Project Evaluation

My aim throughout this project was to form a body of works that would form a narratological journey of the concept concerning time and space. The multi- disciplinary approach of my practice has allowed me to explore the perception of time in a variety of ways, with film, photography, sound and drawing.

The work is perceptive of the idea that time and space are in a state of constant confusion and therefore become interchangeable terms. This is reflected through the contrasting approaches in creating works reflective of time’s fluidity and notion of movement and in contrast, its ability to become completely static; forming a casting of the moment.

Throughout the project, my research has directed me to discover artists and philosophical thinkers such as Katie Patterson, Cathy Rogers and Simon Starling, all whose practices concern the narrative of time. One main point of reference within this project has been the text ‘Still Being’, a discussion between Antony Gormley and Michael Newman, within which the fleeting notion of time is explored.

I have found that the process in carrying out my own curatorial projects a very useful practice, it has altered my way of thinking in terms of forming installations, planning the space and imagining how each element would potentially become a realised exhibition. Through the process of forming collections of pieces as a display that works aesthetically and portrays fluidity in the placement of each element.

The ideas I have concerning the work I intend to present for the degree show involve three of the elements I think have worked most successfully within my practice. The three elements consist of image projection, sound audio and drawing. My idea is to create an installation within which the audience becomes immersed in an individual audio-visual experience, the drawing would be of a scale that it would stretch across the space and when combined with the sound element would create a juxtaposing piece combining the figurative and the abstract. Central to the piece is the enquiry into the way space and time are felt and experienced.

The thoughts I have for future intentions would be to continue the development of my portfolio, and exploring further each of the elements of my practice, in particular the sound audio element as music and the use of sound has always had such an interest in and I believe this could be the next stage in the development of my practice. Also considering the possibility of approaching artists and artist collective groups as my practice has very much a multi-disciplinary way of functioning. I also intend to develop my curatorial skills further and would very much like to apply for Postgraduate courses that would accommodate my interest in Curation work or Museum and Gallery services.

 

Degree Show

Stretching Temporal Time and Distance

 

Initially my thoughts for the type of work to display within the degree show were to include elements of my ideas for the Vertical Gallery installation, however the thoughts I had for the Vertical Gallery `

were more a development in terms of scale as the allocated spaces were of a much bigger size, and the ideas were not enough of a progression of my concept.

My more recent plans for the work I intend to exhibit in the show consist of three integrating elements; image projection, drawing and sound audio.

Having tested each element, I think that when all gathered they work towards the generation of a narrative, which emerges when all components coexist. Developing an exploration of drawing reflecting the tactile and the space itself. Through the collaboration of the static image and of the sound audio, the idea is to obtain both a performance of suggested movement and also a participatory process and experience.

From having discussed which of the available spaces would portray the work most successfully, it was suggested an outer wall space would be best suited. The drawing I intend on creating will consist of a repeat made through layers of white 8mm film reel, half of the drawing would reveal the glossy side of the film and the other would be matte. The idea is that when the image is projected onto the film one-half will be reflective of the light and the other will hold the projection of the image.

Website and Portfolio

Reflecting upon feedback from a recent tutorial and thinking about the best way in which to present myself and my practice. Thinking about the arrangement of an artist portfolio, and how best to present my body of drawing work. Originally I over compensated in terms of scale in order to accommodate the bigger A1 drawings, however having since thought that the placement of the majority of drawing work was surrounded by a mass of white space on the page, this I think could confuse the viewer as to why the drawing has been placed within the contents of a framed page and it would perhaps distract them form that actual detailing within the image. I therefore scaled my portfolio pages down to a size A2 and I now think they present the work I the clearest way.

I have created an Artist Website, as my work is spread across mediums I wanted to show each element of this. This is what I would direct anyone wanting to see the body of work as an online gallery or portfolio.

Temporal Waves

Audio- Visual

 

My inspiration for the audio sound piece became an integration of ideas from the original source of figurative imagery of the seascapes. As a keen musician I have always had the intention to merge my ideas of art and sound and many of the imagery formed through the drawing seemed to reflect themes of data and scores.

Using the seascape environment as my main point of reference I set out recording live sounds of the sea waves. One particular piece of music I was drawn to using for this project was a piano composition called 'Le Onde' which translates to 'The Waves' written by Ludvico Enaudi. This is a very familiar piece for me and has such a fluid quality with emphasis on the use of legato. I began recording myself playing the piece with the intention of using particular arpegiated sequences within the piece to merge with the sea recordings. Listening back to the sounds merged together, it reflected too much an emphasis upon the figurative element and was also too direct a link to the actual piano piece.

I then added effects such as reverb and compression, although doing this made the piece appear too digital and detached from the original source.

When I made some adjustments to the sea sounds by softening the pitch it created a more delicate sound and also added a more atmospheric effect suggestive of space in the sound. This I then layered with the ‘Le Onde’ piece however this time I reversed to sound wave of the piano recording, by doing this it completely altered the narrative of the piece. It had become an abstraction of the original figurative elements, now suggesting an idea of atmospheric space, repetition and fluidity with an solitary quality. Allowing the listener to place themselves within a different time in the scape.

Having researched the work of Katie Patterson and her piece Earth-Moon-Earth, within which she sent Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata I the form of radio transmission to the moon and back, with the moon reflecting only parts of the score back.

 

 

Casting Time

I have further explored the use of three dimensional making within this unit. With each film reel I have had processed I started to make castings from the empty canisters. Using resins and plaster, representative of a full stop in time. I entrapped some sea water from the beaches I had photographed; the idea was to seal the moveable form inside a static object. I have always found photographing my more minimal pieces of work rather difficult in the past and so I have often used the daylight studio, I found that it had a much more and white casting of shadows, which is something I like to depict within my photography. 

From looking at the work of Edmund de Waal, I was interested in his use of minimal objects and he arrangement of the pieces, each a series of collective pieces, this is something I have portrayed within my own displays of the canister pieces.

Thinking about the objects as relics of time, and ways of archiving them. I think they would be suited to be exhibited within gallery and museum environments as they have such an unusual quality in terms of representing time in both a figurative and abstract way.

Curating Space

Having gained further knowledge considering the curatorial aspects of installing collective works, I decided to apply this to my own practice. I found this an especially useful tool in terms of considering which pieces worked most successfully as an exhibition of collective pieces, and which pieces worked best as an art installation.
I have regularly used a minimal space within the university to practice the installations of the work, keeping a documentation of curation. Each time when having produced a new series of work to then bring together a select grouping to document. This has been a useful routine, and has allowed me to view my work and see its potential in a variety of ways. Also bringing a fresh and new way to how the perception of the work can become very versatile.
Having recently visited Lorna Simpson’s exhibition at the Baltic Art Gallery, it encouraged me to think more about the placement of the work in order for the narrative within the work to have clarity. Her practice is too multi-disciplinary and she works with text and image but also photography, film and drawing, all of which coexist as a collective archive using photography as the catalyst for each piece. In a similar way I use photography as a catalyst but also as a way of developing my drawing and three dimensional pieces into a progression of abstraction.

Found Photography

As part of my research into the notion of time, I set out to find unprocessed 35mm films and form a documentation of time lost, and the process of developing the film would cast the image in a new space and time. I started taking a unprocessed film each week to be processed, it wasn't until the third film was developed that I uncovered and trace of an image.
From having now continued to collect a body of found images I thought the best way of presenting them would be to from a series of zines, in the style of a photo album, without binding the pages so each page is representative of a photograph from an album. I would like to approach places like Magma and other independently run events such as zine fairs, and present these as a small volume of work concerning still time and found photography.