‘Blind Summit’ – My first attempt at aquatint etching on Fabriano paper. My attempts to progress with my working practice have proved difficult, so instead I have pursued the potential for learning new processes in the print room – aquatint being at the top of the list. Using a basic stencil allowed the repetition of text across the plate, and testing out this process allowed for the depth of tones available to be showcased alongside one another. I want to pursue the potential of layering similar plates with hard ground etchings or pen drawings/writing to add a much-needed layer to my current work. I have also attempted to layer my individual etching plates using red and black to distinguish individual lines of the differing plates. Despite the interesting effect of the layered drawn lines I still don’t feel that the etchings on their own are enough to carry the work, they needs the addition of something extra; perhaps the introduction of aquatint tones or other elements of layering could assist.
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Erica Scourti's work has appeared frequently in regards to the themes of the perception of language and appropriation of existing text. Her use of technology and social media as a form of appropriation of internet data enables her to build up profiles of herself using written and spoken word in video and performance works, such as “Think You Know Me”.
"Secondary Sources" was on show at the Wysing Arts Centre in Cambridge after Scourti's residency there in 2015. The piece expands on her existing work. Here, she has used readings from her sketchbooks to create video works. Once again she uses her phone to generate the strobe imagery using an app, the colour changes as the app recognises the presence of sound - in this case her voice. Scourti has then used an automated feature on Youtube to generate subtitles. She then re-reads these subtitles to create the final work. The video is screened on a flat-screen monitor that rests on all of the sketchbooks and notebooks where the readings were taken from, spanning from 2003-2015. The viewer/listener may not realise that the readings don't make strict sense until they have been with the work long enough to pay attention to what is actually being said, although seeing as the readings were originally of notes from a sketchbook they might not all make sense anyway.
There are a number of similar videos that have been posted online. Titled under the dates from the notebooks used, each video has the same strobe effect that works alongside Scourti's voice. The subtitles however are only visible if they are manually selected - not obvious unless you already know the nature of the work. In some of the works such as "2012" Scourti has added subtitles of her own. At times they appear to follow what she is saying, but throughout the video they divert off-topic and narrate a story completely irrelevant to the subject of Scourti's readings. The subtitles switch between the two states of translation- the reader/listener is presented with two conflicting accounts which you must choose between to focus on as you watch/listen.
All of these works have related well to my practice, especially when I have been using words already written in my journals to create work. This body of work has also opened up the possibility of looking further into the potential uses of technology as a way of moving data across a number of platforms in addition to being used as a tool for translation and consolidation of data in written and visual forms.
THREE is a series of exhibitions from the second year Fine Art Students at Falmouth University. Held in the Project Space on Woodlane campus, these shows aim to showcase the work made this year by the students. For this show I entered some existing works; two etchings produced on the road, responding to movement and seen text. INSCRIBED ACTIVITY.
Dysfunctions between language and is visual adapts primary inability. Alternative engaging work reveals she leads alternative communication. Translation of visual abstracts decipher the means, identifies with it the visual presence as primary in Coward’s visual communication. Of marks presence communication is the readable. Writing activity transforms reading- primary reveals all. Rachael Coward’s work highlights the inability of communication and the dysfunctions of language. Language is infinite, and writing is a visible system that transforms abstract concepts into readable data. Working as a translator, she identifies means of alternative communication through processes of abstraction. She creates bodies of ‘text’ that challenge the conventions of reading; a physical activity that adapts to visual obstacles. Inscribed marks serve as visual prompts to the audience that blur the boundaries between writing and drawing. Illegibility leads to a primary function as a visual tool. Engaging with her work it is an activity of both seeing and reading- close examination reveals the presence of words, but it is a matter of translation to pick out and decipher these words. Despite language having a visual presence in her work, not all of the work is visible. SENDER // RECEIVER // MESSAGE “Fluxus is to point at a score and follow- in one way or another” (Bech, 2009 p.12) The scores and instructions that emerged from the Fluxus movement have the capability of being complete conceptual artworks. Performance of the instructions can be a necessary part of the work but it is not always the main focus. As described in ‘Fluxus Scores and Instructions’, the Fluxus score can be considered as both a fragment and a microcosm of the Fluxus field of possibilities. For every score there are other scenes created by artists, and an infinite number of performances and interpretations of the score by each new reader. The capabilities of these instructions and their many interpretations span the themes that I am in the process of exploring. My investigation into the perception and understanding of written text has the potential to extend to many forms of inscribed language, including these types of instructions. How a reader interprets what’s in front of them is different for every individual. The very nature of instructions gives an ‘end product’, and to see these products alongside one another would give an idea of how each individual perceives the instructions, much like the instruction works of Sol Lewitt. The action of giving a prompt, verbally or written is performative. Equally the results of those instructions are also performative. What identifies each experience with the work as different is the choices the reader makes when they encounter those instructions.
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AuthorThird Year BA Hons Fine Art student studying at Falmouth University Archives
April 2017
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