PERFORMANCE TO PRINT

In 2021 I received a DYCP award of £8.456 to explore and investigate among other things how to notate dance. There is no singular system to notate movement the way that there is to notate music. I took time to rehearse with two performers and spent the time making preparation drawings and sketches.

The result is that i am able to sketch without models and describe actions and movements that serve as a score for the performers. At least they are staring points for a series of improvisations, which is their main job.

The drawings have now also encompass ideas for the set and for the ‘mood’ of various works.

The idea of making works specifically for print came early in the process but now there is an extra incentive to form part of my plan to generate an income stream and expand my creative output.

INCOME STREAM

As my principle occupation is visual art I wanted to find a way to notate explore and visualise the work I was making.

But since then I have also been working on a series of drawings that not only compliment the performance work but also are art works in their own right.

I realise that funding for dance and performance is complicated particularly if like me i do not fit comfortably into a dance category. So its hard work to develop this practice without a substantial funds to pay performers, rehearsal space, marketing and production costs.

Museums and Galleries are interested in collecting my work but the lack of a ‘product’ as been an issue.

The creation of series of prints that can not only serve to raise income as rewards for kickstarter investors but also produce prints that can generate a general income and allow my work to enter the commercial sector.

I was trained as a visual artist and I make notes everyday either writing or drawing but what has been missing is work that both relates to my practice and work in their own right.

Artists of my generation who are very successful in terms of critical success like Richard Wilson for example does not have gallery representation. His work is site specific. As an RA he the public presence and platform has allowed him to sell drawings in progress. These are works crafted to help raise funds for his work.

I have galleries who have been asking for work but I have not had a typical medium to present work.

Etching and lithographic work would not only answer that question but allow my work to enter the open commercial mainstream, which then opens the possibilities for other works to be collected.

NEURODIVERGENCE

One of the issues that I did not discuss in my application is neurodivergence. This is mainly because the conditions of ADHT is something I have lived with my whole life and I have developed ways to navigate the world to make do and get by and sometimes to hide these conditions. Partly out of confusion and partly shame. But conversations I have had this week have made me realise that my multi-disciplinary practice is a result of my creative restlessness.

How do major museums collect art like installation and performance, which by its nature is ephemeral.