Term 5 2011 End Block Week

Gary Freemantle – Irreverent Painting

Very interesting class, What makes something irreverent? Being offensive? challenging someone else’s point of view on Politics, Religion, Environmental, Moral beliefs or Sex, attracting attention to undermine people’s compliance, to force people to be more tolerant? Manipulating the media to generate  controversy. Shocking people simply to become famous, or infamous?

I decided that it is too easy to use religion or sex as platforms to shock people into taking notice of you.

I did a piece on a topical subject in the news, that of drilling off our coast for a source of fossil fuel.

Gary wanted to create a collaborative piece of large proportions covering the floor of the room with each person getting a few square metres to create on. The class was big enough but most came with ideas for the class.

What do people hate to step in? Dog dodo so I created my first installation piece with plasticine. A room was set up with the classes works at the end of term exhibition and my doggy dodo was put into the door space for people to walk over, It had a political component as well, I have two dogs and clean up after them on walks  as we are encouraged to do ( under threat of monitory penalty) but it is only in a few councils who actually have infringement fines for not picking up offending doggy matter (eg. $300 in Waikanae).

A few weeks before my husband  witnessed a current local Mayor allowing his dog to foul and not pick it up so I wrote and left him a’ fine’ in my piece, there was also rubbish that I picked up in the local park. The blow fly’s in plasticine were fun to produce. My installation had mixed reviews, some wondering what really constitutes art??!, something I’ve wondered myself at times. The piece did it’s job if I wanted to shock and generate comment, but I was more pleased with the large seascape I did after seeing a Dick Frizzel I fell in love with.

The exhibition this term asked for an Artists statement, the following is something similar to what I submitted.

A tutor said to me that day to day life is boring and mundane, and he’s right. It is for most of us, for most of the time but not all the time, between those hours of ‘have to do’s’ and ‘need to do’s’ there are moments of clarity, serenity, awe and beauty, flashes of glory, revelation and solace. If those moments could be captured within a piece of ‘art’ that could be revisited, enjoyed and  explored, they could help us, bring us joy and allow us to find our place in the world. I am nowhere near there yet, it will take all my life, (my standards are high) but I see progress, especially since I’ve started here a TLC and boy am I enjoying the journey!