Critical Reflection

Out of Control

In a time of great uncertainty, my research concerns the self-feedback of people in the face of uncontrollable events. While questioning the delusion of trying to control everything with rationality, I am also experimenting with surreal expressions to explore the nature of the ongoing impact of events.

Edvard Munch brings the uncertainty of the times to the extreme in 'The Scream', a work based on a real-life experience Munch had on a walk, which I interpreted as feedback when his mind was in an abnormal state. Munch presents this work in a style that would collapse out of control if pushed to the edge of emotion. As Munch later described it, the "air turned to blood" and the "faces of my comrades became a garish yellow-white." Vibrating in his ears he heard "a huge endless scream course through nature."

It occurred to me that too many people live by the standard that the rational world is always safe, unable to accept real feedback from their selves, and thus ignoring or even blocking out the three-dimensional world that affects them. So I am attempting to record reality, to record the state of unpredictable events as they happen, but not just in a mere reproduction, but also to pick up on the effect of the remembered scenes on my own sensibility.

Munch has developed an expressive style of presenting psychological states in distorted forms to visually convey emotions, "It's not the chair that should be painted, but what a person has felt at the sight of it." (Edvard Munch), and that's what I wanted to show in my own work.

The Scream, Edvard Munch, 1893, Tempera and pastels on cardboard

35 4/5 × 28 9/10 in | 91 × 73.5 cm

Eva Hesse's work is inextricably linked to the sensory evocation and physical response of the onlooker, as well as visual and instinctive associations. "She's making a situation in which I can feel something," (Mary Weatherford). It seems to me as if she is committed to describing a human-like chaos that echoes the imagined inner world. This inspired me to explore further the self-feedback that occurs in the body and consciousness when people are confronted with uncontrollable events.

One of the most fascinating parts of her work is the precision with which she expresses the language of materials. She has a knack for uncovering contradictions in the materials available to her on a daily basis, exploring the paradoxical qualities of materials that are simultaneously hard and soft, precise and irregular. As she tests the limits of latex, fibreglass and resin in her work, I have also experimented with the malleability of metal in my practice, choosing between bronze and aluminium wire, two materials with very different hardnesses and properties.

In this process, Hesse produces an idea based on the sensitivity of the material until "a certain degree of absurdity or extreme feeling emerges" (Eva Hesse). Given Hesse's use of the word ‘absurd’ to explain her often extreme or unusual use of materials, I am also used to creating visual objects that are outside the realm of reality, which helps me to keep my work unframed and to present content that can be experimental and tolerant, allowing me to focus on feeling the life of the work.

What also resonates with me most about Hesse is the openness to the expressive potential of the material and the ability to take stock of the discoveries made in the process and make trade-offs accordingly, rather than fixating on a single idea.

“All of life, is centered around…the concrete and the abstract.” ----------- Eva Hesse

Eva Hesse, Contingent, 1969, Latex, Fibreglass

installation (variable) 350.0 (h) x 630.0 (w) x 109.0 (d) cm.

Eva Hesse, No title, 1969–1970, Latex, rope, string, and wire, Dimensions variable

'Being in the Way' is a podcast series that explores the Alan Watts Archive’s 100-hour tape collection - including recordings not heard in 40 years. In this podcast, Watts' perception of spirituality and materiality is that the two are to be seen together, to follow your own quirks and to exist in the way that suits you best.

One of the discussions is about the sense of control and loss of control, and it seems to me that it is a pathological insecurity that people often demand that everything is under control. This is due to the fact that it is we who are in a situation where the unexpected happens every day, so people get nervous and try to resist the natural flow of life. This is the point I want to criticise and question.

But uncertainty, instability, fickleness and loss of control are inherent in it, and when we try to impose rational control on it, forcing everything to happen as it should, the conscious message of belonging to the inner self only gets blurred.

"There are states of consciousness in which you can listen to sound and realize that is the whole point of being alive, just to go with this particular energy manifestation that is happening right at this moment—to be it. The whole world is the energy playing, doing all this, like a kaleidoscope jazzing." –----- Alan Watts

Being in the Way, Alan Watts Organization, in partnership with Ram Dass' Be Here Now Network, 2021

Freeze Frame

Henri Cartier-Bresson's 'The decisive moment ' simply describes the moment in a real-life situation when the visual and psychological elements resonate perfectly, spontaneously and briefly, and I have selected a few elements of this concept to derive an understanding. For example, in Bresson's famous photograph ‘The Puddle’, firstly, the photograph closes the loop between visual and psychological expectations. Secondly, it evokes the ambiguity, uncertainty and even ambivalence of the viewer's curiosity about the meaning of the scene depicted or presented or the outcome of the event. Thirdly, it captures a fleeting and dynamic moment and has a unique exclusivity that cannot be repeated. Fourthly, the scene and the object are inconspicuous but real in real life, so that objective facts can evoke subjective feelings and the two interact with each other.

