A Dog's Guide to ART RESEARCH

WOOFISM and beyond

Category: Research (Page 2 of 7)

Comic and Sequential Research: New Blog

November 27, 2013 / / 0 Comments

pickwick-papers

 

No studio diary entries this week as I only made it into studio for an hour. Various work related problems kept me busy and rest of time I was starting new research at home.

My next conference is in Paris in March. It continues the theme I started exploring in Amsterdam Film-Philosophy Conference. This is the role of Victorian magazine illustration (disseminated by the railway) in development of sequential narrative that became film and comic art.

The new blog here: https://shaunbelcher.com/rpt

I have separated from this ‘Graphic Research’ blog as although related the focus there is very much on the art historical angle (Frayling’s ‘Research INTO Design’ NOT through or for which this practice-led blog is more concerned with).

I have already discovered a mine of information including original Dickens annotated sketches by his illustrators. My intention is to look at the ‘sequential moment’ and try and establish if the mass circulation of the first Pickwick Paper pamphlet might be a significant milestone in sequential terms.

This I will then relate to the cross-disciplinary proliferation of images and tropes in an attempt to build a firmer picture of what cartoon/drawing, comic and photography actually meant at this time.

I am also looking at the role of technology based on Brian Winston’s political analysis after Raymond Williams.

Here a steel engraving by Phiz from the Pickwick Papers from March 1837.

Source : http://www.victorianweb.org/art/illustration/phiz/pickwick/28.html

phiztrial

 

Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.

Full Circle? Doing and thinking not doing F.A.

November 12, 2013 / / 0 Comments

Looking at a pencil drawing I did today (called New Yoik Sympathy 🙂 I was reminded of drawings I did in mid nineteen-eighties which scarily nearly thirty years ago! The same motifs are re-assembling from somewhere deep in my brain or maybe they never went away…..just the physical act of drawing did.

Drawing has proved to be my way back into some sort of steady work flow (I hate word ‘practice’ is part of neo-con professionalisation and meant to be uttered by mealy-mouthed curators not artists….I am sure Francis Bacon never said I am involved in a transgressive multi-disciplinary practice….even if he was.)

My future direction seems to be emboldened by trip to New York as I felt that painting/drawing…making art whatever you want to call it still had relevance and importance there and had not been belittled by translation into outcomes. The physical act of making whether in Wool, Motherwell or best of all Mike Kelley’s work was paramount. Kelley had all sorts of resonance across genres (skate/grafitti,zines) and forward in an undoubted influence on a young David Shrigley…anybody looking at works below cannot but see connection. I hope Shrigley wins Turner prize because like Grayson Perry he an active practitioner who creates stuff…oodles of it. THINKING through DOING not DOING FUCK ALL AND THINKING TOO MUCH

Here my latest scribble……Kelley’s drawings and Shrigleys wonderful pisstake of life=life-drawing….you have to look harder…

After New York – back to earth

November 11, 2013 / / 2 Comments

After the great time in New York ( Metropolitan Museum of Art and Guggenheim were fantastic) it is back to earth with a bump (work) and time to take stock of what to do next on M.A. as complete at end of January 2014. I have been in touch with James Elkins and there only a couple of chapters still to come in book so I can concentrate between now and Xmas in getting that sequence completed. I also need to update the Rakes Redrawn sequence with some Hogarthian written titles mimicking original and Gilray etc. Whether this will be enough to get into the DRN proceedings I not sure but as whole idea was that this piece was ‘drawing-led’ not written a full paper seems inappropriate. I may take ideas and rewrite into a separate paper though.

Here some images from New York conference – the final image is Yoon Bakh’s take on my talk as a visual ‘scribe’:-).

Art Object’s Progress complete

October 16, 2013 / / 0 Comments

hockers

Have completed the sequence of ‘remashed’ Hockney and Hogarth.

1. In art research new knowledge is believed by some to be contained in the communicable, verbalised exposition of that knowledge NOT in the actual art work.

If this is so is there therefore any new knowledge contained in the actual art work?

If there isn’t then the paper could be said to be the art work NOT the art object itself?

If the paper contains knowledge and is the art work would it therefore require a further exposition i.e. another paper?

Or is there no communicable new knowledge in art research?

Studio Diary : Mapping ‘New Knowledge’ sequence after Hockney

October 7, 2013 / / 0 Comments

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

Studio Diary: Art Object’s progress image two.

October 1, 2013 / / 0 Comments

The second image from the Hockney Rake’s Progress parody rebranded as art research.

Already the visual story becoming complex if going to map the version of Hogarth into a research tale! In this image ‘The Inheritance’ the art object ( I calling him/her ‘Muttly’ after R.Mutt signature on the Duchamp urinal) is receiving the inheritance of art research categorisation and theory from Sir Christopher Frayling. Thus ‘in, for and by’ and a litter of papers and books….meanwhile Bruce Archer’s paper is overshadowed and the ‘New Knowledge’ monolith floats over a wobbly map of the UK academic scene:-) Next image is called ‘Meeting the good people’ and will involve three statues and three philosophers.

raketwo

and original

Inheritance

The original sequence of 8 Hogarth pictures here: http://www.soane.org/collections_legacy/the_soane_hogarths/rakes_progress/

Plotting a way forward……off the map?

September 30, 2013 / / 1 Comment

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

September 30, 2013 / / 0 Comments

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

September 21, 2013 / / 0 Comments

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/

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