Although there were no performers booked in today people flowed in and out of the space.
In the morning I talked to Dr Harry Hauser’s writing group about my experience of writing the text panels for the exhibitions. They were enthusiastic, asked questions and offered suggestions.
I then drew Bruce who was on a break from his Life Long Learning session. He told us about his own artwork as I drew him. I explained I would only draw his movement and followed him with a line as he walked and talked in the space. He was very entertaining. At the end of the drawing he looked at the projection and declared – ‘Well, it doesn’t look like me!’ However, he came back at lunchtime to collect his drawing once the ink had dried and promised to come back to view the exhibition.
During the quiet periods I drew into a video of my interview with Phil Steadman (author of ‘Vermeer’s Camera’). I didn’t expect to end up with a figurative image drawing Phil’s movements, but I did. I was intrigued to notice how much I was drawn to his eyes movement, just as much as the mouth. Drawing only his movements made be appreciate how expressive his face is as he speaks.
I notice that dense and repeated movements in some subjects generate semi-figurative images. Is this visual evidence that the essence of our being – energy – is all there is? Do the drawings show that matter is only dense energy?
A mature student dropped in to say hello and reminded me that she had participated in one of my drawing workshops about 14 years ago at Oriel Davies in Newtown. Since then Mo has done her BA and MA in Fine Art and has just started her practice based PhD part-time. It was lovely to see her again.
In the afternoon two MA students joined me in the space. Kim drew me drawing her in the projection. Then Eirini joined us and drew into a video of Russian musician Eva.
Later, Kim brought in her two children Seren and Dylan. They had a great time playing with drawing and moving in the projection. They especially enjoyed the ‘colourise’ option on the video mixer.