making my initial mind-map for this project, i didn’t know what to put at its centre; couldn’t think of a term more important than the ones i had thought about and already placed that could have more terms coming out of it. so i drew a green circle in the middle which was meant to be temporary but has stayed like this for the duration of the project. perhaps it was not possible to place words on an entity so obscure which is how the Weird stays weird; we leave it to the next person as only partially explained. I think to the Door entry as not only a way of attempting to understand but also to reach a goal. a goal that maybe was never there to begin with or was too hidden to be found. is experimental writing itself a way of getting down the hallway?

this seminar ‘The Labyrinth: A Convening on the Work of Kathy Acker’ held at the ICA in 2019, was an evening of different lectures about kathy ackers work as a writer and artist. ‘nonconscious cognition’ is a lecture (available at https://www.ica.art/learning/the-labyrinth-a-convening-on-the-work-of-kathy-acker) that attempts to break down language barriers of the body through acker’s hobby of bodybuilding.

BODYBUILDING- acker claimed she could not incorporate bodybuilding into her work and couldn’t place language onto the act of bodybuilding. “some part of me, the part of the i who body-builds is rejecting language”. a “negative space” is created, a space that is blocking or expelling language from the body to make way for a different process inside of the body. as she goes into the gym and trains, she begins to “lose the/a/her concept of language” that should otherwise be used to describe bodybuilding; due to NON-CONSCIOUS COGNITION it is “impossible for introspection” as this is a system that is not recognised within language but bodily sensation. a “potential for growth within renewal”-is creating an ‘art language’ or using creative writing techniques a way of invading into this negative space; introducing a non-conforming way of communicating (about something and to someone). perhaps the tangy, largely unused words within a shelved/misc category are the ones that can break through a barrier or at least let us have a glimpse into an unknown space.

another angle of this research led me to ‘PHILOSOPHY FOR SPIDERS: IN THE LOW THEORY OF KATHY ACKER’- mckenzie wark- looking at chapter THE CONCEPT OF THE BODY.

“these chinese logicians came up with this puzzle: a horse has five legs. there are four legs that one can observe on the horse, plus the CONCEPT of the leg. that makes five. language messes with flesh; logic messes with language.”

maybe a concept can be like a ghost, it’s always present and existing around us. these concept ghosts can multiply and layer themselves around or on top of conversations or walks or while cooking or colouring or wrapping gifts. “there was her body, which one could observe. and there was its concept”, like a ghost-body-concept that is required to learn about a certain action or how another body interacts with your own?

own works reflecting on ideas of superimposing the human onto alien or vice versa. thinking about this as shapes and needs for the ‘new machine’. maybe its a kind of 50/50, splitting the words fiction and real to create mythological hybrids.

https://www.andreasgursky.com/en/works/2017/pyongyang-vi-vii/pyongyang-vii

Tableau is used to describe a painting or photograph in which characters are arranged for picturesque or dramatic effect and appear absorbed and completely unaware of the existence of the viewer- https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/t/tableau

photography  as a way of highlighting the Weird or creating it. within Gursky’s work, this is often scenarios and everyday rituals we do not always notice (supermarkets, offices). the above image is from ‘Pyongyang Series’, 2007- this is a city in north korea where the arirang mass games are held each year. the 1000 people that participate rely on the group dynamic to make a ‘bigger picture’ and relay a narrative. gursky freezes this so what we see is an always-moving awesome event reduced to its colour and pattern; people become  blobs of paint/lines/other shapes that are not human (evident in other works as well).

https://www.andreasgursky.com/en/works/2016/amazon

process of photography. gursky manipulates photographs to get the desired idea/response, placing control onto the work like you would a painting. this makes the above piece more realistic of the current times of consumerism but we could also locate a trust issue within photography as a medium and its manipulation of it.

