Friday 3 April 2009
Wednesday 18 March 2009
Leo in conversation with...
Lizzie Hingley
LP: What was your immediate reaction to the theme? Was it a spontaneous idea that fit Fossil collecting into the bracket of the ‘other’ category, or ‘non art practice’ work?
LH: Well, there are drawings that I do which I don't consider to be art, but at the same time there are these fossils which I consider to be a bit more exiting. In my spare time I go to Dorset and do fossil hunting so...
LP: … so it’s not just about fossil collecting, its about actually going out and picking up fossils from a whole load of rocks and shells?
LH: From my perspective, finding them is more important than necessarily having them- the exhibition is an opportunity to display them.
LP: Which is perhaps why no one would see them? Because they’re at home in boxes?
LH: Yep, they’re in a load of boxes and when they are like that you dont even know what you have, you collect them over years.
LP: Do you think that in a way this act of fossil collecting fits more into the realm of something like a hobby?
LH: Perhaps. I think that I got slightly confused with the idea of the theme, particularly whether something like the fossil collecting would fit into it or not?
LP: I think that there are a variety of different angles on this- like Susan [tutor] suggested that one element of this could be considering such activities as a hobby, but a hobby is quite different from maybe some of the things that other people are doing here.
In a way, I wonder where collecting fossils sits in regards to a hobby and a creative act. A hobby can be a creative act, but the reasons why someone collects fossils might not be to create an object per se... Whereas with your drawings, that may well be a very different thing.
But you said you don’t really consider your drawings to be art - what are they? Could you describe them?
LH: They are spiky doodle things...it’s something that I do when I’m listening to something or someone.
LP: That’s funny because I do doodle things too, I still have a few in my book here, but they aren’t as regimented as yours. These seem to have built up their own scheme or rules or structure- it’s all quite interesting.
LH: Yeah, but I do get a bit bored of doing the same thing every time! I have no idea why I do them or what they are for really?
I have tried to make art out of it before [laughs] it doesn’t work very well - it sort of ends up being shells decorated, which doesn’t really look very great.
LP: Is there a way in which it would ever be art, just as it was?
LH: I find the forms very sculptural. They are quite pleasing to look at, with crevasses and shell bits being very smooth, plus they are moulded on what was before them, like they are little sculptures.
There is an art to fossil hunting - you really have to train yourself to find things [laughs]! I suppose it could be a performance piece, when you’re trying to find them in the winter and the rain is coming at you sideways.
LP: I read last night, on Wikipedia that for some people collecting can be a profession. It also mentioned that someone might be a chef and play computer games in their spare time, whilst another person might test games for a living and cook for fun. It’s funny that whilst some people collect fossils as their job and others might 'do' art for their profession, fossil hunting fits somewhere in between both for you – it is not a job, but it is not art either...
LP: What was your immediate reaction to the theme? Was it a spontaneous idea that fit Fossil collecting into the bracket of the ‘other’ category, or ‘non art practice’ work?
LH: Well, there are drawings that I do which I don't consider to be art, but at the same time there are these fossils which I consider to be a bit more exiting. In my spare time I go to Dorset and do fossil hunting so...
LP: … so it’s not just about fossil collecting, its about actually going out and picking up fossils from a whole load of rocks and shells?
LH: From my perspective, finding them is more important than necessarily having them- the exhibition is an opportunity to display them.
LP: Which is perhaps why no one would see them? Because they’re at home in boxes?
LH: Yep, they’re in a load of boxes and when they are like that you dont even know what you have, you collect them over years.
LP: Do you think that in a way this act of fossil collecting fits more into the realm of something like a hobby?
LH: Perhaps. I think that I got slightly confused with the idea of the theme, particularly whether something like the fossil collecting would fit into it or not?
LP: I think that there are a variety of different angles on this- like Susan [tutor] suggested that one element of this could be considering such activities as a hobby, but a hobby is quite different from maybe some of the things that other people are doing here.
