Thursday, 31 March 2011
Symphony Hall in Birmingham
Went with some friends on 25 March to Symphony Hall. "The combination of Valery Gergiev, the London Symphony Orchestra and Mahler have wowed audiences and had critics reaching for superlatives. ‘Raw energy and white hot climaxes’ is how The Guardian described their revelatory performances. Gergiev turns his attention to the Seventh Symphony: an epic journey from darkness to overwhelming joyous affirmation, taking in two eerie and fantastical night-music movements along the way". I've not really connected with Mahler before but Gergiev's conducting which we could see very clearly from the choir, and the wonderful playing of LSO really opened up a new area for me ... luckily the Symphony Hall is running the Birmingham Mahler Cycle through this season as part of the International Concert Series so I should be able to pick up tickets for ongoing performances.
Compton Verney
Started my volunteer position at CV this week which was great fun. They have a very good system of moving stewards around on a regular basis so I was in the Naples Gallery then ticket checking then the Folk Art and Lambert Marx Galleries. I've been to CV on a number of occasions but of course have only scratched the surface of the exhibits but I was quite pleased to be able to answer a query about Nailsea Glass. Of course, I've not been to see the Wallis and Nicholson exhibition yet so will have to go (what a shame to be forced into visiting such a lovely place) when I'm not working.
Where does the time go (Part 3)
Following my course at West Dean I started to look at artists and contexts for my new direction.
Carole Waller (http://www.carolewaller.co.uk/) was an excellent and enthusiastic teacher and had some really interesting work to show and great techniques. Lots of further information from her handouts too. I really liked how she layered different materials to give glimpses of memory and thoughts.
I went back to Natasha Kerr (a favourite of mine) who works in a historical and personal context - V&A says "Natasha Kerr creates complex, multi-layered objects that resonate with the hidden histories of family heirlooms and everyday objects". She uses materials such as transfer prints, silk screen prints, hand painting, and hand stitching. www.natashakerr.co.uk - there's an interesting newspaper article as well http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/thefriday/6121158/Family-history-Natasha-Kerr-The-Friday.html
Referring back to exhibitions I had seen recently - I looked at Lizzie Cannon's Lichenography which I had seen in The Art of the Stitch in 2008. She takes photographs of textile 'lichens' camouflaged against paved surfaces within an urban landscape. This work reminded me of the detail in some of my photographs but I did not want to go towards stitch for this project.
Referring back to exhibitions I had seen recently - I looked at Lizzie Cannon's Lichenography which I had seen in The Art of the Stitch in 2008. She takes photographs of textile 'lichens' camouflaged against paved surfaces within an urban landscape. This work reminded me of the detail in some of my photographs but I did not want to go towards stitch for this project.
Wednesday, 30 March 2011
Where does the time go (Part 2)
I spent a long weekend near Chichester at West Dean College - a great place for short art courses which was once the home of Surrealist supporter Edward James - http://www.westdean.co.uk/
The course tutor was Carole Waller http://www.carolewaller.co.uk/ - very enthusiastic, inspirational and supportive. The group was really lovely - people doing fabric arts in all sorts of different ways and happy to show their work and share their expertise. The course was entitled Translucency and colour on cloth - painting and screen printing. I had thought that it would be useful for my book like projects - however, it has sent me in a different direction.
The beautiful surroundings and interesting peer group gave me the opportunity to rethink my project and I went back to my one of my original 'architectural' drawings to produce a silk screen for working through options and ideas:
This I manipulated in a number of ways - as an ink painted screen - as pigment printed fabric and onto birch wood - found that I could print on wood using either pigment or ink with Manutex. I'd used this technique with paper when doing a Screen Printing elective during my L5 course.
This was a sample done in a collection of colours onto organdie as I was looking at the ideas of layering of ideas - memory is ethereal and changing - revealing fleeting glances and imagery - through subtle shifts of the fabric. Of course, fabric (eg the Fabric of Society) has its own place in the public arena.
I decided to print the Clemens Street block of houses and shops in black and white onto silk organza as it was stiffer and less 'female' than the previous fabric. I then experimented with imprinting some of my photographs of detail of the street onto Silk Habitori - you use Lazertran Silk transfer paper (similar to T Shirt Transfer but thinner). It is quite easy to use following the instructions on the label that comes with the package. Quite expensive though. This is the sample (above) that I produced. Original photograph is of a soggy tissue on a textured paving slab - one of the small detailed pictures I've been taking recently.
