Extended Research
After my initial visits to the Drawing Room in Unit 1, I felt the extended research was an exciting chance to partake in informative research and began thinking about all the different ways I might go about it. Some of the many directions I travelled on my research journey included: researching rubbings at the British museum; I thought about archeology collections and archives that housed rubbings; I thought about how my original degree in classics might be helpful in approaching material collections such as ancient mosaics or other historically important sites; I considered historic sites and features such as the steps of the Bodleian library at oxford university; I attempted to research about the possibility of accessing abandoned buildings and even looked into haunted spaces in London that might have some significance. All these ideas are exciting and perhaps are worth further consideration.
Allegra Pesenti Interview
My first breakthrough with an external partner was to contact Allegra Pesenti, who agreed to a written interview. I managed to get her email after contacting the Hammer Museum, where she used to work. Pesenti was the curator of the exhibition and subsequent publication “Apparitions: Frottages and Rubbings from 1860 to Now, Feb 7–May 31, 2015”. This text was important for my research, and I had many questions since reading it. The interview went as follows:
Tom Harper:
In a time when touch is so transgressive, how relevant is bringing back a sense of touch and connection in the world through art?
Allegra Pesenti:
I think a sense of touch and connection are forever vital to art, and of course it is all the more relevant at the heels of the pandemic in which we have been physically distanced from both human and material ‘closeness’.
Tom Harper:
I’m interested in how you came to select the artists that you did and the works that you showed. Perhaps you could talk a little bit more about what drew you to these artists and works?
Allegra Pesenti:
Artists immersed in the practice of rubbing and related work appeared in my path as soon as I started thinking about the subject both historically and in the present. A revelatory moment was Jennifer Bornstein’s exhibition at Gavin Brown’s in New York city, in which she rubbed the entire surface of the floors of the gallery and placed the sheets of paper on the walls, creating a monumental reversal of space and sense of disorientation. I was also struck by how the marks of the floors emphasized the site’s age and history, as if she were retrieving its ghosts from its inner linings. Bornstein’s rubbing practice evolved from abstraction to figuration and remained a main point of inspiration throughout my research on the subject.
Tom Harper:
You write about traces in the exhibition and how recording objects, surfaces or places can reveal and assume a new presence as rubbings. I am very interested in rubbing to reveal void spaces such as cracks, scores or the tiniest marks of wear and tear. Perhaps you could tell me more about frottage’s power to transcend its subject matter and create new meanings?
Allegra Pesenti:
There is an element of wonder and unexpectedness in rubbings which is what made the practice so appealing to Surrealist artists. Max Ernst found his deepest fantasies in the grains of the wood of his floorboards. A comb easily morphed into an animal’s body. I think that ability to ’transfigure’ objects and to see beyond their common forms and uses is at the core of this form of artistic expression.
Tom Harper:
Is there any way that you think rubbing and frottage has changed and developed as a contemporary art practice since the exhibition?
Allegra Pesenti:
Artists continue to experiment with rubbing and frottage and the practice continues to stretch into new territories - whether sensory, physical, or performative. The Jazz musician and composer Jason Moran traces the taps of his keyboard onto paper and creates some of the most poignant and deeply moving ‘recordings’ of his sounds and improvisations.
Tom Harper:
And what is it about rubbing that draws artists time and time again to use this most basic and ancient of drawing methods; What is it about this process that keeps it relevant in contemporary art and in particular drawing?
Allegra Pesenti:
Perhaps the very fact that it is so basic and accessible, yet also deeply layered and complex in its possibilities.
Tom Harper: Since Apparitions, frottage and rubbings are being used as the mainstay of artists like Ingrid Calame and strongly featuring in the work of high-profile artists such as Kiki Smith and Catherine Anyango Grünewald. Have any artists stood out for you since the exhibition that you think are important and that you would have included in the exhibition if it had been put on today?
Allegra Pesenti:
As I mention above, Jason Moran for sure. I love the work of Kiki Smith and would certainly include her if I were to do a take two of this exhibition. There are so many artists I would have loved to include but couldn’t for reasons of space and accessibility…so I’ll save that list for the next iteration!
Raquel Serrano Interview
Raquel Serrano is a fine art doctorate student at the university of seville. She was awarded a fellowship in print at Camberwell College of Art in the spring term of 2022. She uses rubbings and frottage and plans to continue to do so as part of her research. I asked her if she was willing to do a short, informal interview and she most gratifyingly agreed.
Here is what transpired:
Tom Harper:
-
What is it about frottage that excites you and how did you come to see this as an important part of your practice?
Raquel Serrano:
I became interested in frottage from my PhD supervisor María del Mar Bernal who wrote a great article on the subject. (https://tecnicasdegrabado.es/2020/el-frottage-todo-esta-en-el-roce). I am interested in experimentation with the printed image and how printing can turn into drawing. The images produced by say rubbings replaces the reality of what was there. I want to question what the reality of an image is. I like how rubbings can look like quite abstract images but are in fact highly representational. So, the image is the surface, but the surface is moved from its original place. I’m playing with our concept of an image and the concept of perception.
