04/09/17

Day one at CSM.A lot of information. Foundation will really push me out of my comfort zone, I am so used to fixating on one project endlessly (perhaps for at least 6 months) and being so particular about the ways that I display my work. Today we were introduced to a new way of thinking with the "ideas factory" project.

We were working in groups of three or four, (mine consisting of myself,Asher and Tom from FA 2). We were told to select one word from each of the three lists provided. With our three words, we were told to generate ten ideas in a small amount of time. We pondered for a while over selecting "Sensualism" or "Utopianism", though one of the members of our team believed we would get the most "mileage" out of n the word "Sensualism", we ended up going with Utopianism - reason being "Utopianism" appeared to be more abstract and we all had different interpretations of the word (whereas we felt that the word "Sensualism" is thrown around far more).

After some time, we landed on the words "Utopianism","Wool" and "Wear".

We all had very similar interpretations of "Utopianism" with Asher using Burgess' "1985" novel as an example of his perception of "Utopianism". Tom compared "Utopianism" to the matrix, I felt that "Utopianism" is like a game of "Simon says" and is related to control and surveillance.

We went on to think more about the idea of control linking to "Utopianism", I suggested that "wool" could be used more metaphorically by implying that people are sheep (followers) that are easily controlled (which tied in with Asher's 1985 and Tom's Matrix suggestions). We then linked all of these ideas to my suggestion of "Simon Says".

When thinking a bit more about control and sheep (symbolic of followers), I spoke about the idea that farmed sheep are all stamped with a badge/number on their wool for identification which made them all seem uniform. We then thought more about a time in history where people were controlled through identification and thought about the Holocaust atrocity when Jewish people were legally forced to wear the star of David on their clothing in public (this led to the idea of dystopia).

The overall outcome that we presented was the idea that everybody would have to wear a clear acetate box fastened around their necks, filled with wool and the words "Simon says".

 If I had more time, I might have considered a performance piece using the idea of "Simon says" and the acetate boxes to put forward the idea of utopia ultimately becoming dystopia. Through performance, I believe this could make people feel slightly uncomfortable by visualising a world without any identity/ a world where everybody conformed.

 

 

7/09/17

After some independent research, splitting from the group, I decided to narrow my research about Utopia becoming a dystopia. A lot of my personal research is now about indoctrination. The way that one person can create something terrible by trying to implement their personal idea of Utopia on different people with different norms and ideals - which in my opinion will always end in Dystopia

It's fascinating to think about Utopia as being something which is so subjective, for example if somebody was a leader in charge of controlling the world and they had a set of expectations that seem to be good/perfect, there would always be somebody in the world with a preference towards evil/ "bad" things that would end up living in their own version of Dystopia.

An extreme example would be Fascist German Fuhrer, Adolf Hitler who attempted to achieve Utopia by eliminating diversity in German society.

18/09/17

Today we were introduced to the idea of collections. During my time on the insights programme leading up to the foundation, I had been asked to work on a collection with a very similar project - though I feel it is a good thing to repeat the project, there are always so many ideas around the brief which is quite open. I now have another chance to create something completely new around this brief.

Alan and Susan took us through a powerpoint presentation demonstrating the ways that artists have gone about collecting as a form of fine art, this sparked many ideas.

Being somebody that is more inclined towards the 4D element of Fine Art, Taryn Simons' 2002, "the innocents" (from my understanding a collection of photographs of people that had been wrongly convicted through photographic "evidence", I was really amused by the mystery around the credibility of photography. For example, the photographs taken of the former inmates were fabrications, yet the artist has chosen photography as her medium for capturing the stories of the subjects).

 

Another example of collections that I took great interest in was Dieter Roth's 1975-76 "Flat Waste" (Roth collected and in essence "archived" pieces of flat waste that he used daily with his only rule being that the size of the objects were no more than 5mm. Roth went through 623 binders of this waste). I an inclined to like this piece as something that might usually create mess and disorganisation (essentially "rubbish") has been sorted in such a rigid fashion. I admire Roth's discipline for committing to his collection for a long period of time, in my opinion, this is what makes the piece so successful as over time, the viewer can get to know Roth through his patterns with the waste - perhaps he was dependent on something throughout the year (take a packet of cigarettes from one brand for example) this work would, in essence, become a portrait of the artist and their tendencies.

