UNIT 2

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I originally made this video for the Symposium 2 for when we were supposed to present the videos to the rest of our classmates, but as I was just finishing working on it (and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.

Symposium 2 Feedback for Peers

Assessment, UNIT 2

Steph

  • speech was too fast to follow
  • visually very engaging, with a strong body of research
  • is the large scale print necessary? I feel that the wooden jigsaw piece is stronger as it encourages audience participation- it invites them to explore the landscapes in a similar way to how she has
  • the shapes and manipulation of the found imagery echoes how mankind has shaped and manipulated the landscapes around it

Janet

  • painting as a living entity, “painting making”, with each painting having its own agency
  • video echoes the idea of cycles and life, and organic matter growing
  • it would have been nice to see some of her research, and an idea of what she is putting into the final show- one painting? Multiple? Screens? A combination of painting and animations?

Robin

  • the video is beautifully made, but the text was at times hard to read- although perhaps this was the intention?
  • the video shows a great deal of consideration, but I would have liked to have seen your research
  • I really enjoy the aspect of your work that is immersive, interactive and has to be experienced- it opens up art to a wider audience which is something I am passionate about

Gabby

  • making sense of loss through documentation
  • a strong body of photography, film and painting
  • the idea of voyeurism and photography is well considered, and I can feel that you care about being sensitive and not exploitative
  • I can see how your photography skills have developed through the selection of images, and use of colour and composition
  • depicts a universal feeling and a strong sense of empathy, viewers will bring their own narrative and emotion to the work
  • I am interested to see what prints you choose to put in the show!

Arlette

  • clearly explained journey, with a strong feeling of direction
  • I really love the concept of ideas–>practice–>ideas
  • parameters can often feel restricting, but for you the boundaries you set yourself helped you to create a rich body of work- clearly you know yourself and your practice well, and this shows

Kehkashan

  • the video is beautiful, although for me the music is a little distracting- it feels like a strange motivational video
  • community building through art, building narratives through curation and making challenge is curating your work well in the show- you have a lot of work!

Dwa

  • silhouettes, shadows, lack of faces- allowing viewers to insert their own narratives, challenging stereotypes and the idea of identity
  • pushing the pieces further and exploring other media/editing
  • I really enjoyed seeing your research!

Justin

  • sight and sound as complimentary forces
  • the bias in art toward visual over sound and where it came from
  • a strong body of practical and traditional research that compliment each other well, with a lot of technical skill
  • I am very keen on the use of old analogue tech, as it works aesthetically and through the sounds they add (static, ect)
  • very excited to experience the work you put in the show

Iris

  • making emotion physical- becoming data, physical reactions v.s. emotional reactions
  • a really diverse range of experimentation exploring emotions as a concept and how we express them (or not) or repress them

Lyu Wen

  • pushing the boundaries of performance art, with a huge amount of work, varying from serious to silly
  • sense of time and space, in art and in real life- a very strong theme with a lot of research
  • I think you’re really brave to put yourself out in public for your performances

Ben

  • the idea of a digital pleasurescape
  • digital memorials and digital death, data footprints left behind
  • embrace the questions and uncertainty- these should not be feared, as there are many things we may never know the answers to
  • fascinating research and striking imagery
  • The key is how you are going to present your work- screens, prints, installation, ect

Anfal

  • mixed media- photography, text, digital editing, and drawing
  • how different kinds of photographic manipulation change the viewers perceptions
  • the use of your work as a kind of journal is very interesting- I would like to see more!
  • the digital illustrations are colourful and engaging
  • keep testing out and experimenting with layering- take test shots and play around with the layout until you get an arrangement you like

Eugenia

  • amazing that you have tried so many pieces of software and have such a good grasp of them so fast
  • I love your character videos, very humorous and fun to watch
  • rather than sticking images to fake iPhones- can you actually show the works digitally on the screens? I get that trickery is desired
  • I would love to see you come as one of your characters on open night!

Vanessa

  • connection to the physical act of making- printmaking, painting, photography, and drawing
  • empty buildings whilst there are people living in tents, a sense of isolation and emptiness- the photographs work really well as stand alone pieces of work, not just as studies for the paintings/drawings
  • are you going to put the photographs in the show, or paintings? both?

Alena

  • very hard to hear what you are saying the video
  • how will you differentiate between your own work and others in the magazine? If that is the plan?
  • more like a look book as opposed to a magazine? Adds texture and depth- it becomes more of a 3D object than just a magazine
  • how will you present the book? Is it going to become an installation, or will the magazine sit on a shelf/plinth?

