Strap

Held In Tension by Justin Harrison


Spent some time considering the construction of Iranian Dome Tents. The role that tension plays in holding and creating form and structure. Strapping and Poles, Rope and Pegs. Inside the tent there are straps that don’t just hold the frame in tension, but also hold meaning unique to each clan through the design woven into it.

I wonder if there is a link to the tension in binary definitions of writing and the potential for there to be ‘Undecidability’

It makes me want to create straps that hold a pole in constant tension. A form of restraint or connecting ‘a’ to ‘b’ - which might also link to Godel’s theorem of the included middle. How something can be a and b and not a or b at the same time. Some form of interdependent relationship of ‘a’ and ‘b’ and ‘not a or b’

Possibly leather straps and white stripped or black charred, green wood poles. These could increase in complexity to describe more complex relationships that use tension.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuzipuvXULg


 

Key wOrds/// by Justin Harrison


Key words from drawing and researching today, in no specific order///

Burnt sugar

Bundle

Wad

Banding

Strap

Steps (descend ascend)

Return>>>

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I feel like making large format drawings in oil. Large greasy drawings, I desire to see thick black and sepia marks commanding the paper.

Portraiture

I still really enjoy making drawings. I feel guilty as though I am old fashioned stuck in craft, but I find making marks, making certain drawings so satisfying. The feel it has, the presence it carries. I worry as it feels as though there is no concept, idea or thought in the work. Just self indulgence and showing off. That there isn’t really a place for it in contemporary art. Is representational art over.

What is the purpose of portraiture today? Where does the thinking and conceptual value lie? Observation? Deep observation of an individual.