BRITNEY SAYWELL

‘THE YEARN TO CONVEY LOST TIME’

Initial Spark of Curiosity:

Drawing from my building artist practice I noticed my interest in the space that surrounds an object. How could I occupy the space through sound? How could sound effect more than just our ears? Rather, how does sound effect our bodies? How could sound as a material be used to convey inner efforts?

Navigating my way through Faith in Art:

I wanted to intentionally use my religious/ faith background to inform my work throughout this brief.

Some of my goals moving forward in my learning:

Research Inquiries : Role of an Artist?

Book = ‘Colin McCahon, The Man and The Teacher’ – Agnes Wood

Book = Jim Allen. ‘Poetry for Chainsaws’ and ‘Hanging by a Thread II’ 2009- Leonhard Emmerling

Through my research into artist Colin McCahon and Jim Allen I focused on the role of an artist. As a young artist discovering the modes that I am drawn to activate in my art practice, it was important that I look back to the artists before me to understand my place in the world. What is my role as an artist?

Link= The intense occupation of extremes such as light and dark, good and evil are a view McCahon held over his life and the life of others. This view was expressed through his art practice.

Jim Allen’s performance ‘Poetry For Chainsaws’ spoke to the role of educator or the voice of truth in the midst of Chaos. Emmerling writes of Allen’s position within his art practice regarding ‘Hanging By A Thread II’

“There is a constant revelation and exposure as if everybody , apart from the artists of course, were entangled in the context of blindness. Their exceptional position resembles the position of a prophet, their project enlightenment, and the object of their effort is the dull community.(Emmerling 2009)”

The role of an artist as an enlightener resonates with me. The position of a prophet that an artist holds as they refuse ‘present reality’ and ‘real time’. Rather, there is world away from the present understandings that the artist reveals to the audience. The position held allows the artist to draw out the truth, restore sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf.

³⁹ Then Jesus told him, “I entered this world to render judgment—to give sight to the blind and to show those who think they see that they are blind.”

John 9: 39

My spiritual enlightenment, experience and knowledge feeds my way of life in the world, thus feeds my art practice. See what I see. Hear what I hear.

Colin McCahon’s life of light and dark was as much the artwork as the art of light and dark. The recording or inviting into the mind and life of McCahon occurred through paint to canvas. ‘There was no separation from ‘Sir’ (the ordinary man) to ‘Colin McCahon’ (revered artist). He was a man of no in between'(Wood).’

In concluding my discoveries into the role that an artist holds with consideration of the world around them I have recognized a fluidity. The role cannot by singular by definition. Rather, an artist must concern themselves with a multitude of activations.

Artist Share: Jim Allen – Presented in class; Pdf with Script.

I am able to bring my truths to the audience not explicitly but naturally through my personal truths that ultimately bleed on all I create. Art is an extension of personal responsibility propelled by inward dispositions towards specific concerns. Concerns that impact the self, the people and the environment(God). As I present ideas and spaces for questions, wonder, and intrigue, I am teaching whilst serving the audience as I activate their stagnant mind. -The stagnant mind refers to the cyclical and repeated modes of our lives, such as work mode, home mode, escape mode, social mode etc. How can I challenge present modes of existence?

Experiential Knowledge:

I have my own set of modes for I am not apart from the audience in this regard. I – Artist as Prophet – exist with and alongside but see with alternative eyes and hear with alternative ears. I use my art practice as an expression of alternate sensual experiences.

To articulate this in my personal life context, I spent sometime remembering stories from by time of spiritual experience – specifically when with other people. Often I see or hear alternatively to the shared experience of the wider group. The mention of these events requires research on the differing modes of truth.

The Experience ~ My Truth

A have a specific story I have decided to focus my attention.

The Story ~ The Truth Telling

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Accompanying this spiritual experience in an art context I brainstormed different ways that I can engage with the audience through my experienced Subjective Truth.

Truth	Tounges	Prayer	Seer	Prophecy	Vision
Truth/ Faith and Doubt. “To have faith is to fight doubt and to have doubt is to fight the possible truth of faith” – I Am 2020 ( Britney Saywell)	Sound work – subtle whispering. Speaking Tounges over an install space prior to the final opening.	How could prayer affect my install spaces? -Encounters/ acknowledgment of Spirit.	What if the object in the space represented visons of the spiritual realm? – angels, demons, objects, colours.	How might my art change trajectory of I were to take up the position of a prophet that an artist subconsciously enlightens the world to unseen realities?	What if I brought my visions to life? E.g. gold blankets and blue vapors.

