I started this course in June 2023. And now, looking back, I realize that I had to work hard to find priorities in my work.
In the first part, I started searching and highlighting themes and interests, but it was a mess and a pun in my head. I tried to continue my idea with the "ecology of mind" and even tried working with children, but I quickly realized that it didn't work.
And the main reason was, as I understand it now, the confusion of priorities and concepts caused by Russia’s war with Ukraine.
I referred to "Values" and "Will" at the beginning of my search and thought to focus on them.
Here my first attempts at breaking my color fields happened. Again, as I can explain it now, this break or detailed revision of my approach to colour fields was needed not only in the physical sense but also in the theoretical sense for my works.
In the second part, several important points helped me filter out the unnecessary and focus. After a year of war, I finally realized that I do not want to create art for decoration or beauty and it is important for me to communicate with the viewer.
In physical works, this first manifested itself through the destruction/reconstruction of my old works.
One piece of work became a key moment that explained to me how my internal conflict with my parents comes out through the material.
I worked on this object for a long time, and stage by stage, shocking discoveries came to me.
For example, the fence from my childhood, which I painted as a child at my dad’s request, just seemed to get stuck in my brain and wanted to go out of my consciousness.
Then the destroyed, broken, torn elements in my work and the method of my approach to materials, explained to me that my direction in research would move in the direction of conflict, "my" unusual materials, intuitive, unconscious work approach.
I visited many exhibitions and cultural events, which also helped me to gather the necessary experience and highlight what is important to me.
Visit: Pirelli Hangar Bicocca Milan 01.04.2023 ANSELM KIEFER, The Seven Heavenly Palaces 2004-2015 and GIAN MARIA TOSATTI, NOw/here [online] At: https://pirellihangarbicocca.org/en/bubble/interview-gian-maria-tosatti/ (Accessed 13.12.2023)
So, the exhibition in Milan of Anselm Kiefer's Towers of the Seven Heavens simply amazed me. I realized that material objects have the greatest impact on me, so in my research I also focused on materiality, and then this transformed into synesthetic manifestations.
Research within the OСA program also opened up to me an amazing world of unconventional approaches and creative opportunities.
It has strengthened my confidence to follow the path where the unconscious and affective influence us and make our lives so rich.
Even the unconventional performance by Benjamin Clementine, which made me cry, supported me in my confidence to move forward in combining everything with everything.
My experiments in the studio, or rather to say, one small, unnoticeable stroke - a line on an iPhone made on a physical drawing, globally determined my direction of research. Digital manipulation! It was as if I had found what I was looking for. At that moment, all my thoughts came together - my parents watch a lot of TV and here is the result. They are no longer able to think for themselves. This moment became one of the key ones in my research.
Here I found a popular text by Artie Vierkant about the proclamation of the coexistence of the physical world and the digital one, in which I saw many changes that had occurred.
All these thoughts led me to create the central work for my research - "For My Mom".
Everything came together here: personal experience, non-standard material, the destruction of war, digital manipulation and my synesthetic experiences expressed in the combination of four senses in this work and calling for some other unconscious vibrations. To something that can stir a person's soul and make them change their point of view on war.
In the third part of the course, the GPT chat came to my aid. I uploaded all my written materials and essays from my first year of college. I was interested to ask, as I would ask a psychologist, what he sees in common in my interests. The key moments for me were war trauma, synaesthesia and digital manipulation.
So I had identified the directions for my research, but I still needed to decide on the methodology and structure. I was interested in the question of ethics and aesthetics from the very beginning. But I realized in time how broad this question is and how much more serious preparation is needed for it. So I put this question off until my master's degree.
In the parallel course "Advanced Practice" my tutor recommended Brian Massumi and his theory of Affect. And that's it. I was hooked. I suddenly saw connections between manipulation and influence on us, the unconscious and body reactions. So this theory became one of the main ones in my research.
At the same time, during this period I had many exhibitions going on in parallel and there were presidential elections in Russia, which put me in a depressed mood.
