Statement
| Underlying much of my art practice is my interest in digital technology and the computer interface. I watch for those everyday instances when technology malfunctions, when data is corrupted. For example, I'm currently working with a malfunctioning digital camera to produce a set of distorted portraits. The Uncertainty Series is an ongoing body of work that mimics the ‘track changes’ function in word processing programs. This format allows me to reveal the doubts I experience during my art-making – giving solid form to my meandering and often contradictory thoughts. An installation at Mid Pennine Gallery took the form of vinyl works spanning two walls of the gallery. According to Michael Corris (1), the Uncertainty Series is ‘the story of authority rebuked, of certainty suspended, of an internal dialogue made manifest in the world . . . In one work, viewers find the sentence: “I don’t often believe my end-result is driven by my original idea.” As they stumble through strike-throughs, lose their way and retrace their steps, a conflicting sentence emerges: “I always have a clear idea that drives my practice.” . . . We read phrases that are, so to speak, false starts. We trip over ourselves, and in so doing rehearse Charnock’s uncertainty.’ It takes time to unravel the competing thoughts. I have ventured into making paintings partly because time is encoded in the act of painting itself. Moreover, the painted surface complicates and further hinders the process of reading. In the texts of these latest text works, I question my decision to paint; I worry that I’ll fail, that I’ll mislay my thoughts in translating them into words, while stealing myself to state: “I’m sure I can reinforce my idea through the act of painting.” Together with my earlier text-based works, the Uncertainty Series reflects a long-standing interest in the opacity and indeterminacy of inscribed language. There is, of course, a long tradition of art in language. I was once a practising journalist and I have perhaps naturally gravitated towards this field of practice. Partly text-based, Vastly More Complex (2002 – ) is an ongoing installation piece. This work presents a mock-scientific examination of an invented set of data. The viewer struggles to make sense of a mass of drawings, objects and notations. 1 Michael Corris, “Rethinking Writing: Anne Charnock and the Art of Language” in Certainty Suspended, Castlefield Gallery Publications. September 2008.
See Portfolio See Artist Newsletter Review by James Hutchinson, May 2006. |