Preface to portfolio
I have been using Stage 1 of my MA as an extended period of reflection and examination of my past and current practice, in an attempt to make clear (or more explicit) the issues/concerns involved in our practice (the process of making and showing artwork) as LOW PROFILE.
In my case, I am involved in this “fastening” of what we do – making it “fast” (sure, steady) or formulating a practice – with the knowledge that it will eventually come undone and will need to be re-fastened again at some point. But with thoughts and ideas, much like shoelaces, sometimes it is useful to take time to tie them up (possibly to prevent tripping up?) and sometimes it is useful to be able to undo them easily (to allow them to be taken off when moving from one situation to another, when they become uncomfortable or when they are simply not necessary).
For that reason, I’m thinking about this portfolio as a makeshift tying together, rather than “fixing” or “tidying” of what it is we do. As usual, I am frustrated by my inability to express, communicate or document fully the work (the thinking, processing, talking about, making, showing and re-showing) I have been involved in, and so present this (inevitably incomplete) collection of writings, edited traces and fragments of the process. This is my attempt to create something flawed but functional as a response to the excess I am faced with.
As always, I hope it all makes sense.
Rachel Dobbs
(LOW PROFILE)
2009
MA STAGE 1 PORTFOLIO
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This is an online version of what was originally a paper-based portfolio, presented as a folder of disparate parts, not bound in a fixed order.
It was intended that this the reader should choose his/her own route to navigate the information.
You may choose to download any/all of the 'texts' in PDF format, or examine each "package" in a visual format reading or downloading relevant PDFs as you go.
This approach reflects one of the concerns of the work/practice – this sense that it is hard to identify a clear beginning and hard to identify a clear end, in the face of an excess of information.
All of the components of this portfolio are interlinked and interrelated in many different ways – it would by difficult (if not impossible) to come to an analogue system of ordering that offered only one route.
NOTES
ABOUT...
rachel is currently undertaking an MA in Contemporary Art Practice and Dissemination (MACAPD) at Dartington College of Arts (now part of University College Falmouth). Her research is supported by the AHRC.
Download: RACHELDOBBS-MA-stage1-package.zip (containing all 15 PDFs)
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rachel dobbs . plymouth, uk . live art . writing . performances . teaching . workshops . LOW PROFILE