amelia johnstone | year 1-2 summer holiday briefing 2011

* Eccentricities and

Obsessions*Introduction to Year 2

‘Drawing Methodologies 2: Personal Identity’

Summer BriefingAmelia Johnstone MA RCAYear 2 BA (Hons) Illustration CSAD

*What is ‘Personal Identity’ for an illustrator? *What makes one illustrator different,

better, more unique,prolific, barmy, dull, eccentric, fashionable,

avant garde….? *What gives illustrators the edge, the ‘je ne

sais quoi’, the‘joi de vivre’*What does one illustrator see that another

doesn’t?* Just what is it about illustrators!

• In this module you begin to establish your individual ‘voice and stance’ in your creative work. This ‘voice’ will speak about what you are interested in, and how you best communicate this interest.

• In order to establish this unique ‘voice and stance’, you will

explore individual working methods and areas of negotiated personal research in order to identify and develop a personal visual identity and establish your pursuit for content, with a corresponding visual language. This ‘voice’, or ‘personal identity’ forms the basis of future modules in the latter half of year 2 in which you will apply your own visual language to a range of applications and scenarios within your discipline

• This module will provide you with an opportunity to stand alone as a creative practitioner within the course, to define you as a unique individual with your own ideas, tools and viewpoint which you will use to make imagery without following any prescribed working methods, or responding to predetermined themes.

• This module will culminate in the production of a body of work for exhibition along side narrative which begins to outline each of you as an individual, identifies your practice interests and working methods in a playful, contemplative thoughtful intriguing and challenging way.

*What is drawing methodologies?* What is research?*What is visual research?*How do I research effectively?*What is my question?*What is my aim?*Does research have a preconceived

outcome?*How should research be

presented/formulated/assessed/used?

*Possible methods and starting points*

* Sara fanelli *Artist/Illustrator/Typographer

‘The title of this book, ‘Sometimes I Think , Sometimes I Am’, promises much, and in its ambiguities captures the

work’s elusive, riddling pleasures, poised between wryness and high spirits . It has been borrowed by the artist from Paul Valery who was himself echoing a famous statement about consciousness and existence. There are many more thoughtful, apt, and loved quotations here, and so there is really no need for somebody else to add anymore words to

the images. Still , (I) am very happy to come out for a moment or two from the enchanted ring of listeners and

readers and offer by way of thanks – a few thoughts about Sara Fanelli’s work.’

From the introduction to ‘Sometimes I Think, Sometimes I Am’ Marina Warner 2007

‘In the margins of illuminated manuscripts artists have invented all kinds of devils: devils with

beards, hooves, scales, claws, fangs, probosces, tusks, tails, and horns of every shape and size and bizarre fancy. Sometimes they made their monsters evil and threatening in earnest. But

most of the time the fantastic creatures twist and dance and wriggle on the edge of the page as if nobody was watching and it did not matter how

wildly they cavorted.’

From the introduction to 1. Devils and Angels Marina Warner 2007

*{You could collect your own demons, a diary of fears, phobias, who is your

own personal devil?}

Faust: from series Amelia Johnstone 2002

‘Hate/Forgive’: Cut out Amelia Johnstone 2002

* {or begin to make cut outs, collages, try adding your head to another object, the sphinx is a recurring theme in illustration, its hybrid

peculiarities and strange juxtaposition can create a sense of

unease.}

Cindy Sherman

* {or become the central morphing character in your world}

Cindy Sherman

Louise Bourgois

Margarita: from series Amelia Johnstone 2002

‘The gates of hell are open night and day; Smooth the descent, and easy is the way: But to return, and view the cheerful skies,In this the task and mighty labor [sic] lies.’

