This week was the beginning of the palimpsest brief. Books are my chosen material to work with as they relate to some of the ideas that I have to further develop this brief.
I started out this week by cutting into a few of the books with an Exacto knife to add dimension to the books. I also layered images from the books in and around them. This was to reduce waste and also to add another point of interest. I tried shading over CDs that had marks cut into them on different types of paper. However, I don’t enjoy the final feel and look of those tests so I will not be going in that direction.
With another one of my tests, I tried laying clear tape over some text that I found and pulling it back up so that it held that text on the tape. I then layered that over a clear piece of plastic and displayed it over top of some text with it hanging slightly out from the wall. I liked the final product of this test and may use it in the future. I had a ripped book idea with the pages all splayed out. In the end, it looked better in my head so I won’t be going in that direction.
My last piece is where I started using inks and a stamp. I quite like the look and idea of taking the ink from the page and using it myself. I think I may continue in this direction.
Week 1 top 3: Book cutting, Tape experiment, Playing with stamps and ink
Over the past couple of weeks I have been moving around images on my studio wall and this is a documentation of those changes.
Week 1 & 2
In the first couple of weeks I had displayed some of the photographs taken from the prior days. I learnt that I didn’t like using the small metal push pins as I could still see them. I also tried push pins with clear end and ended up disliking the look of those too. I also learnt about securing my work to the wall properly as after just a few day the images started to curl. I also learnt about different quality paper and different printers. The printer that I had at home was fine for samples and left the paper still with that natural look whilst the printer at AUT gave the image a shinier finish.
Week 3
Around this time I started to develop my work not only theoretically but also materially. I did a couple of test images on transfer paper to see how that turned out. Turns out when an image is printed on transfer paper and is already dark on the screen prior to printing, it will most likely be very hard to see through. I also experimented with the pin hole cameras and different exposers around this time.
Week 4, Final wall
My final work. Over the weekend I had started to figure out the layout of my images on a board in photoshop to give myself and those around me a better idea of the positioning of the images an how many I was going to print. Later in the week I had one of my negative pin holes converted to a positive, enlarged in size and printed not only on normal paper but also transfer paper. The transfer paper ended up being to short to print the full images however I was okay with it as you could now see some of the second layer underneath giving it a nice effect. I had added some leaves and other decor to the natural side of my work that tied in with the content of the images to give more 3D to the work. Some of the images in the natural side I decided to print on a gloss warehouse stationary printer to expand and discover another way of working.
The final idea: Nature and history. Two different things and yet they still relate to one another. The natural side of this is that it connects everything and everyone. Coming back even when it is cut down and sprayed. Discovering and repairing new ways to survive if you will. It surrounds us and our history which is what the other half of my work is about, uncovering that and focusing on it. The history in our architecture. New ways of thinking and still relating and yet still relating to the old.
Task: Have 6 object that have personal meaning to you, photograph them in different ways and write about them.
Object 1: Great Grandfathers Photographs
These are slides taken by my Great grandfather around the 1950’s. He was an art teacher and photographer. He gifted me a point and shoot camera for my 10th birthday, as he does all his grandchildren, which started me on a path towards my love for photography. These slides are not only valuable to me but also the rest of my family as they hold images from his life and others in my family. They are very fragile now as they are quite old. Some of them are hard to see through as they are quite dark or haven’t been framed properly.
Object 2: Obsidian from the shore of lake Taupo
These small stones are small, range in size and are easily lost. However they all have a smooth finish to them from being rolled around in the bottom of the lake by the waves. Although small these black shiny rocks have great importance to me as they come from lake Taupo. A place where many happy memories were made for me and where my grandparents live. Throughout my childhood I have spent a lot of time in this place walking along the beach, playing mini golf with my Cousins, and eating ice cream for breakfast (a weird tradition started by my Grandmother when she was looking after my older brother as a child).
Object 3: Pottery cat from when I was 7
A pottery cat, unusual and green. This was the cat that I made when I was 7. My grandmother had a kiln which she allowed all of her grandchildren and anyone who came around to play with clay and make things. For me this is the place where my creative side came out. From playing with clay to making entire houses that I could walk into to my first interaction with photography. This is the place where I found creativity.
Object 4: Souvenir coin with a map of New Zealand from the zoo
As a small child my brothers and I could barely agree on one thing, however there was one thing that we agreed on and that was our love for the Zoo. The different animals to see the ice cream to be had! Even though it is a controversial place now, it was one of the places where some of my best memories with my brothers came from. This small coin, that was probably wildly expensive for what it is, holds a lot more value for me in the memories. The ridges on the coin are distinguishable even when not looking at the piece. It is cool to the touch however heats up quickly when held in your hand for very long. It also leaves a weird metallic smell on your hands.
Object 5: Pounamu item holder
This is an important piece to me as it was one of the things left to me by my Aunt after she passed. She is an important part of my life as she was the reason my parents could afford to give me glasses when they found out my eyesight was so bad I couldn’t read. She loved to read and couldn’t stand the idea of me not being able to when there was a way to fix it. She is one of the reasons I love to read so much and has influenced me in other areas of my life even after her passing. This object is cool and smooth to the touch. Has a dark green colour with accents of extremely dark green.
Object 6: Shell collection
I think many of us can relate to having a small collection of something when we were younger whether that be rubbers, bottle caps or shells. My collection however, like most young ones in New Zealand, was shells. I was drawn to their vast range of shapes, colours and texture that’s had endless craft possibilities. This is just a sample of the collection that has grown over the years and continues to grow.
Task: To encounter your area of residence and the city as a detective. What might have occurred? What traces can you find of the occurrences?
