Anna Borowicz

Untitled (Blue is For Boys / Pink is for Girls) presented in Project Space, Dartmouth Avenue, Bath

2011-06-12T08:01:00.010+01:00

“It is not so much difficult to have the real equivalent but public is meant to admire the perfective of the fake.”

Umberto Eco, Faith in Fakes: Travels in Hyperreality

"The display of realistic objects may portray a non realistic world; nevertheless a non realistic object may portray a realistic world. The verdict of what is the true reality and what is not, relay on the most elusive and convoluted connections within human culture, nothing empirical can prove its existence and this is the object’s ongoing changes in faith."

Daphna Weinstein, Telling Lies Short

2011-06-12T08:00:00.001+01:00

Untitled (Blue is For Boys / Pink is for Girls)

2011-06-11T22:03:00.001+01:00

I have delayed this post as I was testing some new ideas that were consequently included in the degree show.

I have been thinking a lot about the density of my work. How fully packed it is when it becomes an installation, all surfaces covered, overlapping - almost one large sculptural construction. This it leads to number of considerations, like the balance of work and site. I would not say that my work is trying to be site specific but definitely site sympathetic. It responds to the shape, light, fixtures and fittings and then it overlays itself onto the existing with its fake reality. The concerns about the density is that it overpowers the existing canvas of the site.

Therefore one of the ideas I wanted to test out was to allow the space to enter the work. The fragments would need to stand for the whole or suggest some bigger meaning then their physical presence.

At the same time the illusions of overload and feeling of confusion could be retained through scattering the fragments and applying different rules for linking the objects. Certain elements were placed purely to act as a balance to other objects whilst others referenced the site, art history, literature etc. Eventually many found elements were replaced by their "manufactured" equivalents.

There is also a great potential to reconfigure the arrangements in multiple ways. I am not too sure what it means yet but I find it intriguing as the recyclable ability of art and twisting the meaning is something I have engaged in other ways before...

Some of the detail of the arrangements. The working title is Blue is For Boys / Pink is for Girls.

Mise-en-scène

2011-04-04T22:01:00.000+01:00


Memorial; polythene, vinyl film, electric tape, dusct tape, aluminium structure, bath stand; overall dimesions 100 x 150 x 85 cm; March 2011

Some of the comments from the crit:

- It looks like art – when is something not art?

- It is far from painting but has paint-like skin reference of peeling off the paint. The table is support for the painting. Also very craft like, almost beautiful where the cuts are made, sense of human engagement.

- Quite a mad (schizophrenic) piece, almost emotional in that sense. Obsessive nature of the work seems to deal with emotional response to womanhood, domesticity, motherhood and the market pressures felt in this regard. Praying on most anxious feelings. Cuts could also be read as aggressive as in Lucio Fontana's work. It is not humorous in a way Angela de la Cruz’ work can be, not a joke piece.

- There is a sense of occasion/festiveness here; seems quite spontaneous.

- Greedy seepage, it wants to impose itself on the surroundings.

Restructured / Destructured

2011-04-04T21:45:00.000+01:00

I am intrigued by possibilities of transposing the work further. Can I recapture the key elements through photographs or photomontages or just plainly rework the acutal pieces so they are offered another life where they can become something else?

I am fascinated by the recycling and subverting the structures, refusal of the fixed and permanent. I guess it is not enough to just use the temporal materials, even the solid elements are interpolated, restructured and destructured.

@ These Words I Seek Are Not My Own

Her Sunday Best

This piece was recycled in the purest meaning of the word. It actually ended up in the bin and then lovingly rescued it just before the bins were emptied.

He is all Front

Innocence

Living Space for Uninheritables

2011-03-20T23:11:00.000Z

These Words I Seek Are Not My Own

2011-03-20T23:07:00.000Z

These Words I Seek Are Not My Own: presents new work by eight artists whose practices are imbued by a specific interest in extended painting. The exhibition attempts to address the continually evolving collective understanding of painting through a diverse range of outcomes and installational elements.

"All painting is (at the same time) material, space and activity. It may or may not have a singular (sur)face and it may not hug the wall. It may appear as a projection across the space of architecture, as multiple surfaces separated from a fractured support, or as a collection of playful but useless objects. These 'paintings' are not mere images of things, but inhabit space as things in their own right, sometimes functioning as props and triggers, working to invoke faint memories of other things - almost but not quite abstract, and almost but not quite painting."

From 'The Spaces of Painting' by Linda Khatir which accompanied the exhibition

The title of the show was a text by one of the participating artists created in response to an intimate unravelling of the artists’ practices, a piece of work alone, layered and acting as catalyst, enveloping the practices and sparking and extending new responses.

An essay on the practice of extended painting written by an artist and writer Linda Khatir gratefully accompanied the exhibition .

Organising the details of the show - proposals, communication and marketing - was pretty time consuming but a good learning curve. During the exhibition week, I had to divide my time between Bristol, Bath and London so my set-up time was effectively limited to one day. I was moderately pleased with the work I put in given the time constraints, though one of the pieces has since evolved in the studio into a more intriguing proposition (I will post the image later).

Overall it was a strong show, holding a variety of artistic responses, with a respectable turn out including general public.

There is a really good summary of the exhibition posted by a fellow artist Natalia Komis: Natalia's Blog Entry for These Words I Seek.

