I find it a shame that art is displayed outside the context in which it was created or outside the context in which it was meant to be seen. Especially the artwork of old. Seeing the Sistine Chapel is what I am talking about. The art was meant to be seen on that ceiling in that room. Most often we see classic art inside new modern museums which force the art completely out of context. Imagine seeing Monet's Haystack paintings on display in the field they were painted, in the lighting they were painted in...I guarantee it would be much more powerful.
Since I am extremely interested in the perceptual aspect of art, these issues bother me a lot. I've said before that it's not enough to presume knowledge of a color until it has been studied within the confines of its surroundings. Likewise, the surroundings must also be studied within the context of the object it encloses. In this way, my drawings can't be adequately understood unless defined by the parameters that created them. Unless a drawing is seen in the same condition in which it was created, it will forever appear different than it did when it was created. The surroundings are different, the light is different, the sounds are different. Sound after all is a perception. Every perception helps to shape the art that the artist creates.
I would like to do an installation of my works. To do this I will need a space large enough to allow me to do multiple drawings at multiple stages without moving them after they are finished. I will set up a space as I would for any typical drawing. Once finished, I leave my easel/horse/pastels/drawing where it is and move to a different part of the room and do the same thing. I will take care not to move into the view of my previous drawing or the space that I saw in that previous drawing will have been changed. When I am satisfied that I have done enough or have no where else to do a drawing, I will simply stop. That room will then become the gallery. My drawings and their stations left in exactly the same place as they were when I created them. People can then see them within the context in which I created them. The viewer will not have to simply accept what I've told them through my drawing and can make their own conclusions, or perhaps see something new through the comparison. I will have direct access to pointing out to the viewer what I was looking at and what I saw when looking at it. Something they might in most cases overlook. It would be interesting to do a series similar to my Blind Barb series (above) where I progressively move away a foot at a time. In this case, my previous drawings will all be in the view of the newest drawing. I love drawings within drawings. I don't know why they intrigue me but they do. They have come to be a reoccurring theme.
I think I'll call these contextual drawings.