artyfarty

Berlin Trip

2011-04-08T03:35:00.000-07:00

Standard time: Stop motion film using time

At the Guggenheim, Agathe Snow: All access world

Guggenheim.

Corey Archangel, split screen projection

Hamburger bahnhof

Hamburger Bahnhof

Bruce Nauman

Going to Berlin was great for art galleries and museums as well as the culture. Some pieces of work caught my eye using TV's and some digital timers.

Lorenzo Fusi

2011-04-08T03:25:00.000-07:00

Lorenzo has given me some websites to look at, this being particulary useful: The Disappeared Lorenzo was great to speak to about the presentation of my work ready for assessment and the degree show. I have simplified my idea down for the TV's after speaking to Lorenzo because if I used both the Tv's and the map both would detract from each other. Ideally I would like a dark room to display my TV's so they stand out visually.

TV Idea

2011-04-08T03:13:00.000-07:00

Side shot of TV's on plinth

Birds eye view

Holes drilled for the wires

Plaques with country names made with the laser cutter

Inside of the plinth

Laser cutter in action for my plaques

I have my idea for my final piece using TV's and corresponding numbers of missing people. Originally I was going to use 9 TV's to represent 9 countries, but I have now cut this down to 6 due to getting the equipment on time and it still looks visually pleasing. This week I have been busy making the plinth for the TV's to rest on, making reinforcements inside and drilling the holes for the wires to go in. It has also been a mission to collect all the TV's ready, getting them from friends, family and tips/dumps. Also I booked in with Lol to make my plaques with the laser cutter, I used perspex for the country names.

Nam June Paik

2011-03-23T11:49:00.001-07:00

Amazing piece that also uses a world map!!!

In a previous entry I explained I went to the Nam June Paik exhibition at the Tate. This trip has become very inspirational and a good reference point to my work now. Using TV's in my work, I instantly thought of him. I remember looking behind some of his works and seeing all wires and technical stuff which looked rather complicated. No doubt I will have to overcome some hurdles using technology in my work. This also made me think of how to hide my wires/dvd player etc as I wouldn't want these visible and visually impacting it. I have come up with a cutting plan for Sean so we can start building a suitable plinth on Friday.

New Idea

2011-03-23T11:39:00.000-07:00

Because I have been struggling to find the digital timers (I have emailed different electronics companies, asked the electronics department for LJMU, been to Maplins) I have changed my idea. I want to use TV/Monitors and record a timer counting up to the appropriate numbers. These numbers will be displayed on the screens. On Friday I am making a plinth with Sean to put the TV's on and tomorrow I'm going for a TV hunt to the tip. I have two TV's already but need 9 in total. I have also joined freecycle.com.

Originally I was going to have string attached to the TV's that lead to the map behind (attached to the appropriate countries). However, after speaking to Lorenzo Fusi today I have decided not to use the map (or have it just for experimentation). We decided that visually it would look too busy and they would both detract from each other. Instead I am going to use just the monitors/TV's and either have it more scientific or add a hint to the numbers involved (like showing an outline of the country behind or a plaque on the TV).

Artist Research: Map work and the missing

2011-03-14T10:38:00.000-07:00

Kathy Prendergast, Lost Map

Kathy created on first impression a map of the USA. However, on closer inspection this computer-generated map reveals that all the names of places have been removed from the map except for those that begin and end with the word lost. Her aim is to create an emotional map of the world.

Guillermo Kuitca, People on Fire.

Another artist who uses the notion of loss in map work is Guillermo Kuitca.Using a map he puts the names of countrymen and women who “disappeared” during the reign of terror in Argentina, color-coded by gender: male-orange, female-pink with some spots left blank symbolising the unknown. Just as I will have blank spots on my map for the unknown numbers, so this piece is a good reference to my work. Both these artists are good to look at when creating my missing map.

At the moment I have been looking at artists who use large scale maps in their work to grasp an idea of presentation. I recall going to see the High Tide exhibition held here that used a large scale map attached to wood.