Ziyan

  • the act of preserving becomes more important than what is preserved
  • choice of mediums and access
  • diverse range of research and critical thinking
  • can’t wait to see what you install in the show!

Manolis

  • Ai in art and the creation of art
  • AI generated work shown on the screens
  • lots of problem solving and collaborations to complete the work which is very fascinating
  • Jonathan could photograph and measure the bed/chair in the Quiet Room at uni and potentially borrow it? Then he would just need the cushions and headset need to be brought to London

Paola

  • I went to the bathroom and missed your presentation 😦
  • but your solo exhibition looked really cool and your digital skills have come really far over the past two years!

1-1 Tutorial with Jonathan 20/05/19

Tutorials, UNIT 2
  • 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?

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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.

World Capital at Arebyte

Assessment, Exhibitions, UNIT 2, Workshops

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As part of the exhibition World Capital at Arebyte Gallery I was asked to come in and run a workshop for the local children, inspired by the exhibition. World Capital explores how cities and city planning has become homogenized due to capitalism and globalization- with newer parts of cities being impossible to distinguish from other cities across the world. The artist, Felicity Hammond, explores this topic through digital collage, and the gallery space was turned into a collaged city, complete with water ways which mirrored the installation and created an almost ethereal space in the gallery.

Globalisation and capitalism are bit much to explain to young children, and we weren’t sure what kind of age range we would attract for the workshop so I decided to focus on the ideas of collage and building a “world capital”. Rather than asking the children to simply sit and do a collage themselves I wanted to push it into 3D, much like the artist herself had created a 3D collage in the space. With this in mind I researched free downloadable nets of famous landmarks, and also some more simple buildings like schools/ect. I designed a file of the river Thames on Illustrator, which I had printed 150cm x 50cm, which we spread out over the tables in the gallery space, and we asked the children to join us in putting together the famous landmarks and buildings with glue and scissors. When they had made a variety of landmarks (with our help) we then asked them to “build their own world capital” by placing the landmarks they had made around the river, to create their own ideal city- complete with pyramids, Big Ben, the Eiffel Tower, the statue of Liberty, and lots of other international buildings!

Rebecca, the curator at Arebyte, helped me to run the workshop and we both had lots of fun, as did the children who came along! They liked it so much that they asked to take the huge river print and all of the buildings they made home with them. I felt that it was super successful, and it is important that art galleries offer fun, free, accessible activities to children- especially children who otherwise would not get the chance (i.e. children from low income backgrounds, children with special needs, act).

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Some photos of the “World Capital” we built! ^

 

MENTAL: An Exhibition Exploring Mental Health

Assessment, Exhibitions, Group Project, Personal Projects, UNIT 2

 

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The “BPD and Me” zine I made was made specifically for the exhibition I organized and put together for my society, The Mentally Chill Society.

As part of this I had to:

  • find out if there was interest from members of the society
  • find out what spaces were available at UAL for student exhibitions, then apply for the space (a very long application form was involved)
  • I had to attend a meeting to learn the do’s and don’ts of the space we were allotted- including the health and safety stuff
  • I then got a committee of society members together, they helped me to write the open call brief asking society members to submit work dealing with the topic of mental health, and more specifically their own experiences of it
  • Shridula put together the poster which I emailed out to society members and also posted and shared on social media
  • we then went through the submissions as a committee and contacted everyone who was successful
  • I then had to fill out a risk assessment
  • One of the members, Carmella, designed the poster, which I then took elements from to design the sheet with everyone’s names, courses, and descriptions of their work on for the exhibition
  • I also filled in an application form for additional funding from the Student Union to cover printing costs, costs of nails/tape/ect, alcohol and other drinks for the private view, ect
  • It was a real struggle to get everyone into the space to put their work over the two days we had to install but I managed, and we got everyone’s work hung!
  • There was a lot of problem solving involved- for example we realized too late that the labels were going to be too expensive, so we got number stickers for everyone’s work, and then had the sheet with all the info on it for people to take
  • the private view went really well and I got lots of positive feedback on the curation and for putting it together!
  • this was my first time organizing an exhibition completely from scratch, and my first time curating an exhibition- I learnt a lot about working with larger groups of people, giving up control to delegate tasks, and how to hang work that is vastly different in a way that works and shows everyone’s work in the best way

