PROACTIONARY AND PRECAUTIONARY

 Line drawing  pen and ink 1974 

1974 - 1976

In 1974 - 76 when I was in my mid teens I drew these two drawings. I can remember drawing them. The bottom one even ended up being framed. So, someone decided it was a good work and warranted special treatment.

The top drawing was inspired by a sideboard my parents had in the dining room of the house I grew up in. An old lamp was placed on top of it. I've embellished the arrangement of items with additional vases and a 'garden' of small branches and flowers. 

The drawing below is from my imagination. Yet, the practice of drawing from nature and my immediate environment is evident. I used to do a lot of drawing of things I saw. The stylised trees or branches are not dissimilar to those in the drawing above. The juxtapositoning of these organic forms with geometric ones is something I used to love to do. It was great to play with patterns  - working out how various elements best 'fit' together as I proceeded with the drawing process. 

ERROR

Yes, there was some trial and error. I cannot tell you where the errors were made, but I know they were - and I covered them up or changed tack to turn them into parts of the pattern. Yet, I was also thinking ahead about how I might fit the image into the size of paper, how I might render the outer edges to create some kind of visual framing and so on. 

PROACTIONARY - PRECAUTIONARY

Drawing, and painting too, are processes where both proactionary and precautionary principles work in tandem. Proactionary means trial and error, learning as you go, solving problems as they appear and welcoming the accident as an opportunity. Precautionary means firstly, ascertaining risk factors and secondly, working out ways to avoid and mitigate these risks.  Actions like making sure you have enough space to draw where nothing can be knocked over to spill on the paper is a precautionary action. The artist works out what risks are not worth taking. But, events like ink pooling in a glob at the end of your nib just as you touch the paper creates instances where error can be turned into something positive, thus an example of proactionary principles. A glob of ink can be  manipulated to create a darkened section of the drawing, a shadow, or anything else that 'speaks' to the image. By embracing 'errors' I have found that changes of tack or approach produce unexpected, but often fantastic outcomes. Problem solving, amongst many other processes, is very much part of creativity. Yet, I would suggest that there is something about the tension between proactionary and precautionary concerns that heightens creative impulses, like a push me/pull you energy.

   

ACCIDENT

I still love drawing. I love the immediacy of making a mark. But, I also love the trepidation I feel when my hand might wobble, when I can see ink dripping towards the nib, when I notice an insect fly into a wet mark, when I accidently pick up the wrong pen or brush and make a mark before realising...there's a myriad of things that could be classed as errors! 

In fact, as regular readers know I deliberately introduce accidents, especially when I paint. I let the paint drip, pool and coalesce. I may let it dry completely before applying more paint. Or, I might throw more turps onto the canvas, or partially wipe away some paint. I watch what happens as the paint does its own thing. I make decisions about when to intervene. All of this scrutiny and action takes place in the immediate environment of my studio, within the attention of my sensibilities, over a period of time that I can measure, predict and manage. 

I can intervene...and I don't need to have the power on or the batteries charged!

Line drawing pen and ink 1974 - 76

Cheers,

Kathryn

www.kathrynbrimblecombe-fox.com

FROM THE PRIMORDIAL SOUP

 

From The Primordial Soup Pencil on paper 2015

 

 

FROM MY DESK

This is another sketch from my desk. Yes, my desk at university, where I spend a lot of time these days. Regular readers will know I have returned to university to undertake an M. Phil [research higher degree]. So, while I am reading, writing, taking notes I try to capture some of  the images that float through my head. My sketchbook and pencils are sitting beside my notepads and library books, ready to picked up when inspiration arrives. Sometimes, it's a bit hard to capture inspiration, but the image above, I think, has been caught rather well. 

 

So, how did this image happen? What was I reading when it suddenly popped into my head? Well...I had been given a task to write 1000 words about an artwork and the chosen piece was 'The Crochet Coral Reef' curated by Margaret and Christine Wertheim. So, it's not actually a piece, but an ongoing project that includes collaborative community activities and exhibitions around the world, involving over eight thousand people [as of 2015]. Please read about it here on the Wertheim sister's website for their not-for profit Institute For Figuring [IFF] based in Los Angeles.

 

CROCHET

Yes, the 'Crochet Coral Reef' is created with the traditional women's handicraft of crochet. And, it's far more complex that you might think! The coral-like pieces created by crochet artists are also 3d representations of non-Euclidean hyperbolic geometry. 3d modelling of hyperbolic geometry had remained elusive, despite it appearing in nature ie: lettuce leaves, coral. It remained elusive until 1997 when Dr. Daina Taimina, a mathematician at Cornell University, showed how it could be modelled in 3d by creating coral-like forms using crochet, a handicraft she had learnt as a child.

 

In 2005 Margaret Wertheim, a physicist and science writer and her sister Dr. Christine Wertheim, an artist, writer and academic decided to crochet coral using Dr. Taimina's techniques. Both sisters had learnt crochet, along with other handicrafts, as children growing up in Brisbane, Australia. Christine suggested they create a coral reef. [IFF] As Australians [Queenslanders!] they had a connection to the Great Barrier Reef, one of the ten wonders of the world, and under increasing threat.

 

Please have a look at the many and various images of 'Crochet Coral Reef' marvellous exhibitions on the IFF website . There's an array of different types of exhibitions, from those where the crocheted coral is amassed to create colourful reefs, to those where amazing individual pieces are placed on plinths, taking on a prophetic gravitas.

