Guest Lecture with Claire Barber

Barber is a senior lecturer in textiles at my university. She is also an artist, creating conceptual approaches to textiles.

Now, you may be wondering why I chose to speak about this guest lecture. Why textiles when I am a photographer? Well quite simply, my interest Barber's work stems from her use of gallery and exhibition spaces.

Barber often creates big exhibition pieces that fully take advantage of the space available to her. An example of this is her project 'The Last of the Dandelions', 1997 or 'A Day for Breaking Things' from the same year.

The first piece was an installation of apple pieces in which Barber had left them in her parent's attic after the exhibition had finished. She left the apples there as she went off to do other projects and residencies. A few years later she returned to the apples in the attic and found that the mice had bitten into the apple pieces. They had nibbled away until all that was left was this very fine piece of apple core and so it became a brand new exhibition.

What is really interesting about this exhibition in particular, is how it came from something completely coincidental and beyond Barber's control. She did not know when she left the apple pieces in her parent's attic that they would be nibbled at by mice until something brand new was born. But then it is her use of the new materials that makes it art and the way she interacts with the materiality of the apple cores.

I have thought about how I would potentially adapt the book I would like to make into an exhibition. I have decided that a book will be the outcome of my major project but I will also create a mock exhibition online. I have a very strong feeling that art belongs in galleries to be admired and to enrich culture. I have even started to think about the ways in which I can make my exhibition more accessible to people with disabilities, following my review of Dale Holmes' website, as my work will be part of the body positivity movement and I do not think anyone should be excluded from embracing themselves. Barber includes in her projects and exhibitions small things that are relevant to her, personal touches like ticket stubs. Perhaps I could attempt to engage multiple senses in my exhibition. I have already discussed the use of sound, perhaps I could incorporate touch too. Perhaps a mirror wall could also be used as a metaphor of reflecting the world. What would also be interesting would be to set up a booth in which people can go in and say something nice about their appearance. This could then be recorded and played throughout the exhibition, similar to affirmations. This is just me brainstorming ideas and it does seem as if I have gone off on a tangent but it is fascinating how they too have stemmed from mice nibbling on apples, inspired by the way another practitioner has engaged with her exhibition space.

Something else Barber said that has had an impact on me was just a small thought provoking anecdote that lasted maybe only thirty seconds, a minute at most, of the lecture. She told us that just the day before, that she had been looking through the portfolio of a first year undergraduate in textiles and Barber had commented on how she had found the subtle pale blue undertones of colour within her work beautiful, before inquiring as to how the student had achieved such a thing. It was then that Barber learned that the student's portfolio had just gotten wet, the pages had stuck together and created this colour that Barber was so fond of.

"And I think that's kind of really lovely. I think that often happens, you know, these things happen sort of unexpectedly."

It got me thinking about mistakes. We all make them and it is vital to the learning process. But all mistakes are not always bad. Sometimes, like in the anecdote, like how Barber left the apples in her parents attic for a long time, mistakes actually lead to us making new discoveries and can sometimes even help us create something beautiful. Mistakes are necessary to progression. So instead of me being worried over shooting portraits and maybe getting something wrong, I should embrace it as a learning curve because even if I do mess up, not every photo will be a waste and neither will the learning experience.

Blog word count: 756

References: Barber, C. (2022,11,18). Claire Barber: Creative Studio [presentation slides and class notes]. Art, Design and Architecture. https://brightspace.hud.ac.uk/d2l/le/content/220734/viewContent/1987752/View