'Me, Myself and Mind'

As the piece I am working towards for the exhibition is far from obvious, I decided on giving the piece a title 'Me, Myself and Mind', stating the obvious that the work is based upon myself; giving the viewer that further insight as to what the work represents. Alongside the recent addition to sound recordings and Imagery.

Friday 28th January

In our group we met up again with Peter to discuss progress with the exhibition venue, the theme and our ideas; although we still havn't had a reply from the 'Wolstenholme' from the e-mail we sent them, and so no development has or can be made for this side of the project until we have seen the venue and the spaces in which we will be setting up our works, however the development of our individual works still continues.
During the discussion we came across the Wolstenholme facebook group and so we decided on sending a second e-mail stating the problems we are having with setting the venue. Phone calls have also been made, unfortunately with no answer and so if we don't hear anything from the group by next Friday we will have to look at alternative venues.

Individual Tutorial

I had my one on one with Miguel this morning, to basically explain my plans, more recent ideas and what I am planning on putting together for the group exhibition but as we spoke earlier in the week he was pretty much up to date with were I am with my work at the minute. Although I took this time to explain my thoughts of bringing my black and white imagery of my body back into the work, I feel it will give the overall piece that 'thing' that was missing; hanging in strips, amongst the text, the imagery may give the viewer that little bit more information on what the work is about and adding interest. Having got a positive response from this idea, I have more confidence in doing so. Although at this point I'm not to sure of how much of the strips of imagery to include; whether its in a section of the room so the viewer will come across it when exploring the space or incorporated randomly or in an order amongst the strips of text. I will experiment with these further to see which works best; ready for the group tutorials.  

E-mail sent to Wolstenholme Projects

We are a group of seven second year JMU fine art students currently working on similarly themed pieces that we intend to exhibit during April. It has come to our attention through our course leaders that your venue is available for us to put together a group exhibition. Peter Appleton has passed on your email address for us to contact you regarding our proposal and to arrange for a convenient time for us to meet and to look around the space. We are working on diverse individual projects all based around the theme of Self-awareness and reflection. To follow are our brief individual proposals so that you can get a general idea of what we are hoping to achieve.

Tuesday 25th January

Another group meeting took place today to discuss our individual proposals to e-mail to the 'Wolstenholme Project'. In the e-mail alongside the proposals we basically explained the theme of our work as a group and what we are hoping for in the exhibition. Alongside asking if we could visit the gallery space on a date available to gain a sense of the building and the space we will be working in.
We still don't know if it is a definite on using the venue but after suggesting their space to our project leader, hopefully they will like our proposals and ideas and allow the show to take place. We are now just waiting on a reply to the e-mail.


My Proposal:

Natasha Fewlass
'Me, Myself and Mind'

The work I intend to produce for this project is based  on myself, control and the struggle between wanting and letting. Using paper and text as the main resource with the addition of sound; I plan to repeat the process of cutting sheets of paper into singular strips containing the words that are repeated uncontrollably in my mind daily. I will hang these strips individually from the ceiling taking up the whole space of the room or corridor I am able to use. The purpose of the work is to invite the viewer to walk in and around the piece, giving them a sense of claustrophobia and an insight into my life and mind.

Audacity Workshop

Today I was introduced to the audacity programme lead by Peter Appleton. The first meeting was to basically gain some knowledge on the software, although I'm sure after a little practice I will become much more aware of how to use the tools. We began by downloading the software to my computer, then after converting the audio files to the correct format, I transferred all of the sounds that I recorded previously onto the programme. These were all of good sound quality and so will be easier to work with when putting the piece together. I would say that the audacity programme is the ideal software to be using as I simply want to edit, cut, and alter how the recordings play together as a whole. I am not too sure of the order or sequence I want these sounds to play at the minute but I will have a draft of my sound piece put together ready for the second Audacity Workshop which is taking place next Tuesday.

The Material

After having a few issues with funding for my ideas on the piece I am wanting to exhibit, I decided on using the university's printing facilities. Today I printed 500 copies of the handwritten text needed to start cutting into strips. Depending on the size of the room or corridor I am able to exhibit my work I will be printing another 500 copies to fill the whole space, leaving some kind of pathway so that the viewer is able to walk in and around the strips of text. I may also be including the black and white imagery of myself which I used in past development, which would also be cut into strips along with the strips of text. I will put together a smaller version of these hung together to see if these work well together.

Other Artists: Inviting the Viewer

Instead of looking at artists who have worked in a similar way as I am doing, I thought about how they as an artist have invited the viewer into their works; giving an insight as to what their work may be about, involving them into the work almost...as I am trying to do with mine.
Straight away I thought about Tracey Emin and her piece 'Everyone I have ever slept with', which is a tent appliquéd with 102 names of the people she had slept with up to the time of its creation in 1995. The title is often misinterpreted as a euphemism indicating sexual partners and the work termed "a list of all the people that Emin has ever had sex with", but is in fact to be taken as a literal statement: "Some I'd had a shag with in bed or against a wall some I had just slept with, like my grandma. I used to lay in her bed and hold her hand. We used to listen to the radio together and nod off to sleep. You don't do that with someone you don't love and don't care about."

I suppose a selection of Tracey Emin's works link well with what I am doing at the minute, especially 'The Tent' as she too works personally, relating her ideas to herself and things that have happened in her life. In this particular piece I like how the piece invites the viewer into the tent to read everything written; inviting them into her life almost.  It also made me think about how my own work may be percieved as it isn't particularly obvious as to what the work is about. Although I am sure that the sound I am putting together to play alongside the piece will push it a little further in the right direction.

