Matthew Rawcliffe

  I want to show that theory—in the requisite classical sense—is never forthcoming in aesthetics, and that we would do much better as philosophers to supplant the question, "What is the nature of art?," by other questions, the answers to which will provide us with all the understanding of the arts there can be. I want to show that the inadequacies of the theories are not primarily occasioned by any legitimate difficulty such, e.g., as the vast complexity of art, which might be corrected by further probing and research. Their basic inadequacies reside instead in a fundamental misconception of art. Aesthetic theory—all of it—is wrong in principle in thinking that a correct theory is possible because it radically misconstrues the logic of the concept of art. Its main contention that "art" is amenable to real or any kind of true definition is false.  (Weitz, 1964) I am inclined to agree with Weitz in his rejection of Aesthetic Theory, it feels like returning to the idea...

Some of you might remember that I take one polaroid per week as part of my reflective journal… each polaroid is then dated and transcribed with a word which reflects something of that week. I try and make these images targeted, rather than beautiful or reflective of a highlight - it was inspired by Barbara Bassot (2013) writing in The Reflective Journal, Bassot suggests that photography can be directed towards that moment, for instance capturing calm scenery on a stressful week. I like the way of framing this as something that you need rather than a more literal photography of how this week has looked. I continue to feel authentic (whatever that is?) through these methods, both my polaroid and my typewriter do not allow for mistakes, they are unrelenting and somehow that makes them feel truthful. They both give clear physical imprints, how hard I press the keys or how steady I hold the camera will directly affect the product. It is this physicality that I become excited about within...

I am a bit in my head at the minute. I am really trying to push myself to sit in the not knowing for longer, to gather more and soak it all in before acting upon it. Through the masters, I am discovering that my voice as a writer has a clear tone whereby the ongoing questioning and exploration is a process I am inviting the reader into. Not needing answers to questions, just using the process to ask better questions. (Maybe even asking worse questions to ask better questions?) I also discover that I benefit from constantly reorienting my questions: I’m asking my books > I’m asking my body > I’m asking my history > I’m asking art > I’m asking my art > I’m asking my instinct > I’m asking my mum…   I come into this blog (and also sometimes the studio) to ask through producing, to ask through forcing myself to form things, but I become better at opening up to the vastness of what things is - and that feels integral.   I know very little about what my research ...

take the body of work from an artist you admire and relate it to notions of knowledge, certainty, positivism.   I am going to use this task from the handbook. It is the first one and it feels like a nice gentle way to look towards what this research will be…   The first artist that came to mind under the headline of admiration was Bryce “The Sandman” Wong - I do not currently have any tattoos and I always tell people the only person I would let tattoo me is him. He designs skate shoes for brands including Nike and Vans. I came across his work because of the illustrations and graphic designs he makes on Instagram - I love cartoons and I love the art (especially sculpture) of antiquity, the first work of his that I saw blends those worlds in a way that I really enjoy. I also picked him because I expected it to be hard to relate his art to particular viewpoints or philosophies, I wanted to see how a seemingly illusive artist who I only know through 1080px by 1080px frames could r...

Sleep is a funny thing. When I’ve been at my worst in life, it is something I want lots of and cannot seem to get hold of. In fact, often the more I want it, the harder it is to come by. It is also orientated around very specific states of being. When I sleep during the day it feels fucking luxurious. I listen to audiobooks or television to go to sleep, so often my evening is quite blended into my sleeping - I almost don’t notice the process of falling asleep. I find it very hard to decide to sleep, I really have to fall asleep. When I wake up in the middle of the night I’m actually very attentive - for instance if I need to go to the toilet I never turn the lights on because I cannot bear the harsh lights, instead I do a clumsy (but often successful) journey through my apartment in the night - my proprioception kicks in beautifully. When I wake up in the morning, I find it very difficult to function for a bit - my eyes don’t really want to open and I have the sensation that my feet a...

Hello friends :) I'm writing applications at the minute, I will leave my full time job in June and so I'm looking at opportunities for commissions and funding etc. I don't necessarily have a hard time with rejection - I think I have quite a healthy relationship to that part of what we do.  What I find crazy is the traces we leave through this process - whereby I come with so many ideas and someone else gets to say if, when and where they will happen. But the more I go through this process the more that excites me - I'd love at some point to host an exhibition with all the unsuccessful applications I've sent. Especially because I have a very specific design style through my applications, they are often incorporated within designs and expressed through some form of art writing. So they become little works of art.  I wrote a while back about this beautiful book Imagined Theatres: Writing for a Theoretical Stage (2017), which is a collection of theoretical performan...