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What is the big idea? – Concerning the ‘Time At Hand‘ brief.

‘Real Time’ in juxtaposition to ‘Mind Time‘. Appealing to their co-existence.

I am interest in the recalling of truth, recalling past time. How previous experiences are retained in the mind outside of real time; the shared experience. Through memory we carry the power to recall lived experiences it has settles as knowledge.

For a person to recall a past real time experience they have both brought past time to mind time and brought past mind time to present mind time.

I consider truth as the present time experience both experiencing and experienced.

Idea: Recreate the branch/ tree that I/ we saw an angel on. Why? it in one thing to recall a story via voice – it is completely another thing to use physical objects to draw on the experienced story. Through the reimaging of this branch I am able to use real time experience and mind time experience in one space. For their is no denying the branch in front of you but the mind time that the real time branch alludes to is less convincing as a form of truth.

Speaking with Glen: I wanted to explore by making options – conversation was key!

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Class Critique

Preparing for a class critique I wanted to introduce the ideas around stories and the truth that they do or don’t hold. I also wanted to trial the use of glossolalia (Tounges) within the supportive environment of the class.

I shared my story including the photos. I had premised the group by inviting them to consider truth. Would they consider my story as Truth – as Real?

Do you believe my truth?

Following this I shared an experimental sound recording. (2min Tounges- A Christian prayer language that carries no knowledge of meaning prior to the act of speaking.)

The class listened intently to the ‘words.’ We were all sat in a circle around the faint whisper. People were leaning in to hear. I was unsure of the response I should have anticipated from the class. It was a step out of by comfort zone for sure. However, I was pleasantly surprised as the silence that lingered after the recording had played. The class then spoke to the story and the sound expanded drawing.

Responses from my peers and lecture. Photo – Song on Ponui Island 2020^^

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Making Attempts

In my making process I initially aimed for an addition to the found materials I have previously been using in my art practice, such as my rock collection , sand etc. As an extension to the processes of collecting I wanted to collect a branch that resembles the nature of the branch in my memory/story.

I started big with dreams of having section of branched flowing in and out of the floor such as the reference photo. – The sand hid half the tree.

A point of interest that I narrowed the branch down to was a tree crouch. This refers to the point at which two branches spread from. I walked around the bays – Shelly Bay – Cockle Bay and Howick Bay searching for a branch that I Could bring to the studio that had the tree crouch characteristic. This adventure lead to many possible findings – specifically a branch that measure just under 1 metre.

My Initial Findings:

However, after climbing up a cliff trying to avoid the tide as I walked from bay to bay I got stuck on the wet and slippery cliff. I had to leave the stick that measured just under 1m behind in order to get home safely. Thankfully I made it home bittersweet though as I came back empty handed.

propelled from the seemingly failed attempted to find a branch that resembled the memory branch I decided to attempted a new approach.

Making Attempt:

The following attempt was a making process.

To create a crouch branch I secured two branched from my existing collection together/ I wanted to build up the base of this “fake” branch to make it seem more likened to a real branch. I did this by wire framing the sections of the branch and filling it with scrunched newspaper. Coming in with strips of fabric plaster I covered the entire structure. As the plaster dried white and left the branch with a strange texture. I had thought a layer of clay would cover the texture and I would be able to paint a realistic colours emulating the reference branch.

The layer of clay; the air dry clay held well to the part of the branch that was without newspaper built up, as the clay that was applied to the built up the base didn’t stay well. The built half of the branch was not sold due to the newspaper that acted as padding in this regard.

I stopped with the clay half way after using 1kg. I left it to dry. Coming back the next day the branch clay had cracked and would continue to crack as the days went on. Eventually parts of the clay would fall off . This discouraged by making process. It was clear to me that this white branch didn’t act as I had intended it too. The material choice didn’t support the concept I was trying to convey – This being a realistic likeness to the branch from my memory. In my opinion this creation couldn’t be further away from the memory.

Sound Exploring:

In addition to physical making I wanted to explore sound and it’s properties to emulate the past- a snapshot into a world that is outside of your present status.

I have shared with sculpture peers the sound recording of ‘Tounges”. This time I come wanting to capture diegetic sound that would have occurred within the story told, the memory. Such as Ocean, Sand, People, Buch, Kiwi.

The story was in quite a remote location so there was really only the natural sounds and any additional sound the human brought.

I found the natural sounds to be most relevant as I held the branch idea.