Queue in Luxembourg at the Russian consulate on the day of the vote against Putin
At that moment I thought that if I wanted to change something I needed to create art not for art curators, but for these people and the crowd who support terrible aggression. And to my surprise, these people surrounded me in the crowd. There were a huge number of them, those who said that Putin was doing everything right.
Of course, I am aware, first of all, that I make art foremost for myself. And at the same time, secondly, I understand that kitsch and decorative art will not tell anything new or controversial to people. That is why I set myself the task of finding a solution that would not immediately repel the viewer with its incomprehensibility, but on the contrary, would arouse interest and engage in dialogue. It turned out to be a difficult task - to remain true to myself and at the same time be accessible to every viewer. That's why I worked a lot with the topic of digital aesthetics
and again the recommendation from the tutor - Hito Steyerl , in whom I found support for my ideas about everything digital.
Throughout the course, I continued to apply for competitions and artist's calls which also kept me updated on current societal demands.
Preparing for such applications brings together all my thoughts and creates a feeling as if I were holding an exhibition in a museum. I find this very useful and effective.
And finally, in the fourth part, I realized that my motivation in art is often connected to my desire to be different. Or because I was different, I was bullied for it. Such human behaviour of intolerance and aggression toward difference is connected with the culture of society. Here again, I saw how everything I wrote and said earlier is connected to each other. It’s amazing.
In my essay that I wrote for the Sculpture 2 course in April 2023, I analysed the peculiarities of my culture and came to the reasonable conclusion that it contains fascist principles that I worked through in myself through my creative activities.
One of these fascist principles is "Disagreement is betrayal" (Eco, 2020 p. 16).
Quoting myself: «1. Likewise, I doubted the dominance of academic paintings, so I decided for myself that art is not meant to be beautiful or that it had to please. Art is designed to instigate interest and raise questions. And if I do not agree to work with conventional materials, this does not mean that I am betraying the traditions of art.
2. Not only denial made me work with recycled objects or building materials, but also the desire to be different. …» in Critical Review. Contemporary Art, Killing The Inner Fascist Online. At: https://www.marinawittemann.com/post/critical-review-contemporary-art-killing-the-inner-fascist (Accessed 29.07.2024)
Thus, I have supplemented my research with the last and most important methodological point and theory of Deleuze's "Difference".
In parallel work in the studio, in searches of the manipulations in the digital world, I came to photography.
I thought that the viewer would not be able to fully imagine what my sculpture looks like from just one photograph since it is abstract and unpredictable.
And this is exactly what happens with the transmission of information through information carriers. And especially during wars and distortion of information for propaganda. https://www.marinawittemann.com/post/art-for-change-research-development
Well, in conclusion, in the fifth part of this course, I come to rhetorical conclusions that, although they motivate me to work, also leave me without hope that anything can be changed.
I am quite clearly aware that my chosen path with my wooden boards and trash is not for everyone. Therefore, from the very beginning, I contradict myself in order to communicate with those who advocate resolving the conflict through war. My art still doesn't work for everyone.
But I will take my art to the streets and thus increase the number of eyes.
That my art is a discovery, I suspected it from the very beginning and through this essay I simply proved it through Deleuze’s theory.
I also received confirmation that everything flows and changes. There is nothing fixed if this happens we slide into fascism. Because the fixed becomes tradition, and tradition is stagnation and boundaries that hinder development and tolerance.
After working through my synaesthesia and writing an essay about it a few years ago, I moved away from that subject. But now I feel again that it is an integral part of me and this phenomenon plays a big role in my practice. I intend to continue deeper work in this area.
What I clearly realized is the dangerous zone of the digital world, which people cannot distinguish from reality.
Finally, I really enjoyed thinking and working this way. This written reflection opened up a new way of approaching my topics. And there are still a lot of projects and a lot of ideas that I want to explore further. The only question is how to do this if I don't need to write an essay?
Bibliography and references
1. Umberto Eco, 2020 How to Spot a Fascist. Harvill Secker
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