This blog-writing reflects the learning outcomes for the course unit in preparation for the upcoming Assessment. I realise the imporantance of being alligned with the learning outcomes, but also think this writing can reflect on strenghts and weakeness in areas such as personal and thematic depth, the critical engagement and future planning.
I know this is much longer than what the notes ask of me, but as my tutor commented in the last tutorial notes, so much thinking has happened since the exhibition. (Do reflect again on all that happened in a few weeks when some more distance has passed, and you can gain a better perspective. You may find new things to consider, and parts that seem daunting or challenging may be less so. Make notes to inform your next show.)
Demonstrating Comprehensive Knowledge of Historical and Contemporary Approaches to Making and Presenting Fine Art
In reflecting on my tutor’s feedback, I recognise the importance of expanding the contextual framework of my practice while deepening my engagement with historical influences and contemporary dialogues. My work has evolved through an intensive exploration of wire’s material and conceptual properties, shaped by artists such as Ruth Asawa and Anna Hepler. Asawa’s e-loop technique inspired my process, particularly her ability to blur the boundaries between craft and fine art. Similarly, Hepler’s large-scale, ephemeral wire forms influenced my scale, transparency, and interaction considerations.
However, I see areas for improvement. While my engagement with historical and contemporary practices has been meaningful, I am not sure if I articulated clearly how these influences directly inform my artistic decisions. I therefore decided to write with a focus on comparisons between works I researched and my own or exploring other practitioners working with nests, grief, or notions of dwelling. I had the opportunity to revisit some of my blogs and make appropriate choices for the assessment.
Moving forward, I aim to delve deeper into the theoretical dimensions of my practice, particularly regarding space, place, and the relationship between nature and care. Gaston Bachelard’s The Poetics of Space offers a potential lens to explore nests’ symbolic and philosophical significance as intimate and reflective spaces. Furthermore, revisiting Michel Foucault’s ideas on heterotopias deepened my understanding of the dualities present in my work: protection versus restriction and connection versus isolation.
Producing an Ambitious and Focused Body of Work
Over this course, I have developed a substantial body of work, including at least 20+ wire sculptures. My nest-making process has grown in scale and complexity, reflecting my exploration of grief, resilience, and interconnectedness. The barn on my farm provided a rich site for the exhibition, with its weathered textures and history reinforcing my themes. Lighting and arrangement were central to the exhibition’s success, allowing the shadows and forms to create dynamic, layered narratives.
However, I recognise a need for greater experimentation with space and scale. While the barn was an effective site for this exhibition, I must consider how my work could adapt to and challenge other settings, such as the white cube gallery or outdoor installations. Testing my work in different environments would expand its contextual possibilities and refine its adaptability. Additionally, I must explore more robust technical solutions for suspending heavier works, ensuring safety and visual impact.
Understanding the Professional Context of My Practice
I have actively sought opportunities to connect with the art community, exhibiting locally and engaging with professional artists, curators, and collectives. My involvement with the OCA EU group and the newly formed Aware Art Collective has provided invaluable networks for feedback and collaboration. This collective is particularly promising as it fosters a care and mutual learning relationship, allowing us to navigate our practices’ creative and commercial aspects.
To refine this aspect of my practice, I need to establish more formal strategies for engaging with the professional art world. This includes submitting my work to juried exhibitions, exploring residencies, and developing a cohesive portfolio tailored to different opportunities. Additionally, my social media presence needs a more focused approach, with consistent documentation and storytelling that highlights my work’s narrative and technical aspects. I realise that I must present myself as an artist, in many ways I ‘hid’ behind being a student and used the blog to share my development during the studies.
Presenting Work to a Professional Standard
The decision to exhibit in the barn rather than a traditional gallery space was intentional, aligning with Brian O’Doherty’s critique of the white cube as a “placeless” space. The barn’s textures, hay-strewn floor, and natural light reinforced my work’s care, resilience, and interconnectedness themes. This site-specific approach created an immersive experience, allowing viewers to engage with the work on a tactile and emotional level.
Looking ahead, I want to refine my curatorial skills further. This includes experimenting with multimedia elements, such as video documentation or audio recordings of the barn’s ambient sounds, to create layered narratives. If exhibiting in a traditional gallery, I must develop strategies to preserve the connection between the work and its natural, historical context.
Refinement and Improvement
I will continue exploring philosophical and theoretical frameworks such as Bachelard’s The Poetics of Space and Foucault’s heterotopias. This will imply that I incorporate these perspectives more explicitly in my reflections and exhibition materials.
Adaptability: Experiment with presenting my work in varied settings, such as white cube galleries or outdoor spaces, to expand its contextual reach and test its visual impact.
Technical Development: Explore innovative techniques for suspending heavier works safely and effectively while maintaining aesthetic integrity.
Professional Outreach: Consider a structured plan for submitting to juried exhibitions, applying for residencies, and developing professional networks.
Documentation and Presentation: My webpage and social media spaces should now change I can enhance the documentation of my work through high-quality photography, video, and written narratives. Incorporate these into an updated portfolio and digital presence.
