painted on mirror:

I kept exploring ideas to do with the theme of place and specifically my bedroom. I thought about creating a place or a moment on loop. I can vividly remember my room and specific aspects of it so i felt it was the clearest place i can start from.

first day place

In the morning we had a lecture showing us examples of art pieces that were successful due to their environment. One piece was by Marlene Dumas of Oscar Wilde and Bosie. It's set in a prison because Oscar Wilde was sent to a jail for being in a homosexual relationship. The environment creates a deeper understanding of the artwork. 

I wasn't happy with my previous piece, i felt it didn't reflect my ideas from my sketchbook very well so i started a new piece using similar techniques. i started with wood off cuts but this time i stapled pieces together to create a new shape. I wanted to convey the idea of the window in the collage so i manage to create a hollow archway shape in the piece. I then painted over one of the wood blocks with similar colours to the sky in my collage. I noticed when wiping back the acrylic the wood patterns could be seen through and resembled the same patterns as the sky. I also decided to bring the collage back to the piece by cutting out the area i found most interesting.

During the crit I was told that the theme of space came through and that the placement in front of the window was very effective. However i didn't recieve that much feedback because we ran out of time and only a few people were speaking about my piece hence i didn't get a very broad amount of reactions.

I used a photograph of me as a child on a rocking horse, but whats interesting is that the rocking horse, bed frame and toys are all things i remember from my childhood or may still own, however the house itself is unrecognisable. i dont remember living in that house hence it feels like all the items are floating in a new space. i found this concept haunting but interesting. i dissected the photograph creating new focuses. i combined it with other photographs i found represented space creating a whole new space in itself.

In the morning I created an alginate mould of the domes because i wanted to experiment with a new material. I brought a candle to melt the wax from in order to create a new texture. i began by building the box arouund the dome for the mould to form around.

after the box was completed i started cutting a previous mould to recycle it, and then microwaved the chunks until it became a liquid consistency that could be poured into the box. 

After pouring the mould in i found out i had a little less than i wanted and had to scoop it over the dome to make sure the mould was think enough at the base. Next time i will make excess because it can be reused if i have melted too much however not having enough can cause the whole mould to become redundant.

After the mould was create i poured melted wax into the vacant area and let it set. However as i was doing this the same day as the crit i realised the wax probably would be ready to show in time.

after lunch we were split into groups and started the crit. I asked for my groups initial opinions before i gave them any information in order to get an authentic reaction and different perspective on my piece. Eldi described it as minimalist and satisfying, the group said that the surface reminded them of eggshells especially due to the natural colour of plaster. When i mentioned they were allowed to feel the sculptures they began to get closer to my concept, I especially noticed they all felt the smooth side and not the rough textured side. This was interesting and links to desiring the untouched. I then explained the idea behind the piece and they all felt it was relevant, and the contrast between touched and untouched was visible. Overall i think hte piece was successful at showing my concept and helping me learn how to use plaster for future projects.

When working out my ideas i realised it would be very difficult to create what i wanted in the time given and with my little experience of plaster, so i decided to pin point what i wanted to learn and experiment with while working on the 4D pathway. I still felt the need to relate whatever i produced from experimenting to the initial brief so i kept the idea of tension, contact and organic curves in mind while working with the plaster. I knew from the induction how to create the plaster mix however it is very subjective every time you mix it so i found it very useful to practice multiple mixes.

I explained to Rachel the technician that i wanted the plaster to have a textured surface similar to concrete, she gave the suggestion of adding sand to the mixture which would give it a grainy surface. i compared the ratios of sand, the first lump had no sand, which was smooth and took a bit longer to set however it was very durable. the second lump had two handfuls of sand which set faster that the previous and the surface could be sanded easily, yet didn't have much of a contrast of texture. Three handfuls was very similar to the previous but the surface was very easily scratched and didn't seem very durable. the final lump had four handfuls and had the same texture as two and was easily mouldable but was not very durable as the surface crumbled under pressure. 

After experimenting with the sand and plaster, the edges of the bowl had set and I noticed the surface that had set next to the bowl were completely smooth. I thought this was interesting and linked to the concept of contact, since the surface my hand had touched was rough and crumbling however the surface untouched was smooth and durable. These pieces were also curved due to the shape of the bowl so i now new a mould was possibly the best idea since i found that moulding the plaster organically was difficult and didn't give the outcome i wanted. 

I really liked the contrast of textures with the plaster pieces so I decided to explore that idea further. i began by using scrap moulds of half spheres and putting them in while using my hands to create a texture on the exposed side. I was really satisfied with the outcome and tried it again on a plastic bowl. together they created a sense of tension and contrast. I noticed the two pieces from the dome moulds fit together even though they were made together. so i placed them next to each other but with a slight gap creating a sense of almost touching.