My work in the show:

Uninheritables

2011-03-20T21:19:00.000Z

I finally feel I am getting better control over these new materials, with the newer constructions exploring more confidently meaning inherent in basic processes processes like covering/uncovering, scrounging/stretching, leaning against the wall. Little anecdotes and humour, incidents and repetitions are adding more layers to the basic references.

He is All Front

Connector

Somatic Mutation

Homemaker

SITE SPACE PLACE LOCATION

2011-01-31T00:43:00.000Z

I thought of testing a couple of ideas during the breakfast club. The first one was the idea of trays with luminescent liquid, a form of liquid painting that will create colour fields in space. I wanted to immerse transparent architectural images just so the viewer becomes unsure of what is the reflection and what is part of the work and created layers of viewing. It ended up being just one piece, mainly due to cost of the printing and laminating the large scale transparency.

I have searched long for the right liquid and colour (really wanted to avoid resin or paint) and finally settled on the Halfords own brand screenwash. The feedback was focused on the liquid -

seductive, luminous, strange, changing with movement. It supported other works rather void of colour and seemed to hold the space together.

Liquid Pool, front view

I loved the way the erect structure echoed Charlotte's work (in the background)

The second idea was inspired by shade awnings. I wanted to play with a vague relationship to painting (framed and wall based) and design aspects. The piece had lightness, thought the grid layered with images and memories was possible too fixed back/ too attached by the frame. Lack of lightsource was also a problem as the viewer seemed to be stuck on the surface instead enjoyng the transaprency.

Awning

This piece was too in conversation with other works (Katie's and Alex's)

Both pieces were rather small in scale and seemed swamped by the space. I would have liked to make them in series so they start having more of the presence but again the time and cost influenced the outcome.

I am surprised how framed both works became considering that my main reason for using plastics was the transparency and spatial feel already embedded in the material. It is the structure holding the material that seems to be the problem.

Alex's instalation

The idea for this club was to put together artists with interest in space / location / architecture and allow for relationships to form through these innate interests reflected in the works.

Migration

2011-01-24T20:54:00.003Z

I took part in an outdoor exhibition Migration at the Newton Park campus of Bath Spa Uni. The artworks address the theme of ‘Human Interaction with the Environment’ and aim to to encourage students, staff and the wider community to take advantage of the beautiful natural
landscape.

The concept for my work was inspired by non-spaces, where the outside is borrowed like in shakkei lit. 'borrowed landscape' to draw the outer landscape into the immediate space by 'capturing it alive'. This collapses the view into a space that is in constant flux changing with the position of the viewer and “natural” elements.

And this is the structure in situ:

I enjoyed its simplicity which correlated with the simplicity of the concept, and a rather fragile appearance. I wish however I have designed the structure to be more mobile so it travelled to different locations throughout the duration of the show. This is something to keep in mind...

Plastic Constructions - TUTORIAL

2010-12-15T23:17:00.058Z

This is the wall piece I have created in response to thinking about the issue of wall in painting. The piece has got a clarity that the previous installations seemed to be missing. Its simplicity could inspire my free standing pieces that are slightly less coherent.

I was suggested a couple of references - John Frankland and Jorge Santos.

Frankland installs wall inspired surfaces inside a gallery. Richly coloured and with the appearance of solidity, the object is in fact intensely fragile, its surface constructed from stretched polythene. The sculpture, which can only essentially be experienced as a surface, is ambiguous, referring to the internal architecture of a building, the language of painting and the physical experience of the cinema. (Matt's Gallery, John Frankland: New works, 1996)


John Frankland, What you lookin' at?, 1996

Jorge Santos has a knack for turning the world outside-in. His photography, sculpture, films and drawing call up memories, filling interior space with ghostly doubles of buildings and nature. Brushing up against a gallery wall, you might discover the gentle protrusion of a wrought-iron fence, realised as a white stucco relief, or look down to find autumn leaves reflected in a pool of black acrylic on the floor. (Jorge Santos 'the world appeared to her reflected by pure inwardness', Spike Island, 2010)

Jorge Santos, 'the world appeared to her reflected by pure inwardness', Spike Island, 2010

Gallery Visits

2010-12-15T17:37:00.052Z

I felt privileged to be able to see Rhoades installation. Carefully crafted elements are recurring in a coherent pattern and create a rich and exciting vocabulary. Nothing seems superfluous, the editing process has carried out to perfection.

Jason Rhoades 1:12 Perfect World @ Hauser & Wirth

My direct experience of James Turrell works left me with mixed feelings after seeing his show at Gagosian. Apart from issues with invigilation where you were constantly directed, instructed or restricted to experience the works in an immersive manner, I was also confused at where these pieces sat for me as artwork. I have approached them hoping to have more reference to the work of artists like Rothko and painting in general. However, I was left questioning whether the artist or these works intended to have a conversation within the aesthetic value systems or whether it was more about the experiential spectacle, where the public is dazzled and wowed by the technological complexity of the works. Furthermore, immediately after viewing the Turrell’s show, I went to see the Turner Prize Exhibition at Tate Britain to engage with the sound piece by Susan Philipsz. The experiential feel of this piece was similar to Turrell’s work, with the viewer being emerged in the sound. There seemed to be however layers of meaning and significations that felt absent in Turrell’s pieces. Even the technical simplicity of the piece compared with the complexity of Turrell’s works seemed ingeniously unpretentious.

