MAR009 Masters Project (York St John University) Can a ritual of `reflection in action` and engaging with nature through walking, gathering texture and clay interaction induce a sense of well- being?

MAR009 Masters Project (York St John University)

Can a ritual of `reflection in action` and engaging with nature through walking, gathering texture and clay interaction induce a sense of well- being?

Introduction

My practice is informed by rituals of reflection mirroring the fragments of interaction with the environment, grounded in walking in nature and gathering textures in clay.  Donald Schon (1983) wrote `our knowing is ordinarily tacit, implicit in our patterns of action and in our feet [...] our knowing is in our action` [...] `through reflection [...] (the practitioner), can make new sense of the situations of uncertainty`. (p. 61) Reflective action became part of my working practice methodology. The notion of movement, action and a conscious reflection laid the path to working with clay and exploring its materiality and relationship to water in my earlier work. The new aspect of interaction and engaging with nature was to fulfil a need to ground my artistic practice in relationship to the earth, which lead to the ritual of walking and recording the environment through clay textures, graphite and photographic records.

Our connection to the nature of creativity, exploration of our environment and the constant reflection in action that takes place as we move through this process is what drives my artistic practice, through making art exhibits that are interactive and explore phenomenology of space, presence and actions. The interaction is an element of change and chance giving the viewer a visceral and visual landscape to experience. Using the clay as a bridge, a connector to what Clare Lindley (2017) describes as a primitive inner primal experience full of haptic memory to our home planet Earth `our collective human memory`.

With the understanding, that the clay holds a deeper meaning for the human connection to the self, my practice has taken a qualitative aspect to its research methodology, focused on harnessing the connective process of clay and water. I wanted the materials to show their particularities in a natural context to assess the experiences of clay and water and their interaction and reaction in working with clay balls (spheres). The spherical shape is important to my practice as it is the most perfect of shapes and has a cosmic influence as sacred geometrical structures that resonate throughout my work reflecting the desire for a wholeness of connection, universality and the found similarity in structures from the art of prehistory. Lucy Lippard in her study of contemporary art and the art of prehistory attempts to, `recall the function of art by looking back to times and places where art was inseparable from life` (1994 p. 4).  Lippard states `art has social significance and a social function` (ibid p. 5), to communicate and offer exchange for direct social change.

During the first year of the MA my work developed as interactive clay experiences and exhibits. They were the beginnings of what I now believe is a Clay Therapy Artistic practice which I hope will develop into a  working relationship with health care providers and the  NHS`s  (July 2017) new plans  to prescribe working with the art as a way to aid well-being and mindfulness to prevent the decline in mental health of patients. I began my outreach project with Kate Adams, Staff Nurse at St Michaels Hospice; she invited me to work with MND patients in Harrogate at St Michaels Hospice as part of the NeuWS Group.  We were at the beginning stages of an art residency as the country locked down.  The group who arrived at the clay table were a mixture of MND patients, family members and the nursing staff. The creative space, materials and honey pot as a focus got us all building with clay coils. The effect of chatting and making gave me a history of past occupations, why they were there and how much they were enjoying touching and making with clay. I hope to pick up where we left off as soon as it is possible in the current post lockdown safety guidelines.

Figure 1-5

The Bridge to being human

With the view that clay has the capacity to aid well being and bring a creative connection to those participating in art activity, I see clay as a very useful method and vehicle for this.  The use of clay is like a bridge, a connection to the earth.  Artist Lilibeth Cuenca Rasmussen said `being human [...] in times of complexity, we are looking for the basic things that ground us, earth or clay` (2014).                                                                                                  

Figure 6a, 6b & 6c.

 My clay connection resides in touch, the tacit knowledge given to my fingertips and feet as I touch the clay, the practice that drives my work is linked by the feet and hands. Our sensitivity of touch in these areas is heightened by the nerve endings and correspondence to the rest of the body.  As reflections and references of the bodily system, feet and hands are corridors of sensation for the nerves. Clayground Collective 2018 p. 38 says, `our hands and skin provide the interface between interior and exterior worlds. The basic building blocks of perception are the neurons`.  The nerve endings of the feet are vital to our perception, often under used, encased in socks and shoes.

