Cantina Exhibition

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=367855954513&index=1

I forgot how close this exhibition was when I signed up to be part of it ! Anyway I decided to work more on my Yellow Pages sculpture and make some others to go with it ! Mainly because I have nothing else I could actually show and I do really like this piece of work.

Yesterday I dedicated my time to making more sculptures and this went down pretty well as I ended up producing 4 other ones ! 2 medium sized and 2 small – the small ones constructed from using half a yellow page instead of the full ones. To begin with I had no idea how I would display the sculpture (or even if I would produce any more to go with it !) however I thought of the idea of suspending them from above. My flat mates mentioned that the original sculpture I produced would be good as a light and this is what sparked the idea of hanging the sculpture / producing more to be suspended with it.

Although I produced 4 more sculptures yesterday I only hung them all today. Yesterday I played around a bit with hanging the ones I produced in the morning – this was interesting ! Before yesterday I had no clue of how I could actually hang them – I knew I wanted to use fishing wire but how this was going to be attached I had no idea ! Anyway I decided to stitch through the top of the sculptures and this seemed to work pretty well !

Thankfully and to my surprise they were still there hanging this morning! Hanging the few up I produced yesterday morning allowed me to get an idea of how many would look good together and also what size they should be ! The one on the left obviously needed more adding to it – however I liked the size of it and this is what sparked me to produce two sculptures using half a yellow page rather than a full one ! I thought 5 would be a good number – partly because I had no time to make any more but I think 5 is not too many / not to little !

I really think the sculptures look best when viewed from underneath / down low. In the cantina I am expecting to be able to hand them higher up so the tops of sculptures aren’t as visible. Although I don’t mind the sculptures not being completely round– I think they would look better when hung higher.

After deciding to produce two smaller sculptures I came in today and experimented hanging them in different positions

This is before I worked more onto the top left sculpture – seeing them all together definitely confirmed it needed some more pages – it looked too odd ! At first I wanted to work more onto the others as well so there wasn't such a flat top however I like the random wavy shapes each one has at the top and I think if I was to work more onto them they would become too spherical and uninteresting.

I do like it better with more pages added, however I did like the size differences before adding the pages ! It may just be the composition though – because in this picture it is slightly altered ! I think I will move the one currently furthest left – back over to were it was before I added to it.

When I display them in the cantina I also think I will try and display them overlapping each other more as hopefully with the higher elevation I will be able to play around with the heights them and this will allow some to be above / below each other etc – rather than more or less just next to each other horizontally. (Quite hard to describe ! ) Now I also need to come up with a name for my installation piece, and possibly a piece of text to go with them ! I don’t want people to think their just pretty little sculptures made for the sake of it. The whole idea comes from disregarding everyday objects for what they are and simply taking them for granted, not looking at them twice. I do have an explanation for this piece of work in my head – it’s just getting it out and writing it down that's the hard part !

Boxes !

It was a bit silly missing my wood workshop induction ! However I did feel pretty ill and it was probably a good idea I didn’t use any dangerous machinery that day ! Anyway it didn’t seem to matter too much that I missed it as when I went down to Alan to ask about how to create these boxes for my sculptures he was very helpful and showed me everything I needed to do ! I didn’t realise how complicated it would be to make some boxes however ! When coming up with measurements / sizes for the different pieces of wood I needed I had to take into consideration the thickness of the wood etc ! This was a really good exercise  though and I’m glad Alan didn’t just quickly work it out for me as I feel now I could make frames / boxes with no trouble at all and I’m sure I will need to further on in my course / practice ! After I had decided how big I wanted each box and how I was going to put it together I then cut out all the pieces of wood using the band saw. I then constructed the boxes using wood glue / pins as they were only pretty small so didn’t need anything more substantial !

Now that I have made them I’m unsure what I want to do with them. I will decorate them in some way I’m just unsure on how to. They cannot be too heavily decorated as this will distract the eye from the sculptures themselves. One of the main reasons for presenting the found object sculptures in this way is to give them more significance as an actual piece of art – so they can be admired for the things that they are. Normally the objects would be just dismissed and not given a second glance. Although I have altered the objects and combined them with others to give them more visual appeal, I still think they need to be displayed in a more enhanced way to give them more presence and importance as things of beauty in their own right.

This is the problem when working in different ways. I don’t like my work to be separate. I like to combine the different ways in which I have been working. In the past this has seemed to produce some good results, however I’m unsure if combining the print pieces with the sculptures will be successful. I don’t want to try too hard to combine them just for the sake of thinking I have to, to have a final result for this project. I understand that there will always be many outcomes to a project – it’s just usually aspects from each different area I have worked in normally interweave / combine to produce a more rounded and broad end result. I don’t like how separate the printmaking work I have been producing is so different from the sculptural things I have been working on and even the drawings in my sketchbook for that matter !

