Contextual Update & It's CCS Essay Time

Hey guys!

I haven't posted an update on my contextual notebook in a long while, so here you go:

Kiki Smith

Kiki Smith is a Germany-born artist who creates sculptures, drawings and prints. These two collages from her "Sojourn" exhibition shows a cage as a restricted space, as it withholds a blue bird and a light bulb, but I can see their energy emits through the bars and escapes the confined cage. 

Tobias Putrih

Putrih was born in Slovenia and creates re-imaged cinema interiors out of everyday materials such as cardboard and plastic foam. "Majestic" is a geometrical shaped environment, which allows the visitors to absorb it as a sculpture and also invites them to sit within the structure (which is confined but relaxing) and watch a projected film.

Erin Mulvehill

Mulvehill is a young photographer currently based in Brooklyn and is famous for her photgraphy series titled "Underwater". The photographs resemble women trapped underneath ice, almost frozen in time. The women trapped in this space creates a chilling and eerie atmosphere, and I find it fascinating that Mulvehill creates this sense of entrapment by taking these phots in her own studio, not underneath frozen water.

Dan Rees

Dan Rees was born in Swansea, United Kingdom, and works mainly with paintings that show his Minimalist style. "Stripey Paintings" are two canvases covered in green and yellow stripes of paint, but to me, I see these rectangular forms pertruding out of the wall, almost as if it is trying to break away from the wall. 

CCS: Time for some Essay Writing!

So last week, we received our CCS essay titles for this semester, and I'm quite happy with the titles we have, mainly because I'm a big fan of Renaissance art! However, I'm still unsure about which title to choose from! I'll just lay down the foundations first by doing a quick draft, with some main points and key quotes, and then I can build it up from there. Shouldn't be too tough once I get into the swing of it! I was thinking of going for the second essay title out of the eight to choose from, where I evaluate the difference between Northern and Italian Renaissance art. I'll have to wait and see where it takes me!

That's all for today guys! See you soon!

More Complicated Forms of Restricted Space

Hey guys!

Hope this week has been good for you! It is now Friday, and I must say, I am absolutely wrecked! Must be a good thing right?

So I have been reflecting at the thoughts and suggestions of the tutors from my progressive review, along with a couple of other tutors who I chatted with now and then. My tutors definitely liked the idea of getting the viewers involved in the restricted spaces I create, so this time around I decided to create a partial barricade consisting of wool strings in front of our studio door, so that as my friends entered the studio, they would immediately become somewhat trapped in this restricted space, until they realised the opening on the other side of the doorway. It was great fun to see how they reacted and how they became immediately confused and bewildered!

Like my other two video projects, I was hoping to capture this on video, however, the battery on the video camera which I borrow died and I had no cable to charge it, bah! I did however, take pictures when I could, so here's a few of them:

Bank Holiday Weekend!

You have to love the bank holidays! From now up Tuesday, I will be focusing mainly on my Sketchbook and my Critcial & Contextual Notebook, and on Monday, I think I might draw up some designs for a 3-D piece which will also become a video project, so keep your eyes peeled next week!

That's all for now, time for a massive sleep in before cracking out the notebooks tomorrow.

Have a great Bank Holiday weekend!

Progress Reviews & Moving Forward

Hello!

My Progress Review is complete, and I must say, I'm am very pleased with the outcome! Two of my group tutors, Grainne and Mairead, reviewed my work and guided me on how to take my ideas further. After receiving a pleasing result, it's time to keep on going and taking my ideas to the next level!

Right now I am in the middle of editing my studio wall, so that I can allow more space for the ideas which are now relevant to my current progress. As I am looking at different forms of restricted space along with my other ideas, I found it quite interesting to use cloth and wrap it around the human form to display a new form of restricted and constricted space. In this case, I have used a roll of bandages and wrapped it around my own face, but once I get some more cloth, I will restrict the entire body.

Photo Manipulation Time:

Now it's time to break out Adobe Photoshop! I've done some photo manipulation to some of these photographs, so that people can relate to what emotions is running through the persons mind when they feel constricted. Here's a couple I have finished so far:

- Inverting colours and layering photos of my head in different angles, and lowering the opacity of some layers to create a sense of movement, as if I am trying to break free from the constraints.

