MICHELLE WOLODARSKY

MICHELLE WOLODARSKY

MA FINE ART

MY PRACTICE EXPLORES THE TENSION BETWEEN EARNEST EXPRESSION AND ARTIFICIALITY. I  AM INTERESTED IN HOW SINCERITY IS SUBJECT TO BECOMING CLICHÉD THROUGH THE LENS OF PERFORMATIVITY IN RELATION TO THE PROCESS OF ART-MAKING, INVESTIGATING THE STYLISATION OF EXPRESSION THROUGH GESTURE AND THE MOVING IMAGE.

MY PRACTICE EXPLORES THE TENSION BETWEEN EARNEST EXPRESSION AND ARTIFICIALITY. I  AM INTERESTED IN HOW SINCERITY IS SUBJECT TO BECOMING CLICHÉD THROUGH THE LENS OF PERFORMATIVITY IN RELATION TO THE PROCESS OF ART-MAKING, INVESTIGATING THE STYLISATION OF EXPRESSION THROUGH GESTURE AND THE MOVING IMAGE.

(RE)ARRANGEMENT, FEBRUARY 2020, PERFORMANCE, 00:05:30. HERE, THE WORK IS THE ACT OF ART-MAKING, ARTICULATED IN ITS PERFORMATIVE DIMENSION. THROUGH THE SYMBOL OF THE STAGE, THE

VERY NOTION OF PERFORMATIVITY IS EXPLORED IN THIS PIECE IN RELATION TO THE CREATIVE ACT. THE ARTIST, INTERPRETED BY ME, IS COSTUMED AS DIRECTOR. THE TABLEAU-LIKE SET IS EFFECTIVELY A

DECONSTRUCTED AND SIMPLIFIED UNDERSTANDING OF STAGE ENTERTAINMENT, WITH THE SECTION OF A RED CURTAIN AND THE BOB-FOSSE- INSPIRED CUT-OUTS PLAYING A MAIN ROLE. IN THE PERFORMANCE, I

ARRANGED AND REARRANGED THESE DIFFERENT ELEMENTS OVER THE SPACE OF APPROXIMATELY FIVE MINUTES, WITH EXAGGERATED FLARE. I ALSO INCORPORATED A MIRRORING OF THE CUT-OUTS CAMP

POSES, AS PICTURED ABOVE.

I HAVE AN IDEA-LEAD PRACTICE, MEANING THAT A PRIORITY IS THAT MY WORK IS

CONCEPTUALLY STRONG. HOWEVER, I AM OPPOSED TO THE OVER-INTELLECTUALISATION OF

THE ARTISTIC PROCESS AND SO UNDERSTAND THIS REFLEXIVE MIND-SET THROUGH

INTUITIVE PLAY AND EXPERIMENTATION, IN AN ATTEMPT TO KEEP A SENSE OF DYNAMISM

ALIVE IN MY WORK FROM START TO FINISH. THIS THE CORNERSTONE OF MY PRACTICE, AS, AT

ITS CORE, RUNS A CELEBRATORY ATTITUDE. REALISING THE VALUE OF THE CREATIVE ACT IN

ITSELF IS ONLY SOMETHING I HAVE ARRIVED AT RECENTLY, AS, THROUGHOUT MOST OF TIME

AT ART SCHOOL, I HAVE OFTEN BEEN WEIGHED DOWN BY MEANING AND ALSO BY THE

IMPOSSIBILITY OF CREATING SOMETHING MEANINGFUL. AS A RESULT OF MANY FAILED

ATTEMPTS AT ARTWORKS, IN MY FINAL YEAR CAME THE APPRECIATION FOR THE VERY

ENDEAVOUR THAT IT IS TO CREATE, IN SPITE OF ITS ULTIMATE FUTILITY, ALLOWING ME TO

FINALLY ACCEPT MY ARTISTIC ‘STAGE FRIGHT’ AS AN INTEGRAL PART OF MY PRACTICE.

