Drawing a Blank...

Being the product of an epiphany occurring midway through the processing of the previous drawing, this example represents ‘nothing’ but a blank sheet of paper, folded-over numerous times & being lightly crumpled, such still life object considered to be of sufficient interest to warrant active scrutiny without the addition of any surface image content.


graphite & watercolour/30x20cm

Of course, such a representation of such an object returns us to the familiar subjects of the white monochrome & the good old modernist grid, thoughts particularly of the work of Robert Ryman, & also another reference to a pair of Martin Creed’s ‘Works’, Nos. 340 & 384, as mentioned here back during the early summer when we were previously engaged with thoughts & deeds involving crumpled sheets of paper.

Obviously, considering the textured surfaces of a good many of Ryman’s painting-objects, especially those featuring some form of grid structure in the manufacture of, the drawing here is, by way of contrast, smooth & flat as it two-dimensionally represents the textured, three-dimensional, creased & crumpled paper object, in such a way establishing something of a dialogue with, a suggestion of, perhaps, the flat object of the sheet as it originally existed before such integrity was compromised by the action & process of folding, etc.

Considering, more generally, crumpled objects displaying blank surfaces – other than subtle tonal variations, as activated by the play of light, of course – reminded me, also, as a blast from the past, of Alex Landrum’s panel ‘Perfect Accident No. 5 of 5’, as encountered at the John Moores 20 exhibition back in 1997, a seminal & epiphanic event indeed.
Here’s a representation, taken from the as-ever essentially collectable catalogue, although 2D fails to properly communicate the overall complexity of either surface or object (as might be claimed of the watercolour drawing, of course, which exists as something ‘other’, a distanced simulacrum):


Alex Landrum 'Perfect Accident No.5 of 5'
cellulose paint on polyester resin/123x123cm

Soundtrack:


The Birthday Party homemade compilation
Jesca Hoop 'Hunting My Dress'
Hanne Hukkelberg 'Rykestrasse 68'
Rufus Wainwright eponymous
Belle & Sebastian 'The Boy With the Arab Strap'
Sparklehorse 'Dreamt for Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain'

Having a Ball, Undoing the Work of Art

So, there we were, Saturday morning, sat on the back step, enjoying the glorious sunshine & the first, pre-breakfast cup of tea of the day, lightly reading the most interesting book ‘Sol LeWitt: 100 Views’ & occasionally pausing to gaze up into the clear blue sky for the purposes of momentary consideration, when, for whatever reason, thoughts of Martin Creed’s ‘Work no. 88: A sheet of A4 paper crumpled into a ball’ intervened (not for the first time here at TOoT, if the reader kindly refers to this previous occasion)...


Specifically, such ponderings concerned the 'what if..?' potential offered by the uncrumpling of such a ball & the reflattened return of the paper object to sheet form: a little practical project to undertake at some later point of the day as it might unfold in an intended leisurely fashion.

Now it transpires, following a little light research, that Mr Creed himself has created a couple of works related to such an idea, namely ‘Work no. 340: A sheet of paper folded up and unfolded’ & ‘Work no. 384: A sheet of paper folded up and unfolded’, both of which deliberate, regular processes have resulted in the formation of 32-cell gridded ‘sculptural’ objects of standard A4 dimensions, both ostensibly similar yet possessed of their own unique incidental details of varying subtlety, as one might expect.

Anyway, come the afternoon, with a virgin sheet of A4 paper duly chosen for the purpose, the process of crumpling into the formation of a ball duly occurred, with such art-referencing spherical-ish object photographically recorded for posterity:


Subsequently, a process of uncrumpling took place, carefully teasing the ball out into flattened form (as much as manually possible), with the resulting extensively textured object blu-tacked to the wall & recorded thus, its surface a veritable riot of detail-in-relief - folds, creases, peaks, depressions, etc, a snow-blanketed alpine landscape as viewed from directly overhead (hence the display format, as suggested) or battered panel (or whatever) of the imagination:


Which 'sculptural' three-dimensional object, in the manner of such, offers the spectator the opportunity to approach from an acute angle in order to traverse its surface in a studied appreciation of its details & the subtly-changing, possibly fugitive nature of, in relation to the light source:



The use of blu-tack as the adhesive agent offers another familiar reference to the practice of Martin Creed, of course:


'Work no. 79: Some Blu-tack kneaded, rolled into a ball, and depressed against a wall'

However, returned to functionality as in this instance, & not (re)presented as a discrete object in, as & for itself (& not within an institutional setting), the blu-tack thus becomes de-activated from even the possibility of being considered ‘art’ (‘de-artivated’?).

Back to the subject of the paper, & presenting another crumpled/uncrumpled A4 sheet (actually the original example of such, neglectfully not photographed in its balled state) in a compendium of images designed to illustrate the versatility of such objects for the purposes of being exhibited for aesthetic consideration, even merely in landscape format as in these instances, flipped vertically & reversed back-to-front.


