startingzout

[startingzout]

blog 1 pictures

[startingzout]

blog 1 pictures

[startingzout]

blog 1

As I sit and stare at my desk, I take form its inspiration for my first blog post. The first thing to catch my eye is a postcard of Kurt Schwitters performing the ‘Ursonate’ in London 1944, a sound poem. Not very current I think at, but relevant none the less... In the back of my mind, as time goes on he’s always there . Every time I see ‘found’ work I think Schwitters, pieces gathered fragment to make a whole. I think before I continue this is a metaphor for my starting this blog, this course, my life as a week rolls into the next, I am a whole made up of bits of experiences. At times it’s noisy!

My wish is that this course leads me to feel more whole, active, valid. I could be ‘an entire worked on piece, to show.’ For those who haven’t come across Schwitters, he was a canon in collage art. Born in Germany in 1887, he was prolific after the first world war He used 3d objects such as machinery he may have come across while working as a technical draughtsman in the ironworks such as Cogs, wheels chains. He would overpaint these to make a composition, the most famous of which named MERZ 29A. He created Merz Magazine  and other groupings under the Merz name, the word meaning ‘the summarisation of all conceivable materials for artistic purposes , and technically the – on principle- equal valuation of the individual materials. (Elger et al.,

Modern Art

.p288) This period of artists was known as DADAISTS, I remind myself that their conscience was born out of the political post-war trauma . I think about the continuing wars in the world today, perhaps a Schwitter’s onomatopoeic drill of sounds could relate to the shock of today. He thrashed art into a more garbled state to reflect the nonsensical war time. Artists need to abandon typical techniques reflect that life wasn’t typical. I’m caused to think about the ‘playroom’ or the session with a client. As therapists we must imagine nothing, so the client can bring anything into the room ,so  that nothing is ‘typical’ and anything is possible. This will be a challenge of course, to leave our  sense of the ‘norm’ and judgements aside. But it is ascribed to us in our role. I’ve looked at this in my previous work with children, and in my current work now , I reflect on the work of Carl Rogers, the ground-breaking humanist counsellor’s core conditions: congruence, empathy and unconditional  positive regard. Being in the here and now with the client will allow us to focus on what is in front of us without preconceptions. These are powerful tools for artists, for where we are today in parallel to the Dadaists, the unknown is an anxious place.   At this time, we are facing a devastation politically in Britain, with families divided and politicians being bizarre. Dadaists couldn’t change politics, end war, chase people into revolution, so they created a way of smashing structures in art and language. We have a vote, which wither way will crush the spirit of this country. Dada makes me think of the XR movement of today, non -violent, confused and scared.  Thousands of people in peaceful protest about the climate and inaction. People, who are anyone dancing, standing, gluing themselves to the floor, being counted. It’s what we can do as a race, stand together as one voice. Today’s rebel rousing XR spirit of the people, who have organised a nationwide art group to create the spirit of activism through art.  

This group could  provide a place to put those anxieties to use, in a creative way. Art therapy, we could say. How does Schwitters inform my art? At present I’m not making any, but it’s my go to. I’m handling a little creativity now, thankfully my job makes me. The last piece of considered work I did was for my wedding anniversary in September 2019.I chose a combination of cowgirls and mgm classic movie pictures to cut and stick onto a poster in a collage style. What came of it were various versions of exhilaration, dread, hysteria and joy. I combined it with images of the place we got married, ‘the Tunnel of Love at’ the Little White Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas.  It was a humorous, honest piece. Long Relationships are not icing, and love hearts and sweet pink poems, they are a bit of that and a lot of other wrangling’s. Such is the this, the that, the uncontrollable, the flash, the caught in the corner of your eye. It’s the gathering of the hum. To me Schwitters informs my practise today, and the spirit of finding your own language is not derelict. The medium is the message . The following are extracts of this collage.

