Artwork
Cheeseburn – Exhibition
Cheeseburn are holding an exhibition showing the shortlist of artists in the run for North East Young Sculptor of the Year Award. The artists (including myself) were given £300 to develop a proposal for a sculpture that would be installed in the grounds of Chesseburn. All the proposed artworks have their own identity and all show potential to win. Excluding my own entry, my favourite piece is by Anthony Hensman, with his proposal discussing the link between the physical world and the theoretical space. Hensman aims to install a series of concrete doorways, all barely within touching distance, and the inside layered with polished copper plates. This doorway is to create a link, a portal our conscious perception, the natural world, and a plausible infinity.
To vote for your favourite, follow the link to the facebook voting.
Choi Keeryong – Artist Talk
I recently attended an artist talk which featured Choi Keeryong and his glass artwork. Keeryong works with the theme of ‘aesthetics of the cultural uncanny’ and how moving country has affected his life. Keeryong explained that he had a language barrier and that it affects him through day to day life; and how he uses his disadvantage as an advantage.
One of keeryong’s pieces that really grabbed my attention was ‘3rd Battalion 11th Company 1st platoon’ (2007). This piece exhibited a set of glass military helmets, all lined up in formation. The glass of the helmets where coloured in basic dark green, but the viewer could still see through the glass. Under the glass where civilian clothing, wrapped in brown parcel paper tied with sting. The reason behind the clothes was because the country where Keeryong was born, they have a tradition that when you graduate through military training, you removed you civilian clothing o transition to military uniform; this transition gives the graduated a new identity while leaving behind the old one. The civilian clothes are then sent to the families of the graduate, to notify the family that they have passed.
I’m very intrigued by this cultural experience, and how Keeryong has displayed it. The clothes representing the person underneath the uniform, and that you can barely see the clothes through the glass. The room in which this piece was exhibited was a small compact room, the reason for the room was to give the viewer the feeling of leading the troops to war, or to give commands. I’m just so intrigued in the cultural difference and the intimate relation of identities.
End of Project Statement
My main medium to work in is sculptural-installation, and the use of a large open space. I prefer to work on a piece which you can hold and touch and even possibly walk through. Working on installations allows me to express myself in ways which other methods cannot; I am a maker, a builder, a craftsman, and therefore I crave the open space of a studio.
The ‘theme’ that I work with is the exploration of space, the way which we move through the environment, and how we interact with different obstacles. When I come to make a piece, I don’t plan every step, I start with a simple plan of where I may start and maybe how it might look. Once I get started with an installation, there is no limit for what the piece will become. This is why I call it the exploration of space, as it’s my exploration through the space, and I show you how I made the journey with the installation itself.
My ideas are influenced by many artists, but the main one is Tomas Saraceno and the way he turns a space into an interactive piece. After being influenced by Saraceno, I have developed my own method and practice.
I hope to continue to expand my practice in many ways, and to explore even more possibilities.
Project Two – Final Piece
Hi everyone! This is my final piece and also my exhibition piece for Project Two. Unfortunately the exhibit has been and gone, but here are some photo’s of my piece at the exhibit. I will be posting a full catalog of the exhibit later on.
This project has evolved over time from wanting to create my own imaginary world, to wanting to explore space through interactivity. This project is a continuation from project one, and has become something else in its own rights. I had a lot of fun during this project and I’m so happy from the outcome. I can’t wait for my second year at university where I’ll have even more freedom to make what I want.
As always, I hope you enjoy.
Project Two – Installation #3
Hi everyone! This is the third installation for this particular project.
I have placed hooks within my space to create permanent fixtures to design installations; once made and documented, the installation is removed from the space and the fixtures are used for another installation/design. This is the third installation in this space, so I decided to be a bit more adventurous. I used the same method as I did in the first installation by just going for broke and letting the installation tell me where to go. But with this one I made a path way for the viewer to walk through the installation. Allowing the viewer to experience the installation from new perspectives and angles.
This project (Project Two) was carried forward from Project One. The idea being about creating a space/environment of my own imagination/creation, this then lead to wanting to explore space and involve interactivity. Project Two is now lead by the desire to create an interactive installation which explores its environment and develops its own world/space, allowing the viewer to walk through and experience the space thus interacting with it.
These are some of my documentation of the installation.
As always, I hope you enjoy.
Artist Influence – Martin Pfeifle
Martin Pfeifle has been a favourite artist of mine for a few years now, with all of his installation works and sculptures inspiring me to create the work that I do. Most of Pfeifle’s work takes up the majority of the room, mainly because it installation, and this inspires me to create my own installations of a similar impact.
I don’t have a favourite piece of Pfeifle’s work, as I enjoy many of his pieces. If I was choose one, I would choose his most recent `rev’. This installation is constantly in the state of movement, and when the viewer walks around the space it creates more movement within the installation.
