For many designers, the process of physically adding and subtracting materials and information is a vital part of their practice. As a starter brief, addition and subtraction, paired with the given object, mine was paper, allowed for fluctuation of manipulation; this helped me to begin to isolate what was important. Condensed, modified content swayed in the direction by striking a balance between the two extremes of construction and deconstruction.
This idea of matter going from one state to another is what prompted me to use a paper shredder to achieve loose material. The original pieces of paper went from being whole, to individual fragments. This method of deconstruction gave the material a more fluid form, that provided opportunities for manipulation. Observing the pile of shredded paper helped me to acknowledge gaps in between the loose structure, motivating the question, what if I subtracted space from this structure? Pouring melted wax meant that it hardened in between the gaps, creating a connected structure, the choice of using black wax helped to show this more clearly.
Starting off with basic materials and techniques, despite being obvious, is something that has transformed my understanding of development. Prior to this realisation, I tended to focus on how good the end result could be and has the perception that, the more layers there were to a concept, the more successful the work would be. Multifaceted meanings are fantastic but rushing into creating work with these qualities at the beginning of a project, limits new ideas and by manipulating paper shreddings within a more careful and simple approach, I have come up with a wider variety of thoughtful interpretations.
Alongside a more careful approach at the beginning by using simple manipulation techniques, another technique that has helped me to challenge myself in a more thoughtful way is constantly asking myself the questions, “Why?” and “Now that I’ve done this, what if I did this too, how would that change things?” Yes, again this is a simple and obvious way of developing ideas but choosing to really focus on these approaches has transformed my way of working.
I think that taking advantage of these approaches is so important to utilise effectively and to concentrate on because asking too many questions, on a singular matter has led me to fall into the hole of thinking I need to make a concept highly complex, for it to be considered a "successful” piece of work. An example of this could be when I looked at the subtraction of previous state (destruction) and delved into how when the wax solidified the paper shreddings into a structure, the individual pieces of paper were now a fixed position of all pointing in individual directions. The different directions conveyed confusion and (subtraction of state) the hardening of the wax didn’t change this characteristic that was also present before the wax (at the start). Reflecting on my work, I have found that stripping back unnecessary meanings, like this, added to work in the beginning of a project would have helped to reduce confusion, spoiling the true direction of work. Utilising simple decision-making realisations helps for a clearer direction and the more straightforward this is, the easier It will be to come up with new ideas and concepts that will eventually take on the multifaceted meanings, later on. This should make for more successful work because complexity hasn’t been forced at the start and the project will take on a more natural development if I choose to only focus on raw ideas to develop new ones. Rather than struggling to develop new ideas from rigid and confusing concepts I created at the start. This is something that has taken me a while to grasp the importance of. Possibly stemming from insecurity for ideas to constantly be “revolutionary” and perfect from start to finish, without realising the best ideas tend to develop from simple beginnings, without this self-inflicted pressure.
I have become particularly fond of using videos to demonstrate simple concepts in my work by putting them in reverse and/or slow/ sped up motions. Performance art has led me to intriguing ideas in my work and I admire Yoko Ono’s conceptual exhibitions that have also brought together united pieces of thought-provoking work. The image shows the exhibitory piece “My Mommy Is Beautiful”, where visitors were invited to contribute written thoughts and memories about their mothers, onto pieces of paper and stick them to the wall. The wall was the physical realisation of an evolving memoir of a complex unseen super-mother, with the full range of emotions contributed by participants.
Participation was voluntary and effortless. Even more passive museum-goers helped to co-author the piece, by viewing/not-viewing and thinking/not-thinking. There is a particular liberation in Yoko Ono’s conceptual art, when one surrenders to the spark of her ideas and this approach of utilising others’ beliefs to create a collectively malleable piece, is highly inspiring to me.
Reiterating what has been said. I think that my theoretical understanding of my thought process and how I approach my initial ideas has greatly improved. Starting from the basics and not overcomplicating things from the start has harnessed clearer ideas that form more methodically. Realising that some of the most successful artists have used simple approaches as catalysts to create highly fascinating work, due to the introduction of interactive involvement from the viewers , has helped me to understand that sometimes, great pieces require straightforward ideologies, to perpetuate a deeper understanding. From not always just the artist but in Yoko Ono’s case, the artist and the viewer, to achieve thoughtprovoking, engaging work.
Bibliography:
Yoko Ono, "My Mommy Is Beautiful," Memory wall - 2009 participation piece. Exhibition: "Yoko Ono: Between The Sky and My Head", BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, England
https://www.forbes.com/sites/claytonpress/2019/12/22/sky-is-always-clear-yoko-ono-at-the-moscow-museum-of-modern-art/?sh=3fecbe2a3081
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