Rachel whiteread - for becky

i remember seen a piece of rachel whitereads in the Tate britain.. (i think im 98% sure i snuck in somehow..)

and she had a cabinet of all these different objects she had collected, hope it helps in a sense of layout?

Exhibition Ideas

For my final exhibition piece I am looking to pickle or preserve in some manor my dandelion seed heads, in miscellaneously shaped glass jars hanging from the ceiling if that is possible.

I am unsure of amount as I cant picture quite how many I would need to work in the space but probable 20 to 30? So really all I would need to exhibition is space to hang from that would take the weight of glass jars.

Exhibition Idea.

My idea for the exhibition is to have a small stand with my little mechanical music box and strips on it, and for the viewers to be able to play the music through it, as well as the recorded melodys which I have put together and hopefully onto an ipod which can be played continously throughout the exhibition. In the background I am thinking of enlarging some photographs I have taken and using them as a visual aspect.
I am not sure yet which photographs I will be using.

Free Standing-Jessie

I came across this article on the largest free standing artwork.

The shape seems to be very similar to the shape of your billboard sculptures.

Hope it's useful

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2180719/Britains-tallest-free-standing-artwork-Aspire-unveiled-in-Nottingham.html

Exhibition Ideas

16th may- for the minutes ive been trying to create spiral shaped out of the pieces of billboard varying in different sizes im still trying out different techniques ill update thing post abit more later on today, thought id add a post so you guys have an idea of what im doing, i want it to be free standing so hopefully it can go anywhere.. :) x


note 17th may -im juggling between the cylindrical swirls hanging or keeping them free standing i need to try it out.. update more tomorrow..

Floss' Exhibition

My aim is to make a hanging piece to a shape similar to the sketches below. It doesn't need to be anywhere specific  but needs to hang about 5ft 10 high from the ground (ish) I may use a light source but it depends how I feel about it when it's up. 

Final Ideas for the Exhibition

In addition to Martina's post on what she wishes to show for the exhibition, I hope to display three long banners influenced by the oil painting experiment I undertook. These banners will be 240cm in length as I want them to brush off the floor and approximately 40cm wide. I will need to have a space where I can hang the banners, preferably off one of the pipes. I also want to see what the banners will look like with the addition of generated air as I feel it would portray the whimsical feel of the atmosphere I was exploring throughout the project.  

For Martina

I just came across this and it reminded me a bit of your domino's,


http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/s/1505384_8000-little-clay-men-join-manchester-commuters-on-the-way-to-work-for-future-everything-festival

You may have already seen it out and about around Manchester today,,

Exhibition Idea

As the exhibition is getting nearer and nearer I think it is important to have a clear vision of what I wish to achieve.

With the film I have created this will be put on the main projector and run continuously along with other students that have used film in their work.

Along with this I wish to corner off a section of Hotspur with tape which is available for people to interact with the dominoes, seeing how they make routes and testing their patience! I will need a flat floor for this and approx. 2m by 2m and with the words, 'DOMINO FALL IN PROGRESS PLEASE TREAD CAREFULLY' put on to a sign.

Important Dates

In the morning meeting today we got told the important dates for the end weeks of Unit X.

• Friday 18th: Blog deadline

• Monday 21st: Clear the space at Hotspur, label clearly if you wish to leave work there for the exhibition so that it does not get thrown out.

• Wednesday 23rd (6-10pm): Launch Party - Hotspur (we will not have our work up then it is just a party to start the exhibitions happening with unit X.

• Thursday 24th: Put up work in Hotspur.

• Friday 25th: Morning final touches to work, early evening Private View.

• Thursday 31st: All work to be taken down.

Feedback is to be confirmed at a later date. 

Billboard Art for Jessie

Jessie, I am not too sure what you are doing with your project but this site is very interesting and didn't know if it would be relevant to you because of you using that old billboard.

http://artmovesfestival.org/

Enjoy

Lighting

I was just wondering who was thinking about using lighting in their final piece?
X

The Boyle Family

Looking in to the Boyle family and how they create textures in their 'world Series' exhibition, i really like how the 'create' these different textures themselves, and the attention to detail is amazing aswell.

Christoph Niemann-for Martina

Martina, I'm not entirely sure if you're familiar with the work of Christoph Niemann. I came across him and his humorous illustrations whilst browsing on The New York Times website and thought of you immediately. The 'Omelet' caption, I felt, captures the 'journey' of the making of the food and emphasises how along a 'journey' nothing is never straight forward, simple nor the same every time. Hope you find it interesting!