James Turrell @ Gagosian

Susan Philipsz @ Tate

Susan Philipsz, original installation under a bridge in Glasgow

Plastic Constructions - CRIT

2010-12-15T17:18:00.120Z

I have put the work below for the critical assessment. The points raised were:

reference to the discipline of painting
the deliberate flimsiness and deskilling of art
aesthetics of non-aesthetic materials
pop culture allusions
criticism of the "home improvement" fenomenon in media
self containment of the pieces (an issue for me)

Plastic Constructions; steel frame, vinyl film, polythene sheets, lighting gels, correx, light; unfolded dimensions 110 x 145 cm; Nov 10

Plastic Constructions; steel flat, chrome tube, plastic tube, acrylic rod, vinyl film, polythene sheets, lighting gels, duct tape; overall dimensions 160 x 100 x 30 cm; Nov 10

I have also shown the trolley as a reference, the starting point for the constructed structures. It was perceived really well, although the fact that it 'just works' could be its weakness, the immediate attraction of the construction is incongrus.

Plastic Constructions; extended painting; wooden hand trolley, tissue paper, polythene sheets, water soluble muslin; overall dimensions 130 x 50 x 50 cm; Oct 10

The references that came up where Unmonumental as the practices featured elevate the un-heroic materials and structures. Artist names mentioned amond others were Jim Lambie, Isa Genzken, Miquel Mont and David Batchelor.

Isa Genzken, Stelen, Kunstverein Braunschweig, 2000

The column for Isa Genzken is a recurring motif: its linear purity becomes a critical field on which she explores the relations between art, architecture, design, and social experience. Living and working in Germany and in New York, Genzken’s column structures of the 1990s draw on the vertiginous, reflective forms of Manhattan skyscrapers, adapted in 2000 into proposals for improvements to the architecture of Berlin.

David Batchelor.
Brick Lane Remix, 2003

This quote from David Batchelor is something that describes well my position:

My relationship with painting is ambivalent. I use the term in its strict sense, which is that I am, I guess, motivated by entraption, a simultaneous attraction to it, and repulsion from it. I used to paint and I haven’t painted for a good fifteen years, more than that actually. And yet at the same time, pretty much everything I do in the studio is certainly informed by painting. Even if my work is mainly three dimensional and some would call it sculpture, but I don’t think I would. Painting still informs it more than anything else. And so probably you could describe all my work as failed painting.

The Bluecoat / Contemporary Urban Centre / A Foundation

2010-11-30T22:41:00.219Z

At the Bluecoat I became really engrossed with accidental shadows created by the work of Carol Rama (although it could have been another artist). The primary lighting for the work encased in the perspex boxes combined with some secondary lights for works nearby created these beautiful architectural multi-layered shadows on the wall.

One of the highlights of the Biennial for me has been the City States exhibition in the Contemporary Urban Centre. It was actually six international exhibitions, initiated by foreign embassies and galleries, that explore the cultural dynamics between cities and states. My favourite must have been Quebec Pavilion with an exhibition called Tactful Rituals - it almost felt like entering a different cultural époque, even if the actual work isn’t that different, possibly because of the selection and curation of the work.

I immediately noticed the work of Massimo Guerrera The Reunion of the Practices. Describing himself as "relational aesthetic" artist, this work addresses Guerrera’s interest in social interaction and emotional exchange. According to a critic Sarah Miller, the installation has multiple elements reminsescent of such artists like Francesco Clemente, Bruce Nauman, Rirkrit Tiravanija and Franz West.

Massimo Guerrera, The Reunion of the Practices, 2010

Also worth noting are Adad Hannah’s video pieces. Dinner Date offers a girl climbing over a table in a cafe to kiss her boyfriend, limbs all over the place. It initially seems like freeze frame, but soon we notice that the hands are quivering and that the kiss is causing both of the participants to look increasingly uncomfortable.

Adad Hannah, Dinner Date

Finally, at A Foundation, the work of Sachiko Abe fills the huge furnace space with a presence simultaneously meditative yet disturbing. During the perfomances the artist is sitting high up like a fairytale princes cutting meticulously A4 sheets into microscopic threads of paper that eventually become ephemeral sculptural forms. The sound of the scissors gently envelops the huge space. The work's fragile aesthetics juxtaposed against the raw industrial fixtures saves it from becoming too beaultiful (but only just).

Sachiko Abe, Paper Mountain, 2010

The Europleasure/Scandinavian Hotel & FACT

2010-11-30T10:15:00.157Z

One of the wonderful aspects of the Biennial is the access to disused buildings - The Europleasure Scandinavian Hotel is one of those buildings.

The work of Cristina Lucas Touch and Go shows the creation of the view of smashed windows of the buildings. People of all ages and walks of life take a delightful or sometimes perverse pleasure in throwing large stones through the windows of the building. Humorous, gentle and charming, it is a bitter-sweet story of urban transgression accompanied by strangely discordant soundtrack.

Cristina Lucas, Touch and Go, 2010

I was excited to see work of Taiwanese artist Tehching Hsieh at FACT. Hsieh’s work, informed through a period spent in New York City without a visa, experiments with time. One Year Performance records an action in the artist’s studio in which he clocked onto a workers’ time punch machine each and every hour of the year, simultaneously photographing himself creating an extended self-portrait. The documentation wraps around the gallery walls with acres of punch cards and small images. Some questions arise: how did he sleep, eat etc? how one stays sane during such self-imposed house arrest?

