Set in an old
shoe factory the exhibition RESIST, RESIST, RELEASE has a history of its own
already bounding forward with the presence of previous industry still hinted at
with the raw architecture of the space.
Entirely made
up of new works there is a site-specificity to the works but also to the
process. The exhibition seems to be a complete act of research, both research
as practice and practice as research working in sync developing the concept of
researchers Grays and Malins refer to as “Dynamic Knowing” or Knowing- in –
action (2004, p.22). According to the gallery literature the works in the
exhibition aim to mimic the actions
required to produce them. This
process seems to echo what Philosopher Donald Schön calls a pro-active
approach: “Research approached now can be much more pro-active involving
practitioners researching through creative ‘action’ and ‘reflecting in and on
action’.” (Schön, 1983, in Grays and Malins, 2004, p.25) The artists aren’t
scared of mistakes and instead they thrive on serendipity and chance and allow
the works to live and breathe as animate objects.
Tacit knowledge
is made explicit through a reflective practice with a cartography of the
processes involved in the creation of the exhibitions works displayed in the
foyer. Thinking occurs physically through the materials of latex, clay and spray
paint and a sense of urgency or the works being in a state of flux inhabits the
freshly curated space with there being seemingly infinite curatorial possibilities
for the works.
Researchers Grays
and Malins refer to the concept of “Meta-thinking” which is thinking about
thinking, here both Warner and Morrison seem to be Meta-making, thinking about
making through making. This seems derivative of action research (McKernan, 1998,
p74 in Malins, 2004), as the artist’s work involves intervention, diagnostics
and problem solving in action. Taught latex echoes the tension in the bodily
relationships between artist and material with the gloss of the orange spray
paint highlighting a deep reflexivity in process and questioning of the position
of the self in the process of the works coming into being.
An 8 hour
recording of the Warner and Morrison’s working processes plays as a durational
work in the stairwell, this audio reconstruction or reprint of the process
seems an intriguing means of documenting process and thought in action. Action
research is already a key research concept in existence however perhaps this
audio recording could be action reflection, with reflection replacing research
as a means of developing and learning from data already in existence.
The term ‘material
witness’ is cited by Biggs and Karlsson (2012, p.211) in The Routledge Companion to research in the arts and
highlights how knowledge is created through experience with materials. Clay
literally holds the index of creation with fingerprints presenting the presence
of the artist and create an embodied experience of creation, as a spectator in
the exhibition I am witness to the embodiment of the artist in the clay, their
process is marked in the index of the fingerprints and by the manipulation of
the form of the clay into various shapes.
Bibliography:
Gray, C. and
Malins, J. (2004) Visualizing Research –
A Guide to the Research Process in Art and Design. Ashgate Publishing
Limited: Aldershot.
Stiftelsen Riksbankens
jubileumsfond., Biggs, M.A.R. and Karlsson, H. (2012) The Routledge companion
to research in the arts. London: Routledge. (Routledge companions).
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