Critical Summary.

The following is my critical summary as included at the front of my reflective journal, looking back over the last semester and how my work has developed.

• In semester one I started exploring British society and in particular the working class. I adopted quite a personal approach and identity in relation to said themes became very important to me. I started creating a number of paintings while looking at photographers such as Martin Parr and Iain Dobie and their scenes of everyday Britain. I realised that the energy in my paintings was coming from my own frustration and insecurities surrounding my own identity, feeling working class but living a traditionally middle class lifestyle. The last painting I created in semester one was a large scale history painting (looking at Jorg Immendorff) and I felt it was quite unsuccessful; it became too bogged down by composition and lost the fluidity and spontaneity that were evident in all my other pieces. This was a difficult point to end on entering a long break and I decided that going in semester two I needed to refresh and try something new.
• I had been watching a number of British social realist films throughout semester one as research and continued this into semester two with renewed energy. I realised this was an interesting and perhaps the most appropriate medium in which to tackle the themes I had been exploring. Feeling despondent about my painting I decided to start writing short monologues for fictional characters. I felt very self conscious about these pieces, perhaps because in some instances they alluded to person feelings. Being influenced by films by directors such as Ken Loach, Mike Leigh and Tony Richardson I decided to incorporate my writing into short films tackling issues of everyday life in Britain, in relation to identity, society, politics and economics. I felt that my writing was a much stronger way of approaching these themes than painting and allowed me to communicate what I was trying to get across. I wanted the short films to be a vessel for my writing and to put the emphasis on the feelings and situation of the character and their life.
• I decided, as I was using a medium that was new to me, I had to do research so started looking into film theory, in particular narratology, semiotics and methods of story telling. I looked at a number of books (Bordwell (1985) and Stam, Burgoyne, Flitterman-Lewis (1992) in particular) which gave me an insight and better understanding of film theory. I picked up a number of ideas for framing shots, the way I would film certain shots (ie. Point-of-view), as well as semiological references and how I could include certain imagery or signs to influence or guide the viewer. I felt it became difficult to fully understand the large amount of theory I was reading and decided to allow myself to be somewhat intuitive when creating films but then to step back, assess them and pick out key features of my work and then to read the relevant theory and better understand why I had done something and what effect it was resulting in.
• Aside from film theory I was doing other research into the subject matter of sociology and politics, specifically in regard to class and identity (Skeggs (2004)). I looked into theories of ‘self’ and identity and the evolution of class and its relation to economics and a wider social and political picture. Throughout I felt it necessary to keep up to date with politics and current affairs and became very engaged with this, particular in the run up to the general election, when differences in class were being brought into the media and public debate. I believe this helped me maintain a momentum and drive, staying interested in my work and engaging on a number of levels.
• Writing became increasingly important throughout my research, partly to reflect and speculate on what I had learned and how I could implement it as well as offering my opinions on political matters. As well as writing reflectively, I was writing in a more involved way with the subject matter, responding to what I had seen, watched, read or learned. The more I immersed myself in political discussion the stronger my own sense of identity and political allegiance grew and this is something that I really want to capture in or allow to influence my work, but up until now have not been able to do. Even though I have not been able to directly include such things in my work, having corresponded with MPs and expressed my opinions on a number of political matters I think my future monologue writing will be far more informed and sincere, something I was concerned with from the beginning.
• My group exhibition and critique fell in the same week and it was definitely a week that altered my work. Firstly, our exhibition was in a multi storey car park in Winchester and I was struggling for ideas as I felt I had moved on from my painting and didn’t want to show them as they didn’t really capture what I was exploring at the time. I couldn’t show my recent films because of the lack of power in the space. The thought of creating work in the space during the exhibition really intrigued me, as did the space itself. I decided to investigate the themes I’d been exploring on a more personal level so arranged small discussions with a few people at a time on the topics of politics, society, education and class. I filmed these discussions with a view to having them as independent pieces as well as starting points for new fiction films. My work was slowed by technical difficulties, which I hadn’t encountered before, while editing the footage. I was left feeling very frustrated after working for 12 hours a day for no result and with only half of what I wanted to show (along with more technical problems) resulting in a less than useful critique in which it was hard for people to give me feedback when I felt I really needed it. With the Easter break approaching I returned to doing more research and looking in more depth at the works of Ken Loach and Mike Leigh (as well as more contemporary films) and some of their ideas on film making with the hope that it would give me fresh ideas to go back and tackle this process again.