I then experimented with producing fine marks with ink through a simple circle printed screen with the above results. This was with black, golden yellow and a couple of touches of turquoise for contrast. I also did a blue and a magenta version.
I then put everything together to see what they looked like ....
The course tutor was Carole Waller http://www.carolewaller.co.uk/ - very enthusiastic, inspirational and supportive. The group was really lovely - people doing fabric arts in all sorts of different ways and happy to show their work and share their expertise. The course was entitled Translucency and colour on cloth - painting and screen printing. I had thought that it would be useful for my book like projects - however, it has sent me in a different direction.
The beautiful surroundings and interesting peer group gave me the opportunity to rethink my project and I went back to my one of my original 'architectural' drawings to produce a silk screen for working through options and ideas:
This I manipulated in a number of ways - as an ink painted screen - as pigment printed fabric and onto birch wood - found that I could print on wood using either pigment or ink with Manutex. I'd used this technique with paper when doing a Screen Printing elective during my L5 course.
This was a sample done in a collection of colours onto organdie as I was looking at the ideas of layering of ideas - memory is ethereal and changing - revealing fleeting glances and imagery - through subtle shifts of the fabric. Of course, fabric (eg the Fabric of Society) has its own place in the public arena.
I decided to print the Clemens Street block of houses and shops in black and white onto silk organza as it was stiffer and less 'female' than the previous fabric. I then experimented with imprinting some of my photographs of detail of the street onto Silk Habitori - you use Lazertran Silk transfer paper (similar to T Shirt Transfer but thinner). It is quite easy to use following the instructions on the label that comes with the package. Quite expensive though. This is the sample (above) that I produced. Original photograph is of a soggy tissue on a textured paving slab - one of the small detailed pictures I've been taking recently.
I then experimented with producing fine marks with ink through a simple circle printed screen with the above results. This was with black, golden yellow and a couple of touches of turquoise for contrast. I also did a blue and a magenta version.
I then put everything together to see what they looked like ....
I was very pleased with the experiments that I'd produced - and felt that I could take this further. Consequently, when I returned from West Dean I redrew the original drawing (as it was not really good enough for the production of a screen print) and am currently working to produce it as a screen.
This is the wood with applied 'Clemens Street' block and then the screen of marks - both done with fabric ink. Next experiment with this is to make sure that the painted blocks take the pigment or ink. I like the ink as you can make some very beautiful marks with it ....
Thursday, 17 March 2011
Negotiated practice
Sanding my blocks and making a selection of images from my photographic archives to apply to them. Will be attending a course at West Dean College in West Sussex at the weekend. Translucency and colour on cloth - painting and screen printing to work on further production of books and book-like objects.
Tate Britain
Went up to London with my friend Catherine to spend the day at the Tate.
We had an excellent tour from one of their volunteers who showed us some of her favourite pictures. An Elizabeth I and The Cholmondeley Ladies 1600-10 which were both very appealing. The Millais Ophelia and then The Deluge as a commentary on the Japan Tsunami. She was very impressive both from the point of view of her knowledge and also her love of the pictures she chose. Apparently the volunteers are allowed to make their own choices of paintings to talk about which is most admirable.
We met her again at a curator talk about one of the Tate's Spencers - Zachiarias & Elizabeth - which, although I really like his work, I couldn't get my head round. We then went to the Watercolour exhibition which was a curate's egg (ie good in parts) - felt that they had lost the plot half way through which was a pity ... then to the Susan Hiller "juxtaposes knowledge derived from anthropology, psychoanalysis and other scientific disciplines with [unimportant] materials like postcards, wallpaper, popular movies and internet postings, balancing the familiar and the unexplained and inviting the viewer to participate in the creation of meaning". It took a while to get to grips with what she was saying but by the time we got to the Witness 2000 which is an installation of speakers which transmits a wide variety of languages explaining about a encounter with UFOs. By moving in amongs the installation you get the information coming from all directions and this gave us an opportuntity to become more in tune with her work. Definitely worth exploring her ouvre further.
We had an excellent tour from one of their volunteers who showed us some of her favourite pictures. An Elizabeth I and The Cholmondeley Ladies 1600-10 which were both very appealing. The Millais Ophelia and then The Deluge as a commentary on the Japan Tsunami. She was very impressive both from the point of view of her knowledge and also her love of the pictures she chose. Apparently the volunteers are allowed to make their own choices of paintings to talk about which is most admirable.
We met her again at a curator talk about one of the Tate's Spencers - Zachiarias & Elizabeth - which, although I really like his work, I couldn't get my head round. We then went to the Watercolour exhibition which was a curate's egg (ie good in parts) - felt that they had lost the plot half way through which was a pity ... then to the Susan Hiller "juxtaposes knowledge derived from anthropology, psychoanalysis and other scientific disciplines with [unimportant] materials like postcards, wallpaper, popular movies and internet postings, balancing the familiar and the unexplained and inviting the viewer to participate in the creation of meaning". It took a while to get to grips with what she was saying but by the time we got to the Witness 2000 which is an installation of speakers which transmits a wide variety of languages explaining about a encounter with UFOs. By moving in amongs the installation you get the information coming from all directions and this gave us an opportuntity to become more in tune with her work. Definitely worth exploring her ouvre further.
Wednesday, 16 March 2011
Compton Verney
I've been accepted as a gallery volunteer at Compton Verney near Stratford upon Avon and have been undertaking training over the past few days. Take a look at their website on http://www.comptonverney.org.uk/ for details of the house and grounds. The gallery opens for the season on 26 March with two exhibitions - Alfred Wallis and Ben Nicholson which explores their relationship, Wallis' unique vision and his influence on Nicholson focussing on 1920-1940. The second exhibition is Wool work : A sailor's art starting with Compton Verney's items from its own Folk Art collection.
One other thing (apart from the development of the Capability Brown grounds) which I found really interesting was a Collection Intervention called What the folk say which runs all season to 11 December which sees items from Compton Verney's British Folk Art collection appearing in unexpected places around the main collections and the building as a whole. The staff and volunteers who attended the Training sessions found these juxtapositions of great interest causing much discussion about the objects and their positioning!
One other thing (apart from the development of the Capability Brown grounds) which I found really interesting was a Collection Intervention called What the folk say which runs all season to 11 December which sees items from Compton Verney's British Folk Art collection appearing in unexpected places around the main collections and the building as a whole. The staff and volunteers who attended the Training sessions found these juxtapositions of great interest causing much discussion about the objects and their positioning!
Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery
The Poetry of Drawing: Pre-Raphaelite Designs Studies & Watercolours.
Really enjoyed this exhibition at BMAG which is on from 29 Jan - 15 May before it tours to Sydney. "The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood were a group of radical young artists who banded together in 1848 and revolutionalised British art. They challenged the art of their own day and helped shape later movements such as Aestheticism, Symbolism and Art Nouveau". BMAG leaflet.
It was really interesting to see a whole range of media together - drawing & design; textiles, stained glass; ceramics and paintings, and investigate how they were put together. Fortunately I went to The Tate two days later and was able to see (for instance) John Everett Millais' final painting of Ophelia after seeing the beautiful studies he had made of Elizabeth Siddal.
We really have an amazing resource in BMAG.
Really enjoyed this exhibition at BMAG which is on from 29 Jan - 15 May before it tours to Sydney. "The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood were a group of radical young artists who banded together in 1848 and revolutionalised British art. They challenged the art of their own day and helped shape later movements such as Aestheticism, Symbolism and Art Nouveau". BMAG leaflet.
It was really interesting to see a whole range of media together - drawing & design; textiles, stained glass; ceramics and paintings, and investigate how they were put together. Fortunately I went to The Tate two days later and was able to see (for instance) John Everett Millais' final painting of Ophelia after seeing the beautiful studies he had made of Elizabeth Siddal.
We really have an amazing resource in BMAG.
Walking to the IKON
On Sunday I spent some time walking from my house to the IKON gallery in Birmingham taking pictures of the streetscape and unregarded items I saw along the way.
Found a quote from Sarah Kent in Time Out re: Peter Fraser "In [Fraser's] large colour photographs, a polystyrene cup bristling with toothpcks becomes as exotic as an African fetish object, and a wave of red lino or a plastic can filled with green liquid attest to the beauty of the discarded and disregarded".
Ah ... the goal:
Saw Robert Orchardson's Endless Facade which was interesting, given his talk to us at uni recently.
