1-1 Tutorial with Jonathan 20/05/19

Presentation of work- which objects and why?
– Alejandro- go speak to him
Next Wednesday- description on Wiki
Whitten timber yard, behind Peckham Library- buy a door blank, white faced or plain and paint it for table, use trestles in studio, project already made river file onto table, then paint river
OR use a table top in white from Ikea, £25-£27 depending on size
IF I can’t find trestles the right size, Ikea sells table legs for £2.50 each × 4 or thin trestles for £5 each × 2
using projector as a guideline to paint river onto table
Sound- record sound of walking along the river piped into room, or speakers under the table- quieter, more intimate
Need to figure out what audience will sit on- benches or stools?
White Ikea stools- £4 each?
Instead of putting screens on separate plinths- put one Mac on the table with objects- this COULD encourage audience interaction with the rest of the objects- they will know to sit down and use the Mac because of the mouse attached to it, so this might psychologically encourage them to sit at the table and play with/touch the objects
2 screens- aesthetically pleasing but unnecessary?
1 screen- positioned at the end of the table, facing the back of the room, so that viewers have to come round the table to see what is on the screen, influencing the movement of people
Real bones included or not??
PROS- the whole idea of perception of the objects and the question of whether people will pick up the real things or the materials they are familiar with?
CONS- the bones are very fragile and I an worried they will break
Screen capture- the whole show, or just the open night?? When I invigilate? Because the files will be huge, but it can be done on quicktime very easily on the Mac- do I want to code it so that it only activates when someone is using it?
Sound- borrow sound recorder from CLS- audio recorder (Zoom or TASCAM) and walk along the Thames where I found the bones- do some tests on my phone?
Don’t let the levels get too high on recorder- put headphones in and listen as I record and adjust levels accordingly, get a DEADCAT (fluffy thing for the end of the recorder)
Look for audio recording apps for Android?

20190520_111224 20190520_111425

The above sketches were made during the tutorial, with the top one being the first sketch/idea and the third being the last and most likely final version.

I can be quite flexible with the space I use in the exhibition, however I would prefer a small space for just my work, so that the sound can be heard and I can specifically observe how the audience reacts to my work.

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

–

(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!

Tutorial with Jonathan 22/11/18

Tutorials, Weekly Summaries

We spoke about how my river project has taken up most of my time, and that I enjoyed having a structure in place from having deadlines for the metal pour, certain days of the foundry being open, and the deadline for the summer show to work towards- I felt much more stable having a rhythm to work like this
Enjoying the process of making, as well as the stability provided; learning to use power tools like an angle grinder was particularly empowering!
I have definitely developed my skills in sculpting whilst working with the wax, as well as learning how to make hot rubber moulds, how to make plaster moulds for the kiln, how to use various tools as mentioned, how to work with metal (which was entirely new to me) and how to apply a patina to metal. I am a much more confident sculptor as a result
Why do I record the processes via photography and video?
– to aid my memory- as a result of my mental illness my short term memory is very poor, so recording the process is a helpful reminder, and I can always go back and refresh my memory if I need to
– part of my desire to share the processes with others- I feel that when seeing final pieces of work, such as my sculptures, it can be very difficult to envision all of the work that has gone into each piece- by documenting my process so thoroughly it demystifies the artistic process and makes it more accessible for those who haven’t done anything similar before
Discussed that I am a little sad that my video game project has largely been on hold due to the demanding nature of the river project, and the fact that I need other people with certain skills- i.e. an illustrator and someone with experience in games design- to help actually make the game
I do feel, however, that my knowledge and understanding of the topic has grown over the past year- the #MeToo movement has provided lots of content online for me to read, watch, and engage with, and there have been a lot of stories in the media that have brought rape culture to the front of social consciousness in the past year, which I have been taking in and adding to my bibliography post over time
Do I need to put a structure in place for the video game project? Perhaps I should set aside one day or a few hours a week dedicated to research and working on the dialogue options/characters?
Should I set a deadline for myself to find collaborators for this project, in order to get it moving?
Holding multiple projects at once- what is this like?
– I find it useful to have lots on as it helps me to manage my mental illness, although I recognise that on days like today it can be difficult to manage as I can easily burn myself out if I am not careful with balancing everything properly
– Cross polination- I often find solutions to problems, or new ideas for a project whilst working on something else- it wakes my brain up and refreshes it a bit, which can help stop me stagnating on just one project
I prefer to see the artists’ process as opposed to just the final work- I much prefer studio visits over gallery visits as I like to uncover the thoughts, experiments, and failures behind the finished works- how can I incorporate this into my own practice? Perhaps by projecting my process videos in the gallery space alongside the finished work? Or could I find ways to represent the processes- i.e. using my hot rubber moulds to make casts in Jesmonite (a stronger version of plaster) but leaving the casts as they come out of the moulds, instead of removing excess material and working the details back in as I did with the waxes?
Emma Gradin- PHD at Chelsea, could talk to her in the new year, discuss my work, ideas, and presentation of the work in the gallery space- she deals with curating exhibitions, particularly without words, and she is interested in the artists studio and processes