Tehching Hsieh, One Year Performance, 1980–1981

At FACT, I also encountered an intriguing work of Yves Netzhammer. Dialogical Abrasion (2010) is a project made up of three elements beginning with an animated De Chirico-like dreamworld full of characters performing silent rituals. Developing from this dreamscape is a series of IKEA-gone-wrong sculptural situations plus an intermittent spatial soundscape by the composer Bernd Schurer, alarmingly loud and cross-linked with the gallery lighting to illuminate elements of the installation.

I really liked the reduced scale of thes settings - creating small spaces would be an excellent way of developing some of my ideas without having always to invest all my efforts and materials in large scale installation.

Yves Netzhammer, Dialogical Abrasion, 2010

52 Renshaw Street, Liverpool

2010-11-30T08:07:00.001Z

A catch up post, as usual, but I thought the Binennial deserves its mention. I am going to start with 52 Renshaw Street.

What inspired me was the building itself - vast, warren-like space that, unlike most vacant shops used as galleries, has not been white washed to death. Instead the decision was made to leave much of the remaining decor intact. Patches of painting work, tiles and wallpaper add a sense of exploring an abandoned civilisation with bizarre interior design habits. Very much in line with Richard Woods explorations and my work last year. It made me think that this is how I would have liked to see my work expand - all over the interior spaces with some confusion as to what is the work and what is an actual remnant.

The space offsets the carefully organised art works. My highlights are located at the end of the long wander. N S Harsha's Sky Gazers blurs the lines of painting and installation. The mirrored ceiling was great and achieved its aims of integrating the viewer into the image. An effective artowrk that created confusion, surprise and enjoyment.

NS Harsha, Sky Gazers, 2010

In the next room, after you pass through Sky Gazers, uneasily rests Free Post Mersey Tunnels. Artist Rosa Barba captures the energy of the underground sound with her pipes installation Free Post Mersey Tunnels. The muscular aspect of the work, its size combine with with the atmosphere and noise, made me feel quite uncomfortable. In a good way...

Rosa Barba, Free Post Mersey Tunnels, 2010

Finally there was also some paintings that attrected my attention. I’m a fan of the Leipzig School and Tim Eiffel is one of the leading figures there. Brilliantly executed and commanding attention. As Lorenzo Fusi, the show curator, writes: The anti-heroic penumbra that permeates his work and dwells in his canvases addresses a defeated society.

Tim Eitel, Haufen (Heap), Oil on Canvas , 180 x 290 cm, 2009

No Working Title II

2010-11-22T22:25:00.001Z

No Working Title is a collaboration between Bath School of Art and Design, Norwich University College of the Arts, Winchester School of Art, and Tate Modern. Selected students from each university were partnered up and using instructions that we sent to each other, each of us created a piece of work. This project explores and debates themes of ownership and authorship and instrcution based art practice.

After a number of steps including creating and sending instructions, making work and participating a critical debate at Tate Modern, the project's final stage is touring exhibition.

The curation was democratic which meant the process was somehow more involved but the outcome I believe is exceptional. Our objective was not so much to present the works but rather to explore the process we were involved in, feelings such as confusion over ownership, links between the works and instructions or physical aspects of communications (email/post).

Its a plastic world we live in...

2010-11-03T21:33:00.082Z

I have been obsessed scavenging any plastic material - polythenes, acrylics, polycarbonates, pvc, vinyl, cellophanes, lighting gels etc etc.... Also trying to learn how to manipulate them so they transform into something else.

I have this idea of replacing the language of paint with a vocabulary offered by different plastics. There are potentially interesting qualities the material could afford like wrapping, overlaying and light/shadow interplay. These qualities could be explored through different spatial constructions like frames, screens or rails.

Starting to sketch out ideas:

Extended Painting & Sculpture

2010-10-31T20:32:00.100Z

There is something exciting and unsettling about moving into new studio spaces. In particular as my practice responds to the surroundings - the architecture, fixtures and other works. This year all extended painters are to share studio space with sculptors. Considering that I would not be the one to support medium division, it is interesting how different this new space feels.

Number of observations

Studio is huge, loud and rather dirty... At the same time the architectural details are amazing...
Different approaches to making work and occupying space led to a number of discussions and initial procrastination... Then it all seemed to fall into place...
Sculptors seems to be suddenly making more wall based work whilst painters are creating more objects. Coincidence?

Exhibition TRACE II

2010-06-26T00:34:00.001+01:00

Work I have created for the exhibition.

There is something I have not mentioned before, which is the photographing of my work. Sometimes ask myself which one is my work - the physical construction or its image. Or both? How does the meaning change? I am intrigued by this flattening that is eventually achieved bringing the work back to painting. Full circle.

Even the physical constructions have got this flatness or frontal reading. Work remains informed by painting...

Exhibition TRACE

2010-06-25T00:07:00.073+01:00

1. The Venue.

We decided on the Old AV Shop as the best venue for the project (combination of factors – the location, cost and availability)

The place has got a lot of interesting architectural details and fixings that can be utilized in the work or need to be addressed when curating the exhibition. It also includes dark spaces for projections and separate rooms to create a journey for the viewer.

2. The Theme

We have settled on a theme of TRACE as it is wide encompassing concept and also seems to reverberate with the past uses of the venue.

