I progressed from an earlier version of this piece. I cut it down after rubbing out the pencil marks and mounted it on black paper, leaving a downward slant along the bottom.
I wrote ‘you are here this is happening’ with my left hand. This allowed me to let go. This act felt natural, I kept focusing on how hard it must of been for 5 year old me as I first grabbed a pencil and began to write with my right hand. I have no memories of learning to write, but using my left hand for this piece was the closest I’ll get.
Because it was my left hand instead of right, I began to think about the 2 sides of my personality. One side tells the truth and doesn’t back down from difficult situations. The other takes a different approach and deceives me, it tells me things it can’t possibly know, things that can’t be true. This side hides things, feelings and emotions and truths.
I was thinking about this as I tried not to focus too hard writing with my left hand.
My left hand wrote the phrase with no fear, with no experience, it had never written this phrase before.
I think being honest with yourself is very hard.
This projects theme began with the intention of visualising how protection is the ultimate outcome of lying to the people you love.
Radiohead are one of my favourite bands. When I found out that the lyrics ‘I’m not here, this isn’t happening’ were actually words of advice that were given to Thom Yorke by Michael Stipe of R.E.M. - the song got so much cooler…
Anyway, I thought I would reverse those words around and write ‘I’m here, this is happening’ over and over and over again. I did this because the song those lyrics are from - ‘How To Disappear Completely’ - is very comforting for me to listen to, like a lot of Radioheads songs. I see it as a kind of mantra, repeating a phrase over and over and over again and achieving comfort from it.
Since the role of ‘Protection’ (the theme of the project) plays a part in lying for positive reasons (the focus of my work) I figured that being honest with yourself is a key factor.
When we find ourselves in difficult situations, one technique we consider helpful is to deny the truth, the discomfort and the pain by convincing ourselves everything will be okay. In a sense, we are lying to ourselves, we recognise the status quo, admit discontent then deceive ourselves temporarily (sometimes longer).
I recognise this behaviour in myself, I’ve been doing it for years. How else would we make it through the day?
So, the point I’m making is that I wanted to keep it positive. This work is a development piece and I wanted it to deal with honesty, and being honest with yourself.
Sometimes we need to face up to reality and say..
I AM HERE AND THIS IS HAPPENING
Look it right in the face and get on with it.
(forgive me Mr. Yorke, Mr. Stipe)
Oh and the handwritten text in the piece was completed using my left hand. This way I felt less precious about how it turned out.
Barbara Krugers work has always interested me. I love working with text and typefaces. The direct communication is a beautiful and clear way of evoking feelings. Placing a strong phrase on top of an appropriate image is so effective.
‘I Shop Therefore I Am’ is such a powerful commentary on materialism and our need to indulge in consumerism. We are all under the guise of this phenomenon and this work addresses that clearly and distinctly. The visual aesthetic alone comforts me in a way that no work has ever comforted me before. The hand placed behind the box and text is in black and white, creating a strong contrast. The sharp corners of the bright red box almost poke into the fleshy background.
Owning things and purchasing material items is something everyone has in common. We all fall victim to consumerism and the way Kruger has executed this in a straightforward art work is just sublime.
‘Your Body Is A Battleground’ is another piece of Krugers that I like very much. Referring to the female body, I feel this is a very empowering piece of work. Not just to women but to men as well. While it doesn’t refer to men directly, I personally get feelings of pride, confidence, power, strength and happiness from this piece.
I am a firm believer in civil rights and human rights. I see men and women as equals and I support any opportunity that raises awareness of equality, especially in the art world. Calling myself a Feminist would make sense, but I would feel like a fraud because I don’t actively do anything about inequality. I need to educate myself on the history of it. Whenever I am in a conversation or debate about gender equality I will fight my corner and air my views like any other Feminist - I just need to read more about it all so I feel justified. I hope that doesn’t sound naive. We see discrimination every day in many forms and whenever I witness it I feel ashamed on behalf of the human race. People I call my friends and even relatives are racist and sexist at times - what should I do? They would make homophobic comments and when I call them out on it they would label me a kill joy and brush it off as joke. I can take that, I can take their ignorance in small doses.
This is why artworks like Krugers make me feel positive. She cuts the bullshit and gets straight to the point.
I was talking with fellow students earlier about a piece of work that evoked the feeling of being vulnerable. We were discussing whether it was because the subject the work was based on - the subject of sex - was a taboo, a topic that some people aren’t too comfortable with talking about.
It is a taboo.
I’m a pretty open minded, laid back guy when it comes to talking about my feelings. I like to think the person I am bearing my soul to appreciates that.
When it comes to expressing ones sexuality through art, it can have many effects on the viewer. I know some people that if confronted with an intimate Tracy Emin confessional, after one look they would turn and run a mile (and some of these people claim they have taste…).
Although, I also know some people who would embrace how they felt when they experienced one of her works. I know some people who would begin feeling things and would question why they felt these things, and why this piece of work has made them feel that way.
