Object to object
Creators: name: Ward, MJ
Publisher: name: University Of Tasmania
Year: 2023

description: This project explores the relationship between objects, such as the one I, as an object, have with a painting and that this painting, as an object, has on other objects. My work process is about establishing the connection between objects and investigating what happens as the result of this connection. For the purpose of this project I ask the viewer to read all items made as 'objects'. A primary aim of the project was to translate imagery derived from my paintings into a digital format that was suitable to be printed onto other surfaces. It soon became apparent that this would involve establishing collaborations to enable an art/design connection. The material outcomes of the project consist of a range of objects triggered by, based on and viewed with, my paintings. Thus this project ranges across the fields of art and design as an investigation of the change and movement of processes, objects and ideas that occur between these fields. The relationship between maker and object is underpinned by reference to the writings of Barbara Bolt, Martin Heidegger, and Maurice Merleau-Ponty, as well as curators such as Grace Cochrane and Brian Parkes. Many makers currently working in Australia collaborate, extending their practices into new directions. One of the driving forces of makers is material connection; this is also crucial to my practice. Dinosaur Designs, a group of contemporary makers, collaborate with others making ranges of things, including fabrics and rugs, inspired by their signature handmade resin jewellery and tableware. Similarly, I drew from my paintings, the handmade, to create surface designs to be used on design-based objects such as fabrics and papers, ottomans and lamps. Once I had the surface designs, I undertook collaborative projects with digital textile manufacturers, printers, fabricators and designer makers. Key to the process of translation of imagery from one object onto another is 'simultaneous design'. Simultaneous design is a term that has been used to refer to the work of Sonia Delaunay, in particular her method as she moved between different surfaces. It is a process of seeing groups of what could be disparate objects as a whole, and/or seeing several different aspects of an object at the same time. I use a process of simultaneous design as my work moves onto different objects. The process is then extended; once these objects are grouped together it becomes hard to separate them. Grouping of objects is important in my project as it creates object relations that help dissolve distinctions not just between the objects but between art and design. 'DesignArt', a phrase coined by Alex Coles, is a process of taking art that you would normally only look at and making it into art that you 'use'. I also refer to other artists who use these processes, such as Marc Newson, Sonia Delaunay and Takashi Murakami. They all use a process of simultaneous design, share an emphasis on handmade while embracing new technologies, and blur the lines between art, design and life. In this project I explore the relationship between simultaneous design and DesignArt through the creation and positioning of my work as objects across art and design.