Research is something that I firmly believe every artist should partake in for their work. Yes, even those artists working on deeply personal pieces. This research doesn’t have to be highly academic or even really in-depth at all, what’s really the goal is making sure you’re on the right track with your work — that your ideas make sense. It’s one thing to make work about a specific region of the country but not have any background on the history, the culture, or anything about the land or people (especially if you aren’t from that place), but in personal series, those works that question your identity, your upbringing, your place in society and so on, there are sources that can reinforce your search for understanding.
This is what I’ve been doing a lot more of in my free time these days. With my work schedule presently only offering one full day off every week, I’d rather spend that day with my partner and lounge around rather than go out to make art. I also still have hundreds to thousands of photos that I’m re-organizing as I often do. I’ve been reading about both the Midwest and how it was designed and aspects of religious reference in art and my strange relationship with my Catholic upbringing.
Of the subjects that I’m researching, one of them is very much about a place that I can find sources on things like aerial views of the Midwest, to the structure of agricultural industry and progress in Illinois, to the man-altered landscape that locals hold dear (And I can relate, despite my disdain for the fact that over-farming has permanently affected the climate of the Midwest, i do feel a sense of peace and homeliness when I come across the first corn fields on my drives West). My other subject of research is deeply personal, and for some folks, this subject can be very sensitive. I’m grateful that I didn’t have an entirely negative experience while I was Catholic, but the questions that built up that had answers that didn’t feel adequate made me feel leaving was the right choice. I’ve wanted to make art about this feeling for years — I’ve already photographed many a church in my time, but I’ve been looking to dive deeper into it. Researching a religion as an agnostic person is a very peculiar experience — there’s a similar sense of homeliness that i’ve felt while reading about this subject, despite my views and present relationship with the Church.
Through this, in my Google Docs for each subject I’m reading on, I started to develop shot lists. This is something that I haven’t done since undergrad. Back then, I was more sketching out ideas for stages scenes less so things to plan a photoshoot around and collect subjects. In both of these ideas, I’ve been shooting exclusively 6x7 black and white film in Illinois and I’ve been wanting to photograph the ideas related to religion on film as well — so far it’s been almost entirely digital. The shot lists have actually made me want to use my large format (and 6x7) more often, even though it’s much more pricey. Perhaps it’s because I have this tangible map of what to take photos of that I can justify the slowness and the high risk of error because of that certainty. Historically, I’ve been going out with whatever camera (these days usually the digital camera) and roaming around until I find something. This uses a lot of gas, for one, but also doesn’t always result in really any photos at all. I usually come back with at least a small bundle of pictures, but it never really amounts to much (alas, I still keep the photos).
Thinking about the subject of research that is not location-bound, the religious ideas, there’s a more potent drive to go out and make this work. However, my weekly schedule comes up again. There isn’t much I can do about that right now, because even holidays where I’m off work are still reserved for either plans to go out with friends or to relax at home for once. I think this struggle is becoming more common among artists in their late 20’s and 30’s, but I don’t have numbers to back that up — it’s just a vibe, ya know?
The slowness of this work, the slowness to get out again, has allowed this time for research. It also allows me to spend more time looking at other artists’ works. I have a small but growing library and I must admit, I don’t look at the books as often as I would like. Part of that is my diagnosed ADHD, but it’s also a bit of “i could be doing something else right now” (Like what, Jeff, scrolling through instagram reels??). It can be hard right now to justify making new art unless you’re in a dedicated environment that allows for that. This has les me to look for residencies to apply to in the future, but many of the ones I’m interested in have long since closed their admissions. I don’t have the confines of a graduate program anymore, but I do have the lessons in practice that I got out of my MFA time. This year has definitely been the slowest year in making new work so far, in the nearly decade of working in fine art practices. It’s about making the most of that time you can’t be making — dig around online, in your local library (also online because going out is hard), or look back through your library for some guidance. It can only help you get better and find new ways to make your work when you can finally pick up the camera again.