My Philosophy of Dust

Relating to dust, and by "dust" i dont mean clatty, minging, durty stuff. rather I refer to it as the stuff that the human race is made of; genetic make-up and DNA. Which leds me to the idea that one is a distillation of their environment going right back to the begining of time. eg. Darwins theory of evolution or in a religious context,or some other theory. We all started from something or other and From that we have become...therefore that dust is our dust and our dust is from that which came before us. Furthermore, If dust is isolated to a specific area eg. the mack building and people who have traversed the corridors and studios etc.. in the distant past have left remnants of themselves. Therefore by and large they are still here in a sense.

diary for project

4/2/09
arrived extra early with ideas for hanging dust. did it. tidied desk sorted out sketchbook a bit. attended lecture. back 2 studio, more tidy up. blogging at home. crit 2moro 11.40am.

3/2/09
Did drawings, rubbed out and collected dust in bags, inspired by Tom Phillips video. Tried making dust fly off duster - worked a bit. Made dust catchers for this process from stuff I moulded earlier in project. Asked painters if I could place dust catchers below paintings - will collect tomorrow. Spoke to Paul, now im thinking how to take this dust to another dimension. Lifted dust from various things in studio ie. door, bin, wall etc..using a small sketchbook. This made a variety of different marks with varying tones of grey. Some colour came off some items. Stuck masking tape diagonally across the space between the 2 walls at a corner. This created angled shadows almost like a pyramid. Added poofs of dust to some of the tape and a napkin I used to clean dust off chair. Sketching at home - ideas for installing dust. Blogging.

2/2/09
Spoke to tutor about research, got a video. Spoke to jake bout fotography student whose degree was foto of some piles of dust. Tidied work space. Re-arranged wall. Tried out blowing dust at a lamp, never worked. Need a different type of lamp. dust Tried bangning wall to see what dust I could create - not very much. Collected my dust catchers from around basement - result 2 had dust in them. Made duster make a mark in sketchbook - I autographed it on its behalf. Got a few others to make their mark. Blogging at home and watched video.

1/2/09
blogging at home, Thinking about wether or not my dust is art?




29/01/09 - Studio Talked with tutor. I told him everything I didn't want to do then realised that was exactly what I was going to do. Went about skool asking people to make a dust mark in my sketchbook and autograph it. nipped into archives to ask about info on past students etc... Library for a wee bit of research. Collected more dust took fotos. Back to studio to put dust in bags. Stuck some "dust catchers" at strategic places around skool. Will leave them for a couple of days and see what happens. Blogging at home.

28/01/09 - H&C lecture avante garde, made me think about about conveying a message in work.
Studio, mostly chatting bout work and getting involved with others. Made some wet paper moulds and re-arranged research on wall. Did the BBC interview upstairs.
Blogging at home.

27/01/09 - Studio & library. Nipped into CCA to see project 2891 had a chat with artist and his wee baby. e-mailed Peter from Archives re: access to really old dust.
Blogging at home.

26/01/09 - dust collecting and referencing it. Blogging at home.

24/01/09 - Attended Hapless, helpless, hopeless - its about visual language and confusion.
Blogging at home.

Thot for this week - dont poo poo ideas!

Autographs

Heres the thing, I've been collecting peoples autographs this morning. From Tutors, students and house keeping staff, visitors, etc...

Basically, everyone that works, studies, visits the building becomes part of the building. Part of its history. With the avant garde philosophy which goes something like - a classless system, higher standards for all not just the popular ones- I chose to get everyone and anyone to autograph my sketchbook. Its not just the students that keep the school going. There are various elements that turn the wheel of GSA each have an important role in the grand scheme of things.

thots & feelings and a lecture

This car with its Mondrian style paint job is symbolic of avant garde - moving forward. Moving away from dead values of society, but who choses?
I've been getting a bit of OCD about all this dust. I am very aware of it on my hands and I keep washing them. I scrutinise areas and find dust everywhere. When I look around a room the first thing I notice is the dust - this is unintentional and its making me feel a bit weird. Then lo and behold the H&C lectures started talking dust...wow...the stuff is everywhere.

Francis spoke about "The Bauhaus". part of the mindset was a fear of dirt and dust. Shared environments create combinations of dust. Whose dust? It creates unhygeneic diseases like TB. She mentions a hospitalisation of society and the environment. Avante Garde mentality was a campaign against dirt and squallor. Designers produced gleaming surfaces. AG texts were idealistic and psychological. Bearing in mind this was in 1919-1933 tho still relevent today.



I liked the idea of Mondrians "balance" and sense of unity rather than heirarchy. Seeing the world as different elements as oppossed to a stratification of class. Of raising standards for everyone not just an elite group. This level of thinking was revolutionary at the time. It makes me think about the impact artists have on society and how their message can play a part in social change etc... It seems very political for my wee mind. But im well interested. Im trying to think about what my message is.

the site... the place...the context...

site - mackintosh.

place - near right hand corner as u walk in studio.

context - historical, evolutionary, organic, written word, light, kinetic energy?

What message - I wonder...something is formulating within i've just not hooked up properly with it yet.

The dust has a message and its part of life, a mixture of different elements.
These elements are people, fibres from an array of stuff housed within the building. The dust created by all of this is the remnants of the past. If we got rid of it and cleared the entire building in an avant garde kinda way sparkling and clean. It would be like a new beginning. The dust would reform and another time-line of history would start. Also this dust has a unity about it. A nomadic essence. Whats its purpose?..... I like the idea of Mondrians concept of elements - which encompasses things like unity, spiritual wellbeing, higher standards for all. This makes me think about Maslows pyramid - certain basic needs must be in place before humans can thrive emotionally, spiritually. ie adequate food, shelter and clothing. then people can start thinking about higher ideals...

words relating to dust

floating, silent, soft, delicate, gentle, falling, settling, collecting, clinging, drifting, cloudy, choking, suffocating, debilatating.....

Nomadic, wandering, noiseless, quiet, still, voiceless, velvety, blinding...

Flit, float....

Dust
floating silently
drifting aimlessly noiseless
Still quiet
Dust.

In the words of Matt Lucas...

Dust?
Anyone?
Dust?
No?

art I like relating to this project

This image is in outer space somewhere. It is a combination of gases and dust - I love the energy in it. It makes me think about cheryl fields kinetics workshops.


extra solar beta picture.
man ray dust breeding.
burning man Temple of Honour.
mocoloco.com



Hoover dust,pva and wire.