Category Archives: Process

#Letter365, Art, Meaning, Process

Sometime stuff just takes time I suppose

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#Letter365 No312 gets posted
No312 goes in the box

Some time I just write the first thing that comes into my head. On the envelope I have written about the possibility of there being nothing inside, but of course with this being conceptual art that nothing would constitute the artwork and would therefore be something. Now as it happens (there is a temptation in me to write out the words from the Mothers’ Fillmore East: June 1972 album “Do You Like My New Car?”…”we’ve all come here for one thing tonight…”) as I said, as it happens there is something inside the envelope today, anyone handling the envelope would be able to feel that. So let’s say you were a travelling rock and roll band called the Vanilla Fudge that there is just packing inside the envelope to make it seem like there is a piece of art in there. Does that make the packing the art for the day? I have always said that any packing to protect the artwork will not be exhibited or count as part of the work unless I have a particular reason to include it (for example it may have a further artwork on it or a celebrity autograph or be a £50 note). So just packaging  shouldn’t count as the artwork and therefore could be said to be nothing. But what if there was, say, a blank piece of paper which in turn had another piece of paper to protect it in transit? In this case the “nothing” would be the absence of marks (or whatever) on the paper and so that piece of paper could be exhibited and counted as the artwork. The big question is, what if the protective piece of paper was identical to the artwork and also had no marks on it. As I would not be able to distinguish between them which would be the artwork? How could that choice be made? Two identical sheets of paper one of which I had designated as the piece that held the “nothing” that would have been the art for the day but which I have no way of proving when the envelope is opened. Now I thought that Schrödinger’s Cat was tough but I think that if I could be arsed I could prove that art is harder than philosophy or quantum physics (or is it quantum mechanics?) Anyway, while it is still sealed are the contents of that envelope art, nothing, “nothing” or all/none of these? Which could lead to a comparison to Zen problems like the falling of trees and so forth. I reckon conceptual art is also probably more complex and/or simpler than Zen and if I could be arsed I could prove that too! You see there are all sorts of variables in what might be in the envelope and really when it comes to the crunch it is just me saying which if any of the contents is art. I can change the rules, lie, cheat, charm, bamboozle or whatever i choose and the bit that is art is just the bit I say is art, though I could be lying about that too. Maybe in all the envelopes that have what appears to be protective packing it is the apparent packing that is the art and the item that appears to be an artwork is just scrap  being used as packing? I wish now I really had put nothing in the envelope/I am so pleased that I really did put nothing in the envelope!

Anyway this took some time, as did the thing/nothing I put in the envelope today. And I didn’t get much else finished today though I have achieved quite a bit really in preparation for my next stint in the studio!

#Letter365, Art, Process

And I am certain I have never done one like this before

#Letter365 No311 gets posted
No311 goes in the box

I know the outside looks pretty much the same each day, but inside …inside I had to cry.  No, no, no I made a mistake, that’s from John Martyn’s “Make No Mistake”! What I meant to say was that inside these similar envelopes there is an original piece of art and I have never done anything based on the idea I produced today.

As you can see I have written no messages on the outside of the envelope again.

#Letter365, Art, Process

I can’t afford comparison except to a standard

#Letter365 No308 gets posted
No308 goes in the post box

I don’t know why I let my brain start comparing pieces qualitatively against each other! Right at the outset I decided that my criteria for inclusion would be that I had to be happy to have the piece on my wall: I would not allow myself to put anything in an envelope in this project which I did not sincerely believe to be of quality. Now it may turn out when they are opened – if they are opened – I may feel differently about them but at the time of sealing them up I need to be happy they pass muster. So there is a qualitative assessment done every day, but whilst I may have been particularly pleased with a piece and even suggested it might be one of the best yet, I never wanted to rank or compare them. So why today do I suddenly, after 10 months, start wondering if today’s is better than yesterday’s? This way madness lies, though with another Beefheart quote on the envelope I’m probably part way there!

