WOOFISM and beyond

Category: graphic research (Page 2 of 4)

Studio Diary : Mapping ‘New Knowledge’ sequence after Hockney

I have now finished drawing the 16 ‘plates’ imitating Hockney’s Rake’s Progress but using it as a template for mapping concerns over the place of ‘new knowledge’ in art research.

It already becoming a fascinating jigsaw puzzle of a task. Firstly there is the original Hogarth moral tale, then there is Hockney’s New York adventure ( which has overtones of Whitman and Dreiser apparently – his reading at the time). Then there is the Duchamp tale of the urinal (again New York based) and the Kubrick overtones of the ‘Muttley’ spaceman as art object character and finally the whole point of the exercise ‘ investigating’ new knowledge whatever that is…

Here I finally sinking into the real question….via Polanyi’s ‘Tacit Knowledge’ and Eisner’s ‘Art and Knowledge’. Phew…the latest drawing in sequence divides the philosophical roots and branches (literally) as best I can ( open to debate of course). I have tried to show the ‘new knowledge’ foliage in the tree as the most recent and most referenced at the ‘Practice makes Perfect’ conference. So this just a rough mapping of current fashions and directions at best.

Drawing it out like this (literally) is really helping me focus on what actually seems to be going on. The Slager attempt to bridge the cartesian/ embodied knowledge divide and the way Frayling’s categories and their impact is actually quite separate to the philosophical underpinning which far wider ranging. The previous paper analysed Frayling’s  influence on art and design research in general rather than just fine art. The philosophical debate around embodied/tacit and where new knowledge may be located ( or not) is very much a fine art concern and seems to me at heart of the instability of the art school with regard to research within the ‘academie’.

wallrakes

Plotting a way forward……off the map?

As my M.A. will finally complete in January 2014 my mind has started to wonder what next? the logical progress would be toward a PhD as teaching seems to be getting more and more vague come September 2014. I will have taught a subject which no longer of great interest to me now (web design) for seven years by then so time for a change. I may move into more research related teaching but this not guaranteed and if so will be in Graphic Design not multimedia which has been deemed to officially not exist by NTU art and design.

Whatever the outcome of that I looking to move forward to a PhD preferably funded. I starting to look into that now in preparation. I doubt that my institution will support me through it for various reasons some political some just resource driven. For now I have a few irons in fire who knows which will be drawn out….here a few options badly delineated.

futres

Studio Diary 30th September: DRN

Well tomorrow 1st October so 22 days to go until DRN New York and finally embarked on the Art Object in search of new knowledge sequence!

muttly

I carefully re-read proposal (read it here http://www.scribd.com/doc/159584262/Drn-Proposal-2013 ) and fortunately I was quite careful about what I had promised. This means that I can just about fulfill promise to create a cartoon sequence but the full paper will have to be completed later (hopefully by M.A. completion date of January 24th). As for the animation I was really setting a high bar there and I think it may well develop separately to the DRN conference.

I have completed the sequence of 16 illustrations of contributors chapters to Elkins book and hope to complete the Elkins chapters after New York from the animation tests. To be honest I only likely to show a few sequences if that at end of presentation.

The project has however come together in my mind. the original ‘Rakes Progress’ by Hockney is a sequence of 16 images about his first trip to New York which dovetails with my first visit too. There however the comparison stops as my sequence whilst using the visual parody of Hockney’s suite of etchings will focus on current art research terminology specifically the idea of ‘New Knowledge’. Here I crossover with Elkins chapter on ‘Beyond research and new knowledge’ in Artist with Phds. To that extent this very much a continuation of investigation begun in previous conference with Frayling paper.

The drawings will mimic the number of Hockney etchings (16 in all) and end up in an art research ‘Bedlam’ 🙂

Here a photo from the studio whilst working on first drawing.

studio

Only 15 to go! Also instead of drawing sequence after writing paper this time I experimenting with drawing first and literally ‘drawing out’ ideas for paper one for practical reasons and two as an experiment which may go dreadfully wrong. It interesting to see how drawing first affects decisions on what to include and structure of final paper. I will give an overview of ideas in presentation as at 20 minutes that roughly one image a minute.

To see original Hockney sequence see here http://www.hockneypictures.com/graphics_rakes_progress/graphics_rakes_01.php

rakey

 

The Research Odyssey update

Have revised the outcomes of the animation/cartoon Odyssey slightly to avoid going mad.

The illustrations for the contributor chapters to Elkins 2nd edition of Artists with PhDs is almost complete. Waiting on final chapters. here one of the illustrations tipped in to previous edition to give a flavour. You have to look really hard to work out which chapter this illustrating!

tippedin

We have revised the editor’s chapters illustrations to be sourced from the final animation for New York DRN which Andrew Love and myself working on at moment. Here Andrew’s test piece using elements from my original visual interpretation of Elkins Chapter 9. On beyond research and new knowledge.

