{"id":5640,"date":"2021-11-11T01:52:26","date_gmt":"2021-11-11T08:52:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/snapartists.com\/an-artists-process-contextualized-a-fragmented-account-of-brianna-tosswills-installation\/"},"modified":"2023-03-29T15:37:11","modified_gmt":"2023-03-29T21:37:11","slug":"an-artists-process-contextualized-a-fragmented-account-of-brianna-tosswills-installation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/snapartists.com\/an-artists-process-contextualized-a-fragmented-account-of-brianna-tosswills-installation\/","title":{"rendered":"An Artist\u2019s Process, Contextualized: A fragmented account of Brianna Tosswill\u2019s Installation"},"content":{"rendered":"

In conjunction with the exhibition <\/em>At a Time: Tender and Tense, throughout the four week duration of the exhibition Artists will respond to each other\u2019s work through writing \u2013 which will be made available in the gallery in print and online for the duration of the exhibition. Below is the second instalment of this writing series \u2013 Agata Garbowska’s response to Brianna Tosswill’s work<\/em>.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

An Artist\u2019s Process, Contextualized: <\/strong>
\nA fragmented account of Brianna Tosswill\u2019s installation in SNAP Gallery<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I. Introduction<\/p>\n

Brianna Tosswill\u2019s installation is a collection of carved linoleum plates, sketches, notes, and finished prints, all assembled into a cozy reading nook complete with a houseplant, lamp, and armchair. This assemblage is a glimpse into Tosswill\u2019s artistic practice, a gathering of the ephemera generated throughout the process of making book art, linocut and letterpress prints.<\/p>\n

II. These fragments I have shored against my ruins1<\/sup><\/p>\n

One of my first interactions with Brianna Tosswill\u2019s print work was screen printing over one of them. While printing a large edition, I printed an image over what turned to be a test print of Brianna Tosswill\u2019s and Jessica Magonet\u2019s piece, \u201cEpilogue\u201d. That poetic misprint, an unexpected collaboration, forgotten until I saw the exhibition, combined with Tosswill\u2019s collection of studio ephemera in the gallery, reminded me that I appreciate sketches, colour tests, and misprints just as much as I appreciate finished works.<\/p>\n

A simple definition of printmaking is to make multiples by transferring an image from a plate\/stencil\/matrix onto a substrate. Throughout this process, there are often opportunities for the process to push back\u2014allowing for misprints, variations, and unexpected conversations.<\/p>\n

Tosswill\u2019s installation, prints contextualized with carved plates, sketches, and notes, provides an opportunity to look in on the artist\u2019s process. These insights into the finished work, fragments of drawings and text, will gradually fade, as Magonet writes in \u201cEpilogue\u201d, \u201cThe world spins softly \/ churning stories \/ into dust.\u201d2<\/sup><\/p>\n

When I make prints, I take into consideration whether the work is archival, usually with the goal that the print will not fade or fall apart. While I try to challenge the impermanence of my work, Tosswill\u2019s drawings, on sketchbook pages and newsprint, adhered to the gallery wall, are a reminder that temporary works also merit my attention and care. As the poem \u201cEpilogue\u201d suggests, and the references to epic poetry in Alice and Antius<\/em>3<\/sup> reiterate, it is likely that fragments are all that will remain.<\/p>\n

III. An Instruction Piece<\/p>\n

Tosswill\u2019s site specific installation of fragments and finished works includes notes to the viewer, often written directly on the wall: a clue that indicates how a drawing was made, an invitation to pull back the curtain, a gentle reminder to wash our hands before handling the book art. While reading Tosswill\u2019s instructions, I remember Yoko Ono\u2019s piece, \u201cPAINTING TO EXIST ONLY WHEN IT’S COPIED OR PHOTOGRAPHED\u201d that directs the reader<\/del> artist to, \u201cLet people copy or photograph your paintings. Destroy the originals.\u201d4<\/sup> In the spirit of the Fluxus event score, I decide to follow Tosswill\u2019s instructions. As I sit in the provided armchair, reading an artist book, do I complete the installation?<\/p>\n

\u2013 Agata Garbowska<\/p>\n

\n

1<\/sup> Eliot, T. S. \u201cThe Waste Land.\u201d Poetry Foundation, https:\/\/www.poetryfoundation.org\/poems\/47311\/the-waste-land.<\/p>\n

2<\/sup> Magonet, Jessica and Brianna Tosswill. Epilogue. At a Time: Tender and Tense<\/em>, 23 Oct. 2021-20 Nov. 2021, SNAP Gallery, Edmonton.<\/p>\n

3<\/sup> Ingram, Kit and Brianna Tosswill. Alice and Antius. At a Time: Tender and Tense<\/em>, 23 Oct. 2021-20 Nov. 2021, SNAP Gallery, Edmonton.<\/p>\n

4<\/sup> Ono, Yoko. Grapefruit: a Book of Instructions + Drawings<\/em>. Simon & Schuster, 2000.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In conjunction with the exhibition At a Time: Tender and Tense, throughout the four week duration of the exhibition Artists will respond to each other\u2019s work through writing \u2013 which will be made available in the gallery in print and online for the duration of the exhibition. Below is the second instalment of this writing… View Article<\/a>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5641,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[130,128],"tags":[141,142],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/snapartists.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5640"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/snapartists.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/snapartists.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/snapartists.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/snapartists.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5640"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/snapartists.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5640\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9034,"href":"https:\/\/snapartists.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5640\/revisions\/9034"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/snapartists.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/snapartists.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/snapartists.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/snapartists.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}