Maxine
Bristow
February 2003
Already into the fourth week of the project,
so what have we done so far? The first week was spent ‘settling
in’, getting to know the department, practical considerations
such as library, e. mail etc, introductions to each other
and to each others work. Also, on a personal level, my thoughts
were preoccupied with thinking about the role and practicalities
of being a mentor. It would seem important that we set some
ground rules, practicalities such as how often are we going
to meet, what we are going to do when we meet, but also to
make sure that we are both clear about our individual expectations.
Also, as one of the requirements of the project is that we
keep a journal, I feel that it is important that we have some
sort of an operational framework which will allow us to make
efficient use of our time together, and more importantly provide
the opportunity for critical reflection. I had hoped that
we might use the second week to address some of these issues,
to maybe outline some general aims and objectives.
From my teaching I am used to the notion
of the learning contract/statement of intent - reflecting
on practice, identifying possible contexts and speculating
on possible areas of research and development, even when the
specific nature of that practice might not yet be established.
From my own perspective [even though in reality the ‘statement
of intent’ often remains in my head!] I find this a
useful approach. I see this kind of speculative writing similar
in a way to the practical activity, as a process of making
and remaking, a way of thinking around the work, the construction
of a framework against which to test personal motivations.
On a psychological level, I also find that having something
down on paper gives me some security [however false that might
be], a structure within which I have freedom to ‘play’,
even if that playing [as is often the case] follows its own
quite distinct course of direction. I am interested to know
about Kyoko’s approach to the development of work. I
am wondering whether the requirements of this project of having
to reflect on the work in written form is something that she
would do as a matter of course or whether it runs contrary
to her usual way of working; I am wondering whether the relationship
between theory and practice that we now almost tend to take
for granted is something that crosses the cultural divide.
I am fascinated by, and indeed sensitive to, what might be
our very different approaches, and also very conscious [and
extremely grateful] of the fact that I am not having to articulate
my thoughts in Japanese!
It is my intention to use this project
to ‘think around’ what is a new direction in my
work. The recent Jerwood exhibition prompted the realisation
of new work based on ideas that had been in gestation for
a number of years. These ideas, however, were realised under
the pressure of a deadline, where it almost seemed that the
priority was simply being able to complete the work in time!
I hope to use this project to revisit this work, to use the
time to think around its concerns, to research its possible
contexts and look at ways in which it might develop. The journal/website
as a required outcome of the project is welcome as it provides
a necessary vehicle for this reflection. Although I will be
producing new work specifically for the project, I do not
envisage it being distinctly different, but rather a development
of current concerns. Although I would not rule out the possibility
of producing work collaboratively, at this stage, I am still
envisaging the outcome of the project as two separate bodies
of work. It would seem, however, that Kyoko and I do have
number of issues of mutual interest, and I would hope that
as result of the exchange we could establish a coherent common
rationale for work produced for the exhibition.
As far as I can tell, Kyoko seems to
want to produce work that is, visually at least, quite different
to her current work. There still seems to be what is a continuing
interest in ‘pockets’, but at this point there
is little visual research to suggest what form the work might
take or what materials she might use. With this in mind, I
thought that it would be useful if we took a more hands on
approach and used week three to visit Manchester so that Kyoko
was at least familiar with it as a possible resource. The
agenda for our day was Platt Hall Museum of Costume, a look
at a collection of pockets and purses in the Whitworth Art
Gallery, lunch in the City Art Gallery, and a visit to the
Embroidery Department at MMU. Driving home Kyoko suggested
that she wasn’t so much interested in the shape of the
pocket, as in the idea of the pocket. Though there is an obvious
visual correlation between the form of our work, what interests
me particularly is the last paragraph of Kyoko’s statement
about her current body of work. Describing her knotted pocket
like forms she states:
Structurally nets have lots
of holes in them. Through the holes we can see the space inside,
which expresses the indistinct nature of the boundary between
the inside and the outside… Likewise nets, enabling
my pieces to take shape, work as half open and half closed
boundaries. I am tempted to apply this kind of thinking to
national borders through which people and goods keep on coming
and going from the inside to the outside or vice versa.
This has a particular resonance with
thoughts about my own work and my current [if still somewhat
vague] preoccupation with ideas about the poetics and politics
of space.