 

After the research presentation, we were sent to consider something to collect in/around Archway as a starting point for our collections project within two hours. Coincidentally it happened to be during the "lunch" hour for restless business people and mums scrambling to hand their squawking infants a bottle of juice, I wanted to take advantage of what was happening "naturally". I collected photographs of people grabbing at foods/drinks and rushing. I found that the hands were quite interesting, the ways that people would cling to things with  desperation to consume things in a way that seemed robotic.

Something that I learnt from the collections exercise today in Archway (from my fellow students) is that I am more interested in the collection of items that aren't necessarily beautiful or desirable, something slightly unconventional to collect interests me the most.

Personally I would be far less interested in my personal collection of lipsticks from a popular brand, I would be led to believe that this collection might relate to social desirability and the influence of the media that makes luxury items desirable...I want it to be slightly confusing as to why I might have decided to collect the items that I will present.

Despite having taken the above photos, I have decided to take the hands, more specifically the nails and think about these as my collection that will materialise tomorrow.brainstorm.png

20/09/17

In groups we decided to go through our bags and remove random objects which we would then order from "most important" to "least important".Naturally this posed an issue as we all valued different items more than others. The items to the far left were deemed most important, the least are on the far right. I personally did not feel that cigarettes were more important than water in the grand scheme of things, though the smokers on our table stood firm in this decision. It went to show that we all have very different perceptions of what is "important" and why. I went about the organisation in a literal sense, where I would have placed water at the beginning for basic survival and cigarettes along time line for recreation.

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21/09/17

After researching around objects that were collected for sentimental value, things that could be thought of as a little unconventional (for example a vial of your spouse's blood worn as a necklace). I thought about how I might collect something that could be sentimental to me but strange or somewhat gross to others.

I decided primarily to collect nails of my mother and two sisters. I left my mother with three clinical-looking containers and communicated my instructions to everybody via text message (my two sisters live with my father). The process in itself felt quite clinical. 

The text message:

messageaboutnails.jpg

As we are apart, we often use this group chat to communicate, (often to share jokes or to ask a sibling to print some work for us at midnight). This time I kept the message prompt and to the point, in attempt to make the act of placing these nails in their little jars quite clinical and far removed. Initially I was going to place the nails into clear gelatin to mimic something I had seen in science class as a young child (something to do with the use of a petri dish and clear jelly) but I changed my mind. I decided I was going to preserve the nails in the jelly that we would make together so often as children (childish vivid red jelly). In a way by preserving the nails in the red jelly, I wanted to create the idea of keeping something belonging to these three individuals in my life (the nails) preserved in something that I had so many fond memories of making as a child. In a way, I preserved those people in memories. 

The process of making the jelly for me brought back memories and almost became a part of the work in itself, I can't remember the last time I made jelly using the fluorescent Hartley's cubes, I was very young the last time I did this... I remember my sister biting into a concentrated red cube of the jelly whilst my mum's back was turned.

For presentation of this piece, due to the tiny scale of the jellies, I wanted to display the three jellies in a row on a high white plinth (I did not manage to do so since I was unwell). However, I decided I would photograph these outcomes in a row against a white background. I used stark flash photography so that the nails within the jelly would stand out.

This whole idea came about after I collected photographs of people grasping food during rush hour, I reflected on this work and wondered whether there could be a way for me to combine the idea of the nails with a food of sorts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My final outcome

Experimentation with outcome

Collections overview 22/09/17

Having been unwell on today's lesson, I was unable to actually present the work in the way that I had envisioned…I considered having the three jellies with nails in them boosted on a tall plinth all in a perfect line as a trio. I feel that the plinth would have transformed the “every day” jellies into peculiar wobbly sculptures. By putting the jellies that I associate with memories of my childhood and fingernails which also represent the people I have made those memories with on a plinth, those memories/sentimental factors would have disappeared slightly and the overall piece might have looked more clinical and distant (plinths make me think of a formal gallery set up).