I use Pfeifle as inspiration all the time when making an installation, but I can never get the same impact or interactivity as he does. It is my ambition to create a piece of work that has a similar impact to how Pfeifle’s work does.
Text above is a mix my own opinion and research of Martin Pfeifle.
Information and pictures found via the sites below:
Artist Influence – JeeYoung Lee
JeeYoung Lee is also another artist who I have recently came across on in art blog, and her work is about creating an installation in her three by six metre studio. Lee fills every square inch of her small studio space with handmade props, backdrops, and set pieces. All of the images of Lee’s studio have not been digitally edited in post-shoot.
What interests me about her work is how she uses the entire of her space to create these installations, and also how these installations look so fantasy-like. The whole point of an installation is to create a world outside of our own, and Lee does this perfectly, she creates a space unlike any other. I will definitely be keeping an eye on what she makes, and maybe tried to decipher how she makes it.
The text above is a mix my own opinion and research of JeeYoung Lee.
Information and pictures found fire the sites below:
http://www.opiomgallery.com/en/artistes/oeuvresphotographe/17/jeeyoung-lee
Artist Influence – Jeremy Miranda
Jeremy Miranda is an artist who I came across on art blog, and their work stood out amongst the rest, so I decided to investigate further. After viewing Miranda’s website, it looks as though the artist only works in paint, if not also in digital media. The interesting part of Miranda’s work is the combination of worlds and transition between the two; the worlds in the paintings are closely related by blurred between the lines.
The piece I’m more interested in is the painting in the image above; the transition between the two compositions is a very blunt but was also smooth as if looking through a window, and the way how everything is related, from the drawings of the ship to the ship in the sea.
Miranda looks as though they are building up their work into a portfolio at the start a career. I will be on the watch any new work Miranda makes, I will draw inspiration from their work and hopefully have the chance to contact them about their work.
The text above is a mix of my own opinion and research of Jeremy Miranda.
Information and pictures found at the sites below:
Artist Influence – René Magritte
René Magritte is a surrealist painter, who is well-known for painting objects in places and situations where they shouldn’t. I’ve been interested in Magritte the past few years now, and I still enjoy going back and looking at his paintings from time to time; the surrealism in each of his paintings defies reality in makes you want to question your own reality.
My favourite of Magritte’s work is his `Time Transfixed,’ where the train is flying out of the fireplace. I enjoy this one for all the reasons that you think, why is the train so small, why is it flying out of the fireplace; these are the questions that Magritte would have wanted you to ask.
Magritte will always be one of the most well-known surrealist painters in the art world, and he will always be a great source of influence for me.
Text above is a mix of my own opinion and research of René Magritte.
Information and pictures found via the content below:
The essential René Magritte
In-text: (Alden and Magritte, 1999)
Bibliography: Alden, T. and Magritte, R. (1999). The essential René Magritte. New York: H.N. Abrams.
Artist Influence – Pablo Picasso
Pablo Picasso is one of the famous names in the art world, and is recognised for his role in the avant-garde. Picasso is another artist who forged the way for future artists, with his many methods of painting and styles of paintings.
One of Picasso’s paintings which I really enjoy is his portrait of the art dealer Ambroise Vollard, which Picasso painted in his Cubism style. The reason which I enjoy this painting is the way in which Picasso tries to deconstruct/fragment reality while keeping the form of the human figure. This is similar in what I’m trying to do in my own project, which is to twist reality in creating my own form of it; which I believe is what Picasso was trying to do with Cubism.
Picasso created Cubism to show the world a different way of viewing reality, in which he created many paintings which included a cube style, hence Cubism. Picasso and the other members of the avant-garde, created many different forms of painting, styles of painting, ways of how to paint, and ways of how to look at reality as well as paintings.
The text above is a mix of my own opinion and research of Pablo Picasso.
Information and pictures found via the content below:
Picasso
In-text: (Elgar, Maillard and Scarfe, 1956)
Bibliography: Elgar, F., Maillard, R. and Scarfe, F. (1956). Picasso. London: Thames and Hudson.
Project One – Week Five
Hi everyone!
Over the past week I managed to finish off my painting. The painting is a composition of drawings which I did in a previous week, and also contains some of my interests. For me, I consider this an achievement as I don’t regularly paint, in fact, this is the first time I’ve painted in about 10 years, so I’m really pleased with the outcome. I decided in the end to paint a ‘Minecraft’ themed background to the canvas, just to give the painting some depth.
Enjoy.
Glass and Ceramics
The Glass and Ceramics rotation week was a week of experimentation. The week started off with four workshops: Ceramics, Hot Glass, Architectural Glass, and Print on Glass. Out of the four workshops I had to choose only two; the four workshops were only testers and were only an hour long, whereas the two I chose would take place over a day each.
