2ND YEAR PRESENTATIONS

SYMPOSIUM 2

2ND YEAR PRESENTATIONS, Assessment, river project, UNIT 2, Videos

I originally made this video for the Symposium 2 for when we were supposed to present the videos to the rest of our classmates, but as I was just finishing working on it (and despite saving the file every five minutes or so) the Mac I was working on crashed and I lost about 4 hours worth of work. This all happened at 4am, 6 hours before we were due to present to the class, and so I ended up giving a verbal presentation with some of the images I used in the video to demonstrate what I was talking about. This was a very stressful and anxiety inducing situation, but I am very pleased that I did it, and that Jonathan and Ed were understanding and allowed me to present the way I did.

This video is a little bit longer than it was supposed to be, and even that was a struggle, as I found I had so much I wanted to show and say. I am fairly pleased with the outcome though, and I feel that it captures my process and research quite well.

Presentation- ISMs in the Art Gallery 07/03/19

2ND YEAR PRESENTATIONS, Assessment, river project, UNIT 2

20190307_123453ISMs In The Art Gallery

I have linked my presentation, above, and the photo shows all of my casts so far laid out on the table during my presentation.

During my presentation I wanted to focus on how my river project is about engaging the audience and being more interactive than your average piece of art, and how this links to my research paper topic of classism in the gallery space. I feel that work that is purely visual leaves out a lot of people, specifically those with visual impairments, and can also put off children and those who prefer tactile work, so I wanted to combat this by making work that is meant to be touched and handled by the audience. Engaging the audience in this way can be effective at breaking down the barriers many people, particularly those of different classes, age and abilities, face when visiting art galleries and museums, and I feel this is vital if we want the art world to be a more inclusive and diverse space. I was keen for my classmates to pick up and interact with my work and get their opinions on it, which is why I laid out all the pieces I have made so far out on the table for my presentation.

 

Feedback for Ziyan 07/03/19

2ND YEAR PRESENTATIONS, Tutorials, UNIT 2
  • Guy Debord comments on the “society of spectacle”
  • linking French theory from the 20th century to what is currently happening in China- I thought this was very apt and interesting to consider
  • Lin Yilin and Liang Juhui- impromptu performances that interact with public spaces, playing with the idea of the spectacle
  • Caofei.com – I particularly liked this artists work!
  • Xu Zhen supermarket- playing with the idea of consumer culture, and what people will actually buy
  • where next? What do you see as the final outcome for your work, in regards to the show?
  • dealing with feelings through materials, taking ownership by deconstructing physical memories
  • who do memories belong to?
  • “Memory as an Illusion”, book by Julia Shaw- borrow this from Gabby!
  • “Gaslight”- a film by Alfred Hitchcock examining memory and manipulation
  • I would like to see more research into memory and more experiments and work exploring your topics!

Group Presentations- Alena and Eugenia 07/02/19

2ND YEAR PRESENTATIONS, Tutorials, UNIT 2

Alena

  • broad variety of research:
    – Schiele and Klimt exhibition- large inspiration, dramatic style, distinctive poses and angles
    – books- illustrated book of eye diseases, looks super gross and interesting!
    – Royal Academy of Art, Tate Modern
    – Heidi Lee- fashion, wearable sculptures
    – Miles Johnston- surrealist drawings
  • very diverse range of research- very visually rich, from science to art, photography, fashion, and makeup
  • I think it’s time for you to experiment and drive the physical side of your work forwards, researching through making
  • eyes, vision, internal and external meanings, different representations
  • lots of sketches, painting for parents
  • you have a very beautiful illustrative style- you can see the influence of Schiele and Klimt, and of fashion sketches/illustrations, but it is still unique
  • you said you are interested in use of materials- it would be good to see you explore other materials and mediums, to push and develop your practice further, you have started to try other medias- keep this up!
  • making connections from older artworks/movements to contemporary artists, photographers, and designers
  • “eyesthetics“
  • are the ceramic pieces featured on your blog? I don’t think you should give up on ceramics, maybe just take a little break before you go back to it?
  • using the canvas as a sketchbook
  • “eyes are the window to the soul”
  • absence or inclusion of eyes in art- it’s significance and symbolism
  • it could be cool to take your work into the 3D inspired by your sketches and paintings- jewellery, wearable art, manipulating 3D forms
  • 3D scan your eyes/sunglasses/ect – manipulate and layer the forms digitally- these could stay as digital pieces or be 3D printed and worn/displayed?
  • Eugenia and Paola both have experience 3D sculpting/printing digitally, could you ask them for tips/tricks, or possibly collaborate?
  • I can picture a room full of distorted mannequins that you have dressed, sculpted onto, painted onto, ect
  • a well put together presentation, but I definitely enjoyed seeing the research from your paper that Jonathan asked you to show us- it took your presentation to the next level and I really want to read your paper!
  • Some references:
    – Ronit Baranga
    – “1984” – book by George Orwell, “Big Brother is watching you”
    – John Bergers’ “Ways of Seeing”- book and also TV series from the 70’s