- Layering grunge textures and changing the lighting to create an bleak atmosphere and an eerie space, which can be connected with the various emotions the constrained person is going through.

Plans For Tomorrow?

Tomorrow I am trying casting for the first time, because I have some ideas involving breaking out of a restricted space which will go hand-in-hand with some caste parts of the human body, such as the hands. And who could forget the good old CCS lectures! However, tomorrow we are getting our essay titles for the semester, so that will definitely be interesting to find out what choices we have for our essays!

Thanks for reading, and of course, I will be back to share more of my thoughts again tomorrow! See you later!

Ken Robinson: Do Schools Kill Creativity?

Hey guys!

I'm just back from a brilliant weekend in Dublin. Even though I didn't get the time to do some practical work, doesn't mean I didn't take in any inspiration!

I really wanted to post this video which was shown to us by Elaine Riordan during our Group Crit last Friday. It is a talk given by Sir Ken Robinson on how schools undermine creativity and how they try to stop students from thinking outside the box. 

I completely agree with everything Ken Robinson says during this interesting talk. I always felt so restricted in the secondary school education system; we just learned how to become human sponges by absorbing everything from textbooks and on the day of exams, we were made regurgitate all this information onto a piece of paper. Thankfully, I am now in LSAD where we are allowed to speak our minds and express our ideas freely. The education system should really learn to nurture creativity.

I'm definately going to get one of his books that Elaine also recommended "The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything" .I think I'll let the video do the talking for now though! So take the time to relax and watch this great talk.

Oh, and it's Progress Review day tomorrow! I'm ready to take on the tutors! I'll let you guys know how I get on tomorrow! Bye!

A Little More Inspiration

Hello again,

Just felt like posting some artists who recently gave me some great inspiration to work differently on some of my ideas so far, so here they are!

Tara Donovan

Donovan is an American artist who is famous for her site-specific installations. "Colony" is a sculpture consisting of pencils which are packed together and are different in height, which gives the impression of a fungus spreading across the exhibition space, allowing the viewer to become immediately aware of it. I also see how she creates a restricted space by packing the pencils tightly together.

Richard Serra

This American-born artist is known for his large scale sculptures made up of industrial materials. "Blind Spot" and "Open-Ended" engages with the space in which it is work, and invites the visitors to explore the restricted space created by the curved walls, which creates this claustrophobic-like atmosphere.

Matthew Barney

Barney is most known for combining sculptural installations with Performance art and video. His series titled "Drawing Restraint" explores the idea of restraint and how it affects the body. He uses restraint to create unusual marks in the space which is available to him.

Ernesto Neto

This Brazilian artist creates soft  biomorphic sculptures that fill the entire space. "Our Mist Into The Mith" invites the viewers to see, touch and smell the materials surrounding them in this organic-like dome shaped space.

Tomorrow is our Group Tutorial day, so lets hope it goes well for everyone!

Bye for now!

A Great Week with Great Progress

Hi!

This week has been going really well for me, as I fell like I am making great progress with my ideas! And all of the lectures we have had so far, such as learning about the High Renaissance artists, and talking to Irish painter Damien Flood, really enabled me to think of these ideas which I would have never thought of before! Here's a little update on some idea's I came up with this week!

Sketchbook

- Watercolour on paper, ink on a piece of bubble wrap.

The ink on the bubble wrap are like jail bars; the person behind them is unable to escape, but once the viewer lifts the bars, the person can finally lead a colourful life of freedom.

- Red wool on acetate paper, with 4b pencil and red pen drawing on beige paper. A more graphic design approach to restriction, with typography which combines together to make the human form.

3-D Work

 - Cage: Paper straws, masking tape, Scotch tape, cardboard. This human cage gives off a sense of entrapment, both physical and also mentally.

- Head (Self-Portrait): Acrylic paints and pencil on acetate paper, help up with Sellotape.

Tomorrow is another day; another day to keep the brain going and take in inspiration to help me bring my ideas to their fullest flowering!

See you again soon guys!

Making Progress With 3D

Hello guys!

Today was the day I had my first ever workshop, and it was on 3-D Studies, and I must say, I am very impressed with what we were thought, and I can't tell you how excited I fell to explore my ideas with the new skills I learnt today!

