ASSIGNMENT 5
My extended written project has now been shared over time with my tutor as an annotated draft Word text. It becomes essential that my journey and progression during the course are clear. I must integrate my research materials, tutorials, peer interaction, an annotated draft text, and a contextual study plan for the upcoming assessment. I will choose blogs to share the progression from proposals to the final contextual study. The blogs will share where ideas came from and how my studio practice aligned with them.
- Be reflective – use this opportunity to review the unit as a whole and identify what you have gained by doing it. You may want to re-read your learning log and formative feedback to help identify key learning moments.
- Here are a few questions you may want to use as a starting point – What were your expectations at the start of your unit? How have you responded to tutor feedback? What hurdles have you faced, and how have you responded? What do you think you have learned as a whole?
- Capture and present your thoughts – depending on how you like to work, you can write a short written evaluation, or produce a slide show that visually connects your reflections to your work. Alternatively, you can produce a short video or audio piece in which you can talk directly to the assessors. Identify an approach that is achievable for you.
SUMMARY OF MY EXPERIENCES: a self-evaluation of research and practice
My expectations of this course were that I would look for connections between my making and my interests. When I think of the body of work I have produced as part of Advanced Practice; I see a connection with materials and artists who have inspired my creations. Ideas for making progressed as I became comfortable exploring new materials, embracing experimentation with materials and ideas of making in terms of scale. The agency of materials strongly influenced me to see them as traces of connections between me and non-humans or nature in general and helped me build a contextual base for my practice. My material ideas were strongly influenced by reading Petra Lange-Berdt and being guided to ‘follow the materials’ (Lange-Berndt,2015:18-19). I see myself continue writing about these material experiences as I think it is essential to write about the experience of writing about my work because it is about reflection, and it provides me with an experience I can look back on.
However, I found it difficult to hone in on fewer writers and concepts when researching connectivity between humans and non-humans within a current art practice. I had to focus on specific works, materials, and techniques and mainly used posthumanism theories. Feedback early on in my studies was motivating as it acknowledged that my reading was comprehensive and provided me with a depth of additional knowledge to explore connections. I needed to show how the theorist applied to the grouping of artists I used in my practice and research. Practical suggestions from my tutor were valued, like picking methodologies and honing in on them, being rigorous around my making and how it relates to artists and theories I am researching – in the end, I left out ideas around Ubuntu and theories of Ingold, as I did not consider it grounded in Post Humanism. I was challenged to continuously compare my writing (paragraphs) with my research question to keep the focus on the research question.
This led me to more questions regarding research, namely structure and focus. In the course, it becomes necessary to show a structured approach which asks that I adhere to a plan – I understand this will ensure that my research aligns with the goal and I will have a focused output. Something I believe I find difficult. It is also essential for me to consider the creative process, and I would argue that it involves a balance of structure and freedom. Engaging with the unknown can lead to innovation and new perspectives, while having a clear sense of direction can result in coherent and purposeful work. The choice between the two often depends on the artist’s style, the nature of the project, and the desired outcome. ( Fortnum,2013) There lies information and knowledge around what happens before art is produced – the processes are shown and discussed/reflected upon. I did not want my making to be seen as theory-dependent; I would like it to be considered mindful, intuitive, and discoverable.
This struggle to structure my research became apparent as I had to choose the terms of an argument for my writing. I did at least four drafts of my writing, looked at artists and theorists, and re-writing became a serious effort to show how I applied these theories. I was encouraged to strengthen my thesis statement by clearly articulating insight in my work and that of other artists with an aim to convey how I applied this exploration of interconnectedness in my making. I had to ask myself: What is the main takeaway I want my readers to grasp? I grappled with how we see ourselves not as part of nature but in nature. I feel art can play a role in questioning ideas of anthropomorphizing animals and nature, especially when we think about how we can save our environment and ecology.
