start

Continuing my work I have decided to look into Bas Jan Ader. Having researched artists such as Chris Burden, I would like to try something different and be less exaggerated and try and incorporate subtly within my work. Bas Jan Ader has a more sensitive approach to his work. His art is the complete other side of the spectrum to Burdens work. This photo is apart of the work ‘I’m too sad to tell you.’ This was a silent movie consisting of Ader crying as well as this still photo put on a postcard and sent to Aders friends, on the back of the postcard it said ‘I’m too sad to tell you.’ There was not a reason given for this work. As a man who struggles to express emotion I find this very powerful as a work. Truly dethroning the ‘boys don’t cry’ ideology. I also take enjoyment in how simple the work is, not over the top in the slightest. Going forward I want to further research his work.

Delving further into Bas Jan Ader I have become a big fan. Looking into the works that use gravity as the medium interested me greatly. However the most impressive and capturing piece, for me, was his final work ‘In Search of the Miraculous.’ Ader attempted to sail from the US to Europe in this, unqualified sail boat, seen on the left. Ader was never to be seen again after his voyage began, a truly tragic end, yet at the same time, rather romantic. It is the ultimate sacrifice for art. I think his commitment to his work is what is inspiring, this work also questions what art is and pushes conceptual barriers. I watched the documentary https://youtu.be/wW9PDCMI1iA which helped me to learn about both this work as well as the artists ideologies. The remains of his boat were discovered, below, however, I still have hope he's out there somewhere on a Bech with a Pina colada, one can hope.

This term want to really look into artists and their works. I think previously I have had an idea and just ran with it without giving it too much consideration. This term I want my works to be more thought through and calculated.

I felt as if I needed to delve deeper into other artists in order to continue creating myself as I have been in a creative lul. I first got introduced to Tehching Hsieh last term. I was shown this work, ‘Time Clock Piece.’ This was one of five, year long performance pieces. He states, ‘One year is the basic unit of how we count time.’ ‘How we measure our existence.’ This piece consisted of the artist stamping a time card in his work uniform every hour of everyday for a year. This caused great psychological pain as he could never truly rest. He grew his hair throughout the year showing a change in appearance, but I think you can see a change in his face, he looks tired and restless. I love how this work is about labour and how one is controlled by their work. He creates this unnecessary labour that does not pay for his work, a true discipline that in my opinion, has paid of greatly. There is a seven minute video which contains the compilation of every photo, here is the link https://youtu.be/k4_xw2zyQN4

His third one year performance was the (Outdoor Piece.) with all his one year performances he gave himself a contract as it were where he signs it (above on the right two.) He gives himself a clear set of rules and follows them. In this instance he prevents himself from entering any shelter forcing him to face the harshness of nature. He documents his whereabouts through maps and there is a film of his ‘wondering’ throughout the year. What I love is how much he pushes the limits of human nature. With these exploits not only is he performing, however, he is also learning about the world around him and himself. I take pleasure in the rules he makes. A anti art of sorts, limiting creativity through this. Making art and life coincide. His pursuit of extremity seems limitless, which I think is what pushed the artist so far.

I find it interesting how Tehching Hsieh sets himself rules. He makes art into a chore, counter acting creativity. He challenges himself which I take inspiration form. He tests the human limit, I think he does this to reflect his hardship, to prove his worth. As a response I want to take on a challenge. I want to give myself a doable task, so I kept it very simple. I decided to time-lapse myself filling in a piece of paper with straight lines, as seen below. People assume that because I do art I must be a painter or draw, I think in creating these simple marks I am dethroning the idea that all artists should be painters.I think this work was the beginning of a new path for me. Making art that is intentionally boring in order to raise questions. Quite the opposite to what I have been doing previously. I am going to start small as living outside for a year seems a bit much as of now. Who knows what future holds however.

Following the exhibition I want to challenge myself slightly more. I got a bit self reflective and i asked myself what would be challenge. I decided that silence would be my challenge. I have, throughout my life always talked, arguably too much. So, this seemed to be the perfect way to combine art and life. I set myself the target of going through the working day in silence, 9-5. This was a very daunting idea for me a is can barely go thirty seconds without making noise. I decided to tape my mouth, to avoid any temptation, except when eating and drinking. To document the process I took a photo hourly. Photos below. I learnt a lot during this experiment, a big realisation was that silence is really not for me, so dull, really really bad day.

I was very happy with this experiment, both aesthetically and what it stands for. Looking back I would change the time lapse element. I should have filmed the whole thing, making the audience endure the labour of the work, almost making them suffer as I did. As well as this the audience would have been able to hear the snippets of conversation that happened throughout as people walked in and out of my house. Another part of the work was that I did it in front of a wall of scratch cards, this was just to add a bit of humour, I am aggressively addicted to the scratchies. However I want to combine it with something outrageous to show the contrast. Booredom combined with lunacy. I wanted the piece to relate to my previous topic where I have been speaking about conditions of labour. So I decided to get covered in mud (right) then have the mud washed away. This is to symbolise how a worker is often treated like dirt and at the end of the day is meant to act as if it is completely fine. One carries insults and rudeness with them even after the shift is over. I drew around myself and walked over my body with red paint, to further emphasise the idea of being walked over. It also looked quite grave like. Showing that we work until we die. Working hard does not necessarily equate to success. I split the body with the drawing piece, to show how one suffers whilst being bored, reflecting a very bad combination. A tough concept to be speaking about without sounding like a twat, as a white male. I think I need to be careful with this subject as there's a fine line between the work being effective and the work coming across as insulting.

