Pep-Talk

These words were for Emily in South Africa but on reflection they are useful for me too I shall start taking my own advice.

Collage ('col-large' not 'col-ledge') Link Show

Ex student Nicky Dothwaite, who did the dot collages 2 years ago, Lewis Hamilton and Simon Cowell, has now done 3 more, this time, not dots, but large scale collages of Jenson Button, Kimi Raikkonen and David Coulthard to unveil in the Link gallery this week. All interactive arts students were invited to submit a piece of collage based work to accompany Nikki's work.

As I've been working predominantly in paper so far this year and mostly in some for of collage, I thought I'd put something in. I fancied the chances of the balloon casts to be honest. I'd been looking for a reason to be doing them and this seemed like a good opportunity to actually do something with 'em rather than just make them like a little robot but not know why.

At this point what I had looked like this:


I has lots of them, and they looked alright stacked up like they are. However, problem número UNO = stability. I would manage to keep them in this position for maybe a few hours before a person or a breeze or a sneeze on the other side of the studio knocked them over. Not good prospects for exhibition time now! So, time for some options..My brain was here:

Trying to work with maybe a plinth, hanging, stacking or even building...


I'd have needed more of them to be able to make that one possible and I definately didn't have time for that. Instead, hanging was the front runner in the saftey and practicailiy categories and eventually, after stringing on 50 balloon casts to a string this is what I ended up displaying....

Fishing wire and suspension makes them look like they are floating, it looks a bit odd, but thats what I wanted to see...does it work? I'm still not sure. It was looming and it was alternative for a "collage" but perhaps that's what it needed to be, maybe it should be bigger and touch the floor...It appears to only have made me wish I'd worked harder on this, when it comes down I'll put my brain to work...and put in the time! Collages-ho!

Andy Goldsworth and his Snowballs

I had a bit of a heads up from the Gazatron today.
I was stacking away with my balloon casts, as I have been for about 3 weeks now, to little gain, I feel, and most confusion with the up and coming Link show (what the hell am I going to do with them and are they even worth it?! Who knows yet!)
Anywho's, he made an interesting observation. We were all observing them, thoughprovokingly and interested as we all often are (not!) and we decided they look like snow, which they do. They remind me of the work I did in Finland, the snowball heads as well as all the snow sculpture and stuff. The rough layers and bumps create shadows on the white surface that do really replicate the snow, I have felt anyway.
Gazebo suggested I take a look at Andy Goldsworthy. Ive seen lots of his stuff before, for Foundation cardboard catwalk and in general, I think his work is great, the natural elements and the interaction and reassembling of his observations with nature are insightful and beautiful. Anyway, apparently he did some work with snowballs. Cue Google.



So, this is his "Snowballs in Summer Series". Ill stick what I've read in, then ill comment.

http://absheze.wordpress.com/2008/06/03/andy-goldsworthy/ Says about the work: "In his Snowballs in Summer series, Goldsworthy makes large snowballs in winter and preserves them until the summer. Inside of each snowball, he “hides” different materials such as chalk, old pine needles, and dogwood [pictured above]. For this project, Goldsworthy is interested in how different snow melts, the patterns the materials inside will melt into, and the relationship between a city and the imposed natural form."

GreenPeace Website Says:

Greenpeace backs 'wonderful' giant snowball art

Andy Goldsworthy: snowball

The artist Andy Goldsworthy has released 13 giant snowballs on the streets of the City of London.

The 6-7 foot snowballs will be left to melt and public reactions recorded via webcam's for broadcast on this site and at www.eyestorm.com.

The snowballs were made from Scottish snow last winter and transferred from cold storage down to London on midsummmer's eve. Asked how he thought people would react Andy Goldsworthy said:
"I don't know what will happen. Some people will get quite angry. And some will probably have snowball fights. And some will think its wonderful."

Peter Melchett, Greenpeace Executive Director, speaking from the site of one of the snowballs, said :
"I've always been a fan of Goldsworthy and I think the snowballs really are wonderful. They make an astonishingly powerful piece of work. Climate change means that snow is already a rare thing in London. In future whole generations of London children may grow up without knowing what snow is."

Greenpeace is a beneficiary of the project and will receive a 10% donation from the sales of Andy Goldsworthy's photographic images sold via their website, linked to www.eyestorm.com.

Peter Melchett added,
"By chance, one of Andy's snowballs is outside BP's HQ. Oil companies play a direct role in the meltdown that is already affecting the arctic ice cap, and the Scottish mountains from where this snow came."

I think this is a really great reaction to the aspects of nature that are important at the moment. It is a nice reflection on the use of objects too, revelations as the snow melts makes a performance and unpredictability means that changes could happen and the work could change course any time. I think it's beautiful. The change snow makes as it melts and reveals something new beneath it, gradually peeling away some of itself to give way to something new, it's like a renewal and a sign of change. It is something I am very familiar with after being surrounded by the stuff for 4 months to wake up one day and see it slipping away. Eventhough it's really epic theres something sad and horrible in it. Pure whiteness is replaced by speckles which turn into muddy and mesy remains and all the beauty has just melted away.

I can see how, aesthetically, this relates to the work I am doing, emotionally, it's definately more pogniant. The relation to objects and placement and performance I really like about this work, but in connection to my paper casts I dont think they are too great an influence unfortunately. The do however bring something out in my imagination that I find very intreaguing, they relate to something I understand, and because of that, I am definately a fan.

Essay Seminars 1.30-4.00

Short presentations and feedback on our essay progress. Looking round the room we have Jane, Andrea, Ryan, Rob Hazeldine, April, Jenny Lawler, James, Laura, Katie Mason, Dafyd and Me

Interesting hearing everyones subjects and ideas. Few peoples work dpes actually relate to what I'm doing, some object related work, some psychology related work. Katie and Jen in particular. Katies doing object sexualism and jen was doing creative autism and relations to feelings.
My notes were looking like this....

Why do we collect things?
Consumption --> Social Lives of Objects --> Antiques
--> Our Interactions
Consumerism --> Habits/Tastes etc.

Latour (interactions between humans and non humans essay)
Leader New Black
Appandurai Social Lives of Objects (and Castlefield)

#new life to saved objects
#order of chaos, live long, emotions

Conclude-relation to own work, work with blank objects to enable them to make own life or recreate a new life for old objects

Suggestions/Feedback
Andrea suggested "on longing" susan Stewart
Poetics of Space
The Colelctor
Cabinets of Curiosity

CAN AN OBJECT EVER BE A BLANK CANVAS?

Jane also mentioned she was happy to see that I have a theory to my conclusion and that I seem to have developed some kind of theory on my topic. Eventhough I could probably rabbit on for ages about the subject I think this session was useful and also really good to hear othe rpeoples ideas and give some feedback to them too.