Thinking through drawing

We have finished our drawing project now. We presented a few items (and some more) in small groups yesterday. One of our tasks during the last 3 weeks was to go to the Civic Centre with a large piece of paper folded into 8 different rectangles and draw 8 different things that caught our eye. I prefer trees to building so I seemed to naturally focus on things outside of the building... reflections in the water, leaves blown into the corners, light coming through the tree branches etc. We then had to go back to the studio and develop one of them. (picture below)

 

We also got to experiment with silk screen printing. I worked with Sarah to come up with this image of two cardinals. We chose cardinals because their meaning is to renew vitality in life, add colour and return joy and balance to mind, body and spirit. On the back of our shirt we wrote a Joanna Newsom lyric
"That night, black airplanes flew over the sea"

We also got to try lino printing, where, of course, I drew a tree.

Another activity as part of this project was a performance art workshop. I learnt about different artist who use themselves, models or members of the public in their art. We had to come up with some kind of drawing/diagram/plan for a piece of performance art using an everyday object. Seeing as I had a window, I wanted to concentrate on autism awareness. I made a picture schedule of clear steps of how to brush your teeth. I presented it with a piece of writing that simply said 'some people with autism need this amount of structure' and a big diagram of a sink.... In reality, if I was putting this piece in a gallery it would have been a real sink with a toothbrush and toothpaste, and the directions beside it. I wanted to play with the fact that I don't think people in a gallery would actually use the toothbrush as it is communal, in a public space and part of an art exhibit which usually means you can't touch it. I wanted people to realise that something like brushing your teeth which a lot of us do without any conscious thought at all, some of us have serious struggles with it. Some individuals with autism can be pick up a toothbrush and not relate to it until they are shown what to do. Providing visual structure can mean that they learn to complete this task independently.

I want to take this further and create an art exhibit that not only promotes awareness but helps people with autism enjoy art galleries. I want to create a visual system of visiting an art gallery, with clear steps and a definite end, including the duration of the visit so that people who require a lot of structure can access these places without heightened anxiety. I would make it as an art project also, so that members of the public can also pick up this visual schedule and use it to make their way around the gallery.


Erwin Wurm - Performance Artist