Tutorial with Matt

Today, I had an extremely helpful tutorial with the head of BA Fine Art Sculpture. Before even explaining much about my work to Matt, it was interesting to see his initial response to the works I had laid around in my studio space. He felt as though they resembled stylish represenations on 'trash', intimate moments made public. I was intrigued by this reaction as this idea of the foam I use being seen predominantly as 'trash' hadnt actually come into my mind when making work. I had been using it merely as a vehicle for display and the qualities it gives once printed onto. However, these comments had made me think a lot more in depth about the material itself and what it was saying to the viewer.

I explained to Matt that I had been contemplating disguising the foam, taking away its 3 dimensional quality and just cutting a thin layer then mounting it onto the wall so that you would not be able to tell the medium and perhaps there would then be more of a central focus on the actual image rather than this distraction of the material. However, Matt recommended not to disguise it, as this he felt was very intriguing about the work. He discussed different ways of presenting the work such as stacking and then letting the audience physically engage and interact by moving them around to look at each image. This would then be sort of a degraded advertising of ordinary life. These 'moments' that we often forget about or disregard, presented on a conventionally disgarded material - foam is something we know is there, it is under chairs, beds, all different kinds of furniture; however, it is something that we dont really notice or care about, even though it has an important function. Which is where this relationship of the image and material could really be explored further.

During my talk with Matt, I came to the realisation that making these set ups using the material aswell as objects wasnt perhaps the right path to go down. I think it was much more of a 'comfort' thing, although I hate to admit it. Incorporating the objects to function as props were initially to attempt to draw out the physical properties of the image and act almost as a support for each installation, referencing the imagery literally. Matt said he felt as though they were just there, not really functioning or provoking much thought about the overall work. He also said that I didnt need to locate everything because this then adds to the element of ambiguity and questioning which I think he is very much spot on with.

After this very thought provoking discussion with Matt, I am going to begin using my space to put up work I have already made, as well as making new pieces. Focusing more so on the imagery and what happens when different visuals are put together. Concentrating heavily on this aspect of place, and personal moments. Mixing up the imagery so that there is not neccessarily an obvious narrative.