Installation, space and site...

These are a few themes I want to continue exploring throughout my work next year, and over the summer I think it would be good to look at artists and inspirations about site specific work, and the use of objects and spaces, HOW AND WHY.

A few artists to start, for inspiration...


SUKI CHAN

I went to the Chinese Arts Centre (it was changeover, but was still a useful trip...) and rediscovered Suki Chan in a few books that were on display.

She explores themes of place and 'uses light, moving image and sound to explore our physical and psychological experience of SPACE' and is drawn to using light, as it changes our daily perceptions of the spaces and places we encounter...She also collects objects and works with multiples to create interesting installations, something I find interesting as I like to explore things in 'series' and making things a little bit stranger.

Interval II, Video

Book Shelf Series, Cut books, metal and mirror.

Rice Boats, Mixed media installation with video

I quite like how she works with unusual media, such as video projects and just the general clean, neat aesthetic of the work. Inspires me to do lots of detailed drawings! 

ANTONIA LOW

This artist has featured on my blog before, but not with too much detail, so here is a little expansion...

Another installation artists who works with space and also looks at the history of sites 'A modern archeologist she looks back to the past, hoping to lay bare and discover treasures'. 

'Has a special interest in sites under mutation'...She likes to work with rooms, removing objects and looking into the meaning of the spaces and 'past activities'.

The Electric Return

What was also interesting, was that she was part of the 'Seven Sites' project around Manchester and Salford, which was an event incurring many small, strange interventions and happenings among the communities and spaces around the city, such as tea parties in high rise flat blocks, video installations and performances in local pubs, Antonia in particular working in the United Reformed Church, Salford (right around the corner from where I used to live!)... 

White Cube Longing focused on creating a white space, removing everything apart from the cupboard, which was to be built around to create a 'hyper-real space with a single object on view'.

White Cube Longing

I love the way she transforms space, and the historical/narrative aspect, trying to explore or look back to what was once there...The spaces she created look eerie, and even in the structures of her other pieces,  it's described as being 'filled with a strange melancholy'...Agreed.

The Exhibition...

The exhibition was a successs, all the hard work made it worth it.

Looking forward to the summer, and also starting the summer project and continuing with ideas about space, site and installation, and looking further into why and how artists/designers do this...

Me and my friends have also been asked by 'The Font' bar to produce some work, exciting, more to come on this very soon...

Super(modern) Summary.

A few conclusive thoughts...

'Telephone Exchanges

Non-places

Communications

Excess'

(written by me, not so long ago)

These have been key themes to the development of my work.

I have been working towards representing things in MASS, regarding Mark Auge's concepts on 'supermodernity' with the mass of equipment and systems,data,telephone calls in Telephone exchanges and 'non-places' and spaces around us (specific to manchester).

Telephone exchanges, developed and changed with the increasing abundance of phone calls and telecommunications, it is an excessive increase; an absolute excess of machinery (though very visually interesting) also links to the ideas about 'non-places' and 'super-modernity' and how I have also come to see them in an excessive nature. Through development I have come to represent this idea visually, keeping things simple and repetitive.

What was most interesting was the jump from hand to machine, which I have reflected through machine laser cut fabric and perspex, and hand made plaster pieces and hand stitch.It has taken a lot of time to get things right and experiment, it takes time to stitch and time to include a mathematical aspect, but I think this has reinforced the history and meaning to the pieces and their regimented structures.

Working in a group has been great, the whole researching and discovering at the beginning really helped us all work in a collaborative environment, and we got to hear about loads of artists and different  practices that push the boundaries of art and design, and which have encouraged us all to think a bit differently. It had been really interesting to see our work develop from similar (scientific) inspirations and we all got to know how we worked and helped each other along the way. I am looking forward to pulling it all together at the exhibition at blank space that we have been organising, which has really been one of the highlights. 

For now, a little bit more work to be done...On with the stitch! 

Errands.

I would like this particular image to be on my postcard. 

We will be making postcards to hand out/people to take at our little exhibition; featuring a photo, email and names etc...Another exciting little part for the exhibition at Blank Space next friday and something to make it a little bit different.

Textiles in Practice

UNIT X FINAL PIECE

125/420

Anna Columbine

anna.gracie@hotmail.co.uk

We are also going to include a description of the work we intend to put up, a little curated part to make it a real exhibition...