UK maps of the missing

2011-03-14T10:31:00.000-07:00

I was able to find out roughly how many people are missing per day in regions of the UK, so I made mock-ups of these as well.

I have also made varying scales of maps and feel the large maps are more eye catching and effective.

European maps of the missing

2011-03-14T10:26:00.000-07:00

Most of the statistics I was able to find came from Europe, so I decided to make mock-ups of European maps too.

World maps of the missing

2011-03-14T10:23:00.001-07:00

Map Idea

2011-03-14T10:19:00.000-07:00

While this has been happening I have looked back on my own information collected on missing people, especially the statistics. My work is heavily researched based and I would like to present this in some way. I think a good place to start would be on my website I created a few weeks ago, which is still in the making. michellequinnartist.weebly.com.The internet is easily accessible for everyone and it seems only logical to use this. I have listed some statistics on my blog, but it seems more appropriate to use a website.

I also want to create a physical representation of the figures involved with missing people. Most people have no idea about the numbers of people that go missing everyday, and after a lot of researching I found out some of these on a global scale. I have put these numbers on maps as a mock-up of what I want my piece to look like. I have tried using different map types but feel the blank maps work best. The numbers are the amount of people that go missing in that country per day. Some, or most, countries do not have this information available and there can be many reasons for this...undeveloped countries do not keep records or some governments misrepresent /keep this information secretive. At the moment I am finding it difficult to find the timers that will be used to count up the number of people going missing over a 24 hour period. My plan is to ask at Maplins or other electronic stores for advice.

More photo's from event

2011-03-14T10:09:00.001-07:00

Missing Mystery Event

2011-03-14T09:35:00.001-07:00

As you know I had taken part in Patricia's performance workshops which I thoroughly enjoyed. It was the first time I had done performance art and because the performance was unexpected to the audience it was great to see the reactions and how they interacted with what was happening. I have always been interested in interactive art and have done some in the past. I felt the time was right to re-visit that now and get people involved in my work. Using the art and design building itself in the performance piece seemed a great way of utilising the space and taking advantage of what we already have. Therefore I decided to hold an event that utilised the whole of the building for a missing mystery event.

As my work deals primarily with MWWS I chosen Vivienne to be 'my victim' for the event as she fits the criteria. I made up missing posters, each with a different clue that would eventually lead to her whereabouts. I put these around the building, utilising all the floors, along with picture clues of the victim walking in different directions. I invited guests to come along for a little soiree beforehand.

I found this to be a good experience as myself and the people involved enjoyed the evening and I feel art is made to be enjoyed. As my work has been quite intense and deals with important issues, I found this to be a more light hearted approach yet carrying serious undertones. Again with this event I had to do some negotiating, everything from the wine to where I could put up the posters, but you learn from these experiences and they set you up for what to expect after university. I feel that if this could be done on a bigger scale it would be a great way to raise awareness of missing people and could even be used to raise money for charities for missing people. For example missingpeople.org, who look for missing people as well as holding a lot of information on the statistics involved.

Missing Persons Statistics

2011-02-24T12:22:00.000-08:00

My work is heavily researched based and after talking to the external examiner I want to present this in some way. People do not realise the full extent of what goes on in the world of missing people, the examiner was shocked by some of the facts I had told her e.g about MWWS or that 550-600 people go missing per day in the UK. I was thinking of adding this information somehow on to my website which is at michellequinnartist.weebly.com. Here are some figures that relate to my map idea (some are estimations from information gathered):

UK: 550 people per day

USA: 2300

Australia: 70

Russia: 2000

France: 116

Canada: 1165

India: 1080

Germany: 961

Brazil: 1057

Spain: 288

Italy: 161

Some countries themselves may not/ do not know how many of their people are missing, or even worse, mis-represent how many have gone missing. (police/government secrets eg).