We first started explaining some ideas to Elaine which we would like to explore further with 3-D. I explained how I wanted to explore the idea of restricted space with 3-D, and after talking with Elaine, I found out that I should try and explore the idea of building up a sense of entrapment by using a Perspect box, and gradually making it clouded using different materials, forcing the viewer to see less of the inside of the box. 

We also learned how to Finger Weave! We use a long string and by making loops in it using our fingers, we ended up having a beautiful loops and knots, which was very useful for fashion designs and swatches.

Paper Weaving was the next technique we learned, which I found to be the most fascinating of the two techniques. By using simple paper straws, we were able to create an intricate 3-D piece, which to me almost resembles DNA or even a cocoon, which ties in with my project perfectly!

I'll end this update by posting some pictures of some of my 3-D work which I will further develop with the techniques and ideas learned form this valuable workshop!

- Using paper origami to create a restricted room, the shape of which is geometric. The room contains a small drawn man, whom which you can look at through three triangular openings of the room.

- Creating a cage using cardboard, paper straws and masking tape. The cage will become a "human cage" where a person (showing by using either a 2-D or 3-D material) will become trapped in this space.

- Breaking out of a restricted space. The fist is made out of clay, which is placed in a flower pot. The cracks on the surface of the fist represents the frustration of many attempts to break free from restriction.

See ya guys!

LSAD Open Day and The National Self-Portrait Collection of Ireland Exibition

Hello!

Last Friday was definitely an eventful day!

LSAD Open Day

The day started off with visitors coming into the college, making things a bit hectic! As these prospective first years came by, I learned how popular this college really is. We had people coming from Galway, Cork, Dublin, and Donegal. It was wonderful to meet these new people and what they wanted to talk to us about regarding the college and it's opportunities.

I also got to help out on the Open Day Saturday morning. I got the chance to talk to a few Fourth Year students who are now fairly busy writing their theses. I was also talking to a girl from Galway who had no idea where to go for Art & Design courses, but myself and Louise O Sullivan (a Viscom student currently in Fourth Year) reassured her that if you want to do art, LSAD is the place to go!

National Self-Portrait Collection Of Ireland

At about 12pm, myself and my friend Giulia Postir decided to hop on one of the shuttle buses to UL to take a look at the pieces in this collection in the University Concert Hall. This exhibition had some amazing pieces from various artists, including LSAD's own, Micheal Canning! His piece was a sculpture titled "Three Skulls", and it was made up of these black skulls which were attached together at the back of each skull , and it was made up from various different materials. It was definitely worth the visit!

That's all for now folks, so I will talk to you tomorrow and post updates on a few more ideas I have lingering in my head! Bye!

A Sneak Peek At My Contextual Notebook

Hello once again!

I said I would post a update on my Contextual Notebook, so here we go! So far, I have Antony Gormley, Donald Judd, Anish Kapoor, and Bruce Nauman, and so I'll give you you a small insight onto what I think of each artist and my favourite pieces.

Antony Gormley

Gormley works mainly with sculpture and my favourite piece from him is "Blind Light" because it allows the viewers to get involved with his work and in turn, they themselves become the subject of the piece. The feeling inside the space is as if the viewers are on top of one of the tallest mountains in the world.

Donald Judd

Donald Judd quickly became known for his sculptures and was at the forefront of the Minimalist movement. His untitled work in Marfa, Texas, are a prime example of simple shapes that divide and change the space in which it occupies. The backdrop of the empty desert add to his signature Minimalist style.

Anish Kapoor

Anish Kapoor is an Indian-born British sculptor who is now known world-wide for his sculptures that defy space. "Cloud Gate" has a reflective surface that takes in all of it's surrounds and it reflect and distorts that space. That shape of the giant structure allows visitors to view it from underneath also.

Bruce Nauman

This contemporary American artist does not confine himself to one medium, and so he works with sculpture, video, performance, and neon. "Fifteen Pairs of Hands" tells us about different personalities just by hand gestures alone. The viewer can move around the space and play with perspective to combine different pairs of hands, as if to see if different personalitues are compatible with one another.

That's all for now! More updates will be up tomorrow. Bye!

Some Sketchbook Previews!

Hello!

Since I'm focusing more on my sketchbook and contextual notebook, I will post more updates about my progress with both notebooks!

