Jackson Pollock - Convergence

My first thoughts on analysing Jackson Pollock's 'Convergence' was that I was looking at a pleasing arrangement of coloured squiggles. I used to like Abstract Expressionism when I viewed it as decorative art - as something to hang on a wall to fit in with a room scheme. Then I grew tired of it. I know there is much more to this kind of art, and I don't intend to be dismissive, but I do find myself initially looking at the work from an aesthetic viewpoint. Once I get past this stage then I can look more deeply, but I do find this to be a problem for me that I don't usually have with photography.

'Convergence' is a four colour piece, co-ordinated using different paints with a background of black lines that seems to hold the 'design' very well. To review the work I really need to see it in its original form and at the correct size - which I understand is pretty big. Also, any painting would have texture that relates to the paint and its canvas which is lost when looking at a photograph. Once I began to spend time looking at the work I started to see patterns that evolved into faces and body parts - torsos, legs, a fleeting expression on two faces pressed close together - chest hair. Focusing on different colours bring alternative elements of the work into the foreground and it feels like the landscape of the painting changes and flows. The mind goes into free form and I understand from my research that abstract expressionism uses this style of painting to free up the mind and search for universal unconscious meaning. Pollock himself underwent Jungian Psychoanalysis and his drip painting method from which 'Convergence' is derived is a technique that helped the artist to express automatic unconscious emotions. The different coloured lines, swirls, whoops and whirls show depth in the work and I suppose the viewer brings what ever they want to the image when they view it.

This is not the sort of work I would usually make as a photographer. I can see though that free association of thoughts occur when looking at work that has no apparent narrative structure. The eyes and the mind work together looking for meaning and because of an absence the viewer constructs their own ones. This is a useful technique to be aware of that can be inserted into narrative sequences.

Tracey Emin - My Bed

This piece of work is in the form of an art installation. The bed in question needs to be walked around; the detritus of cigarette packets, empty bottles of booze, stained underwear, slippers, a razor, a cuddly toy and tangled sheets need to be analysed and viewed from all angles.

A photograph just shows us one viewpoint. With that said the image shows us work that is full of narrative possibilities. The discarded stockings, used condoms, and towel thrown on the bed, speak of a sexual encounter and the passing of time. Where are the occupants now? Who are they? The title 'My Bed' tells us this is the bed of the artist. By researching further I've found out that the work refers to Emin's 'Lost Weekend' after the breakdown of a relationship. Emin herself describes the work as a self portrait. But self reflection can allow us all through the commonality of experience to reflect on times in our own lives when, faced with a crisis, we may have responded with the heart and not the head.

I should imagine that to see the work in reality could be quite a visceral experience and touch the senses. I would personally feel slightly uncomfortable at the thought of being so close to a strangers bodily fluids and sweat stained sheets. Do these feelings bring me closer to the work? They are less likely to be conjured up quite so powerfully when looking at the image because we are one step removed from the work itself.

The crumpled sheets of 'My Bed' remind me of a photograph by Imogen Cunningham. 'Unmade Bed' is a Modernist study of form, using light and shadow to depict strong shapes and textures - raising the bed up from the banal and everyday. Even the hair clips that should provide context and narrative look carefully placed and formal. Whereas Cunningham's work is a piece of carefully composed Modernist still life - and a photograph; Emin's piece is more a metaphor for messy, complicated, illogical life - and of course, it is essentially a piece of contemporary installation art.

Matthew Barney - Cremaster Cycle

Cremaster Cycle - videos available on Youtube

What do you think was the artist's intent? 

This work uses Surreal imagery to describe the formation and descent of the gonadal structure in the human male. By using a Surrealist style the artist can show parallels with the concept that occur in our larger society. For instance, the division, formation and re-formation of biological structures into more complex forms is used by Barney to show developing societies from their early pre-industrial formation to vast, complex, Capitalist ones.

What does the image make you feel? Does it create any questions or conflicts in your mind?

The images make me think about the complex nature of our bodies, lives and society. I think about the random chances that have affected changes in these structures and make them the way they are. For instance a pregnant mother can have an accident that will directly affect the formation of the foetus; a random occurrence in someones life pathway can steer them on a different course; technological changes, war, and religious doctrine have structured societies in a certain way. I have realised that there is no one 'right' way of living our lives (in Western society) they just turned out that way.

Why do you think the artist has chosen to work in this way?

By using video film and the Surrealist genre the artist has access to a rich visual language to explore and express ideas. The high production value of the five films show considerable attention to detail. The use of sets, clothes, props, and lighting make for very convincing fantasy worlds.

Is this art?

If the artist says their work is art then as far as I'm concerned then it is. Whether it is good, bad or mediocre art is another matter.


Write a short 250 word review of each work and its relevance to your practice (if any) in your learning log.

250 word review:

The reviews of the Cremaster Cycle, a five-part Surrealist extravaganza, talk about the cremaster muscle and its ability to raise and lower the male testes. Some of the reviews focus on male ejaculation and sex; others look at the gonadal structure and how it is formed from undifferentiated structures during growth; lastly, some reviewers write about wider concerns of life, birth and death, and how these are metaphors for the development and structuring of our societies.

The Cremaster Cycle is so vast in its scope that it is most probably all of these elements rolled up into one big filmic, Surrealist fantasy. Before reading the reviews I watched all of the films and certainly picked up biological aspects. All of Barney's films show structures that have an individual cocooned inside. They are shown underneath tables in twin airships; inside co-joined cars at petrol stations; and scaling the lift shaft of the Chrysler building. The individual always seeks to find a way out. They concoct ways of breaking free and there is an element of change that affects them during the struggle. All of the individuals have attendants that are waiting or observing the struggle/change. I'm reminded of biological systems that monitor growth and release hormones at appropriate times during development.

