FMP, Ideas in Context and Essay Proposal
An
insight into the theories of arts and interrelationships of perceptions of space
through analysing philosophical responses and compared with my applied art
practise.
Course title: HND in Fine Art Level 5
Assignment Title: Historical and
Contextual Study
Unit Title: Critical Study in Fine Art
Unit No: Unit 6
Student: Chloe Tracey Reynolds
Student Number: U10356664
Assessor: Lee
Paton and John Walkden
The
main for this project is to resolve and assess the visual language of sculpture
and its relationship with space; emphasising topics and concepts of construction,
form and drawing in space. My intentions are to study what defines ‘space’ by
discussing various descriptions and its perceived existence within art,
studying closely such art movements of Constructivism and Minimalism. “Actual
space is intrinsically more powerful and specific than paint on a flat surface”
quoted by Minimalist Donald Judd, 1964 (Graham-Dioxn:
2008, p. 530).
Within the essay, discussions will be made
into the visual techniques used to either satisfy or form the impressions of
space, by critically analysing relevant influences and implications of space or
the void of space. This study will be joined with my practical inquiries and
artwork, recognising my own interpretations of space. Those ideas will be
developed further; either with evidence of support or by discovering alternate
information compared with the contextual investigations.
The
ideologies of space is something I favour personally within my fine art
practices having a particular interest in the contrast between the visual
element and the philosophy. Throughout my studies, it has been repeatedly
examined and influenced my artistic directions, therefore it has become the
perfect subject to evaluate for my essay. My personal awareness of space has
influenced my curiosity to question what exactly defines space and to what
extent can it be truly stated. It is to my current understanding that space is
somewhat abstract, existing within the mind’s eye or an idea that does not have
a physical or real existence. However the word ‘Space’ is in some form a
Homograph; a word spelt the same and yet has different meanings. Still having in
mind that it is abstract, space represents the atmosphere after Earth’s and so is
used as a noun. Is this suggesting it is a specific thing and therefore real? I
will be looking further into these concepts and how the world uses the word
space and explore the different meanings which has impacted our impression of
space.
The importance of a concept
alone has a strong influence over my work, in a previous project
‘Transformation’, I investigated the concept of change in the perspective of
art, and will be continuing to do so within this exploration. As a culmination to that project and towards
the current starting point, I will be developing on from my metaphysical
sculptures and drawings creating the impression of movement through association
of objects. The idea was to use association to an object that relates to motion
and incorporate characteristics or formal elements within the piece to simulate
metaphysical movement within the viewer’s sight, (therefore creating a movement
piece). I approach this to
interpret the meaning of objects by changing the way we see them, through the
methods of deconstructionism. This brought great attention towards the
philosophies of how our minds process information, the same principles and influences
of Constructivism. Reflecting further, the work of art has become illogical, a
contradiction to sculpture. To further aid my investigation of false
impressions and the paradox with art will like be studying constructivist theories closer. This lead a pursuit towards the movement, reflecting on the
many responses and gaining relevant and relating knowledge and movements.
I am now questioning space in more depth due to a quote by
Vladimir Tatlin who is suggested to be the founder of Constructivism. His
achievement was to transform the 2D practises of cubism into 3D forms - a
process I reflected on, exploring ‘Transformation’ and the harmonious elements
between the dimensions. “Real materials in real space” was his quote and response
to developing Pablo Picasso’s work into 3D forms, as well as suggesting his
choice of method to achieve his objective and the direction he wished. (Graham-Dioxn: 2008) The current questions
were/are, what is “real materials”? Or “real space”? (not considering suggestions
of his personal opinions and favouritism towards materials). So what is real space
or space for that matter? The fact he has combined it with the word ‘real’
suggests space is physical or exists however space has been described in many
different forms and differs in context to be able to fully define space. Does
this mean space is considered to be personal to the individual, considering
Tatlin’s definition of it?
It is these ongoing discussions and arguments that I will be
analysing and reflecting upon, to develop my own understanding of space. I hope
to achieve this by combining and comparing philosophical theories with practitioner’s
contextual research, as well as my own exploration of space within my practical
work. It would also be beneficial to compare contrasting opinions to examine
the differences and possible similarities. Not only would it be interesting,
but by discovering these similarities it may suggest the real definition of
space because of the possible connections. To record the practical work and its
reflections, I will be doing a week by week dairy on my blog, evaluating the
success and process of this investigation. I will be looking at its relating subjective
and shared issues in discovering and playing/drawing in space.
My
other intentions are to research further for both/ever the essay and/or
practical work into artists George
Vantongerloo, Cornelia Parker, Robert Morris, Peter Lowe, Rachel Whitereed and
Donald Judd whom are appropriate to the subject of space,
Constructivism and of course sculpture - Investigations will be made for each
artist’s philosophy and creative questioning through sculpture. Further artists including Barbara Hepworth and Anish
Kapoor will offer the opportunity to compare form and interpretation.
I will be closely reflecting upon the works of
Cornelia Parker whom explores the concepts and structure of ordinary objects,
transforming them to the extraordinary.
She has been an influential figure within my
development of my contextual interest, aiding my liking of the use of found objects
and exploring concepts alone rather than just the physical art. I admire
Parker's adroit idea of using already formed objects and deconstructing them in
simple ways as to remove aspects or purpose that formed the object - testing
the physical and spiritual properties of objects. Her work bring understanding
with depth to how we question what we see and how we perceptive it;
contemporary thoughts and well-fitting for this investigation.