I wanted to create more curves so i used a curved balloon to create more shapes similar to the body. I wanted to create the same shapes of the balloon so i discussed with Rachel whether it was possible to fill the balloon with plaster, however i wanted to keep it hallow because i wanted the contrast of texture. We came to the conclusion it would be far too difficult to create a shell of the balloon inside of it so i started making a mould of the outside shape. This worked successfully as it created a smooth surface and a strong curved shape. I intentionally went for the end of the balloon and it created a similar shape as a breast which explicitly linked to the body and the senses. I found it almost looked like a build up of touch and memories which i felt conveyed my initial ideas successfully.

We started the day off with an lecture introducing us to the 4D pathway, from it i started ideas inspired from it. I thought about displaying tension, like the tension of something falling. From Lubaina Himid's negative positives i started to consider the concept of an indent of contact, almost avoiding the contact which creates tension. In another sense contact happening but not connecting. This all links from my news article i chose which was a photo of two people close to contact looking almost as if they are going to kiss, it's paired with the quote "I hugged Jean-Claude Juncker to stop him from kissing me". I like the idea of anticipated contact creating tension. I began to explore concepts to display this, one of the ideas was a map of movement across the body, inspired by Damien Ortega's Arsenal's Tika Taka. Linking back to the concept of something falling, i wanted display tension of movement and have the metaphor of "falling for someone". The last idea was displaying eroding contact, which displays how relationships leave an impact that can be permanent, and moulds our lives. Similar to the ice block in Dynamic Earth, the eroded parts or plaster would be able to be touched and would fit most peoples hands, as if they are creating the contact or eroded area. 

I wanted the piece to have a lot of curves to create connotations of the body like the hips, bum, or breasts. I realised creating the shape of the body smoothly with plaster along with creating eroded areas similar to hands would be very difficult so i decided to focus on only creating a physical version of the textures I wanted. Along with the plaster workshop being closed and myself being unclear on what exactly i wanted to create i decided to continue with some research and exploration of my idea.

We spent the day watching everyone's final videos. I made some notes from the videos i saw and the discussions we had. The most common technique i noticed was repetition being used to enforce a message, a technique i even used myself. However i wasn't very pleased with my crit as only the teacher provided feedback and I didn't find it very useful as it was information i already had mentioned or intended. I think that my piece must have been able to speak for itself since no one needed clarity on the message and i had a few people say they enjoyed however i think in future i wont be as explicit as i prefer when my pieces created questions and discussions. I think it was also difficult because not many people had knowledge of filmmakers other than the people provided so not only myself was short of artists that linked to our pieces.

I decided i didnt like the intial piece i produced with my experimentation, i created a new piece 

second day 4d

My class has started the 4D pathway, which teaches us how to use Adobe Premiere Pro and use film as a medium for displaying and communicating fine art. The lesson was very useful at teaching the basics of the software. The task given was to find a video on the internet as a material to re-edit into a new piece. I chose a clip from the cartoon Tom and Jerry, and a segment on Baby TV called Flowers. I wanted to display the contrast in past and current television that is shown to children, especially since i grew up watching Tom and Jerry it made the piece a little bit more personal. i used the blending techniques to create an overlay of the two images, vividly displaying the contrast between the two, tom and jerry has more muted tones and a limited palette, where as Flowers uses a very large colour scheme of bright colours including pinks and yellows. The pace between the two is also contrasting, tom and jerry has a lot of speed and exaggerated movements, whereas Flowers is very slow and linear. In my opinion it relates to censorship and brainwashing because Flowers has a very psychedelic aesthetic and keeps a very 2D story of a bear driving around a flower field. It retricts the imagination, especially due to the overuse of colour it leaves no where for the mind to go, it conforms the mind to thinking in a linear way. In contrast to Tom and Jerry it brings life issues and complications like hatred, love, and even smoking. This opens the mind to beyond ones own issues and brings awareness to real life. There isnt much censorship involved in the show other than for keeping it suitable for children. Dumbing content down for children intrinsically restricts their mind and doesn't challenge ideas or beliefs. They dont learn from the content they intake if it's all fabricated and unrealistic, making a mind that can be easily manipulated because they don't know any better. It's essential in those early years to set the mind into an independent pathway. I decided to link this towards the early years of music, locating in Manchester. As the years go on teenage culture is getting more restricted and controlled, now it has become a money making scheme instead of about giving people experiences to cherish or learn from, if everything is controlled, then how does anyone learn. we learn from our mistakes so people should be allowed to make them. 