In a way, I wonder where collecting fossils sits in regards to a hobby and a creative act. A hobby can be a creative act, but the reasons why someone collects fossils might not be to create an object per se... Whereas with your drawings, that may well be a very different thing.
But you said you don’t really consider your drawings to be art - what are they? Could you describe them?
LH: They are spiky doodle things...it’s something that I do when I’m listening to something or someone.
LP: That’s funny because I do doodle things too, I still have a few in my book here, but they aren’t as regimented as yours. These seem to have built up their own scheme or rules or structure- it’s all quite interesting.
LH: Yeah, but I do get a bit bored of doing the same thing every time! I have no idea why I do them or what they are for really?
I have tried to make art out of it before [laughs] it doesn’t work very well - it sort of ends up being shells decorated, which doesn’t really look very great.
LP: Is there a way in which it would ever be art, just as it was?
LH: I find the forms very sculptural. They are quite pleasing to look at, with crevasses and shell bits being very smooth, plus they are moulded on what was before them, like they are little sculptures.
There is an art to fossil hunting - you really have to train yourself to find things [laughs]! I suppose it could be a performance piece, when you’re trying to find them in the winter and the rain is coming at you sideways.
LP: I read last night, on Wikipedia that for some people collecting can be a profession. It also mentioned that someone might be a chef and play computer games in their spare time, whilst another person might test games for a living and cook for fun. It’s funny that whilst some people collect fossils as their job and others might 'do' art for their profession, fossil hunting fits somewhere in between both for you – it is not a job, but it is not art either...
Hobbies- Collecting
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobby
The hobby of collecting consists of acquiring specific items based on a particular interest of the collector. These collections of things are often highly organized, carefully catalogued, and attractively displayed. Since collecting depends on the interests of the individual collector, it may deal with almost any subject. The depth and breadth of the collection may also vary. Some collectors choose to focus on a specific subtopic within their area of general interest: for example, 19th Century postage stamps, milk bottle labels from Sussex, or Mongolian harnesses and tack. Others prefer to keep a more general collection, accumulating Star Trek merchandise, or stamps from all countries of the world. There are also individuals, who take up collection of coins (Numismatics) or autographs (Philography) as their hobby; in both the cases the people try to hold on to the identities. Some collections are capable of being completed, at least to the extent of owning one sample of each possible item in the collection (e.g. a copy of every book by Agatha Christie). Collectors who specifically try to assemble complete collections in this way are sometimes called "completists." Upon completing a particular collection, they may stop collecting, expand the collection to include related items, or begin an entirely new collection. The most popular fields in collecting have specialized commercial dealers that trade in the items being collected, as well as related accessories. Many of these dealers started as collectors themselves, then turn their hobby into a profession. There are some limitations on collecting, however. Someone who has the financial means to collect stamps might not be able to collect sports-cars, for example. One alternative to collecting physical objects is collecting experiences of a particular kind. Examples include collecting through observation or photography (especially popular for transportation, e.g. train spotting, aircraft spotting, metrophiles, bus spotting; see also I-Spy), bird-watching, and systematically visiting continents, countries (and collecting stamps in their passports), states, national parks, counties etc.
Hobby- Definition
noun, plural -bies.
"an activity or interest pursued for pleasure or relaxation and not as a main occupation: Her hobbies include stamp-collecting and woodcarving."
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/hobbyTuesday 17 March 2009
Leo in conversation with...
Daryl Clover
LP: What was your first reaction when the theme was introduced?
DC: Well I didn’t necessarily have an immediate reaction to it - I was making that work [Madonna painting], I was in the process of making it but I didn’t really know why. I didn’t change my direction because of this theme, but I do think that it’s important not to enter something that is intentionally for the show.
LP: In relation to art, where does your other thing sit? Do you view this work as part of your practice?