Loach and Leigh.

Apologies for not writing in over a week. My page view graph has flatlined at zero and such objective feedback is hard to take and makes me embarrassed.

I’ve been lazy over the Easter period, I predicted it happening.

I am back into working ways now and have spent the morning reading articles and highlighting relevant points and including them in my reflective journal. I’ve read two lengthy interviews with Ken Loach and Mike Leigh, both of which have been very useful. I would like to find more critical analysis of some of their film, as opposed to simple reviews.

I related what Loach and Leigh said in the interviews to my own work and have come up with some thoughts, I guess, in response to some of the critique of my short films.

Optimism is long term. The characters are in the here and now, living in the moment and I’m giving the viewer a glimpse of that. To portray them with optimism would only seem contrived and fake. Humour and harnessing the amazing human capacity for people down on their luck to be funny is one way to break up the pessimism or realism. It is important this is not perceived as trite or cheap as it’s pivotal to avoiding creating stereotypical characters. An individual reacting with dry humour to bad situations keeps them human and realistic.

I think I need to continue writing and exploring script ideas and ideally try to keep the scripts as loose as possible to allow for improvisation. This feels like it could be difficult as I am not working with professional actors but with friends and people around me. Loach is well known for using people who aren’t actors in his work, though those people are always from the area he is filming and have a lot in common with the characters of his films. It may be difficult to find such characters at an art school, keeping in mind that my disillusionment with art school is partly what’s driven me to create this style of work.

I need to focus on the humour in my writing, not just for comic relief and definitely not to appease the smiley-happy brigade but, as I said before, to maintain a realistic human feel to the characters, to make them more three-dimensional and not stereotypical. In my critique a few weeks ago, the mature German Phd student who leads my group and speaks brilliant English, used the word silhouette instead of stereotype. I liked this as it made me realise I need to ensure my characters are not simply outlines but are fully rounded entities.

This reading of Ken Loach and Mike Leigh has been invaluable on a number of levels. Here are two quotes from each man that I have picked out from the interviews.

"It’s a mark of how much the right wing has triumphed that people just associate strikes with inconvenience."

- Ken Loach

"I do this because my job – and this is what all artists do whatever the medium, because all art is based on improvisation and order – is to start something that grows all over the place and then figure out how to shape it into something that’s coherent."

- Mike Leigh on negotiating with actors as creative collaborators

Not a total disaster for a first post in a while.

Manipulating Class.

I’ve been reading “Class, Self, Culture” by Beverley Skeggs. The following is my reaction to what I’ve gained from it in relation to my own artistic practise exploring British society and the class system. Excuse me, if I repeat or reiterate points highlighted by Skeggs. This is partly to organise my own thoughts and reflect on what I have learned.

Class does still exist. It is not talked about as frequently or in the same way as it has historically. It has taken on a different guise. It is now represented by a number of things; location (geographically or for example a local estate within a community), political alignment, culture and lifestyle. It is to be noted however, that this representations are formed not by who they relate to but by other social groups to re-affirm their own self image. Such class identities are constructed to limit mobility. That is to say, the middle-class (authoritative) will enhance their own value by constructing and repeating negative values they assign to the working-class. It must therefore be understand that any negative representation of the working-class is an attempt by the middle-class  to attribute value to themselves. As Skeggs says; “making oneself tasteful by judging others tasteless”. This is done through the authorisation and institutionalisation of class symbols, suiting the middle-class who occupy the positions of political authority within institutions.

The repetition and institutionalisation of the constructed values attributed to the working-class highlight the fragile position of the middle-class and their “authority”. These efforts to keep the working-class in a fixed place can challenged through the critique of the middle-class and the questioning and devaluing of authority.

The creation of classed symbols and class representations acts to maintain class divisions.

