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Notes:

Seeing movement in photos: where weight is, wrinkles, seeing social trends e.g. women helping women

getting instants of light

Speaking to people when visiting local are instead of using maps, galleries as excuse for visiting somewhere

breaking up drawing into series

Feedback for Claudia <3

Is it better to have separate publications for different series i.e. stadiums or architecture, collage/text based works to appeal to certain audiences

National art library at v&a to see books

Linking with John for advice on publishing

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Please share social media accounts, websites, email etc. if you'd like to!

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Reception theory - how does meaning of work change over time? Something which isn't ready to shown when it's made can enter 'artefact territory', become more appropriate. Documentary photography, just observing

Differing responses from men/women

How close

Permission or forgiveness - can't ask for permission with candid photos or wouldn't truly be candid?

Ordinary, not influencing scene, taking photo as you see it, some of the most ordinary photos documenting dress etc. turn out to be most successful, importance from anthropological point of view.

Ecocentric society, never seeing ourselves properly. Either through a phone (front camera, always flipped) holiday photos always having people in them (us in front of something)

Sketchbooks, extra candid space - private, how does this impact the way we work, techniques to exhibit, should we show? is it art if no one ever sees it [working on every other page, scanning and displaying digitally alongside physical book, creating prints from pages to be framed]

Too scared to use in case its good, using sketchbook as tool, graveyard for rejected drawings, to test paint colours etc.

How adding collage elements changes meaning of work - adds exciting element

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Bringing different parts of self/interests together e.g. graphic and drawing work - incorporating selves

How materials can impact content

Adding motifs intuitively e.g. numbers, different for everyone. What we're drawn to. Why? Deciding to add embellishment. Unconscious. Only notice over time

Artworks changing with seasons - liveliness, brighter colours in summer (emotion), christmassy works!

Question - how would you display in ideal world? Techniques to mount paper work. Difficult esp. with thin paper

Experimenting with working in different conditions e.g. outside, to time etc.

Representing man-made in nature - how it compares

Life drawing practice - how to get different poses included in same image. Faces Homework for Claudia - draw faces!!

Getting back to self in work. How other people interpret - can't help it. People being able to appreciate without knowing intent, ambiguity in candid work

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- 2 min welcome

- 15 mins per person to present, get feedback etc.

You can present work however you like - holding it up to the camera, sharing your screen, posting pictures, links in the chat

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Finding common ground - art reflecting not only artist's experience and point of view but general feelings of society, state we're in

Spontaneity, 'intelligent hands', resulting in quick, raw drawings, brushstrokes, more abstract. 'Apocalyptic' look, graffiti.

Everything feeling wrong at the moment, art as a way to express what's bothering you, things you can't express in words.

Defining yourself through art, your art being a definition of you

Comfort materials i.e. for some people this may be pen, may be pencil - smoother, easier for you to work with

Ambiguity - 1. capturing images you didn't conceive of 2. harvesting emotional content 3. presenting them out of context. Creates 'aesthetic mystery' - is this responsible? Where is credit due? How does it work when representing different cultures (same or different culture to your own)? Do you need to give historical context? Does this reduce the work if weren't interested in it for it's original meaning but only in its aesthetic benefits i.e. only wanted it for the look?

Candid works often abstract until viewer attributes meaning to what they're seeing. Should it be this way? Could we say this about most art? Does overexplaining ruin it? Viewer response greater than the artist's intention

Matching photos with drawings - same energy

Materials reflecting mindset and also content E.g. using cheap, lightweight paper for quicker drawings. Cherish less - freedom to experiment. Readjusting to a new process - learning

How brains perceive artwork - art representing small spaces make our sense of time speed up or slow down. How much time can we spend in that compressed space until we need to leave it. Zooming in for detail

Consistent message throughout body of work

Thinking about more drastic ways of installing e.g. printing lifesize.

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Instagram: @cxt.art

Twitter/X: @cxt_art

Website: https://claudiaxtart.wixsite.com/portfolio

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Art by Claudia Tong | Instagram | Linktree

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@strangeideasart - Insta

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Purity of photography. Recontextualisation. Instinctual creative processes: 'Stock photos can represent a repository of global viewpoints, or the mediocrity of the world through censored images, or as a collection of simulated realities, any of which an artist can harvest the aesthetic or emotional content and use it as material (ammunition) for their own work.'

Data and surrealist processes - embed ideas in own language

Consumer perception of the world - sub-titling things that can't be describe. Isn't art for the purpose of depicting aesthetics, experiences, atmospheres that can't be described

Scalability - we live in age where everything is in the context of huge scales (globalisation). We scale according to social media, exhibitions etc. Is working at a smaller scale harder? - getting details, sharper pencil etc. requires more control

Playing with ambiguity. Nocturnal scenes i.e. from dreams, or in the night time. In darkness you see differently - things move in and out, flashes/there and gone - low contrast contributes to this - CANDID (always more lo-fi, immaterial images). Mysterious, feeling you can't describe. Again - trying to depict what can't be expressed in words.

