Rosie Kearton MACAP 501 proposal “I like it when things don't work: often then, something better than expected happens. Exhibitions that fail fascinate me. On failing, a space is opened up for the viewer, a possibility for dialogue. If something doesn't work out, there is more to talk about, and there is a reason to develop something in the future. Think of an artist who makes a perfect artwork - it is the moment when that artistic practice is no longer of any interest, and when there is no point in making more work” Lisa Le Feuvre Context At this moment in time, at the end of my degree, I am struggling to define exactly how I want my practice to develop. During my degree, I explored the mystery of our existence revealed through our connection with the world, and the marks and traces we leave behind; embodying the relations between history, daily life, memory and the everchanging present. I am a collector of ‘seemingly’ mundane objects that hold a personal fascination. My artistic practice often feels like a forensic investigation of 'historical' fragments; a search of the past in order to create associations that can be illuminated in the present. I am interested in layers of meaning and memories, and concerned with what has been lost or discarded. I focus on the transitory, fragile and fragmentary nature of existence; human identity and mortality. Being experimental, curious, playful, risk taking and accepting of failure is central to the way I develop my ideas. I chose ‘Failure’ as the subject for my Praxis project. I am drawn to old technologies such as Super 8 film and slide transparencies but I also embrace the new digital age. Aims To develop a direction and clarity about my practice. To develop the ability to formalise and clearly explain my work. To research further into aspects of chance, unpredictability and failure. Objectives Critically examine and reflect on my practice. Produce a body of experimental works that explores new processes such as painting, photographic techniques, and printmaking. Fully engage in critiques and discussions about my own work and the work of others in the group. Intended outcome The work I produce as a result of this module will be experimental and documented in a book format and on my blog. Methodology Respond to the world around me with particular attention placed on quotidian mundane objects – produce work that responds to really being IN a place, IN the now! Focus and attention are the key objectives along with working with the following concepts: chance unpredictability failure spontaneity repetition Document thoughts and processes (including group crits, tutorials) in my journal or/and in my blog at the end of each working day with particular attention on the above concepts. Develop a set of questions that provide helpful and insightful feedback such as ‘What does it mean to think about failure as being pivotal to the creative process?’ Research Artists and art movements Arte Povera Richard Wentworth Gabriel Orozco Joseph Beuys Jannis Kounellis Ann Hamilton On Kawara Exhibitions Turner Prize 2012, Tate Britain 2 Oct 2012 – 6 Jan 2013 The Far and The Near – Tate, St Ives 6 Oct 2012 – 13 Jan 2013 Potential resources Print Workshop Letterpress Casting and Moulding Screen printing Film – super 8 and 16mm found footage Video – Final Cut Photography – both digital and analogue – slide transparencies alternative photographic techniques (photogram, pinhole etc) and Bibliography Le Feuvre, L, (ed) (2010) Failure: Whitechapel, Documents of Contemporary Art. The MIT Press Ricoeur, P (2006) Memory, History, Forgetting (trans. Kathleen Blamey and David Pellauer), Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press Dean, T and Dellar.J (2005) Place: Artworks Thames and Hudson Adam, L, S Methodologies of art; an introduction, 2nd Revised edition edition (2009) Westview Press Inc; Kwon, M. (2002) One Place After Another: Site-Specific Art and Locational Identity, Cambridge, Mass. ; London : MIT Press Turkle, S, (2007) Evocative Objects: Things We Think With, Cambridge, Mass. ; London : MIT Ann Hamilton : present-past, (1998) Exhibition catalogue, MIT Press Gibbons, J, (2009) Contemporary art and memory: images of recollection and remembrance, I.B. Turius, London On Kawara : Horizontality/Vertically / [Introduction by Ulrich Wilmes, Essay by Michel Butor]. Koln : Walther Konig 2000 Orozco, Gabriel, Selected Writings ? Websites http://www.annhamiltonstudio.com http://www.theartstory.org/movement-arte-povera.htm http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/exhibition/gallery-lost-art “Every journey conceals another journey within its lines: the path not taken and the forgotten angle.” Jeanette Winterson