This is why I think it is worth exposing your vulnerable side.
And if that makes someone else feel vulnerable… GOOD
Edinburgh Colleges’ artist in residence Pavlos Georgiou gave us a talk about his work on Friday morning. I was very interested to hear about how he carried out researching and developing his ideas. His whole focus for his degree show when he was at ECA, was the relationship and history behind various objects. Pav displayed photographs of his pieces along with documentation of the final works at the degree show. He talked about how he worked tirelessly to make sure no light passed through into the space. This rendered the room holding his pieces completely black, except for the lights above the pieces, illuminating them for the viewer.
Pav explained how much freedom and space he got to work with at certain points in his education. I felt inspired to think bigger and branch out my ideas. Thinking about the space that a piece of work can be displayed in is interesting, on one hand you might not consider this, but on the other the piece might not work without it.
Working delicately with fine liners and felt tips. I like to spend a lot of time making sure the white page is clear of any smudges. Clean lines and sharp marks on the page are nice to look at.
This is the video piece I presented at the Conceputal Project crit yesterday!
After developing various ideas over the past 2 weeks this is the stage I am at now. My initial thoughts were to create a performance or video piece that would convey the title ‘Nation’. I wanted to pair this project up with my interest in time, and felt it would be an appropriate combination since I could relate our nation of Scotland with our history and the people who experienced it.
I played around with photography, video, text and performance. I felt more at ease creating work when I put the thought of producing a ‘final piece’ out of my head. This way I was able to experiment with a handful of ideas and materials without any irrational pressure to come up with a polished end piece.
My close friend Calum is staying with us at the flat every Monday and Tuesday until December for work here in Edinburgh at a publishing firm. Calum writes and performs poetry and is extremely good at it. We have discussed working on more projects together as we did in the summer and I felt his input on this occasion would prove to be a worth while venture.
I already had a dozen or so photographs showing my flatmate CJ in a dimly lit room in motion holding a clock. After adjusting settings on my camera I was able to manipulate the shutter speed and create blurred images. I wanted to do something with 2 specific photographs so I jumped on iMovie and played around with layering the 2 on top of each other. Along with some contrast and saturation adjustments I flipped one of the images upside down and for a minute I liked what saw.
Next, I spoke to Calum about how he would feel contributing to the project. He was up for it! I presented him with the brief we received along with one of my own detailing my intentions for the piece. I showed him the minute long slide I had prepared on the iMac and he began to write.
5 minutes later he read out what he had come up with. (I posted a photograph of the transcript yesterday)
Pleased with the narrative Calum had written I got to work on figuring out how to record his voice and import it onto iMovie. Once that was done I listened to the piece a few times through and adjusted the 1 minute slide so that it panned slowly from the bottom left corner up to the right hand corner. The pace at which Calum spoke was something I had to keep in mind when adjusting the speed of the panning. I wanted the viewer to be able to notice the panning and maybe wonder what exactly it is they are looking at as well.
Overall I think the piece works. I couldn’t have achieved it without Calum so a lot of credit is headed his way! I was pleased that my initial vision of making a work that conveys a torrid and passionate 3 way relationship between Scotland, it’s people and it’s history was able to be fulfilled. I still believe the piece needs development and maybe split apart and looked at again.
Since starting this course I have been relishing the thought of getting to grips with a conceptual art work. Now that we have the opportunity to not only create a piece of work but also write an essay on conceptual art, I have been making mind maps and jotting down things that come into my head when I think of our title ‘Nation’. I’m thinking about moving away from flat art work as in working on paper or canvas and moving towards installation work and possibly performance. The ability to express oneself is something that needs to be explored. The more I work with different media and materials the more flexible I become when it comes to developing ideas. I tend to think a lot more open mindedly about where my work could go especially when I know it is going to be a conceptual piece. Now that we have received the deadlines regarding our contextual, conceptual and developmental drawing projects I have been able to days and times when and where I can work on each one. The college library has provided me with a selection of books that I am working my way through when I am at home. Mondays and Fridays in our studio spaces are a great opportunity to get some practical work done as well as taking time to update my blog. I am determined to keep on track when it comes to time keeping and deadlines. Also, group crits have been enjoyable so far! They outline my strengths and weaknesses when presenting my work. Sometimes I tend to drift off in presentations and go off on wild tangents. This is probably due to my enthusiasm and lack of planning talks. P.S. I will probably be posting to my tumblr page more often from now since most of my classmates are on there. Here is the link below!
This is the video piece I came up with for day 4 of our project. I wanted to illustrate the increasing use of brutality within the police force in America. I wanted to do this using footage from various news channels and reports from the mainstream media. The involvement of mobile phones and cameras in these cases is important, especially when it comes to the inevitable investigation. Head cameras and chest cameras fitted onto police officers is also very telling statement. This way we don't have to rely so much on witness statements or unreliable memory.