Figure 7, 8a & 8b

Anthropologist Tim Ingold (2011 p. 45) wrote of a world perceived through the feet `literally [a more] grounded approach to perception should help to restore touch to its proper place in the balance of the senses. For it is [...] through the feet, in contact with the ground, that we are most fundamentally and continually `in touch` with our surroundings. ` This reasoning is furthered by Christopher Tilley (1994 p. 29) in his description of walking which is `simultaneously an art of consciousness, habit and practice, [...] walking is an [...] outcome of a spatial practice, a mode of existence in the world. The analogy can be taken further in the consideration of paths`.   Paths and pathways are the connection between one space and

another.

Paths

To me paths and pathways form action and movement, taking the shortest route or the long way round on my walks I have documented interactions and progress of my locality culminating in stop animation films and ceramic stepping stones. The stepping stones are a result of throwing large clay balls at the important spaces I encountered along the pathway. The ceramic response seen in Fig.10 &11 are highlighted by the addition of copper oxide with a small addition of clear glaze which brings out the green colour, mirroring the hues of moss coverage over time.  Fate is suspended and given over to chance in the triangular piece Fig.10 which encountered a ceramic shard in the path and became the focal point of this stone. In the clay dust images Fig.9 it can be seen as the triangular dark area where the clay was touched by the shard not the path. The shard became an arrow, raising my awareness and pointing a way forward for the work.

Figure 9-11

The creative signatures of a past ancestral presence in the form of a pathway or track `are sedimented traces of activity and [...] provide ways to be followed ` (ibid Tilley). The path organises the social patterns and activity of the pedestrian as they move through the landscape gaining ground and losing ground in differing measures whilst assailed by the `tactile world of impressions, signs, sights, smells and physical sensations.`(ibid Tilley p. 31)

Our connection to the ancient ancestral realms of consciousness are found in retracing steps seen clearly in the geoglyph Nasca Lines in Peru. Scientist believe that the lines were made by the Nacua people around A.D.1-700. The theory is that native people walk the family glyphs, the ancestral sign, to bring rain to the region and to bless the ancestors and their animal spirits which they weave into their textiles, cloth and heritage re connecting them to their ancestors. The spiritual journey is a ritual, remembering and a time for reflection.

Figures 12-14

Walking in modern times has taken on a similar aspect of ancestral narrative. Places we have known in childhood become familiar stomping grounds full of memory, feelings can be evoked from a time long past but the essence is in the present. Time is transcended by presence when the connections of the human enter a state of recognition and peace; a sense of belonging and coming home.

Psychogeoraphist Aleksander Janicijevic (2015) develops this sense of belonging by linking his Yugoslavian family history and childhood understanding of place to his present locations. His close family including his wife and child are present in the familiarity he gives their environmental and local history, `this is where my wife stood when she was pregnant with our son now he is five` (p. 52). Importance is personalized and objectified through externalizing the shifting space described by geometric shapes and photography.

Sacred Geometry

Our unconscious mind works to access our higher self by recognizing and linking up the shapes & structures of familiar places. Maps in the geometry of the triangle, spiral, square and circle, which laying the ground for a gate way to the higher vibrations of insight, seen here in Janicijevic`s observations of the spirals in buildings and linking it to the intersecting circles that look familiarly like the structure of the Cabbala (Omraam 1990 p. 52). Going backwards to go forwards is a familiar aspect of my artistic practice, seen in Fig.15a-d the over lay to the landscape is the Cabbala connecting the wires, paths and viewpoints.  The methodology and learning were to follow the heart and remain fluid in the motion of moving through space and urban settings. Spiritual practice as repetition and ritual play an important role in my art work, as, as does the movements of urban living. Figure 15a, b, c, & d.

Figure 16a, b & c. 

Linking spirals

Janicijevic rediscovers lost or neglected urban symbols in his book `Urbis -Language of the urban fabric`. His work of finding the golden mean, squaring the urban reality connects geometrically and symbolically diagrams and methods of constructing shapes from the inner and outer aspects of building spaces and our concept of them. Here it is seen in relation to the cone. The cone itself is built of the rotational addition of matter in a spiral formation.

