The Liverpool Biennal.

There were many pieces of work that I loved at the Biennal but the one that made me want to experiment with a process most was Jane Stobarts' pieces. The amount of pristine detail she gained in these etchings was amazing as it can be difficult to not get your paper full of the ink. I really found the way she could show a light source in each one masterful of the process.

 

 

 

I hope to learn the process in the upcoming workshop as I can't wait to start experimenting with the technique for my project.

Liverpool John Moores Painting Prize.

 

The Liverpool John Moores Painting Prize was brilliant the only thing that was a shame about the exhibition was that you were unable to take photographs so I made notes of which pieces I found most inspiring and intriguing. As you were leaving there was a huge wall covered with post it notes asking you to reflect on the exhibition. I really liked this as it made me consider what I had found most thought provoking.



Liverpool Study Trip!

I absolutely loved the day trip to Liverpool it gave me a chance to get to know people on my course better and I saw so many pieces that inspired me (maybe not all for this project). We visited so many places in one day...

 

Finished!

 

The day was a success creating two sculptures with only found materials. Testing our capabilities to create something on a large scale with only the day to plan I was quite happy with the result. Meeting and working with the other levels on the course was brilliant fun too as we found out about their work and how they found first year (doesn't seem as daunting now).

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 We continued experimenting with all the different materials and ended up building two sculptures I think this presented the theme of hybridity really strongly as we kept on developing and changing our ideas. Hybridity is through all of our piece shown in the mixture of our ideas, materials and techniques.

 

 

Development.



Deciding that the two parts didn't work well so solid and  finding attaching it to the structure tricky using a smaller saw we started to break the two pieces further down. The broken, dishevelled look presents our idea that the UK as a whole was breaking up with the Scottish independence.

 

Sculpture.

 

 

Continually thinking of improving and changing our sculpture piece we wanted to create a stronger message so after finding this photograph on mount board we thought of how we could use it link into the themes. With the recent Scottish independence in the news we thought of doing a contrast to the theme we had been given 'United we stand'. We wanted to present the idea that with the proposal of Scotland leaving the UK as country we did not stand united. Using the band saw we thought we could show this through cutting the photo in two especially separating the word peace as the idea of peace would be a united front.

Ready, Steady...SCULPT!

The Ready Steady Sculpt event was about bringing as many people together from the different levels on visual art course. I found this the best part of the course because I got to ask the older years what they thought of the course and what projects they were doing which was really interesting. The theme of the event was centred on hybridity and united we stand. We were asked to bring along found materials and objects so I asked my house mates to save all their bottles, cartons and boxes. After being split into groups we went to look for more materials to build our sculpture with. Finding a wide range of materials we needed to plan what we intended to build and how it linked to the theme of the workshop. We decided to create a sculpture that used a wide range of materials (fitting with the hybridity theme) and then tried experimenting attaching them all in different ways. Bringing the different objects together was our idea of showing how even though we are all different when we work together we become united.

 

Colour Mapping.

 As part of the cartography workshop we were split into groups to map the studio in different ways. My group were given the task of mapping all the colours in the studio with limited materials this proved taxing as there were so many we needed to document. Using some highlighters we each got a colour and started to note down what we saw for each colour. Once we had all collected our separate data we had to figure out how to present them as a final product. Seen as we were exploring colour I thought creating a colour wheel fitted the task we were given.

 

My Studio Space Cartography.

 

This was a 10 minute exercise on trying to broaden our minds and look at either the journey so far through university or what the studio was like or how we felt we were achieving so far. I chose to dedicate mine to the idea of me beginning a new journey at university and how at the start we all felt a little lost and that through teamwork and collaboration we can achieve together. At first I found it challenging to try and think how to create a mapping out of how I was feeling on this new path in my life. I'm not sure I will use mapping in this way again but the workshop did teach me to think about the journey we take to reach our final outcome.

Cartography?!

 

 

Cartography? Basically

the science or practice of drawing maps. A map doesn't have to be just your average how do we get from A to B it can be so much more and this is what the cartography workshop taught me. We use them all the time throughout of daily life without even realising it like for instance capturing a moment through a photograph, documenting/ recording/ organising all of these trying to recreate or invent a memory of something. Whether that be a journey, a room, or the relation between yourself and the world around you. For this workshop we were shown a range of art work that uses mapping from the realistic to the abstract. The examples of more conventional looking maps in art would be Richard Long's 'Concentric Days' 1996...

Although I love the detail Long has achieved in this and the time it must have taken to plot all the points is admirable, however I found the idea of the more abstract and unconventional cartography more intriguing. Examples included Qin Ga 'Site 22: Mao Zedong Temple' 2005...

This was as much a performance piece of work as a drawing piece that will stay with Qin forever. Qin took part in China's Long March Project (in 2002) this was known as a 'Walking Visual Display' which took place along the route of the 1934-1936 historic 6000 mile Long March. He decided to track the group's route on his back via a tattooed map. Three years later, he retraced the path of the trek, accompanied with a camera crew and a tattoo artist who could continually update Qin's 'map'. I loved this as the piece couldn't be labelled as one type of art or another and it was a sentimental piece that Qin can keep for all time. I have learnt that even the most tedious of journeys can be significant on our overall artistic journey and using cartography as part of my art practice could help me to become more familiar with my workspace and take note of inspiration in everyday life.

 

 

 



Sketchbook Workshop!

 

To create this shape I added an attachment to the huge drill we have in the workshop. The rough texturized edges add a uncontrolled, gestural effect to the perfect circle shape.

Sketchbook Workshop.

 

After using a different head on the angle grinder to create these more jagged and less controlled markings I used a tagging gun to attach parts of the pages together. I wanted to transform the flat into a 3D piece.

Sketchbook Workshop.

 

Again this is some more effects I got with both the industrial and hand held grinders. These fragile shapes and patterns are really intriguing and I would love to start experimenting sewing into them to give them more detail.