Nam June Paik @ The Tate

2011-02-18T07:54:00.000-08:00

As I have become more involved with video work I went down to see the Nam June Paik exhibition at the Tate. Jackie Passmore was kind enough to get us a slot in there with the audio tour. I really enjoyed the exhibition. There were a few surprises in there!! Some of the works seemed very satirical and some seemed to almost mock the future generation with our TV culture. Like he could predict the future! I have always been a little skeptical of video art and think that some can be a little pretentious at times, but it was great to see some original and intriguing pieces of video art. His sense of humor shined through in his work and I really enjoyed that. It was also good to see the birth of video art and how Paik's practice had developed.

Performance Workshop

2011-02-17T09:31:00.001-08:00

High Tide Exhibiton

2011-02-17T07:23:00.001-08:00

Use a map around this size?

http://www.artinliverpool.com/index.php/maingalleries/jmu-the-academy/3042-jmu-mersey-basin-exhibition

http://www.hightideuk.org/page5.htm

Interesting map artwork

2011-02-17T06:57:00.000-08:00

Map Art, Tofu.

(Possible idea of how to display my map..put on board, no frame?)

Jasper John's, Map.

Love the composition and use of colour.

Matthew Cusick

I like this because of the use of typography. Another possible idea may stem from this, written statistics referring to crime/missing people/homicides inside the relevant countries.

More Maps

2011-02-17T06:46:00.000-08:00

Maps

2011-02-17T06:35:00.000-08:00

These are a few map designs I would like to use for my piece. I was planning on using the laser cutter and making signs with the names of the countries myself, so a blank map would be better than any other (political map etc). As I am only able to find a few countries with the missing persons statistics (there can be many reasons for this...undeveloped countries do not keep records or some governments keep this information secretive/police force 'bend the truth'), I will try this with Europe's statistics and the UK's statistics. These are more widely available, and I find it shocking that only the Western world seems to keep record or have them readily available for the public to see.

Next piece of work

2011-02-17T06:27:00.000-08:00

I plan to have a map of the world and put the number of missing people per day on different countries. I want to do this by having digital timers that can count up at different speeds....for example the USA has 2300 people who go missing per day, so I would want a counter that counts up to 2300 over a 24 hour period. The UK has 550 per day so I would want it to count up to that over 24 hours. These need to be fairly small to fit on the map and ideally flat.

Artist Research

2011-02-08T14:59:00.000-08:00

Christine Borland, Simbodies and Me
Beverley Carpenter projection
Darren Almond, Meantime.

Ideas

2011-02-08T14:46:00.000-08:00

I have collected a lot of statistics about missing people/ murder victims and cold cases and was shocked to hear that in the UK 600 people on average go missing a day. That is 25 people per hour. I was thinking of using these statistics in a digital timer based work, counting upwards the number of people that go missing per day. I could do this either by projecting the timer up onto a wall as it counts up to 25 every hour or somehow have a large timer on the wall. An artist called Darren Almond uses giant clocks in his work that presents the march of time.

I have also signed up to missing person's forum to ask if any of the family members or friends of a missing person would like to be interviewed. I liked working with video and projection so if I could interview these people about their experiences I was thinking of using their words and projecting them publicly. The artist Krzyszof Wodiczko interviewed war veterans and used their words as a projection around Liverpool city centre. He also used the sound of bullets as the words were projected onto buildings.

If I were to do this I would consider using sound this time as the whole video and projection art work is new to me and I have never used sound. Another artist that deals with public projection is Beveley Carpenter. She has used back projecting as I did last semester and also words and images projected onto buildings to highlight issues that are usually overlooked.

Another artist I have been looking at is Christine Borland, who deals with forensic science within her work. I find her work interesting because she raises unsettling questions by making works that are usually inaccessible to the public now visible. She has studied missing peoples cases and reconstructed those who have been found dead. Her work made me think of creating a cludeo type piece of work, where I leave clues leading to a missing person and the public have to find them.