It is amazing to me to realise from 'the decisive moment' that one's emotional attitude and philosophy towards everything is polished and shaped by one's own life experiences, and that this is the ongoing effect of transience, In this regard, Cartier-Bresson also stresses the importance of capturing the 'small human moments'.

I therefore try to incorporate the characteristics of 'the decisive moment' into my work. In the case of the 'ice cones' made with uv-glue, I have left a gap between the top and bottom cones, which appear to intersect but are not yet touching. This is like a special kind of negative space, like the tiny distance between the figure's feet and the water in ‘The Puddle‘, between the lips of a couple kissing, or the gap between God and man's fingers in Michelangelo's creation painting. This distance has a corresponding effect on the viewer, an alluring sense of expectation, or perhaps frustration, that something important is about to happen.

This way of depicting reality seems to transcend it, beyond the particular scene being captured, beyond the conventional notions of people's lives. To put it another way, such as capturing "the quintessence of the phenomenon" and "the fact itself" - as well as "I was there and this is how life appeared to me at that moment" (Henri Cartier-Bresson). What I have been doing is to reconstruct these fragments of reality that have passed away and to give them a new and peculiar appearance, to make people think about the relationship between reality and perception.

“There is subject in all that takes place in the world , as well in our personal universe. And the discovery of oneself is made concurrently with the discovery of the world around us which can mold us, but which can also be affected by us.” ------- Henri Cartier-Bresson

The Puddle, Henri Cartier-Bresson, 1932

(also known as "Behind The Gare St Lazare").

Tracey Emin's 'My Bed ' has led me to think that recording events can be achieved through the preservation of traces, but that her work requires an accumulation of time, not the instantaneous nature that I highlighted earlier. However, this did not prevent it from inspiring my research topic in unit 2.

I then went on to consider whether this figurative form of representation brings a stronger visual impact than the abstract sense, but again, I felt that this approach was not for me. I prefer to recreate it further than the product of the real world, where the abstract form makes the expression hidden and subtle, but no less rich, and even let more willing to let viewers linger over it than the real world.

My Bed, Tracey Emin, 1998, Box frame, mattress, linens, pillows and various objects

‘The Weather Project ’ was not created to create an illusion. The idea is to give the viewer an insight into the tiniest details of the artist's creations. This work demonstrates a thorough mastery of the components of the universe, although the work itself is a tease, mocking our understanding of the elements of weather.

Eliasson regarded the weather as a dynamic element in ‘The Weather Project ’ and he wanted to capture it. This work attempts to present the viewer with the illusion of approaching the sun in the clouds, but the reality is that a giant half-circle hangs from the mirrored ceiling, the reflection making it appear as a full circle. The mirrors also allow the viewer to see themselves better and this role becomes part of the experience.

During the presentation, Jennet suggested that I compare Eliasson's work with my own to explain why I choose to express my art in a still and physical way, presenting a dynamic event that happens in a moment, rather than simulating a moving or instantly destructive dynamic scene. In this regard, I believe that Eliasson itself condenses 'Weather', which cannot be defined into a specific form, onto the sun, presenting a diffuse atmosphere with the sun as the subject, and then integrating the viewer into the work, which is dynamic and performative in nature. The similarity is that we both capture, condense and preserve what is changing.

The difference is that my practice is to distill some specific characteristic elements of a transient event such as 'sink plug, splash of water' and give them a new form in a surreal way, and then transform the whole event into a 'landscape' made up of materials. It is not my intention to simulate a dynamic phenomenon or to replicate the momentary state of something happening, which would not achieve the essence of transcendence, but I prefer to focus on the use of tangible materials to create a world beyond reality, but which is inextricably linked to our lives.

“You will see clouds today that you will never see again.” ----------- Olafur Eliasson

Olafur Eliasson, The weather project, 2003

Monofrequency lights, projection foil, haze machines, mirror foil, aluminium, scaffolding, 26.7 x 22.3 x 155.4 m

Deconstruction and Reinvention

When I saw Sze's work 'Seamless' at Tate, a huge sense of time and space enveloped me. She selected scattered objects from life, such as packaged food, table fans, fake plants and medicines. The transition from large to small volumes gives me the impression of a microcosm interspersed with the real world.