The new handrail pieces which I made
for the Jerwood exhibition, are a development that has come
through exploring the potential of other minimal forms as
an alternative to my signatory ‘bag’ forms - forms
which have on the one hand a simple abstract neutrality but
which on the other also have references to the real world
of function and utility. With the bag forms I had become increasingly
interested in the idea of larger multiples which would begin
to articulate the space of the gallery and in a more pronounced
way begin to engage the body of the viewer. This shift in
thinking with the bag forms led me to think more generally
about our bodily engagement with space, and in particular
about those features of the built environment such as light-switches,
handles, handrails etc with which we have an actual physical,
though often unconscious, bodily relationship. These are features
which mediate between the body and space and instigates in
us routinely repeated patterns of behaviour, they are often
anonymous, but nevertheless are crucial to the functioning
of space. These unconscious patterns of behaviour are echoed
through the repetitive processes of needlepoint and darning
which bring both a private and a feminine intervention into
the public realm of architectural space. The handrail can
be seen as both a support which directs us through space,
but also as a freestanding form, can be seen as a barrier
which, though often in a temporary or permeable way, divides
space, defines boundaries and alternately either denies or
allows access.
It strikes me that clothing marks a similar
boundary between public and private space and the pocket,
like the door or the window, could mark a point of transition
between the two. It is these lines of enquiry and possible
areas of mutual interest that I would wish to pursue in conversation
with Kyoko.
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Kyoko Nitta
- February the 18th Tuesday
. Sunny all day (unexpectedly).
Discussion for the project and exchange
the ideas.
I arrived after 9am and began the meeting
with Maxine. The first thing we spoke about was, how to collaborate.
I had been given the information on her work and the project
via Lesley, so I have spent most of my time reading it for
the past few days. In the information package it says, 'Mentors
would be expected to spend the equivalent of 1 day per week
with their mentee.' We decided to do this on Tuesday, since
it was the only day when Maxine was free from all the jobs
at the college.
This was our first full meeting since
I arrived. Maxine gave me so much information. The first thing
she gave me was the book on embroidery. This was the very
thick book with lots of colour photos showing all sorts of
different techniques. The ones I liked were mostly for mending
fabrics. These kinds of stitches are called, darning stitches
and each has its own variations. Especially, I was intrigued
by the one using another piece of fabric to make it even more
secure. This is because of the research I made eleven years
ago, when I was an exchange student at Guizhou Institute of
Nationalities in Guizhou Province, China. I did my research
on the embroidery from a minority in China. And I found the
similarity between the two. Embroidery is such tedious work
to do, and I responded to the enthusiasm of both English and
Chinese people who did the stitches.
Maxine and I then started to talk about
the smock dresses of peasants. In Japan, that's the uniform
for the toddlers. Though in England, it's been worn by adults
at a certain work. I've seen quite few photographs of it actually.
Basically, it's a square piece of fabric gathered for movement.
Also, there's minimum waste of fabric since it's been cut
in a square shape. I have shown some photographs of the embroidery
I brought from Japan, The images were taken in the minority
of China.
Meanwhile, there was the press crew who
wished to interview us. They took some photos of us looking
at the photographs then left. It will appear in the community
paper in Chester on Friday the 21st. Maxine took me to the
office supply shops nearby, gave me some information on other
magazines as well as some notes for the project.
In the afternoon, I showed her a kimono
that I had brought from Japan. And I put it on her. It was
the right size for her. The colour and the design suited her
well. I was happy to see her enjoying all the process of seeing
and wearing it. She was intrigued by the details such as;
the paper (called 'Tatou-shi') we use for wrapping kimono
and the way we fold kimono. In the contemporary Japan, there
are now hardly any people who wear this garment in everyday
life. Also, there are less and less people who could put it
on by themselves. I learnt it at the community centre in my
town after graduated from the university. While I was at the
university, I made two ikat kimonos. Then I thought, it wouldn't
make sense if I couldn't put it on by myself. That's why I
decided to take the course at the community centre. Wearing
kimono means changing the attitudes. Probably, the most obvious
thing could be the way of walking. The first thing one could
notice would be the walking, which becomes extremely difficult
unless one walks little by little.
By the way, the kimono I brought from
Japan was worn by six of us at Chester. One of us, Matina
was reading the book called, Geisha, so I decided to put the
kimono on her the way geisha usually do. At the textile section
in Victoria and Albert Museum in London, I put kimono samples
on two schoolgirls. So in the end I put kimono on to eight
people. I used narrow obi belt which is not really proper
in a sense, though everybody seemed to be satisfied by that.
In August, I will bring a summer kimono to Chester; so if
there's anyone who would like to try, just let me know!
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