28
B+W
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A spread from Mandy’s series SOUP shows how
the artist was inspired by Eadweard Muybridge,
and his pioneering studies of motion.documents her findings in sketchbooks.
What is surprising, however, is the sheer
beauty of these volumes and also the wealth
of information they contain. A spread from her
series SOUP (featuring bath toys lost from a
container ship in 1992), for example, shows
how the artist was inspired by Eadweard
Muybridge, and his pioneering studies of
motion. ‘Thinking of how best to represent the
journey of plastic animals in the Gyre led me
to the work of Muybridge, and in particular
his series Animal Locomotion which captures
motion in sequence,’ she explains.
Mandy’s sketchbooks contain printed and
handwritten notes, cigarette cards, Polaroids,
drawings, bags of nurdles (small plastic
pellets), and bold splashes of paint. Studying
these beautifully presented volumes, you can
see ideas forming, steadily gaining
momentum and clarity. ‘Since my research
process involves a lot of visual exploration,
scientific investigation and fact taking, for
each project I keep a journal or sketchbook to
record ideas,’ she reveals. ‘This is an integral
activity that expands my imagination, where
I can connect all the elements of thought
together, and later am able to revisit what is
relevant and meaningful.’ Unlike many artists,
Mandy makes her scrapbooks public, allowing
people to see the inner workings of her mind.
Laying herself bare, she communicates both
her artistic vision and the anger she feels
about plastic pollution. Her aim is to raise
awareness and, by presenting her thoughts
alongside facts, she strengthens her case.‘What is surprising, however,
is the sheer beauty of these
volumes, and also the wealthof information they contain.’
Photographers have been creating
sketchbooks and writing diaries for
years, and one of the greatest examples
has to be Edward Weston. ‘Seldom has
an artist kept a journal as vivid, as intimate
and as sincere as Weston,’ states Beaumont
Newhall in the foreword to Weston’s
legendary Daybooks. Having worked my
way through nearly 500 pages of Weston’s
words, a number of things became apparent.
Firstly, he had a love life that caused him as
much anguish as it did pleasure, secondly he
was extremely critical of his own work and,
thirdly, the minutiae of other people’s lives is
absolutely fascinating. ‘Open season for fleas
is now on,’ he writes on the 17th March, 1926.
‘I have made several small catches. I should
perhaps let them live and feast undisturbed, ›