Impressions of Music; Music for 18 Musician

Immediately after the Show and listen the comment that stuck with me was that though the second drawing was freer than the older drawing, there was still a large amount of control used in the process of the making the marks. From this statement I began thinking about how I might try to gain some greater release from this control. This seems to be a rather simple question but in relation to the embodied knowledge that has been learned over the years of making these works and the psychological aspect in the fear of change my thinking was very closed off to the option of just letting go and seeing what happens, even though this is in some respects what the 'Causal drawing process' are exploring. 

my first port of call was to look at the concept of Embodied knowledge in general terms, I also revisited some of what I had read about the Autonomic Nervous System

Superficial notes on Embodied Knowledge( 1 2 ), Autonomic Nervous System and Knowledge transfer. I need to revisit this subject in more depth, I am particularly interested in the first Embodied Knowledge link, Merleau-Ponty and phenomenology have come up recently and I am currently in the process of exploring them so I will keep this in mind.

Considering the particular physical experience of my mark making, much of these works were made in the same environment, physical and mental state. Though effecting and affecting the physicality of mark making is the primary objective of this project, by immediately moving to larger expressive movements and larger scale materials there might be a risk of missing the experience of expressive mark making at a smaller scale, therefore for the next few works I chose to work on the same kind of A3 paper that I preferred to use. ( I will be addressing questions of scale further into the project, but at the time of making the proceeding works, my focus is on the marks themselves)

I found myself thinking about how in my previous work making each of the individual marks was almost like keeping a beat, following an unconcious rhythm, from this I considered how in some ways making marks is a bit like a dance, in the same way we might nod our head a long to a song, I would mark the paper I was working with following this unconcious rhythm, but with music we do not just nod our heads, we feel the urge to start moving our bodies with the harmonies. These small movements are so wonderfully instinctual and I wandered if I could try to use them as a way to effect the physical mark making. 

I decide to listen to one of my favorite pieces of music for this first experiment, this being Steve Reich's  'Music for 18 Musicians.' (1978), The year before starting the course I attended a performance of 'Music for 18 Musicians' performed by Steve Reich and the Colin Currie Group at the Barbican. Since the experience, which is difficult to explain but which I felt like was the perfect Mindfulness, where usually when going to a performance I would become distracted by thoughts or physically uncomfortable, I felt completely in the moment, hypnotised by what is both beautifully simple but also awe inspiring in its complexity. I found watching the musicians movements incredible, moving like a large human clock work body, there is such precision and self discipline but also a beautiful human element. Whilst watching the performance I found myself imagining shifting, moving shapes and was left later considering I wander if anyone has ever choreographed dance for this piece of music? I don't think it needs it but I just found that I had a strong urge to consider how a dancers movements might be effected by this music.

To begin the drawing experiment I allowed myself to just let my hands move across the page, making marks when it felt right to make the marks and I tried to keep my eyes off the page, the only parameter I applied was that I would listen to the whole piece of music without stopping.
 

Music for 18 Musicians.

2014

Pencil on paper.

The process of making this drawing was very enjoyable, it was really exciting to just allow myself to make marks without any clear objective, though I do find the overall image rather unattractive. I believe this is because in comparrison to some of my earlier work lack of control is a little terrifying, but the drawing is very clearly improvised, the marks were made with an immediacy, there are shapes and forms that appear that I really like, I feel like there is an honest too the marks but it also feels like this drawing is an exercise rather than a finished work.

I should of allowed myself a large space to work within, with the length of song and the limitation of space, and the freedom of movement too many of the marks are piled on top of each other, but within the drawing there are some exciting moments

Music for 18 Musicians, Detail 1.

2014

Pencil on paper.

I am really excited about the marks within this piece, for example I find this small section in the detail 1 really nice, I like the way that as my hand has moved across the page I have begun to erase marks and new marks have appeared on top of them, there is an appearance of depth which was completely accidental. Im also drawn to the emerging shape in the centre of the photo, its as if something is taking shape in amongst all the chaos, some sort of accidental formation.  

Music for 18 Musicians Detail 2.

2014

Pencil on paper.

I am also interested by these moments where I have scratched the paper, they immediately ground the physical action undertaken in the making, they show that the actions of the maker were active and they were not being careful. Where before, in my previous work, there is the possibility for an illusion in the image, this drawing is clearly about action and movement.

Music for 18 Musicians, Detail 3.

2014

Pencil on paper.

Music for 18 Musicians. Detail 4

2014

Pencil on paper.

 Immediate Notes during the making of Music for 18 Musicians.

2014

Pencil on paper.

Retrospective notes on Music for 18 Musicians.

2014

Pencil on paper.

I find that with this drawing I am immediately being drawn to thoughts of Cy Twombly and his mark making, the immediacy of the physical actions in his paintings clearly exhibit energy and being in the moment of making the mark. though where Twombly's paintings, for example 'Leda and the Swan.' (1962) are much more considered and balanced, the spatial relationships between marks or where marks intersect or layer on top of each, the places where marks have not been made or where Twombly has restricted himself from overworking an area which gives a balance to the overall painting. In my drawing due to the limiting of observation and the issue of the scale of the paper I have used The drawing feels quite clostraphobic, much like my previous practice (here), the issue of scale is quite an important issue that I must examine in more depth, to break away from the constraint of my previous practice embodied knowledge and physicality, I need to allow myself space to make fuller larger marks and not restrain myself from the outset in the choice of scale of the surface I am working on.

 

Cy Twombly

Leda and the Swan,

 Rome, 1962

Oil, Pencil and Crayon on canvas.

 6'3" x 6' 6 3/4"(190.5 x 200cm)

copyright Cy Twombly.

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