Experimenting with my printer/scanner/copier

I looked to my side and saw a photo of my Dad and I form when I was 1 (I think). Then I started to draw lines and I began writing random sentences along them. Anything that came into my head. I then used the word that Niall gave us on a bit of scrap paper for our group exercise on Thursday and scanned it into the copier. This led to a number of different outcomes. I messed about with magnification and scale whilst scanning and copying. There was no particular logic or plan - I just made it up as I went along. Whatever I thought looked 'good' or 'right' was included in the print out. Although this process was completely random and created partly out of boredom... I enjoyed myself! I can imagine people looking at it and taking away deep, emotional messages, interpreting outlandish symbolism etcetera, etcetera. Maybe that's how some historic, famous pieces were once created... who knows! 

Anyway, I loved playing about with the printer/scanner/copier - moving paper around, moving from colour to black and white, enlarging images and magnifying certain parts of images. It has proved an enjoyable and creative outlet and I will most likely continue experimenting with the process.

Generation: 25 years of contemporary art in Scotland

I, along with 3 friends were fortunate enough to visit Auschwitz last month during our holiday in Poland. We were in Krakow for 3 days and had booked our visit to the camp for the last day, in hindsight this was a sensible idea since the visit was like nothing I have experienced. I still struggle to put into words how it made me feel and think.

Once I arrived back in Scotland I visited the National Gallery in Edinburgh with my mum and sister. We were waiting on my brother who had been visiting friends, so we thought we'd pop into the Gallery for a wee nose! We weren't in there very long, but I moved from room to room taking in as much as I could. I didn't have my notebook with me to take down details of the artists and their work so I had to rely on memory alone. The one artist that stuck out for me was Christine Borland. 'L'Homme Double' is made up of 6 clay portrait busts. Borland contacted 6 sculptors and instructed them to create these busts based on the Nazi war criminal Josef Mengel. They were all given the same information - 2 grainy photographs of the man and a selection of quotes and statements made by survivors of the Auschwitz death camp. The quotes were mostly attempts at describing Mengels physical appearance. 

The psychological aspect of the work astounds me. Borland has conveyed the uncertainty of this mans identity using actual memories from the people who witnessed him first hand. I love the individuality of each bust, how the perspective of each chosen sculptor is combined with the recollections of Auschwitz survivors.

Yesterday, I revisited the Gallery with my friend Flora and took 2 to 3 hours exploring the exhibit. David Shrigley was another artist who stuck out for me. His work that was on display was very impressive. Various selections of woodcut prints and a collection of ceramic/clay boots of all different shapes and sizes.

As we entered the gift shop I picked up one of his books and found myself laughing hysterically. I wasn't expecting a book like this from the work I had already seen from Shrigley - but I was pleasantly surprised! 

I enjoyed these visits to the gallery and have taken on many things from each artist and their work. I continue to be inspired by doing things like this and I love discovering people who's work I can take things from.