BPD & Me Zine

Exhibitions, Personal Projects, Photographs, UNIT 2

As part of an exhibition I organised for my society, The Mentally Chill Society, I decided to make a short zine exploring my experiences with Borderline Personality Disorder, which I was diagnosed with around two years ago.
I started by writing down the NHS definition, the causes, and the four main criteria for diagnosis, and began thinking about how they affected me, personally. I then made some notes, shown below, of objects/imagery I might want to use. It was at this point I decided I wanted to create the initial imagery for the zine on the photocopier, as I wanted it to look and feel handmade and erratic.
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I spent about a day in the learning zone, playing around with the various objects I collected from my room on the photocopier, including- fast food packaging, smoking apparatus, my old Barbie doll, condoms, anti depressant packaging, coloured paper, patterned paper bags, doll parts, and photos of myself. These were all things I felt represented different aspects of both myself and more specifically my personality disorder. Once I had the imagery I then used various pens and crayons to create the text and some other parts (such as the mood wheel) which I then added. The original double page spreads were A3 (so once folded it would have been A4) as I prefer to work larger then scale down my work in the next stage, for better quality. The finished zine was printed on A4 paper and folded down to A5.

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The next stage was to scan the pages so that I could edit them digitally on Indesign for printing, as shown below.

I printed a proof in black and white first to check that everything was in the right place, before moving on to printing in colour.

I then hand bound the book, using waxed thread for book binding, a bone folder, needle and awl, to make the holes.

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The photos above are of the Zine in the MENTAL exhibition that I organised, and set up, which I will post about shortly.

DOROTHEA TANNING EXHIBITION

Exhibition Reviews, UNIT 2

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  • I had never heard of this artist before- I saw a post on Instagram of one of her fabric sculptures and decided to drag my friend along on a whim
  • a really surprising breadth of work
  • paintings ranging in size, large fabric sculptures, an installation of a living room filled with these strange, vaguely human fabric shapes, drawings
  • I’m not usually that wild on paintings but I really love the use of color, layering, and the suggestions of shapes and figures that blend into each other seamlessly
  • the fabric installation was really unsettling and creepy- loved it!
  • The exhibition was curated really well- the use of color walls to highlight certain pieces was very effective and I enjoyed seeing a deviation (no matter how small) from the standard white walled gallery space

I Can’t Help the Way I Feel- My Fat Body

UNIT 2, Videos, Work in Progress

 

An artwork exploring my relationship with my body existing in a culture that simultaneously glorifies and vilifies food and sells diet culture to the masses. Interspersed with clips of my own body are clips of the John Isaacs sculpture “I Can’t Help The Way I Feel”, previously on display at the Medicine Now exhibit at the Wellcome Collection in London, which depicts a vaguely human form (without the head, arms, and genitals) engulfed in an explosion of fat. This video piece is both a response to that work, and a work in it’s own right. Ideally I hope to display this in an exhibition with works made by other fat artists, projected onto a wall at a large scale, so that it cannot be ignored by the viewer. I would also like to make casts of various parts of my body to display in the space, so that the audience is confronted by other kinds of body to what we are force fed in the media-  tiny bodies, with only certain parts deemed acceptable to be large (i.e. bums and boobs on women, usually- but only if they are smooth and free of cellulite and stretchmarks).

A large part of my struggle with my body image comes from the outside world, from society as a whole. The footage of the bacon roll (a Greggs advert) represents the constant imagery of fast food that we are bombarded with, from television adverts to posters and even giant billboards. Being in London, particularly, means we are constantly surrounded by this, as the city is saturated (pardon the pun) with images of food. At the same time we are also assaulted with images of the “perfect” body, whether that is on the front of every magazine, or for diet pill and fitness regime ads on the tube. This constant war between the food we are reminded is unhealthy, and images that show bodies like mine as the “before” all contribute to my twisted self image, and have fueled my disordered eating for years.

The “we’ve shed the pounds” footage is not from a health or fitness shop though- it is from the window of an EE phone shop. Clearly they are advertising that they have made their products cheaper, but the wording and the imagery of the scales alludes to weight loss- on a shop that has nothing to do with weight! I thought that was pretty ridiculous, which is why I filmed it and included it in this piece. I may also record some footage of the diet and fitness ads on the tube next time I use the underground and add it to the video at a later date, as I feel that would fit with the work. I would also like to play around with adding sound to the piece- I considered recording myself reciting some of my writing and poetry on my body, but I don’t really like the sound of my voice, and someone else’s voice would not work as it is a personal piece. I feel music would be distracting, so I might ask some people I know who work with sound to help me come up with something, as I feel the work could benefit from it.