Figure 17-19

The pine cone has historically served as a symbolic representation of Enlightenment and can be seen in artifacts from ancient culture. It represents the Pineal Gland the Third Eye. It has also been the building shapes of many clay abodes, huts and constructions throughout the world. The spiral creates movement and points of axis to measure the movement from the starting point, the beginning.

The Beginning

The beginning is a point at which new thinking and experience can form. It is likened to Zen thinking which opens up space for new beginnings, a freeing of the mind so that new life and experience can grow. This philosophy is seen in ZERO or Group O an artistic group, founded between 1957-66, which offered a minimalist approach to artistic practice.  

Otto Piene one of its founders described it as `a zone of silence and of pure possibilities for a new beginning`, (Artspace 2014) a post war avant-guard movement to create art purely about materiality and existence. It was a reaction to the new world - post war. It mirrors the current covid world where the need for a new beginning is pressing but full of silence, blank space and fear of contact.

The stop animation films, `Journeying, `Separation`, and `Silent Steps out of lockdown`, express new beginnings in unlocking my studio work and starting again. They incorporate following lines to describe movement and internal aspects of the human experience and behavior. We look up to see where we are going but must look down to judge if it is safe to put one foot in front of the other. The thinking becomes subconscious and movement can be intuitive or stumbling. In walking there is a reaction, reflection and action. Reflection in action is the prime objective so we don’t fall over, or go the wrong way.

Will Self (2007), Psycho geographer said, `I`m conscious that [...] I will not return from the walk to New York the same man` p. 20. This highlights the aspect of reaction to the action of walking, looking and experiencing. Self talks through the aspects of psyche and place which enhance to combine elements of banter about the reality of walking from London to New York. His use of description inspires a new way of looking at the urban environment and how we move through it, what our own involvement is when we are walking in it. I have taken a similar approach when I moved to York and found the joy of getting lost only to find myself again helped me find new pathways. `I relish this terra incognita, […] newfound land` (ibid p. 47).

Lockdown

This `terra incognita`, new found land has been thrust upon us as of March 2020, with Lockdown. During the lockdown and ultimately because of it the possibility of moving outside of our close locality was prohibited for an extended period of time.  My working method evolved to reflect my own back yard and the alleyway where we took our daily exercise. Quality of textures were recorded by clay and then enhanced with glazing to show a tentative unlocking of the human psychology attached to coming out and unlocking from confinement. It took a leap of faith to keep going out.  The tentative steps I have recorded through the clay texture impressions and moving mixed media installation are fragmented and strained. They show a tattered mind and hovers over what looks like old bones.

Figure 20-23

 The floor installations involved showing where the feet and arrows had been, likened to chevrons for mapping landscapes as they shift towards the back gate. Cracks appeared in the ceramics just as the cracks appeared in the covid social distancing. It is not a natural state for human interaction and caused distresses seen in `Mending the Cracks` Fig. 24 and 25. This ceramic piece underwent a transformation however to reflect the ancient Japanese art of Kintsugi where mending the cracks and embracing the flaws creates a stronger more unique resilience which is the ultimate goal, to survive covid and build resilience. The films and exhibition `Silent steps out of lockdown` show a ritual of inner conversation and outward impressions as I moved towards a release from the constraints. It was here my experience oscillated back and forth with paper and graphite rubbings to large slabs of thrown clay and mixed media cones.

Figure 24-29

Initially, cones were key to the spiral aspect of movement in my methodology and working practice. They seem to be pivotal to the circle transforming into a spiral when walking, like a roundabout  to move in a curved line, as well as holding ancient references and ways of viewing the world through conical vision.  After making the cones using clay, paper, sticks and flowers the shapes took on aspects of my inner life and represent the heart that had been torn in two, revealing the distress I was experiencing. The triangular chevrons pull away from the pain into a fluid silhouette outline of the figure. The work held death and life in a chaotic dance until it moved towards the back gate.

Fig. 30

Beyond the gate I have my thoughts under control; this emotive response is reflected in the ceramic stones which hold a poised intimacy of bare footed presence and the surrounding environment from where they were imprinted. These are designed and plotted spaces giving the stepping stones grounding towards everything being ok outside of my yard and back in the unlocked environment.

The stepping stones represent my public face, the outward presentation and mind set, whilst still holding the bare foot impressions of my inner feelings of exposure.    

