OCAD U x UAL Outside In
Marketing of OCAD U x UAL Outside In
Abstract: I know it like the back of my hand: inside out, the body as landscape
For the most of us, the deepest we ever investigate into our internal landscape is our mouth: a reddish and gummy pink space, teeth, tongue, curious dark cavern at the back, these are no strangers to us. So, it is understandable then, that it comes as a bit of a shock when you get to see what the landscape of your internal structures might look like.
Faced with a part of you that’s never even seen the light of day, let alone been sighted by yourself, to try and understand this landscape is a difficult thing to wrap your head around – that is where in here? (*looks at an anatomy diagram, tries to sus out where that sits inside you).
These visuals, which represent otherwise inaccessible parts, plot and depict these spaces. Diagrams, images, scans, endoscopies, all map out the terrain of the body. But there still exists a struggle to relate it to your physical self. We aren’t flat for starters and these images often exist in a digital space. So how do we come to better understand the spaces inside ourselves?
This presentation will attempt to heighten our awareness of the landscape of our bodies.
Thinking through notions of inside and outside, of being and matter and how one connects and affects the other, how do we give priority to the senses of movement and touch to reiterate our connections and bring us back into the body. This will be an embodied take on drawing the inside out.
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About:
In January 2022, I applied to take part in the OCAD U x UAL research conference that explored what it means to be invested in the research and practice of landscape as a creative focus today. It looked at the subject of landscape in its broadest sense, as a metaphor, as a historical framework, and as internal or digital landscapes.
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Canada and the UK have profoundly different ways of considering landscape, and this event served as a way to explore this as an area of possibility and discussion. It showcased a selection of final year BA students and alumni alongside MA researchers.
More details of the event and supporting materials can be found here,
The research I undertook to produce this paper has become a fundamental part of my practice and will likely be where I situate my practice going forward, which is a considerable shift in the expression of my critical research. As well as calling me to examine landscape in a way I had never articulated before, presenting my research to a wider audience took my practice well beyond the studio.
In terms of professional development, this was an advancing experience for me. It tested both my audience reach and mode of presentation. I had never participated in a research conference before, and this was an excellent chance to adapt and learn. This was a welcome challenge, from writing a proposal and abstract, practising presenting and timings, all the way through to delivery online. To test and peer-review my research within a supportive setting served as a great way to start with what, I hope, will be many more research proposals and conferences to come.
The chance and space to exchange knowledge between artists and the universities was a fantastic opportunity to build my networks, find like-minded thinkers and encourage a more expanded way of thinking about research as a whole.
From this event, I am at the beginning stages of a potential collaboration with a student on the MA Print course at UAL, a circumstance that would not have come about if it were not for the opportunity of this event. We are in the early stages of a dialogue about a collaboration of sorts or practical workshop – potentially something that links the landscape of the body to the landscape of place and allows our interests in each other’s research to be explored further.
I also hope that now a discourse has been opened between the speakers of UAL and OCAD U, there might be future opportunities for more cross-fertilisation or collaboration, some way of continuing the conversation. I do not know what form this would take or how, but I think there is potential to foster deeper connections with the subject area and the artists involved.