Research-for Becks

I also found this website which I think might help in your research Becks! There's some very interesting concepts and ideas.

http://inhabitat.com/

Richard Soloman-for Becks

Beck's, I came across the work of Richard Soloman. His work mainly consists of the organic and makes some amazing sculptures as well as flat-pressed pieces.This particular piece, I thought would interest you!  Here Soloman strives to capture the short-lived moments of a blooming bud and encapsulate seed heads in glass balls.

William Anastasi

Martina,, I was just looking into the artist we were talking about earlier,

William Anastasi

and how he goes about creating some of his blind drawings,

I found quite a good video where he is talking about his work

http://newarttv.com/William+Anastasi%3A+Drawing+Blind

I was actually wrong about the pocket drawings, i thought they were created through chance, allowing the movement of walking to create the drawing. 

But

In fact it is the case of him watching silent films, with a folded piece of paper and pencil in his pocket enabling him to create a blind response to the film.

(perhaps I was a little off the mark)

But

They still make for intriguing, beautiful marks.

As for the subway drawings,,

that is indeed a record of the journey,,

Hope its helpful,,,

Wine stain napkins - For michelle :)

i kinda just stumbled across it while wondering the internet :) their like coaster/napkins thingys.

David Adjaye

I wanted to start looking into the textures and marks manchester creates, and while research i found the work of David Adjaye, who's work shows a large map combining all the cities in europe looking into the lines and textures create by these different maps...

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.we-make-money-not-art.com/wow/0adjadetail.jpg&imgrefurl=http://we-make-money-not-art.com/archives/2008/08/the-manifesta-exhibition-locat.php&usg=__w0x63LAWvfHESveNwrlxKmDJm0E=&h=319&w=425&sz=78&hl=en&start=10&zoom=1&tbnid=rdI1VTz6gtQnqM:&tbnh=95&tbnw=126&ei=sE-UT8LuDYm90QWG5PXyAQ&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dtextures%2Bin%2Bcities%2Bart%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26gbv%3D2%26tbm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1

Check it out.. 

Exhibition Preparation Ideas 2

Michelle, I like the idea of a group name for the exhibition. 'Found' sounds good as I suppose it could be relevant to all of our projects as we have all found something within Manchester to respond to.


Lighting- I will definitely be using lighting in my work> Lighting brings out the best in final pieces so I think we should take advantage of that.

Presentation- perhaps we could (once everyone has an idea of final piece) arrange our pieces as if they all fit together in some way, or lead into each other. Make it our own environment of some description. Just a few ideas. We could make it look really fantastic. But I don't think we should worry yet because things won't come together til the last minute like they always do. Still got  5 weeks? 4? left and things will change a lot in that time.

Michelle

Just thought of something for you Michelle and those circles created by watermarks...TIE DYEING!

Exhibition Preparation-Ideas

I think we should discuss, as a group, what we would like for our exhibition as the time is getting near and it's a vital aspect of the project.

Martina and Bec's, we came to the conclusion earlier at the meeting that we would like to have our exhibition in the Hotspur itself instead of a typical gallery space as we want to promote the use of this once, very busy environment. Also, with the newly created cafe, there would be a quirky place to serve wine to viewers.

The concern of lighting was mentioned in the large group discussion, however I thought it might actually add to the atmosphere if we embrace the natural lighting in the space and perhaps use lighting to highlight each individuals piece of work as I'm assuming the opening of the exhibition might be in the late evening? -Just a thought!

Also, I came up with the idea of using a title which highlights the importance of group and individual research within the duration of the project. Perhaps something like 'Personal Discoveries', 'Found Information' 'Collection' or 'Found' etc.

What does everyone think? Any further ideas?

Salt

Michelle,

Artwork Using Salt From Motoi Yamamoto

http://www.designswan.com/archives/artwork-using-salt-from-motoi-yamamoto.html

These pieces in particular made me think of your project.   The salt in what looks like water marks. I haven't read up on the meanings as such but just the aesthetics could have a link with your work.

Ann Goddard

"Ann Goddard makes mixed media assemblages, constructed wall pieces and installations comprising multiple units. Her work explores the concept of boundaries and human impact on the landscape."

Bec's when I saw this artist I thought of your work mixing the structural forms of a building with nature. Just as though nature is taking over again. The way she manipulates the mixed medias too look as though they are growing from a man made object is very convincing.

For more...

