Appropriation can involve taking another artist’s work and assimilating it into your own work or changing the context to give it a new perspective. This reminded me of a section of meme culture called medieval reactions where renaissance paintings have been given captions to change the piece’s context. This type of meme often juxtaposes the medieval characters with modern place settings, like a nightclub. For this task I photographed  a sketch from Picasso and re-captioned it. I altered his picture twice by cropping it and giving it a caption which changed the context, therefore I’m not presenting Picasso’s sketch as my own even though it was clearly his drawing. The original context for this sketch is that it was a preparatory sketch for the piece, Guernica, representing the grief of the Guernica bombing during the Spanish Civil War. By changing the tone from grief, to light hearted drama, I don’t seek to undermine the seriousness of the Spanish Civil War, only to highlight how strange the sketch looks out of context. Many of these memes contain features to show it’s social media influence, like having captions in the format of twitter or snapchat. To make it clear that it is not my sketch I took the photo on snapchat and wrote the dialogue  with the characteristic grey bar and white text of the app. 

Bibliography

FREEMAN, J. (1994) Picasso and the weeping women. Los Angeles, Calif: Rizzoli.

Steinberg, L. From other Criteria. Pg. 948-953

Leo Steinberg in the 1970s observes how a concept, that works represent a worldspace and operates on a vertical plane to correspond with a standing human posture, survived many art movements like abstract expressionism and Cubism since the Renaissance. A change was seen with Robert Rauchenberg and Dubuffet in the 1950s. Steinberg wrote that “we can still hang their pictures – just as we tack up maps and architectural plans, or nail a horseshoe to the wall for good luck. Yet these pictures no longer simulate vertical fields, but opaque flatbed horizontals.” Steinberg (1972, p.949). The horizontal represents table tops , charts, bulletin boards where information is stored and received therefore, these works are about thought processes rather than depicting something the artists have seen.

Serra, R. From the Yale Lecture. Pg. 1124-1127

Serra compares his site specific sculptures in the 1970s and 80s to artists of the Modern era like Picasso, Gonzalez, Smith, Calder. He criticises their tendency to make pictorial marks with the material and their lack of understanding of how steel needed to be engineered and constructed. Therefore, Serra relied on steam mills and workers from the industrial sector to build his site specific works. Conceptually Serra would have the site and piece operating on two different languages with the piece criticising the site. This is different to Modernist works which were generally autonomous with the environment. However, he recognises the contextual issues of site specific works as those built in the context of religious, governmental, corporate or educational institutions can be seen as validating the values of these institutes.

Both texts convey how art movements are continuously moving forward, however Serra seems more critical about the modernist artists who came before him. This could be because he is making direct comparisons with his own work so the comparison is more personal and he may want to justify his choices by explaining what those who came before him were lacking. On the other hand Steinberg is detached from the situation as he is talking about other artist’s pieces so he has a more objective view of how artists respond and oppose the art that precedes them in order to move forward. 

Bibliography

My proposed practice is an evolved form of land art exploring the forces of erosion. Land artists like Andy Goldsworthy investigate the ever changing natural world, but I want to examine how erosion is constantly altering the landscape by rolling out clay over a coastal rock. By pressing the clay into the rock it would make a relief of the holes and marks that the waves have made. In time the waves will batter the clay, showing the strength of erosion. I’m confident the clay would show the forces of the waves quickly, because it’s a lot softer than most coastal rocks and I wouldn’t run the risks of the material drying out as it would be getting soaked by the sea. During its time on the rock it may also record footprints from crabs seagulls and people clambering over it to go rock pooling which would capture another method of erosion and give the clay piece a wider variety of marks. Once its reached a decent level of erosion the clay would have to be peeled off carefully then dried and fired. This would make this practice different to land art, because where products of land art are allowed to disintegrate, the products of my practice would preserve the effects of erosion.

Whilst visiting the exhibition ‘Picasso on paper’ at the Compton Verney I saw a lithograph ‘Paloma et Claude’ that depicts two of his children by Françoise Gilot. The lithograph is unusual as he applied the ink using his fingertips and diluted it with saliva. The piece is divided into two (one half for each child), which could communicate how his attention was divided and that he struggled to focus on either one. Claude’s half is much more built up than Paloma’s and given more of the finger marks, possibly indicating that at this time he was thinking more about Claude. The fact that the marks are made of Picasso’s fingerprints makes the piece personal and shows an acknowledgement that these are his children and that his DNA that is shown in his fingerprint is also visible in his children. If this is the case then Paloma having fewer marks could be Picasso communicating that she takes more after her mother and that he can see more of himself in Claude.

