consider going to again. It's a lovely break on a Wednesday afternoon!

The Queen's Park visit was incredible. You are made very much aware of the science that's involved in the restoration of paintings, and that the life and condition of a painting is totally dependent on whether it is to be included in a show: if it is desperate need of restoration, this process will only be carried out if it is to be show. Otherwise, it remains in that condition. You really have to admire the craftsmanship and patience of those working behind the scenes this way. Restoration of work is something I would love to do myself, but I was not previously aware of just how difficult it is and the amount of pressure they are under to do things correctly and on time.

FINALISING WORKSHOP/PERFORMANCE IDEAS: PART 5 - A New Direction 21.04.15

After a meeting on 21.04.15 with other members of staff at Manchester Art Gallery and pitching current aspects of my idea to them, it came to my attention that it would not function well as a workshop, and there are already a number of different workshops occurring on the night, and was not necessary for there to be a performative element to the work. I couldn't justify the purpose of it to myself and would have then not known how to justify it to other people. And so:

The direction of the workshop/performance has changed. I now aim to make a piece of work still embodying all of these key elements that could be installed in the House Proud exhibition as an intervention and response to it. Not only would this add context to the piece, it would allow people to more easily make connections between this piece of work and those around it, both art and design.

This tackles both problems of the number of workshops running on the night and the practical issues of it being a workshop or performance.

During the meeting itself, we discussed further practical matters of the night that needed addressing and a fuller briefing on what different workshop and engagement event entailed. Rough notes from meeting:

"Relationship between ambition and reality," 'labour exchange,' Ikea is selling you a lifestyle by which you feel you can define and summarise yourself and who you want to be or think you are - coffee table books.

Taste - try to avoid taste in a gallery, objectivity and subjectivity is a massive issue and one which Eastern Exchanges has already dealt with in some ways.

What is that one object from Ikea that everyone seems to have and summarises a generation, era or a class etc? Public's lowest denominator, taste and the way we define taste.

Dutch still lifes are always about death and decay but include objects that say things about us - Diane's engagement/tour deals with what objects say about us, how they are household props for our lives.

Need to write three sentences or 50-100 words about what you're doing, where and why, so this will be for the piece I intend to make in response to House Proud. CONNECTIONS, very important, always link it back somehow, never lose sight of what you are trying to say and what your workshop/work/engagement is trying to say.

Thursday Late Meeting with Age Friendly Group and Tour of House Proud with Kate Jesson - 20.04.15

During the tour I noted a number of points that Kate Jesson focused on in the curation of House Proud:

• Art and Desing - examples of both and exhibiting them with each other. Art was placed next to design and they complemented one another, often containing similar subjects or dealing with similar themes.
• Many of those features in the exhibition are great artists but are relatively unheard of - there are also a number of women featured in House Proud.
• All the pieces in the gallery say something about the time, have a significance or provided a window into what life was like from the 1930s to now.
• Taste is tricky - subjectivity and objectivity.
• Items of different value were included - some massed produced and some one of a kind.
• The flow of House Proud was completely flawless. There was not one thing that could have been added or taken away. The eye flows seamlessly around the room, as one piece connected to the next.
• I wasn't able to place the date of some of the examples of design, testament to how fashions come and go and that many vintage designs and prints are being revamped and loved by people today.
• Many of the pieces crossed the bridge between art and design - stools that didn't look like stools, giant desk lamps, tables and chairs that look impossible - things that have a function, however questionable, but also have a concept behind them. Their sole purpose is not only to function as something.

 

Notes from meeting:

Raise some issues and set questions to ask them about their experiences organising a Thursday Late event. How have they found things in the past, things we don't know will work etc.

• Health and safety issues, including for the workshops and sculptures that want to be put in.
• What are visitors like in workshops? How many generally take part? What kinds of people take part?
• What is their experience of using the spaces? How have they previously used the spaces, what has worked and what hasn't?
• How do they see the event? Is it a social engagement or an art piece, or does it depend on the night?
• Have they worked with sound previously and if so how have they found that?
• Engagement techniques that they have used.
• How well attended were the talks that were put on, how successful are they?
• How to welcome people into the gallery who aren't aware of the event that's taking place.

Their responses to the questions was more of a discussion and a dialogue between our groups:

Do something to keep people moving around the gallery or they will tend to gather in one space - the arrows we plan to put down might combat this, create a flow within the gallery space. Keep referring to the work on the walls, make it the centre of everything and keep grounding the night with its concepts and what it's trying to achieve. Before anything else, the public generally want to locate themselves, so look around the spaces first, get a drink, meet friends and chat, and then they will find the confidence to circulate the gallery and take part in the workshops - so very important to get the welcome spot on, make them feel comfortable and give them all the information that they need. Consider feedback, how you would like to receive that? Thought board, post it notes, write on the back of handouts for example.

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                                       - use these hashtags to tweet with!

#BROKE

Re-cap of events: issues, regarding number of events in the gallery, presentations that might be happening and where, need to confirm those, and clearer info on the workshops, performances and engagements. Need to think about information in the handout.