On another walk to extend my branch idea I simultaneously found an object and a sound that referred to the memory.

I recorded an expanded drawing that captures more than just the sound- it has a raised branch that the tide’s waves crashed underneath.

‘WHERE THE TIDES TOUCH‘ – 2022

My diegetic recordings:

As I search for ‘object’ to inform my storytelling I was able to find a crouched branch with a decent scale to it ( 3m+)

Making my way up the cliff I stopped to record an additional sound of the trees rustling and the whipping wind ass the weather has begun to turn for the worse.

This making adventure informed my concepts of experience and the yearn or desire to convey a memory, a story. I found the saying, “don’t tell them, show them.” to summerise my process of making well.

as the drawing and collection of object and sound are all in an attempt to ‘visualize’ or bring mind time to the present time through the use of sensual perceivable matter. In many regards the story is lost on the audience when perceiving a collection of physical objects. As I discuss this I wonder if the story is important to be told so explicitly to an audience? Perhaps there is a rhyme to the mysteries that connotative material, object, and sound can carry?

MIXEDTRACK-

my aim with the sound recordings was to manipulate them through adobe audition. I had intended to support the space with diegetic sound=. though I challenged these conclusions I was making around the materiality of the work I was making. As though to say, “trust the audience, trust the material.”

Installation Process:

This installation workshop with Ziggy and Monique challenged the way we install or exhibit our work in a collective space. I approached this workshop with an open mind. I brought the different parts that I had been working on to the room we would eventually install in.

This included:

Knowing I would have to work with or around people I thought of who in the shared space carried similar ideas to my work. Jeorja was the first to come to mind. I spoke with her, proposing our collaboration. We helped each other think of idea to both collaborate and show off our individual concepts.

We looked at ways Jeorja could hang items surrounding my work with consideration of here circular motif floor works. Whilst doing this Kaitlyn had an assembly of chords laying over the floor lacking in intention. As Kaitlyn hadn’t placed them without any thought other than practical (powering her projector.) I asked to discuss the possibility of placing her leads intentionally. To benefit both of our works. We explored making a circle around the opposite end of the branch that Jorjia had circled. Attempting this, making a few adjustments here and there – something wasn’t working. This type of intersection between works quickly overwhelmed my work (found crouched branch). No longer did my sculpture hold its own ground but acted as a leading to other artist’s work.

Rather than jumping into a new arrangement I chose to take some breathing space from the busy collaborative space. The time to calm benefitted my installation as it reminded me of my intent and the concepts I wanted to portray in my work.

The Final Concept:

Through the process of instalment, I had moved from a place of likeness and representation to a less direct showing or telling of a story. Leaving the mystery and intrigue amid viewing the work. My desire was to share a memory this is lost to time in the hopes that it could be both considered living truth and stir the audience into an active listening.

This intention wasn’t fully realised in the current instalment. Rather than running from the confusion, I came back into the collaborative space to resolve the arisen issue.

The other artists in the space had begun to reach a final state of install. I brought my sound work and found this to be a great place to start an install. I noticed a shadow cast on the wall from my branch. I used this to my advantage. A beautiful accident. The two items – ‘the branch’ and ‘the branches’ shadow’ activated an opening space. This guide d an audience member into the space. Opposing this opening space, I choose to make a closed space directly following this opening.

I raised up the opera speaker to an ear level on an existing protrusion from the wall. This was close to a corner in the space. Instead of facing the sound work outwards into the space of sound collation created my other works involved I the install. I chose to face the large speaker into the corner allowing the sound to be almost captured or trapped in this corner.

Olivier came to listen to the sound work. We discussed the space that was defined by the proximity the sound work had to the body. In addition to this we brainstormed ways to install the white branch into the work. It is important to note that I never thought the white branch would be an educator to the concept as I saw it as a poor attempt to represent a branch. Olivier helped me to position this white branch as his height expanded the opportunity to install above head height. The placement of the white branch finished in the closed space as it rested over you. This above resting created a sense of unease as the sculpture wasn’t fixed rather just sitting between the rafters in the roof and the existing protrusion from the wall.

The final work is two points of activation:

One: An opening via a memory holding branch as though you are entering into a story or concept regarding time.

Two: A closing space to experience a built unease and confusion. It is as though you can’t quite hear clearly. – this lack of room to listen speaks to the perhaps impossibility to relay past events in the present real-time. There will always me a missing element. This being the listener lacks experience. It is this lacking that will never satisfy ones yearn to convey lost time.