Last steps of research

It's the last week of research - yaaaay! I'll most likely do bits and pieces of research throughout as I start to formulate ideas along the way.

This week I was looking specifically into my local area for statistics so I could plan out where I could go. I think I've decided on one area being one of the more "deprived areas"  I just need to think of what would be a more wealthy area and an area of average income etc. I've been able to get a lot of information from the Falkirk census site which I've been printing pages from for my logbook.

Here are some of the images I took from the "Case study" I looked at last week:

The reason that I'm planning on doing these is to get a general idea of what sort of things I will find in certain area - this example being woods next to estates and schools etc. 

So the plan for next week is to begin getting my ideas in order and applying all the research I've been gathering. This is also the same week that I'll finally be able to go into my sketchbook. A couple of things that I have planned are to go to the Smith Gallery in Stirling for some inspiration and also do another case study near my house.

Until next time-
Róisín -x

Researching

So yeah as I warned you last week - I'm still researching, not the most fun part of the process but it's how I work and needs to be done. I like having a bulk of knowledge to fall back on and it seems even more necessary this time around than it has in the past so I'm really trying to focus and keep everything organised.

Speaking of organisation - look at my new and improved, colour coded folder! So fancyyyyy.

So what have I been looking at?

I have three artists in my folder right now, Mark Dion for his methods and practise, Grayson Perry for his TV programme and tapestries focused on the different classes in Britain and Eric Fischer who I found by accident when looking a different types of maps.
I've also been looking into different ways to display data, types of maps and infographics.

Also during the week I went for a walk as I am thinking of maybe doing preparation "case studies" in certain areas to try and get an idea of what kind of things I will find.

To some up I'm on track, I'm researching, and next weeks post is gonna be pretty similar, after that one though I'll hopefully have some more stuff to show. This week I'm planning on evaluating on the stuff I've been reading and also getting some statistics and such to try and help me decide on where I will be focusing on.

So that's all I have for you just now,

Until next time

Róisín - x

I'm Back!!

So yeah summer's hard to be consistent - sorry.

Annnnnyway I'm going to blog (hopefully) every weekday - I'm planning on Mondays but I'm not promising anything.

So what have I been doing so far?

Currently I'm on week 5 in my timetable which means I should have finished the basic research into my concept and starting to gather some visual research. Which I've sorta done - I would have liked to have gotten some evaluation in but, well, there was a lot of stuff I had to print off and apparently that takes up a lot more time than I was anticipating. I'm still on track though because I do have a bunch of stuff that I can get my teeth into.

So this is the boring research stage with not much to report on or pictures to post cause I'm not really able to go into my sketchbook just yet and need to stick to research and get a good idea on my topic.

And it's at this point in the post I realise I haven't actually mentioned what I want to do - great start me.


What's my topic?

After really enjoying what I did in my degree show I wanted to continue on with using found objects in my artwork except this time develop the idea of how these objects reflect the people that left them and offer a bigger reflection on the area as a whole. I think I'm going to focus on how they can reflect the areas class as this would give me a good starting point for my dissertation.



So yeah that's all I can really say right now (next weeks post may have a similar theme to tell ya the truth)

until next time :)

Róisín -x

Inspiration of the Week - Cathy Wilkes

In Cathy Wilkes she creates installations using found objects and also includes some of her own paintings. 

I really like Wilkes work as I think that her pieces create an interesting - and to me quite eerie, unsettling and sinister - atmosphere. Placing these human like figures amongst these objects creates a whole situation and scenario within the space these objects occupy.

What I like most about this work is that the viewer is allowed to impose their own story onto the installation and create a sort of dialogue between the "characters".

Part of what I think makes this piece interesting in particular is the use of the hanging sheets. These are reminiscent of an washing line giving the sense of home life an comfort. The patterns on these sheets also remind me of wallpaper furthering this feeling. 

However even though they give a sense of comfort and protection, it also acts as a barrier, blocking the audience's view on the installation. They seem to be trying to hide what is happening behind them, with what is going on behind them appearing to be somewhat dark and potentially depressing. 

In my work I have used found objects to tell some sort of story or dialogue behind the objects, however I have never really used them to tell a whole separate story. 

In all I like these installations and I like the artists ability to tell a story but not reveal all to the audience but allow them to make it up for themselves with the objects presented.

NB - all photographs here have been taken from this site:

https://www.themoderninstitute.com/artists/cathy-wilkes

I do not own any of the pictures on this post.

Inspiration of the Week - Joseph Cornell

The work that Joseph Cornell does that I am most interested in is his box art assemblages. These are made up of objects like bric a brac, old toys and other obscure objects.

What I like about these assemblages is that because these objects are usually quite old which means that they tell an interesting story.

What I found the most interesting about my project last year was how collections of objects begin to form a narrative and then form a representation of the people that live in these areas.

I also think that this is an interesting method of displayed as instead of being in the outside world and being interacted with, which is what most of the objects would have been designed to be, they are contained and placed within boundaries for people to observe, almost like a museum piece.  

I think that the main influence that these pieces of work will have on my work in future will be how to think differently about how to display and arrange these objects in space.

NB - all photographs here have been taken from this site:

https://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/cornell/

I do not own any of the pictures on this post.

And the consistent blogging begins

So my plan is to update every week from now on, I'm trying to be more organised and consistent throughout all of my social media type accounts to give me at least some sort of online presence. I have started to update my instagram more regularly now and seem to be in a bit of a routine with it now.

Summer has been far more busy than I had anticipated. I've barely had a moment to myself since I started college, and even when I didn't have anything on - I still had to redo my room and gut out three years worth of crap.

However a couple of weeks ago I did help out at a summer school ran by my college. This was an amazing experience and has given me a great boost in my confidence in my abilities. It also helped me to fully establish that this type of work is something that I definitely want to do in the future.

I've also began doing some basic research into what I want to do for fourth year but this hasn't really fully taken off and I've just been doing bits and pieces (although I did buy a lever arch folder and dividers so I feel more prepared). I'm hoping to really get started with this over the next couple of weeks so I have more of a fully flourished idea of what I want to do by the time I start uni.

In terms of practical work I haven't done much, it's really only been a couple of drawings. One of which is a tattoo design I'm thinking about and another was mostly for fun/ am planning on trying out a cyanotype material piece with.

So that's all I have for the past few weeks, 

byyyyyyyyyyyyyeeeeeeeeee

Róisín -x

Photos from walks

For my exhibition i created a photobook made up of photos from my walks

Here is a link to my flickr album so you can view the photos :)

https://flic.kr/s/aHskB4KXn7

Catalogue Book

So as a part of my exhibition I created a catalogue of all my found objects for people to look through.

Here is a link to my Flickr album for you to look through :)

https://flic.kr/s/aHskDZyUrW

Inspiration of the Week - Mark Dion

I was particularly interested in Mark Dion's work for my final project last year as I was also dealing with collecting and displaying objects, some from the environment. I am planning on following a similar path for my honours years project so I thought I would look a bit further into him.

Mostly I am interested in his sculpture and installation work as this is my art practise and the art that I mostly enjoy.

In his work he works with the ideas of anthropology and science and applies it to a creative and artistic outlet. I find the way he displays these works in a laboratory like environment as I find that this is creative way to get the audience interested in the objects and the works.

In his work he generates interest in environmental topics and the history of the natural world which encourages the viewer to investigate more.

Though I'm not going to steer my work towards the path of looking at environmental issues, I am still going to use Mark Dion as a great creative influence in the terms of display and conceptual ideas.

NB - all photographs here have been taken from this site:

http://www.tanyabonakdargallery.com/artists/mark-dion/series-sculpture-and-installation

I do not own any of the pictures on this post.

The Final Exhibition

I'm now going to update on how my degree show exhibition went (finally).

Well first things first I was super happy with how it turned out, I put a lot of work into planning what I would do then tidying the state that the store cupboard was in, which was soon to be my exhibition space. It was really great to see all that work, stress and pain materialise into something that I could really be proud of and was more than I had planned it to be.

So what was my exhibition? 

For my walks I had decided to go with my marks swap idea and then put the objects I had collected on display which would be the bulk of my exhibition piece. I documented this process through photography which was then displayed in a photobook. Another book I had on display was a catalogue of every object I had collected for the project, including objects from my investigatory and test walks which were stored in a filing cabinet that people could look through also. 

Also on display were all my sketchbooks that I had used for the projects, my laptop showing the photos I had take and videos I had shot, and I also collected smaller things to put into test tubes and petri-dishes to show elements of the environment which the objects were taken from.

I displayed the routes I had taken for my main swap series by pinning embroidery thread onto corkboards in different colours to give the space more movement and add something else for the audience to look at. I also used this to give the piece more of a feel that this project was an investigation.

Using the windows as a whiteboard, I also drew on some of my routes and illustrated where I found some of the items and other important parts of the landscape.

The audience were also able to view large prints from some of my walks on the wall and also smaller photos on display on the shelf in the cupboard. 

Here's a link to the flickr album in which all photos from this exhibition can be found :)

https://flic.kr/s/aHskB47Ah5

I couldn't be happier with how my degree show went and my grade also reflected the work that I had put into this project. I hope to continue with this theme next year for my honours project and I hope next year is just as successful, 

so until next time,

byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyeeeee

Róisín -x

Its been a while...

So I sort of abandoned this around Easter time I think because college work was piling on and I had to sort out my priorities and unfortunately I had to put this blog aside. However I am planning on updating this at least throughout my honours year and maybe even further.

Over the next few weeks I'm going to post updates on how my final exhibition turned out and what I'm currently working on for y next year. I'm also going to continue with my artist research that i started for my final project so stay tuned for that.

So I will see you around this was just a quick update to get me back on track :)

byyyyyyyyyyyye

Róisín --x

First week back!

So it's time to get back into the swing of things!

So the second half of the Easter break wasn't really great for me because my dog got quite ill and then she had to be put to sleep. My motivation wasn't at a high so I never got much college work done. However I think I was needing a break as I had kind of lost focus and enthusiasm for my project however a bit of breathing space from it has made it a bit fresher in my head and I'm ready to throw myself back into it.

I started the week of by organising my work and photos etc. and I've also planned ahead when I'm going on my walks and organising my reports, and I'm also trying to get back into posting on Instagram.

I've managed to stay on track for my walks so far

During the two hour break we have I walked alongside the River and swapped marks. This was a test using a remainder of the marks I had made up for my last walk as I didn't find enough during that walk. However this one was a different story as I managed to find quite a lot.

Also branched a tiny bit further from home in my second walk of the week and went alongside the river Carron but a different way than I normally go. It was a beautiful day and a really successful walk.

I did a couple of drift walks, and I have now began my main mark swap walks.

I've also been continuing on with taking and editing photos of my objects for my catalogue idea.

So that's all I've got right now, I hoping this week to start buying furniture and go on more walks and that way I can start putting together my exhibition. 

byyyyyyyyyyeeee

Róisín -x