TRACE may refer to:

In mathematics - trace in linear algebra, trace operator, field trace, trace monoid
In computer science - signal trace, stack trace, digital traces, software trace
In the physical sciences - trace radioisotope, trace evidence, trace element, TRACE, a NASA satellite
In language - semiology)the history carried by a sign, (linguistics) a syntactic placeholder
resulting from transformation, (deconstruction)a concept by Derrida, (psycholinguistics), a psycholinguistic model of speech perception

We have briefly outlined the proposed works:

Jenny – continuation of her current investigation of found objects and method of display
Vicky – combining definition of trace in the linear algebra with a positive action of kissing
Olivia – tracing the psychogeography of Bath and marks on buildings
Rachel – reverse the process painting to achieve an erased painting
Anna – create quasi-narrative cast objects that will resonate with the architecture of the space

3. The Marketing

We have agreed on a simple flyer design to be printed on a tracing paper and include our fingerprints above the letters trace.

4. Curating the Show

We had 3 days from receiving the keys to private view. We spend in reality 2 days working in the shop finishing the artworks and curating the show. We had a rough idea of where the main works will go (e.g. light conditions or size) but even these required curating. We have jointly finalised the finer details of the display.

The Function of the Studio

2010-06-15T23:03:00.002+01:00

In 1971, in his article “The Function of the Studio”, Daniel Buren wrote: “Of all the frames, envelopes, and limits...which enclose and constitute the work of art (picture frame, niche, pedestal, palace, church, gallery, museum, art history, economics, power, etc.), there is one rarely even mentioned today that remains of primary importance: the artist's studio”.

Buren believes that the studio is the only place where artwork is truly at home. This is a dilemma I have been faced with when having to reinstall my own work. My “installation paintings” include references to the space they are created in, as well as to the objects in the studio or other artists’ work. When moving the work, the meaning of these elements changes or is lost altogether and therefore any re-installation requires re-thinking and re-working.

Marsupium, June 2010, installation with paintings and mixed media, dimension variable

No Working Title

2010-06-06T23:34:00.102+01:00

"Since the 1960’s conceptual artists have questioned the traditional status of the artwork as a physical object, placing a greater emphasis on ideas and language. A number of artists began to make work by inventing or adopting particular rules, systems, strategies and processes. These might be a series of instructions for acting in the world or using maps, measurements or numerical systems to determine the form of the artwork.”

Interpretive text from level 5 galleries, TATE Modern

No Working Title: A collaboration between BA Year 2 Fine Art students at Norwich University College of the Arts, Bath School of Art and Design, Winchester School of Art, and Tate Modern. The project was conceived in relation to a number of conceptual works held in the Tate collection. In the 1960s these artists began to make work by inventing or adopting rules, systems and strategies. Such processes provided a framework for a collaboration between students from three Fine Art courses, culminating in an event at Tate Modern in March 2010.

The work made for the No Working Title project will form a touring exhibition traveling to all three colleges from October to December 2010 so watch this space.

1. Instructions Sent

2. Instructions Received

3. Instruction-based work

Creating a Stage Set

2010-06-01T22:43:00.000+01:00

Work and Site are inseparable. The interior becomes a manifestation of the state of the soul, loaded with Freudian resonances of the homely and the unhomely.

Bachelard in his “Poetics of Space” states: “I am the space where I am”.

Kangaroo’s Pouch, April 2010, installation with paintings and mixed media, dimension variable

So what is this work about? Spatial ambiguity, painting, layers of meaning, sarcasm . You tell me. What pleases me is its ability to attract the attention of the viewer long enough to start picking things up and ask the questions.

I guess that is exactly what bothered me with the paintings last year is that they were less successful at capturing that attention. One the other hand, maybe their subtlety was their strength.

Between Functionality & Decoration

2010-04-10T22:27:00.006+01:00

Richard Woods explores the spatial ambiguities of patterns and textures are explored through his hand-printed wood-cut floors and elevations.

The installations are inspired by the joyously vulgar D.I.Y. movement that swept Britain in the postwar years.Though his work may be about falsehoods, it’s ultimately more about the distance between what the imagine and the reality.

Richard Woods, Logo no. 41 Crazy Paving no.4 with Print Block Doors, 2010, mixed media, dimensions variable

Back to Alienation

2010-04-01T22:01:00.003+01:00

It seems I have come back to the subject of alienated spaces.

Guy Debord reworked Marx's view of alienation. He argued that capitalism had turned all relationships transactional and created "pseudo-needs" to increase “spectacular” consumption.

Interest in the feeling of estrangement and alienation is believed to be reflected in the architecture of interiors.

The "architectural uncanny" describes how our understanding of architecture is often characterized by strange and threatening experiences (as per Anthony Vidler). His concepts build upon Sigmund Freud's classic 1919 essay on the uncanny, explaining the sensation as being estranged from the comforts of home.

Vilhelm Hammershoi, Sunbeams or Sunshine. Dust Motes Dancing in the Sunbeams, 1900, Oil on canvas, 70 x 59 cm

Hammershøi’s interior paintings present us with the familiar in such a way that they becomes somewhat uneasy. In paintings such as Sunbeams, a sense of confusion is heightened by the fact that we see layer upon layer of windows – exterior can never be reached. We have the impression that we are looking at a hazy stage set that is missing many of its props.

Follow the Line, April 2010, oil on canvas, each painting 25 x 35 cm

I have created these paintings as a response to a feel of uncanny of interior spaces.