Out of the four workshops, I chose to do Hot Glass and Architectural Glass.
The first workshop was Hot Glass and I have to admit, I was scared to do it; It also didn’t help that I was chosen first for the activities so I didn’t have an idea of what to do. The first activity was drawing with glass, where you take a ‘glob’ of glass and let it drip onto a damp piece of paper, the glass would burn the paper and leave a burnt drawing on the page. If you left the glass on for too long it would act like a pair of scissors and cut through the page.
The second activity was to make a paperweight. You started of with a small ball of glass and then dip it in different colours of powder, you would then manipulate the glass to however you wanted, then you cover that with another layer of glass and then shape it into a ball, after that you cut if off and let if cool, you then flatten the bottom.
The second activity I wasn’t that scared for. For Architectural Glass I had to design a few shapes and patterns which would be sandblasted onto 6 pieces of square glass, then after they had been sandblasted I had to glue the squares together to make a cube of glass.
The images below are the finished outcomes of the paperweight and the cube.
3D Design
This weeks rotation is 3D Design. At the start of the project the class was put into groups, given different materials and then told to create a 3 dimensional sculpture, the meaning behind this activity was to open our minds a bit so we could understand 3D Design that little bit more.
After that, I decided to look into different ideas for what I could make. I thought about different materials like wood, paper, plastic, and card, and looked at the different methods I could use to make a sculpture. After I had a little brainstorm about materials and methods I got a little stuck so I decided to look at some artists for some inspiration. The first artist I looked at was Tomas Saraceno; instantly when I looked at his website it came up with his current piece In Orbit. In Orbit is a fantastic piece that shows how space can be used and distorted. I then went onto looking at Richard Serra’s ‘Matter of Time’, an installation/sculpture piece that I believe is designed to pull in the audience right to the heart of the artwork.
Having looked at these artists, I still had trouble coming up with ideas, mainly on how to execute them. I then came across a very clever video called ‘Box‘. ‘Box’ is a video which shows very technical use of projection-mapping, this is where a projection is being displayed on a moving surface allowing the user to create optical illusions. So after watching this video, I decided to create an origami shape of my own design and display it in its own environment, two foam boards that will hang behind the origami.
I originally wanted the concept that the boards would be the same as the boards in the ‘Box’ video, but then my tutor shed some light on the matter and said that he liked how the origami sat in its own space between the boards, and that the origami gives off an unreal feeling, that the origami should be some unknown material that could create its own laws. My tutor then told me that if I was to extend this project, I should maybe consider doing some form of animation and give the origami its own physics and laws and an unusual quality. The images below is the final piece.
Fashion
For the Fashion rotation, I decided to do a ‘protest’ and not do fashion and instead create something different. The topic that I was given was ‘Black is the New Black’, so I did start off with looking at a bit of Fashion, but nothing appealed to me. So I took a different approach and kind of took a step back into the Visual Communication rotation and decided to do another drawn based piece of Art.
At first I did struggle to find any artists to be inspired from, but after a small chat with the tutor, I came across Marina Abramovic. Abramovic is a performance artist who shows how far the human body can be pushed over it’s limits, and then some. A lot of her work is endurance based, where she doesn’t stop the performance until she psychically can’t do no more. The one piece of Abramovic’s work that influenced me was ‘Freeing the Body’, in her piece she stood naked with a scarf around her face and danced to the rhythm of an African drum beat; this piece continued for six hours until she collapsed on the floor from exhaustion.
I intend to do a similar piece of work (not nude), where I will wear a white box on my head and draw to the sounds I hear around the studio that echo inside the box. I will also still stick with the ‘Black is the New Black’ theme by wearing black clothes.
The images below are a time-lapse of the performance, the final image is the Final outcome.
Visual Communication
This is the Visual Communication rotation; to start off the week I was asked to respond to multiple pieces of music by drawing, painting, and cutting. After the workshop I was asked to focus on one of the pieces of music and use one or multiple methods to express the music. I chose a piece called ‘Window‘ by ‘The Album Leaf’, A piece of music that to me sounds calm, smooth, and peaceful. When I had a day to collect my thoughts in what direction I would take this piece, I had the idea to make a drawing with my own imaginative solar system; I chose this because the piece sounds ‘spacey’ and puts me in my own dream world, floating through space and seeing the planets as I pass by.
So when it came to doing the final piece, I decided to get together four A1 sheets of paper, tape them together and start drawing my imaginative space theme in response to the music. It felt strange to do this as I have never drawn to music before, but it felt peaceful, and relaxing compared to the manic haste of creating a sculpture. As most of the drawing is circular, it felt as though it was a form of ballet, the charcoal dancing across the paper creating a smooth, seamless piece that shows how music can be expressed through something you can see and not just hear.
Below are images of the artwork that I created during this week’s work. The last image is the Final piece.
Railston Artworks 