I love working with video, from selecting material from research to the editing process. Looking at timing and the length of each clip is something I spend a lot of time on. I am always conscious of what is being said in each clip and whether or not the viewer will relate the words they hear to what they are seeing. I try not to get too bogged down with this though. Ultimately I am creating work for myself. I probably shouldn't be overly concerned about how much the viewer understands it.
I think that Anthony Horowitz’ comments about the possibility of Idris Elba playing James Bond should be taken seriously. Whether or not it was a mistake or a misinterpretation doesn’t matter. This sort of thing happens all the time in the media. An accomplished member of the celebrity world says something that is not entirely politically correct and the press goes crazy for it. I’m sure in this case, Elba didn’t take it too seriously. Even with such a successful career anyone in the limelight is open to criticism. Horowitz has came out and admitted he was “mortified to have caused offence”. This is also a common stage, typical of a scenario that has attracted the media. There is no suspicion that these comments are racially motivated, not in the slightest.
However whenever things like this do happen, I always look to the mainstream media and look carefully how the cover the ‘story’. I think of the media as -for lack of a better phrase - ‘shit stirrers’. Even if the person who first broke the story knows for a fact that there was nothing sinister in the authors comments, it’s the agenda of the media outlets to make something out of nothing.
Over the years I have come to realise the media and press have a certain agenda to fulfil especially when it comes to celebrities.
I think what I want to get across in this piece is my personal view on how the mainstream media outlets aim to bring out the worst in people, not the best.
Today was the second day of our newspaper headlines project. I wanted to focus on a subject a little more serious than curry, so I managed to pick out one about a man who has been sentenced to death by lethal injection. So yeah, just a bit more serious than curry.
The man is to be excecuted on the 15th of September for murdering his boss. The very short article explains that the man has reached out to President Obama, hoping he will intervene and get his sentence changed.
The death penalty and it's existence in the modern world has been part of heated debates for a long time. It's something I find very interesting. I have in the past talked at length about it, and the part it plays in justice systems around the world. I figured because of my interest in it, that this article would be a good one to work on.
I made a mind map as soon as I had read the article and began jotting down thoughts and feelings that I personally felt about the death penalty.
At this stage all I wanted to do was get as many words down on paper as possible. I tend to scribble down words rather than sentences, this helps me when I refer back to notes later in the development process. I think this is because I attach certain connotations to words whether negative or positive, and the feeling I have in that moment in which I jot them down stays with me and I remember why I wanted to write it in the first place. These singular words usually make their way into sentences in the later stages of the process.
I began thinking about what materials I could use to project my feeling towards the subject.
I love working with typefaces and text on Photoshop, so I used this urge and photographed the image (mugshot) of the man sentenced to death and got it up on the iMac.
Working with text on top of images, I have came to realise how important composition is. I can spend hours on one poster adjusting one single line of text, the kerning, the spacing, point size etc. All the time spent is worth the outcome, usually...
I really enjoyed tackling this subject - albeit individually - and figuring out my own personal views on a subject.
Although, I do realise that these past 2 days and the pieces I have made haven't had much research behind them. This is something I will focus on more tomorrow, Thursday and Friday.
These images are from the first day of research and development into a news story from a local newspaper. The last image in the selection is the final piece of work - a photo collage.
The story I chose was a local one and was written about curry houses and restaurants customers dwindling because of a high interest in pre packed supermarket ready meals.
I chose to photograph a ready meal curry laid out on a paper plate to emphasise the disposable and cheap side of the purchase.
I was interested in what makes people choose supermarket take away style ready meals rather than the real thing from the restaurants.
I began writing down fictional accounts of customers, reviewing their experiences at the curry house 'Indian Aromas'.
Because of the relatively trivial nature of the article/story, I figured I could inject a little humour in there for good measure.
Many ideas were passing through my mind whilst researching this article. I wanted to go down the digital route at one point during the day and make a sound piece that would consist of myself voicing the fictional reviews I had earlier wrote up.
Time was a factor and because one of the aims of this task is to practice keeping to deadlines I realised I had to stick to what was achievable in my time frame.
With my final piece I also wanted to emphasise the awareness of quality when it came to experiencing an authentic indian curry compared to a supermarket imitation. Some people when faced with the meal on a plate might not be able to tell straight away. The image below where I have taped over the curry and written the word 'FRAGILE' was intended to express the idea of a 'package deal' or 'package meal'. As an artwork and whether or not this is idea clear to the viewer is a different story. The monetary value of each meal also comes into play with some of the images below. Placing actual money alongside the paper plates and text was an idea that came to me when I bought the ready meal from Morrissons.
The following images contain mind maps and general notes I took down throughout the day. Some parts are clearer than others. This process of taking down thoughts and ideas is one I am very much used to. I usually look back and I am quite able to make sense of some notes but I know for sure that others will struggle to make the connections to my final piece. This is something I need to work on!
I think, although rushed, my research notes and development tie in well with my final pieces.