 

ENVIRONMENT

As time has gone by, the choice of crochet material has extended beyond traditional woollen yarn to include plastic wrappers, wire, video tape and more.[IFF] This is a deliberate confrontation with the detritus of the Anthropocene, especially in the marine context. Yes, the 'Crochet Coral Reef' project is not only an expression of creative handicraft and a modelling of hyperbolic geometry, it is also deliberately placed within important environmental discourses.

 

The' Crochet Coral Reef' project seriously provokes commentary about environmental  degradation, ocean sustainability and global warning. But, hey...let's take it to the full whammy...I argue that the project warns of existential risks, those threats that may cause annihilation of humanity and the planet. However, the project's human elements ie: community collaboration and the hands-on crochet technique, unmediated by hi-tech equipment and intervention, remind us that touch and time can be reclaimed. As it confronts us, the 'Crochet Coral Reef' project also offers multiple pathways for re-thinking...the hyperbolic taking us on a roller-coaster that provides multiple perspectives.

 

So, how did my sketch From The Primordial Soup erupt from this story of crochet, hyperbolic  geometry and environmental discourses?

 

Here goes...

 

PLASTIGLOMERATE

I had previously read about a new geological term...plastiglomerate! Yes, it is actually a geological term to describe a new rock, a mixture of natural materials combined with plastic, being delivered from the sea. You can read about plastiglomerate on the Geological Society of America GSA Today website.

 

With this new 'rock' in mind, it's easy to see confluence with the multi-material morphed coral forms in 'Crochet Coral Reef' exhibitions eg: check out the 2014 exhibition at NYU in Abu Dhabi and the 2015 one in San Antonio, Texas.

 

As I thought more about plastiglomerate and pondered the far reaching critical possibilities of 'The Crochet Coral Reef' project I asked questions. Is plastiglomerate a metaphor for a new kind of birth, a mutation where detritus and DNA are mixed? Are we witnessing a prophetic delivery where mutations are, in fact, inevitable? Have they already occurred in other areas so far undetected? As landscape coughs up these new entities, what is humanity's fate?

 

Given that life may have begun in the primordial ocean I think it is interesting that plastiglomerate has been created in, and delivered by, our 21st century oceans. This is what inspired From The Primordial Soup.

 

 

Sap Of Life Oil on linen 55 x 80 cm 2012

 

 

Cheers,

Kathryn

www.kathrynbrimblecombe-fox.com

 

UN-FRAMING LANDSCAPE

Un-framing Landscape Crayon on paper [preliminary sketch]

 

 

As I mentioned in a previous recent post, I have returned to University study. I have embarked on an M. Phil [Research] at the University of Queensland. Happily, I can report that I am thoroughly enjoying being immersed in thinking and reading. I am also thrilled to be able to attend many of the fascinating talks and seminars that seem to happen every day at UQ. Yes, I am a bit of a geek...nerd...

 

Yesterday I attended an artists' talk, hosted by the University of Queensland Art Museum [UQAM], held in conjunction with a current exhibition Light Play: Ideas, Optics and Atmosphere , curated by Samantha Littley. The artists' talk included the curator as facilitator and artists Sam Cranstoun [multi-media artist] and photographers Carl Warner and Marian Drew. Dr. Margaret Wegener a lecturer in Physics at UQ was also part of the panel.

 

Many really interesting topics, relating to light and in reference to the artists' works, were discussed. However, my ears pricked up when there was a short discussion on how photographers and painters might frame a landscape. By frame, I mean compose or choose the image parameters with and wthin known elements. I cannot remember the details of the entire discussion, because my imagination went off into thoughts about how I un-frame landscape in my own work and how doing this unleashes it from earth-bound horizons.

 

When  I got back to my desk, after the artists' talk, I drew this sketch [above] Un-framing the Landscape. My plan is to sketch while I study and research. These sketches will lay the foundations for my next exhibition, which will probably be sometime in 2017.

 

As regular readers know, I think a lot about what landscape is, and means to us, in an age where cosmology traverses the close and far distances of the Universe, where astronomy seems to be regularly finding potential new Earth-like planets orbiting distant stars, where exploratory spacecraft take photographs of planets and moons, where virtual worlds proliferate, where humankind's presence leaves debris in space...and so on.

 

 

 

It Beckons Gouache on paper 15 x 21 cm 2015

 

 

Birth of Worlds Oil on linen 92 x 102 cm 2014

 

 

Given that I consciously attempt to untether ideas of landscape from Earth-bound horizons - to take landscape into the cosmos - I suggest that my un-framing is about extending parameters beyond the known, beyond safe horizons. In other words, the known can no longer act as a frame. Yet, extension beyond Earth's horizons does not necessarily mean there is a re-frame - after all the Universe is a big space/place where the unknown surpasses the known.

 

In my cosmic landscapes I try to re-negotiate landscape in a way that entices the viewer to think about what is beyond the literal edges of my canvases - to wonder. I also try to stir perception by playing with perspective and orientation - a kind of flipping of familiarity.

 

 

 

It's Everything Oil on linen 50 x 50 cm 2015

 

 

Here are a couple of other posts where I discuss landscape:

 

From Blank Canvasses To Untethered Landscapes

That Word: Landscape

 

Cheers,

Kathryn

www.kathrynbrimblecombe-fox.com