Before you make or do any art, you must think alot about stuff… and perhaps read books by notable philosophers such as Baudrillard, Nietzsche, Wittgenstein, Bataille, Heidegger, Foucault… These writers will change your view of the world. It will not be enough to say I am inspired by… or want to encapsulate so-and-so quality… It is much more academic to explore themes such as human communication, personal identity, gender, society, religion, culture, mathematics, technology, science and nature, the planet, the universe. Your perceived or intended audience is always paramount – to whom are you communicating and why? You will need to challenge accepted notions or perceptions of seemingly ordinary happenings or objects for it to be received as high art. For instance, to create art within an architectural space, you could reinvent or redefine it using non-traditional media, such as video projections, suspended objects, sound waves, anything which distorts reality and brings into question the relevance of past, present or future events.
Artworks which are time-based either through a series of moving images or which are performance-related or re-enacted (preferably through a willing public engagement) are good visitor attractors. Deconstructing, recycling or re-siting found objects is also a good idea as the physical, tactile quality of materials reflect a sense of the history or perspective you wish to convey. Light, sound, transparency or complete invisibility of actual materials project ideas of fragility, stillness or transience and can draw attention to the space or surrounding structures. Solid objects act as deliberate obstructions or interventions within the space, instigating a critical debate between the viewer, the artist’s intentions and the concrete artwork, a core principle in site-specific, installation art. Absurd juxtaposition, kitsch, horror and vulgarity should be used with utmost care; if it’s not Duchampian, Koonsish, or made by a couple, then it’s quite likely to be seen as art for art’s sake, whilst masquerading as risque, thought-provoking art.
A supporting artist statement for your work acts as press release, editorial and exhibition review material for the (sometimes lazy) art media, so use communicative, dynamic words such as: subvert, intervene, integrate, challenge, alter, extend, locate, dislocation, critical, conceptual, unauthorised, contrast, boundaries, thematic, systems, enquiry. Highlighting historical references or prior events are very good for contextualising your ideas and authenticating the overall purpose of the work. The use of graphical maps, charts, linked events, repetitive processes or controlled systems of making, taxonomies, collections or categorisations are all very good methods to give a deeper sense of narrative (and meaning) within the artworks. You could also refer to the work of other respected artists, key thinkers or makers, but only back this up with a selected quote if it acts as the starting point or departure for your own work – you do not want to be narrowly defined by their work, unless appropriation is a key part of your practice.
Your current method or approach to your work defines your artistic practice, and so always begin artist’s statements by saying this body/collection/series of work questions assumptions, highlights differences, challenges preconceptions, etc. Other words to convey an element of astute professionalism in your work include: engagement, debate, transfer, examine, authorship, ownership, relationship, establishment, globalisation, issues, cultural, quasi, methodology, schema, phenomenological. Paid projects are sometimes referred to as artist commissions, whether for permanent public display or a private gallery space. Unpaid or unfunded series of works could be process or concept-based and this can usefully be referred to as thematic research and development, so include it in your resume for any future artist funding proposals, international art competitions, conventions, symposia, events or exhibition submissions.
So, to summarise; identify an interesting context, location or event in which to develop or produce your artwork – this could be in response to a call for interest in a public art commission, a themed show or an application to a major funding organisation such as the Arts Council. Research the history and culture of the place. Find and make connections between that and your own history or experiences. Perhaps combine ready-made or unconventional materials in your proposed artwork to convey a particular perspective or message – this need not be the answer or resolution of an idea; in fact art is much more tantalising to its audience when it subtly questions or contains some deliberate ambiguity.
It may be important to build a network of associated technical specialists in which to call upon to make the actual artwork – after all, you not are a qualified cinematographer, electrician, architect or engineer (yet). Acknowledge that the artwork will have to be validated by some form of public response or engagement. Perhaps make it with lots of miniscule moving parts or construct it incredibly large in scale and site it somewhere quite desolate but open to the public and media, as anything that fits snugly in an A4 envelope or the back of a volvo estate will only be seen as sold-out commercial art, of little interest to serious commentators, critics or curators of art. Lastly, if you can do all of the above within a practice-based PhD, then you’re really cooking on creative gas!
P.s. Of course, this has been a gentle mickey-take or satire on the making of contemporary art, but much of it actually holds true. Artists should not be just defined by their chosen method of work (so, an artist likes to use paint, the vehicle of painting is vacuous without a purpose), the reason to make work is what defines and shapes artists, who we are and how we see things, agents of change perhaps not, but artists should seek to continually explore ideas both within and beyond the immediate context in which they live and work – materials or processes are chosen as the most appropriate concrete, visual language in which to realise the original intentions…
This thesis is still a work in progress, I am still learning….
