Weekly Workshop
On 30 July, I attended the first weekly workshop held by an artist. Other young artists and I were divided into groups of two to three and walked around the neighbourhood. We were assigned to observe the site and record anything that interest us. After that tour, we went back to V54 and try to draw out the route and form a map by ourselves. As a result, we could gather first-hand findings and to get a better understanding of the community.
Map as a medium
One of our artist tutors, Andy, is very familiar with hand drawing maps and uses maps in his own works. Andy gave us some suggestions on how to develop ideas and brainstormed some ideas for us. He suggested that we can consider using map as an inspiration to start with.
Question raised:
-Definition of a map?
From https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/map , a map is a representation usually on a flat surface of the whole or a part of an area; a representation of the celestial sphere or a part of it; or a diagram or other visual representation that shows the relative position of the parts of something.
-Use of map?
From https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/map/ , a map is a symbolic representation of selected characteristics of a place, usually drawn on a flat surface. Maps present information about the world in a simple, visual way. They teach about the world by showing sizes and shapes of countries, locations of features, and distances between places. Maps can show distributions of things over Earth, such as settlement patterns. They can show exact locations of houses and streets in a city neighborhood.
-How to cooperate it with art/ example and artist?
--> related artist: Mark Bradford
Bradford is an American artist, focuses on multi-layered painting. He uses found materials on the streets and create collage-like 2d painting. Some of his works based on a map and I think they are related to this specific workshop.
(pictures references from google image)
Walking and observations
We walked from V54 along Wong Nai Chung Road and discovered some alleys behind houses. We did not walked along the main road but went inside some hidden alleys behind mansions. There was nobody there beside us and I noticed a lot of plants and random objects were there.
I first noticed many different textured surfaces, like the walls behind the buildings. These give a shabby and dirty feeling. There were moss inside some walls which makes the walls look kinda like a map.
I also found some really random objects, such as a shovel and a "caution wet floor" sign.
There are also many small plants growing in the gaps between two buildings. I think the moss look really pretty, they make the concrete floor and wall looks less artificial and less perfect.
After that, we went to the St. Margaret's Church.
For me, I think the most memorable thing from the whole trip is that the drainpipe we found.
Summarise
After the first workshop, I personally do not feel really drawn to the method of using map as the medium of my work. Maps are good for connecting the community, by drawing out the map, audience could recognise the located places and may resonate with their memories especially if they are living in this neighbourhood too. However though for me personally, drawing a map is very limiting. It requires many calculations and rules meanwhile only allows little to no imagination for both of the audience and the artist. I am scared that the outcome will feel stiff and "too logical" in a way. Right now in this moment, I feel more drawn to use other medium as my work of inspiration.
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