Hi Lydia, sorry it's taken me so long to get back to you. I've just been waiting for a moment when I can spend a decent amount of time with the images and information you've sent me, rather than trying to pass comment on the hop. Anyway, I'm on a train to Luton right now, so I've some time...
The first thing to say is that on an immediate visual level, I think your work is very engaging. Of course, that might not be of any surprise that I would say that as you're clearly interested in some of the same things as myself, in terms of content/use of text/bold aesthetics/utilitarian modes of communication etc. Personally, I'm always drawn to this stuff as it's what talks to me on a daily basis, literally. I think there's a strength in using this stuff as it already comes with a whole host of accepted and given relationships, so on some level part of the work is done for you, in terms of engaging your audience. Of course, it can also be problematic as people sometimes don't try and look past their established relationships, but what are you going to do? Some people just don't want to try.
I'd like to head straight to 'Space to Imagine New Futures'. I see in your statement you refer to it being an ongoing research project. I'd be interested to hear some more about this. The reason I wanted to go straight to this work is that it's the piece that I think is most successful out of the images shown. That's not to say the others aren't, it's just that this work seems very considered and resolved in way beyond some of the others. The phrase itself is ambiguous enough to read as a proposition, a request, a statement – any number of different ways depending on how the viewer comes to the work. That ambiguity is a good ambiguity though, it's not hiding the work's intention in the washy position of, 'Well, it's whatever the viewer brings to the work', it's just allowing a range of interpretations that all, ultimately, lead to the same place. The scale of it, the material, the positioning – everything works. I'm interested to know if you left it there, or whether you just put it up for the purpose of the photo? I ask, as I would be interested to know how long it stayed there before someone realised it wasn't anything to do with the site.
This connects quite nicely with 'Surveillance Alone', which functions very differently, is interesting, but not quite as successful, in my opinion. Again, I'd be interested to know where the text came from – whether it's a phrase you found or whether you created it? Something that I think is particularly difficult with text works, and is something I struggle with constantly myself, is whether the text is doing anything more than simply offering itself as an opinion to the world. What else is it saying? How is contradicting or supporting a position or idea? These kinds of things. As a sentiment, there's nothing to disagree with in this statement, but I'm not sure what else it tells me. It's interesting to see you made it in Singapore on a residency. By the nature of residencies, I think they can often throw up interesting, unresolved ideas, that then lead on to something else. I wonder if that's the case with this work? I hope that doesn't sound too critical, it's not meant to. I guess what I'm saying is that this feels like a sketch; an idea or starting point that might lead somewhere else.
'Capitalism is Crisis' is another interesting work. This falls somewhere between the other two discussed above, in that it's immediately engaging and is offering something quite interesting to the world but currently doesn't quite deliver, in terms of its fabrication. I applaud your commitment to the work (which is something I should say runs through your practice in general – the commitment to actually take things out to where they're supposed to be, not just looking for safe sites around Winchester) – taking it to St Paul's, but aesthetically it doesn't quite get there. The styling of the plaque is more like something you'd find inside the Cathedral, as opposed to outside. I think there's two angles you could come at this work from, aesthetically. Either the official commemorative plaque (the route you've chosen) or something much more temporary and aligned with the movement. What would it have meant to take a fly-poster and paste it to the floor on the anniversary? It would get trodden on, removed, whatever, but would have something of the resonance of the movement running through it. Equally, if you're going down the official commemorative plaque route, be bolder, be more believable. This is currently a bit polite, which doesn't reflect the reality of the situation or the movement itself.
Again, I want to stress that I think your work is really interesting. I'm conscious that all this might be coming across as criticism, but I'm really just excited at how close this stuff is. If you can tweak all of your public interventions to function as successfully as 'Space To...' then you're laughing. It's heartening to see work by an undergraduate that's engaging with politics and the current state of the world. You probably sense the political apathy yourself that I'm sure exists in the majority of your peers. Political work just isn't something you see much of on undergraduate courses anymore, so I applaud you for having the strength of your convictions to make bold and personal statements through your work.
'On Your Marks', 'Overcome' and 'Party' all seem to be coming from the same place. I think they make a nice set together. It's interesting to see how you begin to bring your ideas in to a gallery context ('Party' aside). What's interesting is that, in terms of structure and motifs, you're referencing all these things you actively engage with outside of the institution, but you allow yourself a bit more room for abstraction – both in form and the elements you're bringing together. I wonder if that's a conscious choice, or whether it's something you're even aware of? This is nice to see, as I think we can all sometimes be guilty of getting too wed to the real or formal elements that we enjoy playing with – meaning that an abstraction of that can sometimes feel like a less satisfying version of those things. This doesn't seem to be the case with these works. I find, 'On Your Marks' particularly engaging. The empty noticeboard becomes an equivalent of the building site in 'Space to...'
I've no doubt you've seen Mark Wallinger's 'State Britain' – the best artwork I've personally seen in a number of years. His practice, in general, is a personal favourite of mine – intelligent, engaging, political and sincere. I rarely think he does much wrong. Jeremy Deller on the other hand is someone who very much fits alongside all this stuff, but when you really start digging down in to it often falls way short of the mark, I believe. Don't get me wrong, he's made some interesting work and I'll always go and see his shows, but I think his recent retrospective at the Hayward was problematic for so many reasons and actually revealed his practice to be the very light touch it so often is (light touch is no bad thing either, but in his case I think it means it doesn't push the ideas through the 'take a popular culture and do something engaged and 'other' popular with it' barrier). Mark Leckey and Phil Collins are both people I think do manage to push things through that barrier.
I'd be really interested to hear who you really gain inspiration from, artistically speaking. I also think I'm asking quite a redundant question there, in that the best inspiration for artwork, of course, comes from nowhere near the art world. I wonder if you've seen the documentaries of Adam Curtis? If not, you must, and I recommend you start with his series 'The Century of Self'. Have you read 'Chavs' by Owen Jones? A great, and very readable book, that examines the demonisation of the working classes. Have you read Kurt Vonnegut? Strangely, for a fiction writer, I'd recommend his 'Man Without a Country' book – a kind of autobiography. His fiction then makes much more sense (not that it's difficult in the first place, but understanding him a little more makes the fiction all the more meaningful). These are just all personal favourites of mine, so may be of no relevance or interest to you at all, but I thought I may as well flag them up, as I know they're big sources of inspiration for me. So, I guess, in an expansion of my 'artists' question, I'd ask, what are you in to? Films, books, music, all that other stuff that I think is actually so much more interesting and important than art when we're talking in this way.
Anyway, I've gone on enough. I look forward to hearing your thoughts. Feel free to be critical, this is all just my opinion at the end of the day and I think one of the most important things you will learn at university is which advice is useful to listen to – most of what you're told will be useless, but it's being open enough to hear those gems when they pop up that is the real skill.
All the best
Mark
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