reflection - images + words about graduation

it has been some weeks now since i graduated with an MFA in Fine Art; summer weeks, spent first of all in a kind of exhausted daze and then recovery, helped along by warm sunshine and night and day swims in Paterswoldesmeer (a beautiful lake 20 minutes bike ride from the city centre here in Groningen). looking back now at the work i made for the final exam and the graduating exhibition, and starting to find ways to go forward with my work.

the combines project

for those of you who didn't make it to the graduation exhibition some images and instructional video below of the interactive photography project i made called 'the combines project'. i am working on an independent blog for this project and its continuation, but meanwhile here are some images taken of the exhibition, and also some examples of how i am starting to work with the combines generated by the visitors to the exhibition. a total of 141 people took part in the project so i have a good amount of raw material to work with. i had to go to the gallery every day to draw more spaces for the combines, and at the end of the week the wall was almost full. i was pleased to discover that the activity of looking through my images, combining, making choices, and finding a place on the wall was appealing to a exhibition-going audience. talking to some of the participants i realised that people were making up their own stories to go with their choice of imagery. i am interested in developing this aspect of the work. some recent small steps into writing based on looking at the combines makes me want to revisit these images many times with pen in hand to see how the imagery provokes different writing at different times.

link here to review of 'the combines project' and other work by my fellow graduates at the Lost Painters blog. (for english readers - sorry - in dutch)

http://www.lost-painters.nl/eindexamen-expositie-frank-mohr-instituut-groningen/

 

video work

for the exam work i re-edited 2 video works which i have posted on here before but here they are in their new and, i believe, improved format. i spent 7 days in the exhibition space with Sander a very friendly and helpful assistant to build 2 viewing cabins for these videos. i needed to build some human scale back into the exhibition space, (see images for the dimensions i was working with). i really enjoyed the physical challenge and activity of the building work after all the thinking and focus needed for the written thesis.

i couldn't have done any of this without the help of many people, both here in Groningen - teachers, fellow students and ex students - and friends and family from home who gave support. you know who you are. thank you.

don't look away.