Assessment 2nd Feb pt2

2011-02-08T13:33:00.000-08:00

I am interested in making works outside the studio as I have never really done that before, so I made this piece using photographs I had taken of my missing persons table. I had taken these pictures over a few days and in the mirror you can see the different times of day reflected through the glass. This conveys a passage of time and the washing line acts almost as a time line as well as a symbol of everyday or domesticated life. I had a few people intrigued by it and they didn't directly know what the piece was trying to say, therefore the piece was not obvious like some of my earlier stuff.

Assessment 2nd Feb

2011-02-08T12:57:00.000-08:00

In my last assessment I shown my missing women video which I have now shown publicly in Bold Street. I played my video in News from Nowhere bookshop with whom I'd been emailing for around a month. Earlier this month I got an email confirming when I could go down and play it.

I could have shown it last month but there was a Christmas display in the window and didn't think my video would fit into that kind of environment. The people who work there were very interested in what I was doing and were more than happy to accommodate me as they are part of the women's collective. As this was the first time I had shown my work publicly I wanted to get as much feedback as possible, so I stood around the shop and spoke to anyone who watched it. Many people said the video was moving and was shocked to hear some of the statistics involved. This public showing of my work has given me more confidence and taught me a little how artists negotiate.

Back to the drawing board

2011-02-08T12:49:00.000-08:00

I fear most of us are still suffering from post traumatic stress syndrome from our dissertation and the temptation to take a step back is still strong. However, we must crack on as this is probably one of our most important semesters (no pressure there then). So what do you do when your creative juice has run out?? go back to the drawing board of course!! I have gathered a lot of information on missing people throughout last semester so my focus is obviously on that at the moment, going back and reassessing what is already there because I know the work will jump out eventually. I just need to find it, and maybe a little more motivation would help as well!! So at the moment I am drawing up a large brainstorming sheet and what is jumping out at the moment is the statistics. I want to use those in some way, I trust my brain to come up with a plan (dun, dun, dun!).

My projections

2011-01-14T08:56:00.000-08:00

FACT projection

2011-01-11T18:06:00.000-08:00

As I haven't been able to use the projector at FACT, I made a mock-up video to show what it would look like. I showed this video at assessment to give the tutors an idea of what I wanted to achieve through my work and the kind of public spaces I would like to inhibit. Artist Kryzstzof Wodiczko (who I have been researching) projected his art work up on this very space.

Video for projection

2011-01-11T09:02:00.000-08:00

I realise it has been quite some time since my last post, but my time was consumed with the dissertation plus getting work ready for assessment. My main piece of work was the video above, showing the faces of women who are currently missing in the UK. I have shown this piece in my assessment along with emails to FACT and News from Nowhere Bookshop in regards to showing my work at their venues. I have a definite YES from News from Nowhere Bookshop and will be showing my work in their window either next week or the week after. I visited the shop yesterday to meet Maria and look at technicalities of showing my video there. I need a 15m long extension cable, which I will try to borrow off someone else before buying one (I am a student after all). I think I may email Nick from FACT to see if he has any available slots for the projector, from now until the end of March.

Useful websites and work on projections:

2010-11-19T09:02:00.000-08:00

http://www.woostercollective.com/projections/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Htt3Z4nZ4IU

http://antiadvertisingagency.com/project/light-criticism/ < not exactly a projection but I love this

Projections in the public realm

2010-11-19T08:40:00.000-08:00

Homeless Vehicle

Today in Jacqueline's workshop we looked at artists who have projected their work in the public realm. In particular we looked at Kryzstzof Wodiczko, an artist who is driven to produce political pieces of work. His intention is the same as mine, to highlight issues that are kept in the dark. His first piece Homeless Vehicle isn't a projection but it is intended to highlight the issues of homelessness in the USA. It worked as this piece gathered a lot of media attention. As did the swastika he projected on the South African Embassy, video here.

