In response to the data brief i have began to look at the CCTV presence in York. I acquired the locations of all 59 CCTV cameras in York and have plotted the majority of them on a map of the city. The presence of CCTV in the city center obviously suggests which areas need to be monitored in this way. I have tried to retrieve some footage through the council (they provided me with the locations and other helpful information also), however the project isn't really an appropriate reason for this info. I am continuing to develop ideas and collect information regarding surveillance in York.       

   

Christo and Jeanne-Claude

Surrounded Islands by Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Biscayne Bay, Greater Miami, Florida, 1980-83

This is not dis-similar to artist Robert Smithson in his work spiral jetty, both involving key elements of water in the art. To look at the picture it looks incredibly ephemeral as if it could float away, almost like a piece of gold leaf. Christo's wrapping features lie flat on the surface unlike his wrapping of building which are more 3D. There's a certain stillness in the water and to an extent it has a feel of a floating reef with the trees almost being coral.

Gordon Flemons and Fran Wilde

This is a series of observational drawings. Not sure if this is really outside the white cube. Well, I guess the googlemap is and the drawings were made on location. There are lots drawn on plastic bags! The exhibition was in a pub. "The act of drawing quickly focused our attention on the flow of people through the area, and for me more specifically, the forest of signs that control this movement; directing, dictating, and tempting."

Find as many artists as possible ...

... whose work relates to discourse of outside the white cube.

Locate key images of their works and upload to the blog.

Provide full details of artist, work, location, date, etc.

Compile a list of key words that describe the image or discourse in detail.

Every one should upload at least five such images and be prepared to discuss them next time we meet.

Become dérivers

“the dérive [literally: “drifting”], a technique of rapid passage through varied ambiances. Dérives involve playful-constructive behavior and awareness of psychogeographical effects, and are thus quite different from the classic notions of journey or stroll.”

Internationale Situationniste #2, (1958), Theory of the Dérive [Internet] Available from: < http://library.nothingness.org/articles/SI/en/display_printable/314> [Accessed 3 February 2009]

“psychogeography [:] The study of the precise effects of geographical setting, consciously managed or not, acting directly on the mood and behaviour of the individual.”

Internationale Situationniste #1, (1958), Definitions [Internet] Available from: < http://library.nothingness.org/articles/SI/en/display_printable/7> [Accessed 3 February 2009]

Become dérivers.

Form groups of two to three people to conduct psychogeographical observation and collection of data (images, texts, objects, etc). Conduct your dérive over deliberately pre-arranged periods of a few hours at a time. Avoid the later hours of the night. Agree a meeting place as a point of departure. Modes of movement other than walking may be employed but only as long as a principle of random direction remains within your control (getting on or off buses spontaneously, riding a bicycle, etc.).

The aim is to see the city anew, and to (re-) discover locations to which you might address the creation of new work as form of intervention. We hope this will lead to collective research into the city of York, as we will be able to cross-refer the observations and data emerging from differing dérive methods. You could consider letting a dog take you for a walk, walking blindfolded with a friend, use a map of another place to try to get around, toss coins, follow smells or sounds at whim, turning first left, second right and second right again repeatedly etc….

Consider ways of documenting/mapping each dérive before and while walking. Marking a route with a piece of string, photographing and sequencing images, textually or graphically representing your dérive are initial ideas. Record material for these documents/maps for presentation next week and upload on this blog now.

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Welcome to Outside the White Cube

Outside the White Cube is a project by artists at York St John University who are investigating a range of locations in, and possibly around, the city of York between February-May 2009. We aim to create new work through interaction with off-campus settings and mount a group exhibition of material and works emerging from this enquiry in May. Our initial starting points relate to observation; passages through the environment; identification of settings; mapping; placement / displacement; other creative and critical strategies for generating, moulding and composing material. We are also concerned with image, event and meaning creation in relation to those particular tensions present in the reciprocal interaction of 'art' and 'site'. We hope to use this blog to share images, texts, observations, links as we proceed. The project represents art as research and exchange in the urban context.