This research task first started by asking me to view this overview of the Embodied Experience of Drawing conference of 2018:
Love how all of the participants took different approaches to draw within their space. I especially liked those who managed to capture their body's movement. Rhythm and symmetry seemed to be a big part of those experiences. The people who took rubbing were also fascinating and reminded me of when I did that in my sketchbook with tree bark. However, I found the more performative work a lot less appealing.
Next, I was tasked with researching the work of five artists who make large-scale images, noting my thoughts on their work as I go.
Emma Stibbon
The first work that stood out for me was "Wild Fire" when I saw the thumbnail, I thought how accurate the trees looked, only when I saw the enlarged image did I see that the work was part image, part installation. I really liked the metaphor in the piece; especially how the artist used reclaimed charcoal from a UK forest fire as the primary medium.
When I saw the image, I thought that the image was one massive canvas/board. Only when I saw the video of the erection did I realise it was a number of large panels placed together. It makes the work even more impressive in my mind, as the panels connect seamlessly.
I really like the artist's focus on landscapes. It's interesting how her work blends image-making that vary from very realistic to very stylised and textural. She seems to vary her media as well, and this seems to dictate whether she takes a more literal or figurative approach.
Adam Dant
Dant's background in graphic design and his experience with printmaking really seems to have informed his practice. I found this series of videos very insightful, giving a window into his practice.
I love how he works in his sketchbook, trying to capture a sense the reality as he experiences it. His work is also like 'landscapes' but I think the focus of his work really seems to be the relationship of people to the environments and times in which they inhabit. In this regard, storytelling seems to be a much larger component of his work.
His work is one massive piece - watching him heft around the paper on the board really conveyed the size of the work. I loved the way that his sketchbook acts as a mental prompt for the pieces he creates.
The finished piece surprised me, I love how whimsical and allegorical it is. It reminds me of a giant 'Where's Wally' image - with so many little election stories to discover. Lots of the stories have endearing humour to them, rather than satire.
John Virtue
I've assumed that the "John Vertue" listed in the sourcebook text is a typo.
Virtue's work is, again focused on landscapes. They are very large, sometimes broken down into individual panels. Whilst he used colour earlier in his career, he subsequently narrowed his attention to creating black and white imagery noting that "colour is a distraction".
He uses a combination of white acrylic paint and black shellac ink. I like the way his images come together. There is something primal and elemental to his work. But also there is a vagueness to them, like creating a photograph with a crude pinhole camera things seem blurred at the periphery. He uses this to great effect, which can be particularly seen in his pieces depicting landmarks in the London skyline.
I liked this video - the relationship the artist has between his sketchbooks and his painting was particularly interesting:
The Boyle Family
I am not sure that I relate to the work of the Boyle Family. I think it sits too far on the experimental side of things for me. I appreciate the way that they can see any aspect of the world we live in and see beauty, and a sense of worth in it. They make no judgement about what something is - it just is. I think this takes a great deal of discipline.
Out of all the varied works, there are two areas that most appeal to me. The first is work that focuses on the human body. Looking at cytology and electron-photography reminds me of my time studying medicine but allowed me to start appreciating the images for their beauty, rather than their value as simply information. The second area is their 'Earth Pieces'. With my hobby in miniature modelling, these feel like hyper-realistic dioramas or model bases that I might try and create. I enjoy the way that they extract a particular location: like they have been added to some kind of alien library as specimens. Snapshots of not only a place but a point in time.
Andreas Gursky
Gursky's work is really interesting. Whilst he uses photography, his work is more than just that. Through manipulation or scale they turn into artwork in their own right. His work seems to focus on the relationship that man has created (or destroyed) with the natural world.
A lot of his work deals with scale by capturing imagery from a high viewpoint. From this height, he is able to juxtapose the repetition of man-made influences with the abstract randomness of nature. This reminds me of the long film, "Koyaanisqatsi", that I researched in a previous exercise.
What I found interesting was the way he sometimes "zooms in" to capture that relationship at a smaller scale. This image below has an almost Hopper-like feel to it:
Questions
The second half of this research task was to answer specific questions about my choice of one of the artists, above. I chose Emma Stibbon:
Q: How do they choose their subjects?
A: Stibbons chooses landscape subjects. Her work deals with environmental concerns, so many of her subjects are aspects of nature that are affected by climate and environmental change in some way. In this way, her pieces represent the impermanence and entropy of the world, expedited by the effects of humanity.