I attempted to document the work as best I could by photographing the jellies in a line on a white background. I was a little frustrated that the jellies did not come out of the moulds that I had placed in them evenly, I wanted to create a uniform effect though when I ran the knife around the circumference of the moulds, I hacked into bits of the jelly and created something quite asymmetrical - I suppose the fact that they are imperfect and made out of literal memories (jelly and love one’s nails) could be of interest as it is like marrying something private and personal to something quite “perfect” and “appropriate for the gallery” ( a white plinth)…I hope this makes sense? So many thoughts circling around this piece.


In a sense, I have used the jelly as a case (in the way you might use acrylic to make a box to hold something), the jelly in essence is both preserving the literal memories of the people I hold close to me whilst being a memory itself. I remember standing on a chair in my grandma’s crowded kitchen on one of those shaky metal chairs that she has held onto for years on end and breaking up these wonderfully artificial cubes of jelly - my siblings and I would almost always bite into a concentrated cube of jelly out of lack of patience, these jelly “sculptures” are equally memories in themselves as they are cases for the DNA element of nails (representing the people in a literal sense).


I suppose I have been fighting myself a little bit on this work, I want to push myself and my capabilities…sometimes I think that this means creating something elaborate and technically complicated, but deep down I know this is not the case for me. I am working on myself everyday. Working on my ability to be confident in the small things I am creating and large alike. I want to have the ability to create something that might appear small and uncomplicated and present it with confidence when “crit” comes around - confident in the message and the reasoning for the work I am creating.

I feel that the piece could have been improved through documentation of the “sculptures” on a plinth in a more formal set-up. I would also potentially have experimented with what else could have been inside the jelly - be it flavours that trigger childhood memories/other objects.

Material news

Day 1 of material news. I came in with a pile of newspapers - the Sun (which I am not a huge fan of), the mirror, the daily standard…. I did not have a clue today initially about material news and how to approach this. My background within art at this early stage is not hugely technical or sculptural, but I wanted to attempt something a little out of my comfort-zone.

After the lecture and a little more thinking/procrastinating, I started to consider the ways that I have seen newspaper being used functionally (as opposed to my usual approach which would probably naturally have been to consider the words and stories explicitly and question these). I thought a little bit about how I have seen many homeless people using newspaper as a barrier between themselves and the ground/bedding…though newspaper is not the most useful resource, it is highly accessibly for free often on the streets. I thought about how you might go about creating a more “plush” duvet using newspaper.

My first experiment was actually with creating a pair of slippers using cardboard that I found outside in a skip to create the internal padding and newspaper as the outside print/layer.

I didn’t realise it then, but realise now that I was carefully selecting pieces from the paper that I found visually or verbally interesting to make the “print” for the slippers. I suppose that is what news is all about - selecting the intriguing details and amplifying these whilst erasing the important yet mundane information and distorting the stories.Though I am very critical and not pleased with the outcome of the slippers, I am pleased with the making process as I feel it embodies everything that modern news is about.

Material news outcome recap


For the piece ,I wanted to create an installation of a bed with a padded newspaper duvet that could be functioning. I feel like I could have done better. I got a blow-up bed to form the base of this piece, but assumed that the accompanying pump would come with this - it didn’t. I attempted to track down a pump to create the bed but this did not go to plan, I was a little disheartened.

I went to look around the courtyard to seek some more inspiration for the project. I was quite exited when I came across this (pictured below), I immediately started to think about how I could design the bed with the idea of being able to wheel it around the streets - a travelling bed. I thought it was something we could use for work, but it is something that the caretakers use for transporting equipment around the building. If I was able to use the thing (pictured below) I would have liked to have created the bed on top of it and have it serve as a bed frame that can also be transported to different locations (which I feel would be a good feature for a bed on the streets).

Since I couldn't access what was pictured below, I feel that I could learn how to use the metal workshop efficiently to replicate similar, if I am able to do this project over in the future. I struggled a bit with material news as I wanted to create something quite sculptural and personally challenging but lacked in confidence using big machines and equipment. Upon reflection, I would like to take some time to get to know how to use these devices to best inform my choices when deciding what outcome might be suitable for each project. I do not want to limit myself with what processes I can use at this early stage.