During my city walk I found traces of construction with old flags wound around trees like polls. I also found small traces of everyday life such as the bicycles or the sun going down and casting long shadows.
Around my neighbourhood I found a lot of construction and the debris left behind by the construction work. A lot of what was once there, now replaced by something completely diffrent. However we can still see that the old life will return like the moss on the brick. To improve this work I might consider diffrent angles, using a tripod or inverting the image.
When I think of my work and what I am inspired by, that gives me fuel to create two names that come to mind Alan Schaller and Eugene Atget. I am very familiar with the work from Alan Schaller as he was one of many that I studied in high school. However, I am less familiar with the work of Eugene Atget. I only was enlightened to this artist recently but have been drawn to his work, the history of the documentation of Paris, the use of negative glass plates. That is something that isn’t very familiar to me and yet somehow, I am intrigued. That as well as the architecture, the familiar and comforting lines that seem to be there no matter the time period. The intricate arches and walkways that every time you looked at them you would notice something different. Alan Schaller’s work is similar in the lines of consistency that I find so reassuring. I find the images peaceful yet airy. Something to be said and yet nothing at all.
Alan has been a big influence on my take on the camera and somehow my life. I see the world differently. Leading lines everywhere and beauty in everything no matter how barren. I hope to learn more from Eugene. The details of their work and maybe using a glass plate? I’m quite open to the possibility of anything.
Exhibition: Metropolis A series examining how we are dwarfed in the modern world around us and often lost in it. 2019. Year 13 work inspired by Metropolis
For this exercise we had to use Resene paint tins as pin holes cameras that mirrored a Camera Obscura. We had find the correct expose for our tins as each was slightly diffrent and the length of the expose would change with the weather.
One of my classmates had a brilliant idea to use the selfie function on our phones to line up the shot and to see what the pinhole was seeing without taking the image yet. However I still need some work at this. I also would like to work on achieving a clearer shot with bushes and trees more defined rather than light patches.
Task: To take a walk and shift your body’s position and to take photographs and note of the things found.
I found with this exercise that I was able to find odd patterns and interesting images that I wouldn’t have found if I were to look at an object as that and nothing more. However I felt as though when I did this exercise I was able to find beauty in the weird and diffrent.
The differences that I found between the city and around my neighbourhood was that in the city I was finding consistent lines and repetition. However in the suburbs it was more of everyday curiosities. To further improve this work I would further develop these ideas found. Why is the city so ridged? What does that environment have on its in habitants?
Task: To take a walk discover new areas. Letting a coin decide the path chosen by flipping it every time we had to make a decision and looking at the world from diffrent angles recovering knowledge of the space.
Sadly these are not the best quality however this pushed me to look at the world in a diffrent way. I was generally familiar with the area so it would be an interesting to do in a completely new space. Something that I would probably do differently however might be playing around with diffrent filters to see how that effects the tone and context of the image.
Today we were also tasked with walking a typical route in our lives and to look at it from new and interesting angles.
This exercise push me to see the area which I am already so familiar with in a diffrent light and produce interesting result that otherwise I would not have thought of.
When I first started this course I was surprised that we were sculpting. Personally I thought that it would be more 2D focused on a subject like photography or videography. However I was also pleasantly surprised on how much I enjoyed sculpting and working with physical materials rather that just virtual ones.
Sculpting allowed me to evolve some pre existing skills as well as develop new ones. It also allowed changes in my way of thinking. As I was so used to working on a computer all day it allowed diffrent ideas and being able to come on from all angles rather than just face value it allowed diffrent interpretation and ideas. It also allowed room for problem solving. As the first thing I tried with plaster was to pour it into a sewn shape, however it was two runny. Later however I noticed that the plaster went through diffrent stages and I could use that to my advantage. Instead of pouring the plaster straight away I could wait until the consistency changes and to solidify a bit and then pour it in.
Looking back now I wish that I had more time to develop a few of my sculptures further however this experience has given me more ideas and experience to take with me into further projects.
Prompt: Introducing materials that have density and mass. Introduce Plaster and Cement forms into your planar and linear constructions by developing new works.
I started this process by using fabric and draping with plaster and dipping into the plaster. However I used some of the card that I previously scored and filled it with plaster. The outcome was a plaster sculpture with satisfying clean walls.
Practice sculpture
From then I continued down this path using scored card as a mould for the plaster and introducing different materials to see how it changed the sculpture.
Developed Sculpture 1
This sculpture would have to be one of my favourites. Sadly the photograph could have been taken better. However the screws are a nice connecting tool as it becomes part of the sculpture. Rather than trying to hid the fact that they are there, they are bold and distinct and bring a different aspect to it of strength. I also rather like the plastic as it holds the plaster portion of the sculpture up on an odd angle and is there but not really there. It is part of the sculpture and adds texture whilst not taking anything away from the rest of the sculpture.
Developed Sculpture 2
This sculpture is my least favourite and leaves a lot to be desired. Looking back on it now I know what would do differently. For example I would add some more wire. perhaps winding its way around the sculpture and joining the together. I would possibly use a different type of metal. Maybe one with rust or flat and shiny.
Developed Sculpture 3
For this sculpture I continued on this the card mould and decided to introduce some of the materials used in past sculptures. The plastic adds nice clean lines on the side that wasn’t pressed against the card and as consequence has a rougher surface however the plastic makes up for that. It also relates well to the card and the display that it sits on quite nicely as the gives of then card are replicated in the plastic.
Finished Product
I decided to use a nice black cloth to make the card contrast and stand out nicely. The card was also chosen for the stands and display as it was the card that inspired this piece of work and you can still see reminisce of the card on the works if you look closely. It also adds texture and interest to the surroundings of the sculptures rather than just being placed in the middle of a table.