So below is what I presented in my mid-term exhibition, the documentation of the work is abysmal, my bad. I taped the work onto the wall to reflect further the sense of being trapped in societies expectations. This sadly did not go down too well with the crowd. Next to the work there was a screen with footage of the drawing time lapse cut with the video of mud being poured all over me. Due to a lack of organisation, the video quality was awful; which damaged the work. what was presented was definitely my least favourite work shown. I think the outline of my body seemed very forced. I felt this pressure to make the work look like something, as before it just looked like a load of shit on a piece of paper, which I dindnt at the time think was ok to submit. Looking back I actually think it would have been a much better idea. I have been to caught up in the destination of the work rather than the journey. SO going forward I want to focus more on the process.
Even though bi was not happy with the result, the feedback was the most helpful, so the silver lining was ever present. Everyone responded very positively to the boredom drawing piece. This was a surprise to me as I usually expect a reaction from the more overt work. But, I think this could be a big penny dropping kind of a moment. I, for the rest of the term am going to focus more on the subtleties of art. I want to focus more on the concept of boredom and how hard work does not imply success, lots of what we do is pointless, nice and cheery. I also want to further combine art and life, following in Tehching Hsieh's footsteps. I am excited for the second half of the semester, the feedback has really given me lots to think about and work on.

Yes, so as said previously, silence is really not the one. I suppose I did learn from the experience however. Other than it being dull, it also taught me that I really don't think before I speak. In my head I would have formed a sentence, then realised that if I said that, it might be quite hurtful, completely unintentionally, quite a bleak realisation. It was also quite a challenge, especially when I had could have said a joke, but had to internalise it, very humbling for the ego. I know this experiment is rather pathetic compared to living outside for a year, or a cage for a year, but I think what I am doing is more relatable. It feels as if these small things I am doing seem feasible and therefore can be relatable to the audience.
I think this experiment was a success. I am sort of challenged with these performances as I'm not sure what the work is. Is it the performance that few people will see and be apart of, or is it the documentation. Going forward I need to assess what my work actually is; the performance or the documentation of the work.
I am going to continue with the eight hour concept. A day of work, making art a job, making it unexpressive. I find this quite amusing, also, it feels like a topic that has not been explored deeply by many artists. Probably because no one in their right mind wants to be bored on purpose. Only a fool would do that.

So going forward, I want to revert back to my mid term piece. The 'scratched lines' piece went down incredibly well. I am going to recreate this with more of a focus.
I want to do eight hours of drawing, useless lines. A strict rule enabling me to create a giant work. I chose to film this piece so the audience could look at it and listen to the conversations with strangers and see the surroundings of people filming and looking perplexed. I did the work in South Park, partly because I new there would be many people who would interact as well as a beautiful sunset view making it aesthetically pleasing, which is always a bonus.
I choose to do the work on a scroll, I did this to reflect this almost endless cycle. The work is to show how, one can work and try hard and not necessarily be rewarded. If you work hard, it is not a guaranteed success. We are stuck in a world where you are told to work hard in school, get a degree, a good job, so you can be rich. Money seems to be the only goal. This work attempts to reflect the idea that a lot of the work one does, is pointless and will not bring the anticipated joy. In some cases people choose their own suffering I especially found this whilst at work and want my piece to offer an alternative outlook. One does not have to follow the societal expectation.

HAD A NIGHTMAREEEEEEEEEE. THE FOOTAGE GOT DELETED. EIGHT FUCKING HOURS, GONE. Obviously had a meltdown, but, have been searching for the silver lining. Fortunately there is one! The fact it got deleted kind of proves what I wanted it to reflect. Hard work doesn't pay off, tough. So as a response to this I want to continue with a performance during the final exhibition.I looked into 'Erased De Kooning drawing. This opened my eyes to the value of art and what it really is. This repetitive process of drawing and rubbing out and drawing and rubbing out only leaves a small imprint, nothing really impressive, but because of the labour that is made the value is, well, to me, high. His work was there to break boundaries which it did. I want to do a duration piece. Sitting down and rubbing the pencil out. I want it to be casual where I am doing it throughout the day having conversations with people who walk past. The way it will be presented will force the audience to stare and in turn ask questions. as well as this I want to look as casual as possible, making me looking pissed off at what I have to do. 'What you do, will be erased.' A harsh title, however with optimistic intention. I want people to look at the work being destroyed and see that not all hope is lost. One can take a different approach in life and think about what is it they want to achieve in this world. It sounds quite drastic, but I think it is something people should really think about. A performance is a way in which people can be able to see the struggle of it all, which I think is important and effective!.