ARCHIVAL INTERVENTIONS

An archive is a “storage area” holding a “collection” of “records”, “documents” and materials. They are all around us and we use and produce them without a second thought. They can include libraries, museums, photo albums but extend to Facebook profiles and blogs.

Archives can hold memories. Each object or document holds a story as to why it has been saved and by whom. These personified narratives can act as great inspiration for artists and designers. Collections can serve as thinking and research methods as personal interpretations and analysis of the multiple items can aid the creation of project concepts and themes.

It is not always the items that the archives hold that can encourage creativity; it can be their arrangement and placement within the space. An archive is a still life waiting for someone to draw out their response. Connections between shapes, textures, colours of objects an in themselves be a project’s starting point. Artists such as Boltanski have done just this. Some of his photography archival work displays images of individuals who experienced the holocaust. These pictures are connected by electrical wires and therefore suggest a ancestral tree. The obvious joining of portrays stems from the historical even that they witnessed. The quantity of photographs creates a compelling expression of the number of lives lost. The link of death can be highlighted through the use of bulbs, which suggest “candles “of remembrance. The work portrays the power that an archive can hold and translate.

Through projects we create archives; technical files, concept folders, journals and sketchbooks all hold an assembly of recorded material. They possess a personal journey of development and therefore a memory. A chronological order in such files displays a growth, an explanation of events, of increased knowledge and understanding and of an individual investigation.

Archives preserve the past, whether they hold information from 50 years ago or from 5 seconds ago; they hold what may otherwise be forgotten. It is the past that we learn from, that we improve from and what aids developments in the future. 

Boltanski (n.d.). Monument. Retrieved from http://www.thejewishmuseum.org/site/pages/exhibitions_detail.php?id=908

THE FUTURE WORKPLACE

The future workplace for textiles practitioners is an exciting concept. Expansive advances and accessibility of new technology allows us to question whether our way of working will become more independent. Will there be a need for largely developed factories and workshops or will all the resources be available in the comfort of our own homes?

The internet enables companies to communicate at a large global scale. Multiple team members are able to collaborate ideas using programs such as Skype and face-timing software on computers, tablets and now even smartphones. These virtual meetings have an advantage over face-to-face conferences as larger numbers of workers can be involved and more suggestions can be made and shared. However it is not only during vocalised communication that technology brings ease to methods of working. Sizeable files and documents can be sent via intranets and emails at high speed. These communication methods mean that time differences between workers around the world become less problematic, but can a company remain connected through technology alone?

A large element of textiles design is the development of the textural appearance and handle of the components and materials used. There is a limit to how a tactile quality can be described and expressed through spoken or written word, meaning that sometimes it is vital that a textile travels through our fingers. It is only then that we can acquire a sense of how the fabric would work for its proposed application and end use. It is important that the full design team are able to respond to fabrics to allow for a collaborative discussion about developments and adjustments that need to be made. If there is not a communal workplace for this to happen, increased numbers of samples would be need to be produced and sent out to all team members which will therefore increase the time needed in development stages but also increase the amount raw materials and resources used.

The idea of individuals working and collaborating from multiple household settings also brings potential problems in terms of creative thinking. Idea generation and innovation is dependant on our surrounding environment. To fully understand direction of thoughts, it is sometimes important to talk through initial ideas and receive feedback to aid development. Working in a less-structured environment may enhance ideas yet may also create a feeling of isolation and a creative block. Choices in creative working spaces is a very personal decision. So…will the future workplace be more of a flexible idea?

PLAYING TO THE GALLERY

The artist and designer Grayson Perry is giving a number of lectures that can be listened to on radio four. This series is called “Playing to the Gallery” and questions the “role and place of art in the global landscape of the 21^st century”. Grayson is asking about how we as a “society” “judge” the “ quality” of what now is “mainstream” “contemporary art” from his perception as a “practicing artist” himself, not simply, as he says, a “commentator” of “culture”.

The first lecture in this series was called “Democracy has bad taste”. Here he really divulges into the issue of “quality” of art and how and by who it is judged, is it through “financial”, “aesthetic” or “historical” values or now whether “popularity and quality” “interlinks too much”. He queries the meaning of art today and how it is seen as more of an “asset”, a “cash” symbol that represents wealth and “class”.

Grayson Perry pairs this “quality” with “beauty” of art, a “beauty” that he feels has to be “justified”, a “self conscious” beauty filled with “discomfort” and worry to meet the society’s “ideals”. This worry and doubt around artwork is due to there being a “consensus”, a “CV” of the perfect piece of art, created through a “validation” from “critics”, “curators”, “collectors”, the “media” and the “public”.  Grayson continues, saying that within this process of “validation” the “language” used gives art a “serious” tone that is described to only further difficult the relationship that we as a society have with art. The “international art English” used can make individuals feel “uneducated” around art and feel as though they are unable to fully “connect” and “engage” with the concepts and ideas within art.

The question is whether this then distorts all ideas of “quality” and “beauty” around art. If the full community within our society is unable to fully voice their opinions about art then surely this “consensus” is biased, false and unjustified? Art becomes largely “popular” when it enters galleries as here is it viewed by a large scale of visitors but “how” is this art being “chosen” and “who” by. If it is through this “validation” and because “enough of the right people think its good” then the art open to the public is bias that can only mean all opinions of the art are therefore also bias. The experience of art in galleries consequently is a pressured one.

“Taste has values”. It is important not to simply agree to a “consensus” yet question opinions and concepts, even our own. The lecture has made me really consider whether an art gallery like the Tate Modern is a real representation of contemporary art. What therefore is contemporary art and how can we find it in an unbiased environment?

I agree with the quote “history will judge quality”. Quality to me is produced through individual and personal connection. A piece of art should be chosen and brought due to an identified meaning not a price tag nor a name. Quality develops over time as a connection can grow. We need to open our eyes to what can be art and find ways that we can access the enormous world that is art.

Perry, G. (writer). (2013). Democracy has bad taste. [Radio series episode]. Playing to the Gallery. London: BBC Radio 4