His work "frequently draws on imagery from science fiction films or work by designers or architects who engage with ways of thinking about the future" referencing Superstudio from the 1970s who proposed modular structures which stretch towards infinity. I wondered if he also found the deconstructionalists like Lebbus Woods interesting. A key reference for him is Bruno Taut (whom I hadn't heard of before) who "proposed a kind of utopian architecture of crystalline forms .... made up of endlessly repeating elements"* I really liked the way that he had changed the white cube structure of the gallery making the space into his own.
*these quotes are from the IKON gallery exhibition guide.
Marjolijn Dijkman Theatre Orbis Terrarum was also being exhibited ... I found this series of photographs of interest but the threads which links them ie "Colonisation went hand in hand with mapping" (after a paragraph about Abraham Ortelius and Theatre of the World - first printed modern atlas) .... "mapping land in those days was something similar to appropriating land. Maps create an abstraction of place .... the idea of an overview of the world, seen from a god-like perspective fascinates me but it scares me at the same time". All well and good but the images didn't correspond or give the idea of a map and seemed to me to be random and not well positioned. Maybe I will go back and revisit the exhibition and review the references to the Lunar Society which, again, seemed somewhat random.
Found a quote from Sarah Kent in Time Out re: Peter Fraser "In [Fraser's] large colour photographs, a polystyrene cup bristling with toothpcks becomes as exotic as an African fetish object, and a wave of red lino or a plastic can filled with green liquid attest to the beauty of the discarded and disregarded".
Ah ... the goal:
Saw Robert Orchardson's Endless Facade which was interesting, given his talk to us at uni recently.
His work "frequently draws on imagery from science fiction films or work by designers or architects who engage with ways of thinking about the future" referencing Superstudio from the 1970s who proposed modular structures which stretch towards infinity. I wondered if he also found the deconstructionalists like Lebbus Woods interesting. A key reference for him is Bruno Taut (whom I hadn't heard of before) who "proposed a kind of utopian architecture of crystalline forms .... made up of endlessly repeating elements"* I really liked the way that he had changed the white cube structure of the gallery making the space into his own.
*these quotes are from the IKON gallery exhibition guide.
Marjolijn Dijkman Theatre Orbis Terrarum was also being exhibited ... I found this series of photographs of interest but the threads which links them ie "Colonisation went hand in hand with mapping" (after a paragraph about Abraham Ortelius and Theatre of the World - first printed modern atlas) .... "mapping land in those days was something similar to appropriating land. Maps create an abstraction of place .... the idea of an overview of the world, seen from a god-like perspective fascinates me but it scares me at the same time". All well and good but the images didn't correspond or give the idea of a map and seemed to me to be random and not well positioned. Maybe I will go back and revisit the exhibition and review the references to the Lunar Society which, again, seemed somewhat random.
Sunday, 13 March 2011
Work in progress
My original bricks were fairly small (child-sized); brightly matt coloured on one surface; with the photographic images applied randomly. At tutorials it was suggested that the bricks should be bigger; should be painted all over (the grain on the bricks interferred with the images overlaid on them) in more 'sophisticated' colours and that the images should be applied to completely cover one side of the brick.
I am currently working on these issues:
I quite like the colours I have chosen - each brick takes two coats of (commercial) paint and I think I will need them to dry thoroughly. I will then sand and reapply two coats of paint. I have a variety of wooden bricks, the larger of which can be held in the hand of an adult. At the moment I have printed the images onto clear plastic and then applied to the bricks but I am also thinking that I could apply the images through permanent marker or through screen printing.
Saturday, 12 March 2011
Photographs
Some of my favourite shots from the past couple of years:
 |
| The medieval dye vats in Fez Morocco |
Flinders Range in South Australia
Roman Library at Ephesus
Cappadocia - Turkey
Level 6 Module at BCU - addendum to previous post!
Here's the Welsh one:
The previous comment related to Dyer's "possibilities of simulaneity and random juxtaposition".
The previous comment related to Dyer's "possibilities of simulaneity and random juxtaposition".
Level 6 Module at BCU
I've been attempting to manipulate and edit some of my photographs today - original ones from the Clemens Street trio of visits; some taken in Digbeth and some in Wales. Here's a sample:
Actually I'm not doing too much to these - just cropping - as I think it is better to frame the pictures properly.
Actually I'm not doing too much to these - just cropping - as I think it is better to frame the pictures properly.
I quite like these images - the colours are so beautiful when you get closer to them. I really feel that they fulfill the 'juxtaposition' ideal.