As a point separate to Skeggs but in line with current affairs I would like to highlight the proposed Labour policy to allow football fans a greater chance of having a say in the running of their football clubs. Under this plan fans will be allowed a stake of 25% in their club combating the recent worsening feeling of football fans to the owners of their clubs. It will provide fans with the power to prevent takeovers and the purchasing of controlling shares from businessmen who may not fully appreciate the heritage of a club and its meaning to the fans. Examples can be seen now at Manchester United and Liverpool. The Tories have dismissed this as gimmicky and I’d have to agree it is a gimmick. But could it be a gimmick that will work? I don’t expect the Tories to understand football, which has long been the working man’s game. Could this move by Labour to reinforce what would be seen as their core vote potentially work for them? The importance of football is not to be underestimated in Britain and with the timing of the election so close to the World Cup, could the increased interest in football in this country potentially swing some votes Labour’s way. I’m not sure yet what long term effects such a policy would have on the game but it’s safe to say if it gives power to the fans who, of late, have had a raw time of it, then it could just be a stroke of genius. That is to assume that football does have a great enough importance to large sections of society. I’d like to hear other people’s thoughts on this.

I hope I don’t sound like a class-warrior. Please get involved and share your opinions.

Distractions 2.

Okay, I’ve had a shower, a couple of coffees and some breakfast and I’ve got through a bit of work. Time for a break and to continue my earlier post.

Being at home provides so many distractions. Take this morning as an example. Already I’ve done some excessive tweeting, chatted on Facebook (these occur all the time, no matter where I am), I’ve been distracted by my brother’s angry rap music, I’ve been roped into helping my mum with some self-assembly garden furniture, I’ve had to slalom through my own house to avoid childminded kids. It’s endless distractions. It also doesn’t help that my dad likes to set the central heating to “slow cook”. I can feel my body simmering, by the end of the day I’ll tear away from the bone like tender meat. I’m constantly having to open windows wherever I go in the house.

My natural tendency to procrastinate increases when back home. Reading turns into one of the most challenging activities known to man. I’m trying to read up on class, popular culture, “self” and cinema/film theory. It’s difficult when I can’t read more than a paragraph or when I do, I look back over it and realise I haven’t absorbed anything.

I have managed to do some “work”. I’ve printed eleven pages of old blog posts. I did manage to read some pages of a book on popular culture and photocopied some pages to put in my reflective journal. I also got out the highlighter pens and went wild with them on there. Green highlighting and orange asterisks. Fluorescent glory.

I guess that’s enough to deserve this break in which I’m really still working. Today’s been good so far. I just hope I can avoid further distractions. The big one, coming up to around midday, is the lure of raiding the cupboards. I will eat. Just not yet and when I do, not for too long. That’s one of the major problems I face, breaking for too long. The longer I abstain from working the less likely I am to go back to it.

I guess I should sit down and actually read. (And then photocopy and highlight).

I shall do this and then reflect on what I have learned.

I apologise for how disjointed and poorly written this is. It is not planned and is pretty much just a “note to self” kind of monologue spiel. Hopefully I’ll post some more insightful writing later. Sorry.

“Childminded” is highlighted as a spelling mistake on WordPress, with the correct suggestion being “evil-minded”. Oh WordPress you old cynic.

Distractions.

WARNING! This post will take on a different style to my recent posts. This will be very centred around me. I need it to be for my reflective journal university module. And it’s also 7am and I haven’t slept well.

I’m back home. And by home I mean my parents’ house. I’m here for two weeks over Easter and really need to get some work done. I haven’t been able to bring my computer back so writing is about the most intense task I can make my laptop perform. I’ve realised, since starting university, that coming back home isn’t good for my work ethic. I’m trying to put my finger on why. I got in last night and felt so unbelievably relaxed. I was at peace, it was beautiful. Not very conducive for work however.

Being awake at 7am should be quite good but really it just provides me with the time to watch the entire original Star War trilogy or to get some serious Xbox play time in before my brother wakes up. My brothers are a distraction also, whether it’s just spending time talking, or playing Xbox or fighting.

It’s strange being home. Good but strange. I start thinking about having mental, fancy breakfasts.

