As • an • artist • I • am • interested • in • the • hierarchical • tension • between • process • and • product, • and • how • this • tension • can • be • used • to • explore • both • moments • of • fixity • and • shifting • meaning • in • language. • I • use • drawing • alongside • writing • and • photography • as • a • way • of • materialising • language • and • exploring • thinking • in • action. • My • current • Ph.D. • research • Drawing • out • Language: • Disrupting • Narrative • Sense • through • Conceptual • Writing, • examines • the • ways • in • which • narrativity • and • meaning-making • are • habituated • in • an • understanding • of • the • world. • Through • my • art • practice • I • disrupt existing • texts • by • materialising • less • visible • actions • around • thinking, • reading, • writing, • and • speaking. • This • is • in • order • to • challenge • the • wholeness • of • meaning • implied • by • narrative • structures • and • to • deny • immediate • coherence. • Gaps • and • spaces • as • well • as • the • deleted • or • forgotten • are • as • much • of • interest • as • the • object • of • language • itself. • By • fragmenting • appropriated • content • I • am • able • to • open • up • generative • spaces • which • allow •for •the • processes •of • sense • making •to •be •explored • and • visualised. • This • space • enables • an • interrogation • of • the • ways • in • which • meaning • may • be • constructed • as • well • as • scrutinising • the • losses • and • distortions • forged • in • the • process • of • communication.

Testing • Testing

It • is • becoming • increasingly • apparent, • as • the • research • progresses, • that • the • writing • of • Roland • Barthes • is • an • important • influence • on • the • development • of • my • practice, • whether • in • thinking, • writing, • or • making • art. • In • recognising • this • it • has • become • necessary • to • investigate • the • punctum • moments • I • have • experienced • in • reading • his • texts • and • analyse • their • emerging • relevance • in • framing • my • research. • The • work • in • this • exhibition • uses • practice • as • a • way • of • thinking • through • some • of • Barthes’ • ideas • about • reading, • writing, • and • thinking.1 • It • builds • on • my • recent • book-work • Reading • Words.2 • This • work • is • a • material • exploration • of • an • experience •described • by • Barthes: • that • of • continuing • to • read, • while • looking • up • from • a • book, • as • language • beyond • the • written • text • is • constructed • in • the • mind • of • the • reader.3 • In • expanding • my • current • work • I • endeavour • to • have • a • dialogue • with • Barthes, • through • his • writing, • in • order • to • advance • my • own • thinking • via • practice. • This • space • enables • an • interrogation • of • the • ways • in • which • meaning • may • be • constructed • as • well • as • scrutinising • the • losses • and • distortions • forged • in • the • process.

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