#Letter365, Art, Process

It’s odd the way things turn out

#Letter365 No307 goes in the box
No307 goes in the box

I really thought I had made a big mistake with this one! As it progressed it got less and less appealing and closer to appalling. It nearly got binned but I put it to one side and did something else (had some lunch and did a crossword). When I took another look it didn’t seem quite so bad and I decided to at least follow through and complete what I had intended and then reassess it. As I added the final touches it seemed to suddenly be a different piece! It had a glow and an intrigue and I, cynic I am, didn’t trust that reaction. How could I be so dubious one minute then so positive the next?  Time to put it out of sight and get on with something else (a large experimental watercolour). Quite a bit later I felt unbiased enough to reappraise the piece I had done for #Letter365 and I found that it was good. In fact I like it very much and nearly didn’t put it in the envelope to be ignored and probably burnt in a few months time.

#Letter365, Art, Process

Subtle things happen when you find a clear spot

#Letter365 No306 gets posted
No306 goes in the box

I was feeling somewhat stressed today, but decided just to take some time out and go to West Bay to look at the sea and takes some photos and maybe some drawing. It was a peerless day: sunshine and a deep, deep sky almost cloudless.  I was good to spend a couple of hours in a clear spot, focused on just being there.

When I finally got to the studio I found myself a little stressed again. My idea for the day’s piece involved drying time. I confess that I did a few pieces that I would choose the best or the driest from! That shows I was not that convinced I could produce what I wanted in the perceived time available! While waiting for them to dry i had a cup of hot chocolate and found myself in a clear spot, unhurried and relaxed. I started to clear up a few things around the studio and sort some paper into the plan chest. As I did so an idea began to emerge – not specifically for #Letter365 – and a handy few bits of materials happened to get placed together and in minutes I had decided to work it all out and bingo, it fell into place brilliantly. Super subtle and a visual coincidence, unplanned, indicated perfection (well almost!)

So Captain Beefheart is right again!

#Letter365, Art, Process

Well I really wasn’t expecting that!

Shaggy shadow on #Letter365 No291 as it goes in the box
Posting No291, windswept and a bit blurred like me

I have no idea where the idea for today’s piece just popped up from, the thing I had in mind didn’t get a look in – well there is a passing allusion to what was in my head. I just let it have its head and it worked out well. It’s quite an unusual piece for me and the treatment and choice of subject are very different from other works in this genre.

If you can’t see it in the photo there is a quote from Joni Mitchell’s Christmas song on the envelope, “And she loved me so naughty, Made me weak in the knees”. (I changed the sex to suit my preference.)

#Letter365, Art, Process

Vegetables dream of responding to you

#Letter365 No273 goes in the post
No273 gets posted

I’m not sure if there is any evidence that vegetables dream though there is some evidence that plants do respond to human actions and even human thought. I guess that Frank Zappa was probably not advocating any real interaction with vegetables but more likely making pointed comments about acceptance and discrimination:

Standing there shiny and proud by your side
Holding your hand while the neighbors decide
Why is a vegetable something to hide

Well this evening I watched the Imagine documentary about Anselm Kiefer. I’m not sure what to make of him and his work. There is such a vast array that I need more exposure to find my way through it. One thing is certain, I like the way he talks about the interplay of chaos and control. I was also caught by what he said about waiting. How waiting is an important thing that we are not used to doing these days. He talked of how when he has worked on a piece he needs to wait to see how it is and it can turn out to be rubbish when removed from the agitated process of working it and sometimes it’s the reverse and he comes back to a piece he thought was no good to find new connections and that it is good. That’s where this project and #Collage365 are different and difficult. I do not have that extended waiting period. I have to have faith that I get it pretty much right first time.