Have finished Hackney, that Rose-Red Empire and am drawn to further investigation particularly round my own family history in Bethnal Green .... but am very much aware that I don't really have the time to deviate from my own Negotiated Project at this point. Anyway I can't resist posting this photograph from my family archive:
Started to read Peter Ackroyd's London then put it on one side for the same reason.
Anyway, back to the bricks:
Have finished Hackney, that Rose-Red Empire and am drawn to further investigation particularly round my own family history in Bethnal Green .... but am very much aware that I don't really have the time to deviate from my own Negotiated Project at this point. Anyway I can't resist posting this photograph from my family archive:
Started to read Peter Ackroyd's London then put it on one side for the same reason.
Anyway, back to the bricks:
Music
Last night I went with some friends to see the great, the fantastic Courtney Pine at Birmingham Town Hall. Take a look at his website http://www.courtneypine.co.uk/ where you get a taste of his new album Europa. Wonderful line up of musicians - and I do like the way that he is so generous to them giving them their opportunity to play and thrill the audience.
I came across Me'sha Bryan http://www.meshabryan.com/ when I worked at Wolverhampton Grammar School in the late 1990s and she was one of the very talented students. I was delighted to see (in the school mag) that she had fulfilled her school dream of becoming a professional singer/songwriter. She's been on tour with Bryan Ferry and is currently recording a CD - I can't wait for it to come out.
I came across Me'sha Bryan http://www.meshabryan.com/ when I worked at Wolverhampton Grammar School in the late 1990s and she was one of the very talented students. I was delighted to see (in the school mag) that she had fulfilled her school dream of becoming a professional singer/songwriter. She's been on tour with Bryan Ferry and is currently recording a CD - I can't wait for it to come out.
Friday, 11 March 2011
Photography
I've been spending some time today to learn a bit more about Adobe Photoshop Elements 9 both on screen and from a VERY thick book that I bought last week. This is so that I can take some of the elements of the photographs I've already taken and hone in on the detail.
Here is one of the pastels that I did at RBSA Gallery last week ....
I think that my technique needs alot of work ... but it's virtually the first one I've done.
Here is one of the pastels that I did at RBSA Gallery last week ....
I think that my technique needs alot of work ... but it's virtually the first one I've done.
Thursday, 10 March 2011
Where does the time go?
I guess I shouldn't go walking in Wales (fantastic weather!) to the Len Lye exhibition at the IKON gallery http://www.ikon-gallery.co.uk/, to see friends in Hartlepool, on a couple of excellent courses at RBSA Gallery http://www.rbsa.org.uk/ - the first was Dynamic Drawing with Annette Pugh and the second was on Drawing with Pastels and I liked the work from the tutor so much that I brought a work which I am currently drooling over at home. (RBSA Gallery are running a Summer School which look good starting 11 July with disciplines from textiles, to portraits and life drawing to watercolour and woodcuts and artists' books. I've got the schedule out alongside my diary to fit in the ones I can do during the 'holidays').
I did a great photography day at the Photofilia studio in Brum with David Rann and was pleased with the images I got but of course the model was professional and very easy to work with ....
We had some excellent Visiting Practitioner talks at BCU during the month - Shane Waltner http://www.shanewaltener.com/ who works across numerous disciplines, Dinu Li http://www.dinuli.com/ who works in video, photography and film and Robert Orchardson who is currently showing at the IKON.
This last weekend I was on a Digital Photography/Photoshop course again in Wales with Mark Sisson http://www.marksissonphoto.co.uk/ where I learnt alot - have just brought a new Sony A390 camera from Focus on Imaging at NEC this week so no excuses for getting much better photos!
I did a great photography day at the Photofilia studio in Brum with David Rann and was pleased with the images I got but of course the model was professional and very easy to work with ....
We had some excellent Visiting Practitioner talks at BCU during the month - Shane Waltner http://www.shanewaltener.com/ who works across numerous disciplines, Dinu Li http://www.dinuli.com/ who works in video, photography and film and Robert Orchardson who is currently showing at the IKON.
This last weekend I was on a Digital Photography/Photoshop course again in Wales with Mark Sisson http://www.marksissonphoto.co.uk/ where I learnt alot - have just brought a new Sony A390 camera from Focus on Imaging at NEC this week so no excuses for getting much better photos!
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