Can animals be candid, are they always candid? Humans are animals too but have gained an extra/another way of being where we can present as well as be perceived

HOW TO ENDURE - neither of us could answer this

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23rd February 6pm GMT online. Email to receive the link

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Everyone is welcome to share work or just listen and chat 😊

We have an Instagram account @candidcrits or email tabbygammer@gmail.com with any questions

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General info:

there isn't a single book or article on the candid as a theme/idea in visual culture

This is a group to provide context for individuals for whom candid imagery forms a significant, but perhaps underappreciated part of their practice to be inspired, come up with new language, theory etc.

Examples of the candid in contemporary art could include

A photo taken informally, perhaps without the subject’s knowledge

A painting in which subjects are acting naturally or spontaneously without being posed

Writing detailing a real-life conversation

A film or sound recording of a crowd of people

The candid raises questions about chance, ethics, authenticity. Conversations can centre around truth, intimacy and the unique position of the artist to convey these things through the 'un-posed'.

Building connections to create an audience for the touching, sometimes provocative, work involving candid imagery

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Started at Central Saint Martins as a post-grad interest group. Had a few crits before Tabitha left course

Restarted online in 2023

Persevering to increase numbers - love the group we've built so far. Everyone's enthusiasm and input always inspires me!

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Candid is a crit group for UAL students whose creative practices involve candid imagery. We explore the aesthetics of figuration, specifically the use of ‘raw’ material in contemporary art.

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Notes

Purpose of group - lack of information on the candid as a theme/idea in contemporary art, starting a conversation, means something different to everyone, develop language and discover similarities between work to do with candid

Contemporary: capturing the time we're in. Adjusting post-pandemic; diminishing in compassion, reason. Everything happening faster. Can't remember what was normal.

Candid meaning upfront and honest. Being surprised by own work

Similarities between work: revealing what's hidden, figuration, vulnerability

Intuition, interconnectedness, observing. Minotaur - loneliness

Harvesting the aesthetic/emotion of a photo/scene and making it your own

Storytelling: done through sequence. Not wanting to be defined. Making things denser or more 'thin' as way of preserving ambiguity

Feminism - turning uncomfortable situations into art - anger

Adam's definition of fine art: Fine relates to the fine or complex sensibilities of emotions: deep states of consciousness, elations of spiritual, philosophical or religious states of being, or intense emotional reactions to your environment; life finely explored. Art does not relate to the object, but the artistry displayed in capturing the state of being communicated. Mastery occurs when the artistry matches to the intent so the consequence is the viewer experiences the same state of being, or deep understanding of the subject as the artist did when making it.

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Notes from online crit December 23

We talked a lot about process in this crit

Reluctance to identify with collage, call art collage

Similar reluctance to use text. Why is this? How do you decide what to write

Breaking free from rigid ways of working. Can see loss of control in work. Mixing reality with abstraction. Volume vs detail.

Creating boundaries for oneself in terms of themes and research, otherwise would be too much

Mystery - big element to candid. Reflected in process. Working intuitively means waiting to see when/how it will end

Finding the thing in successful images which sets it apart, then hunting for images with same aspect

Capturing the spirit of something/someone.

Depicting the things that are obvious but don't notice them - people, buildings etc.

Sense of colour (getting bored of colours and finding new ones)

Scale - changes work completely. Internal/external judgment changes decisions. Benefits of working smaller. Can scan and print at larger/smaller size to see work on different scale. Also resize when creating prints for uniform installation

General agreement on what is better than others. Reflects artists favourite/most authentic expression

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Notes 21/01/24

Benefits of diversifying art practice

Studying formal drawing vs practice makes perfect

Tendency to over-explain self - quantity allows for better storytelling

Lithography techniques. Painting/drawing on stone and wiping away with acid. Adding and subtracting

We are the product of the people we surround ourselves with

Feeling uncomfortable, can't look at own images, gory!

Nature and death. Entropy - no turning back, every choice we make matters

Exaggeration, warping - turning animals into other beings (mythological)

Soft vs hard artwork

Being happy when it's finished (come back to it: we need to change, not the artwork)

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working in a niche - pros and cons

is drawing from other artworks E.g. sculptures candid?

Artwork: Itchin & Scratchin by Denzil Forrester 2019 - impressionistic - can tell shapes are people but when you look closely can't see how

Artwork [find title] screen showing funeral services live-streamed online - product of the pandemic

attention span - text can help to do this. How to create a focal point in drawing using more detailed, shaded areas.

How viewer looks at artwork (curve from bottom left to top right)

repurposing old artworks and reusing discarded materials