printed out the image from my last post and then printed over it again but the opposite way round.

more >>> photos

Preparations for Sculpture

Feral Video

Shapes, Paths, Maps, Discovery

I have started to experiment with putting shapes and lines into my photography. I rotated some parts and adjusted some of the hues and levels to create this image. To me the triangles suggest direction, like on a compass which suggess exploration and I want these photos to illustrate the excitement and curiosity surrounding moving to Birmingham and discovering each part of it.

Below I have tried putting this photo into a vintage style frame which I like because the curves and rounded, soft shapes clash in a way with the hard lines of the triangles however they match the fact that the photo shows an old building.

More Tilt Photography

Planning Sculpture

Fashion Workshop

Further plans for sculpture to be moved through

I have thought about design and the logistics of building something large enough for a person to walk through, and decided that rather than attaching the curtains to the roof of the studio at Ruskin which is too high up and rather than attaching them to the lighting which hangs down which could be quite restrictive for the shape, I will build a structure which will house my sculpture.

I envisage a large wooden cube shaped frame which will allow me to be flexible with the shape the curtains make within it and will also give the piece a kind of individual look that may draw people into it more, whereas the white curtains on their own in a white room may just blend in. The design will be similar to 'the cube' on the popular TV game show The Cube except that there won't be glass sides. The Cube off've TV is 4x4x4 and the idea of the show is that the challenges set become difficult when being observed from outside the cube. Therefore both with my project and with the game show, the stage is designed for observation of human behavior.

Metals Workshop

Silver Soldering

Experimental Printing

Harrowdown Hill

One advanced technique for tilt-shift photography, Smallgantics, is used for motion-pictures; it was first seen in the 2006 Thom Yorke music video Harrowdown Hill, directed by Chel White.

Shape for Sculpture

Geoffrey Koetsh

Koetsch's Maze is a miniature made from folded paper and polyurethane resin and represents the unconscious as well as our attempts to find the way into the minds of others. I will begin by making a miniature of my sculpture similar to this.

http://thebeautifulbrain.com/2010/05/geoffrey-koetsch-gallery-interview/
http://www.koetsch.com/sculpture/

Context in Disney Animations

There are examples in these two Disney classics of dehumanization of human characters and anthropomorphism of non-human characters. Tarzan is a fictional feral child raised in the jungle by apes who clashes with civilisation and return to the jungle in the end. Similarly in The Jungle Book, Mowgli is raised in the indian jungle by wolves.

The Chimpanzees' Tea Party

The chimpanzees' tea party was a form of public entertainment in which chimpanzees were dressed in human clothes and provided with a table of food and drink.

The first such tea party was held at the London Zoo in 1926, two years after the opening of Monkey Hill. They were put on almost daily during the summer until they were discontinued in 1972.

http://h2g2.com/dna/h2g2/A47905743

My project on stereotypical behaviour questions the way we behave as humans and presents historic examples of feral children who lack typical human behaviour. The Chimps' tea party, although now non-existant, demonstrates animals being taught how to behave like humans and inevitably failing - hence the connotations of the phrase with chaos and disorder.

Laure Prouvost

"Laure Prouvost uses the irresistible pull of the narrative tradition within film to seduce and entertain the viewer with witty and mesmerising juxtapositions of text and image. Yet implied storylines are quickly undermined by out-of-context comments and visuals that introduce a surreal dimension to the viewing experience. "


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7WiWrrlRRY

I'd like to look at the way Prouvost puts together her videos to make them engaging and powerful and then use these techniques in my work with stereotyped behaviour. Her ideas are also interesting as they question human nature - I was particularly interested in the film where she would show a narrated film with subtitles where the two didn't tell the same story.

Print Workshop

Animation Workshop

Film Workshop

Next Steps

Verisimilitude

• Explore implausible ideas further
• think about context and meaning behind pictures
• Take more photos to be edited

Sculpture you move through

• Create a scale model of the sculpture
• Think about words to be used for design

Stereotyped behaviour

• Collect film footage to be edited together
• Practise film editing
• Research wild children further

Work which moves

• research mapping of work
• Edward Tufte

Work which moves from one place to another: Initial Ideas

Make a work which moves from one place to another.


How can things move? Float, roll, be thrown, dissolving/dispersing, being handed out, running (eg. water)

Are the movements continuous or set of by a person?

Bubbles, balloons, paper planes

Could be something worn by a person or people and so moves with them.

Magnets - can be used to make repetitive motion

Doesn't have to be a visual thing or physical object - could be a sound or smell that moves

Could be me and my mind as it moves from one idea to another with my projects.