When I discovered through research the function of the cremaster muscle, the struggles and changes to Cremaster's characters became clearer and helped me understand the fundamental aspect of the work that Barney was seeking to portray. Playing out around these scenes of struggle are vast panoramic sequences - dancing girls, metal bands, masonic ritual, Celtic giant myth, motorbike sidecar racing, that to me all indicate the formation of Paternalistic societies into structures and systems for living. I see these scenes as metaphor for the organisation of the undifferentiated gonadal structure into fully formed and descended testes.

I've used metaphor and allusion quite strongly in my own practice and can certainly see some parallels with Barney's work. I quite like to leave open-ended meaning in my images. I work on a much smaller scale  - on sequences of stills that are constructed; it is possible they could be viewed as Surreal. I have no plans to move toward film. The rich visual tapestry of Barney's work is inspiring and certainly a goal that I would like to move towards achieving at some point.

Elina Brotherus - Wapping Project Artist's Talk

I went to a fascinating talk by the Finnish artist Elina Brotherus on Wednesday. The Wapping Project in London's Mayfair was showing her '12 Ans Apres' exhibition. The work is very poignant and compares double images of photos taken in the same place but twelve years apart. Brotherus lived and worked in France at one point as a newly graduated artist. She had limited French language skills and made some self portrait work showing french words for things dotted on notes about her apartment. In the accompanying images Brotherus returns, older and with much more life experience, to the same dorm room. This time the notes contain complete thoughts - reflecting on her life so far.

By pairing these works Brotherus is inviting the viewer to reference the hopes and dreams of a young person embarking on an adult life. The images feel calm and have a melancholy stillness to them. But they are also quite emotive in that I think a lot of viewers would be able to recognise the sense of lost hopes and different life paths taken from what was originally hoped.

After the viewing, the OCA students sat on the floor and listened to Brotherus speak about her work. She translated her thoughts written on the notes in the later images. The complete sentences highlight the passage of time and it was quite painful to hear Brotherus read them. The notes referenced getting older and looking back on what might have been - Brotherus's 'Annunciation' work which looked at the chronology of going through IVF treatment and gradually losing hope is clearly a big part of the artist's life experience.

The session was videoed by the OCA so I look forward to re-watching. I made some notes of points from her talk that particularly struck me:

• Just make the work! Never feel blocked. The photographer does not have to have a concept or a plan or an idea at the beginning. Just go out and make images.

• Once the work is made then it is time to analyse. Lay the work on a table and look for connections, ideas, resonances. Sometimes place ALL work, even from previous pieces together so that over-arching themes and new connections can be seen and worked on.

• Feel better about making my own personal work. It is OK to continue making work about life experience. You have to trust that people will see the honesty and integrity in this kind of work. This reminds me of OCA tutor, Clive White's comment about 'commonality of experience' during my assignment review at Brighton recently.

• Although very open in discussing the series '12 Ans Apres'; when Brotherus was asked a question that appeared to delve too deeply into her thought process behind the chosen location for a Landscape, she declined to comment further. She stated that these were her personal choices and not necessarily intended or necessary for public reading of the work. Brotherus also re-iterated the notion of the image having different readings than intended by the artist. Keep something back. Make the work accessible but it is okay to not discuss all aspects of a piece of work if it is too personal. 

Exercise - artistic styles

Write 150 words on a subject that is important to you. Then make images in the style of Constructivism, Surrealism, and Conceptual Art.

I am interested in looking into the hidden histories of minorities. This is important because most cultures will have a dominant history that will always be viewed as the 'natural' and 'real' interpretation of the facts. But historians are not objective. They are not robots. They are human just like the rest of us - and as such, they will always interpret facts according to their own cultural, political and emotional bias. This means that other histories, such as those of women, minority races, and people of sexualities outside the heterosexual binary gender norm, are suppressed or misrepresented.

It is important for a balanced and equal society that these people are able to represent themselves. They need to take control of their own identities and not have one mirrored back to themselves by a majority that often sees no value in their existence.

Here's my attempt to express the above sentiments in the Constructivist style. Firstly I looked at a number of images made by El Lissitzky and noted the use of bold geometric shapes in his work. I took inspiration from his designs and then gathered a number of images from the Internet and tried to place them in a way that would show how learning about minorities has traditionally been interpreted via the dominant establishment. The guarded doorway shows this idea. I don't think it is too bad for a first attempt - particularly the idea to show alarm clocks being lobbed through the gateway and past the policeman. I played around with the placement of the objects quite a bit until I was happy with the design. It probably could be improved a bit further but I am now ready to move on and create a Surrealist version.

Constructivist:

Edit: 10th Nov

This time I have chosen to produce a piece of work that looks specifically at the issue of control and representation of sexual minorities. I have used the LGBT Rainbow flag on my painted tanks and show a citadel of learning under siege. The hegemonic citadel is made up of pieces of cityscape and library books with a picket fence encircling it. The rainbow tanks attempt to storm the citadel and set up their own representation. In doing so they have to contend with resistance from the jellyfish. These creatures stand for the all-encompassing and insidious suppression that attempts to silence minorities in mainstream society.

I think my image is not a bad attempt at Surrealism. I could spend a few more hours on Photoshop pulling the image together but I have made my point quite strongly and am more inclined to move on with the course.

Surrealist: