Fascination with the dark .... spirits.... atmosphere...cinemas........theatres ..... dark places.....
Faces........idea from Sally Mann What Remains ..........her series on Death ended with faces ....my idea to use faces as an ending to my connection with Wales, the land and my ancestors?
Thursday 20 December 2012
Tuesday 18 December 2012
Exploring Home
A selection of images shot with the Lubitel 166B, Mamiya RB and Diana F Lomo Cameras.
Black and White and Colour 120mm Film
Experimentation, Exploration, Searching ........
Llanfallteg, West Wales, my home village from 1960 - 1978
Two of the images have light leaking through the camera seals (RB67) ... this is annoying and disappointing. I need to repair this.
Tuesday 11 December 2012
Picture Making in my Home Village of Llanfallteg
Today was a day for picture making. The ground was white with frost, the air was clean and crisp. I wanted to immerse myself in the memory of the place that was my home for the first 18 years of my life.
As I sat on the train heading west, the beauty that surrounded me was magnificent and emotive. Magnificent in its sheer presence, and emotive in that I recalled memories that had, for a long time been forgotten. Feelings of times past flooded my whole being bringing with them tears of grief for people long lost. The poignancy of each moment of warm greeting as I would have stepped off the train, now a longing for it once more.
But heading on to Saundersfoot where my sister was meeting me, brought me back to the present, and the joy of once again being in the embrace of my family, knowing that we would enjoy each others company and reminisce the shared days, and the remembered days.
When we arrived in Llanfallteg, we took a familiar path to the bridge that crossed the river Taf. I shot pictures of whatever caught my eye, the white beauty of the frost, the branches, the twigs heaped in a pile at the side of the bank, the 200 year old tree still standing as I remember it. We walked through the fields, no cows or bulls today to stand and stare at us; my memory clear that there had always been cows and bulls, standing side by side, making a path so there was no choice but to walk between them. I wouldn't be true to say that I was ever comfortable in their presence, but I noticed their absence keenly.
On to the gate leading on to the old Roman Road, and up to the Mill, now brazenly adorned with a For Sale sign. Up further to where once stood the Mansion, where we glided down the once magnificent stairs, now gone and in its place an ugly bungalow. I have a photo somewhere of the old mansion taken in the 1970, I must dig it out. The mansion gates still there but no composition I attempted seemed to work. There was too much new leaf, the site was too dark and shadowy, the gates almost obliterated by shiny overgrowth, there was too much of today in the picture of it. I decided to leave it; but I may return and try again another day.
Down the hill still further, I came to another bridge where the stream is now a tangled shrubbery of thistle; once this was a wooded area where we used to play and climb trees. Here I fell, tumbling down when a branch snapped, giving way under my weight. Winded, unable to move, a piercing pain in my wrist, I lay awhile, my immediate thought, what would my mother say! She would be livid I'd been climbing trees. Whether she would have been angry I don't really know, I suspect not. But she could be strict and had "the look"that I avoided at all costs in my youth. I told no one what had happened until a week later when the pain grew too much to bear. I had to admit what had happened, my wrist by now was swollen badly. My mother screeched "why didn't you say." We got in the car, drove to the hospital, an xray, a fractured bone, bandaged. I still have a weak wrist to this day. Always a reminder of the fall, the emotion, and the pain of that day.
There were several other places of memory I could have visited, but that was enough for today. I'll wait to see the results before deciding if I should go back and shoot some more.
As I sat on the train heading west, the beauty that surrounded me was magnificent and emotive. Magnificent in its sheer presence, and emotive in that I recalled memories that had, for a long time been forgotten. Feelings of times past flooded my whole being bringing with them tears of grief for people long lost. The poignancy of each moment of warm greeting as I would have stepped off the train, now a longing for it once more.
But heading on to Saundersfoot where my sister was meeting me, brought me back to the present, and the joy of once again being in the embrace of my family, knowing that we would enjoy each others company and reminisce the shared days, and the remembered days.
When we arrived in Llanfallteg, we took a familiar path to the bridge that crossed the river Taf. I shot pictures of whatever caught my eye, the white beauty of the frost, the branches, the twigs heaped in a pile at the side of the bank, the 200 year old tree still standing as I remember it. We walked through the fields, no cows or bulls today to stand and stare at us; my memory clear that there had always been cows and bulls, standing side by side, making a path so there was no choice but to walk between them. I wouldn't be true to say that I was ever comfortable in their presence, but I noticed their absence keenly.
On to the gate leading on to the old Roman Road, and up to the Mill, now brazenly adorned with a For Sale sign. Up further to where once stood the Mansion, where we glided down the once magnificent stairs, now gone and in its place an ugly bungalow. I have a photo somewhere of the old mansion taken in the 1970, I must dig it out. The mansion gates still there but no composition I attempted seemed to work. There was too much new leaf, the site was too dark and shadowy, the gates almost obliterated by shiny overgrowth, there was too much of today in the picture of it. I decided to leave it; but I may return and try again another day.
Down the hill still further, I came to another bridge where the stream is now a tangled shrubbery of thistle; once this was a wooded area where we used to play and climb trees. Here I fell, tumbling down when a branch snapped, giving way under my weight. Winded, unable to move, a piercing pain in my wrist, I lay awhile, my immediate thought, what would my mother say! She would be livid I'd been climbing trees. Whether she would have been angry I don't really know, I suspect not. But she could be strict and had "the look"that I avoided at all costs in my youth. I told no one what had happened until a week later when the pain grew too much to bear. I had to admit what had happened, my wrist by now was swollen badly. My mother screeched "why didn't you say." We got in the car, drove to the hospital, an xray, a fractured bone, bandaged. I still have a weak wrist to this day. Always a reminder of the fall, the emotion, and the pain of that day.
There were several other places of memory I could have visited, but that was enough for today. I'll wait to see the results before deciding if I should go back and shoot some more.
Monday 10 December 2012
Roger Scruton Interview - Beauty and Consolation
http://youtu.be/YLSGQQygsI8
ROGER SCRUTON YOUTUBE VIDEO BEAUTY AND CONSOLATION
The following are the words of Roger Scruton meant for research only. These are not my words. I have not written them in the precise coherent manner that they were spoken.
She embodied some of the serenity that I was looking for. What is the
relationship between the hunt and the interview? A return to some kind of natural
condition that civilised man has removed himself from; detached himself from the
search for beauty; to rediscover that condition that we were once in. Being part
of one species and not being an individual. Consolation comes when one relaxes
into the species life. We lose our individuality together. The horse has always
been part of that. The hunt has a beauty “how but in custom and in ceremony are
innocence and beauty born” ceremonial event that death itself becomes part of
the ceremony. Without the consciousness of death there cannot be beauty. It is an attempt
to revitalise our experience of beauty.
Consolation is something that human beings seek. Other animals are in
need of shelter, warmth and food. It is a sense of being fully at home in the
world. Most of our lives we are not fully at home. Were detached from what we
truly are. Homecoming is important to maintain ourselves. Individual pleasure,
success, these put us at variance to ourselves. There’s a need in us to rest and
put us back in our home for peace and reconciliation. Being at peace with the
world and therefore with ourselves. We are the only animals with a religious sense,
our life needs to be complete, and that it’s not here but in the beyond. To understand
our desire for our consolation we must look at our roots in a religious sense. The
roots of religion lie deep in us. There is in all of us a need to establish a
connection with something greater than us. Being part of a drama, the drama of one’s
own life, and united with others beyond the living. Modern people have been nomadised
by their civilisation, they have been set in motion, ease of movement from one
relationship to the next, thought to thought, entertainment to entertainment,
nothing keeps them still, but there is an urge within them to rest to be
attached to the place that is theirs, and the people that are theirs. Our sense
of the divine is a recognition that we cannot create this sense of home on our
own. The tragedy of our society is that we have lost it (being part of the species).
Fox hunting is symbolic - making themselves at home,
establishes a claim on home (the species), deeper in their species than day to day entertainment.
Touches what is most urgent in our being. Outside everyday activity when we are
at rest with our world. We are hunter gatherers; our sense of unity comes with
that hunter gatherer species. Reaffirms your place with a particular place in a
particular time.
People no longer dwell on the earth, they move from place to place, searching.
“Only if we learn how to dwell can we build and only if we build can we live
with each other.”(Heidegger) Modern architecture is hideous built for nomads
who seep through it like a wind and disappear. Every serious idea is dangerous.
Peaceful existence as a form of being. In all of us there is a desire for home
coming. Consolation resides. We have ventured out and then coming back and
being part of a social order that is bigger than us.
Relationship between horse and rider, horse and hound is a beautiful
one of animal joy. How we relate to the animal in us. One way is to deny it. Another
way is to allow it to dominate us. The indulgence of appetite above everything
else. My own view is that you should not deny it but that you should let it
give added poignancy to it. Romantic love is a good example, a cultural achievement
of our age. Literature is an effort to lift the erotic experience out of the animal
realm and making it into a kind of spiritual principle setting it in stained
glass. Returned to the animal experience and recreating it at the unconscious level
transforming it into something that is aware of itself.
Purity and childhood. Sense of Arcadia. I had nothing to go back to so
I had to create it for myself.
Discussing beauty and
consolation Roger Scurton talks about our deep desire for homecoming. My home is created by books and music in the
middle of the countryside with people doing things with animals.
Rojer Curston … it’s your 70 years and it’s up to you to live them
well. These 70 years are eternal. They will always be your 70 years.
What really matters is to be serene, to know that you are
important and not important. To know
that there are others who are far more interesting than me.
I am "I".
People live in a tiny time slice of the modern world.
Emmanuel Kant
Begins with raw experience.
Intuition is immediately given to us in experience. We use concepts to
make sense of our intuition concepts are rules synthesis (a unified whole
resulting from the combination of different ideas, influences, or objects)
Passions of the body at odds with reason.
You should only do something if you thought that everyone could do
it all of the time - universality
You should never manipulate anyone, ever. Kant thought that the
greater good is irrelevant. You should
always tell the truth whatever the circumstances - you are only responsible for
your own choices.
Philosophy raises questions it doesn’t give answers.
Sunday 9 December 2012
Notes on Liz Wells "Land Matters" Chapter 1
The land is important, business relating to land, substance of the land, soil chemistry.
How photography engages with the land
Representation and Idealisation
Landscape as romantic or Topographic
Political, Social, Environmental
Culture, History and Attitudes
Human Intervention
Intervention of Nature - natural changes
"Vistas encompassing both nature and the changes that humans have affected on the natural world" (pg 2)
Relation to the landscape and environment
Memory and Experience
Our response is a complex tapestry
Space and Place (pg 2)
To Landscape, Landscaping
WJT Mitchell "Landscape and Power"
To impose a certain order
Space - Expanse of land
Space to think
Living Space
Distance between areas
Jacques Derrida - French Philosopher
to touch the void is to risk the trauma of uncertainty
Naming is taming
To name represents comprehension
Naming turns space into place
Wilderness or outer space has not been named, inhabited, known
Photography involved in detailing environments - helping culture to appropriate nature (pg 3)
"Photographers have a responsibility to consider how we picture, to reflect upon the implications of thinking through the visual." (pg 4)
Topopholia - human desire for comfort or familiar spces come to reassure.
Depth of sensory response; explores how art enhances experience.
Viewing art is more than more representation (pg 4)
Julia Kristeva - French Philsopher
Suggests that the systematic disrupts the poetic (pg 5)
The feminine operations of poetic interfere with patriarchal social order (pg 5)
Association of mascline with culture, and the feminine with nature.
Culture/Nature Feminine/Masculine - interelated
Nature is both internal and fundamental to what constitutes us as human, and "out there" in what we experience the external world through the senses, including sight (pg 5)
Renes Descates Cartesian theory - separation of the mind and body
Experience sensation; rational mind retains an observational and analytic stance (pg 5)
"Photographs cannot replicate the multi sensual actuality of the out of doors, but they do offer some form of imaginary substitute .... memories of actual physical experience and mediated experience are complexly inextricably entwined" (pg 44)
How photography engages with the land
Representation and Idealisation
Landscape as romantic or Topographic
Political, Social, Environmental
Culture, History and Attitudes
Human Intervention
Intervention of Nature - natural changes
"Vistas encompassing both nature and the changes that humans have affected on the natural world" (pg 2)
Relation to the landscape and environment
Memory and Experience
Our response is a complex tapestry
Space and Place (pg 2)
To Landscape, Landscaping
WJT Mitchell "Landscape and Power"
To impose a certain order
Space - Expanse of land
Space to think
Living Space
Distance between areas
Jacques Derrida - French Philosopher
to touch the void is to risk the trauma of uncertainty
Naming is taming
To name represents comprehension
Naming turns space into place
Wilderness or outer space has not been named, inhabited, known
Photography involved in detailing environments - helping culture to appropriate nature (pg 3)
"Photographers have a responsibility to consider how we picture, to reflect upon the implications of thinking through the visual." (pg 4)
Topopholia - human desire for comfort or familiar spces come to reassure.
Depth of sensory response; explores how art enhances experience.
Viewing art is more than more representation (pg 4)
Julia Kristeva - French Philsopher
Suggests that the systematic disrupts the poetic (pg 5)
The feminine operations of poetic interfere with patriarchal social order (pg 5)
Association of mascline with culture, and the feminine with nature.
Culture/Nature Feminine/Masculine - interelated
Nature is both internal and fundamental to what constitutes us as human, and "out there" in what we experience the external world through the senses, including sight (pg 5)
Renes Descates Cartesian theory - separation of the mind and body
Experience sensation; rational mind retains an observational and analytic stance (pg 5)
"Photographs cannot replicate the multi sensual actuality of the out of doors, but they do offer some form of imaginary substitute .... memories of actual physical experience and mediated experience are complexly inextricably entwined" (pg 44)
Picture Making Ideas
Feet on the Ground .... Grounded in the Wales of my Ancestors
Hands in the Air .... Reaching out to those who have gone before
Ashes ..... Earth ....
Forgotten Footsteps ....
Tea ....
Personal Objects of Memory .... still life .... on the land .... in the landscape
Coming Home .... return to the place of my birth ..... changes .... sameness .... the village ...changed ...
Old photos of my village ..... compare .... layer ....
Abstract views .... dreamlike views .... then and now .....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=Bx6P19dinkw&feature=endscreen
Hands in the Air .... Reaching out to those who have gone before
Ashes ..... Earth ....
Forgotten Footsteps ....
Tea ....
Personal Objects of Memory .... still life .... on the land .... in the landscape
Coming Home .... return to the place of my birth ..... changes .... sameness .... the village ...changed ...
Old photos of my village ..... compare .... layer ....
Abstract views .... dreamlike views .... then and now .....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=Bx6P19dinkw&feature=endscreen
Saturday 8 December 2012
VIVA
I was concerned that I had no portfolio prints to show, and that my projects have not developed as I would have liked by this time in the academic year. Both lecturers were very supportive and said that they could see that I have been researching, reading and working, and that my visual diary shows my struggles.
It was suggested that I look again at Sally Mann's video "What Remains" as it could help my development and thinking.
My concerns about my work being traditional and pictorial were addressed. They stressed that there is nothing wrong with this style, the important aspect of the process is that I need to explain why I photograph in this way. However the images that I have shot with the Diana F are more interesting and less traditional. They said it would be a good idea to continue shooting with all my cameras and that the more traditional could be put together with the less traditional. Also that images I plan to shoot of my "moving" that is images of the as yet unpacked boxes, the process of unpacking, images of personal objects... these could be placed together with images I shoot of the exterior landscape. I like this idea. I think it could work well. It is now my priority to immerse myself in picture making using my Medium Format 67 Mamiya Camera, my twin lens Mamiyaflex camera and the Diana F. I am going to enjoy the picture making process and not worry about or think too much about what I do shoot.
The lecturers also agreed that it might be beneficial for me to have a tutorial with Andrea Liggins. Andrea uses plastic cameras and is a keen landscape photographer. This would be very interesting for me and I know I would learn a lot from her because her ideas and skills would be a great advantage to my learning.
This session helped me to think more positively about my work and it has motivated me to once again enjoy my artistic development. I had forgotten to enjoy the process and had filled myself with fears. I need to find that belief in myself that I had achieved by the end of the Foundation Degree. I believe that I can do this.
There is still enough time for me to work towards achieving a good BA.
It was suggested that I look again at Sally Mann's video "What Remains" as it could help my development and thinking.
My concerns about my work being traditional and pictorial were addressed. They stressed that there is nothing wrong with this style, the important aspect of the process is that I need to explain why I photograph in this way. However the images that I have shot with the Diana F are more interesting and less traditional. They said it would be a good idea to continue shooting with all my cameras and that the more traditional could be put together with the less traditional. Also that images I plan to shoot of my "moving" that is images of the as yet unpacked boxes, the process of unpacking, images of personal objects... these could be placed together with images I shoot of the exterior landscape. I like this idea. I think it could work well. It is now my priority to immerse myself in picture making using my Medium Format 67 Mamiya Camera, my twin lens Mamiyaflex camera and the Diana F. I am going to enjoy the picture making process and not worry about or think too much about what I do shoot.
The lecturers also agreed that it might be beneficial for me to have a tutorial with Andrea Liggins. Andrea uses plastic cameras and is a keen landscape photographer. This would be very interesting for me and I know I would learn a lot from her because her ideas and skills would be a great advantage to my learning.
This session helped me to think more positively about my work and it has motivated me to once again enjoy my artistic development. I had forgotten to enjoy the process and had filled myself with fears. I need to find that belief in myself that I had achieved by the end of the Foundation Degree. I believe that I can do this.
There is still enough time for me to work towards achieving a good BA.
These are two of the images I shot with the Diana F
Searching through the Darkness (1)
Searching through the Darkness (2)
Friday 7 December 2012
Hana Janeckova - Visiting Lecture
Art and Self Censorship. Does Art need to stand for something?
http://www.redrawingthemaps.org.uk/blog/?p=295
Hana Janeckova began her lecture with the consideration of China as a contradiction. She has lived and worked in Beijing for two months this year researching the countries art and artists. She stated that all of the Public Art is strictly controlled by the State. It has to be approved before it can be shown. But the State does not, in her eyes, seem to censor art in the way that she had expected it too. The reason for this, is that the art in China is a financial commodity and brings its own rewards to the country. The images in Beijing are somewhat humorous as they often depict perfect blue skies. The reality is that pollution levels in Beijing are extremely high and Hana commented that as soon as she stepped off the pane, she could smell the pollution in the air.
Beijing has a huge art scene, with art villages populated by as many as 7000 artists.
China has been ruled by a Communist Government since 1949, the country is saturated in the colours of the communist flag, red and yellow. There is propaganda everywhere, the people are ignorant of any other way of life as they are constantly bombarded with these images; information is censored. In the West, we are well aware of the history of Tienanmen Square, but young people in China are oblivious to their own history. Any mention or image of the atrocities that occurred in 1989 is shrouded in secret. I still have a very vivid memory of the young man who stood in front of a tank refusing to move in protest of the closed political inequalities that have existed in China for decades.
But its own people have no knowledge of these brave men and women who tried to stand up for their rights. China have offices in place where people sit and deny access to any words that are searched on google or any other search engines.
An example of censorship in today's society is that all Hollywood Productions have been banned in China this year. The films can of course be accessed by those with wealth through a private computer system, but the majority of the people in China do not have the privilege of buying this system; they do not have the financial means to afford this kind of equipment. The masses can be said to be kept in the dark.
Art in China can be said to have a different role compared to art in the west. Art in China does not interfere with political life, it is relegated to that of product. Art in the west speaks to us and can inform our views. It is also considered a product in the west, but it can and does have an affect on the way we think.
http://www.redrawingthemaps.org.uk/blog/?p=295
Hana Janeckova began her lecture with the consideration of China as a contradiction. She has lived and worked in Beijing for two months this year researching the countries art and artists. She stated that all of the Public Art is strictly controlled by the State. It has to be approved before it can be shown. But the State does not, in her eyes, seem to censor art in the way that she had expected it too. The reason for this, is that the art in China is a financial commodity and brings its own rewards to the country. The images in Beijing are somewhat humorous as they often depict perfect blue skies. The reality is that pollution levels in Beijing are extremely high and Hana commented that as soon as she stepped off the pane, she could smell the pollution in the air.
Public Art Irony .... surfing the net ... not all search queries can be accessed e.g. no reference to or image of the People's story of the Tienamen Square Massacre can be found n China. People born after this event have no knowledge of it unless it is the State side of the story.
Beijing has a huge art scene, with art villages populated by as many as 7000 artists.
China has been ruled by a Communist Government since 1949, the country is saturated in the colours of the communist flag, red and yellow. There is propaganda everywhere, the people are ignorant of any other way of life as they are constantly bombarded with these images; information is censored. In the West, we are well aware of the history of Tienanmen Square, but young people in China are oblivious to their own history. Any mention or image of the atrocities that occurred in 1989 is shrouded in secret. I still have a very vivid memory of the young man who stood in front of a tank refusing to move in protest of the closed political inequalities that have existed in China for decades.
But its own people have no knowledge of these brave men and women who tried to stand up for their rights. China have offices in place where people sit and deny access to any words that are searched on google or any other search engines.
An example of censorship in today's society is that all Hollywood Productions have been banned in China this year. The films can of course be accessed by those with wealth through a private computer system, but the majority of the people in China do not have the privilege of buying this system; they do not have the financial means to afford this kind of equipment. The masses can be said to be kept in the dark.
Art in China can be said to have a different role compared to art in the west. Art in China does not interfere with political life, it is relegated to that of product. Art in the west speaks to us and can inform our views. It is also considered a product in the west, but it can and does have an affect on the way we think.
Notes from Dissertation Tutorial
During my tutorial today we discussed the question of focus and lack of focus. I have been thinking about Uta Barth's work which concentrates on the act of looking ....
Of her work she says “the question for me is always how can I make you aware of your own activity of looking instead of losing your attention on the thought about what it is that you are looking at” (Higgs, 2004: 36)
Focus implies certainty, unfocused implies being out of control.
Visual language is about a kind of control.
The relationship between the traditional role of vision of the landscape, and how it influences contemporary photography.
Photographers - Ansel Adams and Jem Southam - How we represent the landscape
Ansel Adams view of an almost idyllic landscape
Jem Southam returns to the same space and photographs the landscape changes that take place
What is the difference between the male and female vision of the landscape - do I know what this is?
Male Vision - detail, the view as it is seen in front of the eye
Female Vision - an emotional, social, political response and a more abstract visual language
Suggested reading John Taylor "A Dream of England"
Other suggested reading Liz Well, "Land Matters" first chapter
Of her work she says “the question for me is always how can I make you aware of your own activity of looking instead of losing your attention on the thought about what it is that you are looking at” (Higgs, 2004: 36)
Focus implies certainty, unfocused implies being out of control.
Visual language is about a kind of control.
The relationship between the traditional role of vision of the landscape, and how it influences contemporary photography.
Photographers - Ansel Adams and Jem Southam - How we represent the landscape
Ansel Adams view of an almost idyllic landscape
Jem Southam returns to the same space and photographs the landscape changes that take place
What is the difference between the male and female vision of the landscape - do I know what this is?
Male Vision - detail, the view as it is seen in front of the eye
Female Vision - an emotional, social, political response and a more abstract visual language
Suggested reading John Taylor "A Dream of England"
Other suggested reading Liz Well, "Land Matters" first chapter
Thursday 6 December 2012
CULTURE SHOW BBC2 WED 5TH DEC 12
RICHARD WILSON
"hang on a minute lads, I've got a great idea" Michael Caine in The Italian Job.