Ann Goddard

Sunday the Twenty-Ninth of April

This Sunday there is Print Fair being held in the Northern Quarter, in the Night and Day Cafe, I'm not sure if this links to anyone's projects specifically, but it looks like an interesting event with many local fanzines on sale, created by local artists and designers, many even from MMU.

http://www.facebook.com/events/308641689202869/

^^^^^^^^^^^^^

A link to the facebook event for further information.

Berndnaut Smilde

Floss, I came across this amazing pieces of work by Dutch artist Berndnaut Smilde. He creates clouds in a room, playing on the idea of a transitional sculpture. The clouds only last a few moments and can only be experienced through documentation and photography which I thought was really fascinating.

Seung Hoon Park

This collage is by Korean photographer Seung Hoon Park. He takes hundreds of photos of the same location using 16mm film and a huge tripod camera then weaves them together creating contemporary mosaics of tiny film strips. I thought it might be of some interest to you Martina! 

MOSI. Andrew Brooks.

Michelle. While I was on the website for the Science of Industry Museum I spotted that theres a few workshops with the Photographer Andrew Brooks and I remembered you mentioned him in the tutorials the other day. Thought you might be interested...

http://www.mosi.org.uk/whats-on/photography-workshop-with-andrew-brooks.aspx

For Floss

I wasn't sure whether your still wanting to go to the Science of Industry Museum, but if you are this is what i was telling you about. Its really interesting and my help with your project.

http://www.mosi.org.uk/whats-on/manchester-mills.aspx

How Madchester put the E into enterprise zone…

Abby I found this article about the music scene in Manchester and all the different places they had. I wasn't sure about all the underground places you knew about so hopefully there may be a few new ones in this.


It talks about the places, bands, how the Haçienda changed people and the way they felt, the communities views and reputation Manchester got for this period.


http://apps.facebook.com/theguardian/music/2012/apr/21/madchester-manchester-stone-roses

I have started to liven up our Group area a bit in Hotspur and it looks so much better already. Martina has done a really cool map thingy on the floor. If anyone knows of or sees any teardrop shaped things (that are cheap) then please let me know. Ta! x

   Abby I went into Fred Aldous today and saw the music machine that you are looking for. And it's blank so you can create your own music. It's on the 2nd floor down in the middle ish. Didn't see a price though but hope this helps.

Psychogeography for Martina

http://planbperformance.net/dan/blog/

This might be a helpful source for you as I know that they use geography to produce various work.
Also, a bit of history/research that might link with your work is this....

http://www.geog.leeds.ac.uk/people/a.evans/psychogeog.html

Meeting with Roree Windus, Third year embroidery student (22nd March 2012)

As I examined each third year embroidery student’s description about themselves, as individuals and their work I was immediately drawn to Roree Windus and was genuinely surprised that not many others were.

Her work concerns abstract expressionism principally though emotion and the physicality of painting. The work exploring emotions inspired me greatly and I felt a connection immediately with some of her preparatory paintings. Rorree spoke of a time in her life where loss was rife and her pieces began to reflect it. They took an almost macabre or depressive state which I thought to be very interesting. However, she also stated that she wanted to steer away from the such which I thought to be a pity as her emotions, being so raw at that particular time in her life, was conveyed into some beautiful images.

Rorree Windus’ work, to me is pieces that reflect the time where she almost escapes reality and the world in which she inhabits. She instead, comes into tune with herself and her emotive state at the time which I believe is a truly beautiful path to go down as an artist.

She finished her presentation by quoting Emini, “Life is my art, I create how I feel”.

For Abby?

You said you were looking at the music industry in Manchester and I heard this on Radio 2 and I am 99% sure is was covering this subject. Here's the radio show you can listen to, if it helps.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01fq91w

Whitworth workshops

http://cottonglobalthreads.com/special-events/

check this out if anyone is interested in furthering their experiences outside of the uni. The Whitworth art gallery has some good stuff on including 'drop in weaving sessions' and 'crafternoon tea'. There is also a student evening on so follow the link if you're interested in anything external to MMU.

:)

Brendan Dawes

I must say, I wasn’t entirely excited on going to the talk led by Brendan Dawes as on research, his work, initially did not interest me. However, I came to realise that it wasn’t the importance of the work or finished product but rather the meaning behind it.

What grabbed my attention was his creation entitled, ‘Double Buzz’. This piece of programming was a tool to illustrate or display information from the internet differently. Going against the ‘norm’ and showing information in a different way to, for instance, Google, caused much debate on its worth and quality. This unusual search engine led me to ponder on how one may display discovered information. This talk reemphasised the importance of creativity in today’s world and how it is integral to ‘step outside the box’ and ‘go against the ‘norm’ as much as you possibly can’.  How shall we as a group of young artists and designers display our new found information of the city of Manchester?