Other pieces he has created are Tijuana, which deals with victims of abuse and rape. This makes for uncomfortable viewing but by projecting this publicly and on such a large scale it is forcing the viewer to confront the issue. You can view a video on the piece here. You can also see how much he has thought about the place he is projecting, the use of the architecture aswell as the video itself.

I love his War Veteran work which was part of the AND Festival in Liverpool 2009. Here is a link to his work in Liverpool. This video shows the exact location I want to project my own work!!

Contacting FACT

2010-11-19T08:19:00.000-08:00

The ideal location for my projection would be the blank wall opposite FACT. This is located in a busy part of the city and I have seen artist's work projected on that wall before. Above is a photo of the location, the wall to the right hand side. I have emailed and telephoned FACT asking could I use one of their projectors to help me do this. They said they would call me back to see if this was possible, it has been a few days since that moment so I will call them again next week if I have no joy. I spoke to MITES who deal with the hiring of equipment and they said because I am projecting just outside that I wouldn't need to hire it (so hopefully it will be free of charge!).Next time I call I will ask if there is anyone I can ring myself, I have been given two ladies names Louise Latter and Laura Sillars. Aparantlly Louise Latter is very sympathetic towards the type of work I am doing, so I am going to try and push to speak to her as there is a better chance of them helping me. I have a few other options relating to the location of my projection if things do not work out with FACT.

Been a while..

2010-11-19T07:59:00.000-08:00

Yes it has been a while since my last post, disasters of life getting in the way i.e my laptop crashing! However in the meantime I have been attending Jacqueline Passmore's workshop on Friday's and it has been a massive help. After my assessment I decided I wanted to do a public projection of my work using pictures of missing women. I CAN SAFELY SAY I AM NOT THE MOST TECHNICAL PERSON, so attending thses workshops has been a real learning curve and also a confidence boost. I have made my video ready to use for my projection. I used the images I previously used in my address book, these are the images of women who revieve little or no media attention. By putting these images of women in the public realm I am highlighting the issue and bringing it to the publics attention. Here is a link to my video I uploaded to youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAlx4Mbk5PY

I kept my video simple and effective and not using anything obvious to the subject (like I did in some of my previous work). I used the slow zoom in and out to add a feminine touch and I think it makes it very moving. I used black and white images as this reminds me of some posters and bad images released to the press.

Interesting site

2010-11-02T08:20:00.000-07:00

Ihave been considering text within my work. I had a group crit yesterday where the idea of using the images of the current women missing in the UK and projecting them. The images may well stand on their own but the use of text may also enhance the meaning of my work, but without giving too much information away. I found this site that uses text and I think it is really strong. If I consider text I may use this as inspiriration on what i DO NEXT:

http://lostbutfound.co.uk/

Work for Assessment

2010-10-19T13:38:00.000-07:00

Today I added the flowers and battery power candles to the piece. Spooky! Oh, and I also added a curtain on the other side so it is more closed off. It looks a lot better in real life, plus you get the smells of the flowers and them crunching under your feet!

Progress of work

2010-10-18T07:27:00.001-07:00

I have finished putting the pictures on the wall, I have nailed them to the wall so that when people walk by them they blow in the breeze. This adds to the feeling of the piece. I have had quite a lot of feedback already, it seems to be getting quite a bit of attention. Some say they don't even make it half way down the corridor before they run back out! Interesting! The piece is not finished yet, I plan on laying dead flowers on the ground and using battery powered tea lights (health and safety!) I got my inspiration for this piece from Christian Boltanski who sets up 'shrines' for the lost.

Work so far

2010-10-17T10:09:00.000-07:00

This is a piece I am doing which will hopefully be completed for the assessment coming up. I want to make the space feel uncomfortable and almost claustrophobic to the audience. The work basically comments on the exploitation of an image and how missing people can fade out of our minds. I used the image of Madeleine as this is a well recognised image and I think she is the perfect example of MWWS (Missing White Woman Syndrome). The narrow corridor and the repitition of the image will hopefully rouse some emotion of the viewer and make them feel rather uneasy.