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 This is a project I would most like to forget. I feel like I have let myself down with this outcome. As Thursday came around, I had not been successful in blowing up the bed, sourcing the portable bed-frame, but I had a make-shift very rough newspaper "duvet" (which I suppose could be confused with one large newspaper made up of many smaller ones).

 

 

 

Material news outcome recap

Looking at this project with a clearer head, I can take something from the mistakes I have made. I will now try my best to plan sourcing what I need for the project with greater efficiency, I will also take some time to familiarise myself with the various workshops and how I might go about utilising what is available to improve my work. My previous college did not have all of the devices that I am now able to access, so I am a total beginner with all of this new equipment and have much to learn.

02/10/17

Re-edit is our project this week. I am so pleased to be spending time re-editing found footage as this is a subject that I enjoy greatly (I am considering specialising in Fine Art 4D).

Over the weekend I thought I might try to edit some found footage out of leisure, I happened to be listening to Lady Gaga's "G.U.Y", "touch me, touch me, don't be sweet,love me,love me. Please retweet”…in that moment (strange as it may sound) Donald Trump came to mind. I thought about all that has surfaced in the media regarding Donald Trump’s derogatory sexual nature towards women (“touch me, touch me, don’t be sweet”) and then I thought about how much
Trump adores the modern phenomena that is “tweeting” (“please retweet”).

I feel that these lyrics almost embody Trump’s inappropriate and attention-seeking tendencies. I wanted to create an edited video of Donald Trump almost “singing” these lyrics (I spent a few hours watching Trump speeches, waiting for him to say a word e.g.-touch and then cutting the word out and piecing them together using Adobe Premier cut pro).

I suppose in a way, I did want to make a statement about how incompetent Trump is as a president and how concerning he is - I wanted to put this forward in a fun tongue-and-cheek way.

Re-edit final piece

Altered spaces - mixed media

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I created this piece using an A2 mountboard as the base, I then layered on vivid blue card to act as an artificial sky, to this I added an enlarged photograph of myself, I used a craft knife to remove the phone that I had been clasping in my hands and replaced this with brash blue glitter. I then positioned the cut image of myself over an enlarged photograph of the parthenon ensuring that I appeared to be significantly larger.

Altered spaces - Outcome and "crit"

 

 

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(Mixed-media piece with video beneath and bluetooth headphones).

The video beneath the mixed-media piece plays a collection of "vlogs" of the Acropolis sourced on youtube through independent/indie uploaders.

23/10/17

So it's the beginning of place and I've been thinking about the idea of making something 3D. I like the challenge of making a piece that might occupy more space than anything that I have made in the previous weeks. Something about the space in Kings Cross is tempting me to create an installation of sorts. I tried and failed during material news to make an installation I was pleased with and was tempted to leave installation for a bit and revert to my film and photography comfort blanket ( which I still love , FYI) - but I won't for the week. Place feels like the perfect opportunity to work in 3D and think about the ways that the placement of said piece will be affected by relocation. 

 

Random as it may seem, I have been seeing a lot of information videos online about pollution and the ocean. More specifically the effects of glass bottles and aluminium cans (beers and cokes) piling up in the sea and harming sea life. 

 

The primer exercise prompted me to draw a map from memory, I opted for one of my favourite holiday locations - Skiathos , a remote Greek island surrounded by the Aegean Sea. As stunning and serene as Skiathos is, I saw a ton of cans and beer bottles being tossed into the ocean and washing up on the shores after their beach parties. 

 

I attended many of these beach parties whilst on the island, I personally would not have littered in the ocean but in a way I participated in an event that always resulted in littering - so perhaps I am an active participant in this destruction?

 

I like the idea of unconscious participation. 

 

I thought up three ideas today:

  • My first idea was to get many glasses and fill them with sand, chunks of green beer bottle glass, murky water and seaweed. I was going to simply display these in a large acrylic box in rows and place the box on the floor so that viewers could look down inside the glasses. I visited the workshop and consulted with the technician and she advised that creating an acrylic box of the appropriate scale would cost £78 (£13X6 sheets) and to consider sourcing a ready-made box that was within budget. 
  • My second idea was  build off of the first, though it was more of a performance piece. I would have the clear box  that I have sourced on the ground. I would then fill the glasses with the mixture of sand ,seaweed and murky water and throw them with force into the box so that they smashed  one by one - leaving a glass box filled with murky water and smashed glasses. 
  • My third idea was exactly the same as the first ( the glasses lined up filled with mixture inside the clear box) though the one difference would be the participation. I would have a large sheet of plastic over the top of the box, concealing the contents and working as a "table-top". I would welcome people to sit on the ground , either side of the box as if it was a table and drink a cold beer/coke at the "table" knowing what was inside it. 

