Sending my blog off

I am sending my blog of today because it takes around 3 weeks to be printed. So I am going to write my essay ideas and research in a sketchbook along-side my blog. Also I am producing another sketchbook with all of my pictures of the journey I am taking for the creation of my final piece. 

Also I am going to make a book with all of the pictures I have gathered within this semester.

Brought some materials!

I've brought some materials for book making which should be fun! I'm definitely going to make a book and print my catalogue in it for the other module!

New piece!

The idea of creating a final piece of a homeless person curled up in the corner for my final piece has gave me another idea around the same area to go towards my coursework part.

The idea is taking the surface pattern canvas I have originally made and cut some of the squares out which will be expanded into small rooms where I can create and place little models of the homeless man. 

This seems really confusing to me but i'm just going to go with it and see what it turns out like!

This is the start where I have stretched my canvas around a wooden frame and cut out some of the coloured squares where I will make my rooms:

I will continue working on this while I am producing my final piece for the exhibition.

Trying to cut down my artist statement!

I have been trying to cut down my artist statement as it was a tad too long. Its been difficult as its hard to cut certain parts out as it is very descriptive.

Ive managed to take certain sentences out where I am rambling.

This is what the statement looks like after a few alterations:

(I was walking around the town and heard a young girl speaking to her parents 'I want this!' with the quick reply being 'Do you really need that?'. This initially stemmed my thoughts about consumerism, whether we need the things we buy plus how it could easily lead to mass consumption.

I produced a painting shortly after this experience having being inspired by an artist named 'Sarah Key'. The main aspect of Key's work I really liked was replacing a human head with that of an animal. I used a similar approach replacing a person’s head with a shopping bag taking away their identity mirroring what consumerism does. The materials I used were acrylic on canvas. After a few tutorials and experimenting, I realized that there were some aspects to my painting style that could be improved. I thought this could also seem too forceful focusing on consumerism being bad, therefore I needed look into identity further.

I also explored identity through my exhibiting and curating module where we worked collaboratively. We all produced a piece and then exchanged it only spending max an hour to adapt it. This movement is similar to what advertisement companies do themselves, one person having the original idea, then passing it on ending with a collective identity rather than a single.

Before this module I made a series of squared blocks which I produced from various sized cuts of wood. They were each painted in a certain colour, representing a certain shop. On one of the largest surfaces, I transferred the image of the chosen store. When all produced, it looked like a miniature shopping outlet. They also reminded me of children’s playing blocks which highlights innocence, totally opposite to consumerism as it doesn’t display purity, it shows the opposite which is corruption. Being toy-like translates to something being controlled by another.

I wanted to reveal less to my audience allowing them to interpret it themselves. I was really interested in how painting and photography are related, how both sources enable a connection with the audience. I played around taking pictures in different locations relating to my theme. I produced a tri of photos, these images were taken in a small public park close to the town centre. The first image was of a woman carrying a shopping bag, the second and third image the bags duplicated but in a way that wasn’t obvious to the viewer. This piece was a slight illusion, allowing the viewer to spend a bit more time picking out differences in these images. But, the main importance in this piece was maybe not the content, however the location and time/awareness I believed to be most successful.

At this point, I began to think about how people are always in a rush to buy and get places, how we haven’t got 'time' to stop and think before doing. This is where I changed the direction of my practice realizing that I had been doing what everyone else in the public do, rush around and not being aware! I wanted to focus my attention to those who we do forget, people who may want to get involved with this rush, who may want to mass consume which we take for granted, people like the homeless.

The change in direction I found hard to begin with, at present time I am continuing the research further into this area so that I can develop a deeper understanding on how consumerism effects those less fortunate.

I was walking home one night after being in the studio, there was a homeless guy sitting in the town centre and I tried to think about what it is like to be in his shoes. This inspired me to create a poster using the photoshop software. The poster displayed a street where a homeless man is sitting in the center and people are just walking past him, ignoring him. When I was playing around with the software I used an emboss tool, it allowed me to offset the image of the homeless man from the original one. This reminded me of early 3D cinema because the distortion makes it look 3D like. Also, 3D was related to superheros, people we want to be and look up to as children. This was interesting because it was displaying the homeless as this positive force, whereas we see it as being a negative/a sad thing. Working with software like Photoshop, it was as if I was using their tools against them.

Consumerism is a strong force that does affect our living environment  I have just started transferring images onto canvas and then pushing colour from the back through the fabric. The colour travelling through creates this bleeding/penetrating notion. Looking at consumerism, it has this penetrating force, it is like a voice that is clearly heard over all other sounds.

I am working to create a human sized model of a homeless man crunched up in a corner of a room. The reason behind this is to generate a big impact on the viewer. Putting this model in an exhibition format makes me question, would an audience be more aware and feel different towards the homeless man here compared to if he was outside on the street?

I am still going to cut some bits out as its just over a page and need it to be 1 side of A4.

First part of my essay

Ive been concentrating of parts of my essay to make sure that it connects well with my question I am asking.

This is the introduction to my essay:

How successful is collaborative art compared with solitary practice?

Fig 1. John Wood Paul Harrison, UK 1997, Performance art, 3 minutes 39 seconds, colour, sound, video

 

The idea of collaboration is working in the format of a team, sharing ideas and gathering understanding to generate a well structured and thematic composition. In this essay I will highlight comparisons between working as an individual and collaborating with others and whether each display successful traits.

(Fig 1) is a performance piece of art choreographed by John Wood and Paul Harrison which throughout they worked together to dodge the tennis balls launched at them. This collaborative source allowed them to channel each other’s thoughts directing them towards an action (e.g. moving side to side). 

An online newspaper named ‘Art Daily’ states ‘Answers to Questions provides insight into the way the pair’s work has developed throughout their career’ (artdaily 2012). There are numerous problems and questions that practicing artists encounter in the studio. Wood and Harrison engage with such inquiries and through controlled fun investigations reveal the answer of which they produce art. When questions arise, in many cases an additional point of view helps to resolve any queries, therefore this could be seen as a successful trait in a collaborative situation. 

Collaborative art is an interesting element as it is producing something that goes beyond the ability of a solitary practice. 

I will now do some more research and see how I can connect collaborative artists with solitary practices!

Charcoal drawing!

Ive decided to go back and revisit my charcoal drawings from at the beginning of the first semester. With me redirecting my concentration on homeless people, I think charcoal is really effective in bringing out feelings and atmosphere.

Plus I have been thinking of my final piece and the picture that I have drawn of a homeless man curled up on the street in charcoal, I might turn into a sculpture!

This is the charcoal drawing that I have produced:

It was difficult in some areas to get back into charcoal as I haven't used it for a year but after revisiting it, I definatly want to explore deeper into this medium and play around with some experiments over the summer.