Collaborative Engagement: Strengthen the Aware Art Collective by formalising its objectives and initiating collaborative projects that could serve as stepping stones for more prominent exhibitions or online platforms.
By addressing these areas, I plan to refine my practice further and position my work more confidently within the professional art world. This reflective process has clarified my intentions, and I look forward to building on these insights as I explore the intersections of material, space, and care in my practice.
I want to return to my reflective documentation and consider presenting a layered narrative where the barn’s site-specific work and documentation coexist. As an artist-researcher, I will reflect on how the documentation process influenced my perception of the work. Here, I think about the time I spent around the work in the space during the installation process and how it shaped my awareness of the site’s dynamics. I feel those moments were where I felt tension with the work ephemerality – light during different times of the day changed the work. I also think this brings in a narrative or opportunity for storytelling about the experience of being there with the work – which was so different from the making in my studio or around my house where I could sit and work. Now, the work was becoming the story, and have to take it further to the audience.
To bring this into perspective of my future after my studies, I looked at Mass MoCA, A factory-turned-museum that utilizes its vast, raw interiors to present site-specific installations. In their strategic plan, they refer to themselves as a ‘centre for creative exploration and uncommon connection that amplifies the global artistry of our time while contributing to the vitality and vibrancy of our city.’ In our village, many separate initiatives focus on the arts and community building, but not an umbrella organisation. I believe there is an opportunity to address this through the ideas and learning from how Mass MoCa operates. I made myself available to discuss these ideas shortly.
I look at contemporary artists who document work. The first artists I looked at were a married couple, Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller, who work as a collaboration. I have never been exposed to their work. I was intrigued by the partnership and liked how their site-specific audio works blend with real and fictional narratives. Their documentation becomes part of the storytelling. Something George said in a video stuck with me – it has to do with the fact that he thinks artmaking does not make any sense. Is he highlighting the paradox of devoting time and resources to something that might not have tangible (utilitarian) “use”? Art that instead provokes thought, emotion, or aesthetic appreciation? I look again at their work and consider it operates in surreal, liminal spaces, creating narratives that defy conventional sense but evoke deep emotional resonance. I was also influenced by a documentary film I recently saw about the American filmmaker Julia Reichert, who was part of the Women’s Liberation Movement and addressed contemporary issues around feminism, class, gender and race in her films. She worked closely with her husband. As time passed, her film company, New Day Films, became a locus for films about Indigenous rights, racial equity and justice, immigration, LGBTQ topics, human rights, and environmental issues, including the campaign to save our planet from global warming. It was essential to learn how the artist grew over time in her work but also kept her focus on her work.
I think this affirms my ideas around how to enter or ‘deal with’ the art market – I would prefer to hold workshops or co-creative projects that align with my themes of connection and care or further explore spaces where I can exhibit where art can engage people outside the commercial gallery circuit. I feel strongly about art as a process and not necessarily a product. I can embrace this resistance as part of the work – by considering performances, installations, or ephemeral projects where the art exists only in its making and the audience’s experience. I can work on sharing regular time-lapse videos of my making.
If I consider post-exhibition, I think photographs and videos to be used and wonder about a multimedia installation or a book. I did consider it during the preparation, but I felt the time was not quite right, and I had to find a suitable ‘partner’ to work with to bring such a project to light.
I was also thinking about using the farm setting where I live as the space where I share my art. I can continue to use social media platforms like Instagram to share the story of my work, my rural setting, and the philosophy behind my art. I can virtually tour the barn installation using my cellular phone and ‘go live’ on Instagram. I want to explore limited-edition prints or digital downloads of my work. These are more affordable for a broader audience while maintaining exclusivity. I could print photos or sketches from the Hotel Kalahari exhibition and include a narrative about the space and process.
I decided to research other artists using barns, rural spaces, or natural materials in their practice. This might include contemporary ecological artists or those working on community-based projects. I also think my sculptural installations can double as practical objects, like lighting or furniture inspired by nests. I want to explore this. After the exhibition, I received a commission for a work double as a light fitting.
Initial planning for the Practice Plan. (assessors to ignore as this is covered in the Written Elements of the work)
I realised the challenge would be seamlessly integrating the visuals and narration in the final work’s video around my Practice Plan. I wrote a storyboard layout to manage this process and attempted to organise the visuals and narration. I selected around 130 images and eight videos to work with and created an album for it. I planned to develop a clear script and decide what to say and show. The big challenge was aligning the narrative with the visuals I had chosen. I used a tripod to position the camera at eye level and started the recording in my studio. I was uncomfortable with the camera directed at me and considered looking at AI voice-over options, but I was unsuccessful as well, and it did not feel personal or real. I have some ambient sound, mostly birdsong, outside my studio to consider. I used Quick Time Player to record my voice script. This is where I decided to stay with only a written plan.
Link to Final Practice Plan: https://karenstanderart.co.za/part-five-project-5/
Link to Practice Statement and CV: https://karenstanderart.co.za/part-five-project-3-writing-around-and-presenting-your-practice-statement/
Link to Road Map: https://karenstanderart.co.za/syp-part-five-project-one/