The first piece of the project I have been working on was created under the title 'Here & Now'.
I decided to work with video and audio as these media are always at the forefront of my mind whenever faced with a project. I use my iMac and the software 'iMovie' to create video pieces, I have become very familiar with how it works and can feel a theme developing with every art work I create.
'Here & Now' provided plenty of potential when it came to subject matter.
As I have mentioned before in an earlier blog post, the concept of time has been an important part of my research and development for this project. How we perceive time and deal with it in day to day are things that I have thought about all summer.
To gain a fresh perspective on this subject I wanted to record some audio, specificly a voice. I also wanted an innocent feel to the video piece so I asked my 8 year old cousin Diarmuid if he wanted to participate in the project! He was more than happy to, so I arranged a time with my auntie to go down and visit.
I had to prepare a set of fairly straight forward questions that I could ask and that he would understand. I wasn't worried about whether or not his answers made sense, I just wanted a running narrative that the viewer can listen to whilst taking in the visuals.
I have recently been converting our old home videos into digital files on my iMac, so I wanted to immerse myself amongst these videos and hand pick from about 40 hours of footage, the most appropriate visuals. The ones I picked all related to 'time' in some way. For example one clip was my family celebrating the 2000 millennium year, and others were memories that I hold dear to my heart and moments that I can clearly remember.
Once I had the audio material, I got to work on compiling the home videos and creating a strong, 1 minute piece. Deciding how much of the audio to use was a big problem. Some answers Diarmuid gave related really well to the visuals, other answers not so much. I managed to arrange them in an order I felt worked, for example there were short small audio clips that played when something quick was happening visually.
Whenever I make video pieces I always think about how it will be received when people get to see it. I always ask myself - Will they relate this to that? Will they understand that part? Do they know that was supposed to look that way? These questions help me during the creative progress but also get in my way.
Today I visited the Modern Gallery in Edinburgh where Roy Lichtenstein's work was the main attraction. It was a great opportunity to see his and other artists work in the flesh. To see pieces in the context they were intended to be in is always a comforting experience, in that you feel the physical presence so much more.
I like to stand directly in front of pieces of work especially paintings, and just try to imagine the artist standing in a similar position whilst creating it. I like to look closely at brush strokes and when possible inspect the corners of the canvas or paper, and just enjoy how the piece has aged. I was able to do this today when I discovered a few of Picasso's paintings.
I just felt so lucky and happy that I was standing looking at a Picasso painting! Being such a well known name worldwide and having a reputation such as his I just couldn't quite comprehend being in the same room as one of his works.
It is possible I'm exaggerating as I quite often do but this can only confirm how strong the feeling is.
Being able to walk around and see Lichtenstein's work was great. It was so satisfying scanning the vibrant colours overlaid with the trademark comic book dots. The size of some of the pieces was surprising but this only added to the experience.
As I entered the exhibition space I was completely taken by surprise when I spotted 'Monster' by Douglas Gordon. I researched Gordon for my Final Major Project whilst at Borders College and instantly became interested in his video and installation work. This cemented for me the importance of seeing a piece by one of your favourite artists in the flesh - I felt amazing. It was a lot bigger than I expected, being a photograph from the 90s I imagined the quality to be slightly grainy or weak but the closer I got to it the sharper it became!
Part 2 presented us with a bright yellow jellyfish floating through a deep dark tank of blue sea water. The commentary over the visuals gives us a detailed insight into it's habitat, survival techniques and natural environment.
I enjoyed this piece. I liked the darkened room it was in, how it was projected straight onto the wall, the audio was sharp and clear and I felt it was a reasonable length too. The long panning shots of the machine was particularly interesting to me. After filming material for my Final Major Project I have grown closer to moving images and video in general. I have come to appreciate it as a craft and look forward to pushing ahead with my own pieces and experiment with subject matter. The use of audio with the girl reciting and the man narrating was a nice touch. I have found with my small projects adding or even deciding what audio to include is a huge task! Whether or not you want it to coincide with the visual, or it to completely contrast with it is not an easy decision. But I think coming to see exhibitions like this one helps my personal development a lot.
Exposing myself to video work and installation pieces is something I need to continue doing.
The next piece that I took a particular liking to was by Billy Apple.
'For Sale' by Billy Apple 1961
I like this piece for the use of typography and the message it conveys. The point it makes that Art is made to be bought and sold is very obvious. My interest in letter pressing and type was what originally caught my attention. I have created work in the same vain as 'For Sale' with the intention of questioning the art piece itself. Kind of like a parody of itself I guess!
Back in July I was sent an email from Edinburgh College that gave instructions to complete a project in preparation for starting the Contemporary Art Practice HND Course on August 24th.
Part 1 of the project was to research a handful of contemporary art galleries and specific pieces dotted around Edinburgh, to then express either positive or negative reactions to the pieces of work.
