Imagining something you have imagined before but had forgotten until now.
Or
An artwork resembling one you have imagined before.
For example:
#326: Desk (Self-portrait II XXI)
If your desk, or workspace, was an artwork, what would it say about you?
(I cleared and tidied mine in preparation)
Oil on canvas. A painting showing a Hall of Records relating to you.
At its entrance, you can be seen, sitting at a desk, acting as a gatekeeper to these records - a mass of shelves lined with books, records and other items.
Beyond the desk multiple versions of yourself can be seen looking at or going through the records, which are ordered into different sections, each with a sign above the shelves.
In a far corner is a door marked “Restricted Access”.
At the bottom of the frame is the inscription: “I need my memories. They are my documents. I keep watch over them.” - Louise Bourgeois.
Oil on canvas. A medieval hallway scene painted in the style of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. The scene flows through from a console table on the left to the open front door on the right but is set in two halves. On the right, someone is answering the door. At the door is a younger version of themself holding out a sculpture of a lightbulb to them. On the left hand side, the same person is turning away from the door, reaching out to vases of dying flowers each filled with one of the following - rosemary, tulips, forget-me-nots, sweet williams and periwinkles. A runner on the console features a simple pattern containing buttercups.
On the wall behind are several pictures, from left to right, including a spider with very long legs that go straight up giving it a tall appearance, a hand reaching out and being received by two open hands, a wire framed cage with a spiral staircase inside and a woman with a house for a head.
Along the bottom edge of the frame the following is inscribed: “I need my memories. They are my documents… You have to differentiate between memories. Are you going to them or are they coming to you? If you are going to them, you are wasting time. Nostalgia is not productive. If they come to you, they are the seeds for sculpture." - Louise Bourgeois.
Oil on canvas.
A painting of a naked, flayed person in the style of The Vitruvian Man by Leonardo da Vinci - but with their eyes closed, grimacing, and with full colour and detail.
Or - Someone naked, and uncomfortable at their desk in a large open plan office.
Or - A canvas spilt into four equal parts: a scene of people praying in church, one of people walking through a winter scene, a flayed naked person, and, finally, a painting of someone asleep in bed, a representation of their dream on their forehead.
Oil on canvas. Pictures of the solitude experienced at different times of life. Some scenes show good times, some not so good, some bad, of people being alone on purpose and being alone, or isolated, without wanting to be. Every side of solitude is shown: playing as a child - operating my train set, playing in the garden, kicking a football around pretending to be other people, walking to school through the park, all the dreams in my head, listening to songs, reading on a beanbag, writing in the University libraries, reading or listening to music or watching the world go by from the commuter coach and train, walking through London, listening to music in the car, reading on the sofa early in the morning, reading on the train, reading on the bus, working from home, living in Wing Island, a mother at home with a new born baby, a prostitute waiting on the street, a prisoner in a cell, a housewife working, a crane driver, a train driver, a lorry driver, an old person in a chair, an old couple sat together, one of whom does not remember the other, a person in a crowd, ….
A collage of all the worst events and people in the world, both now and throughout history, underneath which are the following words:
'Either ignore it or celebrate it.' What a fucking futile attitude. Don’t say anything bad, just ignore it or celebrate it. So what about fascism then? We don’t like it, we’ll just ignore it.
(I ask you again what is to be done).
Nicky Wire, The Quietus and 30-Year War.
Oil on canvas. A painting of a man in an armchair reading a newspaper. Behind, his wife can be seen hoovering, making dinner, cleaning the windows, making tea, dusting and other jobs.