IT IS DUE TO THIS THAT I AM NOW ABLE TO SAY THAT I PLAY WITH THE TYPOLOGY OF THE

STAGE AND OF ENTERTAINMENT IN MY WORK IS BECAUSE I HOLD SINCERE ADMIRATION

FOR THESE WORLDS. TO ME, THEY SYMBOLISE A DRAMATISATION OF CREATIVE

ACHIEVEMENT AND ARE TRANSPARENT IN THE SENSE THAT THEY RECOGNISE ART-MAKING

IN A PERFORMATIVE DIMENSION. INTERESTINGLY, I FOUND THIS TO NOT BE ENCOMPASSED

IN THE WAY THAT I WAS TAUGHT TO ART-MAKE, AS THE OPPOSITE HAS OFTEN BEEN

HERALDED AS IMPORTANT. IN ART SCHOOL, IT IS RATHER THE NOTION OF ‘SINCERITY’

WHICH IS SOLD TO THE STUDENT AS A MEASURE OF ARTISTIC VALUE. THE ISSUE I HAVE

FOUND WITH THIS IS THAT IT THEN BECOMES A SEARCH FOR THE HALLMARKS OF THIS

‘SINCERITY’— AN APPROACH WHICH ENDS UP BECOMING PRESCRIPTIVE OF CERTAIN

MODES OF EXPRESSION OVER OTHERS. THUS, UNDER THIS RULE, THE LOVE OF ARTIFICE

AND ILLUSIONISM WHICH IS CHAMPIONED BY THE WORLD OF ENTERTAINMENT AND POP

BECOMES LESS IMPORTANT THAN THE STRIVE TO BE TRUTHFUL. IT IS MY CONCERN TO

CRITIQUE THIS SPECIFIC ASSUMPTION AND, TO A CERTAIN EXTENT, EVEN TO DISPROVE IT.

THIS IS WHY I QUESTION THE VISUAL LANGUAGE WHICH HAS COME TO SIGNIFY

‘SINCERITY’ TO CELEBRATE THE SEEMINGLY OPPOSITE:  POP AND KITSCH. FOR

INSTANCE, THROUGH TAKING-APART THE VISUAL ELEMENTS WHICH MAKE UP THE

STAGE AND ON-SCREEN ENTERTAINMENT, I HAVE BEEN ABLE TO DECONSTRUCT

LINEAR NARRATIVE AND BRING ATTENTION TO THESE SYMBOLS INDIVIDUALLY,

STRIPPING THEM BACK TO MERE SIGNIFIERS OF MEANING RATHER THAN HOLD AN

EMOTIONAL DEPTH.  WITH A DIY AESTHETIC IN MY PROJECTS, I CARRY OUT

EXAGGERATION AND GIMMICK TO DEMONSTRATE THAT THE DE-ESTABLISHMENT OF

ILLUSIONISM IS NOT NECESSARILY  SYNONYMOUS WITH EARNESTNESS. THROUGH

THIS, AS WELL AS CELEBRATING OF THE ACT OF ART-MAKING, I AM ATTEMPTING TO

DISMANTLE A HIERARCHICAL UNDERSTANDING OF THE ‘FINE ART’ MOVING IMAGE

OR GESTURE IN RELATION TO THEIR ENTERTAINMENT-BASED ITERATIONS. MOST

IMPORTANTLY, HOWEVER, I AIM TO MAKE THE VIEWER SMILE, EVEN TO LAUGH.