Christian Boltanski

2010-10-07T08:35:00.000-07:00

Patricia showed me a book containing the works of Christian Boltanski in my last review. I believe he will be a great source of inspiration for me as he deals with similiar themes. His work is all about loss and I find his work extremely moving. Especially his 'shrines'. After reading through the book and seeing his work I had a flood of ideas, which is always good for an artist! I can't convey enough how much I love Boltanski's work. I remember coming across his work that uses clothes, although I had never looked into anything else he had done. So I am pleased and greatful that Patricia showed me that book. I will do some more research on the artist's work and hopefully the ideas will keep flowing.

Work so far

2010-10-07T08:20:00.001-07:00

This piece is coming along slowly, it is taking me a little longer than expected! I have had a few people come up to me and ask me about it and to say it's looking good. The cleaning ladies in the studio asked my mate about it and when she explained the MWWS they said 'oh yea, she's so right!' so at least it's gaining interest and people are becoming aware of the exploitation and the ignorance of other missing women. Jagjit also said she liked the piece and found it very moving. I understood what she meant by that, because the more I work on this and stand back from it the more of an impact it makes. Others have said they find it rather creepy and it makes them feel uncomfortable. I am glad people are getting feelings and emotions from this piece, as that is what I intended to do. At first I was a bit skeptical about this piece but after gaining more feedback I realise that it is touching people in some way. Now I just need to complete it and put the table inside to see how people engage with it.

Work so far

2010-10-07T07:51:00.001-07:00

I set this up using my table I created over the summer. I have added a few more items to the table like the lamp and ashtray. I also added the vase and the mirror, hoping the colour of the flowers and the sky seen in the mirror contrast with the dull and boring items. I have been photographing this set up everyday that I am in the studio, and will continue to do so until the flowers wilt and die. I will print every photo I have and will think about some way of displaying them. I may also create a video piece using these photographs.

Biennial : FACT

2010-09-28T10:11:00.000-07:00

One Year Performance (1980-1981)

A few days ago I visited FACT to see the biennial work in there. I was very impressed by it.

The exhibition focused on the documentation of his performance ‘life work’, One Year Performance 1980-1981 (Time Clock Piece). I thought this was documented very well and the way it was presented in the gallery was amazing.

For one year, the artist punched a worker’s time clock located in his studio, on the hour, every hour. Marking the occasion by taking a self-portrait on a single frame of 16mm film, the resulting reel documents a year in his life at approximately one second per day. For me this represents the mundane and the repetition we all experience in life. By the end the artist looks haggard with his long hair sometimes falling into his eyes. This is a very interesting piece. It also reminded me of a documentary we looked at in second year about consumerism. It showed Chinese factory workers and the sheer amount of workers, plus the long hours they worked everyday. This was a good piece to see as I am looking at the passage of time for one of my pieces and plan to make a video piece.

I also loved Yves Netzhammer's work in Gallery 2 that reflect on fundamental, even subconscious, aspects of the human condition. His work contains a three-dimensional animation that focuses on characters who are struggling to remember situations that are lost or strangely misshapen by the memories of the collective consciousness. The result is an eerie and surreal atmosphere which made me feel uncomfortable at times. I think it is amazing when you feel such a strong reaction to a piece of work.

Coco Fusco

2010-09-28T09:57:00.000-07:00

After my tutorial feedback I looked into the talk that Coco Fusco gave about the strength and power an image can possess. She talks about the image shown above on Time Magazine. Fusco deals very much with political art. The image above was created to recognise the war effort in Afghanistan and to send out a liberal message, or so we were meant to think. It was actually employed by the CIA to gather sympathy.
I think the use of Madeleine McCann in my work is a well recognised image. I have already had the cleaners in the studio asking me about my work after seeing Madeleine's face. The power of an image can be very strong. I explained the meaning behind MWWS and they said 'oh yea, you are so right!'.