 Figure 31-34

Interaction

The important aspect of the  `Silent Steps` (23rd August 2020) exhibition work is that it keeps moving through constraints of place, landscape and the mind, linking up with others and opening an avenue for social interaction. Linking up with others was incorporated in a clay ball throwing workshop offing a sense of release for the pedestrian participant attending the SmArt team Community Art Gallery and Alley Art workshops.

Figure 35a-h & 36

The concept of throwing clay balls came from an earlier workshop I ran at The Creative Studio York 2019 F and an exhibition at York St John`s University 2019 where I forwarded my research into clay as an aid to well-being with `Feet of Clay` and `Feet in Clay` interactive exhibits Fig. 41 & 42.

Figure 41-44

Part of my practice focuses on the participant’s reactions and interactions with throwing clay balls and having their feet encased in clay. `Feet into Clay` was designed as a form of grounding  therapy and `Feet of Clay`, presented as  documenting a social process with participants in a socially experimental way using  clay interaction to  enhance a sence of well-being and relese. The physical outcomes were fists,  similar to Peonone`s  work at the YSP 2018 and the rolling of clay balls for inner peace, a reflection of  Korean artist Kimsoojar`s practice `Archive of Mind,` 2020 which deals with mindfulness, clay and the contaninment of water.  The fragility of the clay allows transformation of energy via water because of waters versatility and unique qualities. One of which is shown through Dr Emoto`s (2004) research claiming human consciousness can affect the molecular structure of water.  Thought with intention and reaction can change the structure of the molecules of each drop of water. 

  Figure 45

The interactive clay research was due to be presented at York Open Studio`s 2020 but was postponed until the following year due to the covid pandemic, so the balls of clay became a delivery of a ` Clay Therapy Box`,  following safety guidelines of quarantining the contents. Twelve boxes with instructions, tea balls, candle, incense and a wooden tool were sent out. The images below form part of the experience documented by the recipients of the clay box research project. It`s intention was to bring a time for relaxation and rejuvenation, to focus on breathing and connect with the clay, to aid well-being in a time of complexity.

Figure 46-50

The feedback forms had TOM`s Therapy Outcome Measures (Enderby & John 2015 see appendix 1) documenting the time with the clay, all participants had a positive interaction and felt happier after working with the medium.  Moving forward to dissemination, the boxed clay will translate into an on-line zoom workshop for those still isolating or shielding, offering a connection to clay that may help soothe the mind through tacit sensory experience of touch. We all need a boost in activity that aids our well-being, described by Tilley as ` to overcome an initial hostile and alienating encounter with a new place` (Ibid p. 28).  The new world post covid is different and we all need readjusting time. Our fragile nature has been exposed by the pandemic and over coming this takes resilience and versatility.   

Conclusion

Clay is fragile, versatile and has `an innate tendency to evolve` says Lyall Watson, `Clay has plans` (1983 p. 55). This sums up H.van Olphen`s (1977) research documenting clays multiple functions in the archeological, anthropological and other aspects of life formations. Watson`s interest was in the extraordinary aspects of clay`s biological nature of peptide formation, `it begins to look as though the very first organism in our life system was earth itself, in whose body developed a virus, […] drawn from ingredients in the environment […]. The whole concept of Mother Earth shifts […] to a realization that every single one of us has feet of clay, and that we live on a parent, not a planet` (ibid Watson p. 58-9).

The idea that we are the Earths creation linked my work, with clay as my medium, to the ritual use of clay, water and spiral movements. Documenting the actions and personal encounters of the participant’s when confronting the clay as an interactive exhibit, highlights the connective qualities of clay and water to a deep human memory of our earthly home.

Religious studies scholar Catherine Bell (1992 p. 141) states, `Whether ritual empowers or disempowers one […] it suggests the ultimate coherence of a cosmos […] is experienced as a chain of states […] that places one securely in a field of action and in alignment with the ultimate goals of all action`.  As human beings we are bound by the `action-present` (Schon 1983 p. 61), when thinking on our feet it highlights the necessity to keep focused and be prepared to reflect and act almost instantaneously. The theory of ritual in action and reflection using clay as the bridge for the tacit sensory receptors of the feet and hands is bound by action and reaction. Placed in social interaction, we can see the positive effects on the individual in terms of their willingness to engage with the clay and their curiosity for the end result.  