This is definitely a work in progress, and I am excited to see what I can do with it in the future! When I finish my MA I think I would like to get a group of fat artists together to put on an exhibition and run some drawing workshops in the space, inspired by my original Fat Bodies Drawing Workshop for the Post Grad Community at my uni, but bigger, better and fat artist only! Perhaps this work will be part of it, but perhaps I may have moved on to a different piece by then.

DRAW- Yu Chen Wang

Lectures/Talks, UNIT 2

“Drawing can be a very simple and effective method of communication” – Yu Chen Wang
As part of the DRAW reading group led by the Post-Grad Community we had the pleasure to welcome artist Yu-Chen Wang, a London based artist from Taichung, Taiwan. Her practice primarily focuses on drawing, where her work treads a delicate line between control and chaos- she does not do any preparatory drawings, instead opting to sketch straight from her head. Combining her drawings with props, lighting and various structures to create immersive multimedia exhibitions, her work is proof that drawing can exist outside of the paper it is drawn on. She blends her work with performance, as a way to organise people’s movement without their knowledge within the exhibition space, and as a method to communicate with people.

Yu Chen’s work draws from a variety of sources; her interests span topics from theoretical physics, archaeology, and archives, to historical waterways and buildings in the many cities she has visited, and this variety of source materials reflects in her work. Her references include archival materials, draftsman drawings, and photographs. One project in particular that I found inspiring was the project We Aren’t Able To Prove That Just Yet, But We Know It’s Out There (2018-19), developed with Collide International Award, a partnership programme between Arts at CERN and FACT (2016-2018).

(We aren’t able to prove that just yet, but we know it’s out there 2018 150x270cm (detail)
Video and image taken from Yu Chen Wang’s website

This project, in her words, was about “making the invisible visible”, exploring “the abstract photographic images produced by the Bubble Chamber experiments in the 1960’s. Wang was fascinated not only about what they detected –the paths of short-lived electrically charged particles– but also the whole process which surrounded their documentation and interpretation.” (excerpt taken from her website).
As part of this she spent six hours listening to a retired theoretical scientist explain particle physics, and it was this, as well as the variety of archival materials she collected and researched, that formed this project. She also spent a lot of time whilst researching talking and listening to current and former scientists, soaking up their knowledge to enrich herself and the project- she spoke of loving to learn, and this desire for knowledge as being a driving force behind a lot of her work. Her interest in the unseen labour behind most scientific discoveries mimics artistic practice, with many failed experiments, tests, and preparatory work culminating in a final presentation to the outside world. I admired her dedication to learning about this complex topic, and the way she interpreted it has a very unique perspective- she combines her drawing with sound and video to create installations that absorb the viewer. I would love to have the opportunity to see the work in an exhibition space, as I feel that watching the video and seeing photographs in the lecture did not do it justice- it definitely needs to be experienced in its entirety.

Her work proves that art does not, and indeed should not, exist in a vacuum; that artists should be open to exploring other topics, and be able to take inspiration from anywhere. Being able to do this can make art much richer and we, as artists, should strive to connect with different people, and engage with everything we possibly can. Yu Chen Wang’s is fundamentally about communication, and a desire to connect with others, and at her core Yu Chen is just a person seeking to communicate and forge genuine connections with people through art.

TO DO LIST- Spring Break

UNIT 2, Weekly To Do Lists
  • edit video clips of 3D Scanning and printing and upload to Vimeo/Youtube then add to draft post and publish
  • make work for the Mentally Chill exhibition exploring mental health
  • make fat video piece
  • Organise exhibition- make or get someone else to make promo materials, apply for Student Iniative Fund, go through submissions, select work, email those selected, book/source equipment, organise private view and events to happen whilst exhibition is up
  • Type up Dorothea Tanning notes into blog post and add photos
  • Add photos/videos of the exhibitions we visited during the Low Residency and type up notes into blog post
  • finish blog post on my presentation and feedback
  • finish typing up Ziyan’s feedback
  • edit video clips of photogrammetry first attempts and post along with notes
  • Edit video clips of Peckham project for Low Residency and add photos and notes to blog post
  • type up notes and add photos from the talk given by Professor