In More Than One Space
Images and text copyright Š their respective authors and artists 2012. All rights reserved. This publication may be freely distributed without commercial gain.
A Network Elective Department of Fine Art, University of Lincoln
In More Than One Space
Free of the burden of the material surface the artist’s mark becomes fragile, ambiguous, and amorphous. The process of reification, of treating the abstract as a tangible object, is engaged to locate the ephemeral in site and context. Yet, the mark becomes part of the site in which it is placed, a time-defined addition to the fabric of the building. There is reciprocity of influence between art ‘site’ and art ‘work’ that sets a reflexive and symbiotic relationship in motion. A co-dependency is established whereby the site contributes and informs the artworks meaning, and the artwork contributes to the altered sense of the space. In quoting Susan Hapgood’s Remaking Art History, Miwon Kwon suggested the term site-specific means ‘moveable under the right circumstances.’ 1 The artists in this publication have negotiated and interrogated the terrain of site as moveable. They have explored how site can become surface.
Dr Angela Bartram Senior Lecturer, Programme Leader BA Fine Art, School of Art and Design, University of Lincoln
Kwon, M. (2004) One Place After Another: Site-Specific Art and Locational Identity, London: MIT Press, p. 38. 1
When we enter a space we subliminally analyse it, making rapid sensory measurements which help us understand where we are and what surrounds us. That analysis is a reassuring process, which helps us make sense of the world and how we interact with it. We like to know where we ‘are’. Much of our engagement with visual art spaces utilises this familiarity of locating ourselves in relationship to what we are looking at. We take for granted, when looking at a sculptural object for example, that it will conform to certain visual and physical laws. It will remain visible as we walk around it. Distortion will occur - elongation and foreshortening will help us understand where is ‘near’ and where is ‘far’. Subtle shifts in colour allow us to perceptually measure distance and boundaries. We do this with (ostensibly) flat, pictorial space as well. Our interrogation of a drawn mark is based on our understanding that the mark is located on a surface and is flat. Drawings are always microscopically threedimensional but we choose (mostly) to disregard this fact and apply a different spatial analysis. So, what happens if we release the drawn mark from its supporting surface and place it in more than one space? Locate it so that it appears to be sculptural, or not ‘there’, causing a clash of interpretation. Marks and surfaces can be viewed, explored and interrogated using a broader set of criteria.
During the In More Than One Space elective, participants have examined the location of marks which appear in multiple locations simultaneously, applied projected marks onto existing architectural and sculptural spaces, causing a ‘bumping’ together of how we expect a visual and physical situation to behave. There has been no insistence, during the 14 weeks we have worked together, for a defined outcome (thing). This often limits exploration and results in demonstrations of phenomena. Here, each of the participants has worked independently or within groups, to question how we look … and what we ‘see’. The photographic documentation here adds an extra visual and spatial ‘filter’. It ‘flattens’ the locations in which the ‘events’ took place and disallows our normal analysis of the space in which the marks and objects appear to exist. The result is a speculative catalogue of situations and observations - a base vocabulary.
Dr Andrew Pepper Visiting Lecturer, In More Than One Space Elective Leader BA Fine Art, School of Art and Design, University of Lincoln
Perception Uncanny Experimentation Light Distortion Space Place Line Architecture Inquiry Structured Parallel Shadow Closure Energy Depth Adventurous Dimension A p p e a l i n g RESPONSE Delicate Revealing Subtle Fox E n c a p s u l a t i n g Charlotte Spontaneity Boundaries Nealie Harding Ellis Negative space Harriet Shared Discovery Nick Kyriacou Johnson U n e x p e c t e d Laura Captivating Experimental Leanne Nixon Hewes Zen Informative Kathryn Playful Open Diverse David Fowling Cooperative Enthusiastic Constructive Energetic Diverse Transforming Unpredictable Inventing Experimental Interesting Imaginative Simple Light Effective Inquisitive Engaging Exciting Multiple Perspectives Fascinating Deceptive Surprising Innovative Intriguing Experimental Exciting Inquisitive Playful Questioning Inventive Improvising Project Manipulating Investigative Entrapment Zen Control Erratic Chaos Experience Excite Enclosing Web Perception...
Participating Artists Charlotte Bitter Harriet Ellis David Fowling Charlotte Fox Nealie Harding Kathryn Hewes Laura Johnson Nick Kyriacou Leanne Nixon A J Richards Jo Sams Jen Smith Scarlet Summerfield Roisin Vance
Charlotte Bitter
Harriet Ellis
David Fowling
Charlotte Fox
Nealie Harding
Kathryn Hewes
Laura Johnson
Nick Kyriacou
Leanne Nixon
A J Richards
Jo Sams
Jen Smith
Scarlet Summerfield
Roisin Vance
Acknowledgements Special thanks to all the staff in Fine Art, at Lincoln University, for supporting the In More Than One Space Network Elective. A whole series of electives took place, on a diverse range of topics, which produced a stimulating and energetic atmosphere throughout the fine art project spaces, studios and gallery. Particular thanks go to Richard Black, our audio-visual technician, who provided us, week after week, with slide projectors, overhead projectors and enough extension cables to knit a small installation. Finally, thanks to the participating artists, all third year fine art students, for engaging with the elective and being willing to explore beyond the ‘normal’. Andrew Pepper - March 2012
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