She arranges these materials into life-affirming installations, with curves sweeping across the space, connecting all the seemingly unrelated objects, providing the viewer with a sense of visual wonder and a new way of looking at the familiar. I learned that the curves are based on objects depicted in still life paintings, which have been simplified by Sze to the point of being unrecognisable, so that her work can be said to be abstracted from the real thing. "When an individual object is removed from its use in the world to participate in a Sze environment, it leaves its previous function aside in order to participate in an entirely different universe." (Laura Hoptman)

This is similar to my creative principle of reconstructing the familiar, breaking down old fixed impressions, deconstructing its qualities and then presenting them abstractly. I am always trying to transform fragmented associations and experiences into something more vivid.

Sarah Sze, Seamless, 1999

Nabilah Nordin's work is always populated by very outlandish materials such as peas, feathers, cheese, macaroni, pulp or cement, which often teeter on the edge of falling. This is what appeals to me most about her work: the odd materials and unstable processes that give the sculptures an inherently anthropomorphic character trait.

I learned that Nordin sees it as two distinct parts when creating: the first is the structural components and how to make them look solid. The second part is about extending the form and thinking about its finished state. She believes that a lot of the intuition that happens is at the beginning - because once the structure is in place, that's the end of the extensions we can make on the piece. This also makes me think about the skeleton as I build it and catch flashes of inspiration. I am someone who gets bored in the process if I can anticipate the final form of the work, so I have no final image in my mind, I am always taking the next step in an unknown direction, constantly changing my ideas as I work with my hands.

In addition, her habit of enlarging the fragments and edges of sculptures inspired my work. I found the rough surface of the clay as they dried fascinating and interesting as I attached it to the tin, and I wanted to try to create an experience for the viewer that would be associated with an entry into a fantastical or seemingly non-existent otherworld.

“I like things to always be at the edge.” ----------- Nabilah Nordin

Nabilah Nordin, The Pea Factory (for Pea Soup), 2020 Peas and pea soup with plaster, glass vase, papier mache, chicken wire, potato masher, paint, foam, string.

Nabilah Nordin, Mouse Trap, 2020

cracked pepper, beetroot and carrot crackers on drooping drip sculptures

References

· Magazine, S. (2006) Edvard Munch: Beyond the scream, Smithsonian.com. Smithsonian Institution. Available at: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/edvard-munch-beyond-the-scream-111810150/ (Accessed: January 11, 2023).

· (no date) The scream, 1893 by Edvard Munch. Available at: https://www.edvardmunch.org/the-scream.jsp (Accessed: January 11, 2023).

· Meltzer, E. (2016) “To conjure Hesse,” Art Journal, 75(3), pp. 73–76. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/00043249.2016.1234205.

· Nemser, C. (1970) An interview with Eva Hesse, The online edition of Artforum International Magazine. Available at: https://www.artforum.com/print/197005/an-interview-with-eva-hesse-36407 (Accessed: January 11, 2023).

· Wendy Lawson (2021) Literature review: A sampling of threads, Wendy Lawson. Available at: https://www.wendylawson.co.nz/literature-review-a-sampling-of-threads/ (Accessed: January 11, 2023).

· Suler, J. (2012) “The decisive moment,” International Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies, 9(4), pp. 372–375. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1002/aps.1334.

· Modern classics: Tracey Emin - My Bed, 1998 (2021) artlead. Available at: https://artlead.net/journal/modern-classics-tracey-emin-bed-1998/ (Accessed: January 11, 2023).

· Editors, A. (2022) Sarah Sze on art, Life & Everything In Between, Artspace. Available at: https://www.artspace.com/magazine/interviews_features/need-to-know/sarah-sze-on-art-life-everything-in-between-57166 (Accessed: January 11, 2023).

· Studio: Nabilah Nordin (2022) Art Guide Australia. Available at: https://artguide.com.au/studio-nabilah-nordin/ (Accessed: January 11, 2023).

· Be Here Now Network / Love Serve Remember Foundation (2022) Alan Watts being in the way on Apple Podcasts, Apple Podcasts. Available at: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/alan-watts-being-in-the-way/id1569521748 (Accessed: January 11, 2023).

· Publicdelivery (2022) Olafur Eliasson's weather project - why did he try to recreate the sun?, Olafur Eliasson's Weather Project - Everything you should know. Available at: https://publicdelivery.org/olafur-eliasson-the-weather-project/ (Accessed: January 17, 2023).

· Elíasson Ólafur (2013) Olafur Eliasson: Never tired of looking at each other: Only the mountain and I. Bejing: The Pavilion.