Virgil

* {Find ways of categorising and dividing information i.e. heaven and

hell, light and dark, red, blue, magenta, cerise, days, hours

minutes, a b c…d e f g (if you are perhaps collecting letters or by

letter)}

‘The collection here has a feel of a notebook, an album, a scrap book, a treasure drawer, an old shoe box filled with much loved items. It resembles a so called ‘commonplace book’ in which children and adults used to keep quotations and adages and

cuttings and mementoes; originally, when someone like the great scholar Erasmus was urging people to keep such records of their thoughts and

readings and experiences, the objective was improvement… but gradually ‘Commonplace books’

became stores of memories and pleasures, and turned into idiosyncratic personal hoards of private – even secret – instants of recognition and delight.’

From the introduction to ‘Sometimes I Think, Sometimes I Am’ Marina Warner 2007

‘Collecting is not about what you collect as much as it is about who you are. Possession somehow

connotes transference of the object’s virtues to its owner. Collections are about recollection.

Collections exclude the world and are symbolic of it. Writing about why one collects what one

collects is a bit like self-psychoanalysis; its hard to be objective.’

In Flagrante Collecto(Caught in the act of collecting)

Marilynn Gelfman Karp (Abrams, New York 2006)

‘The pursuit (of collecting) is ambiguous because in the first place it does not necessarily serve any rational purpose.’

From Introduction to Creators Collectors and ConnoisseursSir Herbert Read

(Thames and Hudson London 1967)

Paper Chairs from bed Box a series after India 2001

* { make a collection from scratch, perhaps from an experience or a

perceived experience}

‘ the poet Rainer Maria Rilke, in an essay called ‘Playing with Dolls’, describes play as a process of animation: “really, we invented the doll,” he writes, “a doll was so abysmally devoid of phantasy that our imagination became inexhaustible in dealing with it”. Playing

breathes life into playthings; it animates them. The effect is a kind of magic, when things come to life,

or take on the life of the person they represent. Drawings that do this have power, the power to

charm’

From the introduction to 5. The Absurd Marina Warner 2007

Cut 1,2 & 3 from series Amelia Johnstone 2007

Demon: from series Amelia Johnstone 2002

Cesspit of Insanity: from series Amelia Johnstone 2002

Monkeys: from series Amelia Johnstone 2002

From ‘The Wizard of Oz’ Graham Rawle

‘To the man in the street, who, I am sorry to say,Ins a keen observer of life,

The word “intellectual” suggests straight awayA man who’s untrue to his wife’

W.H. Auden

* {Live the fantasy, become the artist. Make your own rules}

‘Special powers of synaesthesia are not really necessary to feel that music changes colour when it changes key or that moods are tinged grey or

golden or that anger flames red and irritability sort of brown; the blue’s singer’s voice tenses to the

edges of lament and turns deep purple on the low notes; military marches match the bright brass and scarlet of Hussars’ and guards’ splendour, and drab

and dismal states come in the livery of dull days. Black and white is the natural habitat of the documentary dealing with harsh realities.

Monotony is monochrome.’

From the introduction to 3. Colour Marina Warner 2007

‘The impact of colours escapes words: they are artists raw materials which work only in

themselves, and each new state of colour, like the fresh retelling of a story, has to be

experienced in itself and nothing can substitute for its material presence: light in action on the

stuff of our world. Stuff of our world.’

From the introduction to 3.Colour Marina Warner 2007

‘The monster does not need the hero. It is the hero that needs him for his very existence.

When hero confronts the monster, he has yet neither power nor knowledge, the monster is his secret father who will invest him with a power

and knowledge that can belong to one man only, and that only the monster can give.’

Roberto Calasso

* {Philosophical approaches will create the most promising intriguing

thought provoking solutions. Think about the importance of the catalyst

chicken and/or egg, which thing comes first that another thing then

stems from…}

‘Man creates his own condition:This maze was not divinely built,

but is secreted by my guilt.

The centre that I cannot findIs known to my unconscious mind;

I have no reason to despairBecause I am already there.’

