Tick tock…

I am possibly focussing too much on the passing of time, as the clock ticks I am worrying that Iam deliberating too much and waiting for guidance. I think that I am still accostomising myself to the format of an MA and finding it hard to break from the nurturing aspect of the undergraduate course. This may be the result of not having had a break between the two courses.
I have been developing a reading list of sorts, and need to research how to find the texts. I have just read Norman Mailers The White Negro, 1957. While not necessarily a direct referential document, it stands well as a provider of insights into the psychology of violence and struggle.
I went to see the new Scorsese film The Departed. Once again, the master director has come up with a gem to illustrate the angry and violent world of immigrant life and its gang culture around New York. Superbly cast. A film that evokes the sensation of boiling anger and aggression.

Open the box

It has been difficult and unnerving, to a certain degree, at my age (39) to access the world of boxers as I have been doing this by trying to train competetively. Traditional boxing gyms are there to compete among themselves and to lead their young fighters into the amateur arena (and possibly further). I have been turned away due to the unlikelihood of my being competetive as compared to someone half my age. I beg to differ! This has led to my approaching the world of “White-collar” boxing. This is going to need financing. I wonder whether this can be done through sponsorship as an art piece. I will join regardless but my progress will be somewhat slower if i am using my own resources.
I am researching boxing writers such as Norman Mailer and George Plimpton and am hoping to access oral histories and pre-television commentary on boxing bouts.

Downhill at the Tate

I checked out the new installation at the Turbine Hall. The series of 5 slides “spilling” out from each floor of the gallery look instantly enticing and appeal to my juvenile nature. I chose the highest one (from the fifth floor) and queued for around 45 minutes, behind whooping city boys and shrieking city girls. I’d lost my enthusiasm by the time my turn arrived, although the long wait meant I was able to look at the adjacent installation in depth, which I would have walked past had I not been queueing. The experience of the slide was brief but engaging. Reaching (allegedly) a speed of 30mph plus, along with the ridged aggression of the slides surface, blurring vision and sharp turns gives an enjoyable thrill and injects a “safe” level of anxiety. The point of the piece itself is lost on me, having not researched the piece at all. Could it just be the placing of a fairground ride in an unusual context? or is it just a means to reach ground level without the ennui of escalators and school children? Fun but ambiguous.

In case you were wondering…

Knocking seven bells out of someone is, I believe, a term that originates from seven-round bouts (boxing), each ending with a bell. Go figure.

Warning: This clip is brief but violent.

Modigliani at the RA

On entering the exhibition, I first noticed how packed it was and my heart sank. After paying the entrance fee and feeling the pinch, I felt I was now unable to get my moneys worth. But persevere I did. After leaving with mixed feelings about what I had seen and how that tallied with what I had been expecting, I returned for another look (on a friends membership card, therefore gratis).
As much as I am a complete fan of the wayward italian and his nudes in particular, I found there to be something afoot with the exhibition. I couldn’t quite work it out until I realised that this is probably the first exhibition I had been to that consisted purely of portraits. In fact there are full figure nudes, and some of his tribal influenced studies although these are tucked away like an afterthought. What I mean by portraits is that you walk in to the 3 rooms and are confronted by pictures that are looking out of the canvas. Each painting, some with the dead eyes he painted, some with the doll-like eyes with the impossibly thick eye-lashes. There is a stillness in the room that feels like time at a standstill. There was nothing to break the repetition of faces. Where were the drawings? or the landscapes? Did he do any?
I hate to sound like I didn’t get anything from the show, as this is not the case. I simply loved every piece in there, I just think the Academy could have presented better. In short, his reclining nudes, so simply executed and sumptuously painted are warm and sexy, inviting and calming. The actual portraits, similarly alluring, employing snatches of cubist influence both humourous and seriously engaging. A room full of a master artists figurative paintings, I could not be happier. Modigliani 10/10, Royal Academy nul points.

Beauty in their art

Aims:
I intend producing a piece that explores the psychology of aggression, which is further to the work completed on my degree course in Drawing at Camberwell. My aim is to focus on the universal aspects of violence and aggression using the world of boxing as a platform.
I am particularly interested in looking at boxing and its use as a metaphor, with its noble/brutal paradox and its political/historical contexts.
Further to these, I am someone who is drawn very powerfully to the beauty of violence, and the depths to which one can dig to overcome an adverse threat.
I would like to ask David about Goliath.
Objectives:
Until now I have used myself as a subject for my filming. I am now more interested in a focus on the relationship between the subject, the camera and the viewer, so as to open the universal arena.
I am looking at the introspective aspect of an individuals inner brutality and how that connects to the public, en-masse crescendo toward gratuitous acts of violence.
An important factor for me to understand and further investigate is levels of tolerance and the so-called breaking-point.
Fight or flight, or just fight for the sake of it.
What am I looking at? What are you looking at?
Rationale:
I intend experimenting more with the footage, in both the filming and the editing processes.
I have an idea based on “talking-head” style documentary, and how expression through mannerism can impart information possibly better than the spoken word.
With this in mind, I can use paradox to allow the viewers to use their own judgement over what is being shown.
Outcomes:
As a final piece, my initial thoughts are that this piece could be exhibited in many ways. I will be experimenting and investigating the level and difference in impact through experiencing these formats. This could include big screen, multiple screens (TV), and installation.
I am fairly certain that the subject matter would not benefit from contextual embellishments and that a single screen (TV) would be most appropriate. I intend experimenting to the point of proving/disproving this theory.
Media:
I intend researching oral history archives of pre-TV coverage of boxing and any violence-associated commentary.
I will also look at static depiction through wet and dry media along with photography.
Methodology:
I will broaden my knowledge of the boxing world, starting with Repton Boys Club. As this is the venue for many famous or notorious fighters and those associated with this world, I will start a training regime, or attempt to, and try to fully immerse myself within this context.
I will investigate through the college and the British Library, collections of oral history archives.
I will be sourcing people with a connection to the sport and those without but with a history of violence, and creating an archive of interviews and monologues.
I intend also to begin filming at boxing clubs and events, and exploring the possibility of accessing the world of bare-knuckle and fighters from the travelling communities.