Historical Maps of Manchester

I came across this website on exploring points of interest for the rest of the group earlier today. I thought it might appeal to you Martina? It focuses on maps from the past and is quite an interesting website to explore and play around with.

http://manchester.publicprofiler.org/

Damien Hirst

Damien Hirst - The First Look

A documentary worth seeing.

Damien Hirst is an artist I have never quite fully understood, yet I never understood through fear. Fear of the ideas he presented. However, through years of maturing and now watching the channel 4 documentary “The First Look,” I understood that the man known as 'Mr Death’ is just a man with bursting mad, creative ideas and thriving on them. His jokey, fun character comes through in his art work, showing off his personality and what he believes is something worth looking at and debating over.

Hirst’s work is very controversial, making work you cannot possibly ignore. For example his piece ‘A Thousand Years,’ made up of a box hatching maggots into flies, a rooting cows head and an insect killer. A gruesome life cycle. Also, his most famous work ‘The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living,’ the shark preserved in a tank of formaldehyde. He takes objects out of their normal habitats and puts it into artistic environments changing the way we see them, the way he sees it and especially for this piece is ‘facing our fears’.

A year after this work, Hirst still made a shocking piece, but I believe shocking in beauty. ‘In and Out of Love,’ is based in two rooms, one, a room of dead butterflies fixed onto canvas and in the other, the butterflies are born. It is simply a butterfly house in an art gallery, but what does this mean? How does it make sense? This piece, as Hirst states, give people hope, when we look at a dead butterfly they still look alive, all their beauty fully in tack.

What I took from this documentary was creativity, to be able to think outside the tradition beliefs of art;

“Confront things you can’t avoid.” (Damien Hirst)

Summing up Damien Hirst’s work and ideas, 

“He’s the naughty child making us confront our deepest fears,” Noel Fielding.

The Documentary.

Underground Manchester

In the briefing lecture on 'Unit X' and the David Haslam talk, the history of Manchester in regards to the Industrial Revolution and its effect of society seemed to be a predominant theme. This is what led me to researching further, the city of Manchester's history and past as I thought it may be an interesting possible starting point for someone’s project, if not mine. Even if it wasn't going to be furthered in the upcoming weeks of my project, I thought it would be an interesting topic to explore as I do not have much of knowledge of the place I currently inhabit which may be viewed to some as ignorant. It seems quite disrespectful to turn a 'blind eye' to my home environments past so I guess, why do it here? 

Anyway, I came across information that immediately took my attention-Underground Manchester. I’m not sure if it's well known to others in Group Six but I found it to be quite appealing! After years of research, Keith Warrender has uncovered evidence of dozens of places alive under the city we see today. All of which range from the last two centuries. The official documentation was filmed by the BBC in a show called, 'Inside Out' but the video will not work on my laptop for some reason. I found a video made by 'I Love MCR' which might interest someone? 

Underground Manchester

In the briefing lecture on 'Unit X' and the David Haslam talk, the history of Manchester in regards to the Industrial Revolution and its effect of society seemed to be a predominant theme. This is what led me to researching further, the city of Manchester's history and past as I thought it may be an interesting possible starting point for someone’s project, if not mine. Even if it wasn't going to be furthered in the upcoming weeks of my project, I thought it would be an interesting topic to explore as I do not have much of knowledge of the place I currently inhabit which may be viewed to some as ignorant. It seems quite disrespectful to turn a 'blind eye' to my home environments past so I guess, why do it here? 

Anyway, I came across information that immediately took my attention-Underground Manchester. I’m not sure if it's well known to others in Group Six but I found it to be quite appealing! After years of research, Keith Warrender has uncovered evidence of dozens of places alive under the city we see today. All of which range from the last two centuries. The official documentation was filmed by the BBC in a show called, 'Inside Out' but the video will not work on my laptop for some reason. I found a video made by 'I Love MCR' which might interest someone? 

Our New Home.

The Hotspur Press.

 

Our location: The Basement.

 

The basement was last used as a printing ground, from newspapers and flyers to books. Yet now we see little trace of this; painted white brick walls that are slowly changing colour by age, a map of horizontal and vertical pipes attached to the ceiling, buttons on walls that probably should not be pressed, but most importantly space. Space which we should take over. You could call it our 'Undergroud Manchester.'

 

Together we formed a Group 6 working area and I hope with this space we shall all inspire each other with ideas and practices. Lets get inspired!

