Experimental Journey
“It is important to think of Public Space through the lens of citizenship and that physical spaces, do not become public spaces, till they are made so, through the actions and activities of citizens” (1).
Diane E Davis Ph.D.
American sociologist and geographer
Starting Point
As with all experimental journeys, you have an idea of where you research and experiments will lead you, but you never quite know what you will discover and where these breakthroughs will take you.
As an artist, it’s not just a quest for knowledge, it is also a desire to uncover processes and techniques to help you to create and express your thoughts and feelings about your chosen subject. The unexpected, the happy accidents, the surprises, and the final outcome, are all what drives us to investigate and experiment in the first place.
The Journey Begins
Becoming interested in how people inhabit and use public spaces was a direct result of my research into international street artists. I visited the International Street Art festival in Malta in July 2015 and whilst observing and photographing the street art there, I found my interest and focus shifted from the art itself, towards the people inhabiting and engaging with these spaces.
Once my journey was on the right path, I started to research and along the way, I discovered an interest in the way public spaces are used, in particular, observing people at rest in these spaces. I am more drawn to depicting, the unintended spaces that are claimed and used by a population particularly areas of seating or ledges and steps that are claimed as a place to rest a while and relax.
Primary Research Methods
Taking my camera and sketchbook with me on my everyday travels in and around the North West of England and in Malta. I immersed myself into observing, listening and noticing the various ways outdoor spaces are claimed and brought to life by people. I used photography, sketches and listened to snippets of conversation. I let myself imagine the character and life of the people, conceiving a scenario on their behalf, which makes a composition come to life. I talked to them those people willing to engage through this awareness or my imagination, my compositions were becoming more informed. I looked at artists including Salford artists, Henry Riley and Lowry to inspire my sketches.
As a perfectionist and a realist artist, I find it difficult to stop adding detail to my work, so during this project, so taking inspiration from Irish Pastel artist Eileen Healy, I set myself a task to push my boundaries and to experiment with materials, composition and form, challenging myself to leave negative spaces untouched, adding detail only where I want to create a focus point.
My initial aim was to produce purely figurative drawings to illustrate different behavioural traits the UK and Malta. I wanted to portray a strong narrative within my work to communicate the character behind the people depicted. However, as is often the case, my medium of choice had to be reassessed, as I developed painful tendinitis in my right hand making it physically impossible to do such detailed intensive work.
Having researched the techniques and colour theory behind the Pointillism movement, and viewing works such as the Camille Pissarro's Pont de la Clef in Bruges 1903 that blends Impressionist and Pointillist techniques. I was inspired to try mark make in a similar fashion to see if this more abstract technique would allow me to paint, without stressing my hand too greatly. I experimented more with splashes, dots and circles and began to develop techniques to allow me to express my findings.
Incorporating Digital Technologies into my Mark Making
Inspired by David Hockney's use of digital technologies and his never ending quest to find new ways to make art, I began to experiment more with digital manipulations. I started with some overlaying images to compare and contrast street scenes in Malta with Manchester. Below in these two images, both street scenes can clearly be seen. I liked the etherial quality this produced and was stimulated to go on experimenting with the digital applications to see how I could further abstract images such as these....
I also wanted to combine my digital and traditional experiments by mixing the different media. I did all sorts of experimental work such as importing my sketches and then experimenting with colours and circular dots and forms in 'Procreate' Application. This very short video show one of my experiments.
I took the layer from my 'Procreate' App with just the brightly coloured figure on it and further experiments overlaying it with other images. running it through several processes.... I was really pleased with the results...
I now started to experiment more with various digital applications including Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator and Paper 53. My experimentation was great fun and my work began to take on a new life and vibrancy.
Above my Pointillist tribute... a street scene in West Didsbury. Above and a selection of my digital experiments below...
Many of these experiments I believe, lend themselves to fabric print, I began to imagine these made up as scarves, sarongs, wall hangings, even dress fabric or curtains.... My display ideas were popping into my head and pleased with the direction this experimental work was taking me in.
To fully meet the brief of comparing and contrasting the use of outdoor space in Manchester and Malta, I decided that for my final piece I would overlay pictures of the two main streets that have focused in my research. Melita Street, Malta and Sandhurst Avenue Withington as these are the streets I know the best.
My observations as documented in my presentation, noted that the Maltese claim the streets and use them as part of their recreational area. They walk in the road, sit in the street and generally inhabit these areas. In contrast the suburbian streets of Manchester tend to be devoid of life as people retreat from the car into their walled gardens and private spaces often going months without acknowledging neighbours.
Not all of my experiments were successful,some were dull an lifeless whilst others were amazingly successful, but through this experimentation process I was learning what to do and what not to do, to create the results I wanted.
Final Outcome
Inspired by Peter Doig's moody conceptual observational work documenting man's relationship to the environment, I wanted to create my own abstract representations that on closer inspection the form could be recognised. As I was visualising the more etherial qualities of voile type fabrics set against more definite images I have chosen a mix of hard and soft substrates in the form of fabric and traditionally printed paper canvases....here is a selection from my numerous my experiments leading up to the final outcome.
My final Outcome is a body of work incorporating my feelings above.
Below is a selection of my chosen pieces displayed at the exhibition on 10-13 June at MadLab Manchester...
Bibliography
1 Quote taken from a recorded interview with Diane E Davis Ph.D. American sociologist and geographer.
Site visited 5.2.16 and 8.3.15 http://www.publicspace.org/en/post/you-can-design-physical-areas-but-they-do-not-become-public-spaces-until-they-are-made-public-by-people
“Shared Spaces recorded this conversation with Diane Davis in July 2015 when she visited the Centre of Contemporary Culture of Barcelona (CCCB) in order to participate in the debate “The Possible City: From Urban Planning to Democracy” at which Richard Burdett and Teresa Caldeira also spoke.
The debate was part of “The Possible City" cycle, which was jointly organised with the Social Science Research Council, New York. Richard Sennett and Ira Katznelson were also guest speakers in the cycle on 2 and 3 July 2015. In this short interview, Davis offers a highly synthetic account of her view of public space and the importance of analysing it from the citizens’ standpoint. Urban planning makes no sense if people, the citizens, do not appropriate the space. Hence, in Davis’ words, “physical spaces do not become public spaces until they are made so through the actions and activities of citizens”. Diane Davis is Charles Dyer Norton Professor of Regional Planning and Urbanism at Harvard University. Among her areas of research are urban development, comparative international development and cities in conflict. She is also interested in historic preservation, urban social movements, fragmented sovereignty and urban governance. Recently her work has focused on the transformation of cities in the global south and the social and political conflicts that have emerged in response to globalization”
All photography is my own
