Manual |'manyә(wә)l|

Manual |'manyә(wә)l| Noun: Instructions For Learning and Understanding a Subject Manual of the Artist's Aphorisms Based on Theory and Practice, Experience and Reflection. This manual is an investigation and a search for meaning within a gallery space. The essence of my practice as an artist is the research I do within the exhibition space prior to making or installing an artwork. By participating in the creation and the management of 1612 Gallery, I have been studying and reflecting on all aspects of that space as a gallery: researching its history, location and functionality and by observation I have seen how different artists respond to this gallery space. My research has included looking at the history of art galleries through catalogues and fieldwork, as well as studying the writings of art historians, curators and artists as they consider the gallery as a space for exhibiting art. The 1612 Gallery, Emily Carr University Graduate students studios and gallery located at 1612 West 3rd in Vancouver, British Columbia, functions as my case study and is also used as a comparative tool in my understanding of the nature of “the white cube” gallery space. My research question focuses on how the gallery and exhibition space influences the work on display and how, by placing an artwork within a certain space a specific meaning is created. My method was to place myself in the centre of the investigation, where I took on the roles of the carpenter, cleaner, facilitator, artist, curator and exhibition maker. My purpose was to better understand the role of the artist and the curator, complete with the obligations, and the tasks that comes with these roles, and to better understand how a space; with its white walls, its ideology, and its dialogue becomes an art gallery. My thesis artwork will be a final site-specific sculpture based on these reflections.