 

 

24/10/17

 Today we did various health and safety within Fine-Art exercises, naturally it made me re-think the safety of my options. Consequently, idea number two (the one where I would proceed to throw glasses into an acrylic box) is off the table.

As much as I would love to attempt the performance piece, I am now overly paranoid that the shards of glass might fly everywhere and injure someone - that one's off the table.

I will think of a new idea that involves the main points that I would like to explore - participation and unconscious contribution towards negative consequences.

I would like to take advantage of the fact that we are not just showing to our groups, but to a larger (somewhat) public CSM audience and would like to see if I can incorporate participation as this will be the largest audience I have faced during my foundation as of yet. I also think that participation makes sense when thinking about my personal experiences and the beach parties that resulted in trashed beaches.

I have, however decided to not use any sand within the project as I don't think I would be able to dispose of it effectively after it is submerged in the water and becomes thick and clumpy.                                                                                    

 

26/10/17

Proposal:

I propose to create an installation piece that relies on participation.

Using a 30X60x29 box as a table on the ground. On either side of the box will be a grey cushion for participants to sit on (max 2 participants per time)

The box will be filled with water, seaweed and small dead floating fish.

I wil ask participants to select a can of beer/coke to drink, they will sit opposite each other and drink their beverage. Once they are finished, they will be instructed to remove the lid of the "table" (box) and place their cans inside - at which point they will be confronted with the dead fish, water and seaweed.

 

The instructions that I will provide the participants with will be printed and laminated, they will read:

  • Please help yourself to a free beer/Coca-Cola.
  • Sit opposite each other at the table on the cushions and enjoy your drink.
  • Once finished- please open the lid of the table (move the table cloth) and dispose of your cans inside.
  • Close the lid and reassemble the table-cloth/set-up.

29/10/17

Today I went out to source the materials for the installation I decided on.

I decided that the best option for a box that will double-up as a table was IKEA. After checking out MUJI for a clear acrylic box, I had no luck finding one that was the right size and price. I am trying to be as resourceful as I can. I guess installation work can be a little daunting for one reason - there always seems to be some sort of cost involved, even if you are buying wood to make your box...I am trying to see if I can execute this concept as effectively as I can on a budget that I can work with.

After thinking about my final proposal idea, I decided that I didn't want participants to see inside the box until the end of their experience, I ran into a few issues. I found a box at IKEA (Samla) that was the perfect size with wheels which would aid transportation ( I have been thinking a lot about transportation and how heavy the box will be when filled with water) the only problem is the box is completely transparent and I have decided against this. I think that if the box is transparent, the all-important element of subconscious contribution to the problem of pollution would be far too obvious and become a very conscious action. I do not want to give the concept away so easily.

I then came across the box I had planned to get as it is white and opaque with wheels for transportation, the only issue was that it appeared to be far too small to work as a table between two people.I wanted the box to be the perfect size for two people to sit crossed-legged opposite each other at.

I decided on the Algot box that I had planned to look at. The Algot is the perfect size, the only compromise I have made is the ease of transport - it has no wheels and will become very heavy when filled with liquid (though I have decided to fill it with liquid when I reach Kings Cross).

I was thinking through my idea further in IKEA and realised that it might be uncomfortable for the participants of the piece to sit on the ground un-cushioned with just the IKEA bags beneath them, so I plan to scrap those in exchange for two grey cushions/chair-pads on opposite sides of the table. When I was looking for the cushions, I tried to draw my memories of the cushions and beanbags I saw at the bars in Skiathos.