After being given time to finish off our pieces, we were split into groups for feedback. I was concerned whether people would misinterpret my piece but luckily they said it was clear the shapes were hands and that the tartan correlated to me being Scottish. Initially someone said it looked like they were islands which i found interesting and that it could link to individuality. I had to point out they were allowed to touch the hands and feel for the words, after feeling them they were able to interpret the words. Eldi pointed out it was similar to palm reading and that it was like these words define the hand and tell a story like the marks on our palms. When i explained i had imprinted the words Phoebe mentioned like its almost a painful feeling like they are scars which also links to the idea of the marks of our skin and the story behind them because every cut and scar has a story behind it.

I decided to simplify the two down to link to my initial ideas, a collection of identity and individuality, since this is what they all have in common. A first example is myself with the colours red orange and yellow, they are colours i find myself drawn to and dress myself in regularly, they have become a form of comfort and identity for myself. I then linked identity to hands because i found looking back on my previous preject that they describe a person. I wanted to convey hands doing everyday tasks like spraying perfume, eating, writing, holding a phone. These actions represent a person, and the way the hand is decorated can display memories or tendencies of the individual. 

For myself i noticed my tartan scrunchie is something I'm always wearing and also represents my identity because I am Scottish. I noticed some similarities in tartan towards hands, mainly that they are both made of the same components, yet are completely unique. I decided to creates this idea using a line drawing of my hand and then cut out of different tartan prints, all the hands were the same picture but in varying sizes, and because they were drawn over and over none look exactly the same. I chose tartan not only because it represents my identity but i also think it suggests individuality since the choice of a different pattern and size creates a new outcome similar to how peoples personalities work, linking to the concept of a blank canvas, some tartans are busier than others suggesting a difference of experience and how it writes on us. i felt this enforced the idea of individual similarities. I thought to create a bit more uniqueness to each hand, therefore i imprinted words i found relate to myself on the back so that on the surface, you could feel them like brail. Some words link to secrets or thoughts i have, since these are also a part of my identity. The repetition of the words across the hands connotes to reoccurring memories and thoughts. The final step was deciding how to display them. I landed on gluing them over pictures of bed sheets because a bed is one of the most private or unique places, every bed tells a story about the owner, i also noticed it links to desires and lusts which describe our personalities.

We started the day with a lecture introducing the concept of collections, this was helpful to inspire ideas. I thought of a few ideas starting with my collection of tartan which represents my identity and heritage, daily life objects that may be over looked like perfume, items that i have had for a large amount of time and have become significant to me.

This brought me along to memories, memory is subjective, its how we perceive and remember an experience and its different for every person. I liked this idea but felt it would be hard to convey since it would only be my perception and would defeat the meaning, if i were to have more time i could create a project that compared peoples individual experiences and memories.

When looking at Idris Khan's Homage to Bernd Becher I thought about layers of parallels, specifically within life and the cycle/repetition of life. I developed another idea revolving around spaces, peoples comfort zones. I wanted to explore the difference in peoples ideas of comfort, some people ideally like to be in an empty room with just themselves but other people prefer to be in a room full of people. light or dark. it would show to people how different surroundings make them feel, a barren room could evoke feelings of loneliness, or danger. This could suggests they aren't only uncomfortable by themselves but not comfortable with themselves. However, some people would read an empty room as a solace with an atmosphere of calm and tranquility. My base idea was a series of photographs of people in their comfort which displays different minds and comfort zones, however similar to the memories idea i felt it would be hard to properly convey this in the time given as it is a very broad subject and find a large collection of individual people and places would be hard to achieve in the time given.

After the lecture we were sent out to create a collection of ten things, I decided to create a collection of fire, linking to my personality of these colours.

I created a hypothetical installation revolving around hands and the senses,

A new task was introduced so we were sent outside to find an object to draw on, i chose an arm that was previously part of a mannequin. I used chalk and permanent marker to imprint my hands over the arm to suggest an imprinting of connection and hands. I then cut a gardening glove and wrapped it around the arm with masking tape, I wanted to convey a sense of contact. We were then given time to work on our three word task. I decided to refine my idea more and draw more sketches in order to figure out what i would achieve over Wednesday to complete my project.

The class started with a pair task, first one person draws the other in five minutes. I used a black biro pen using harsh and sketchy lines to create depth. After five minutes the paper was passed to the partner and they did the same thing on the same piece of paper creating a double exposure effect. My partner used a ballpoint pen with harsher ink which helped create depth and contrast between the overlapped portraits. Then we were split into groups of three and given three words from the categories: -ism, material and process. We were given the words sensualism, rubber and cut. With this we brainstormed ideas in our group, i set on the words; satisfaction, raw, touching, tension, and senses, linking to sensualism and for plastic I referred to silicone, elasticity, and movement. I felt like these words all linked together and decided this was a good base to start my project on. We then had to develop from our initial ideas and create ten ideas for a hypothetical final project.