My minds just drawn a blank. I can’t remember what I was going to write in this post. I’m off to get a shower and do some photocopying. Photocopying is good, it feels and looks like work, gets stuff done but is practically effortless. I’m sure I’ll add to this later but for now, one half-done-job down, a few more to go. Interspersed with Xbox 360 on HDTV obviously. Who could resist that? I’m only human. Don’t judge me.

Nothing.

Today, I’m going to write about nothing. Wish me luck.

Firstly, I have the same problem nearly daily. What to write? I was asking for help when it was suggested that I should write about nothing (because I’m good at that apparently). This idea intrigued me, so here goes.

I love talking about nothing. It is the only thing I know anything about.

- Oscar Wilde

How do you talk about nothing? You can talk about nothing of importance, of trivialities. But there is some, if limited, content to what you are saying. In turn how do you write about nothing? Some may cite social media sites such as twitter or Facebook as masses of meaningless content and drivel. I’m dragging this out, it’s not a difficult question. You can’t. Once you try to talk about nothing, it becomes something. An interesting paradox.

So if you can’t talk or write about nothing, what about negative space then? Negative space isn’t nothing, it is negative space. It is key to compositions in painting and photography allowing the focal point of said composition to be placed in one of the golden areas of focus. Is there a literary equivalent? I’m terrified that having thought of this question I will soon realise it is impossible to answer but it will continue to occupy my mind, eventually sending me mad. But what the hell, let’s have a crack.

I need to take a step back, address what negative space is. It is the space surrounding an object in which nothing resides but allows the viewer’s eye to focus on the intended object. Without it you could not see the intended object.

“A hole can itself have as much shape-meaning as a solid mass.” – Henry Moore

So it is the nothingness in which something can exist. So logically, in literature, it would be the unwritten. The mind of the reader, their suspension of disbelief which allows the written to make sense in their mind and exist in their imagination. In literature the editing process is as important as the writing itself, so it would be safe to assume that the author makes a deliberate effort when chosing what to include in a piece  of writing and what to omit. It is partly these omissions which allow the resulting writing to exist in a more effective and natural form in the same way that a painter may decide not to paint a certain part of a scene to draw more focus to what he deems important. To bring the analogy into the 21st century, how one may use photo editing software to erase parts of a photograph for the benefit of the overall image.

To summarise, whether it be in painting, photography, cinema or literature, what is not is as important as what is. For if there is no darkness, there is no light.

Using this logic, I can happily spend time doing nothing for doing nothing allows something to exist.

The Modern Role of the Artist.

I just listened to a BBC Radio 3 programme about art as a means of tackling difficult emotional debates and complex, modern social dilemmas. The programme was presented by Matthew Sweet and featured a lecture by Tom Shakespeare. A lot of the following is reiterating and giving my own views on what was said in the programme.

This is something that strikes me as interesting right away as I can relate it to my own work looking at British society and the class system. Art has long been used to highlight contentious subjects in an impacting way. Art moves people and makes people think at a deep level, it opens our minds. Looking at a piece of art evokes hundreds of emotions and thoughts and these can help us tackle difficult problems in the world and our lives. People can relate to art, they can see it on a number of levels in a way which one can’t with statistics or scientific facts. The emotions evoked through art is what allows us to dwell on difficult subjects in a way which rationality can’t.

One of the points made was that an artist should force people to think. I thought this was obvious, I’ve said this since my school days that good art is something which makes you ask questions. It was suggested that artists should be seen as intellectuals in our societies and I agree. The degree to which artists research and follow various enquiries can be equal to any scientist or philosopher.

Art is difficult, it is a life long commitment to a form of enquiry, it’s research before it’s communication. Artists have a greater responsibility than we can imagine.

Art is a means of communicating and opening a platform for public debate on subjects that affect us all but are often only addressed in specialist scientific jargon. Art can speak to our human condition about complicated social and moral dilemmas, when science can’t reach the average layman. I would like to see a greater responsibility put on artists to challenge and enquire into problematic areas and to communicate their findings. I would also like to see the funding available for artists to do this. It would improve the contemporary art world and result in more work with real social and cultural value and less trite and trivial art made for the market.

I’ve said my little bit, now listen to the programme.