How do their creative and material approaches differ?
A: Stibbon's creative approach seems to be very hands-on. She likes to experience each of the subjects as close as possible. She uses sketchbooks on location and takes photographs which she can then use to create larger pieces in her studio space.
Why do they make their work at a large scale?
My understanding of her work is that she is very interested in landscapes from the context of subjects that are in a state of flux and/or change. For her work, size is important as a mechanism to communicate the fragility of these massive structures and scapes, rather than their enormity.
We are witnessing a dramatic melt within our own lifetime. As an artist, I am moved to somehow respond to this. For me, the challenge is to represent the fragility of the subject through the composition and material construction of the image. - Emma Stibbon [12]
What hurdles have they encountered or initiatives have they had to develop in order to produce their work?
Stibbon's subject matter is the natural world. She seeks to explore our relationship to an ever-changing environment. In order to capture this, it entails getting up close and personal with her subject matter. This involves a great deal of walking and orientation herself with her subject matter. She's even undertaken art residencies in the Antarctic! [11].
However, working at such a large scale (or in inhospitable environs) 'en plein air' would be wholly impractical. So her preparatory work is essential to her process. It is curious and inquisitive. Photographs capture essential information, but it is her relationship with drawing that is the core of her enquiry into these spaces. Her drawing is observational, but also gesturally captures the form, physical qualities and frailty of the subject matter.
References
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Gagosian. n.d. Andreas Gursky | Gagosian. [online] Available at: https://gagosian.com/artists/andreas-gursky/ [Accessed 15 June 2022].
Andreasgursky.com. n.d. Andreas Gursky | home. [online] Available at: https://www.andreasgursky.com/en [Accessed 15 June 2022].
Artnet.com. n.d. Artnet | Andreas Gursky. [online] Available at: http://www.artnet.com/artists/andreas-gursky/ [Accessed 15 June 2022].
Art UK, 2022. Discover Artworks - John Virtue. [online] Artuk.org. Available at: https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/search/actor:virtue-john-b-1947 [Accessed 15 June 2022].
Bourne IdenTV, 2015. Bourne IdenTV at Towner: British Artist John Virtue and The Sea. [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xRvW706LDo [Accessed 15 June 2022].
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Fabrizi, M., 2018. Monumental, Yet So Fragile: Arctic Landscapes by Emma Stibbon. [online] SOCKS. Available at: https://socks-studio.com/2018/10/14/monumental-yet-so-fragile-arctic-landscapes-by-emma-stibbon/ [Accessed 15 June 2022].
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Kennedy, M., 2015. Adam Dant's The Government Stable: the storeroom that contains an election. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/sep/17/adam-dant-the-government-stable-storeroom-that-contains-an-election [Accessed 15 June 2022].
Luhringaugustine.com. n.d. Boyle Family - Nothing is more radical than the facts - Exhibitions - Luhring Augustine. [online] Available at: https://www.luhringaugustine.com/exhibitions/boyle-family [Accessed 15 June 2022].
Nationalgalleries.org. n.d. Boyle Family (Mark Boyle, Joan Hills, Sebastian Boyle, Georgia Boyle) | National Galleries of Scotland. [online] Available at: https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/artists/boyle-family-mark-boyle-joan-hills-sebastian-boyle-georgia-boyle [Accessed 15 June 2022].
Sherwin, S., 2012. Artist of the week 207: Adam Dant. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2012/sep/12/artist-week-adam-dant [Accessed 15 June 2022].
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The National Gallery, L., n.d. John Virtue | Associate Artist Scheme | National Gallery, London. [online] Nationalgallery.org.uk. Available at: https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/learning/associate-artist-scheme/john-virtue [Accessed 15 June 2022].
Townsend, C., 2016. Mark Boyle and Joan Hills at the Gemeentemuseum, The Hague. British Art Studies, [online] (3). Available at: https://doi.org/10.17658/issn.2058-5462/issue-03/ctownsend [Accessed 16 June 2022].
UK Parliament, 2015. Adam Dant, 2015 General Election Artist for the House of Commons - Part One. [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlZoFasAPvo [Accessed 15 June 2022].
UK Parliament, 2015. Adam Dant, 2015 General Election Artist for the House of Commons - Part Two. [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGwSYfNe7-I [Accessed 15 June 2022].
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