W.H Auden

‘As I was walking up the stair I met a man who wasn’t there,He wasn’t there again today, I do wish he would go away’

Anon

‘The Price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it’

H.D Thomas

‘There is one kind of robber whom the law does not strike at, and who steals what is most precious to

men: time’

Napolean

‘Idle youth enslaved by everything, by being too sensitive I have wasted my life.’

Arthur Rimbaud

‘Every morning I jump out of bed and step on a land mine. The landmine is me. After the explosion, I

spend the rest of the day putting the pieces together.’

Ray Bradbury

*Making your own cages restrictions and rules, taming the

tiger!*

* Helga Steppan *

Graphic Artist and Photographer

The Chromatic Diet

‘To be like Maria, during the week of December 8 to 14, 1997, I ate Orange on

Monday, Red on Tuesday, White on Wednesday, and Green on Thursday. Since

Paul Auster had given his character the other days off, I made Friday Yellow and

Saturday Pink. As for Sunday, I decided to devote it to the full spectrum of colours, setting out for six guests the six menus

tested over the week.’

Sophie Calle ‘Double Game’

*MONDAY : ORANGE

Menu imposed: Purée of carrots Boiled prawns Cantaloupe

melon

Paul Auster forgot to mention

drinks, so I allowed myself to completehis menu with:

Orange juice

*TUESDAY : RED

Menu imposed: Tomatoes

Steak tartarePomegranates

I completed the menu with:

Roasted red peppersLalande de Pomerol, domaine de Viaud,

1990

*WEDNESDAY : WHITE

Menu imposed: Flounder, Potatoes

Fromage blanc

I changed this menu, because I was not satisfied

with the yellow color of the potatoes, and added:

Rice milk

*THURSDAY : GREEN

Menu imposed: Cucumber

BroccoliSpinach

I completed the menu with: Green basil pastaGrapes and kiwi fruit

Mint cordial

*FRIDAY : YELLOW

Since no colour was prescribedfor Friday, I chose yellow.

Menu: Afghan omelette

Potato salad

"Young Girl's Dream“(Banana, mango ice cream)

Pschitt fizzy lemon drink

*SATURDAY : PINK

Since no color was prescribedfor Saturday, I chose pink.

Menu: Ham

TaramasalataStrawberry ice cream

Rosé wine from Provence

SUNDAY:

ORANGE, RED, WHITE,GREEN, YELLOW, &

PINK

* Miscellaneous Collections *

{finding an aesthetic through possible content.}

* Graham Rawle *

Illustrator/Collage Artist/Writer

‘What is your idea of a perfect home? Do you long for a gracious way of living that provides comfort without clutter and an atmosphere of charming

elegance throughout the whole house?I like things to be just so in my home. Mary, my housekeeper, never stops teasing me about it –

though I’m sure that deep down she understands.’

Graham Rawle ‘Woman’s World’ page 3

‘Hans took off his hat and laid it on the table. There was a ragged scar above his right eye, and his

frizzy ginger beer hair was sticky with perspiration, dark against the pale dampness of

his face.“You look most becoming in that dress. Are you

meeting someone special?”“As a matter of fact I have just been for a job

interview at White’s Laundry,” I explained…’

Graham Rawle ‘Woman’s World’ Page 69

‘I started writing this book in the usual way. When I had completed a rough draft, then I searched through hundreds of women’s

magazines, cutting out anything that seemed relevant to the scenes I’d written – sentences and phrases that, when joined

together, could be rearranged to approximate what I wanted to say. These cuttings were then filed and from them I began to reassemble my story. Little by little, my original words were

discarded and replaced by those I’d found. Once the transition was complete, I could start pasting up the pages as artwork.

The method was primitive: scissors and glue. Apart from a little tweaking here and there to enlarge very small type to a readable size, everything was done by hand. The artwork alone took two

years.

Working from the library of collected material meant surrendering my writing to the element of chance and forced me to be inventive with the words that were available. The language of women’s

magazines from that time is distinctive and although I have taken their words out of context to tell an entirely new story, the voice

of the original 1960s woman’s world remains.