Eugenia 

      • digital advertising- how and why do we use them?
      • “Alter Ego: Avatars and Their Creators” book, sounds useful
      • are online avatars helpful or is it a lie?
      • extensions of the self through the digital
      • creating digital “people”- is this okay? Is it ethical as long as people know they are fake? i.e. the fake Instagram models and the controversy around a white man creating a fake black woman for followers
      • stealing people’s identities to create fake digital personas for money/attention
      • virtual girlfriends- a really interesting topic, is this ethical or does it cause real world harm? Are they different to sex dolls/robots?
      • have you looked into dating simulators like Mystic Messenger or Dream Daddy?
      • IMVU- avatar based chat rooms, often used for sexual encounters online, with highly sexual looking avatars as a standard across the site
      • “The Toy Becomes Human”
      • you have lots of varied and engaging research!
      • some experimentation with digital and traditional- would like to see more!
      • you have a strong and distinctive illustrative style
      • what next? Where do you take your practical work from here?
      • I particularly like your youtube videos and would like to see more of these- could they become a series? You could create a character and try to make this fake person popular
      • Perhaps you could make a series of videos of your game avatars online doing things they shouldn’t? You could create fake personas and play the games as them
      • money and sex- everything online, and in real life, comes back to these two inescapable things- do you want to use this is your work or fight against it?
      • A very dynamic presentation and fascinating topic- would have liked to see more of your avatar experiments in your presentation- sounds really fun and exciting!
      • References:
        – Gorillaz and Madonna hologram concert
        – early motion capture- the old Barbie movies are a good example of this, as they used motion capture of dancers to animate the films

–

Snotgirl Comics

    • –

Avatar

    • (film)

 

    • –

Alita: Battle Angel

    • (upcoming film)

 

    • –

Altered Carbon

    • (Netflix Series)

 

    • –

Ready Player One

    (book, popular film based on book)

Group Presentations- Feedback for Gabby and Arlette 24/01/19

2ND YEAR PRESENTATIONS, Tutorials, UNIT 2

Gabby:

  • “connection, or lack thereof”
  • connections shown in Gabby’s work, focusing heavily on family and familial connections
  • research into lack of connection
  • Gabby’s imagery is all beautiful and well thought out, with clear focus on composition and lighting to emphasise the subjects (or lack thereof) to convey a message
  • “when or where do you feel in tune with your most honest feelings?”
    – for me personally either when I am with my best friend or during yoga
  • your “honest feelings” change frequently and aren’t fixed – you could research why this is?
  • can you think too much? In modern society are we constantly putting off and distracting ourselves from our true feelings?
  • suicide is a very tricky and difficult topic to discuss and make work about and should be treated delicately, especially if it is not something you have personally experienced (i.e. loss of a loved one by suicide or experiencing suicidal thoughts/ideation)
  • Nitschke’s “suicide machine” – Sarco pod
  • do images always need text to explain them?
  • spontaneous v.s. staged, curated imagery
  • Gabby’s body of work is gorgeous, varied, and full of emotion communicated purely through image
  • photographers crossing moral boundaries- Gabby obviously has permission from her family to create her work, but other photographers often lack these permissions
  • Gabby’s work is authentic and powerful and she obviously carefully curates her images to convey the message she is aiming for
  • you recognise when outside influences have impacted your work and are honest about it
  • tackling sensitive topics with compassion
  • your work combines thoughtfulness and emotion with strong technical skill
  • how will you present your work? With or without text explanations? are the titles enough? Especially with the project about your friend
  • your work seems to be more about the feeling than the story- your work evokes feelings in the audience and encourages them to bring their own stories to your work
  • your work almost presents us with a blank story board or template, that we, the viewer, can insert our own stories into and bring our own feelings to
  • well put together presentation and I enjoyed physically handling your prints!