Part 2 required us to actually create 2 pieces of work based on our research and development taken down in Part 1. These 2 art works were to be produced in response to 2 of the following titles:
Here & Now
For Sale
This Land is Our Land
The instructions included details of how we were expected to create our actual art works. We were asked to produce our final responses in two distinct media with at least one of the pieces in a media we are less familiar with.
Having been used to critically evaluating different art works from the BTEC course and why I like them and why I don't, I felt I was able to easily slip back into that mindset when I visited the Modern Gallery recently on Belford Road in Edinburgh.
Since receiving the email I have made a conscious effort to visit Edinburgh and take down my thoughts in note form regarding different art works and how they made me feel, why they made me feel that way etc.
(I will post these above mentioned reflective notes in a separate blog post)
Since I have became familiar with working with video and audio in the past year I chose to create 1 piece using said media. As for the second I have the material and development but have yet to choose an 'unfamiliar' media to work with.
I have just under a week to complete the project and hand it in on my first day. It has been great to get into the swing of things again since finishing at Borders College in June!
Working at Lyle & Scott this summer has given me the opportunity to think a lot about what I want to achieve through my artwork. 'Time' and how us humans experience time has consumed a lot of my thinking this summer and has ended up being the theme of one piece of this project under the title 'Here & Now'.
I am planning on posting about this project at the weekend once I am completely finished.
Last Wednesday I contacted Sam Christopher Cornwell, the owner and artist in residence of the contemporary gallery 'The Taxi Office' located in Hawick. I had saw some posts he had put up on his Facebook page of photographs on tin plates. The portraits appeared very clear and I felt intrigued and curious as to how the whole process worked!
I decided to Tweet Sam and ask if it was okay if Alice and I popped in Friday afternoon to sit for a portrait. He replied soon after and was more than happy to have us! Once we arrived he began explaining the initial stages and walking us through how he applies the liquid to the tin plate and works some magic in the dark room. After being shown how to prepare the tin slide, Sam had me sitting on a stool in front of the huge camera with 18 bulbs pointed straight at me. I hadn't posed for a photograph like this since High School but in this case I felt a lot more excited to see the outcome!
Sam explained how light and exposure time would effect the tin plate and I was fascinated. The lead up and eventual efforts put into just one small piece of work did gradually sink in and made me appreciate the whole process a lot more.
Finally he plunged the tin plate into a clear solution and we witnessed my 'likeness' - as Sam referred to it - appear on the plate in front of us! It was a great thing to watch happen.
Alice was next and I loved going through the process again and seeing the different stages and how each one was so important in contributing to the final piece.
Afterwards Alice and I stayed and chatted with Sam for about half an hour, we talked about our forthcoming courses and discussed some artists we had mutual affection for. It was great to talk to someone so passionate and with a legitimate drive to want to expose the population of Hawick to contemporary art.
As we left we expressed our excitement regarding the Borders Photo Marathon he with the Taxi Office is hosting this coming weekend.
The questions you ask fellow humans (or even animals) are one thing.
But the ones you ask yourself are in a completely different league.
Can you ask someone what the time is? Sure.
Can you ask them how they are? Definitely.
Can you ask them why we persist and persist at an existence that on the surface doesn't even cover 1% of what we truly want to achieve and that ultimately this ride we call life will be over in the blink of a bloodshot eye rendering all effort and progress gained utterly pointless? ...yeah you can ask that, but don't expect a prepared and positive answer.
There are curiosities we should probably keep to ourselves (with the exception of a very patient friend or family member). They could be mundane dilemmas like what paint to use when making a piece of work, or whether to use audio in a video piece or not. But as we all know these dilemmas may take a lot more than a few seconds of pondering....
Like:
"Should I even be even ATTEMPTING to paint?!"
or
"Wtf am I doing on iMovie?! I don't even 'get' what I'm trying to create!!"
These worries and brief attacks usually pass... But the point is that you ask them in the first place.
I'm not a particularly high strung guy. I stay positive the majority of the time and don't get too hung up on the small things. Nonetheless though, I ask myself questions all of the time. From the trivial to the terrifying. What I have realised is that these questions are what keep us creative types going. Even if we give the wrong answers, it's not the end of the world. Plus, what even is wrong? We'll figure it all out at some stage.
From here on out I vow to ask as many questions as possible.
(I'll try to keep the weird, awkward and panic inducing ones to myself.....maybe)
Gave 'Handmade: Glass" a watch after Niall recommended it in class just the other day. A truly beautiful 29 minutes worth of considered camera angles and phenomenal skill.
Afterwards, I was working on some stuff for one of my units and I felt inspired.
I had a record playing in the background so currently shiteing it that YouTube will pull copyright theft and remove the video off their site, so fingers crossed.
Since I last posted on here I attended my interview at Edinburgh College! It was a great experience, I was able to mingle with fellow hopeful students and get to know a bit about each other before we were taken in individually for our 10 minute interviews.
I was asked questions like;
Why do you want to do this course?
What was the last exhibition you saw?