22/11/2018 Online Group Tutorial

Tutorials, Weekly Summaries

Not feeling too well today, so I have joined the online tutorial group rather than going to class this morning.

Notes:

discussing the Yayoi Kusama exhibition and sharing photos
the relationship to Kusama’s paintings and Janet’s work- both paint flat, so the works have no “right way” up, but Janet said:
“it reveals itself in dialogue as it goes and tells its story back to me”
“so I begin to understand it as such which corresponds to a particular orientation decided on in my final phase”
“I re orientate to stay objective in the process, keep a fresh eye”
“my eyes and mind easily become complacent so I keep sending myself off centre – all a remaking“
Paola– she feels she has been spending a lot of time developing her 3D skills, but needs to spend more time experimenting to find her own style. She is currently making a visual response to a sound piece made by her friend.
– the sound piece reminds me of a lab, or the inside of a spaceship lost in space- I can hear what sounds like static, fluids pouring and bubbling, an ambient background sound, and other noises I am finding hard to decipher, a definite sci fi vibe
– the test pieces she has made on Blender are very abstract and beautiful, I much prefer the abstract imagery to the imagery that represents water/liquids being poured/splashed as the abstract images are less obvious, and are so fluid it is hard to believe they have been created digitally
– inspired by the work of Nate Boyce
– I like how layered and abstract some of the examples she has shown are, it suits the sound well, and whilst I appreciate what the others are saying about making imagery that opposes the sound, I think the imagery she has shown so far works well with it and I would personally stick to that
– originally Paola was making an ocean on Blender, as that is what the sound inspired her to make, but she felt it was too obvious and decided to move away from that
Robin– I can definitely hear a repeated rhythm, it seems to change slightly, but follows the same pattern, it sounds like stones in a rolling can to me, or coins in a washing machine
– the second piece sounds very similar but has less of a rhythm to my ears, the animation seems to match up with the sound well, and still manages to be abstract, despite it seemingly representing the sounds visually
– I would be careful that this is what you are going for- do you want viewers to associate the sounds and their production with the visuals you have made?
– Jonathan asked if how the sounds are made is important- I said I don’t think so, but the visuals make me focus on that, because I assume that the visuals are showing me what is making the sounds
– it feels quite purposeful to me due to the repetition
– I hope you continue exploring the relationship between the visuals and sound elements- I would be interested to experience further experiments- it seems like you have a lot of ideas to play with!
Anfal– using your paintings as a form of journaling, combining Arabic script with bold colours and imagery, very striking
– the imagery would look beautiful translated onto textiles- it reminds me of the bold African patterns on fabrics, like you would see in Peckham
– you could try the method where you paint onto paper and then heat transfer it onto fabric- LCF at Shepherds Bush has these facilities
– alternatively screen-printing could be a good method to use- you can layer imagery really easily
– “Kat your suggestion of screen printing is a good idea and adds a forced layering beyond the digital that can always feel like it can be undone” – Jonathan

KAT OUTTEN

Artist/Designer

Tutorials

1-1 Tutorial with Jonathan 20/05/19

Group Presentations- Alena and Eugenia 07/02/19

Tutorial with Jonathan 22/11/18