In November 2016 I visited Compton Verney and their exhibition on Picasso’s prints – Picasso on paper. The exhibition contained over 70 prints that Picasso produced between the 1920s and 1960s, accompanied by some of his written poetry. The exhibition showed a timeline of his experiences printing. The interesting aspect of this timeline is that every time he chose to learn a new printing technique it would coincide with a new love interest. By learning from master printmakers he became proficient in etching, lithography, aquatint and lino printing, however he often broken the rules to gain new successful prints. This is especially the case with a reductive lino print  where he presented the plate as a piece of art. The exhibition space took a chronological flow, starting at his earlier prints and observing how his techniques and style developed as you walked through the exhibition. The prints shown depicted a variety of subjects- his love interests, his children and many scenes of bullfighting. In a series of prints shown of love Jacqueline, each print included less visual information and became more abstract until only the basics of her features remained; her curly hair, large eyes, choker and a mole.

In 1939 Richard Serra expressed the importance of site-specific work not becoming or being seen as a token, decoration or reinforcement of the institution it is situated in. He also explains that at the time because large scale, site- specific sculptures were hardly ever considered a ‘worthy investment’, as they would be difficult to re-sell, many artists became willing to accept corporate sponsorship and support as it created economic opportunism. However, he further expresses that these artists just become ‘puppet creators’ and their art just becomes a ‘public service’ and that this is wrong,  that the “aspiration of art cannot be to serve”.

Richard Serra explains that his use of industrial tools and methods and making site specific works allowed him to work out of the ‘traditional’ studio. He was able to “extend their tool potential”, using the tools in a different way, making them what they’re not, giving them a new meaning, purpose and view. “To be able to enter into a steel mill, a shipyard, a thermal plant and extend both their work and my needs is a way of becoming an active producer…- not a manipulator or consumer” Serra explains he steers from tradition, doesn’t stick to the classical ‘rules’ and doesn’t copy other artists typical ways of practice. He doesn’t just take to make, he gives the tools and methods a new definition and purpose.

This diversion from tradition is relatable to Leo Steinberg’s theory of the introduction of ‘The Flatbed Picture Plane’,- how in the early 1950’s art no longer depended on a “head-to-toe correspondence with human posture” like the earlier ‘Old Masters’ had stuck to. This new display of art steered away from tradition, like Richard Serra.

Steinberg illustrates that “The flatbed picture plane makes its symbolic allusion to hard surfaces such as tabletops, studio floors, charts, bulletin boards—any receptor surface (…)- on which information may be received.” and that “The printed surface is no longer the analogue of a visual experience of nature but of operational processes”. Similarly, Serra points out that “The fact that the technological processes is revealed depersonalizes and demythologizes the idealization of the sculptors craft”.  Both Serra and Steinberg share the same idea that this art is presenting only pure information, and emphasises the importance of the process in art, making the audience realise that the process itself can become the context of the art.

The shift in approach of printing methods such as the Flatbed Press, used by artists such as Rauschenberg, influenced their treatment of the pictorial plane by the no longer need to stick to the traditional ‘head-to-toe correspondence’ and to no longer “create the conception of the picture as representing a world”. For example, Rauschenberg’s works are mainly collages of printed pictures or prints and random streaks of paint, with no depth, they are just images, just information. There is no connection to a relatable world. This shift of the canvas emphasises this idea of the art not being relatable to the body or anything else- “no longer the analogue of a world perceived from an upright position but a matrix of information conveniently placed in an upright position”. A different experience is created through the information being received coherently or in confusion, but however, this range of perception is what makes this shift in approach used by artists so much more interesting- how the work can be read so differently but at the same time cannot and should not be constructed into something else. This opinion is also shared by Richard Serra, how his sculptures should not become a token of the institution, it should be its own piece, and not relatable or recognisable in an outside world.

Harrison, C. and Wood, P., 2003. Art in theory, 1900-1990. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub., p.948

Harrison, C. and Wood, P., 2003. Art in theory, 1900-1990. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub., p.1124

Task 6: Inventing a New Mode of Practice

Rembrandt’s painting in romantic solitude is largely what people thought what ‘fine art’ was when discussed. This was until modern and contemporary art hit the scene. When deliberating this with friends, we agreed that even our parents in their forties and fifties hold this traditional viewpoint regarding fine art being painting, life drawing, and for those feeling bold, sculpture. However, seeing an example like Francis Bacon’s studio in 1974, it made me think how common nowadays it is for contemporary artists to be working in this arguably chaotic, unordered way.

I looked inwards to the way in which I work. I feel thinking up a whole ‘new mode of practice’ doesn’t have to be done. No two people work in the exact same way; thus, I have already invented a new method over time. Firstly, I find a topic that enthuses me, normally a conceptual stand captured in a painting. Next, I read about the artist and why they may have been provoked to create work on their particular subject of interest. From this reading, I single out something; this may be a stylistic feature, or a conceptual argument that’s particularly touched me. As an example from this academic year, I read Michael Craig-Martin’s book ‘On Being An Artist’ and selected the quotation ‘our job was to create whatever it was that would come next’. I linked this to his acrylic paintings ‘Knower’ and ‘Learner’. I took photographs of what was in front of me, the first take being the chosen shot, because a shot from that present moment is the most contemporary what’s ‘up next’ angle I could find. Mimicking the ‘Knower/Learner’ contrast I took two shots; the first a vase of dead flowers, a bottle of wine to the right. The second is a vase of live flowers accompanied with a bottle of Evian. Simply from my ‘mode of practice’, I’ve been able to produce a body of work successfully.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?biw=1269&bih=640&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=BX8cWpK2Hcb1aI_BqNAI&q=fransic+bacon+stdio&oq=fransic+bacon+stdio&gs_l=psy-ab.3..0i13k1l5j0i13i30k1j0i8i13i30k1.61607.71495.0.71643.23.20.2.1.2.0.119.1205.16j2.18.0….0…1c.1.64.psy-ab..2.19.1170…0j0i67k1j0i10k1j0i13i5i30k1.0.d_uca-ASfmw#imgrc=13YQXVbH5_V3GM:

https://www.google.co.uk/search?biw=1269&bih=640&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=9n4cWrr9MIrNaM6gptgI&q=rembrandt+artist+in+his+studio&oq=rembrandt+artist+in+his+studio%5C&gs_l=psy-ab.1.0.0i30k1.7787.11168.0.12827.8.8.0.0.0.0.407.751.2j2j4-1.5.0….0…1c.1.64.psy-ab..3.5.750…0j0i67k1.0.p5H91bJ2CQE#imgrc=idqgQmEFt0r-1M:

I have been creating compositions of photographs and printing them to a small scale – A4 and A3. The photographs detail areas of interest that I have found from walking around different locations. I would like to experiment with printing them to larger scales or creating compositions that can fill walls, be printed on three-dimensional objects etc. as this would completely change the feel of the pieces.

If I were to print the image above to a large scale, it may make the enlarged textures seem even more abstract and add to the mystery of the areas of everyday life that are often overlooked. Greater detail and textures could be seen, and the blues and reds could seem more striking. I feel as though a larger-scale piece would seem more impressive. If several of these images are enlarged to fit walls and 3D objects, they can act more as an installation piece. The bright colours and interesting textures can be very pleasing to the eye, and the shapes in the images would lend themselves well to three-dimensional recreations, e.g. large-scale blue plastic netting. This would bring the textures to life and make the installation area aesthetically pleasing and calming to the viewers.

I had taken a photo of my old a5 water colour painting of a couple with an expressionist style back round part inspired by Vincent Van Gogh made it into a bigger piece of work by photocopying it in different filters and placing them as a collection of scenes but with different atmospheres making it feel like time is passing. The progression of higher contrast in each copy fades out the lighter colours in the back round and eventually the colours have faded and slowly transitions into a black and white scene. This is meant to represent time going by between two people and how they will “feel it again and again” as written in each copy the feeling they have from the very first scene. The colourful beginning represent youthful optimism for a timeless scene but then the colours suddenly disappear as time goes by marking the ageing couple. So i had took a small timeless picture perfect painting of a couple and subjected the image into processes of filters that would take on the role of time passing by for time is a process that cant be stopped. It becomes a bigger concept as a whole.

What i would of done if i could to properly integrate the painting into my idea of time going by is to perhaps made the silhouettes shape seem like they are ageing giving it a more convincing look but perhaps the fact that the shape always stays the same stays true to its original context as a picture perfect water colour painting of relationships.

The Shore
Luc Tuymans
Oil on canvas (2014)

Luc Yuymans’ work first grasped my attention with its impressive, impactful scale, the painting being 1942 x 3573 mm. It would not have been a piece I’d have been exposed to if I hadn’t visited the gallery in person, so in that sense, the trip was invaluable. The Shore is held at Tate Modern, and was presented by the artist in 2015.

Within the painting, it seems the visual capacity is impaired for the onlooker, who perhaps are sailors in a boat. However, having read the paintings notes beside it, it’s revealed that the indistinctness masks what cruelties occurring in the scene. The painting was influenced by a scene in the film ‘A Twist Of Sand’ by Don Chaffey, (based on the novel by Geoffrey Jenkins) whereby civilians pleading to be saved from a beach were shot down a few moments after their calls. With the figures being the source of luminosity in the piece, visually the piece resonates with the idea of ‘seeing the light’ before death. Hung on a white wall in the gallery, it draws more emphasis to the contrast of the black and white tones.

                                                                          Atropos 1823

Witches Sabbath 1798

Francisco de Goya’s ‘Black Paintings’ can be seen to contain many similarities with The Shore. Landscapes of clustered figures, with muted tones are some of the visual similarities between the two artists’ work. A somber, yet chaotic setting is portrayed, aesthetically easy on the eye due to the symmetry of the works. However, the three paintings displayed here make the audience uneasy due to their ruinous content. Having been taken from a scene from a film, ‘The Shore’s’ blurry painting technique softens the happenings of the piece. The easy-blend nature of gradual black and white tones assist this alleviation.

The Shore 2014

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2015/jan/28/luc-tuymans-the-shore-cannibal-killers-exhibitions

https://www.quora.com/Why-did-Francisco-Goya-produce-the-Black-Paintings