Of course, the main topic of my sketchbook is Restricted Space, and so I have made a lot of sketches which explore restriction and entrapment. I started off with the simple cardboard box idea, and then I shall move onto more complicated forms of restricted space.

- Investigating the space within the cardboard box and how to creat different forms of this space.

- How the human figure fits in this restricted space and doing physical actrivities as part of the research.

- Examining the remains of breaking out of the restricted space.

 

- Using more complicated shapes and forms which I will apply to restricted spaces.



Thanks to the sem dem on Colour yesterday, I know more on how to apply colour effectively, and the 3d studies demenstration opened me up to new possiblities to investigate restriction and entrapment!

That's all the updates for now! I'll be posting more updates very soon. Bye for now!

The Contextual Notebook and My Future Plans

Hello guys!

Sorry for the late update, I haven't been felling the best since Friday, but everything is okay now!

My Contextual Notebook

I decided to work upon my Contextual Notebook during the weekend, and I'm felling pretty confident on how it is progressing. I have gotten artists such as Anish Kapoor, Bruce Nauman, Antony Gormley, and Donald Judd:

Anish Kapoor

 Bruce Nauman

I have also found some new artists such as Franz West, Martin Creed, and Mark Dion on a few art blogs I have been reading through recently:

Franz West

 Martin Creed

My Plans For The Week!

My plans for this week is to try and stay focused on my sketchbook and contextual notebook. I am also renting out a video camera on Wednesday so I can make some good progress on my Restriction and Entrapment video projects! I can't wait to experiment with everything this week! And of course, I'll be keeping you updated!

Bye!

"Caution: Tiger Inside!" and "Knock Knock" Videos Now on Youtube!

Hey guys!

Just popped in to post the videos of my two video projects which are now uploaded to Youtube, including my new project; "Knock Knock". Sorry if the quality of the videos are bad, I had to cut down the quality, otherwise it would have taken me forever to upload the videos!

Both videos are made to investigate how people react to a person in this restricted space, whether they can just hear the sounds the person makes in the box and wonder what's inside, or if they play along with a walking talking box with retractable arms! I shall be taking this further with new forms of restricted spaces, and different locations, so be sure to check back every so often!

Anyway, enough chat, time to show you the videos!

"Caution: Tiger Inside!"

"Knock Knock"

Getting Involved With Entrapment

Hello once again!

I am really happy with the video project "Caution: Tiger Inside!" and I am ready to take that concept to a new level! After jotting down some ideas and talking to one of my group tutors, Liz, I am hoping to go out into different locations and place one of my friends in a different restricted space, hoping to get a wider range of reactions from a wider audience.

Some of my ideas so far involve wrapping a person up in some sort of fabric, almost like a "mummy", and also sticking someone in a glass box (...well, more likely a plastic box!) Usually when people here the words "restricted" or "entrapment", they think of negative thoughts such as fear and tension, but I'm also going to use restriction/entrapment as a form of art that can bring a smile to the viewers face as they react and interact with the different projects. I have a couple of places in mind to do the projects, of course, the places will be safe!

I have found a few artists who made artwork that involve restricted space/entrapment such as Doug Johnston, AAK Forever, and Ernesto Neto. So here are some pictures of some of their work that inspired me recently:

Ernesto Neto

Doug Johnston

AAKK Forever

Ham Sandwiches & Correct Compostion

Good evening guys!

Today in L.S.A.D, we had a demonstration and a seminar, both of which were interesting and helpful.

Growling Stomachs Thanks to Semiotics.

The demonstration on Semiotics definitely made me the most hunger of all the lectures we have had so far! Patricia used many pictures of a typical ham sandwich to explain what words like semiotics and connotations meant. She helped us understand if the work which we are doing makes sense to yourself, and the viewers. Although, I must say, I also learned that there is not only your "Average Joe" sandwich, but there is also a "Posh" sandwich!

Is Composition Key to Our Work?

Short answer; yes! The seminar on composition definitely helped me think more about how I lay out different elements on a certain format. If the combined elements are not laid out in a certain way, it can be visually displeasing, and the entire piece can be let down dramatically, but of course, some rules can be broken! I now have a lot more artists to research thanks to this seminar, which will be very helpful towards my Contextual Notebook.

Picture Time!

My studio wall has gone through some changes. Some research pictures had to be removed, leaving room for improvement! Here are some photos: