- We spoke about how my river project has taken up most of my time, and that I enjoyed having a structure in place from having deadlines for the metal pour, certain days of the foundry being open, and the deadline for the summer show to work towards- I felt much more stable having a rhythm to work like this
- Enjoying the process of making, as well as the stability provided; learning to use power tools like an angle grinder was particularly empowering!
- I have definitely developed my skills in sculpting whilst working with the wax, as well as learning how to make hot rubber moulds, how to make plaster moulds for the kiln, how to use various tools as mentioned, how to work with metal (which was entirely new to me) and how to apply a patina to metal. I am a much more confident sculptor as a result
- Why do I record the processes via photography and video?
– to aid my memory- as a result of my mental illness my short term memory is very poor, so recording the process is a helpful reminder, and I can always go back and refresh my memory if I need to
– part of my desire to share the processes with others- I feel that when seeing final pieces of work, such as my sculptures, it can be very difficult to envision all of the work that has gone into each piece- by documenting my process so thoroughly it demystifies the artistic process and makes it more accessible for those who haven’t done anything similar before - Discussed that I am a little sad that my video game project has largely been on hold due to the demanding nature of the river project, and the fact that I need other people with certain skills- i.e. an illustrator and someone with experience in games design- to help actually make the game
- I do feel, however, that my knowledge and understanding of the topic has grown over the past year- the #MeToo movement has provided lots of content online for me to read, watch, and engage with, and there have been a lot of stories in the media that have brought rape culture to the front of social consciousness in the past year, which I have been taking in and adding to my bibliography post over time
- Do I need to put a structure in place for the video game project? Perhaps I should set aside one day or a few hours a week dedicated to research and working on the dialogue options/characters?
- Should I set a deadline for myself to find collaborators for this project, in order to get it moving?
- Holding multiple projects at once- what is this like?
– I find it useful to have lots on as it helps me to manage my mental illness, although I recognise that on days like today it can be difficult to manage as I can easily burn myself out if I am not careful with balancing everything properly
– Cross polination- I often find solutions to problems, or new ideas for a project whilst working on something else- it wakes my brain up and refreshes it a bit, which can help stop me stagnating on just one project - I prefer to see the artists’ process as opposed to just the final work- I much prefer studio visits over gallery visits as I like to uncover the thoughts, experiments, and failures behind the finished works- how can I incorporate this into my own practice? Perhaps by projecting my process videos in the gallery space alongside the finished work? Or could I find ways to represent the processes- i.e. using my hot rubber moulds to make casts in Jesmonite (a stronger version of plaster) but leaving the casts as they come out of the moulds, instead of removing excess material and working the details back in as I did with the waxes?
- Emma Gradin- PHD at Chelsea, could talk to her in the new year, discuss my work, ideas, and presentation of the work in the gallery space- she deals with curating exhibitions, particularly without words, and she is interested in the artists studio and processes
KAT OUTTEN 