Internal deadline (set by the group) for work and solid ideas - MAY 1ST

Tour of Eastern Exchanges with Janet Boston - 20.04.2015

The show is divided into three sections:

• Distinctively Easter
• East Meets West
• Future East

The first section deals with traditional examples of East Asian design and what makes the designs so distinctive. A great deal of silk, jade and porcelain is used, and this section provides and introduction to the crafts.

This section also includes some very rare pieces from Korea. Craft from this part of East Asia is not very well presented, despite being so influential in their techniques. They never traded with the west and so traditional examples of Korean craft are extremely hard to come by. They saw the way that Chinese and Japanese culture had been diluted by the contact and trade with the west. They were particularly influential to Japan, and are actually older as a civilisation and producer of crafts and design using particular techniques. The oldest is China, then Korea and then Japan, yet Korea often gets forgotten about.
Lacquer, a process particular to Japan is often called Japan in the same way that porcelain is called China. It was in China that the process of inlaying metals for designs and using different grades of gold powder was first used.
There is a high level of skill in Asian crafts, some being in families for generations as it is past down from one family member to the other. One would focus intensely on one craft for the whole of their lives and become extremely skilled in it, as opposed to being relatively skilled in a number of different crafts. In Japan, some crafts go back sixteen generations in a family. It is because of this that creativity and innovation was not encouraged and copying was: it was a tradition to be in awe of previous generations and so copying was seen as a positive thing.
The second section deals with how east has met west in design: there are many examples of western attempts to copy eastern design, many of which have been placed alongside traditional objects, which makes it interesting to try and decipher which object is authentically eastern. There are a number of contemporary pieces of design in this section, such as a stool made out of bamboo, a sustainable material, that won a prestigious design award and a conceptual chair composed of different chair designs and upholstery, as a comment on how cultures steal from one another.
The third section contains only contemporary pieces by innovative designers from the East. Their use of glass is especially interesting, as it has not been a material that they have used historically and so have a completely different approach to its properties and how to use them in art and design.

FINALISING WORKSHOP/PERFORMANCE IDEAS: PART 4 - Rules, Conditions, Guidelines, Framework, Structure

In order for this piece/performance/workshop to work, there must be certain rules, conditions and limitations within which to work. Additionally, these rules must be exact and vague simultaneously, in order for the workshop to work (everyone gets different results), should the workshop go ahead. The following rules are some initial ideas that can be applied to nearly all instruction sheets:

• If there are number or letter sequences, follow them.
• Directions of arrows must be taken literally.
• If the amounts of pieces or objects are provided, you must draw the correct number of pieces/objects.
• You must work in a linear format.
• Where possible, abide by measurements.
• The paper may be manipulated.
• A symbolic key may be used.
• Drawing to a correct scale or angle is not a requirement.
• Work organically, respond naturally.
• There should be a narrative and conversation between every mark you make.

FINALISING WORKSHOP/PERFORMANCE IDEAS: PART 3 - First Response Drawings to Images and References

To make these initial drawings, I selected elements of the images of diagrams and instructions that I have collected and worked in a methodical way. In these initial drawings I wanted to play around with angles, perspective, depth and quality of line, often putting objects and structures together in paradoxical ways, almost like 'non-design'.

               I tried to really think about what I wanted from these drawings and what I wanted them to say. I believe it is crucial for this performance/workshop that I build up a language, a vocabulary that is in tune with all the other components of the drawing, obeying and disobeying the same rules. What the rules are at this time I'm not sure, but ideally I would like to build a framework of fundamental rules and conditions within which I could follow, respond to a play around with visual and written instructions for building furniture, home appliances etc.

FINALISING WORKSHOP/PERFORMANCE IDEAS: PART 2 - Images, References, Instructions and Diagrams

FINALISING WORKSHOP/PERFORMANCE IDEAS: PART 1

Based on input from the group and tutors, it may be that the initial idea of running a workshop around ideas of designing drawing, and finding what bridges the gap between art and design through drawing, it may be that this concept would be better suited to a performance piece. I realised that the workshop might have been quite intimidating for members of the public as it requires good problem solving skills and a confidence in drawing and mark making. While I will cater to those that wish to participate in the performance so that a workshop may ensue, both I and Dave Griffiths agreed in my tutorial that these concepts would be better understood through showing, presenting and translating as opposed to doing.
                In many respects, a performance lends itself more efficiently to the concept than a workshop, but I do have a few concerns regarding doing a practical, drawing-based performance on the night:

• It may make the public feel very uninvolved with the work and that it has nothing to do with them, or that it in some ways may be above them.
• It is an event on the night that takes more than it gives back. Is it a selfish piece of work?
• Is it enough for the audience to simply observe the performance as a means of engaging with the concept?
• It might be more relevant to produce the work beforehand and show it as a collection of works on the night, along with the instructions and rules. By producing the work there, what effect does this have? Is there any need for it to be a performance? What does the performative element of the work add, if anything?
• Where might this work be situated? Floor or wall? Freestanding?
• Which part of the exhibition does it chime with? Is there one? Is there any way of adapting the content of the instructions so that they correlate with some of the pieces in the exhibitions?

I will consider all these issues over Easter and consult the group on the 20th of April to see what they think and if they have any suggestions or criticisms. I will also collect materials that I may need in the meantime, such as different papers, wire, tape, pencils, pens and markers etc.