Could be a work based on the way my work has moved on from initial ideas to final pieces.

Edward Tufte - known for his work with information design and data visualisation.

Stereotyped Behaviour: Inital Ideas

To engage in stereotyped behaviour that conveys information to others of the same or another species. (Dictionary.com definition of Display) Develop a work with this in mind.

Here are some initial thoughts I had relating to this project:

• What is a 'stereotype' in terms of behaviour? It is a simplified and standardised conception or image invested with special meaning and held in common by members of a group.
• Interestingly, the meaning of the word when not in terms of behaviour is a method for making metal printing by taking a mould of a composed type or the like in papier mache or other materials and then taking from this mould a cast in type metal.
• What information can be conveyed by behaviour? Info on identity such as age, gender, nationality, culture; Moods and emotions such as happy, sad, scared; Wants and needs such as hunger, pain, mating calls; Relationships with others; Human identity such as through clothing and makeup. 
• What would be a stereotypical stereotype for me to pick? Which stereotypes in particular always come to mind when stereotyping is mentioned? Probably when people convey identity through clothing and dress similarly to others in their groups.
• Behaviour that tells others that we are human? I could question this by experimenting with a lack of human behaviour or use of human behaviour by another species to confuse the viewer and make them question human nature.
• Feral children? -----------------> the jungle book?
• Challenge stereotypes by investigating humans who have grown up alone without contacts with other humans or children raised by animals such as dogs. 

The Movie 'Nell' tells the story of a woman who has grown up outside of human civilisation and how she is integrated back into society.

Sculpture You Move Through: Initial Ideas

Make a sculpture that you move through.

I made two lists, one for things you can physically move through and the other for things you move metaphorically through.

• water
• crowds of people
• tall grass/trees
• train carriage
• tunnels
• the inside of a person - digestive system?
• a book

• life
• schooling/education
• seasons
• relationships
• a fictional or real story
• one day, month, year - a timeframe

My initial idea is to create a passage big enough for people to move through it using fabric and where the shape is designed based on a word or letter that relates to the project. I have sketched an example below, just using the work 'of' because it has interesting shapes when hand written.

Casting Workshop

During the casting session, we learned how to build plaster casts in three pieces using clay around our fruit and then remove the fruit and fill it with wax.

Verisimilitude: Initial Ideas

Make us believe we are seeing something we are not.

Thoughts:

• Optical Illusions - street graffiti, trompe de l'oiel
• Miniatures that appear to be real
• Impossibilities - eg. walking through walls, someone bleeding blue blood (photorealism)
• Fake newspaper with bizarre story, different date because newspapers contain fact not opinion
• Imaginary landscapes - created with surfaces of existing things such as tree bark that out of context looks alien - mixed media
• Mirror tricks
• Make a mask of my own face but aged
• Put everyday objects of today on museum style stands to make viewer think they are rare

After some research into these, I discovered Tilt Shift Photography which is where a real scene is photographed and then edited to appear as if it is a miniature model.

Here are some examples of others artists work:

I found a photo I took over the Summer of a landscape and tried the technique myself:

Term 1 Chosen Field Guide Projects

Image:

Versimilitude – make us believe we are seeing something we are not.

Object:

Make a sculpture that you move through.

Context:

Make a work which moves from one place to another.

Display:

To engage in stereotyped behaviour that conveys information to individuals of the same or another species, (dictionary.com definition of display). Develop a work with this in mind.

Week 1: Mini-Project

‘A small print on a mailbox becomes something really precious when you remove all the noise around it and isolate it from its setting.’ (Merel Karhof, Project two). Explore familiar or alien surroundings by isolating, documenting and displaying anything you think will create a new awareness of the landscape.

On receiving the above project the group was released into Bournville to explore it and find inspiration in everyday sights, smells, sounds, textures, colours and texts. I used a variety of methods of collection including rough sketches, photographs, picking up a sample or print of something using masking tape, and so on using the resources I had.

Using masking tape I made prints of

some graffiti I found on the top of a bin and then lined them up on a piece of paper. I liked the composition of this and so I enlarged the shapes and painted them in watercolour.

I didn't like the outcome of the watercolour piece as you lose the texture and randomness of the patterns picked up and so I went back and made new prints of lots of masking tape. With this I made a line down the studio wall which I think is interesting since graffiti is usually unresticted however this is bound within a thin line. If I were to go further with this project, I would try working in larger scale and thinking about what the graffiti actually said originally.

(click pic to enlarge)