My thoughts about the lecture:
I liked Dr Ecceshall from the moment he started the lecture. He seems to be down to earth and a good teacher.
Right from the start he spoke about creating a vocabulary that is useful and allows you to speak about your decision in concrete terms. I agree with that and this is definitely an invaluable asset that we will be taking from this MA going forward. As an artist we are not all good at writing or speaking about our art. That is often a role that curators and art critics or historians fulfill. It is however important to be able to create this vocabulary and will allow you and your art to be understood more clearly when you get the opportunity to communicate about your art.
Expansion:
One of the things that stood out to me is when Bryan mentions that we should be careful not to drift off into a default mode when it some to writing about our work. He says at MA level we should be taking ownership of how we would like to present and how we would like to write about our work. Not to let it happen by accident but to be conscious of it.
Ennoblement:
There are different sets of language – Academic, slang, how you speak in front of your parent or pheasant. And when you allow a translator to ‘neaten up’ the text so that it is better written but we loose some of the originality and personality of the more clumsy text. The raw material is our language. The marks we make and the materials we use carry with them baggage and content.
Later on in his talk he talks about the fact that we as artists are not making art to please an audience. We are making art because we are have to and we a figuring something out. He says: “If we want to please an audience we should become a designer. If you want to make things that are problematic, that works through difficult things. It about making it because you need to make it.” I totally agree with that. My art needs to be authentic and needs to please the desire in me to get it out and to figure things out.
It is interesting how Bryan applies knowledge from one discipline onto another and in the process unlocks knowledge. i think this is a good wat to also give some structure to your MA research around which the practical work can be based. I have seen other researchers have a similar approach. Whether it be taking an ancient illustrated manuscript texts and giving it a contemporary version or using Greek mythology texts. I feel that this type of structure would be beneficial for me at this stage but I will have to see if I can find something that can work in my context.
Bryan is very inspirational and I enjoy the energy, enthusiasm and determination that he brings along with this research!