The end of June I went on an artist's book making course which was brilliant, something I have wanted to do for a long while but never been in the right place at the right time to do it. The artist leading the workshop was Sarah Morpeth and you can view her work at www.sarahmorpeth.com Whilst I may not necessarily want to make books per se, I very much like the idea behind paper folding and the subsequent subject of books, literature, text, language etc. Sculptural and architectural interludes. This course has directed me forward in my paper folding exercises that I started back in May.
Time is moving forward has I head toward my solo show in November and December this year and piercing my large roll of paper has begun again in ernest. I have set deadlines for what I need to achieve at each stage of preparation for the show. It has been a period of intense piercing both with the large roll of paper and other paper folding, new ideas.
Here's a snippet of what I have been thinking about whilst I work:
Why do I pin?
What am I doing?
What am I trying to say?
What are the folds?
Silent pinning
Musical pinning
Mending
What am I mending?
Opposite of mending?
Something to pick up and put down
Something physical and practical (to do)
Changing the structure
Chore
Burden
Release
Dusty
Guilt
Whilst these words suggest my physiological state, there are formal decisions to be made prior to the piercing of the paper and during the process of making.
Here are some extracts from my notes:
Different folds?
Straight or random holes?
Mass or 1 hole?
A box - No? Becomes a container
Size of hole in relation to size of paper
Layering
Structure
Fold
Balance
Weight
Relationship of fold line to hole
Different size holes?
Cluster (s)
Which way the holes showing (front or back)?
Which way pin - horizontal or vertical?
Spacing of holes in paper
Light and shadow
One thing that I am beginning to take on board and realize is that my work physically takes a long time to make. It is about challenging, and excepting that. The large roll of pierced paper will be the biggest artwork that I have ever made to date. This is a new experience for me. It is slow work. Enduring, but slow.
My right arm, hand and elbow are beginning to ache with all the piercing that I am doing and I need to take care that this doesn't become a problem, particularly long term. I need to think about alternate ways of making that take care of my limbs in between.
Some images of works in progress:
I like the contrast between smooth and rough, flat and bent, where the paper curls, changing the shape and form of the whole
I like where the holes buff up against the fold lines. There are pressure points, even more emphasized where two lines meet. The flatness of the paper has been interrupted by the fold lines and distorted even more with the addition of the holes.
There are so many variations to be tried with this work, a series. I would like to submit paper artworks to exhibitions but without framing them, and I'm not sure how to go about this? I like the idea of 'giving' a piece of paper to somebody (hopefully in exchange for money!), but without 'packaging' the work up in a frame or box for example. The paper is the work. I love the idea of a piece of paper which sits in a space, or hangs from a ceiling, but how do you hang a piece of paper on a wall with minimal visual attachments? Scale can be important too, from the large, to the very small.