What do you think the strongest piece in your portfolio is?
My lecturer had helped me the week leading up to the interview with the portfolio itself, mounting photographs, drawings, prints etc. I had explanations at the ready for each board of work but was only able to convey these through my answers to their questions.
It was great to see their facilities and where I will hopefully be studying for the next 2 years. I was able to ask them a few questions of my own at the end of the interview. I enquired about how much freedom and flexibility we will have as students when it comes to projects, also I was eager to find out about life drawing classes and how regular they would be.
The interview panel told me they really enjoyed looking through my work and especially watching the video pieces I included on a disc for them to view with the portfolio.
I was told we would here back from them later in May. So until then the pressure is on regarding our current units: Papermaking (due in this Wednesday), Surface Pattern (due the Tuesday after) and Info Graphics and Final Major Project sometime around that time too! I still have bits and pieces to get together and sketchbook work to polish off but apart from that everything is on schedule!
On Thursday I went along to Hawick Knitwear and finished up filming for my project. I spent about 3 hours in total at the factory and made sure to take notes to include in my sketchbook. Human Resources and the staff in general were consistently helpful and genuinely interested when it came to what I was filming. I began at the very 1st stage of production and followed the process through the mill capturing visuals that looked similar to each other. I was considering composition with every shot I took. Having the tripod definitely helped me frame certain shots, and even allowed me to venture from stationary recording to slowly sliding the camera left or right. I made sure I spoke to each operator a little before I began filming at their machines, every single one of them were more tan happy to help out and even gave me a basic run through of what it was they were actually doing. This made a huge difference when it came to understanding how long I should film for or how zoomed in I should be etc. I let them know the exhibition dates and that I would provide them with a few invitations nearer the time to show my gratitude for allowing me in to film.
I have been researching this guy and his work for my Final Major Project and I found this interview. The quotes he read out at the beginning explore the human urge to create art and for what purpose we create it for. He explains that these words really helped him when he started out as a young artist.
Having new material and fresh clips to take into iMovie is great. Even though nothing is stopping me from using older clips, I feel much more in touch with my imagination when working with untouched material. Plus I sometimes struggle editing together previously used footage as I can't shake the ideas I had first time around.
Filming the Hawick Harlequins rugby team play the Welsh side Bargoed RFC was an interesting experience. I had fun and was able to capture some shots that I was planning on attempting, and even some that presented themselves for the first time on the day.
It's a little daunting finding yourself in a situation that you knew was coming and had prepared so much for, then suddenly feeling an immense pressure to achieve the things you set out to do.
This is how I felt the Saturday before last.
Sitting in the changing rooms with the squad felt natural. As a member of the Quins and having played and socialised weekend after weekend over 3 years with the team, there was a relaxed atmosphere as the lads were pulling their boots on and donning the strip. During bouts of recording I would ensure some players that the final work will be without sound, but this only encouraged their enthusiastically explicit language. It soon became apparent that I would need to produce a blooper reel purely for the team's appreciation!
Once we were down at the riverside and onto the pitch, I began recording movement around me. My first few clips were of our committee members pushing the touchline flags into the grass and various shots of legs leaping across the pitch step by step.
As I looked through the viewfinder whilst recording I couldn't help but think;
"Ooh! That'll look good if I do this..."or"This bit will work better if I crop the..."
The editing stage was constantly on my mind and it was affecting the work! I had to focus on the moment and concentrate on capturing the best footage possible. Once the game kicked off I went into a zone of complete paranoia.
I hope I got that bit!
Shit - was that in focus??
Where's the ball went??
How long until half time?
I haven't got enough footage...
The first half was traumatic. For both me and the team. The second half went better and I was able to relax and get some images of the supporters on the touchline. There is once clip where I decided to focus the camera on the lower half of one player, and it just so happened he was passed the ball soon after I began filming. Little occasions like that empowered me and made me realise how important being patient was.
I have looked over most of the footage from my day of filming. Most of it is good, and I am confident that I will be able to produce a final work that is as close to my brief as possible.
12 February 2015
Today's discussion in class touched on the process of becoming a well known and big selling artist.
The stage where I was disheartened about the reality of the Art world has now passed and I feel like talking and discussing these topics in class really helps when it comes to thinking about my future. Niall mentioned that merely "being aware" of the challenging road to success, is important. You need to be able to express yourself through your work and also when it comes to networking and getting your work and your name out there. The truth of it is - of which I learn more and more each day - is that talent is not enough. One of the many things I will take away from this BTEC course and my tutors guidance and teachings is that one truth. Talent is not enough. I think that establishing your own intentions comes first. That sounds obvious but personally, hearing all of the hoops you have to jump through to become a 'proper artist' only seems the slightest bit possible if you know what you are all about, what your work is about and why you make what you make.
Since seeing '24 Hour Psycho' as part of the Generation exhibit at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art I have made an effort to look at more of Douglas Gordon's work.
