Memory and Painting Thoughts
- Submitting institution
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University College London
: B - UoA32B The Slade School of Fine Art
- Unit of assessment
- 32 - Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory : B - UoA32B The Slade School of Fine Art
- Output identifier
- 15737
- Type
- M - Exhibition
- Venue(s)
- Bangkok Art and Cultural Centre, Thailand; Yenak Art Villa, Bangkok, Thailand; East Asiatic Company Building, Bangkok, Thailand; Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah, UAE; Hanart TZ Gallery, Hong Kong
- Open access status
- -
- Month of first exhibition
- -
- Year of first exhibition
- 2014
- URL
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- Supplementary information
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- Request cross-referral to
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- Output has been delayed by COVID-19
- No
- COVID-19 affected output statement
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- Forensic science
- No
- Criminology
- No
- Interdisciplinary
- No
- Number of additional authors
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0
- Research group(s)
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- Proposed double-weighted
- No
- Reserve for an output with double weighting
- No
- Additional information
- 20th century European paintings present multiple viewpoints in time (Cubism) and affective compositions (Expressionism), in exploring subjectivity as a pivotal theme for art. Related to this, but less recognised, is the potential for painting to register a flow of thoughts and memories generated through the passing of time. This output investigates this potential through two related methods that identify journeys as generating memory and reflection on culture and cultural identity. The first approach draws on Chinese scroll paintings, which unfold to facilitate (imaginary) travels through landscapes, such as boats journeying down a river. In this, the painting’s ground is approached not just a space to paint in but a flow of time. Stahl explores this idea by approaching the canvas as a ground to record sequences of thoughts and memories occurring in time, drawing on research of ancient and contemporary Chinese scrolls, viewed at the V&A museum in London in 2013/14 and in Beijing when lecturing there. This insight relates to the output’s second method that investigates how travel, residencies in different places and walking through a city engenders reflection on times past and other places. Via this method, painting is seen to capture fragments of thoughts produced through travel, to understand the present through comparison with the past. The output consists of 36 paintings made for five exhibitions, including a large retrospective in Sharjah (2019), the Bangkok Biennale (2018) and exhibitions in Thailand (2014-17). They include reflections on family relationships and history relating to Poland, Japan, Thailand and Hong Kong, as well as presentations of memories evoked by specific places. In this, the output advances painting reflecting on memories evoked by travel, as facilitating transcultural perspective; this concept is investigated via an understanding of oneself through encounters with others and as the understanding of that which extends across cultures.
- Author contribution statement
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- Non-English
- No
- English abstract
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