Given the past year-&-more's concentration upon the subject/object matter of the found 'roadkill' aluminium drinks cans, & the nature of many of their respective surfaces, this apparent, whimsical digression might be reconsidered, rather, as entirely in keeping with the habitual crumpled appearance displayed by TOoT..!

The following day, developments took place.
To begin with, a simple grid was drawn upon a fresh, flat sheet of A4:


Which was then crumpled into a ball in the established & art-precedental manner:


Note the evidence of the graphite lines upon the surface of the paper 'ball', which thus might be considered as a form of drawing (re)presented in explicitly three-dimensional form &, indeed, be perceived 'in the round' as an object (hand-made, at that).

Subsequently unfolded, the drawing now takes on a third form, re-flattened but not, of course, to its original unadulterated 'perfection' as such: consequently, the ruled grid resists the attempt to be read as cleanly straight-lined (however much the mind might know this, the empirical eye communicates something else), instead having developed incidental kinks - which the gaze follows - in keeping with the nature of newly-textured surface of the ground upon which it was drawn...


In a further development, a smaller-celled grid was then drawn upon the verso of the un/crumpled sheet, again ruled but with the pencil lightly touching the surface, thus being allowed to be guided also by the texture of the ground, with 'kinky' incidents occurring as they might under such physical circumstances...


with an enlarged detail providing clearer evidence of this process:


Finally, another A4 sheet was crumpled into a ball & again unfolded & flattened as best as possible before a regularly- & closely-spaced sequence of vertical lines was lightly drawn in the manner of the previous grid, with the creases & folds of the ground providing both physically-textured & further optical incident across the 'allover' picture plane:



Even art-related & -referencing play based upon slight, whimsical thoughts of 'what if..?' provide at least a little grist to the creative mill & food for further thought, even if not especially nourishing..!
It's drawing, Jim, but not as we know it around these parts...

Notes to self:

As ideas for further development, consideration might be given to ironing the re-flattened sheets, perhaps, in the interests of exploring just how much physical evidence, however subtle & 'trace-y', might remain of the crumpling process.

Also, & related in some way to William Daniels' marvellous realistically-rendered still life paintings from the subject/object matter of his own cardboard & waste paper maquettes of paintings from the history of art, one might also consider making drawings & watercolours, in the habitual manner, from close scrutiny of the un/crumpled sheets of paper, on either a 1:1 scale or perhaps somewhat enlarged (as has already been proposed in relation to the development of the 'roadkill' cans subject/object matter), which may then relate to such an example as Alison Watt's 'Phantom' series of paintings based on folds in fabric (all of which, coincidentally, are white, like the paper), a project inspired by the artist's long-standing admiration for Ingres' 'Madame Moitessier' which, of course, features virtuoso renderings of such subject matter.

Art & Football Again

Returning today to both the notion of the living of ‘the life aesthetic’, attuned to experiencing art any- & everywhere it may occur, & also to a theme touched-upon last summer, this time as related to the concept of artistic influence, which last night might be claimed to have extended so far as to have proved decisive in the outcome of a football match, no less. The occasion was the UEFA Cup semi-final 2nd leg between SV Hamburg & their North German near-neighbours Werder Bremen, which began with the hosts holding a 1-0 advantage from the 1st leg in Bremen.
Early in the proceedings, Hamburg scored & extended their overall lead to 2-0, before Werder rallied to score twice themselves, leaving both the match - by now deep into its second half - & the tie delicately poised as it approached its conclusion.
It was at this point that art took a hand. With the football travelling towards the Hamburg goal line, accompanied by a player from that team & effectively under his control, intending to pass it to a team-mate, it came into contact with an obstacle that had at some time during the evening been throw onto the pitch, namely a ball of scrunched-up paper, in the manner of Martin Creed’s ‘Work No. 88: A sheet of A4 paper crumpled into a ball’.
This collision of spherical objects caused the football to significantly alter its trajectory, ricocheting in an upwards direction & wrong-footing the player, bobbling from his shin & thence over the goal line to result in a corner kick to Werder from which, once taken, they subsequently scored another goal, their third on the night &, crucially for the outcome of the tie, at their opponent’s venue for, although Hamburg were yet to recover one goal of their deficit in the tense & frenetic few moments before the match’s denouement, thus squaring the aggregate score at 3-3, this third ‘away goal’ for Bremen (comparing favourably with Hamburg’s solitary effort on their opponent’s turf, of course) determined that it would be they who progressed to the cup final under the competition’s rules that dictate such a deciding factor in the event of a tie.


Werder Bremen's Frank Baumann (right) celebrates his deciding goal with Claudio Pizarro

Thus it might well be said with conviction that the intervention of the paper ball was critical in deciding the result of the match & consequently the semi-final tie - a victory for art (after the fashion, anyway) in the context of a sporting occasion, courtesy of a goal assist by Martin Creed, at least via his influence upon a supporter!