Summary of my research, including details of research material
My research to accompany my work and making focuses on how I interact with my non-human materials, primarily fungi and feathers. These objects are seen as part of nature and the non-living world, from which humans have been distanced. I am attempting to form a collaborative process of being open to the materials and using learning from history, science, folklore, art, artist groups, psychology, and anthropology to understand better. I could also compare or look at the Actor-Network Theory (ANT) in terms of ontologies of how humans deal with inanimate objects. This theory gives every actant in a network, human or not, equal value and agency. I find kin within the idea that these relationships should be treated with respect, considering protecting/caring/preserving rather than exploiting.
In my reading about practices of art research, I came upon a PhD extraction of Natalie S. Loveless, which led to me starting to read her book, Knowings and Knots (2020 E book). I was attracted to her view of research as a creation project, namely calling it ‘research-creation’. I like to think of my practice as making, discovering and sharing. I would argue that critical thinking often happens during writing about and while making/exploring work. I do think that working with a living thing, fungi, brought me to a practice where I, most of the time, weave creativity and technical and theoretical knowledge together. I can be playful, curious, explorative, and solemn during this process. I agree that art practice plays a huge role in cultural production and has enormous potential to make a difference in the world due to its potential for more speculative and imaginative visual propositions. I like the idea that knowing and not knowing are embraced.
I would say that looking at reading materials I have ‘collected’ since Studio Practice 2, I can create solid theoretical statements and frameworks and how my methodology should continue. There are artists whose work I follow and learn from. Observation and documentation of my making would be a big part of my research method. Thinking about a survey made me consider in which ways fungi/mushrooms and feathers are culturally embedded in my own society/ village. As far as I have researched, birds are mostly seen as a symbol of freedom and wings and feathers relate to messages of hope. The exhibition of my feather installation and daily drawings allowed me to connect with viewers about loss and how we grieve the death of a child. It also made me aware of the universal pain of loss. In the African philosophy about life, called Ubuntu, you are not only a mother to your own children but also the children of your extended family and community. I try to calculate how many families have lost a child (death) here in our small community of Riebeek West in the past year. (resources I found indicate that around 7800 people live in this village, but I could not find the info I was looking for.) I am also aware that 49% of bird species globally are declining and that one in eight are threatened with extinction. (Brokenwings video by Waterbear)
Working with soil and trying to improve the soil with mycelial fungi considers the loss of topsoil, how people were/are displaced due to political, cultural, and economic reasons, and how global warming could impact our future. I also learned from our political history of inequality to remember the lessons, make amends, and find better ways of living. I have many questions about the “how” we can get back to consider this type of violence without showing intolerance towards alternative ‘ways of knowing’. I would say that passage of time is also considered in my work.
Ideas around place-based research come to mind. And how I can investigate the dynamic interactions between culture, people, and places as this impact cultural activities. I am working once a week at a school through a Belgium-funded NGO. A basic art program was started that includes different age groups from our community but is limited to children at the primary school level. Here we aim to enable children to develop new perspectives on themselves, others, and the earth through art, sciences, philosophy, and play. We are three local artists who assist with a weekly two-hour art-making group. We are still in the norming/storming stage, and the focus is currently on their identity in the making (masks, contour drawings have been explored). I share this because I believe that art brings about creative thinking, which, as Gerd Dierckx describes, becomes a ‘stepping stone to tolerance’. (Eyes for Art, 2018, p 15). Here I see a type of symbolic mycelium growing between people in our community, which could potentially influence positively and our place (the familiar) can become unfamiliar again. The senses (sensuous realm) become more critical than our minds in how we experience life. (a reference to M Sheldrake at how we experience the world). I have read David Abram’s idea about the more-than-human world, where he positions animals, plants, and landforms as necessary as humans to the biosphere’s ongoing flourishing. The following words come from Abram:
“Whenever we become intensely engaged by other styles and shapes of life when we drop away our concern for ourselves and begin to celebrate and praise other beings and elements that exceed our exclusively human concerns, then—paradoxically—we most realize and epitomize our humanity.“
Add after tutorial on 8 June 2023:
Considering Le Guin’s Carrier Bag Theory as the research method also opens up challenging traditional narratives of the heroic individual by emphasizing the importance of collaboration, connection, and nurturing rather than conquest. I think the “Carrier Bag Theory” provides an alternative perspective on storytelling and research, emphasizing the importance of understanding the complexities and interconnectedness of our world. Living in a country with diversity and a history of colonialism and apartheid, I think Le Guin gives insight to: Recognising that there are multiple narratives, viewpoints, and ways of understanding a given topic. Engage with diverse perspectives, voices, and sources of knowledge. This might involve incorporating interdisciplinary approaches, engaging with marginalized or underrepresented communities, or seeking out alternative forms of knowledge, such as oral histories or indigenous wisdom.
Bibliography
Abram, David The Spell of the Sensuous
Dierckx Gerd, 2021, Eyes for Art, Exploring Visual Art with Children Published by RASA, Belgium.
Griffin Susan, 2015. Woman and Nature: The Roaring Inside Her. Electronic edition, SCRIBD
Latour, B. (1996). On actor network theory: A few clarifications. Soziale welt, 369-381. (https://simplysociology.com/actor-network-theory.html) accessed on 20 May 2023.
Loveless, Natalie, 2020. Knowings and Knots. Research-Creation and Interdisciplinary Praxis, p211 – 220 Published by University of Alberta Press, Canada. Electronic edition, 2020, SCRIBD.
Sheldrake, Merlin, 2020. Entangled Life Vintage Publishers
Initial statement for proposed research and ethics, methodology, and theoretical frameworks.
I want to consider how my work methods as an artist, working with ideas around growth/decay, seen/unseen, and interconnectivity between human and non-human can assist in collaborative outcomes and better relationships with nature, where care is also a part of existence. I will work in an open-hearted/minded way to gain knowledge and understanding about the materials and place I work in. As developed humans, we have become disconnected from nature, making understanding our role in global issues of Earth Warming, poverty and displacement more challenging. I will work around the ideas of Post Humanism and New Materialism.
Collecting mushrooms and feathers for my work implies that I walk and forage on other people’s or state property. I have to consider the continuous pressure on natural resources. I believe that I can look at traditional cultivational practices and knowledge.
Bibliography
View a separate post called: Building a Bibliography for Research
I also save documents I need to research and quote from filed in a folder called Research.
The exhibition review is posted in Project 4 of the learning log.