 I researched the most cost-efficient ways to source my drinks for the piece as I want as many participants as possible to experience the piece I am creating, it turns out my father has a membership to Macro where I was able to source my drinks in crates of 24. I picked 24 Coca-Colas and 24 Heinekens, my father suggested selecting less-known brands so that I could have more available - though I feel that most participants will be used to labels and this could have been a draw-back which would limit me from gaining participants. Though I was focusing predominantly on my experiences of seeing cans and bottles of alcohol on the beach and in the sea, I did not want to exclude non-drinkers.I have the decision to use cans as opposed to bottles in order to reduce the risks of participants getting cut/harming themselves during the piece.

 

 

All in all, I now have:

  • Algot box (to be used as a table with storage
  • Two cushions
  • A small table runner (to give the box the feel of a table)
  • 24 Heinekens
  • 24 Coca-Colas
  • Marigold gloves (for handling things)

Pending:

  • Fish (I will freeze them to reduce stench)
  • Ice cubes(I will purchase the morning from Kings Cross Waitrose so they don't melt on the journey).
  • Seaweed (I expect to have this by Monday).
  • Fishing net-thingy with a handle (I expect to have this by Tuesday).

 

 

 

30/10/17

What I assumed was fresh seaweed in a container arrived tonight...but it was this strange seaweed powder for horses! Bit of a disaster. 

I've had to think about where else I might be able to source seaweed/similar plants that might be found in the sea and am going to the pet shop to check out the aquarium section, with any luck I will avert this little crisis I'm having. 

 

I have been thinking about the issue of real fish and the smell is dreadful but I think they're a very necessary component - maybe if I freeze them in a container, they will smell less than if they are defrosted? I bought a pair of marigolds to handle them with on-site and containers to transport them in. I popped into B&Q to pick up a bucket which I will fill with ice to chill the drinks... though I am wondering how I will display them as I don't want the bucket to become a part of the piece ... more of a behind the scenes thing. 

 

Side note - I was reading about Cancun in Time-Out and it has the only underwater "gallery" filled with life-size statues ... imagine if this was destroyed with all of these cans. I would love to make a piece where I just threw cans all around the gallery floor near "prestigious"art works responding to this .... it would probably trigger an interesting response, I expect people might be upset that this gallery was littered ... but would they be so upset if the ocean looked the same ?

 

So I now have:

-Seaweed-like aquarium plants

-Algot box 

-24 Coca-Colas

-24 Heinekens

-Table- runner 

-2 cushions 

-Bucket

-Rules list 

 

pending: 

-Fish (dead) 

30/10/17

I have decided on a disposal technique:

I will lift the fish and plants using a net and package them in airtight disposable containers which will be disposed of off-site. I will empty the water in a bathroom on-site. I will use marigolds to lift out the cans and dispose of them in a regular bin.

31/10/17

It turns out I will be curating the site-specific part of the exhibition with Cheska. We have a group of 17 (Ourselves included) and have taken into account the pieces people will be doing, the dimensions and any location requirements. This will be a first for curating a large group, I hope we can pull it off and place everybody where they requested. I am cautious to try and give everybody the space that their work requires.

I am not sure how it will pan-out. We have planned exactly where the site-specific places shall be in order to ensure that those pieces function as planned - for example Freddie is reflecting the main clock with a mirror and so he will need direct access to the clock itself and Beverly needs access to the piano in the street so that she is able to create a piece where she will wrap it in string.

We ran into a couple of issues today, so little wall space...so many pieces. Another dilemma of ours was allocating 4 x 4 metres of space to a performance piece and the wall behind it being completely clear... we decided that since two people are doing performances of no more than ten minutes (without repetition) and both parties insist on the wall behind being clear and white, we will use that specific space exclusively for performance pieces and stagger all of the performances according to timings so that we can optimise space for others and still offer the performing artists the generous space that they requested. Crisis averted...I think?

Since we may run out of wall space as there are more 2D pieces being created than I had assumed, we thought of bringing in some additional wheeling walls but have been put off of this idea as apparently these are overwhelmingly corporate and will probably distract from the works themselves.

With regard to my own piece, I need floor space to set up my floor table and chairs with the drinks, it needs to be central enough to encourage participation from a wider audience than FA1&FA2 but not in the direct path-way of  the canteen so that the set-up isn't tripped on etc...

My curation notes 31/10/17

Curation placement of works 31/10/17

31/10/17 - Place project (photographed outcome)

31/10/17

Being totally objective, my piece did not “succeed” in the way that I had hoped it might.