From ‘The Making of The book’ Graham Rawle 2005

* Summer Brief *

Drawing methodologies 2‘’Eccentricities and Obsessions’

The idea of this is that your world comprises of thethings which make you eccentric, different, through

what you collect, hoard, are interested in, youcomprise of a collection of genes, personalities, nature

nurture, your work comprises of bits of this plus skill youhave learnt acquired or wish to acquire. This brief is aresearch/exploration brief which aims to help you find

your‘voice’.

The BriefPart of what makes an illustrator unique are the things which they are interested in your

‘Eccentricities and Obsessions’, however initially dreary a thing may seem, once part of a collection of your making that thing can gain meaning that thing can gain meaning, and usefulness and inspirational qualities. Through the mode of its display, the way in which it is catalogued, the method in which it is collected through to the way it is recorded, the way that it is reused, recycled, reinvented.

This summer project and intorduction into Drawing methodologies 2: personal Identity begins this process, this ‘hoarding’. Do not just collect random things , try to find a purpose to your collection. Make it into a game like Sophie Calle, a ‘Common Place Book’, ‘Silva Rerum’ or ‘Forest of things’ like Sara Fanelli. Collect buy category like Helga Steppan. Collect from a period of time like Graham Rawle.

Think about:a) What inspires you? What drives you?b) What appals you, disgusts you?c) What intrigues you?d) What you read, what you have read, what you might read?e) Who you are, where you go, what you see?f) What are your obsessions?g) What makes you stand apart from other people?h) What is your family history, who was your grand father great grandfather grandmother?

Create, collect, collaborateDelve, discover, draw, divulge, delude, deconstruct, debase, dictateEnlighten, excite, explore, exhume, excavateFind, form, fascinate, facilitate, forage

Week 1 next term in group tutorials you will present your ideas, your collections, drawings, hoardings findings establish to the group your stance and begin to speak in your personal voice/identity. This work will form the basis for the drawing methodologies 2 module which runs alongside narrative informing and enhancing your broader practice.

* Questions to ask your self:• What am I looking at and why?• What is interesting to me about it, what do I see when I look at this thing/these things?• Where will I find what I am looking for, do I need to make a journey, to go somewhere new, to put

myself in a strange situation, to wear something different?• How am I going to record this information, am I going to film it, draw it, write it? How can I make the

thing more intriguing?• If I am collecting objects what am I collecting them in, are they in a format, photographs filed in

date order? Are they 3D objects or replicas kept in boxes, cabinets, envelopes? Do I need to make a vessel to collect the objects in, can I find one that is appropriate, what is appropriate?

• Am I collecting day by day, hour by hour, am I going to note the days the hours, the seconds?• Should I keep a diary, record my thoughts, what I see, what is happening, even if nothing happens,

how does the light change on my bedroom wall, how could I record that?• Does my summer job offer any opportunities to collect things/personalities/ideas or other people’s

obsessions? What do I think about whilst I am there, could this be the beginning of something?• If I have nothing to collect what should I collect from, should I perhaps interview someone in my

family, find out what I used to like to do, what they used to like to do, what their mother, father, brother, sister, dog, cat ,chicken used to like to do?

By asking these questions you will begin to discover, do not just think of a thing and collect it, analyse, absorb and exchange information this way it will grow into something else, not just remain a collection of things. The things may not be tangible, they may not even be in existence yet…

‘Enthusiasts of unloved things – items without significant or established collectorship – share the

potent belief that most of the world is blind to their singular perception. It doesn’t matter. They may be correct and, in the end, their collections

may redeem them from their socially flawed posture. We live and yearn.’

In Flagrante Collecto(Caught in the act of collecting)

Marilynn Gelfman Karp (Abrams, New York 2006)

‘…a reality was not given to us and there is none, but we ourselves have to create one, if we want to exist: and it will not be the same one forever, but will continuously undergo infinite changes.’

Luigi Pirandello