I am interested in how people perceive certain movements and in particular hand gestures. This specific concern was unearthed why I discovered Gordon's video piece titled 'A Divided Self I and A Divided Self II'. Displayed over two screens it consisted of 2 hands interacting with each other. The two screens were near mirror images of each other.
I felt a sense of un-ease and intrigue during, and afterwards. While some would acknowledge these feelings as negative I realised that this reaction can only be a good thing, the visuals had evoked a reaction that made me feel uncomfortable and because of this I was filled with curiosity.
Why did it affect me? How exactly did it make me feel?
These questions that I asked myself, and the mere fact I was asking myself questions is the main reason I want to create film work. I want to make people feel, and question. Whether it be negative or positive or neutral - I want a reaction. To be honest, the more negative the better!
Below are two pieces I created with 'A Divided Self I and A Divided Self II' in mind. I am pleased at what I came up with and realise that at this early stage of experimentation I have a lot to learn, but for now I wanted to see what I was capable of.
As I mentioned earlier I am interested in how people react to visuals such as these ^ and so I asked my family and friends careful questions about how they felt during and after watching these pieces. The general feedback included phrases like "creeped out" and "it scared me" or rather candidly from my Dad "arty farty". I made an effort to observe their facial expressions whilst the videos were playing and they pretty much matched up with the feedback.
All of this helps me so much as I prepare for my first session of filming for my Final Major Project this weekend. I am constantly aware - both during filming and editing clips - of the audiences attention span and patience.
I made sure I never asked them if they liked the pieces. I only asked how they felt.
Last month I decided what I wanted to achieve through the Final Major Project unit. The idea is to produce a short film consisting of two pieces of footage, on separate screens, side by side, playing in synchronisation. Screen 1 will show a rugby team preparing, warming up and playing a game followed by their post match routine back at the clubrooms. The 2nd screen will follow the manufacturing process of a garment within a Hawick Knitwear mill.
These 2 scenarios will be shot in a very abstract fashion. I will focus on shape, colour, symmetry and juxtaposition.
In preparation for filming these events I wanted to get a feel for the camera I will be using, so I had a friend assist me in creating a small 'Mockumentary' following a reclusive man living with his 3 dogs in the country. There was no script or structure to the short film, I suggested things for Calum to talk of or things he could do, places he could go, etc. I wanted a subject to focus my camera on and see what I could come up with.
When I got home home and was preparing to edit, I found I had recorded a total of 81separate clips. This was not what I had expected and so putting together an appropriate selection of clips proved a tricky task. I spent around 3 hours figuring out what audio to use, whether or not to follow an obvious theme etc. What I considered most throughout editing was how the visuals would pair up with the audio. I wanted the theme or plot to be left open. Most of the dialogue sounds as if it should be 'off camera' or 'behind the scenes' conversation, thus hopefully feeling similar to a 'Mockumentary'.
After finalising details and watching it over and over, I noticed how quickly it moved at certain points. I didn't notice this at the beginning and Rosie, my classmate, was the one who pointed it out to me that the eyes of the viewer may struggle to follow what is on the screen. I will take this into consideration when filming for my Final Major Project.
The plan was to film the Hawick Harlequins home game against Duns at the weekend past, but the game was cancelled due to a frozen pitch. Thankfully I will have another opportunity this coming week as the Quins have another home game. As for filming in the mill, I plan to get an e-mail sent to the Managing Director this week detailing my plans and asking for permission.
I am on a roll so I may as well keep posting... I just need to talk about these guys once more. Albert and David Maysles released the documentary 'Salesman' in 1969 and it follows the working lives of 4 bible salesman travelling across New England and Florida. It provides a fascinating insight into the stresses and struggles involved in this particular line of work.
I have loved watching documentaries since I was about 15/16. Some are better than others and it of course depends on the subject matter and how they are made, but the whole concept and idea behind documentaries themselves, fascinates me immensely.
At a time when cameras and video weren't as popular as they are now, watching these men behave and communicate amongst themselves and customers fills me with endless curiosity.
I feel comfort in hearing these men confide in each other and behave they way they do. The challenge and effort involved in negotiating with everyday people seems a task that requires the patience of a saint. These men sell bibles door to door all the while their boss is breathing down their neck wielding a no nonsense attitude and accepting no "excuses" or "alibis".
Personally, there's nothing I like more than spending hours sitting looking through piles of old photographs from my childhood and also members of my family's childhoods. Video footage of my mum and dads childhood doesn't exist due to lack of technology, but I find pleasure in viewing footage they both filmed during the 80s when they first met and up until their marriage. I love how I can experience life before I was born through these home videos.
I suppose this all ties in with my interest in documentaries. Especially documentaries as old as 'Salesman'. There are many factors about this particular documentary that I like: the fact it is in black and white, the mens clothes, the interaction between the men and potential customers, the ability to observe how life was like in that day and age (e.g. without advanced technology, TV, mobile phones etc.) and finally the connection the Maysles brothers have made with the salesmen and people on film.