They aim at reducing the information and removing preference of the objects and motifs in favour of the overall mood, pattern and shapes.

Exhbitions PLAY

2010-03-03T23:23:00.001Z

With Space in Mind

2010-03-01T21:35:00.015Z

Binary Translations, Nov 2009, installation with window colour palette, sound file, Braille code projection, photo kaleidoscopes, dimensions variable

I have designed this work for and around the project space at the university.

The trigger idea was to use web based software to translate the aspects of the space e.g. into colour palette, kaleidoscopes, Braille or sound.

The colour palette for example was based on the view from the windows, and the view then has been replaced by the colour blocks of layers of plastics.

I have then created a sound file based on the image of the replaced window view.

Site Specificity

2010-02-28T21:24:00.012Z

Developing the concept of tableau further, another approach is to explore connections to art institutions and relationship to space in- and outside of the gallery.

‘White cube’ as neutral framing for the work is discarded in favour of a space where subject and object come together to create an ‘aesthetic experience’ (as per Miwon Kwon).

The viewer is no longer a disembodied Eye but is instead a Spectator involved as Body in Time.

The viewer becomes self-conscious and participates in the construction of the meaning of the work.

Adrian Schiess, Malerei (monochrom), 2008, inkjet-print and effect-finish on aluminium composite panel , 218 x 246 x 2 cm

Adrian Scheiss’s paintings do not create an illusionistic picture planes but allow the real space to enter the work through reflections.

He wants his paintings to exist in the moment at the specific place: ‘the light, the color, the viewer, his mood, the time, the site are parts of this happening’ .

The viewer is faced with an experience of open, all-over seeing and a fragmented meaning.

Walking in my Mind

2010-02-02T13:01:00.005Z

Counter/Balanced, Jan 2010, installation with 5 canvases and mixed media, dimensions variable

My immediate ambition in this work was to create paintings in space/relating to space/ architecture.

This work has all the painting elements removed to be replaced with such aesthetic consideration as composition, form and line. Although it has lept off the canvas yet still retains a need to be discussed in the terms of painting.

The viewer position is outside, although there is an inviting tactility, there is also a distance forced by frames & layers.

Installation Art

2010-01-31T12:36:00.004Z

Installation art is not simply any arrangement of objects or a staging for the display of artwork (Claire Bishop. The viewer presence is fundamental in an installatio.

‘The main actor in the total installation, the main centre toward which everything is addressed, for which everything is intended, is the viewer’ (Ilya Kabakov)

Ilya Kabakov, The Man Who Flew Into Space From His Apartment, 1985, mixed media, dimensions variable

Ilya Kabakov created a "total installation" with his work “The Man Who Flew Into Space From His Apartment. The "total installation" is more than an aesthetic idea; it is an entire program based on a complex narrative presentation. This narrative is a fantastic tale that induces a profound sense of the absurd with a level of spirituality.

Jessica Stockholder, Skin Toned Garden Mapping, 1991, Installation at the Renaissance Society, Chicago, paint, red carpet, 2 x 4s, roofing tar, refrigerator doors, hardware, yellow bug lights and fixtures, cloth, vinyl composition floor tiles, concrete and tinfoil, overall 292 sq. m

More contemporary installation practice is that of Jessica Stockholder ’s installations

Her work contradicts - it is simultaneously two- and three-dimensional, includes abstraction and figuration, surface and structure, open and closed with no front nor back.

It is not one painting but many with signifiers that criss-cross an interrupt.

Relationally Aestehtic?

2010-01-15T12:38:00.002Z

A contemporary tableau is what Jan Verwoert identifies as a ‘strategic situative’ approach where the painting forms dynamic relationships with video, photography and installation.

Franz Ackermann’s practice seems to fit into that realm.

Franz Ackermann, Gateway-Getaway, 2008/9, mixed media installation, dimensions variable

Recent show Wait (2010) at White Cube was supposed to offer ‘a space where the viewer can reflect on the instability of signs and symbols in everyday life’. Ackermann is a ‘post-conceptual’ painter who adds a few ‘relationally aesthetic’ touches to the installation - as if there is an anxiety about mere painting not being quite enough.

2009-12-31T01:00:00.003Z

TABLEAU …

Expansive pictorial location

when picture planes and

flat surfaces are displaced,

opened and

fragmented

and painting is freed

From its frame.

(Linda Khatir, 2008)

Extending Collage... Expending Painting... Exploring the Surfaces

2009-12-07T00:53:00.003Z

Influenced by thinking about the parergon =‘outside-work’, I have made a number of experiments extending the collage from the 2-D surface into the 3-D space.

Extending Collage, Dec 2008, installation photograph with painting (oil on canvas 75 x 150 cm) and mixed media, dimensions variable

This installation is playing with the notion of theatrical setting, moving away from the focus on meaning to focus on objects.

Extending Painting, Jan 2009, installation with painting (oil on canvas 75 x 150 cm), wallpaper, plastic sheet, gloves, photographic lamp, designer magazines, dimensions variable

My work has progressively become larger to enhance the theatrical effect. I have started expanding onto other surfaces, with addition of non-painterly materials and objects chosen for their suitability to tell a story and shift the meanin.The overall objective is nevertheless to establish a coherent though ambiguous space.