Further
deconstruction will be made towards how their influences are visible within
their visual outcomes, as well as evaluating each artist response through the comparison
of works. From current knowledge, all
of these artists have created work appealing not only to the eye but mind, exploiting
form and space to create a sense of awareness within the viewer, captivating on
interaction between them and the work. Such works include Vantongerloo’s
‘Interrelation of Volumes’ (fig.2) within the sculpture it has the appearance that it is made up of blocks fused
together. As you analyse, the sculpture’s composition constantly changes
because of how our mind perceives shape and volume, being certain it is made up
of separate blocks and leading our logical mind to metaphysically break down
the sculpture to work out its structure.
The
majority of the works being analysed will be sculpture, to study how we
perceive art in a 3 Dimensional form for the reason that it speaks the truth to
the viewer. It is logical and a physical entity, it is not an illusion of which
I am questioning ‘space’ has. To outline the actuality of space within the
essay, I will be comparing contradicting information and statements or propositions which may prove to be
factual in supporting the existence of space. An example of this is the basic
principles of 3D forms. 3D forms cannot analytically excite without being defined
within a dimension measured by three –parameters of depth, width and height.
This compound of measurements is commonly known as three-dimensional space were
all known matter exists within. (Waite, M:2010, p. 598)
Accompanying
these ideologies of space existing or not, I will be comparing it to the Cubist
artist Pablo Picasso’s famous quote “Art
is a lie that makes us realise the truth” (Graham-Dioxn:
2008, p. 418). This comparison not only suggests both ends of the
spectrum of true and false but illustrates the combined nature of art, being
both. Art and perhaps space can be a lie and be true, a paradox contradicting
itself. Picasso’s statement decides how art being a lie, serves as a tool for
us to become closer to the truth – having all questions answered within the
context and narrative of the work. Putting his statement into practise,
Picasso’s painting ‘Guernica’ (fig.3.)
It is this very idea that prompted my critical thinking and
directed my investigation towards studying how; and what makes our perspective
of a logical form seem suspicious to question the truth and investigate how
line and space can be the persuasive tool used to influence our minds. To attain
this knowledge, the philosophy of Constructivism
will aid this. Its contextual ethos is based on observation and scientific
studies. The investigation will focus on how people learn, understand and gain
knowledge of the world around them –linking this to Constructivists, exploring
how the mind deconstructs what we see and how we perceive shape, space and
volume (Soomo Publishing:
2011). With the research I have gathered so far, I have the opinion that
the movement centres its theory on ideology, having the opinion that something
is only as real as you imagine it to be.
Questioning these examples of work and philosophies,
there is no denying the essence to the answer of space will not be explored
solely or found simply in a formal element, or through influence within an art
movement, but far more emotively through trying to understand ourselves. Progressing
on from this initial appraisal, I intend to examine how the
theories of space and form have been developed further, and established what additional
elements coexist and function through social and cultural influences such as Public
art. I will also be looking at how I reflect on space and use it to persuade the
viewer towards my work with my exhibitions and within the work itself. This
will be explored further as I prepare for my exhibition alongside and
supporting this essay. Research will be made into the many ways of which artists
and curators of exhibitions use space to inform us of metaphysical pathways,
atmosphere, relationships and even manipulating the viewer into valuing a work the
most significant. With the subject of space simultaneous linking all aspects of
my work together; from my artwork, essay to the exhibition itself. I will be
producing them three as final outcomes and as conclusions to this
investigation. All three discovering and comparing the physicality to the
ideology of space.
To develop further
practically, I will encourage my own way of working using my particular favoured
media of wood, clay and plaster, exploring the phenomenology of sculpture
combined with the ideology of space. With a strong personal interest, the study
will be influenced by both geometric and organic forms as to mature my
knowledge and curiosity towards understanding the bridge between both
differential forms. Progressing on with media, the use of metal and industrial
materials would be of a beneficial development as to encourage links between
the studies of constructionism.
The first steps within my practical and
contextual investigation will be to gather my primary research to gain the
knowledge and understanding through collating a variety of books, online
research including documentaries based on sculpture, techniques and
inter-relating art movements (sharing similar ideas). It would be
correspondingly helpful to explore reliable art focused websites such as MoMA
and Tate as well as blogs of artists to talk and take visual reference from
current/ modern concepts towards sculpture and relating theories - building up
a scale of opinions, to further question peers and tutors. It is also an
intent, to source research from art galleries such as Yorkshire Sculpture Park,
the Whitworth Manchester gallery, which is currently exhibiting works by contemporary
artist Cornelia Parker who I have transformed
ordinary objects into something captivating and extraordinary.
Limitations
A
hindrance to the development process will be the time limit as there are
numerous deadlines to meet, but with careful preparation and good time keeping
skills, an action plan will enable me to accomplish this with reduced stress.
Another possible interferences will be financial constraints which can create
challenges when planning to travel and visit art galleries or my attendance
within their talks. This restraint as a large affect towards the relevant
information being gathered as well as the amount, meaning books and other
resources becoming problematic towards the essay. Resources are also a
significant within my practical work which will reflect on the works and philosophies being
investigated and become catastrophic to the enquiry of space if not explored.
References
Figure 1 - Untitled, 1969, Donald Judd, Copper,
ten units with 22.9 x 101.6 x 78.7 cm each, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New
York
Figure
2 - Interrelation
of volumes, 1919, Georges Vantongerloo, Sandstone, 225 x
137x 137mm, collection of Tate
Figure
3 - Guernica, 1937, Pablo
Picasso, oil on canvas, 350 x 780cm, Museo Nacinonal Centro de Arte Reina
Sofia, Madrid, Spain.
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