Bold Street Festival

2010-09-27T12:47:00.001-07:00

World's smallest nightclub
Julien's pavement art

On the 26th September I went to the Bold Street Festival, small events like these make me love living in Liverpool. It was a fun day that contained culture, energy and fun. I think Liverpool is a great city to be in when studying a creative subject. I espicially loved the pavement art competition (which fellow student Julien took part in!) and the alternative music combined with photography by the fab collective in the bombed out church.

Caravan Gallery

2010-09-22T09:56:00.000-07:00

The Carvan Gallery at The Bluecoat

On Monday I went back to The Bluecoat to look at The Caravan Gallery (it was leaving that day so I had to visit again!) I thought it was quirky and original and was perfect for the Liverpool biennial. Inside it contained many images from around Liverpool. As I have lived in three different locations in Liverpool I recognised many of the locations. Some locations in the photographs I pass everyday, however thay have gone largely unnoticed by myself until I looked at these photographs. These images brought back random memories. I think it is a interesting link to my work, as with my table I am making the unnoticed somehow noticed. Just like the images in the caravan. I had a long chat with the artist who had captured these images, she said some images were just random sightings and that some things we deem as normal up here in the North would not be viewed the same in the South. (For example 'shrines' on lamposts were people have been killed in an accident). I love this little caravan, it depicits the desolate but also the satirical nature of Liverpool (along with a few other places in the North).

Artist Research

2010-09-22T08:45:00.000-07:00

Do Ho Suh, Someone 1998
Coco Fusco, Couple in a Cage 1993

With Couple in a Cage people were convinced that they were real 'savages' believing the artist's fiction was in fact real. I love this social experiment. It reflects on the morality of treating human beings as exotic curiosities. It links in some way into what I'm doing, human exploitation. Fusco is very much a political artist, and I think her work is very interesting and informative.

Here is an interesting talk by Coco Fusco (scroll futher down for her video)

I also discussed with Juan the notion of loss of identity. My work at the moment (dealing with missing people) very much reflects that. I will perhaps look into that side of it more, as no-one likes to be forgotten about. The first image that popped into my head when thinking about loss of identity is Do Ho Suh's Someone. This is a very poweful piece, and the empty space within the jacket very much reflects a loss of identity.

Work so far

2010-09-22T08:31:00.001-07:00

I have added some more things to my table, the lamp, the ashtray and the vase. I need to ask myself if this piece stands alone? Should I use it as part of an installation? Use it in a video piece?? I am still keen on using it as part of a video piece, I will probably need some help as I have never made a video before!! I plan on adding some flowers and maybe a red light bulb to the lamp. As part of the video I hope to capture a cigarette burning down in the ashtray. I need to think on it, as it is still early days. But you learn from any mistakes and hopefully this will progress into something better!!

Tutorial with Juan

2010-09-22T07:55:00.000-07:00

My work so far

Today I had a tutorial with Juan. I have started to create the piece above, however I do not know what Juan made of it. There were many points made in the tutorial, like how people would interact with the piece and whether the use of Madeleine McCanns image were too exploitative. I had chosen Madeleine because it is an image that everyone would recognise (strenghtening my point about the use of the media and MWWS). It is showing how this image is being exploited by the media. Once this piece is finished I will put my address book of British women currently missing (who do not get enough media attention) inside the piece. This is where I will observe people and see if they actually go inside and look through the book. Until the piece is finished I will not know how successful it has been. I plan to ask people for feedback, but for now I just want to get stuck in and create work.

Biennial opening

2010-09-22T07:07:00.000-07:00

Myself looking rather scared in The Bluecoat
Ndize, Nicolas Hlobo
Inside the Open Eye Gallery

When I arrived at the opening of the biennial on Friday night I was rather taken aback. There, outside the Open Eye Gallery was a queue. The first time I'd ever seen a queue to get into a gallery! There was a certain buzz and lots of odd looking people drinking glasses of wine. Definately an art event. Once inside the Open Eye Gallery, there were even more odd looking people drinking wine. Lots of people. It was a good atmosphere but unfortunatly I couldn't appreciate the two film pieces in there because there were so many people around. So I vacated the gallery and went to the next venue The Bluecoat.