Albert Maysles has a belief that whilst making a documentary, the person behind the camera, the person in charge of capturing moments on film - has this responsibility to record reality in it's purest form possible. As if the camera isn't even there. Trust has to be established. The bond between humans has to be there, otherwise the intent and purpose of the documentary begins to fade. The link I shared in my erstwhile post shows Albert Maysles explain why he makes documentaries, why he loves it and why his passion for it has remained since his first project in 1955, based around a mental institution in Russia. He talks of the trust and comforting energy he emits when meeting people he is going to later document. I spoke earlier of Maysles and his belief that the trust and bond between himself and his subject is the first step on the right path to a strong documentary.
I chose this guy as one of my six practitioners for my Location Photography unit. I love the attention to detail in his photography and the fact he takes the time to get to know his subjects, even though this connection is brief he creates a bond a certain level of trust that allows the people he meets to act natural and behave in an open way in front of Maysles' camera.
I watched this clip of Maysles giving a talk on documentaries. This interested me and ignited a desire in me to explore the world of making documentaries and how they are made.
My recent exposure to editing in iMovie with clips I have filmed on my camera is part of this ongoing interest in video.
We caught our 5.00pm flight out of Newcastle on Monday the 29th of December. Christmas was the warm up match, preparing us for the main event...
The prospect of spending 4 days over new year, in a beautiful city, with great company and a multitude of places to visit and things to do was an intense thought!
I had came equipped with my camera, sketchbook and notebook along with intentions of documenting our trip particularly with the two on-going units: Location photography and Observational Drawing still in the works.
I believed this holiday would prove a beneficial opportunity for me. This was definitely the case as we swiftly began our routine of a coffee and smoke at Rick's Cafe on our first morning. These few hours each morning allowed me to pull out my sketchbook, relax and take the world in as it passed by through the window in front of us.
Me on the left and Jake on the right. Photograph taken by Calum
I felt very productive and realised this ritual we had taken to each morning was essential if I were to emerge from the Netherlands with any observational material at all. I didn't take as many photographs as I thought I would. I felt as if seeing too much through the lens would affect how I saw things with my own eyes. Plus the camera I own is pretty poor in the dark and this was the time when Amsterdam looked its best, especially around this festive period.
I did record some footage of our trip. I'm starting to really enjoy working with video and capturing places people and areas on film. I have this belief that my mind subconsciously attaches emotions and memories to things that pass me by first time around. It's not until I review the footage later on then I recognise faces or objects that I thought I'd never noticed; but I really did.
Noise and audio are things that attract me to video and editing. Our brains want to make sense of things, and when you are watching for example a short film with music, and background audio from the video you might find yourself piecing together what you see, with what you hear. I can't speak for everyone but this is definitely how I feel!
iMovie has allowed me to manipulate sounds and images to create a visually intriguing experience that questions the intent and reason for it's existence - this is what I want!
I collated clips I had recorded over the 4 days including - Calum reading from Jack Kerouac's 'On The Road', footage of passing foot traffic, Jake rolling a joint, Calum writing, and various others. I was struggling with whether to keep the film instrumental or add a track with lyrics. I saw a film 'Wish I was Here' a couple of months ago and a short song by Aaron Embry 'Raven's Song' was featured on the soundtrack. After much deliberation I realised that this song was a good fit!
So, below is a link to what I came up with. I tried to pay attention to Embry's lyrics and kept in mind what images were visible at the times where he was singing.
This took me a solid hour. There are things about it I feel should be changed, the length is perfect I think, not too long and the amount of clips used are suitable regarding the different verses in the song.
I bought him a coffee for posing
I mentioned that I took along my sketchbook and pencils on the trip, this was a great decision! Whenever we fancied a coffee or were tired from exploring, I grabbed my sketchbook form my rucksack and begun. I adopted a technique of loosely sketching figures, street signs, coffee cups, faces, railings, electronic signs, trams, pavements, backs of heads, hands, beards, hairlines, lips, and anything that caught my eye or looked even a little interesting.
Doing this was therapeutic. I knew whilst drawing I was contributing to my Observational Drawing unit and this made me happy, but it was more than that, each time I drew a line accurately or glanced up then back down and realised that my drawing actually does look a little bit like what I'm drawing was great! I thought "Huh, maybe I am getting the hang of this drawing thing.."
Unfortunately, due to lack of planning and huge queues we were unable to get into the Van Gogh Museum. This was disappointing, but I am planning a solo trip to Amsterdam in the summer and so with a little forward thinking I should be able to book tickets for a tour and nose about.
I have found that a change of environment works wonders for productivity. I felt I had freedom, as if there were no shackles or irrational social boundaries to contend with.
With more drawings to add to my Observational Unit, I can power ahead with others I have half finished, and polish off annotation etc. Also, photographs I have taken may be eligible for submission regarding my Location Photography unit.