 In conclusion, `walking` has given my artistic practice a fresh approach. Walking is a key metaphor that links the stepping stones to actions, placing stones on top of one another likens them to cairns, a signal that the right path has been found. The `Stepping Stone` piles below (Fig. 51-53) are the final works from this project and represent the sculptural evolution of my practice. They indicate the beginnings of new paths for myself as a ceramicist and hold a deeper meaning in their placement and function, extending my practice beyond the materials and processes I have considered so far into other avenues of artistic exploration.

Figure.51-53

(3,615 words) Discl

Appendix 1

A selection of the Feedback Forms from the Clay Therapy Boxes

Appendix 2

Stop Motion Films

1. Journeying,  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szytjKqfDeM https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=https%3a%2f%2fwww.youtube.com%2fwatch%3fv%3dszytjKqfDeM&refig=8cb939e8e7304867966a9a9601672338&pc=U531&ru=%2fsearch%3fq%3dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.youtube.com%252Fwatch%253Fv%253DszytjKqfDeM%26form%3dANSPH1%26refig%3d8cb939e8e7304867966a9a9601672338%26pc%3dU531&view=detail&mmscn=vwrc&mid=264F18A6505ED1BD4ED6264F18A6505ED1BD4ED6&FORM=WRVORC

2. Separation, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfij5hl3UeA 

3. Silent Steps out of Lockdown,   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8MD99_d9H4&feature=youtu.be 

Presenting three stop motion films of the processes for unlocking my work during the Covid pandemic which took over the MA final major project as a matter of course due to the global crisis. 

On-Line Sketchbook

details via Blog Posts and Pages

Journeys – main site

https://wordpress.com/posts/francescak44.wordpress.com 

1. Blog Post  - Joining the Dots

 https://wordpress.com/block-editor/post/francescak44.wordpress.com/134 

2. Page - About - MA research Project

https://wordpress.com/block-editor/page/francescak44.wordpress.com/20 

3. Page - Clay Therapy Boxes (Outreach Project).

https://wordpress.com/block-editor/page/francescak44.wordpress.com/113 

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List of Illustrations

1-3. Staff Nurse Kate Adams and the clay workshop participants at MND NeuWS Group 5th March 2020 Photo: Francesca King.

4-5. Images of the flyer for the MND NeuWS event on 5th March 2020 produced by Kate Adams in conjunction with St Michaels Hospice. Reproduced with permission by Francesca King.

6a-c. Lilibeth Cuenca Rasmussen `Being Human Being 1`. Image taken from the ArtBerlin article ©2020LilibethCuenca Rasmussen   https://www.artberlin.de/the-female-gaze-on-body-love-and-sex/   

7,8a &b. Hands and Feet detailing the reflexology points and correlation to the rest of the body. Image taken from Google 17th August 2020 Source reflexology charts.

9. The dust residue left after the impressions of clay were taken from the alleyway. Photo: Francesca King July 2020.

10. Stepping Stone, `Arrow` Fired and glazed with copper oxide and clear glaze in parts.  Photo: Francesca King July 2020.

11. Stepping Stone, `BT Pole, Wood`, Fired and glazed with copper oxide and clear glaze in parts with the addition of gold. Photo: Francesca King July 2020.

12-14. Nasca Textiles perutelegraph.com, Nasca Lines from the sky Photographed Bates Littlhales 2018   https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/archaeology/nasca-lines-peru/  Jewellery designed in the shapes of the Nasca lines artist unknown Google image Assessed 17th August 2020.

15a-d. Mixed media drawing and collage studio work at York St John`s University.  September – December 2018. Photo: Francesca King 2018.

16a-c. Extracts from MyPshycogeography by Aleksander Janicijevic 2015 page 39, 54, 58 & 59. All images are the artists, Aleksander Janicijevic taken from 1970-2015. Published 13th June 2015.

17. The Golden Mean spirals based on the Fibonacci code. Image is taken from Google Accessed 17th August 2020.    

18. Egyptian reference to the Pine Cone in the ancient tables and paintings.  Image is taken from Google Accessed 17th August 2020.    