Tom Harper:
-
What new materials are you using to make your rubbings and why?
Raquel Serrano:
I have been working with canvas recently and I have found it can be very pragmatic in a lot of situations, especially when you are outside and rubbing on the ground. Before I was working with large sheets of paper, using a sponge and graphite powder to apply the rubbing. I have found that, unlike paper, fabrics like canvas are both more durable, and much more pragmatic when you are outside. They will not ruin if they get wet and they can even be machine washed if you apply fixating beforehand. They do not weigh much so they can easily be transported, and it allows you to work in large formats since it is difficult to find paper rolls of that magnitude. I also found that you can add eyelets and can easily be stretched out in a space like a painting. This makes them very pragmatic for very large rubbings in a way that paper just doesn’t easily allow for, especially when thinking about hanging them in a space. They also have a more haptic element to them; in that they can become quite sculptural. You can fold, crumple and manipulate them in many ways.
Raquel, Serrano, Transfer the surface, Frottage graphite on canvas, 100 x 375 cm 2022
Tom Harper:
-
What artists have you researched and what is it about their work that you find fascinating?
Raquel Serrano:
I am interested in the works of Juan Carlos Bracho who has rubbed the walls of a gallery space with graphite. By drawing directly onto the walls in this way, he creates beautiful ephemeral drawings, that get erased from the space after the exhibition ends. I am interested in the imprintment of the land itself and have appreciation for the work of Andrea Gregson, who takes large scale rubbings of rock formations. All these artists reflect on the space itself, moving the surfaces, manipulating them, folding them and turning the images of reality into three-dimensional elements, which invite the viewer to inhabit the image
This interview was great for considering my methods and new choices of materials and the artists who use them. I experimented with using canvas for rubbings as I may wish to use it in the future if I go outside or for works that need to be hardier and need to be on the floor or manipulated in some way. (see process and critical reflection).
Taking rubbings at the Type Archive
After doing some research to see where I might find some historic printing machinery to further my research, I came across The Type Archive, which housed an assemblage of historic printing presses. I spoke with the curator, Sallie Morris, and to my delight I was given not only a tour of the archive but also allowed to take some rubbings of the machinery.
The archive has some truly amazing artifacts from the past and it was fascinating to delve deeper into the history of print. I settled on the Wharfdale-style machine called the “Defiance”, which was made in Yorkshire by inventor David Payne back in the 1860’s. This machine revolutionised the printing trade and it was an incredible honour and with great excitement that I undertook the task of producing a print of the press that had created perhaps millions of prints itself. The extra weight of historical importance of the machine was something I had never been able to engage with before with a space or object and it really added to the interest and significance of the work for me.
 |  |  |
|---|
Rubbing the Wharfdale not only helped me further develop my visual language but also formed a greater emotional connection with these archaic, increasingly rare artifacts. This feeling was only enhanced by the knowledge that the archive was losing its funding and would no longer be open to visitors. The very machine I was rubbing would soon be stored away somewhere indefinitely, behind closed doors. I came closer to understanding why these machines have emotional significance and importance. The arts and culture are under increasing threat and these prints could perhaps be a way of showing what we are losing as a society.
The experience of this enigmatic space and its relics, dripping with the history and the importance of Britain’s cultural and technological heritage makes me keen for further opportunities. There are other institutions that I could attempt to contact based on connections I have made with the curator there. I feel trying to approach collections, archives and institutions of this sort could be an important part of my practice in the future.
White Chapel Gallery
I have been interested in what it is about the studio and creative spaces that fascinate me and why they are worth commemorating through my interventions. I wished to contextualise my understanding of the wider debate surrounding the studio in contemporary art practice and so after doing some research I went to Whitechapel Gallery to gain further insight. I was most fortunate that it was having an exhibition that touched on this issue. The exhibition itself, A century of the artist’s studio 1920-2020 was very illuminating, concerning itself with the notion of the studio space, both as a public space to showcase the artists identity or as a private space to "take refuge, reflect, experiment and even cannibalise the studio itself." (see contexts to read more about how this important exhibition helped my practice).
TOM HARPER
COPELAND GALLERY EXHIBITION
In preparation for the exhibition in November, I investigated the space at Copeland Gallery as part of my research for the show, offering several potential artworks that I thought would really compliment the space. I chose the parquet floor rubbing, the ink casts and my shattered window and their printmaking progenies, as I felt these were my newest and most exciting works. I put in three, hoping to give the curators as many options as I could. I wanted to think about how to make the show work as well as possible for everyone, and if one piece worked better holistically in the room than another, then that would be ideal. I then came up with a with a plan to present my possible works in the space for the exhibition:
The curators decided that it would be my ink casts that would be chosen in show, and I had made plans for their display in anticipation of this:
Copeland Gallery Exhibition Proposal
Copeland Gallery Ink Cast Drawing Plan
My original idea for the show was to either have them on the ground or make a white plinth that would support them so that they could be viewed at around table height, this presentation acting rather as a palimpsest of their original function. I was unaware of which decision the curators would enact, so I persevered and began building a plinth support. I then decided it might be more prudent to make up the display and its supports from items at hand in the studio space instead. I therefore took apart my original casting platform and trimmed the MDF backing board by 5 cm on every side in order to let the casts extend away from the sides and overlap the table. This would have the dual benefit of both covering the less aesthetically pleasing side parts of the table as well as providing a pleasant silhouette for the floor.