Richard Wilson's Site specific sculpture of a bus hanging off a building in Bexhill is an art piece that looks again at the world we take for granted. He takes objects from the real world that have a reference point, and that already have a relationship with the public. The bus from the film "The Italian Job" is a piece that people identify with, and is an iconic image. Architecture if true doesn't move, but this sculpture teeters off the edge of a building and appears as if it will fall off. The artist states that this is a snap shot view of things. There is an element of humour, and also it is a magical moment. People are siezed by the moment, they stop and look because this is something that is unsettling and unusual.
YAYOI KUSAMA
Yayoi Kusama lives voluntarily in psychiatric institution. At 83 years old her art challenges, dazzles or stuns. Exhibited at the Tate in June 2012 Yayoi Kusama is known as the Princess of Polka dot. Her work has consisted of abstract paintings, collages, films, fashion and poetry. They are joyful works deceptively rooted in dark life experiences. Patterns are endlessly repeated, obsessional in their creation. The artist suffered childhood trauma and has said that "if it were not for art, I would have killed myself a long time ago"
Her art are acts of recreating hallucinations as a way of dealing with her past, and her obsessive behaviour. Kasuma's work is all enveloping to the viewer; she confronts her innermost fears. They are immersive environments of repetition. Andy Warhol, three years after seeing Kusama's art, created a wall paper that can be seen as inspired and influenced by her. Her work can be said to remind us of Jackson Pollack's own art, but his work is an assault on the senses, whereas Kusama's work is more enveloping.
The piece that Kusama created for The Tate, mirrored walls reflecting bulbs in different colours, are of an infinity and perhaps a place beyond infinity. It is an exquisite piece that surrounds us with calm. Maybe, at the age of 83, Yayoi Kusama has now resolved her fears and is embracing life and that life beyond infinity.
"hang on a minute lads, I've got a great idea" Michael Caine in The Italian Job.
Image courtesy of guardian.co.uk
Richard Wilson's Site specific sculpture of a bus hanging off a building in Bexhill is an art piece that looks again at the world we take for granted. He takes objects from the real world that have a reference point, and that already have a relationship with the public. The bus from the film "The Italian Job" is a piece that people identify with, and is an iconic image. Architecture if true doesn't move, but this sculpture teeters off the edge of a building and appears as if it will fall off. The artist states that this is a snap shot view of things. There is an element of humour, and also it is a magical moment. People are siezed by the moment, they stop and look because this is something that is unsettling and unusual.
YAYOI KUSAMA
http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/yayoi-kusama
Yayoi Kusama lives voluntarily in psychiatric institution. At 83 years old her art challenges, dazzles or stuns. Exhibited at the Tate in June 2012 Yayoi Kusama is known as the Princess of Polka dot. Her work has consisted of abstract paintings, collages, films, fashion and poetry. They are joyful works deceptively rooted in dark life experiences. Patterns are endlessly repeated, obsessional in their creation. The artist suffered childhood trauma and has said that "if it were not for art, I would have killed myself a long time ago"
Her art are acts of recreating hallucinations as a way of dealing with her past, and her obsessive behaviour. Kasuma's work is all enveloping to the viewer; she confronts her innermost fears. They are immersive environments of repetition. Andy Warhol, three years after seeing Kusama's art, created a wall paper that can be seen as inspired and influenced by her. Her work can be said to remind us of Jackson Pollack's own art, but his work is an assault on the senses, whereas Kusama's work is more enveloping.
The piece that Kusama created for The Tate, mirrored walls reflecting bulbs in different colours, are of an infinity and perhaps a place beyond infinity. It is an exquisite piece that surrounds us with calm. Maybe, at the age of 83, Yayoi Kusama has now resolved her fears and is embracing life and that life beyond infinity.
Monday 3 December 2012
Tutorial with Eva
I had my first tutorial with Eva today and I'm very glad that I did. I have been very concerned that my projects are not developing as I would like them too. I sat with Eva for about an hour and she listened and made constructive suggestions as to how I could move forward.