I want to think that the research into Donna Haraway and looking at the non-human as companions in this world grounded my study and made me fundamentally move away from any ontology of anthropocentric or humanist philosophy. I cannot place agency strictly in the human realm and prefer focusing on fluidity and the relation between all things, human and non-human. In one of my social media posts on the nests, I placed a video recording of the nests hanging outside our home, and contemplated ideas around looking into and through the nests and asked if they have become portholes in the life of the non-human. These questions stayed with me as I work and became more aware of the skills of making a nest and how it align with my drawing practice, but also the warning of not being hubris and admiring their uniqueness and individuality. This is something I believe I can explore in my practice. Ideas of doing a soundtrack, by recoding sounds within the surrounding where the nests are hanging came to mind – giving it voice. I could add this as part of my documentation. I I think of duration and connecting with nature as something I can explore further.
Although I enjoy reading Tim Ingold, I wanted to move away from “anthropocentric” and “independent” as they convey that humans perceive themselves as separate or detached from life’s ecological and interconnected web. Human exceptionalism is a perspective that sees humans as distinct and superior to other species, often leading to a sense of arrogance and separateness. However, when I read “On Weaving a Basket”, (Ingold, 2000) his perspective opened up space for considering how non-human entities contribute to shaping skills and practices, challenging a purely anthropocentric view. Ideas of ‘dwelling in the world’ resonate with my practice, and I would like to explore these ideas further in terms of how they could link with art making. In an article, Drawing Together (2011: 220 -226), Ingold explores the idea of lines as threads of life connecting entities. These lines are not confined to human actions but extend to non-human entities. For instance, he discusses the lines that birds follow in the sky, emphasizing a shared world of movement and coexistence. I found his ideas around making as a kind of weaving and that as a skill, it helps to generate form, and I would like to explore this further (Ingold, 2000) in the last part of my studies (SYP). I think there is a space in my making where the place is of importance; I gather materials as I move around – I think about myself as a bit of a magpie. I like to have visual materials such as found objects around me, which I can transform into work. I do think it talks back to me around me need to have a relationship with place.
I am interested in using/applying form and texture whilst working with materials. I also like the idea of finding relations between drawing and writing. This was a big moment of realisation – as I drew or weaved nests, there were so many possibilities where the lines could take me. Ingold’s words, “..drawing carries on: it is always a work in progress…lines of becoming rather than an image of being”. “Drawing is not the production of an image; it is the trace of a movement.” – (Ingold, 2011). I can also state that my research is continuing with materials. Nests have led to objects, which opened a new world into wire weaving and looking at the work of Ruth Asawa. I have learned that ‘materiality and immateriality are not binary opposites’; one becomes aware of how they are connected by looping wires and interlocking them to continue the making. I owe much of this learning to an article on the Courtauld by Cora Chalaby (Chalaby:2020). I want to think of nests as containers of stories (making, research, materials) that became the material and object I research around ideas about interconnectivity and working or collaborating with non-humans.
Below is a collage that shows where my practice has shifted during this course. I am satisfied with learning new skills to develop work. By sharing this collage made of wire, twigs, and sticks, I reflect on the value of learning through research.
List of Illustrations
Fig. 1. Stander, K. (2024) Collage: learning through research and making. [Photograph of wire explorations] In possession of: the author: Langvlei Farm, Riebeeck West.
Bibliography
Chalaby, Cora.(2021). ‘The Immateriality of Materiality of Ruth Asawa’s Looped Wire Sculptures’ The Courtalud At: https://courtauld.ac.uk/research/research-resources/publications/immeditations-postgraduate-journal/immediations-online/immediations-no-18-2021/the-immateriality-of-materiality-ruth-asawas-looped-wire-sculpture/#:~:text=Asawa’s%20process%20of%20looping%20wire,and%20invisibility%2C%20absence%20and%20presence (Accessed 04/01/2024).
Lange-Berndt Petra. (2015). How to be complicit with materials Whitechapel Gallery London p 12 – 20.
Ingold, Tim. (2011). Being Alive: Essays on Movement, Knowledge and Description. Routledge, London.
Ingold, Tim. (2000) Making culture and weaving the world Whitechapel Gallery, London. On weaving a Basket: p 164 -165.