Reflective Log: Reading - Lynda Benglis by Franck Gautherot, Caroline Hancock and Seungduk Kim

Key Points & Reflections

• Taking the body and landscape as prime references p.5
• Her poured latex floor pieces and wax reliefs are best known as 'Fallen paintings' p.5 This reminds me of my own 'fallen painting' which will be displayed on the floor. 
• Wax landscapes made by "applying one layer of wax over another, changing colours. Each layer of wax exacerbated the irregularities in the previous layer and the accrued levels gradually rose into a geological landscape."p. 11. 
• The above quote seems very relevant to my own practice, particularly my plinth painting that I started, where I applied layers of acrylic paint over and and over each other. This technique is also notable in my first paintings I did this term, and even my floor painting where I used stainless steel as well as paint to create a varying texture-scape. 
• What really inspires me about Benglis' work is her floor paintings. They are diverse in pigment, and they merge together in such strikingly abstract ways that are intriguing for the viewer, it causes them to stare. "the floor is the new wall"p.14. 

• "a power issue arises when considering sculpture over a certain size. It takes a certain amount of physical audacity to manipulate large amounts of matter, whether carving or casting, melting, spreading, or piling things one on top of the other, not to mention the mental ambition of deploying small legions of workers to fabricate and install." p.225.
• This quote reminds me of the power over the viewer concept that I am working with in my work - particularly the mild steel piece, which is the largest piece of work that I have made to date. 

• Overall, I think that Lynda Benglis Beyond Process book is a better book for  relating to my own practice, and I will create an annotated text for this.