Paul Noble a Turner Prize Nominee

What a pleasant surprise to see Paul Noble (b.1963) as a nominee for the Turner Prize 2012.  It is no surprise that the Turner Prize has continued to be controversial this year with the nominees having limited relationships with painting.  For a prize that started as a national (painting) prize named in honour of the countries beloved landscape painter J.W.M Turner it has taken a dramatic turn in the last decade.  As a positive, one could say that the prize has ensured that it is a contemporary competition that reflects the trends in contemporary art in Britain, rather than specifically being associated with painting.  However, there are those that are wondering where all the painting has gone?  Paul Noble is notable for his focus on drawing.  His large scale drawings based on his fictious town of 'Nobson Newtown' are insanely detailed and, although large in scale, focus on the minutaie that we are more used to seeing from historic Northern Renaissance figures like Hieronymous Bosch and Bruegel.

  
  Paul Noble, detail of drawing.                                       



Bruegel (the Elder), Tower of Babel, 1563.


With pencil drawing as his main source of media (complemented by sculptures in the Turner Prize exhibition) Noble acknowledges that his inspiration was about going back to basics and reinvestigating the doodles and naivity of his drawing habits while at secondary school.  But there is also inspiration that has come from working with computers as recalled in a previous article:

"Nobson Newtown itself emerged a few years later, when Noble was playing with an ancient computer program for creating graphic fonts. His alphabet of letters in this new font was presented as a “keymap” on the screen, providing the eureka moment of the Nobson project — he saw the letters as buildings in a landscape. “The fact that it was called a map and that I was making these letter shapes that were blocky and architectural meant that I leapt into this pictorial, geographical space,” he says. “So I made an actual map, and everything that is on that little map is what I am now working through.”" (as read online at http://www.standard.co.uk/arts/visual-arts/turner-prize-2012-its-back-to-the-drawing-board-for-paul-noble-8193847.html)

Who knows what will happen when the results come out in December but after many years of hard work and intensive drawing Noble is now part of a historical group of Turner Prize who has a strong career ahead of him.

Summertime

It is a warm sunny day and we are all thinking about summer ... however don't forget that ...

during the break it is essential that you continue to document your ideas and experiences that relate to art, your concept and generally things that inspire you.

Your task during the summer is to use your sketchbook/blog to document your experiences, ideas and inspiration.

To do so, you could ...
- visit exhibitions/galleries and write about your experience
- develop an entry on an artist that you have discovered
- post an image (drawing, photo, painting, etc.) that you have create and write about how it relates to your ideas, or how it was inspired by another artist
- write and link to an article that you read in a magazine or newspaper (good to create a link in your blog entry to the article so that your blog readers can read it!)

Most importantly have fun and keep thinking.

Blogging Information Booklet

A2
U N I T 3
PERSONAL
INVESTIGATION
BLOGGINGANALYSIS
WRITING


 
Tutor: Ms. Key
A2 PERSONAL INVESTIGATION

As part of your A2 coursework you are expected to produce a personal investigation that includes examples of:

• Analysis
• Description
• Good use of subject specific terms
• Evidence of learning from critical/contextual work
• Insights into the development in your own work
• Clear, well expressed writing
  (AQA GCE Handbook, Version 1.0)

What is the point of writing about art?Writing about Art further encourages the development of the main assessment criteria for the A Level course which include the notions of:

• Developing your ideas through sustained and focused investigations informed by contextual and other sources, demonstrating analytical and critical understanding (AO1)
  
• Experimenting with and selecting appropriate resources, media, materials, techniques and processes, reviewing and refining your ideas as your work develops. (AO2)
  
• Recording in visual and/or other forms ideas, observations and insights relevant to your intentions, demonstrating an ability to reflect on your work as it progresses. (AO3)
  
• Presenting a personal, informed and meaningful response demonstrating critical understanding, realizing intentions and, where appropriate, making connections between visual, written, oral or other elements. (AO4)
  

How long is the outcome for the personal investigation meant to be?
Your personal investigation should display examples of the information above. It could be presented in a variety of ways but it must be:

• Continuous writing rather than annotation
• It should be between 1,000 to 3,000 words in length

Who will be reading my blog and reviewing my 'personal investigation'?
Your tutors, your peers, external examiners and, possibly, universities!

Enjoy blogging and writing,

Ms. Key

A.What is Art?

Germaine Greer's article titled 'Now please pay attention everybody. I'm about to tell you what art is' (The Guardian, March 2011) discusses the idea of 'Art'.
[**Article can be found on the intranet]

 
Read the article and discuss your thoughts on what Art is. Use visual examples where possible.