Displaced Interiors, Dec 2009, installation with painting (oil on canvas, 140 x 165 cm) and mixed media, dimension variable

Derrida's Parergon

2009-10-30T00:25:00.006Z

One of the key arguments pursued by extended painting is the issue of the frame. That has always been an exciting element of work for me - its boundaries, edges and limits, where things start to break down and where, according to the philosopher Jacques Derrida, it is possible to find out the truth.

The texts of Derrida have, according to Robin Marriner, fundamental implications ‘for our understanding of the nature of an art object and its condition of meaning … its boundaries.’[1] Derrida’s writing about parergon (frame) is of particular significance to the ‘extended painting’. Parerga have thickness that separates them from the integral inside as well as the outside, including wall or space, and from the historical, economic and political meanings.

No work, whether painterly or literary, can be viewed as a separate entity framed with the hardwood of irrevocability; no narrative can be approached as an isolated occurrence. The frame should rather be perceived as perforated, nevertheless the frame is there as Derrida asserts: ‘There is a frame, but the frame does not exist’.

[1] Marriner, Robin. ‘Derrida and the Parergon’. In: Smith, P. and Wilde eds. A Companion to Art Theory, Blackwell Publishing, 2002, p. 350.

Louise Lawler, Freud's Shirt, 2001/2003, matted cibachrome, Edition of 100 / AP 20/20, 12.7 x 11.4 cm (image), 35.4 x 28.7 cm (mat)

Louise Lawler’s practice is built around parergon.

She has been documenting the secret life of art as it made its way from the white cubes of galleries and the carpeted walls of auction houses to museum storerooms, corporate boardrooms, and private homes.

Her pictures as photographs are captivating and strange. In some ways Lawler is a conceptual Diane Arbus - a stalker who takes advantage of situations.

Absence & Dislocation

2009-05-20T23:56:00.003+01:00

A contemporary painter Matthias Weischer engages with the iconographic and painterly heritage of Vermeer and other seventeenth-century master. He interrogates conceptual concerns such as absence and dislocation of imagery and the implications of appropriation.

Devoid of inhabitants but full of obsessive detail in his depictions of tiles, wall coverings, textiles, and other decorative element. The resulting interiors, like that of Zimmer, defy all spatial logic and seem schizophrenic in their shifting perspective.

Matthias Weischer , Zimmer, 2004, oil on canvas, 140 x 170cm

Influenced by artists like Weischer, I have been increasingly drawn to experimenting with spatial ambiguity of interior. Misaligned walls suggest rooms in-between, mirrors reflect non-existing spaces, and objects are denied their original function.

I missed the playfulness and surprise element of paper-an-glue photomontages. The process based on painting the image from the collage source felt limiting and I questioned its purpose.

I decided to explore the process of montage by creating collage=montage image directly onto the canvas.

My strategy for this was to:

- Put the basic structure of the room on canvas. This was collaged from selected Victorian/Georgian interiors to create special ambiguity

- Select interior decoration like paint colours, pattern, flooring – I have tried different combinations and over painted less successful scenarios

- Select objects to be added to interior. This has been achieved by photographing the paintings and making montage scenarios on the paper prints

Displaced Interiors, Apr 2009, oil on canvas, 110 x 111 cm

Displaced Interiors, Mar 2009, oil on MDF panel, 63 x 122 cm

Interior Collages

2009-04-01T22:58:00.134+01:00

I have become increasingly drawn to experimenting with spatial ambiguity of interiors e.g. mirror reflecting non-existing corner spaces, misaligned walls and floors suggesting other space in-between.

A quick method for working out ideas would be to continue with making collages. They would not be the art work though but the paintings translating the ideas.

I have gathered library of cut-outs comprised of ceilings, floors, walls and windows. I have been arranging these elements into imaginary misaligned interiors and photographing the resulting images. This process allowed me to re-use elements that I might find intriguing and to try out multiple combinations.

Some of these collages are temporary and their existence is documented in electronic form only.

Expanding Paintings

2009-01-23T21:25:00.096Z

The intention is to extend the collage from the surface into the space. What happens to the painting when it is displayed next to other objects? Can the collage be continued from the 2D surface into 3D space?

Bowl painting displayed

Quick installation playing with the notion of domesticated setting, moving away from the focus on meaning to object quality.

Curtain painting displayed

Extending collage into the space around by adding elements in front. Displayed against the window to detract the viewer from studying the painting surface and focus on compositional elements instead.

Further exploration of the idea – around 40 shots taken in miscellaneous locations, selection presented.

Surgeons II

2009-01-21T20:56:00.002Z

Based on a set of collages, I have been placing people in unexpected environments e.g. surgeons in designer living areas.

I want to explore the feeling that something is not totally right and create the tension & ambiguity with this more playful approach.

I have been experimenting with translating the images into painting. My strategy for this is to:

explore work of Matthias Weischer, Dexter Dalwood, Rosemary Trockel and Richard Woods
consider what are the differences between the collages and paintings
understand the surfaces and their quality (smooth, detail level, accuracy), how edges work against each other, explore light sources across different elements
need to work larger to explore language of paint, textures and to allow for complex content
try different support grounds and copying techniques – projection, cut-outs, stencilling, masking off
consider not only adding in but taking away – creating tension as something is missing
be aware of the difference between an image that has a surreal quality vs collage. How does the viewer read it – is the painting too overloaded and read as separate elements or does the image read as coherent ambiguous space?