Telephone Exchanges
Non places
Communications
Excess.

'This need to give a meaning to the present if not the past, is the price we pay for over abundance of events corresponding to a situation we could call supermodern to express its essential quality: EXCESS'

Marc Auge sees the world in terms of supermodernity, the world being filled with an abundance of events demanding that each of us individually INTERPRET it all.

My work has come to represents MASS and EXCESS regarding Telephone Exchanges with the mass of systems,data,telephone calls 

and 'non-places' and spaces around us. 

Telephone exchanges developed and changed with the increasing 'abundance ' of  telecommunications, which could be describes as excessive; an excess of machinery, which links to the ideas about 'non-places'' and how I have also come to see them in an excessive nature.

Change from hand to machine; hand operated connections to machine: 'strowgers' and 'crossbar systems'.

Laser cut fabric and perspex- Hundreds of circles and squares representative of the telephone exchanges and non-places .
Hand stitch and plaster pieces- Reflecting the hand and the condensed nature of the telephone equipment...A mathematical concept has been explored- each piece represents information from the first telephone exchanges of Manchester, reinforcing the history and meaning to their regimented structures.

The piece reflects the simple and repetitive visuals of the telephone exchanges and generic non-places that we see today.

NAMES FOR OUR GROUP 

Still ongoing...

Cosm? as in microcosm but not...

T.in.  ?  Short for textile innovation?! I don't know if that just reminds me of soup cans...

Arrange.

I have been arranging the latest few pieces I have been making, hanging the fabric and perfecting the plaster pieces!

I still think the hanging pieces will look better with a bit of stitch or wire, just to make them more than just laser cut fabric. They are still mathematically representative of the Telephone Exchanges; 420 circles, and underneath there are 125 perspex pieces which I am going to set in plaster blocks. 

The pieces with the perspex look most effective especially as they are reflective and give a transparent quality which will work nicely with the light fabrics I have been working with. A few of the slides fell out but it could be quite nice to display these by the side, with the small engraved plaster pieces, representing that 'excess': an overabundance of objects...

Pieces.

Last batch of laser cutting done, these are the final pieces I will be working with! 

I'm going to do some more hanging in hotspur to see how i may arrange them/where stitch or wire could be effective and how I will thread them together...

I was worried about the materials, if they were going to work together or if it is going to look too plain, but I think the colours of the fabrics match quite well and contrasting weaves work together... They quite nicely represent the changing time periods especially the perspex which will reflect a more modern era of spaces and telephone exchanges ( transient quality).

I'm really pleased with the laser cutting results, as it has been a little challenging as I haven't used the machine before and it requires a lot of accurate planning and thought.  I quite like how it has pushed me to think about the hand made vs the machine made element of the project; it seems more challenging to me to use machine equipment as there is a lack of control, and in a way can be less experimental, whereas hand-stitch emphasises the amount of time needed, it's a slower and more reflective process. It's interesting that with space and places and processes today are more interested in saving time, and removing the control from man to machine.

I also felt I needed to set up my own little blank space, as I just cant imagine it right without the white! The space we will be displaying our work will be quite different to hotspur and so will be interesting to see the effect of white on white...

Masses of stitch...

Todays use of the laser cutter, I assume, will be the last use of that machinery, due to over booking and suspended use! I have tried other options (Fred's, FAB lab) but too expensive, too late! SO to overcome this little problem, I am going to continue using lots of handstitch which I think is going to work quite well and visually will perfectly reflect connections/wires/networking systems...

I need to fit as much into my little laser hour as humanly possible.

It will link in to the idea of EXCESS and  MASS, I will no doubt be spending a MASS amount of time stitching and this connects to my idea of 'hand operated' telephone exchanges, quite time consuming compared to todays methods.  There is most likely to be a considerable amount of thread because of the stitches that I am using.. Also the supermodern theme will me running through, it will be clean clinical, simple colours, perspex and plain, generic fabrics.

I think this is going to work, as I think the handstitch side needs to be explored more, I have been hesitant as I didn't want to add stitch as a decoration or didn't want it to be seen as such.

It has been hard trying to sync my time and my thoughts with the laser cutter, as I like to over think fabrics/colours etc, so I have really had to have a go in-get it right-get out! attitude.

For now, on with the hand stitch!