Arlette:

  • Why is art purely visual? How can we make art more interactive?
  • “Interactive” v.s. “Practicability”
  • sensory art- art that uses all the senses get viewers more in tune with themselves, the environment, and each other
  • how do we get the audience to interact with our work- this is something I am struggling with in my own work- most gallery goers are used to the unspoken rules of not touching the work
  • playfulness, familiarity/comfort, space, feedback- key to getting audience to interact
  • how interactive do you want to be? Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Rooms v.s. Olafur Eliasson- are there constraints? What do you want, as the artist?
  • why do you want the work to be interactive? How?
  • online questionnaires, hashtags, paper feedback forms, “leave a comment” box/board, invigilating, recording the space, speaking to the audience in the space
  • art as a community- art can build a community, it can also exclude people from that community, or create a sense of community
  • “Art is not just an object it is a sense of community” – Eliasson, 2012
  • “The turbulent storm of potential meaning” 
  • Object as a representation of the “individual” in Western society, interactive art steps away from that and encourages the audience to engage as a group rather than as individuals
  • strong body of research- it would be good to see more practical experimentation to back up or disprove the research you have done
  • interaction as a tool or medium to explore different topics
  • I would like to see more of your practical work and how it links in to your research topics (i.e. your paintings as I think they are amazing!)
  • your presentation was well put together, very interesting, and I think it would be cool to collab on a project some time, as we are both exploring the topic of interactivity in art

Group Presentations- Feedback for Vanessa

2ND YEAR PRESENTATIONS, Tutorials, UNIT 2
  • Joseph Beuys– “anyone can be an artist”
  • Art as communication
  • Art is for everyone and should be for everyone
  • There should be an inherent value to all art, regardless of monetary value or quality, which is highly subjective
  • Can art be used to help people/ bring people together?
  • Adolf Loos– ‘Ornament and Crime“- a relatively short read that could be used as a counter argument
  • “Social sculptures“- interesting phrase from Joseph Beuys video- using his “social sculptures” to communicate to a larger group of people

– using people’s innate urge to be part of a group or community to get people involved in his projects

– using those projects as a way to influence those people and get them to listen to his ideas

  • Using your platform or your skills in a certain medium to engage socially and open up the dialogue- aka musicians using their music to be political, artists using their art to get a message across, writers writing about things they feel strongly about
  • Anselm Kiefer– trying to make the people of Germany “feel” again
  • Refugees travelling to Greece- graves, life jacket installation
  • “History is a material” –regimes can manipulate history as they see fit
  • Examining how the societies and times artists live(d) in influence their thinking and work
  • You could strengthen the links between post war Germany and the modern day situation with the Middle East?
  • Etching idea sounds promising- you could look at Francisco Goya and his etchings of the Spanish Civil War
  • I think it would be worth looking at artists making work about refugees and modern conflict (i.e. the Middle East) particularly artists who were or are refugees as they have first hand experience- much like Beuys and Kiefer had first hand experience of WW2 and the aftermath
  • Justin Mortimer- wasn’t sure how he relates to the other two at first
  • Mortimer creates new mythological narratives through painting collages of seemingly unrelated digital imagery- much like how the first two artists created their own mythologies
  • Dream v.s. Hope, the lofty aspiration v.s. the slightly more achievable goal
  • How do you take a dream and turn it into a more realistic, but still satisfying, goal?
  • “La Mitrailleuse” (“The Machine Gun”) by Christopher .R. Nevinson- artist whose style changed dramatically over time with the changes happening around him- WW1, WW2, ect
  • See also Paul Nash
  • Have we suppressed the feelings of and memories WW2 too much? Has that allowed the resurgence of Neo-Nazi ideals and the rise of other conflicts and regimes?

On another note, I think you put together a really well thought out presentation- the material was clearly divided into sections, the links were mostly strong, and the videos helped to break it up and make it easier to engage with. You just need to pull this back into your practical work and keep making!