DC: I don’t view it any less - to me its art that I made and I cherish it. But I have complexes about it, and I know its low art and that it’s embarrassing. I heard that you need to fill out a health and safety form for certain photographs in this show. Like if their 'raunchy' or something. I think that’s absolutely terrible for an art show. Isn't a part of art breaking down barriers?
LP: [hmm] well I guess the reality is that if you want to do whatever you want, you can't do so within an institution like this one. Something I've become very aware of since trying to organize part of this show is just how restricted we are in terms of how, when, and what we display or do. We only have three days in that gallery in which the public will actually see any work.
DC: I think it’s weird the way they mark creativity. You could have a year in which you don’t make anything - then your screwed, aren’t you?
LP: There is a kind of strangeness in being made to generate artefacts within a timeframe. It alters what they are to some extent as art is so heavily influenced by its context, in both the making and reading of it.
LP: In regards to the theme, I was just wondering about your response to what it might be asking of you- like you said, you do consider your painting as art, but this is an opportunity to present that maybe?
DC: I think it helps me think in a different way as well, I think it’s an important thing: I’ve been doing these pieces for a year [videotape weaving and painting/sculpture], but I need to get out of doing that, and throwing this painting into this spectrum opens something up for me.
LP: Well with one persons work, they do writing of some kind but they keep it to themselves- this show opens up a forum to show that. With another person’s work, the show is an opportunity to expand into other fields or disciplines whereas before there may have been a restriction felt in terms of a consistent oeuvre or style.
DC: For me it is a chance to develop it. I mean I always make things, but it’s completely different to bring it in here and show it to other people, to other artists, and especially to show it in a gallery. The response I get to it will change my next work, the piece I will do. So, the theme wouldn’t change what I do, but the response to the thing I put up on the wall might.
LP: What was your first reaction when the theme was introduced?
DC: Well I didn’t necessarily have an immediate reaction to it - I was making that work [Madonna painting], I was in the process of making it but I didn’t really know why. I didn’t change my direction because of this theme, but I do think that it’s important not to enter something that is intentionally for the show.
LP: In relation to art, where does your other thing sit? Do you view this work as part of your practice?
DC: I don’t view it any less - to me its art that I made and I cherish it. But I have complexes about it, and I know its low art and that it’s embarrassing. I heard that you need to fill out a health and safety form for certain photographs in this show. Like if their 'raunchy' or something. I think that’s absolutely terrible for an art show. Isn't a part of art breaking down barriers?
LP: [hmm] well I guess the reality is that if you want to do whatever you want, you can't do so within an institution like this one. Something I've become very aware of since trying to organize part of this show is just how restricted we are in terms of how, when, and what we display or do. We only have three days in that gallery in which the public will actually see any work.
DC: I think it’s weird the way they mark creativity. You could have a year in which you don’t make anything - then your screwed, aren’t you?
LP: There is a kind of strangeness in being made to generate artefacts within a timeframe. It alters what they are to some extent as art is so heavily influenced by its context, in both the making and reading of it.
LP: In regards to the theme, I was just wondering about your response to what it might be asking of you- like you said, you do consider your painting as art, but this is an opportunity to present that maybe?
DC: I think it helps me think in a different way as well, I think it’s an important thing: I’ve been doing these pieces for a year [videotape weaving and painting/sculpture], but I need to get out of doing that, and throwing this painting into this spectrum opens something up for me.
LP: Well with one persons work, they do writing of some kind but they keep it to themselves- this show opens up a forum to show that. With another person’s work, the show is an opportunity to expand into other fields or disciplines whereas before there may have been a restriction felt in terms of a consistent oeuvre or style.
DC: For me it is a chance to develop it. I mean I always make things, but it’s completely different to bring it in here and show it to other people, to other artists, and especially to show it in a gallery. The response I get to it will change my next work, the piece I will do. So, the theme wouldn’t change what I do, but the response to the thing I put up on the wall might.
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