So... should this be a blog?
It also has some interesting thoughts about the process of art making. I think this is particularly interesting in terms of discussing a methodology of practice – of academicalising (I'm sure that's a word...) and rationalising artistic practice. This is something that happens within the PhD, but in many ways can be problematic. Kentridge's comment below is a good indication of the problematic:
1. Taylor, J. 2008. The Eye of the Beholder. In (Repeat) from the Beginning/Da Capo, (exhibition catalogue) ed. W. Kentridge. Edizioni Charta: Milan, p.93.
2. Pasini, F. 2008. The Fragility of Coherence. In (Repeat) from the Beginning/Da Capo, (exhibition catalogue) ed. W. Kentridge. Edizioni Charta: Milan, p.55.
3. Kentridge, W. 2008. Some Notes on (Repeat) From the Beginning/Da capo. In (Repeat) from the Beginning/Da Capo, (exhibition catalogue) ed. W. Kentridge. Edizioni Charta: Milan, p.17.
4. Vettese, A. 2008. Notes on the Film Projected onto the Safety Curtain of the Teatro La Fenice. In (Repeat) from the Beginning/Da Capo, (exhibition catalogue) ed. W. Kentridge. Edizioni Charta: Milan, p.37.
Perhaps it would be more correct to title this “Should I be making a blog?” (Do you 'make' a blog?)
This is self-evidently an exercise in procrastination, though I am attempting to justify it in various ways – getting ideas out there, practising writing, keeping what happens in a PhD at least somehow relevant (and understandable) to the real world, etc, etc. Anyway, we'll see how it goes...
So, at the commencement of a PhD... and just starting to do some reading on the artists that seem pivotal (at this point) to my project. Getting towards the end of one (more correctly: the first) book, and I am already thinking about the seeming impossibility of turning several years worth of reading, art making and idea-absorption into something coherent, interesting, and useful to my practice.
Some interesting quotes and ideas came out of this text today. It is a catalogue that I found in Hong Kong for an exhibition/project from William Kentridge that was held in Spain. The essays describe the work in detail but also bring up some particularly interesting concepts to do with perception and meaning between artist and viewer.
So, at the commencement of a PhD... and just starting to do some reading on the artists that seem pivotal (at this point) to my project. Getting towards the end of one (more correctly: the first) book, and I am already thinking about the seeming impossibility of turning several years worth of reading, art making and idea-absorption into something coherent, interesting, and useful to my practice.
Some interesting quotes and ideas came out of this text today. It is a catalogue that I found in Hong Kong for an exhibition/project from William Kentridge that was held in Spain. The essays describe the work in detail but also bring up some particularly interesting concepts to do with perception and meaning between artist and viewer.
It is the viewer who transfers significance to the world: meaning is not 'there.' Rather, it is an effect of the observer. It is an act of Will.1
Translating everyday fragmentation into coherent actions is the challenge faced by both individual and collective existence, and it is up to art to make clear the interaction between diffused/fragmentary perception and the birth of form. It is then that a third space between the artists and the spectator opens up – that provided by the work itself – in which each of us may come to terms with his own thoughts and feelings.2
It also has some interesting thoughts about the process of art making. I think this is particularly interesting in terms of discussing a methodology of practice – of academicalising (I'm sure that's a word...) and rationalising artistic practice. This is something that happens within the PhD, but in many ways can be problematic. Kentridge's comment below is a good indication of the problematic:
...some things, which have very clear starting points, go astray on their journey and are lost or at least their end is forgotten. And in reverse, some completed projects seem separated from their origins, there is a gap between the projection of them as idea before the work starts, and their existence in the world once they are begun.3- William Kentridge
Art that feeds off a niche and which is noticed only out of the corner of the eye, unlike that designed for a vaster audience, may provide both that eye and history as a whole with a light yet cutting comment.4
2. Pasini, F. 2008. The Fragility of Coherence. In (Repeat) from the Beginning/Da Capo, (exhibition catalogue) ed. W. Kentridge. Edizioni Charta: Milan, p.55.
3. Kentridge, W. 2008. Some Notes on (Repeat) From the Beginning/Da capo. In (Repeat) from the Beginning/Da Capo, (exhibition catalogue) ed. W. Kentridge. Edizioni Charta: Milan, p.17.
4. Vettese, A. 2008. Notes on the Film Projected onto the Safety Curtain of the Teatro La Fenice. In (Repeat) from the Beginning/Da Capo, (exhibition catalogue) ed. W. Kentridge. Edizioni Charta: Milan, p.37.