Monthly Archives: February 2018

Notes on Tutorial: 28 February 2018

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Contemporaneous notes of a 1-2-1 tutorial: Dr Wendy McMurdo – Wednesday 28 February 2018, 1100 hrs

The concept for the Final Major Project was introduced: Jo-Ana – the diaries of an anorexic visually described in photographs. WM commented that this was both interesting and topical.

Laia Abril’s†1 Thinspiration was introduced as an initial point of research.

Sarah Davidmann’s†2 Ken. To be Destroyed was also suggested for its value in photographically documenting found artefacts.

The Diary Drawing’s of Bobby Baker†3 document the performance artist’s ‘experiences of day hospitals, acute psychiatric wards, ‘crisis’ teams and a variety of treatments’. Started in 1997, the drawings became a way for the artist to articulate complex emotions and thoughts to family, friends and professionals.

It was suggested that as the premise for the project was the diary entries of an anorexic, the diaries themselves should be at the very heart of the body of work.

WM indicated that an artist’s statement would be required – this could be anything from a paragraph to a page. It was also indicated that a statement would be needed to convey the thoughts of the participant (who could remain anonymous) – again, this could be from a paragraph to a page in length.

The importance of evidencing my research and reflections regarding the ethics of the project was discussed.

 

Links

†1 Laia Abril: http://www.laiaabril.com/project/thinspiration/

†2 Sarah Davidmann: https://www.saradavidmann.com/

†3 Bobby Baker: https://wellcomecollection.org/exhibitions/bobby-bakers-diary-drawings

They Bloom, They Die

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‘Works of art often last forever, or nearly so. But exhibitions themselves, especially gallery exhibitions, are like flowers; they bloom and then they die, then exist only as memories, or pressed in magazines and books.’

– Jerry Saltz (2008)

 

Reference

Saltz, Jerry (2008). ‘The Day the Lights Went On: Dan Flavin’s 1964 breakout show, in meticulous reproduction’. New York Magazine [online]. Available at: http://nymag.com/arts/art/reviews/46424/ (accessed 25 February 2018)

Participation and Alienation

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‘Photography, which has so many narcissistic uses, is also a powerful instrument for depersonalizing our relation to the world; and the two uses are complementary. Like a pair of binoculars with no right or wrong end, the camera makes exotic things near, intimate, and familiar things small, abstract, strange, much further away. It offers, in one easy, habit-forming activity, both participation and alienation in our own lives and those of others – allowing us to participate, while confirming alienation’.

– Susan Sontag

Reference

Sontag, Susan (1977). On Photography. London: Penguin Books Limited

Intuition

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‘With my photography work I don’t make too many plans, I just have a framework; and then I want my intuition to inspire the work. If you take an overly intellectual approach I feel the work becomes too illustrative and didactic’.

– Ori Gersht (in Read, 2014, p. 53)

Reference

Read, Shirley (2014). Exhibiting Photography: A Practical Guide to Displaying Your Work. Oxon: Focal Press

FMP Timing Plan

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FMP Timing Plan

Timings for the project are based on a completion date of 22 June, this allows a nine-week period for subsequent critical evaluation and write-up before an assignment submission date of 24 August.

Identification and development of the concept, image design, and asset procurement are the critical factors for the project – those factors upon whose completion all other tasks depend.

Float days are built into the timing plan to allow for contingencies, for example, illness, for reshoots, and to allow for critical evaluation.