Experiments

Images of experiments:

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 7.

8.

1. I started off my project photographing objects and places of interest. Cypriot doorways have always been an interest of mine, as they remind me of home and my childhood of my dad painting these doorways. To me, I've always like the textural qualities in the images and this is something I used as a starting point. I started building a doorway of my own, but abandoned it early, as I felt it I wasn't achieving the qualities which interested me.

2. I experimented further with card, weaving and playing with different materials, yet again I wasn't pleased with its outcome.

3. I found a piece of driftwood and tried adding textures to it with wax and sticks. In hindsight, I preferred the wood as it was.

4. I started looking at my images of the car doors and really liked the abstract qualities, and the way they seemed almost like a painting. I wanted to explore trying to create some of the effects of the metal. I felt that wax had quite interesting possibilities and played around with layering it over paint.

5. I really liked the idea of layering, so I placed coloured tissue paper in between the layers of wax to see what would happen. The process reminded me slightly of the work by Chris Ofili in the way his work is built from layers.

6. I played around with stenciling a piece of found wood, and then pressed it onto bits of wax I had coloured with powder paint. I felt the outcome wasn't that good, so I abandoned this idea.

7. Using the car doors as reference I was trying to achieve the surface textures of the metal. i used powder paint, and liked the way it had dried so I used a spray varnish to keep it in place.

8. I really liked the textures in experiment 7 so pushed the idea of wax, working on a larger scale. The car doors abstract qualities reminded me of Mark Rothko paintings and used this as a reference when making this piece.

My Book- Urban Surfaces

http://www.lulu.com/product/hardcover/urban-surfaces/12923199?productTrackingContext=search_results/search_shelf/center/1

I am fairly pleased with how my book turned out. I wanted to experiment with how my photography could be displayed, and felt that a book was a good way to display a large collection. 

Walker Gallery- Michael Miller

Michael Miller's 'Suspended Animation' I thought was quite interesting. From afar it appears to be a large black smudge. It reminded me of laminating that had gone wrong, a giant finger print, or when paint bubbles and drips.

To me the piece displays movement. The artist has used a black gloss, maybe to make the paint seem still wet, so its as though you, the viewer, are at that moment watching the paint drip down.

I really enjoyed the surface textures within the piece, as this is something I have a keen interest in. It reminded me slightly of my work in the way the artist had captured a paint drip which many people would disregard, or even think it unsightly, and had chosen to display it as a work of art.

Formative Assessment- October 28th

I found that I was really interested in the idea of found objects as well as  my photography so it was suggested that I maybe combine the two.

I had previously made box frames out of found pieces of wood and had made canvases to fit inside them, which I had tried out experiments on. I felt that these experiments didn't work and weren’t representing what I had intended.

I went to the Walker Gallery and came across Jost Muenster's 'To The Left' which comprises of mixed media on wood, positioned in a grid like format. The artist plays with the idea of composition. I really liked this idea and the effect it gave.

I removed the canvases and looked at the frames becoming a means to display my photography. I played around with the formation of the box frames, and feel that this works better than the previous canvases.

I intend to look more into the idea of displaying my imagery and look at how other photographers have done so.

Feedback review- 0ctober 20th

Throughout my experiments I found myself trying to recreate imagery from my photographic work. I found that I was never happy with the outcome of these experiments, as they were never as good as the original image. So I thought 'why remake something that already exists as a found object?'

I have always preferred my photography as a final piece in itself, but lacked the confidence to do so, as well as feeling that it was maybe too easy to do this.

In my feedback it was suggested to have more confidence in my work and to explore the possibility of photography further. I was also advised to look at relevant photographers work for ideas as well as for presentation purposes.

From here I want to look at ways in which my photography could be displayed as well as editing the images and selecting the ones I feel most powerful.

Do Ho Suh

Andy Holden

Holden displayed a series of six sound pieces, some accompanied with film or other visual elements titled 'Three short works in time.' The works purpose was exploring the relationship between sculpture and a duration in time.

I don't know what it was but I just didn't get the work- as controversial it may seem! I couldn't understand the correlation between shots of a sculpture, ducks, and then a what appeared to be a BBQ? It all went a bit over my head and I felt it was all a bit random. 

To me the most joy occurred when the the marbles kept accidently dropping on the floor, creating some really interesting acoustics in my opinion. Also the orchester were amazing and made me leave feeling I wish I had stuck at learning the piano.

In my opinion I prefer Holden's sculptural work more. Maybe because I get it? To me its visually interesting. Or maybe Holden explored the duration of time a bit longer than he should have?