Eric Murphy

eric@apollocohort.org.uk

 

Artist Statement

To mark a page with a line or a smudge, is to draw. If it is done in such a way that the artist captures the essence of the subject, then that drawing is quite special. To capture that fleeting moment as it is perceived is for me the aim of drawing as an art in its own right. What I mean by this can be seen in Japanese calligraphy where using a brush & ink the artist can vary the quality of the drawn line by subtle changes of pressure, speed, and the angle of the brush. Such a line will indicate the weight, motion or emotion in the meaning of such a line. Drawing is about the grace of a single line or curve and the interpretation that its execution evokes in the observer.

It is of course debateable as to how much of what we see is formed in the mind, created within our brain by its constant search for hidden structure, form and pattern in what we perceive. This metonymy is possibly part of an automatic defence mechanism, (important to our very survival millions of years ago,) gained during our evolution. The viewers automatic filling in of the gaps in what we perceive, allows the viewer to infer the whole form from just one small component, and is probably nothing more than a survival technique or instinct, but in our world today it enriches our experience of art and is an important part of what makes us human. The observer of such drawings should be reminded of the concluding words in Paul Klee’s book “ The Thinking Eye” where he writes:

We must be clear about the aim of drawing. Are we merely noting something to remember it, or are we trying to reveal what is not visible? Once we know and can feel this distinction we have grasped the point of artistic creativity.(P.Klee1874-1940)

Drawing today is about seizing that moment; it is about directness and immediacy. (Jackson Pollock called his action paintings, drawings to emphasise their directness.) This is an important part of my work now, and because of this, I am finding that I have turned to photography and film making. I am a little uneasy about using a camera as a sketch book, but it is a valuable tool. One must however avoid directly copying photographs. It is not just that the camera is monocular, but more about the artist subconsciously not filling in the gaps, because it is accepted that the camera doesn’t lie.

The films that I have made over the last four to five months, explore and record the interface between drawing and performance art. Traditionally artists cast off rules, and jealously guard their independence, but one cannot have any form of performance without rules of some kind. Rules may be invariable, or loose, the later allows improvisation and spontaneity the former does not. All social interaction is guided by rules, a network of obligations and expectations. However artists do and should explore the irrational, because rational judgements repeat themselves; and irrational judgements when examined closely tend to lead to new experiences. We are, all of us confronted by paradoxes and choices, and it is these choices, and the way that we respond to them, that shape our art and define us as artists.