I was anxious to get to The Bluecoat, because I have always either loved or hated the work that was in there. The first room containing Carol Rama's work was brilliant. I espicially loved Wedding Dresses. What I love about Rama's work is that it was ahead of it's time. Over sexualised and not afraid of being controversial. The other piece I loved was Nicolas Hlobo's Ndize. I do not think you have to be an art lover to enjoy this piece. In a way it takes me back to childhood playing hide and seek, and the anxiousness and excitement you feel about getting found. Again we had to queue up to see this piece, if everyone would have gone up at the same time it would have been chaos.! As with Rama's work I also founf Hlobo's Ndize rather sexualised with the materials he used (such as rubber and the outfits the models wore). Overall I get the feeling that the work in The Bluecoat is about sexual identity.

The last venue I visited was The Tate. Unfortunatly, the work here did not get my creative juices flowing. In fact I had taken a real dislike to the room on the ground floor. This article sums up how I feel about Magdalena Abakanowicz's installation http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2010/sep/20/liverpool-biennial (under the heading dimly lit potatoes). As for the rest, it didn't do anything for me either. I didn't get to see all the work on the top floor, so I do hold out some hope for my next visit!

Other blogs covering the biennial:

Liverpool Confidential
Feeling Listless

First Tutorial

2010-09-22T06:49:00.000-07:00

For some, group tutorials can be rather daunting. For me, I prefer them to one on one because we can bounce ideas around, gain confidence in public speaking plus gain more feedback. However, I do admit I was rather nervous about my first group tutorial. Not only was I showcasing my summer project (which could have easily been shot down), I was also 'pitching' myself to tutors I have never shown my work to. I could also sense a certain tension in the air from other students, that made me feel uneasy. Topped with the fact that this was our final year. 'The year that counts'.

I had made the piece above to show at my first tutorial, and when Juan Cruz started to say 'I think this piece is boring' I almost sunk right down into my seat and hoped to melt away. But he carried on talking. This in fact made me feel better because I think he was seeing the point to the piece. It wasn't made to stand out. It was, in a sense, made to be overlooked. At the moment I am considering to add more objects to the piece and hopefully create a short film. This is my first attempt at film, hopefully I won't get too stressed out!

Ideas

2010-09-21T07:27:00.000-07:00

Looking at missing posters is where it all started. I have already started to create pieces of work using these. On this blog I will load up pictures of my work, any explinations for my work or processes' will be explained in sketchbooks. This blog will give a brief summary of where I am up to and hopefully record how my work will progress. I will also use this blog to record any galleries I have visited or relevant artists that have inspired me.

Start of Third Year

2010-09-21T07:02:00.000-07:00

Natalee Holloway

Madeleine McCann

So here we are at the final stretch of my Fine Art degree and I must admit it's rather terrifying. But at the same time it is exciting and it seems everyone has come back motivated over the summer which is brilliant! The tutors are engaging and seem engaged with our work so I feel really positive at the moment. I have "hit the ground running" to quote John Byrne and I already feel a big difference compared to the start of last year, which to be perfectly honest, started off a bit hairy.

My focus is on the notion of beauty and femininity, taking off from last year. However I am looking at it from a different angle, looking at the cruelty conveyed by a culture obssesed with image. In particular focusing on media and missing people. Not everyone would have heard the term MWWS (Missing White Woman Syndrome) but I guarantee people would have seen it. This means that usually young, pretty,middle-class and usually blonde girls/women get the most media attention when it comes to missing people. For example, the most well-known missing person in the UK Madeleine McCann. Plus for many Americans missing person Natalee Holloway.

I hope to create works based on this idea and to bring it to the attention of others.