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| Pieces of slate used during production of "Time-Shifter" |
I am currently thinking about a new piece which deals with a similar subject but has been more or less developed because of the residency. The current working title is "retrace"it will consist of a piece of welsh slate, (reclaimed from a roofing slate) and a slate drawing implement. I will smooth an area of the large slate and write on the longitude and latitude of the exhibited location this will begin a process of engraving, which will be carried on throughout the duration of the work being shown. A piece of text to accompany the piece will give instruction to the viewer to repeat the same coordinates over the existing engraving, they will then be asked to signature below, and then erase the signature.
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| All the dates over the previous one |
During the residency I visited a place known as 'slidey rock', to document work Anna Francis. Slidey rock is a locally known feature, of an angled rock shard down which countless generations of children have slid, creating a clearly defined line of polished stone. Looking at this I thought of how it was part the place, immovable. What if this idea were to be transferred, a slow wearing away of the object so that the action of people becomes defined on the surface. I then began to think about what could be applied to the surface to make it of a place- the idea of a coordinate appeals to me- it links the object immediately to its current location and to the world. The place in which the object exists can be changed, and in turn the coordinates will change to, either erasing or embellishing sections of the previous one. The duration of time in which the object is exhibited in a place will dictate how deep a record is made within the surface, as would the number of people who view it and participate in it. By adding a signature and immediately erasing this the mark belongs for a period to the person who made it, this portion of the surface will itself become worn and weathered by the process of signing and erasing, gradually developing into an indistinct blemish on the surface, the people may pass but the record is still there somewhere.
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| An Initial part: the scribe |
Part 2: An afternoon of sanding stone.
This is the piece of slate I have selected to use. The piece has had two smoothed sections sanded in to it to create the surfaces on which I will work. While cleaning the piece I found some small speckles of Iron Pyrites in the surface- fools gold- rather nice.
The work will be wall mounted and raised from the surface by 3/4 inch on drilled dowels, the fixings will be recovered bras screws with bras screw cups to protect the slate surface.
Thoughts while sanding- contrast of surfaces within the same object smooth and sharp/rough, grey utility against natural fissures and chaotic grain.
I will make a simple instruction set to be positioned next to the slate piece, it will be the same dimensions and shape of the slate. Transport, distribution mass production, artisan skills, global commodity, return to source, redistributed, in a place, of a place, of a person, of it's self.
Archaic-modern, recording surface scratch, imperfections. Value and counterfeit.