Copeland Gallery Install Setup; Table and White Trestle Legs
I then reconfigured some leg trestles that were in the studio, making them look more presentable by removing some of their bottom supports and painting them with bright white paint. This was so that they might have a more professional curatorial feel.
The idea behind the presentation was that the casts would act as a record of a process that is in constant flux. The presentation, having a liminal and temporary appearance reflects the ephemeral nature of these traces of the past. They have archaeological feel, though wrapped within the pristine feel of a temporary museum display, they show a freshness to the casts, as if these relics had just been dug up and presented as important finds.
I was excited about what the curators would eventually choose and their plans for the space. I was really looking forward to working with them and learning about how works speak to each and the synergy that exists between one work and another. As always, these shows are a learning process that are critical important for my development as an artist; I relish them.
The Naming of the Artwork
In terms of naming the artwork, I decided to learn from the feedback I had gotten from the audience. I divided to go with a longer name that would be more informative about what my conceptual underpinnings stood for. I therefore called the show “Ink Cast of a Print Room Table Top (A Collaborative Drawing)”. I hoped this would help people to succinctly appreciate how I see drawing and printmaking as both being very important in the work.
THE EXHIBITION INSTALLATION
Copeland Gallery Private View
Exhibition Documentation
After helping to unload all the works from Copeland, I was ready to unwrap and consider where the work might be in the space. I set up the table and trestles and presented the work for the curator’s appraisal. Following a discussion about the work, we agreed that it would be at its strongest on the ground, leaning up against the wall.
It is important to be flexible and trust in the process and so after a little bit of trial and error I was able to get the works up as they intended. In this exhibition I felt less anxious and I learnt to trust the process and those who were curating my work. It felt like a more professional way of doing things, in which you don’t really know the curators. It turns into a more objective and ‘real-life’ professional working relationship. This trust did not go unrewarded, and I was very pleased with the results.
Copeland Video Documentation
Ink Cast Documentation
Copeland Video Closer View
Copeland Close Up; Video Close Up
Copeland; Various Views
The work was placed vertically against the wall, giving the presentation a monolithic feel, in which these structures imbibe certain archaeological pretensions. Putting them on the ground felt raw and earthy, recalling the materiality and humble origins from which they were brought into being. Their location was like the ‘mantelpiece’ of the room, and I was very grateful to have my works in such a great position in space. I felt that each work really spoke to each other, with Fergus’ embodied trace paintings and the theme of skin in space (my process could be said to be concerned with the skin of the world) working particularly well in relation to my own work. Evie’s print was also thematically very appropriate as it concerned this idea of found histories which also permeates my ink casts. The one reservation I had was that perhaps it was a bit low for people to comfortably admire, with a lot of people needing to stoop a little to see the work.
Collaboration
As in the last exhibition, I am profoundly grateful for the experience of working with my colleagues to make the show happen. Making sure everyone’s work got to the gallery and helping people where I could is all part of the experience of making successful shows.
Copeland; Various Views
Audience Responses
The audience response was interesting and varied. A lot of people were fascinated about what was behind the work, trying to see if there was some revealing secret. People touched the work, came in close to see the lines and generally tried to make sense of the puzzle. I think room one and the show in general was a real hit with the audience ad that just shows the power of a well-planned space, with cognizant artistic presentation behind it.
Exhibition Feedback: Dan Howard-Birt
I always enjoy hearing from Dan about the mechanics of exhibitions. As an opening, the curator discussed the experimental and open-ended nature of exhibitions, thinking that all exhibitions are in fact of this nature, even the most professional and exclusive. This was interesting and makes me think of shows as existing more organically, in a state of continual change from one to the next and open to a plethora of different interpretations. As a group we discussed the architectural space in the room that my work was housed, and it was remarked that the space in which the work was situated was similarly distressed as some of the work on display. Copeland is full of drill holes, accretions of damage over time, and this in itself sets the tone for thinking about surface and decay over time. Some of the works in question are about skin, the embedded history of place; things that have long histories. For me this is another opportunity to learn about how space colours the work. From the surfaces the work is touching, to the surrounding colours and lighting, the works take on new meaning when they are put on display. We also discussed the theme of the room which was to a large extent about touch in one form or another. The touch of skin, surfaces, feelings for place, balloons that almost touch but never do. Dan talked more about the nature of touch, how we all see in a haptic sense. We can read the feeling of something, without having to physically engage with it. I found this poignant in how people would approach my work. We also noted the room had a strong feeling something that is not necessarily intentional or guided, but more subjects that are right in front of you, in your everyday observations of life. Each part of the show had its different thematic elements, each giving rich and layered meaning. Dan noted that this was perhaps what the show was about, a show full of open-ended interpretations, rather than any definitive conclusion, perhaps a beginning rather than an ending, that has made us think more deeply about the world and ourselves.
© 2022 By Tom Harper