Critique groups and presentations during 2016. - A short lecture by Proff Steve Swindells.

Each week students will be selected to Exhibit 2 to 3 pieces of work in room T1/06, together with a 200 word statement.

The statement is a document which will conceptualise the work. It does not have to be factual as it can also be fictional and should be aimed at being presented towards a layperson; it should be able to be read out to a public group, and as a result, the critique group will provide a peer-to-peer feedback through a specific assessment sheet.

The major project work we have been undertaking is essentially a line of enquiry. The ever louche and of that line of enquiry reflects the development of our practice and should show how it is critically linked to what we actually do on a day-to-day level. It is therefore vital to make sure that the work is tightly linked to our major enquiries.

For example see the work of Jim Jarmusch… "Nothing is original steel from anywhere that resonates with inspiration…

Jean-Luc Godard art… "It's not where you take it from, it's where you take it too!"

When thinking about a body of work and creating one, we should focus upon this as a kind of family. The family needs to be connected for it to work.

Prof Steve Swindells provided a presentation and overview of how his work has developed since graduating in 1988, through his time spent in Kyoto Japan, and also in California, USA. Since 1998 he has collaborated with Steve Dutton, as Dutton and Swindells. The collaboration of language and text in art in their work has also included animals in art. The idea of installations with animals in the space is taken forward in reflection of the work "1000 Plateaus" by Giles Deleauze and Felix Guattauri, and the idea of becoming animal, and animal consciousness to the approach of art. Much of the work involves in version and reversal of text and images; a doubling and repetition, and in a way to create some sort of "magic" as an idea of the hidden or inexplicable thing.

Art may convey a message, but it is also necessary to leave things open. Interpretation of art is always up to the viewer. As I have mentioned before art equals aesthetic equals sense perception.

Conclusions;

• During the forthcoming critiques I must be very careful about what I show. I need to be ruthless with myself to define my work, and bearing in mind that about 90% generally, of artists work is rejected by themselves, the action or practice within the studio is essential in order to provide a studio environment which is an engine for ideas. It must keep producing and keep going no matter what.
• Thinking about the recent visit by the visiting artist Will Yakulic, this constant pushing for new ideas does seem to be pushing me towards more research that might twist the ideas of Jeff Koons. How can I make an idea that is "mine?"