Another artist I though about is Banksey and his street art and how the work can be seen unintentionally in passing by the viewer. Our work and ideas don't link in the slightest but I love the idea of the art been out on the streets like his, giving people the chance to see 'art' without having to visit a show or exhibition. Although for the work I am producing at the minute, I would much rather see it presented in a proffesional environment. Not only would it create a much stronger atmosphere in a room as a whole but I would much prefer knowing that someone has took the time to come and visit the work in the exhibition space, instead of passing by it in the street. 

Friday 21st January

Today we had our first group meeting with Peter Appleton, there are seven of us in total (Myself, Keiran, Rachel, Rhia, Louise, Freya and Will) and we were all hoping to exhibit our work at the 'Wolstenholme Project'. Who have said to the university that they are willing to provide the venue for the exhibition, and so a phone call will be made to hopefully hold the space for us and make a set time to visit the venue as a group to decide on set places for our works and ideas and discuss our plans with them further. We will also present a proposal on the meeting, giving a better insight and understanding of what we would like to do in the space provided. A few of us have worked with this venue in the past and love the space and overall feel and messy approach to art; fitting well with our theme and individual works.

We have begun to identify our group theme as 'Self Awareness and Anxiety'. This links all of our works together as they are all based on a similar subject matter, although expressed in very different ways; providing a range of works and media but still showing us as individual artists. We began to discuss our individual works and what each of us wanted in the space for the exhibition, all ideas vary from works simply hanging on a wall, drawing on a wall, video projection, hanging from the ceilings and set on plinths in an area in the space. We have a strong basis of ideas and I think the contrast between the individual works will flow well together in the 'derelict looking' space and hopefully create a great show for the project. We have also decided on putting together a group blog or facebook page which will include all information and progress on the exhibition and our works as well as our individual thoughts and ideas throughout.

I personally am really excited to get started and involved with the group and venue, It's a great opportunity to get our names and work out there, giving us an insight of what to expect when we finish our degrees.

Exhibition Ideas

How my work develops and is presented for the exhibition depends on the space we are able to get involved with. Ideally I would like a small room for my work to be presented separately, as I feel it would create a stronger impression and overall outcome than it would in a large room amongst the other works of the group. I will be continuing with the strips of handwritten text hanging individually from the ceiling; expressing my recurring emotions suggestively rather than obvious. I am hoping to produce hundreds of these white strips including the list of words, taking over the whole space of the room with a pathway involving the viewer into the work and my life by leading them to walk through the piece, creating a feeling of anxiety, frustration and claustrophobia; giving them an insight as to how I feel daily about my subject matter. Whilst they make there own interpretation of the work as they move closer around the work, reading the text written on the strips.

I would also like to involve sound into this final piece for the exhibition; aiming more towards a recording of my own voice and trying to capture the process of my everyday thoughts, which is a little more complex than able to explain. At the minute I am thinking that the information contained will vary, including numbers and math, repeated words, and varied sounds; which I think will give more of an insight into what I am trying to express in my work. This would also be edited, maybe speeding up and slowing down sections of the recording, muffling parts or making sections louder and quieter. This would be played into the room with my hanging strips, although I would like it to be played quietly so that the viewer will have to listen carefully whilst walking around the piece, and hopefully taking in the information without it giving too much away, as I would like my audience to have their own opinion of what the work represents.

Thursday 13th January

I felt a little releaved after the meeting with Peter today as prior to this I felt like I didn't know what I had to be doing for each of the modules. But after the explanation of what was expected of us and the set dates of completion I'm a little more settled and happy to get stuck into my project and getting my work and ideas out there.


The selected possible venues for our exhibitions are of a great range for most of the students, with spaces held to present small works and drawings to social events and performances. I personally am working more towards an installation piece which links well with the works of the group I am working with in the 'LSAFA2003' module. And so we decided on a space like the 'Wolstenholme Project' or the 'LJMU Students Union' would be much more suitable as they are held for the types of works we are all wanting to exhibit. A meeting will take place next week to decide on which space we will be exhibiting our work, which hopfully will be a possibility.  


I found the selection of works Peter shown really interesting, which he put together a few years back; especially 'Between Wind and Water' which he presented in 1988. He labelled these as clumsy objects but said it wasn't particularly about how the works looked, it was the sound the objects made; which were created from elements of wind and water and the vibration of how these connected. It was interesting to hear that he worked in the oil industry, as it was the structure of the oil rig that inspired him to create the works.

Wednesday 12th January

I found the 'Freelancing and Self Employment in Creative Industries' event really interesting and definitely helpful, giving me a clearer outlook on life and art after graduating from university. I suppose it made me think more into what I myself want to do as a career in art, whilst hopefully enjoying it and how I would support myself along the way. It is quite worrying thinking about it now as it's not something I have really thought of previously, so having this talk has made me realise that my time at university will soon pass and I'll have to continue my works alone. I especially enjoyed listening to what previous students are doing as a career, after graduating from university and how they came about getting where they are now as professionals in the industry; either as artists and selling there works or in the business end, helping artists to sell and exhibit there works. Again it was worrying hearing how hard it will be to get in the art industry as not only is it becoming more and more competitive but there are also fewer jobs about for the future graduates.


After the discussion, I became a member on kin2kin.co.uk. I'm not particularly interested in starting up my own business or becoming self employed but I do want to become more involved and recognised in the arts and to basically give myself a better understanding on whats out there.
I also want to get involved with some form of volunteer work, hopefully relating to art in some way or working with children and students as I am very interested in teaching. I think this would help me become more prepared for leaving university, giving me an insight into how the teaching industry works and simply getting myself out there. It would also look better on my CV for when I am applying for teaching jobs in the near future.