#Letter365, Art, Process

I fretted for a while but it’s OK now

#Letter365 No271 goes in the box
No271 goes in the box

I have been low and feeling a bit stretched, so when I finally got to the studio I wasn’t brimming with confidence! I aimlessly and half-heartedly poked around at this and that for a while. Nothing popped into my head to even start playing with and for a while I was concerned that this might be that time, that first time, when I couldn’t come up with the goods. I knew that I mustn’t start fretting and if I applied myself – went to work – all would be well. Sure enough things began to fall into place and gradually I found myself gathering elements and ideas and in the end I had a completed piece that I was happy with. I documented it, and the envelope, and popped it in the post box and that is when I started to fret! My lack of confidence swept over me and I went through  a whole negative process that encompassed far more than just tonight’s piece. It is only now having finally seen the images on screen that I feel comfortable that I’ve kept to my contract.

#Letter365, Art, Process

Being in a process makes mistakes easier to handle

#Letter365 No266 goes in the box
No266 goes in the box

It’s not often I completely balls up a piece, but today I did. I remember Mrs Williams, my teacher when I was about seven years old telling me how to make a mistake in a picture into something else. I tried that kind of thing but it just made it even shittier! So admitting defeat and not having an alternative to try the original idea again it was start afresh. Which worked out just fine. Now, I keep coming back to this point, the fact of a continuum, this small-work-every-day process, means that I need not worry or fret over a small amount of lost time. Yes I experienced a short bout of mild irritation, because if it hadn’t been for a failure of materials/equipment pretty much out of my control it was a good idea and I will pursue it again at some point with appropriate adjustments. So I learnt something and then had the joy of creating another piece, a piece which I wasn’t afraid to just add a last element to finish it off. If I had ballsed that up it would have been a shame, but same goes, the next piece would be fine.

#Letter365, Art, Process

Like Schrödinger I probably didn’t think things through properly

#Letter365 No264 get posted at a crime scene
No264 gets caught at the scene of the crime

I had decided to use the headline earlier but events overtook me. I was going to write about the messages on the front of the envelope but, as you can see, I have photographed it upside down. Here it is before posting so you can read it:

Envelope of #Letter365 No264
Envelope of No264

So I was going to talk about all the things that needed to be taken into account in the set up of Schrödinger’s mind experiment. I was reckoning on pointing out flaws that if Schrödinger had heard would have irritated him, you know little nit-picking things like the size of the box and the amount of air in it and would the cat suffocate first and how had he calculated the amount of hydrocyanic acid? But of course my planning went to pot. The first flaw in my planning was that someone parked across the front of our house and blocked my car in. Usually it is just someone nipping to the Post Office and they are back in a few minutes. This person left it for about half an hour and went to their friend’s house. (I won’t recount the full story of her excuses for fear of stirring up my wrath). Then when I got to the studio I got into conversation with my neighbour and out of politeness ignored the alarm on my phone and another neighbour joined us and that led to some other discussion by which time it was time to get a late lunch. It was only when I got to the shop I remembered to look at my phone and discovered I was already 10 minutes late for a meeting with some friends! After that I bumped into someone else I’d not seen for ages and we chatted for a long while and…well, Bridport is a friendly place…by which time the afternoon had disappeared and I only had time to do my #Letter365. Even that I messed up a bit and stamped yesterday’s date on the back (altered and a new stamp added).

Then when I get back home and pop to the Post Office to post the piece I have to step over the police cordon to get to the box (you can see the tape at the top of the photo and you could say they have cordoned off my work!) Sadly the Post Office had been raided. Fortunately, although Andrea and Peter were slightly injured, they are OK and three men have been arrested. Seems like those men may not have thought things through properly either. Clearly I didn’t today, so who am I to nit pick over Schrödinger’s experiment and try to make witty comments about it?

Oh, and nobody noticed my deliberate/not-deliberate mistake yesterday!

Oh, and the piece inside? You’ll have to take my word for it it’s either really good or really bad or both at the same time depending the interpretation – but that’s another story!

Meanwhile. I am actually more interested in the water droplets hanging round the top of the post box:

Rainwater droplets round the post box within the police cordon
Rainwater droplets round the post box within the police cordon