Modern visual arts are frequently criticised for lacking in substance, technical skill and aesthetics, partly because work which centres around concept rarely betrays the time, research or thought taken in it's creation. In the interest of transparency and to provide a background to the projects, these pages demonstrate often overlooked, yet essential stages in any creative practice; planning, thinking, trialling and reflecting.
These pages describe earlier stages in the development of recent work, which began by looking directly to the urban environment for inspiration. An initial visual starting point was the contrast between interventions which exist either inside or outside institutional control. For example, No Parking signs and graffiti. Though these are equally common sights in city spaces, they pull in opposite directions, the former for a controlled and ordered environment, the latter for freedom of expression.
From these observations, many aesthetic qualities of earlier installations were derived and they were central to the development toward an interest in public ownership.   |
