BA (Hons) Fine Art: Sculpture
Website: demelzawatts.com Do I need to make the work? âThe work of art can be perceived only after it is completed.â Sol Lewitt, Paragraphs on Conceptual Art. When is the idea âcompletedâ? Watts starts most of her work through writing proposals for artworks. Does she need to take the idea further than a proposal? Can the idea/artwork be realised/completed by a proposal? Here text and language are crucial in Wattsâ practice; does the idea need to become a physical object or action? How to communicate with the greatest economy of means? Wattsâ work subscribes to the Romantic Conceptualist ideal of the power of the idea without adornment, the striving to extract the ideaâs essential poetry. Wattsâ practice is concerned with the etiquette and conventions of the exhibition space, the conceit of being inside an artwork, and the spectatorâs role in viewing and activating it. The work explores implicit rules of conduct and âsocial normsâ. The norms that govern the duration of a spectatorâs encounter with the work are described or challenged. Waiting, finality, and the commitment of time that artworks require, are central concerns her practice. The dimension of time in experiencing a work is a primary preoccupation for Watts. Wattsâ work is routed in the durational experience; she makes short looped videos, performances that run for as long as the gallery within which they are located in are open, and sculptures that turn familiar spaces such as waiting rooms, into minimalist arrangements that could be mistook for abandoned Harold Pinter scenes or corporate furniture displays.