I do worry too much about things like this – and things in general for that matter ! I think it would be a good idea to take everything down off my studio wall (the stuff I put up at the start for inspiration) and then start putting up the work I have been producing so I can really look at it and see were I can go from there. I know you learn new processes and techniques all the time but I don’t think I will learn anything too drastically new now that will make me want to combine that also into my work so hopefully it should now be easier to develop on what I have been doing. Rather than thinking I can develop on it then all of a sudden learn a whole new technique / process to complicate things more ! See below for the boxes I made – this was just after they were made, hence the glue around the edges!

 

   

I think I will probably end up making another sculpture just to make the series a 5 rather than a 4 ! 

Prints

As I mentioned previously I was going to produce some prints using the woodcut prints I made on tissue paper last week using the process of chine colle. On Monday Arthur gave me a mini demonstration on how exactly to work in this way. I first inked up my etching plate and prepared some fresh paper. I then positioned the etching plate on the press (facing upwards). Using photo-mount I then sprayed one of the woodcut prints I had made (on the back) and positioned it onto the plate with the sticky side facing upwards. The paper was then placed over the top and put through the press. Arthur assisted me a lot with my first print which is why it is so straight ! However my second print I produced alone (which is why its not straight at all ! ) This is something which I think takes practice – even though it’s such a simple thing ! Below are the two prints I have produced so far using this technique.

 

 

When I produced my first print I was pretty impressed with the results. Arthur seemed really keen on the print as well. I just wasn’t sure about the colour ! This is why on my second print I wanted to try something a bit less subtle – something a bit more strong ! I mixed a rusty brown / orange colour and made my second print with this colour. The colours work better in the second print (in my opinion) – It’s just a shame that I never got it straight ! I think it must have been when I was placing the paper over the plate / woodcut print that things got a bit messed up. The colours of both prints in the second one are pretty similar but it is this worn / weathered look I really like and it’s hard to get two different colours that are not similar when trying to achieve this kind of look.

I had another tutorial yesterday and I was speaking to Arthur about the prints. He was much more enthusiastic about the first print. He said how he liked the way the blue-ish grey colour in the first print was visible over the top of the woodcut print. I do like this as well – I’m just a bit unsure of the blue tone – maybe if it was more grey it would appeal to me more.  In the second print because the colours are too similar you cannot really see the etching print over the woodcut print (only in the white areas). I think if I produce more prints in this way I will take this factor into consideration ! Another thing I will take into consideration is the colour of paper – I have always just thought of printing on white – but using the tan coloured paper due to Arthurs input really opened my eyes to how much the colour of paper can make such a difference to a print !

During my tutorial we spoke of were I was going to go from here. Each week I seem to learn more techniques and processes and even though each time I write on this blog I say its time to take a step back and look at everything I think now it really is ! I mentioned to Arthur how at the beginning of the project I wanted to do more sculptural things and how although I have really enjoyed learning the different print processes I’m unsure if this was the way I would of gone. I spoke again about the idea of making boxes for the sculptures I made from some of the objects I found – and he said I should go and do this before thinking about were to go next – also because the workshop is starting to get a lot busier with assessments coming up etc ! The only problem is – I want to bring both the sculptures / photographs / drawings / prints together. Arthur did mention about decorating the boxes but I just don’t know how I’d go about this at the moment ! I’m going to write a new post about this anyway. I made the boxes yesterday and I’m pretty pleased with how they turned out / the fact I actually made them all in a day without having been in the workshop at all before yesterday !

Bringing everything together

I feel like I haven’t stopped ! I have been organising “VISUALYSE” - a collective art night for everyone at DoJ  along with a girl from time based art (Sylvia) which has involved a lot of input lately – it’s been very stressful but I think the night should be worth it as its looking like it will be pretty awesome ! Artists / designers from the college shall be displaying work on the night as well as there being a great line up of music (DJ’s and acoustics - all students at DoJ). There were also be VJ’s who will be generating experimental visuals to accompany the music, as well as a chill out tent featuring films from DoJ artists and large boards for live art to be produced on the night ! Check out the link to the events page – VISUALYSE !

So along with trying to bring everything together and finalise things for Visualyse I also need to bring all my different techniques and ideas together so I can create some interesting works ! I had another tutorial today which went pretty well and got some ideas rolling. I plan to produce some woodcut prints tomorrow on some Japanese tissue paper which I will then chine colle onto my existing etching prints. I plan to build up layers using the large etching prints as a basis through collage, drawing and reprinting over them. Once I have produced some of these works I will then look at how I can incorporate the sculptures produced from found objects into them. I tried placing some of the sculptures I have created, directly onto the large etching print just to see how it looked – and it seemed to work pretty well ! Another possibility is to create frames / boxes to display the sculptures in with prints covering the boxes – or even making paper boxes / frames using the prints to display the sculptures in ! I shall post some pics up once I start making the collage / print pieces !

Secret Location !