As one of the planets R.Mutt the urinal spaceman visits in paper/animation is planet Elkins this all starts to make sense. Also it do-able in time frame.

It is my intention to have a 20 minute fully voice-overed with music animation completed with accompanying paper (which will be published in DRN conference 2013 Proceedings early next year) by my M.A. completion date on January 24th 2014.

Here test animation using elements form original illustration:

Elkins Chapter 9. On beyond research and new knowledge – original illustration from 2011.

elkinsone

http://recursiveworlds.com/2013/09/18/r-mutt-test-18-09-2013/

More of Andrew’s brilliant work at http://recursiveworlds.com/

Studio Diary: 8th September. Back to work.

I have been on holiday for two weeks and finally went back to studio to pick up threads today.

Throughout July I was working on illustrations for the second edition of James Elkins’s book ‘Artists and Phds’ due out in 2014 I believe. So far I have completed half of the sixteen or so pictures required. This is a distant shot of the pictures on wall of studio. I do not want to show in greater detail until published. An interesting project especially as one of the chapter authors I worked with was my ex-Dean.

elkinswall

 

I also have received funding to attend the Drawing Research network conference in New York at end of October and now have 8 weeks to complete animated paper on ‘Phd and New Knowledge’! So I going to be more than busy especially with start of new term, new changes at NTU and all….

I also picked up a Blundell haring drawing board in Oxfam which much sturdier than my previous and great for drawing 🙂

challenge_6

 

James Elkins: Artists with PhDs (2nd Ed.) commission.

A very busy week last week didn’t make it into actual studio but I can officially announce that James Elkins has asked me to illustrate all the chapters for his second edition of ‘Artists with PhDs’. I have drawn two test images and feedback from Jim was he’d like more detailed and weird which fits with my love of Alisdair Gray‘s artwork for Lanark and Tony Fitzpatrick’s work. I also been compared to Adelheid Mers work which I had never seen until today and which fascinating in terms of vizualizing research. There seems to be a very strong Chicago School of Art connection here. Which figures as I first made contact with Mark Staff Brandl through the Chicago art-blog Sharkforum which sadly now offline although Mark’s Swiss Sharkforum still active). This came about through my Americana Reviewing and love of music. It all somehow connects 🙂

Here the first two test images for chapters from the book – not telling which ones 🙂

chapteronesmall chapterzerosmall

Studio Diary: May 23rd – Cartoon Droodles?

My biggest inspiration 🙂 A book called Droodles which I got from a jumble sale when a kid ….most famous droodle is the cover of Zappa’s Ship arriving too late to save a drowning witch (below)..so now you know is not pop art, minimalism or a profound theory is DROODLES 🙂 These drawings are profound meditations on the hinterland and liminal spaces between inbetween-ness in a multi disciplinary meditation on landscape, time and sequentiality specifically ‘the first and second sequential ‘moments’ (my theoretical tagging of the invention of ‘cinema’ or was it animation? (1888 LePrince) and the second moment ‘youtube’ 1995….)..so now you know..then again it could be a droodle…

witch

Studio Diary 13th May: Sequential Drawings?

A rapid set of drawings playing with idea of cartoon abstraction, shop comic strip and film…sequential narratives on a fixed canvas?

Studio Diary: 7th May – Burolandschaft?

A very hot day and studio a little cooler than expected which good. Still managed to create three drawings despite also reading photo related items specifically about early photography ( Lady Elizabeth Eastlake’s Review from London Quarterly Review).

Had a fascinating message from an architect doing a PhD at the University of Tasmania who picked up on the recent drawings. He said they reminded him of the German ‘Burolandschaft’ workplace drawings of the Quickborner Team of 1960’s.

history_burolandschaft_planarts_council_workspace_C-pr

I did some hasty research (Googled it) and came up with drawings he referring to which were fascinating (see below). The connection is not entirely strange as I have been regarding these drawings a s cumulative ‘memory’ maps of my hometown/landscape. I am coming at it from a fine art viewpoint which more influenced by artists like Simon Lewty (http://www.artfirst.co.uk/simon_lewty/) and Aboriginal Bark Painting (signifiers of place) as much as maps and graphic diagrams. The idea of linking this further to architectural diagrams/theory fascinating. I shall be delving deeper. Especially as the drawings above show Caruso St John plans for the new Arts Council offices…ironically 🙂

http://www.carusostjohn.com/media/artscouncil/new_national_office/introduction/index.html

lewty

For one of the drawings I sectioned the page into ‘staves’ or ‘cartoon strips’ to try out some sequential abstract narrative notions I have. This could lead to some large painted/drawn canvases for final show.

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