Sunday, June 10, 2012

Blurbs

We're supposed to come up with different short blurbs for the October exhibition: most urgently,
1) a rough draft for one covering our work in the exhibition, (which goes into our posh catalogue,) or at least how much we want to put in, but also;
2) one about ourselves, (which goes into our collaborative piece,) and;
3) one for each piece of work.
The thing about blurbs is, a) I like them short and sharp, and b) I can write anything, and they are based on truths, but they may not be strictly 100% true, because I prefer to entertain if I can.  (Goodness, should I be disclosing this?) and I feel ambivalent about what's more important. 

One to cover my work in the October exhibition is the hardest because I have vague ideas about only two of the pieces, ("Pillars" and "Friends(hip)"; not sure how many I'm making but would like at least another in addition to the collaborative piece,) and my thoughts on this is the one that changes most frequently. But I would like to say I started out with "cloth with no concepts", and how my thoughts oscillate. But the more I think about the blurb, the more I'm tempted to make a piece that is so not about anything, but just a pretty piece of cloth; I'm thinking of chucking in "tube" and just make a long piece of cloth and drape it somewhere; but then another voice tells me I could make a tube in the style of cloth I think is pretty, but still allow folks to walk into it or stand inside.

About myself is proving difficult, too. Contrary to what I do here, I don't like to talk about me at exhibitions, but prefer the work be seen for what they are. Because I feel such a lapsed Japanese, a lapsed Minnesotan and a vacillating Kiwi, I don't like committing to any place. On the other hand, I love reading other artists' biographical info, especially their ethnic and geographical origins and their family environment.

The title of the exhibition, or at least what we're putting into the catalogue as our starting point, is "Beginnings" and I'd be well-advised to try to tie in some of the work with that thought. But the piece I've developed the most, "pillars" is about... Christchurch, Japan, and the demise of the world economy symbolized by the Greece. (I have a mate who ended up in Athens twice last year and both time he was there there were mass demonstrations with casualties covered even by the NZ media!) So while Greece is a beginning, the rest is more about the end before the beginnings.

I can talk about plain weave and undyed yarns, (wool, most definitely, in Kiwiland,) but I'm not using much of either. I can think of a way to include how I learned to weave, from books and the Yahoo group. But I haven't had much bright sparks in this department. And I'm not sure if Group R members will allow me to be brief.

Goodness, I started typing this post intending to show you drafts for 1) and 2).  The thing is, I don't want to art-dribble. Goodness...

9 comments:

  1. "In the beginning, I wanted to exhibit pretty cloths with no concepts behind the making of them."

    "I was led astray by members of this group." (I'm not sure if this is true, and I hope my end products aren't not pretty cloths.)

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  2. "In the beginning, I wanted to exhibit pretty cloths with no conceptual (insert-word to mean thinking/process/dribbling) in the making of them."

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  3. Maybe the word you are seeking is contriving.

    Check out the definition.

    Vicki Allen

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  4. Ah, you read my mind. I like its synonyms; these are from dictionary.com: "come up with, concoct, construct, cook up, create, devise, dream up, engineer, fabricate, fashion, forge, form, formulate, frame*, handle, hatch, improvise, make, make up*, manipulate, manufacture, move, plan, plot, project, rig, scheme, throw together, trump up, vamp, wangle, whip up"

    "Scheming, engineering, framing" seem to fit well. I also want to express that my making is gimmick-free; that I don't concoct cloths. (And we certainly don't whip up cloths on looms, do we?)

    "In the beginning, I wanted to exhibit pretty cloths with no conceptual scheming in the making of them."

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  5. "I weave cloth on looms. I wanted to show what I make."

    "I weave cloth on looms. I wanted you to see what I make."

    These would be me going back to my origins, and it feels better to say what I mean. At least this morning.

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  6. Good morning, Meg,
    I really like the second sentence you put in quotes.
    I weave for myself. I am the critic. I set the standard. I bend the rules, make the rules, choose the rules. The creation is my creation. If I show you, then I want to show you. I have already accepted it. It is good if you like it. It is good if you don't like it. I want to share it with you, that's all.
    That is how I feel.
    Vicki Allen, Weaver

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  7. "I am weaver. Hear me roar."

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  8. Got to include that one!

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