External Project
We talked about the possibility of having an Exhibition at St Ishmael Church, entering Competitions, placing adverts in the other Churches and Chapels in Ferryside as an opportunity to photograph weddings etc, keeping an eye on the University emails for voluntary photographic opportunities, and a Day Event being held in Swansea in January where photographers are needed to document the event. As Christmas is nearing, it would also be a good idea to keep an eye out for any other events that may be taking place.
I have been reluctant to put myself forward to photograph events etc as I seem to have had a "crisis of confidence" in the past few months. I think the reason for this, is that having recently moved from Plymouth to Carmarthenshire, I have found the transition quite stressful, and of course, one of the things I had not thought about was the relationships and contacts that I had made in Plymouth over the past three years. It has all seemed a little daunting and disheartening to have to begin again. But I must try and overcome this now if I am to have any success with this part of my BA.
Personal Project
After discussing with Eva my concepts for my previous projects during the Foundation Degree, I realised that I need to do the same for this years' projects. That is to think about my own daily life, the way I have been feeling, and what has been happening in my life recently. Of course, I have moved, and this has been my focus. Eva suggested that I might like to photograph the items I still have in my boxes as yet unpacked. This could work as I explained that since I returned to Wales, I have been enjoying meeting up with my family, and also getting back in touch with old friends who I have not seen for many years. There has been an expectation from them also, to see and meet up with me.
We discussed that the inherited tea sets and personal objects that I have which are dear to me, could hold a narrative. The tea sets for example have a double meaning. I want to meet and drink tea with family and friends, but I should concentrate on my work and delay these meetings. They also need to understand that I need to focus on my studies; this is my final year and it would be such a disappointment to me if I wasn't successful in achieving my BA.
I had forgotten where my inspiration for my photographic work normally comes from. That for me, the work has to be personal and come from the heart.
At the end of the tutorial, I felt much better and that now I could move forward with my projects. Nothing is of course, ever completely straight forward, and I need to put myself in the zone and find reading sources, other artists who have carried out similar projects, but today I feel that this is now possible.
External Project
We talked about the possibility of having an Exhibition at St Ishmael Church, entering Competitions, placing adverts in the other Churches and Chapels in Ferryside as an opportunity to photograph weddings etc, keeping an eye on the University emails for voluntary photographic opportunities, and a Day Event being held in Swansea in January where photographers are needed to document the event. As Christmas is nearing, it would also be a good idea to keep an eye out for any other events that may be taking place.
I have been reluctant to put myself forward to photograph events etc as I seem to have had a "crisis of confidence" in the past few months. I think the reason for this, is that having recently moved from Plymouth to Carmarthenshire, I have found the transition quite stressful, and of course, one of the things I had not thought about was the relationships and contacts that I had made in Plymouth over the past three years. It has all seemed a little daunting and disheartening to have to begin again. But I must try and overcome this now if I am to have any success with this part of my BA.
Personal Project
After discussing with Eva my concepts for my previous projects during the Foundation Degree, I realised that I need to do the same for this years' projects. That is to think about my own daily life, the way I have been feeling, and what has been happening in my life recently. Of course, I have moved, and this has been my focus. Eva suggested that I might like to photograph the items I still have in my boxes as yet unpacked. This could work as I explained that since I returned to Wales, I have been enjoying meeting up with my family, and also getting back in touch with old friends who I have not seen for many years. There has been an expectation from them also, to see and meet up with me.
We discussed that the inherited tea sets and personal objects that I have which are dear to me, could hold a narrative. The tea sets for example have a double meaning. I want to meet and drink tea with family and friends, but I should concentrate on my work and delay these meetings. They also need to understand that I need to focus on my studies; this is my final year and it would be such a disappointment to me if I wasn't successful in achieving my BA.
I had forgotten where my inspiration for my photographic work normally comes from. That for me, the work has to be personal and come from the heart.
At the end of the tutorial, I felt much better and that now I could move forward with my projects. Nothing is of course, ever completely straight forward, and I need to put myself in the zone and find reading sources, other artists who have carried out similar projects, but today I feel that this is now possible.
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