LOCKDOWN JOURNAL 2.3: Paul Digby #1
Work in Progress #1 Paul Digby (2021)
Despite the fact that, as a nation, we are allegedly on Lockdown 4 now since the pandemic lockdowns began almost exactly a year ago, here in Yorkshire, due to the various extreme tier systems it seems like we are still actually on Lockdown 2; hence the numbering system on this post.
In this post, and over the coming weeks, I shall be returning to the work of Leeds based artist Paul Digby and looking at a new piece that he is currently working on.
An attribute common to many artist and gallery websites, is that works are generally depicted in a finished state, often on display somewhere, or at least framed or cropped, giving rise to the illusion that we are looking at and experiencing the real thing. Of course we are not looking at the real thing, there will always be elements of experience that cannot be gained from the screen experience or even the pages of a book. Art is experiential. We can enjoy it in other formats, we can even learn about it through secondhand experiences such as lectures, just because there is much art out there that most of us will never be able to experience firsthand does not mean that there is no point in trying to experience or understand it by other means.
Work in Progress #2 Paul Digby (2021)
One of the things that BasementArtsProject has always seen as part of our raison d’être, is the idea of presenting art as less of a fait accompli and more of an ongoing process of exploration. This is not about the magician revealing their tricks, or even about the demystification of the process; that will always belong firmly with the artist and will be revealed only as much as they themselves allow as this aspect is often, but not always, highly personal. The finished article often reveals to us either an element of the artist’s experience of the world, or something about our own that maybe we had never considered before. The process behind it reveals something else altogether, a life of dedication, practise and perseverance as part of the exploration of ideas.
Unravel: The longest hand-painted film in Great Britain Workshop (May 2011) Photo by Chris Daniels
There have been many projects over the ten years of BasementArtsProject’s existence where we have presented process and practice as part of a public dialogue, developing work from conception through to delivery in a public forum. Sometimes, this is performative in the sense that the dialogue is between Basement and the artist and is engineered in a manner that will hopefully explicate something about artistic practice to the viewer. On other occasions we have invited the public to be involved either in workshops that revolve around themes, or to be a part of the development process of particular projects where it is appropriate that they are part of the artists final vision for the work.
Sculptors Keith Ackerman and John Barber working on Jacob’s Ladder - a public sculpture project for South Leeds. (2019) Photo by Bruce Davies
Our ongoing projects with sculptors Keith Ackerman and Dominic Hopkinson, delayed by the pandemic but very much still in progress, are such examples of how artistic process can play out in a public forum allowing the public insight into how artworks come into being. It has also allowed people the opportunity to comment and debate on the project in a public forum. In doing so we have seen many things come to the forefront for discussion, as well as an apparent change of attitude in some areas towards the idea that publicly accessible art is not just a luxury but is also important for reasons of well-being, employment, education and industry.
Sculpture being craned into the studio of it’s creator Dominic Hopkinson. Also part of the ongoing sculpture project for South Leeds (2019)
The fact that BasementArtsProject has the online Studio Journal facility is testament to our dedication to allowing artists the opportunity not just to promote their practice, but to engage in a creative way with audiences. Entertaining, educating and engaging through the delivery of a project, tracking ideas from conception through to birth.
Work being developed by Chloe Harris (2021) Photo by Chloe Harris
In recent weeks we have presented the conceptual development of work by print artist Chloe Harris; her experiences as a key worker at Amazon but locked down as an artist, have led to the development of a series of new works that we have featured at various stages of their development in the pages of the Studio Journal.
In the studio with Kimbal Bumstead (2020) Photo by Kimbal Bumstead
As part of our celebrating 10 years of BasementArtsProject this year, we have invited back the first artist to ever have exhibited with us back in April 2011; Kimbal Quist Bumstead. Due to the ongoing uncertainty around unlocking from this country’s eternal twilight of lockdown, we have been using the Studio Journal as a means of communication in a public forum, laying the groundwork for a project that, at this point, we have no idea what form it will take, or even if it will happen in the Real-World or online only.
Inspiration and production are two separate yet integrated aspects of artistic practice, and through the Studio Journal we aim to create a picture that depicts how these two aspects work together, allowing us to build new worlds for a future that will hopefully be different to the one we leave behind.
Work in Progress #3 Paul Digby (2021)
Over the next few weeks we will be bringing you a number of posts in which I will be chatting via email with Paul Digby about this latest work that he is creating and bringing you images of it as it develops. Until then one final image for this post of the work in it’s embryonic form before moving on to the next stages ……………
Bruce Davies | March 2021