I love London in the dark it’s is almost peaceful, It’s skyline becomes magical.

The talk confirmed what I thought, Dora Maurer has a great sense of fun which she takes very seriously. It was a lovely insight into her work and her creative process which she is most clear about. She used the opportunities when they were there and worked with what Interested her.

”The Surface” was mentioned again.

The surface is something I am interested in. I first became aware of its importance in terms of painting when reading about whistler’s obsession of one film on the surface of the canvas. He would scrape back a painting completely if he didn’t get what he wanted in one sitting and start anew in the next sessions. He wanted one smooth surface. This is a little like the constraints of paint finishing and also fresco work. If you let the work dry in between sessions you get a ”join” depending on how thick the paint is and how good at joins you have time constraints.

I became very good at repairs and using the mistakes to make a finished surface. Technically wrong but I enjoyed to process of correction and the challenge of making it work.

Dora Maurer recorded dropping objects and recording the changed (the damaged)surface.

She folded and again recorded the changes that made to the object.

In one piece she took a cobblestone and was ”feminine” to it, loved it, did Laundry with it and various activities she described as women work. She also explained the paving stone was a symbol of the activist.

There was a strength to her that was most reassuring which I think come through in her work.

She is present in her work.