 

Aim at Hotspur:

• Get through alive.
• Fostering collaborations.
• Forging relationships.
  

See the full gallery on Posterous

See the full gallery on Posterous

 

Topophobia

Topophobia: a morbid dread of certain places. 

 Currently, at the Bluecoat gallery in Liverpool the exhibition on show is ‘Topophobia,’ whereby a group of 10 artist have responded to the anxiety disorder, topophobia, using many different medias and technologies.

http://topophobia.co.uk/ 

 

The link to the website will give you a glimpse of all the artists at the exhibition, however the ones in particular that caught my eye were Uta Kogelsberger, Louise K. Wilson, Anne Eggebert and David Ferrando Giraut. 

 

Uta Kogelsberger:

Her work was a collection of photographs taken from darkened and strangely lit places, places such as Urban American landscapes to the complete wilderness. The collection is supposed to symbolise our unconscious thoughts about space. 

 

 

Louise K Wilson:

Wilson’s work was based on the ‘Lost traces of space,’ in many of her works she likes to bring to light the certain absences and silences encountered in a place, uncovering its mysterious and secrets. Her video work incorporates both real and imagined landscapes.

 

I managed to capture a short one minute clip of her video.

M4H01326.MP4 Watch on Posterous

Anne Eggebert:

Eggebert uses drawing as a device to collapse distance and time. Working with images from Google Earth she uses repeated hatch marks to explore the landscapes of elsewhere – places once familiar that are no longer visited – or watercolours to depict holiday destinations that reveal the traces of a lost presence. She looks at how our actual and imaginative experiences of reality construct our perception and performance of place. The way images, books and films we fill our brain with inform the way we see the real world.

David Ferrando Giraut:

Giraut’s film was definitately the most dramatic piece in the exhibition. As you walk into the room you step into what will be a cinematic experience. The film is slow moving, showing the aftermath of a car crash that is set on a large green, open, space that has been taken over by the ghostly sounds. The slow movement of the camera, combined with the cinematic music encourages the feeling of anxiety and suspense.

 

What I took from this exhibition was not the ways in which these artists worked but the thoughts behind there pieces. I believe such ideas would be very inspiring for the project on Manchester, thinking about the way locations make you feel. How the media influences the way we look at certain places, do we imagine places that are not there? What secrets can we discover?

 

 

Untitled

See the full gallery on Posterous

Whilst researching ‘Underground Manchester’ further I came across the work of Andrew Brooks. Brooks is a photographer, a digital artist and film maker who draws inspiration from the contemporary urban surroundings in which he inhabits (Manchester). 'Hidden Manchester' was a project that was commissioned for 'Ubis' showing in 2008 and 2009. Brooks thoroughly explores the hidden part of the city of Manchester, awakening its history. 

I found these works to be particularly eye catching and interesting after watching the documentary on Underground Manchester. 

Bringing landscapes to the city...

Because I find myself continuously seeking ways to convey the environments in which I miss from back home in Ireland, in past projects, I have decided to explore ways of bringing landscapes to the city.

I recently read an article on this subject. It dealt with issues of how nature or the countryside is viewed as the antithesis of the city throughout modern history.  It reports how many individuals respond to the “dirty factories”, “multitude of noisy vehicles” and “buildings crammed on top of each other” by simply moving away from the city and into the suburbs if the opportunity arose.

In addition to this, the growing number of designers and architects who refer to themselves as “landscape urbanists”:”the notion that the most important part of city planning is not the arrangement of buildings, but the natural landscape upon which those buildings stand”. In other words, proponents envision weaving nature and the city together-an environment that I would personally love!

 

Untitled

Something that comes to mind when envisioning cities is graffiti. I have discovered an alternative approach to what may be viewed as vandalism, eco-friendly graffiti! Using liquefied mud, moss or even a power washer instead of paint conveys a ‘public greenification’.

For the past ten years, Paul "Moose" Curtis or "Professor of Dirt" has devoted his spare time to the fine art of defacing public surfaces with cleansing messages and beautiful pieces of art with the reverse graffiti technique. 

 

Untitled

Another eco-friendly graffiti artist is Edina Tokodi. Tokodi who is currently living in Brookyln, New York is a green graffiti artist who focuses specifically on bringing “nature closer to the city dwellers” through installations of images that trigger environmental appreciation.

See the full gallery on Posterous

 

Slides

See the full gallery on Posterous

some of the slides that caught my interest. i like the lack of detail and how the more natural aspects of this photo is a lot more prominent that the buildings. i also love how the fog makes it seem kinda magical..! :) Enjoy!