THE SELF-ISOLATION RESIDENCY 22ND MAY 2021: DAY 419

Rückenfigur, staffage, spectator or observer? Where do I stand?
The ‘accessories’ of an artistic composition (companion).

Rückenfigur, staffage, spectator or observer?
The ‘accessories’ of an artistic composition (companion). Where do I stand?
 
My recent exhibition of ‘Personal Topographies: work from the Self-Isolation Residency’ at Dunoon Burgh Hall has provided me with an inordinate opportunity for reflection on how my working process has and is evolving. Indeed, seeing so much of my new work together in exhibition context has become the catalyst for what I hope will facilitate a better sympathy and expression of my preoccupations.

One theme which has always been of concern to me is how the spectator/observer interacts with my, or indeed with any, art works. In the 21st century such encounters with art can take many forms, which can be both healthy and unhealthy in their elucidation of the philosophies being expounded within the work; by ‘unhealthy’ I am referring to the inevitable frequent misinterpretation of work by a spectator owing its poor mediation. Via this latest exhibition encounter with my own work I have once again initiated a revision, or perhaps revisit into, what has been a long-time concern for me as artist, the question posed to the observer of ‘where do I stand?’

To be continued...