Course manual: “Aim: This project continues the theme of focusing attention on your own physicality and opening up your method to new ways of moving.”
I used my own physicality to explore mark-making for the body paintings in Assignment 2 – applying the paint on various body parts and pressing them to paper or canvas.
This exercise is asking me to remove control in another way- by applying the drawing material on a long stick that will require my whole body to move while making the marks.
I set up a still life with three lampshades- a subject that I want to explore as part of my parallel project as well. I attach a charcoal stick to the end of a long bamboo stick ( approx 2,5 m long) and stretch a large piece of paper on the floor:
This is the outcome:
In a second phase, I attach a whole bundle of oil pastel crayons together in different combinations.
This is the finished drawing:
The lines are somewhat wobbly, but other than that, this could have been a large version of a quick charcoal drawing in my sketchbook. I am not sure it is a record of my struggle.
I enjoy the coloured “woven” effects that appear from the bundle of crayons, and also the shape of the tiles on the floor appearing in the drawing as a rubbing.
I decide to complicate the situation with introducing a chair and a pitcher to the composition.
I think this time I achieved a super-accurate representation of my own struggle! (Especially on the chair!)
I notice a struggle for control while making these drawings. The brain does not quite want to let go and allow ‘free” marks to happen- looking at the still life there is still a struggle to represent it accurately.
In the end, these more free lines, that show how I had to wriggle my whole body to manipulate the stick with the charcoal, feel more fresh and interesting than a more accurate drawing. Definitely a find to carry forward.
Clara's Drawing 2 