P: Look & Learn
At the start of the first task, work focussed on two concepts for 7 – the virtual Grand National and seven days of Twitter trending hashtags; however, both ideas failed to reflect a personal connection to the current situation. As an educator, I began to consider how in recent weeks online teaching has become normal practice, and with fewer distractions, time is currently at a premium; therefore, would it be possible for me to engage with online learning to gain a new skill? A 3 minute 30 second video showing how to hand-draw an ampersand was watched twice, I then practiced drawing as many & symbols within a set hour. Reading around systems within art, I began to draw parallels between this, and the present-day Government imposed guidelines; so the ampersand drawings were developed further by implementing mandatory rules (not dissimilar to the Windham project), thereby taking away artistic freedom. Having completed the first piece, a day later I drew for a further 33minutes to produce a new set of ampersands, the quality of these drawings were better, and whilst a set of similar rules were applied, the outcome bears little resemblance to the first solution.
T: Positive Connections
First ideas included utalising each day of the week, daily routines, sequences, and rhythms of dancing, walking and running. Reading around the number 7, I noted links with luck, colour, music, sins, virtues and wonders! I considered the count of 8 used within dancing and running as a way to visualise &. I mapped out the shape of my current daily exercise and trialled the use of this as a first visual response. As I began to gather materials and surfaces to make use of, I read around the working methods of Louise Baldwin and Agnes Martin. Working often in isolation, Martin made work at a uniform size, visualising positive emotions, which often incorporated pencil line grids cut into the surface of a pre-painted background. Baldwin makes use of everyday packaging, cutting this down, turning it upside down and rearranging. In response, I returned to a first idea around the 7 days of the week and how government imposed homeworking has impacted upon this. I have maintained the (happy) daily routine of a morning coffee and swapped the take away cup for favourite mugs from my home. I have continued to use my work diary, recording video calls and family events as week 3 of lockdown coincides with week 1 on the Easter holiday. I selected to use the layout of lines across 7 days within this work diary as a first pattern of lines. I plan to form the solid bands, seen in the work of Martin, by using sections of envelopes received in the post throughout the week. Over the top, I will position and trace around 7 cups to imply the 7 cups of morning coffee enjoyed within this week. The colour palette will be taken from given surfaces and used objects.
In constructing the piece, I noted the smaller scale of working suits my new home desk! I received only 3 letters this week – a book, a letter from the UK Government about Covid 19, and a bank statement contained within a white envelope which was grey inside. Whilst planning the pattern of lines taking from my diary, I noticed that Tuesday was 7 April and removed this number from the page of my diary to make use of within the final visual response. The placement of this is aligned to its original position within my diary and links with my daily ritual at the start of each day. The additional yellow and red sections are taken from the colour of the mugs I have used for my morning coffee to visualise something of my positive experience of home working.
meeting in the middle 
T – there are some interesting cross-overs within the work, I also trialled the ampersand idea on the inside of an envelope I received this week. Similarly we have both used a form of blue graph paper as the basis for the work. It’s interesting that although I started with concepts for 7, the two pieces reflect both 7 and &.
A positive start and I think the one week deadline is a good form of discipline(!).
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