For more images click here

Surgeons

2008-08-29T21:56:00.017+01:00

Based on a set of collages, I have been placing people in unexpected environments e.g. surgeons in designer living areas. I want to explore the feeling that something is not totally right and create the tension & ambiguity with this more playful approach.

I have started taking the images into painting. My strategy for is to:

explore work of Richard Hamilton, Dexter Dalwood, Patrick Caulfield and David Salle
consider what are the differences between the collages and paintings
understand the surfaces and their quality (smooth, detail level, accuracy), how edges work against each other, explore light sources across different elements
need to scale up (blow up the collages, slide project)
try different support techniques – image transfer, cut-outs, stencilling, masking off
use gouache or acrylic for quick studies
explore mark making at different scales – use of pouring, squeegees, rollers, rugs

Click on the images below for more paintings on the subject.

Collage Series

2008-08-29T21:46:00.026+01:00

I wanted to follow a new approach of working with collage and building my own narratives. The new work is created around two subject matters. This college series is based on creating ambiguous spaces and a play between the inside/outside. I want to explore the feeling that something is not totally right and create the tension & ambiguity with this more playful approach.

I would like to create a couple of books of collages that will become artworks in themsleves. I want to experiment with formats (the collages do not need to be self contained in a rectangular/square format), compositions and patterns (e.g. work of Rosemary Trockel).

Collage Series Constructions - click on the images below for more

Collage Series Surgeons - click on the image below for more

From Hitchcock

2008-08-29T21:42:00.011+01:00

I was using Hitchcock works as a source material and appropriated selected film stills to capture the feeling of tension. I have created a number of monoprints on canvas and paper but I felt this was going nowhere and my focus was moving away from my original intentions.

Click on the images below to view prints developed around the subject.

Alienation

2007-08-19T22:49:00.011+01:00

I have returned to the subject of Angst & Alienation and started working on new paintings exploring further the imagery found on internet (see post below for details of Angst on Web).

I wanted to explore issues of alienation, detachment and existential angst experienced by an individual. I am particularly interested in a form of alienation derived through an excess of information, possibilities and pressures of the current world. Where an individual becomes paralysed in the face of too much choice to the degree of deep anxiety and isolation.

I intended to experiment with methods of constructing or layering images to build stories that are psychological but also succeed visually. These new paintings are small in scale and were intended as an exploratory play on compostion and dividing up the canvas space.

Click on the images below to view works developed around the subject.

Painting is Dead! Long Live Painting!

2007-05-11T18:13:00.004+01:00

This project explores the concept of painting in the context of post-modernism. What is painting? My definition: It is a Mode of Thinking Through Paint.

I have selected 2 objects that held an emotive quality for me - a pinni carrying associations of freedom and enjoyment and a part of old boiler representing ambiguity and insecurity. The text I have selected is from a book by Milan Kundera and alludes to issues of loss of control and insecurity. The objects for me inadvertently represent the female and male elements from the text and their juxtaposition creates a feeling of tension.

'The man did not force her, he merely took her arm. But as they walked across the open lawn, Tereza was unable to choose a tree. No one forced her to hurry, but she knew that in the end she would not escape. Seeing a flowering chestnut ahead of her, she walked up and stopped in front of it. She leaned her back against its trunk and looked up. She saw the leaves resplendent in the sun; she heard the sounds of the city, faint and sweet, like thousands of distant violins.
The man raised his rifle.' [ Milan Kundera, The Unbearable Lightness of Being]

I have explored the feeling of tension and insecurity through layering the images of the selected objects and other found images like hospital beds or CAT scans. Click on the illustration below to view drawings and painting developed around the subject.

Home from Home

2007-05-11T18:02:00.006+01:00

I grew up in tenements, an asphalt cosmos where houses are fastened to the ground with no roots, no cellars. Everything is mechanical and devoid of intimacy. For this project I wanted to explore a PHOBIA OF INNER SPACES.

The myth of the outside and inside is felt fully in alienation which is founded on these two terms. There is sense of entrapment that can be felt on the outside as well as on the inside.

Doors of hesitation

The prison is outside

Don't eat with your mouth open

Exterior dizziness versus interior immensity

The fear doesn't come from the outside

Click on the image below to view more castings and work developed around the subject

From Web 2.0 Print

2007-05-11T16:47:00.010+01:00

Welcome to the project Angst on Web. Its key objective is to explore how the web 2.0 can be used as a creative space for print making. The main focus of the research is based around visual references posted on internet under a subject / keyword / tag of ‘ANGST’:

A FEELING OF ANXIETY OR APPREHENSION OFTEN ACCOMPANIED BY DEPRESSION. AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, 4TH EDITION

AN ACUTE BUT UNSPECIFIC FEELING OF ANXIETY; USUALLY RESERVED FOR PHILOSOPHICAL ANXIETY ABOUT THE WORLD OR ABOUT PERSONAL FREEDOM. WORDNET ® 1.6, © 1997 PRINCETON UNIVERSITY

Click on the image below for charts and photographs sourced from Google & Flickr and edited in a Visual Gallery of Found Images.

Please also click on image below to view Collaged Images inspired and created from the sources in the Gallery.

Hidden Structures in the Local Landscape

2007-05-01T20:20:00.002+01:00

Body of drawings, paintings & prints which explore structure & colour within the local landscape. The source material comes from spaces which are usually unseen and view points that are unexplored and their relationships with the local surroundings.

Originally uploaded by aborowicz