Elger, Dietmar, Christopher Cordy, Laszlo Taschen, and Hans Werner Holzwarth, eds. Modern Art. Bibliotheca Universalis. Köln: Taschen, 2016

Elger, Dietmar, Christopher Cordy, Laszlo Taschen, and Hans Werner Holzwarth, eds. Modern Art. Bibliotheca Universalis. Köln: Taschen, 2016

[startingzout]

blog 1

As I sit and stare at my desk, I take form its inspiration for my first blog post. The first thing to catch my eye is a postcard of Kurt Schwitters performing the ‘Ursonate’ in London 1944, a sound poem. Not very current I think at, but relevant none the less... In the back of my mind, as time goes on he’s always there . Every time I see ‘found’ work I think Schwitters, pieces gathered fragment to make a whole. I think before I continue this is a metaphor for my starting this blog, this course, my life as a week rolls into the next, I am a whole made up of bits of experiences. At times it’s noisy!

My wish is that this course leads me to feel more whole, active, valid. I could be ‘an entire worked on piece, to show.’ For those who haven’t come across Schwitters, he was a canon in collage art. Born in Germany in 1887, he was prolific after the first world war He used 3d objects such as machinery he may have come across while working as a technical draughtsman in the ironworks such as Cogs, wheels chains. He would overpaint these to make a composition, the most famous of which named MERZ 29A. He created Merz Magazine  and other groupings under the Merz name, the word meaning ‘the summarisation of all conceivable materials for artistic purposes , and technically the – on principle- equal valuation of the individual materials. (Elger et al.,

Modern Art

.p288) This period of artists was known as DADAISTS, I remind myself that their conscience was born out of the political post-war trauma . I think about the continuing wars in the world today, perhaps a Schwitter’s onomatopoeic drill of sounds could relate to the shock of today. He thrashed art into a more garbled state to reflect the nonsensical war time. Artists need to abandon typical techniques reflect that life wasn’t typical. I’m caused to think about the ‘playroom’ or the session with a client. As therapists we must imagine nothing, so the client can bring anything into the room ,so  that nothing is ‘typical’ and anything is possible. This will be a challenge of course, to leave our  sense of the ‘norm’ and judgements aside. But it is ascribed to us in our role. I’ve looked at this in my previous work with children, and in my current work now , I reflect on the work of Carl Rogers, the ground-breaking humanist counsellor’s core conditions: congruence, empathy and unconditional  positive regard. Being in the here and now with the client will allow us to focus on what is in front of us without preconceptions. These are powerful tools for artists, for where we are today in parallel to the Dadaists, the unknown is an anxious place.   At this time, we are facing a devastation politically in Britain, with families divided and politicians being bizarre. Dadaists couldn’t change politics, end war, chase people into revolution, so they created a way of smashing structures in art and language. We have a vote, which wither way will crush the spirit of this country. Dada makes me think of the XR movement of today, non -violent, confused and scared.  Thousands of people in peaceful protest about the climate and inaction. People, who are anyone dancing, standing, gluing themselves to the floor, being counted. It’s what we can do as a race, stand together as one voice. Today’s rebel rousing XR spirit of the people, who have organised a nationwide art group to create the spirit of activism through art.  

This group could  provide a place to put those anxieties to use, in a creative way. Art therapy, we could say. How does Schwitters inform my art? At present I’m not making any, but it’s my go to. I’m handling a little creativity now, thankfully my job makes me. The last piece of considered work I did was for my wedding anniversary in September 2019.I chose a combination of cowgirls and mgm classic movie pictures to cut and stick onto a poster in a collage style. What came of it were various versions of exhilaration, dread, hysteria and joy. I combined it with images of the place we got married, ‘the Tunnel of Love at’ the Little White Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas.  It was a humorous, honest piece. Long Relationships are not icing, and love hearts and sweet pink poems, they are a bit of that and a lot of other wrangling’s. Such is the this, the that, the uncontrollable, the flash, the caught in the corner of your eye. It’s the gathering of the hum. To me Schwitters informs my practise today, and the spirit of finding your own language is not derelict. The medium is the message . The following are extracts of this collage.

Elger, Dietmar, Christopher Cordy, Laszlo Taschen, and Hans Werner Holzwarth, eds. Modern Art. Bibliotheca Universalis. Köln: Taschen, 2016

Elger, Dietmar, Christopher Cordy, Laszlo Taschen, and Hans Werner Holzwarth, eds. Modern Art. Bibliotheca Universalis. Köln: Taschen, 2016