My One Kilometre Journey Inspired by Marina Abramović
I was inspired to do this piece after examining Marina Abramović’s work. I was intrigued how she used her body in her art and tested the limits of her physical endurance. I thought about using my own body to measure one kilometre, wondering what it would be like to feel every metre of that journey.
I started my journey at a local park, laying down my outstretched body to mark the two metres. I placed a red stick over my head so I could mark the next two metres. I performed the process a total of five hundred times to achieve a one-kilometre journey. My husband, Tom Bishop, documented the event using Stop Motion on an iPad. Later, I inputted the document into iMovie and then formatted it on YouTube.
I was surprised how very long one kilometre is. I appreciated how tactile the experience was – feeling stones, bushes, gravel, and mud under my body. There were some sweet moments too – like looking up at birds, tree branches, and planes overhead. I wished I could have an extra camera to film from that perspective too. Another project maybe…
One Feat Three Ways
Creating this series reminded me of the video that we saw in class of the woman eating cherries. The first few mouthfuls seem like pure delight… but the task appears increasingly difficult the longer she eats. It was like that when we filmed this video. At the beginning, I felt the delighted surprise and deep satisfaction of blowing that perfect bubble. It brought back happy memories from childhood, eating bubble gum with a friend. However, the longer we chewed, the harder the task became; we ran out of the ‘good’ bubble gum; our jaws started getting tired; and we got tired. Like Diane says, sometimes art is hard. But even though it’s hard, it is still worth doing and admittedly can still be a lot of fun.
The Loop: The Perfect Bubble ….
The One-Shot: Hubba Bubba
Each bubble blown is unpredictable and temporal – and a beautiful little sculpture on its own…
The Sequence: PoP
This was my favourite film. It felt very intimate to do this film; we were physically close and at times our bubbles touched. It felt especially poignant given our hyper awareness of physical proximity during COVID. There was a lot of unpredictability doing this piece. Could we blow a perfect bubble? What would happen when they touched? And when the bubbles did touch, there was something subversive about sharing chewed bubble gum; it felt like a special connection to share the gum with a friend, throwing away conventional ideas about hygiene and the proper way to behave.
Audio Project: You’re so smart. You’re so clever.
Praise is something that many people have heard and given. It is something that is culturally engrained, a social nicety intended to be positive and affirming. I often find myself sometimes mindlessly uttering praises throughout my day. Sometimes it is unconsciously said and other times it pops out when I want to be positive but feel lost as to what to say. Yet, when receiving praise, I am sometimes reminded how meaningless the words are. Or, I feel confused as to what the speaker’s real intention.
This audio piece is intended to comment about the giving and receiving praise. I emptied the power of my words by reading them in alphabetical order using a monotone voice.
Trip to the Power Plant: Brenda Draney
I have been thinking a lot about Brenda Draney’s exhibit, Drink from the river. She examines the complex nature of intimacy, referencing her own memories and experiences. I find it fascinating how Draney explores how meanings of these memories can shift and even the memory itself can not always be completely recalled. The viewer is invited to use their own interpretations when viewing her deliberately unfinished canvases. Sometimes, there are noticeable corrections to the paintings, creating a halo-like effect above the portrait. On one of her works, the canvas has not been stretched tight, causing a ripply sensation like the wobbly effects of a memory. Her work makes me consider just how much memory can wobble and morph over time.
Zavitz Gallery: Better late than never
Sarah Fabrizi stresses the importance of experimentation and risk-taking in her body of work. She is pushing herself to try something different, trying new techniques in every painting. I admire the confidence not only in her words, but in her bold markings and colour palette. In her artist statement, she relates how her pursuit of art has come at the end of her undergraduate degree. Fabrizi’s work resonated deeply within me. I realize that my own artistic studies at Guelph have also been two years of experimentation and risk-taking. I have tried new forms of expression such as video, audio, sculpture, and printmaking. Even in the areas of painting and drawing where I have some experience, I have been wildly changing and experimenting with style and colour and form. Like Fabrizi, I have come to study art later but as she states “better late than never”.
University of Guelph Art Gallery
Last week our class took a trip to the University of Guelph’s art gallery. The exhibits were very thought-provoking. I found Insoon Ha’s installation, Dirige, especially moving. Dirige was inspired by the isolation and grief experienced by Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns and deaths of people who were close to her including her father and a friend. At the same time, information was being released in the media about the discovery of bodies at the residential schools. It reminded me of my own feelings of isolation and grief at this time. This installation acknowledges these enormity of feelings, offering a space for grief and mourning. Each sculptured head is created as unique and different. Sometimes when we hear of loss in the media, these deaths are thought of collectively. Ha insists in this installation that each life lost is worthy of honouring and remembering.
Conceptual Project: Pythagorean Theorem in Five Minutes
Feat: Proof of the Pythagorean Theorem Explained and Understood in Five Minutes
Mathematics is my son’s love language. There is nothing more that he loves than to explain to others a difficult mathematical concept. The challenge that I face is that mathematics is not a language that I understand or speak very well. I often struggle to understand. However, the trying is the important part because I want to connect with him.
For the purposes of this conceptual project, I set the task for Jack to explain a challenging mathematical concept in just five minutes (usually his explanations are closer to 40 minutes). Jack chose to surprise me with the proof behind the pythagorean theorem, something he thought would be manageable to accomplish in five minutes. This is a video about building connection through language and relationship, despite the challenge of the set time limit.
University of Guelph Studio Tours
This afternoon, the MFA and Specialized Studio Students opened their studio doors to the public. Wow! It was such a great experience to see and talk to the students about their work. I was especially excited to Samuelle Grande’s work. Samuelle has a very exciting colour palette and brushwork style. I was fascinated to hear how she worked on larger canvases. Although they look like they were painted in a short time period, each one took her around three months. She often puts away work, and then pulls it out later to see the canvas with a fresh set of eyes.
It was also very interesting to hear about the specialized studio courses. Every student that I talked to spoke passionately about being in the program, and was excited to talk about their works.
Tatoo Party!
Big thank you to the Experimental 2/3 studio class. It was so much fun to see your tatoos and put them on!
Artist Multiple: Buttons
I decided to do something intimate and personal for my button project, printmaking art work using my own body. Each button holds work that is personal and one of a kind. The sensual pleasure of touching the paper used is enhanced by using watercolour paper with no plastic covering. These buttons could be worn as special occasion, to be handled with care and treasured. Alternatively, they could go out and be exposed to the elements, celebrating their temporal nature like kisses and bodies.
Read My Lips
This button series was inspired by by Joyce Wieland’s O Canada (1970). I touched my lips to each button as I made the sounds of the phrases – I love you, Hey sexy, Kiss me, No. Each button in the phrase could be worn as a multiple or on its own, passing on the kisses to the viewer.
Boob Buttons
I was inspired to create my second body printmaking button work from Yves Kline’s Anthropometries series. I decided to reclaim Kline’s work, printing my own breasts. The nipples look like eyes staring back at you, reminiscent of some of the paintings like Manet’s Olympia where the naked female directly confronts the gaze of the viewer. I choose to do some boobs in blue, as Kline did. Some are also in red, referring to how breasts can be different temperatures for a variety of reasons! This piece became a personal celebration about my own breasts.
Art is Har….
I couldn’t resist ending my blog with this button. It is a little bit funny; I was totally unaware when creating it that the words would be backwards or that the type would not all fit in. Art is like that – it’s hard, full of trial and error and sometimes things don’t quite turn out the way that you might expect. But there is beauty and realness to the trying, which can also sometimes be reflected in the product. A big thank you to our instructor, Diane, and to all of you for opening my mind further to what art can be.
