Drawing as an Act of Kindness | Research Paper Ideas
“What is good for the hive is good for the bee”
-Marcus Aurelius
Draft Proposal
Below is a draft proposal to present to my Research Supervisor on Thursday 23rd May in advance of my first draft submission one week later on Thursday 30th May. I don’t have a polished question yet and I feel the topic is emerging through the act of researching itself.
The closest I have is:
‘Drawing as an Act of Kindness: drawings from the compost heap as a gesture of compassion/empathy in the face of ecological grief’.
Topic
Drawing is the topic with a view to understanding the function or personal and social purpose of drawing as we face ecological and climate chaos. Kindness, empathy and compassion are synonymous for me at present although there is a subtle gradation of meaning. I am interested in the humanity (humility?) around our response to climate disruption, specifically a collective sense of ecological as well as generalised grief.
My work is around the compost heap as a symbol for courage, humility, compassion, grief, survival… I would like my research paper to create context for my continued interest in this area of ecological alchemy and the lessons we may learn from the humble, garden compost pile.
I am interested in the materials I can make from my own compost including charcoal, paper and humus paint.
Why do I want to research this?
Drawing is the life force of my work, although I haven’t always been aware of that
My work is about compost heaps
Kindness as a gesture towards understanding, acceptance and strategies for continued existence
Shouting about climate chaos doesn’t seem to help, ignoring it doesn’t either
Finding connection through kindness seems a uniquely meaningful strategy for learning to respect the natural world in the ruins of the Capitalocene
Finding compassion and kindness in our collective human experience feels more meaningful
Fostering a collective, ecological imagination through empathy feels helpful
I am interested in understanding our wide ecology and also my own local ecology
I don’t want to lose connection to our natural spaces or one another
Artists/People of interest
I am interested in artists working with an attitude of empathy/kindness/compassion and taking ecological clues around materiality and expression to create drawings.
Bruno Follador
Nature Institute, NY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPE-IuzNFDE
Compost expert
Chromatography - separation of elements from the pile, could be of interest in how to make paint from humus
Liz Elton
Portraits of a compost bin http://www.lizelton.com/compost-bin.html
The only other artist I can find working directly with the compost heap.
Dryer Goodwin
Dryer Goodwin is a contemporary drawing artist who describes the empathetic gestures of drawing in his response to pollution. He is participating in an exhibition titled ‘Our Earth’ at Salisbury Cathedral currently, which is not far for me to visit in the coming couple of weeks.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-wiltshire-68806480
https://www.drydengoodwin.com/works_menu.htm
Gina Allen
Ecologically conscious drawing
Drawing using materials produced by pollution to create beautiful, delicate drawings
Portraits of Ella, the first person to officially die as a direct result of air pollution. Gina Allen worked with the family to create portraits of Ella’s life using dirt collected from the wheels and exhausts of cars.
Context
The ecological crisis seems to be characterised by division and separation as well as indifference to the issues itself - I don’t want to deal with the whole issue of climate crisis but rather the collective sense of grief and connectivity I hope might be, as well as a
Fostering ecological imagination through compassion
Awakening of ecological consciousnesses
Connectivity and reciprocity
Wisdom of plants, trees, funghi, mould, critters, all the small wriggly things
Kindness and compassion around natural wisdom
Human exemptionalism (humans as exempt from the laws of nature)
Is ecological empathy achievable?
Aesthetic experience and empathy have established connections
If the act/process/phenomenon of drawing can harness kindness
Research Paper Guidelines
Timeline for the extended paper may be found here.
Researching issue A / by contrasting the practice of x and y / in order to find out B
Or
Contrasting x and y / in order to research issue A / to find out B - what you are writing about (topic) I am researching… [x and y] - what you don’t know about it (question) because of… [A] - why you want to know about it (rationale) in order to understand about… [B]
Another approach
- what you are writing about (topic)
I am researching… [x and y] x & y = Photographers (the 2 named artists the writer will look at)
- what you don’t know about it (question)
because of… [A] A = CONSENT (the writer is interested in the issue of people giving consent to be photographed)
- why you want to know about it (rationale)
in order to understand about… [B] B = ETHICS (the issue of ethics when taking photographs of other people)
Initial thoughts…
Drawing
Drawing as a phenomenon
Indexical drawing
Grief
Drawing ecological grief
Collective grief
Too depressing… Grief and hope? Survival
Strategies for grief acceptance
Compost heaps
Metaphor for humanity, survival and hope
Metaphor for community and hope in a context of the Ausnahmezustand
Compositions
Decay and rebirth
Anna Tsing
Connectivity
End of species dialectic
Non human survival
Seurat
Dissolving spaces
Fragility of place and social gaze
Contemporary drawing
Cy Twombly dissolving spaces and act of handwriting autographic drawing
Tacita Dean
Notes after the discussion
The discussion went well and it was a really great group. Alexis was helpful in his comments although I think by the time we had got to the end of the session and my presentation we were all a bit dying for a tea break.
Advice was to forge relationships with the MA Art and Science but be cautious about too much science stuff in the actual paper, which isn’t where I want to go anyway. I am not a scientist but I do think some knowledge about what happens in the process of a compost heap cycle could be interesting.
I am struggling to find artists that are directly relevant but I will keep searching. I feel more confident with the research component although I haven’t done much towards the submission next week.