I AM DIDO (STILL), NOVEMBER 2019, VIDEO, 00:04:00. I AM DIDO PLAYFULLY TREADS THE LINE BETWEEN

FRIVOLITY AND CANDOUR THROUGH USING THE CLASSIC TYPOLOGY VIDEO ART PAIRED WITH VIDEOGRAPHY

TECHNIQUES OF MUSIC VIDEOS OF THE 2000S. IN THE INTIMACY BETWEEN WITH THE PHOTO BOOTH CAMERA

AND THE ARTIST, THIS WORK TAKES AFTER EARLY PRACTITIONERS OF VIDEO, SUCH AS JOAN JOANS, WHILST

BEING AN ODE TO THE FEMALE POP STAR IN THE SLOW-MOTION TECHNIQUE AND LIP-SYNC TO DIDO’S WHITE

FLAG. THERE IS SOMETHING ENDEARINGLY SAD YET HUMOROUSLY SELF-AWARE IN THE SIMPLICITY

ARTICULATED IN THE UN-COSTUMED APPEARANCE OF WORK, COUNTERBALANCED WITH THE A TIGHTNESS IN

EDITING.. LINK.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRoK-f6uUIs

SPECIAL THANKS TO JOHN BARRY (STILL), MAY 2020, VIDEO, 00:05:55. SPECIAL THANKS TO JOHN BARRY WAS BORN OUT OF A FAILED PERFORMANCE. IN THE ORIGINAL

WORK, I HAD CREATED AND MEMORISED AN ABSTRACTED SCRIPT WHICH AIMED TO ARTFULLY BREAK THE FOURTH WALL WHILST MAINTAINING A CANDID,

CONVERSATIONAL TONE. EVEN THOUGH HE FOURTH WALL DID BREAK, IT WAS ONLY DUE TO THE FACT THAT IT WAS AN EXCRUCIATINGLY AWKWARD WATCH.

UNFORTUNATELY, THE HUMOROUS INCONGRUITY OF A CASUAL ENACTMENT OF A SCRIPT COMPOSED OF ABSTRACTED IMAGERY WAS NOT COMMUNICATED TO THE

AUDIENCE, PARTIALLY BECAUSE OF THE ROOM’S POOR ACOUSTICS BUT MOSTLY DUE TO ME NOT BEING A TALENTED ACTOR. THE SAVING GRACE OF THIS WORK, WAS THE

FACT THAT THE CAMERA HAD BEEN RECORDING THE MOMENTS BEFORE THE PERFORMANCE HAD EVEN BEGUN, WHICH WERE, INADVERTENTLY, MORE INTERESTING. IT

WAS FUNNY SEEING HOW THE PERFORMATIVE ACT HAD BEGUN BEFORE THE PERFORMANCE HAD COMMENCED. WITH THE FOOTAGE AROUND THE ‘MAIN EVENT’, I WAS

ABLE TO HAVE GREATER CONTROL OVER THE WAY IN WHICH THE TENSION BETWEEN EXPECTATION AND REALITY WAS EXPLORED. THE TITLE IS A HOMAGE TO ACCEPTANCE

SPEECHES AND HIGHLIGHTS THE END OF THE VIDEO WERE I USE A SECTION OF JOHN BARRY’S ‘YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE’. LINK.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5HmKynYgFA

SCREEN TESTING (STILL), MAY 2020, VIDEO, 00:07:46. SCREEN TESTING WAS ORIGINALLY INTENDED AS JUST THAT— A SIMPLE TEST. HOWEVER, UPON CLOSER

EXAMINATION OF THE FOOTAGE, I NOTICED THAT THERE WAS A HUMOROUS, CANDID QUALITY THAT WAS WORTH EXPLORING INDIVIDUALLY AND WHICH WOULD BE LOST

WERE I TO FOLLOW A SCRIPTED FORMAT. THEREFORE, IN THIS WAY, SCREEN TESTING IS REPRESENTATIVE OF MY WIDER PRACTICE, AS IT IS ABOUT THE PLAY WITH

DEFRAUDED EXPECTATIONS. THE WORK IS DIVIDED INTO TWO ‘CHAPTERS’. THE FIRST IS ABOUT EXPLORING PACING AS WELL AS CREATING UNEXPECTED VISUAL

RHYTHMS. UPON COMPLETION OF THIS SECTION, I REALISED THAT A CONTEXT FOR THIS WORK CLEARLY EXISTED IN WARHOL’S SCREEN TEST SERIES. ALTHOUGH MY

WORK IS NOT ABOUT FAME, IT CAN ALSO BE READ AS SITTING SOMEWHERE BETWEEN PARODY AND PASTICHE. THE SECOND ‘CHAPTER’ WAS BASED ON RESEARCH FOOTAGE