I was taken around a secret abandoned building today ! I can’t say were it was ……as I’ve been told not to haha ! But it was amazing ! It’s so perfect for my project ! There is so much I can collect and photograph within it ! I’m planning on going on a big scavenger hunt there soon and collecting lots of stuff that I can use to make more sculptures !  There was also lots of nice textures and patterns I found there along with interesting objects that I wouldn't be able to move but could photograph ! Below are just a few pictures I took today at the secret building !

   

       

   

 

I found just even walking around this building so inspiring. There was so much there that related to my project ! Firstly the building itself is something that was found by one of my friends…and then all of the found and hidden beauty that’s just been abandoned and left ! The lighting in there was amazing – especially on such a nice day like today. Because some lights were not working natural light from other rooms poured into the hallways and some rooms were more brightly lit than others depending on the dirtiness of the windows – with the more dirty windows causing  more subtle and diffused lighting. I think my next visit there will be even more beneficial – I will be able to collect discarded objects which I can use in new sculptures and get some nice photo’s using my tripod. Hopefully I can get back there tomorrow but we shall see !

Found Object Sculptures

These are some of the small sculptures I made using found objects I have collected. I need to collect some more objects I think as it’s started to get to the point were I don’t know what I could make using the objects remaining on my desk ! I really enjoyed creating these…..that process of selecting different random objects to put together and making them work with each other. In a normal situation the objects used in conjunction with each other in the sculptures I have created wouldn't be seen together. I think this is what makes them interesting !

   

 

Some close ups………

 

So……

I’m at that brick wall at the moment. I need to climb over it !

What have I done so far in this project ?

• Took photo’s of found objects (over Christmas – couldn't actually collect them)
• Used photo’s for inspiration to draw from
• Collected found objects in Dundee (from wasteland next to Seabraes)
• Assembled found objects collected in specific way and photographed them.
• Etching – both detailed (images drawn from photo’s) and more random prints (using turps and objects to remove hard ground from plate)
• Woodcut prints – using images drawn from photos of found objects
• Worked on top of found newsprint (stuck down in sketchbook) developing on patterns found within the newsprint and also producing observational drawings from found object photo’s.
• Paper Art – using pages from Yellow Pages to create paper sculpture.
• Began producing sculptures / work using found objects themselves (yet to upload pictures)

I have actually done quite a bit so far in this project although I do sometimes think I could have done more / got further with where I actually want to go ! Last week was an open tutorial week were we could sign up with any tutor we liked. I thought this would be a good opportunity to get a different opinion on my work and discuss were I wanted to go now. I signed up with Aileen as she had been my tutor once before in the “drawing project” and I had found her ideas and opinions very useful and inspiring. She asked what I had been up to so I explained to her about what my project was all about, showed her the found newsprint which was my initial inspiration and then went on to show her the prints I had been making. I also showed her my visual sketchbook and explained why I was keeping my two sketchbooks separate – she seemed to like this idea and completely understood were I was coming from. She reassured me that there was no problem with writing and it can be just as equal to drawing when it comes down to art practice. The random qualities and marks that are found in the newsprint within my visual sketchbook she seemed to particularly like.

Aileen asked me were I wanted to go from here and I explained how although I have enjoyed learning the processes of different print methods and do like the outcomes it’s not necessarily were I thought I would be heading in this project and how I was unsure if it was the direction I wanted to move forward in. Aileen had noticed the artists who I’d been looking at originally in my sketchbook and I explained to her that in my original statement I talked about how I wanted to explore sculpture. This obviously led onto her asking me why hadn’t I been doing it ! I couldn’t answer this as I was asking myself this question ! Why hadn’t I ? I don’t know….because I have wanted to get into it but I have been too busy learning different print methods ! Yes I have enjoyed learning these methods and I think I will use them further in this project however I think it’s now a good idea to experiment with what I had originally wanted to.  Aileen said it would be a good idea to go ahead and start constructing different sculptures (similar to that of Dianne Cooper – one of the artists who I had originally looked at) using the Found Objects that I had collected on my desk and to use this idea of assembling them together in similar ways to what I had already (to photograph them) – but making these  constructions permanent.

I think for now this is what I’m going to carry on doing for a bit – constructing sculptures out of the found objects I have collected. I really enjoyed making the ones I have already and particularly liked how there was no planning involved (like there is in print). I think this is maybe what I have missed – the lack of planning. I’m used to producing work were I don’t have to sit down and necessarily think of how I am going to put the piece of work together or what I have to do to get a certain result. I can also use these structures to then draw from and photograph. I will then take a look of what I have done and see were I want to go. It may be that I use sculpture and print together in some way, using the different printing techniques I have learned. I’m unsure how I will do this at the moment but I think this may be quite an interesting way forward – we shall see ! When I get to that point I shall look at everything that I have done and figure out even if I want to combine methods – this may not work ! Or if I do….how will this be done so I can produce pieces which I like and which I will enjoy working on ?!