 

 

 
B.Critical Thinking


 

 
What is critical thinking?

 
How does it apply to Art?

 
How can critical thinking change your artistic practice?

 
Consider the three questions above. Try to answer them and elaborate on the connections between these questions and specific works of art that interest you.

 

C.Interpreting
In Terry Barrett's article titled 'Principles for Interpreting' (http://www.terrybarrettosu.com/pdfs/Barrett%20(1994)%20Principles%20for%20Interpreting%20Art.pdf)
he outlines a series of principles for interpreting works of art.
Select two of these principles and discuss them in relation to a piece of work connected with your coursework ideas.


 

 
D.Visual Analysis

Visual analysis is a core activity when writing about Art, especially in terms of art history. Using the links below complete a visual analysis on a work that inspires you.
Links to 'visual analysis':
http://uwp.duke.edu/uploads/assets/visual_analysis.pdf

http://www.monash.edu.au/lls/llonline/writing/artdesign/writing/1.1.xml


 

 
E.Historical vs. Contemporary


 
Select two
pieces of work. One historical (pre-1980) and one contemporary (post-1980) and draw comparisons between the artists ideas, use of material, composition, and interpretation of an idea.

 
Also consider how these pieces might fit the characteristics of their time (i.e. Renaissance, Romanticism, Impressionism, Modernism, Postmodernism)

 

 
F.Visiting Galleries


 
As a student/artist, it is critical that you stay up to date with current ideas and innovation in Art. The best way to experience this is in a gallery or museum.

 
Write an entry based on a recent trip to a gallery or museum. Discuss not only your experience travelling to and visiting the gallery but also about one or two works that you inspired you while you were there. Provide visuals for support.
G.Your Work
Focus on one piece from your coursework portfolio. Discuss how this piece of work addresses your project title and also consider the artists who have inspired you to produce your work in this style.


Draw comparisons with the work of others as necessary.

 

 
H.Reflecting on your Work


Read the writing on the intranet titled 'reflective practice'.

With this reading in mind, reflect on a piece (or series of pieces) of work done as part of your coursework. Expand on your influences, use of materials, and connections with your contextual ideas. Explain how your ideas have changed and how you will continue to expand your work based on the work you have already completed.

 
I.Your Personal InvestigationWhat am I saying?
Why am I doing this?



Finally, you need to produce a piece of contextual writing that consists of 1,000 to 3,000 words of continuous writing (not annotation).

 
As you do so it is important that you use the blogging exercises to help develop your ideas and make reference to both your own work and its historical and contemporary references.

 
This piece of writing (like an essay or artist statement) will help other people contextualize your work. i.e. have an understanding of where your ideas are coming from and why you are producing this work!

 

 

 

INSPIRATION
Looking at other peoples work helps to inspire your own.
The following is a list of artist blogs that may help guide your blogging experience.
Michele Del Campo -
http://micheledelcampo.wordpress.com/

National Museums Liverpool Blog -
http://blog.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/

Doodlers Anonymous -
http://www.doodlersanonymous.com/

Art Observed -
http://artobserved.com/

Cool Hunting -
http://www.coolhunting.com/

Austin Kleon -
http://www.austinkleon.com/blog/


NOTES



 

Summer Reading

I was in assembly when Mr. Trevis announced the summer reading recommendations booklet available in the library to help stimulate sixth form reading habits over the summer.

Well ... to help continue to promote this idea I have come up with three books that might be of interest to those studying art.

The first is 'Colour: Travels through the Paintbox' by Victoria Finlay. 

This is a great summer read because not only is it about art it is about travel, chemistry and adventure.  In this book you can find out the origins of the colours you use on a daily basis in order to stimulate others and create magnificent works of art.

Second is Diane Ackerman's 'A Natural History of the Senses'.
       
The back cover describes it best when noting that it "is a vibrant exploration of our ability to smell, hear, taste, see and touch.  [...] Ackerman takes each of the five senses in turn and weaves together scientific fact with lore, literary allusion and voluptuous description.  With wit and style she tells of the invention of the croissant, why the Empress Josephine wore violet-scented perfume; why music moves us; why we see in colour and why lovers feel delight when they touch."

Lastly I would recommend Barbara Kingsolver's 'Small Wonder: Essays'.  If you are looking for smaller snippets that you can use to exercise your imagination and take you in to the world of a variety of other people than the 23 short 'essays' - although more like stories - will do the job.  However, they each have very poignant underlying messages about the world we live in.

   

Happy reading.