Long story short:
What I had planned to result in a depiction of pollution in the Ocean resulted in a 4pm “Oh cool, free beer!” as I allowed my peers to take some of my “props” off of my hands for the journey home.

The short story made long:
I created the installation in the morning, ready for it to be experienced at 2pm. When 2pm came around we were directed to watch the three performance pieces and engaged in a detailed group conversation about the works (which I really enjoyed). However, when all of the performances were watched and discussed, we weren’t left with much time for other works to be experienced (many students had to return items to the loan-store at 4 sharp). I had planned the piece with the idea that I would have an hour perhaps to show it (as it was in Kings Cross, - I had the idea that it would be a longer crit).

So when it came to actually having people partake in my piece, word had got out that there were drinks involved and a small group formed around the piece. The first duo sat down to partake, I had advised on the sheet of instructions that a duo should take no more than five minutes on the piece, so that I could allow as many of my peers as possible to participate… long story short, the first duo sat for about fifteen minutes before getting up and the next duo rushed through their participation before we were rushed to pack-up. I felt a little bit deflated as there were a group of people that had expressed their interest in participating that I had said would be able to, I felt like I had let both myself down and my peers by only having four participants having planned to make the piece inclusive of many more people. Perhaps I had been unrealistic with my instructions, do people even follow written instructions? should the instructions have been expressed verbally? should I have told the first duo to move away after the five minutes, to allow for others to participate? I might have let my desire to not interrupt participants result in my piece failing to gain the amount of participation I wanted.
I left crit feeling quite frustrated with the piece. I guess I felt like 2 weeks of planning and envisioning this image in my mind of many cans accumulating gradually inside the table…but I was left with four sparse cans, feeling like I had wasted my time as I could have planned this piece better. But this is a learning process, and I have to accept that at this stage nothing will ever be “perfect” and I feel that even in many years to come, nothing will be “perfect” and this is ok. I have learnt something through this. I have learnt to think more carefully about instructions and how they actually translate to others and to properly time things and adapt accordingly…

Having said that, I have been mulling over the idea that curation might be something I am interested in somewhere (further) along the line. It is still very early in my creative journey, though I really enjoyed the process of organising and curating the first foundation crit that was shown at Kings Cross. It was nice to hear the feedback on my first experience with curation, some positive feedback being that the curation was “bold” and somewhat rebellious which represents the nature of CSM and that the exhibition had an intriguing opening point (Beverly’s wrapped piano), a constructive piece of criticism I have taken was that there was a section with negative space that could have had more work in it. Perhaps I will look into gaining some further exposure to curation at some point.

I have learnt that I should not underestimate the power of communication when creating an audience-participation piece.

"Playing to the gallery" by Grayson Perry,Penguin books (2016).

"I learned two things after that performance.One was to have very low expectations of audience participation".

 

Last night, I was reading "Playing to the gallery" and came across a part where Grayson recalls three performances he did in art school. He mentions that the outcome of participation art can be disappointing. I think this is just the thing I needed to hear a creative speak about after the way that my participation piece worked out.

"Not everyone will be taken into the future" - My report

14/11/17

It's the day after I have handed in my work for the first time and I find myself (strangely) without a list of never-ending tasks to complete. So I suppose this is where a bit of "me time" comes in and I can go through some of the books that I have wanted to read in greater detail than just finding the pages relevant to my research - so this is what I'll do on this semi-productive day.

 

One of my favourite textbooks I have collected is called "ART. Everything you need to know about the greatest artists and their works" by Susie Hodge. I am not quite sure why, but I have always been fascinated by the "timeline", history and chronology within art. And though it is a little geeky, I am really enjoying learning about periods and movements within art from Gothic to Early Renaissance (c.1300-1500) to High Renaissance to Mannerism (c.1500-1600) and what is "north" renaissance...is there a "south" Renaissance? how do they differ?

I have learnt that I have no specific "type" of art that I admire...I have a strange obsession with romanticism and the preraphaelites. I realised when researching them that an art historian, Lucinda something...has written a book all about Lizzie Siddal and modelling in preraphaelite works. I am interested in finding this book and reading it.