19. Multi cultural ancient references for the pine cone.   Image is taken from Google Accessed 17th August 2020.    

20-23. Feet and hands made from moulds and slip cast with inclusions and Braille detail. Ceramic balls photographed with the drains textures. Manganese Dioxide applied to the ceramic and clear glaze applied to the diamond only. Fired to 1080oC. Collage images of the ceramic and paper feet, cones and wood in a mixed media placement exploring the absent human.   All Photos: Francesca King 

24 & 25.` Mending the Cracks`, Ceramic Stepping Stone 20cm D White EW clay and Gold gloss paint imitating  Kintsugi. Photo: Francesca King July 2020.

26. `Graphite Rubbings (with Ceramic Feet) `, Graphite rubbings from the `Walked 4`, series 4th December 2019. A mixed media work in progress collage. Photo: Francesca King July 2020.

27a & b. `Graphite Rubbings`. Taken from the BT pole in the alleyway and focusing on the number 21 next year`s date 2021. Photo: Francesca King July 2020.

28-29. Work in progress, exploring the absence and breaking up of materials using the cones and poppy foliage from my garden. Photo: Francesca King July 2020.

30. `Back Gate 2 - Look Both Ways`, Back Gate spray painting documenting the opening of the gate into the alleyway. Photo: Francesca King August 2020.

31. `Unlocking Zen` Agate clay made from various oxides and body stains. Fired and glazed 1080oC, with a detail image of `Cosmic`. Photo: Francesca King July 2020.

32. `Yard Eye` China Clay and cobalt oxide fired and glazed in part 1080oC, 28cm Diameter.  Photo: Francesca King July 2020.

33. `First Steps` China Clay  plus  additions fixed at the glazing stage with dry glazing matter and cobalt oxide fired and glazed in part to 1080oC 24cm Diameter Photo: Francesca King July 2020.

34. `Purification Dial` China Clay component of clay parts Fired and glazes 1080oC using copper oxide and clear glaze 2 cm Diameter.  Photo: Francesca King July 2020.

35a-h Clay Throwing Workshop and Clay Table, action shots of the participants of the Alley Art Interactive Workshop with SmArt Team on 23rd August 2020. Photo: Francesca King 23rd August 2020.

36. Alley Art Poster and flyer for the SmArt Team advertising the events for the day’s activities in conjunction with the Community Art Gallery on York Racecourse 23rd August 2020. Image produced by the SmArt Team and distributed via email and WatsApp.   

37 & 38.  Images taken as part of the Interactive Clay Balls Workshop at The Creative Studio York 5th August 2019. Photo: Francesca King & Sian Owen 5th August 2019.

39 & 40. `Feet Of Clay` Interactive Exhibit at York St John`s University 17th September 2019 Photo: Francesca King 17th September  2019.

41 & 42. `Feet in Clay` interactive therapy experience with Anne at the Creative Studio York 5th August 2019. Photo: Sian Owen 5th August 2019.

43. Giuseppe Penone`s  Clay Fists & Avvolgere la terra (to envelope the earth) 2014 Taken from his publication The Inner Life of Forms Edited by Carlos Basualdo  Gasgosian distributed by Rizzoli International Publications 2018 translated from Italian by Marguerite Shore.

44. `Archive of Mind` Kimmsoojar`s exhibition at the Essex Museum North America January 2020. http://kimsooja.com/texts/reckert.html  https://www.pem.org/exhibitions/kimsooja-archive-of-mind (Assessed 6th August 2019)  Published on Jul 19th, 2018

45. Dr Emoto`s Water Crystals Image taken by Dr Emoto The Water Crystal Oracle Author of the Hidden Messages in Water Beyond Words Hillsboro Oregon 2004

46-50. `Clay Therapy Box` details showing the states of production with mask and gloves and the various responses to the delivery and use of the box contents. Photo: reproduced by Francesca King with kind permission from the authors of each image (47-Niki Lee/ 48-Beth Boyes/ 49- Emma McKenzie /50-Janos Bene/ Image of FK by Rosa King) July/August 2020.

51-53. `Stepping Stones`, A stack of ceramic stones showing the textured edges of the ceramic to represent gambling chips, board game pieces or Runes. Various sizes from 11cm D – 24cm D 24cm High approximately. May-June 2020 production.   Photo by Francesca King 12th September 2020.