Unit 2: 1; 2; 2.1; 2.2; 2.3; 2.4
There is always something creative on display at college. Prints. Pottery. Photographs. Jewellery… exhibitions come and go.
But last week, something completely different grabbed my attention. Completely.
BANG. LOOK AT ME.
It was a stack of artroom tables, balanced up against the corridor wall. There were a couple there that were indistinguishable from one another, but the one at the front? Now that was special. Like Jackson Pollock special.
Like nick me, take me home and put me on your wall special.
The countless misplaced brushstrokes; the overlap where a print maker had gone from paper to surface; the use of table as palette… looking at that table, I saw not just the detail itself, but a procession of faceless students creating countless unseen works of art. God knows how long the table had been in use, but in that time it had become a work of art in itself.
I took a quick snap on my phone but it turned out it wasn’t enough. A thing of beauty, the table deserved more.
I was obsessed.
The next day I drove back to college and sat in the corridor for ages, taking pictures of “MY” table, much to the amusement of students walking past.
If it is still there this evening – and I hope it is – I may take some more. I want to see how the evening light changes things.
How does this fit with Dreams V Reality? The close-ups look to all intents and purposes like detail from an abstract painting. Printed on good paper – maybe with an additional stroke or two of real paint added as embellishment – and framed well, they could pass as just that. But pull back, step away from the smoke and mirrors and the truth is revealed. A table, unused, stacked up in a corridor. I think I like those “honest” photo’s more. The truth revealed.
A functional piece of furniture. Nothing more. Nothing less.
And yet, something new and wonderful has been unwittingly created by all those who have stood before it. Countless unconnected visions have unified to become something more.
With this study, I’m just taking that connection one step further.
I am an artist before I learn to paint.
Life Through a Lens 
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