WHERE I WAS CONFIGURING THE EXPRESSION OF THE EXCHANGE BETWEEN ROMANTICISM AND ROMANTICISM THROUGH GESTURE. I WAS EXAMINING HOW I COULD

COME UP WITH A TAP DANCE TO REPRESENT THE IAMBIC PENTAMETER, AND, IN FACT, THIS WAS ORIGINALLY THE TITLE FOR THIS PIECE. LINK.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPbOFJHlcPk&t=3s

POSTER SERIES, MARCH 2020, DIGITALISED SCREEN PRINTS. THESE ARE THREE SELECTED PRINTS FROM THE POSTER SERIES. MUCH LIKE THE CUT-OUTS, THESE ARE

ALSO BASED IN BOB FOSSE CHOREOGRAPHIES. THIS SERIES IS PART OF AN ONGOING EXPLORATION INTO THE STYLISATION OF GESTURE. ALTHOUGH I OFTEN TURN

TO PERFORMANCE, DRAWING AND PAPER-BASED WORKING IS AN INTERNAL PART OF MY PRACTICE TOO. THIS WAS THE LAST WORK I COMPLETED AT UNIVERSITY

BEFORE IT WAS CLOSED—I HAD ORIGINALLY PLANNED FOR THEM TO BE PART OF MY DEGREE SHOW WORK.

IN MAY OF THIS YEAR I COMPLETED MY STUDIES IN MA FINE ART AT THE

EDINBURGH COLLEGE OF ART. I WAS BORN IN 1996 AND GREW UP IN

MADRID, SPAIN, BUT HAVE BEEN BASED IN THE UK SINCE 2014, WHEN I FIRST

MOVED HERE TO DO A FOUNDATION DIPLOMA. NOT ONLY I AM PROUD OF

COMPLETING THIS HIGHLY DEMANDING DEGREE IN SPITE OF THE

CURRENT CIRCUMSTANCES, BUT I AM ALSO PROUD OF THE PROJECTS I

HAVE INDEPENDENTLY PRODUCED THROUGHOUT MY TIME AT UNIVERSITY.

AMONGST THESE, IS A SERIES OF ALTERNATIVE EXHIBITION PLATFORMS IN

THE FORM OF EVENING PARTY EVENTS. THESE INCLUDED A SERIES OF

CREATIVE ACTIVITIES AND A SHOWCASE OF PERFORMANCES WHICH WAS

HOSTED BY MYSELF. AT THE HEART OF THESE EVENTS WAS A DESIRE TO

HAVE FUN, THESE PROJECTS HEAVILY BORROWING FROM THE CABARET

FORMAT. IT IS IMPORTANT TO MENTION THAT THESE PROJECTS HAVE ALSO

BEEN FULLY COLLABORATIVE AND HAVE BEEN CO-HOSTED BY ANOTHER

ARTIST, IN TRAVESTY, 2017, THE COLLABORATING ARTIST WAS SAMUEL

FROGGART AND IN CREEP!, 2018, AND CREEP: THE WORM RETURN, 2019,

THE COLLABORATOR WAS ELENOR BEALE. THIS HAS BEEN KEY IN MY

FORMING OF A VALUE SYSTEM WHICH PRIORITISES COMMUNITY-BUILDING

FOR CREATIVE FLOURISHING. I AM ALSO HAPPY TO SAY THAT I HAVE

SUCCESSFULLY BEEN ABLE TO TAKE ON OTHER FORMS RESPONSIBILITY

SUCH AS BEING THE ECA CONVENER FROM 2017-2018 AND JUGGLING A PART-

TIME JOB THROUGHOUT THE MAJORITY OF MY TIME AT UNIVERSITY.

SCREEN TESTING (STILL), MAY 2020, VIDEO, 00:07:46. CONTACTWWW.MICHELLEWOLODARSKY.COM

MICHELLE@WOLODARSKY.NET

@MICHELLEWOLODARKY

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