Between Marks and Surfaces: Indiscernibility, Subjectivity, and Otherness

This practice-based research examines the notion of the in-between of mark and surface within visual art. Drawing on Bracha L. Ettinger’s Matrixial theory, I approach the in-between as a non-oppositional state that has the potential to redefine relationships between self and other in art practice. The questions I focus on are: How can the relationship between the artist’s marks and the surface move beyond an opposition or clear overlay such that an in-between state may be accessed? How can the relationship between work and space shift in a similar manner? How does accessing this in-between change the relationships between subject and object and self and other (understood, initially, in terms of mark and surface and artist and materials)? What are the implications for the artist when her marks become nearly indiscernible from the surface (as a result of approaching an in-between state)? Finally, what are some implications for the audience when they cannot immediately see or identify a work of art?

The methodological framework, which emerged through the research, involves the interweaving of three spaces: my own practice, other artists’ practices, and theory. Through my practice, I looked for marks that approached each surface I worked with. This approaching occurred on several levels: visual, material, and conceptual. The marking methods I developed are juxtaposed with theoretical concepts, mainly from Bracha L. Ettinger, Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, Jacques Derrida, and C. S. Peirce, and with works by artists Susan Collis, Louise Hopkins, and Bracha L. Ettinger. Through these juxtapositions, I investigate the operations of the resulting marks, their relationships with the surface, and how those relationships tend towards an in-between.

I argue that the destabilisation of a clear distinction between mark and surface and work and space may lead to visual and conceptual indiscernibility. This, in turn, leads to a rethinking of the relationship between subject and object and self and other on several levels. The contribution of the research lies in adding to the discussion surrounding the relationship between mark and surface by specifically focusing on the in-between and indiscernibility. This addition occurs through practice as well as through this text, which attempts to activate concepts that enable the conceptualisation of an in-between state/space.

There are two copies of the written part of this thesis:
1. the full version of this thesis has been restricted due to copyright issues, please contact UAL Research Online to request access;
2. the available version has been copyright-cleared for access with a small number of images redacted due to copyright constraints - 1.2 (page 39), 1.3 (page 41), 1.5 (page 42), 4.29 (page 227), 6.29 (page 347), 6.31 (page 350).