Series...

As I like to do things in series, or in sequence I have decided this will be a general theme to my sketchbook/summer project... SERIES- Eva Hesse: 'Series repeats absurdity'...

Also going to continue thinking about spaces and places... Thinking about Suki Chan, and applying her ideas about light, movement and sound to the places I go and people I see...

Susan Hillers interpretation of installation (From 'The Everyday', documents of contemporary art) is also quite interesting, describing an installation as:
'Something that occupys a site in such a way that objects, spaces, light, distances, sounds- everything that inhibits the site- everything is defined by its relationship to all other things'

This got me thinking, that my book will generally be an interest in anything and anything I see, as a whole or individual, space object, and so will be an exploration of RELATIONSHIP to them, or history.

I have recently acquired a valve, a little radio one, that produces natural distortion (when in a device of some sort) and so I am planning to take this object with me around and photograph it a little in different places, with a film camera and a digital, and see what happens...

Valves...

Artists research- Janet Hodsgon...

JANET HODSGON


Janet Hodsgon is an artist with an interest in time and history, creating installations and ‘inscribing’ places inspired by archeological drawings.

She is interested in archeology, in the removal of objects in a site,  but mostly in the way DRAW TIME,  in particular the stratigraphic drawings and diagrams and how they provide a visual way of seeing time, such as the Harris Matrix calendar which allows archeologists to see the stratigraphic sequences of complex sites...

Stratigraphy

Harris Matrix calendar

Her work

THE PITS- sandblasted engraved drawings into the stones in Whitefriars, exact stratigraphic copies of the site…

HISTORY LESSONS–video recording the fictional restaging of everyday life of the building in its previous incarnation as a Victorian school. Her videos in terms of history have 'evolved into an investigation of relationships that are as mush about location  and dislocation, as they are about what was, what is and what might be’... sounds eerie! 

Other interesting points from a small essay I found (SEEING TIME/WRITING PLACE)

-       

      -‘calendars and clocks faces are two ways in which we can see absolute time, for TIME has no physical reality, but is inherent in most things, it must be translated to a diagrammatic form to be understood as sequence or schedule’ – so stratigraphic diagrams fit into this.

- MATRIX- the word matrix was used often…definition- an environment or materials in which something develops.

-Architectural  drawings are representations of spaces., in a professional sense, but this could be transferred into more conceptual ideas…

- 

The main point which I found interesting was how she believes working in sites or historical places, reinscribes the past into that place provides a way of seeing time. Themes of place, site, history and time all appear, all very interesting to me, and definitely ideas I am going to experiment with over the summer...

Cloud.

I have started a mini collaborative project with a few of my friends, the focus being on CLOUDS.

It's going to be a mixture of video, sound and images, and I am hoping to do something different and challenge myself a little...

I have started a little sketchbook with a few drawings of clouds, inspired by Suki Chan's work, with drawings exploring movement and marks...

CLOUD- A visible mass of condensed water vapour floating in the atmosphere.

INSPIRATIONS- blankets, layers, colours, constant movement, ideas, space...

BLANKETS- clouds like blankets, covering and creeping into surroundings, dark and light affecting ideas of space.

IDEAS -clouds are everywhere,  reading The Drawing Book 'urban architecture is about ease of navigation, to answer problems is to defy natural form, imposing an artifical schema A GRID on natures chaos. Making a cloud more 'accesible' grid it , transform it?

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...