Until 2020 I had never done a masterclass but in January and February I was lucky to participate in both the HS6 masterclass with Iris Eichenberg and a few weeks following a masterclass with David Bielander at RMIT in Melbourne.
Iris Eichenberg discussed studio manifestos, proposing that we could create our own guidelines for how we work; our own studio ‘rules’.
David Bielander talked about about how important it is to figure out how and why we make and that each of us will have our own way of working, our own pace, our own methods.
These two ideas are very much interlinked and are things that I have been reflecting on a lot during my first year of HS6. I have been continually adding to my list of (breakable) rules; ideas about how I work, how I’d like my studio to be, reminders for when I am stuck, lost, overwhelmed, bored… I write ideas on Post-It notes, this allows me to think about them for a while and see what feels right to my making practice.
Out of everything that has come out of this year one important learning is better understanding how I work. This list will no doubt change and I’ll continue to add to it but for now, this is where I am at.
My studio manifesto:
- Break any of the following points in this list if it feels right – trust intuition over following “the rules”.
- If things aren’t going to plan, mistakes are being made, things feel rushed, careless or boring either go home or do something else (draw, paint, read, write).
- If stuck, repeat elements of past work to get to new work.
- Go for a walk every week where the only aim for the walk it to think, notice and collect. Collect materials, images, things, sounds, movements, colours…
- Don’t stop collecting and noticing in daily life too.
- Keep this collection organised on my computer and in journals – so as not to get overwhelmed.
- Find at least a day or two each month to draw, paint and collage.
- Find at least a day or two each month to read and write.
- Set aside half my making time to play – to experiment without any pressure to make anything good. Play, while at the same time taking my practice just seriously enough.
- Set aside the other half of my making time for resolving work.
- Slow down, don’t rush the final stages of making. Leave time to finish things well – it always takes longer than I think it will.
- If an object is going to be wearable – think about how it could become wearable before I start finalising the piece.
- Think about wearability as an extension of the object not an addition to the object.
- Always leave my work to sit for a few days before I make a judgement about it.
- Give things time. If I still don’t like something I’ve made but intuitively feel there might be something there, put it away and look at it again in a few months.
- Leave as much as is possible (without being overwhelming) out and visible at the studio. Leave out materials, work in progress, samples.
- Spend time moving these things around – placing things together, see what comes out of it. Do this regularly. Don’t over think it.
- Have a plan, a drawing, a maquette, a sample for a final work but don’t be locked in. Prioritise intuitive making and allow those plans to change.
- Trust when a work is finished. Sometimes it will become finished earlier than the original plan (which was probably over finished).
- See other people’s art. Talk to people about their art. Collaborate.
- Ask for feedback regularly.
- Clean up my bench at the end of each day.