Christies- Andreas Gursky- ‘i pursue one goal-the encyclopaedia of life’- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duJQMdSbsBw

this video addresses the manipulation of the above photograph  as having a ‘supernatural clarity to it- but at the same time he is showing you whats really there’, this is because of ‘an image the human eye would register if you were standing there’. through taking close ups of the scene, gursky creates an impossible image that is being both tricking and truthful simultaneously. there is too much information within the image that we skim over quickly, trying to grasp at a centre, and cannot fully take it in at once.

superstitions can spill over time and people. these are collected but transformed each time, adapting to new people and environments. how do i explain why i don’t walk under ladders when i also don’t believe in superstition?

irrationality?/’you’re so lucky’/control as an illusion

is the Weird something we learn to encounter and engage with?

OWN PRACTICE-placing an art world into alien/sci-fi/imaginary scenarios. animal/human

fiction—————————————————————————————–reality

with technology, a kind of evolution can be sped up and easily accessed. becoming more grouped and leaving behind the individualist. like an armour or spacesuit, the beyond-natural outer shell preserves us and makes us more adept for survival. non-human traits would extend the possibility of the ‘hero’ and mortality, progressing the physicality of our bodies (implants or replacement procedures). what was considered science-fiction/impossibility is now a ‘real’; every generation submits to this and becomes accustomed to new things (surveillance?) which previous generations may have claimed unethical.

‘we no longer turn to nature to echo our state. now we catch our reflections, even our spirits, in the movements and mentations of machines’. Davis, Erik. TechGnosis : Myth, Magic, and Mysticism in the Age of Information, North Atlantic Books, 2015. chapter V. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ed/detail.action?docID=6098829.

science-fiction writers using past/current technologies as inspiration and adapting these to various scenarios/problems that arise that need to be solved and saved. a robot/alien is often an enemy until they realise the emotional capacity of humans. what is the purpose of a plot revisited so many times?

 

 

growing up catholic, i was introduced to other realms as important or as real/existing as the ‘now’ or living on earth. this made me continually scared and even made me weep when i did something that had harsh consequences as i did not want to go to hell that day.

is this stretching of the imagination necessary and what is the motive?

my nan grew up in southern ireland in the 1940/50’s surrounded by catholicism and its beliefs. praying on hard stone floors to an entity you didn’t know was a punishment for children who talked back to a teacher or yelled out an idea. the not-there held so much power, whose followers utilised this to guide and preserve.

how do these beliefs translate to the now or within a modern context?

all hallows eve- a day/night after summer harvest where it is believed a spirit world collides with the human world. usually strong boundaries fade and spirits have the opportunity to ‘visit’ and have to be chased away from the human world with various rituals.

me and my nan walking through regents park when i was about seven years old.

    “you’ve got to beware of the Goblins, they all come out at this time of night. they jump out of the bushes when you least expect it”

the tall long hedge now looks terrifying thanks to my nan.

                                                                            the Weird is behind the door. an ordinary door of bright varnished wood. or is the idea of whats beyond the door, the Weird- the pent up mystery and fear i feel? the process maybe? the encountering or knowing i will encounter. this is a long hallway and i have a lot of time to think and summarise. i will have initial reactions and thoughts i cannot control or minimise. maybe the weird would notice and be weirded out by me too, both of us standing looking at each other searching for a common ground or way to communicate. the straight edges and pointed corners of the door concealing a smokey soft concept that malleable and changeable- impossible to grasp. i think about the way i walk, its ordinariness and regular rhythm. i know the concept of walking, around a park or to work maybe- the swishy sound my trousers make when each leg touches or that i should probably walk off the leg cramp. by approaching something, that thing gets bigger and you can see it more clearly too- all the details and dirt. if i look back i might not be able to see where i just was or it would appear so small i could fit it between my thumb and index finger. then comes the action. i know now what form my hand would take before i get to the door- a clasp that would turn the lock. click. i have opened so many doors, some multiple times and some never again. the Weird is secret as there is no window to see- no opportunity to glance through and get the upper-hand. it wants to see me shocked, or panicked, or maybe just curious and full of questions i could ask or keep to myself. perhaps the physical reaction would take over and i’d just run back down the hallway to where i know all the words and shapes, towards my professor.

Initial ideas 

processing the theme and what comes about with the mentioning of ‘the weird’. looking into different areas then finding connections between them to find a point to start with that has potential for discussing and researching. i found i mostly wanted to find some connection between contradicting things and build into that space and elaborate what could be found there.