Survey!!

As part of my dissertation I am conducting a survey based on how we view certain objects. I would be extremely grateful if you took the time to fill it out. Thank you!!

https://risn.typeform.com/to/DsVJCx

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.

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

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

Inspiration of the Week - Sally Mankus

Sally Mankus is an American artist who works in many different mediums, what I'm going to look at how she deals with mark making from found objects.

I am interested in this artist's work because I am also wanting to explore the marks we leave behind and I also wanted to look into using found objects in my work.

This artist's work is really interesting to me as I think that she has combined these two ideas, found objects and mark making, really well.

I like the idea of combining the ideas of putting my own marks on the marks those that have left before me and I think there is a good chance that this'll illustrate my point quite well.

NB - all photographs here have been taken from the artist's site:

http://www.sallymankus.com/index.html
http://www.sallymankus.com/mixed-media.html

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


Until next time
byyyyyyyyyyyeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Róisín -x

Inspiration of the Week - Christian Boltanski

Christian Boltanski is a French artist who normally makes installation using found objects.

I really like this artist's work as I think the invite the viewer to think about ideas of remembrance and memory.

I also like the style of these installations as I have always like light installations as I think that they can add another dimension to the work and can give them more feeling and make them more poignant. 

In my work I am planning on dealing with topics of memory and remembrance and it's good for me to see an installation artist that also looks into these themes. 

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

http://www.artnet.com/artists/christian-boltanski/

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


Until next time
byyyyyyyyyyyeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Róisín -x

More Walks!

So this week I got some feedback on my work and also managed to go for a couple of walks.

The first walk I did was my so called 'Drifting walk'. In this I had premade up some instructions like "turn left" and "at broken wall or fence" and I took out a random pair and followed the instructions. I think this was a good initial drift walk to do as it gave me a basic gist on what to expect if I was to do this again. I really enjoyed this walk as I ventured into places I had never been before, although I think I could be better off getting a compass and then using instructions like "go north" as sometimes there wasn't a left or right to go down.

The next walk I did was where I left phrases from my survey that I did and left them in places around the route I took around Stenhousemuir.

Seeing as I have an interview at Glasgow City College tomorrow, I asked my mentor to look through my sketchbooks at the start of the week. In this he suggested I further an experiment I did way back at the start of this project with involved pining string on a pin board to follow some sort of route. So I did an experiment with this to work out how I could pin my map route onto the board. I went up town to get a few things on Friday so I bought a couple more boards to try and see how they look and I am planning on trying to mount them in frames.

This also gave me an idea on another display methods by having holes in paper and having light shine through so that is shows light on the wall.

So this week one of our lecturers suggested that we swap each others sketchbooks in class and give each other some feedback. I thought this was a really good idea and think that it worked well, and was extremely helpful to me. The two main points for me was to try and focus down my ideas for this project, which I think I am starting to do, and also maybe label my sketchbooks and try and show where the idea originates in my research file. After getting this feedback this is what I'm focusing on at this very moment so I can get everything organised for the examiners on Thursday D:  So far I've labelled and numbered the files in the research folder and have added a contents page so it's easier to navigate, and I am going to go back through my sketchbook and add notes on what page they should look at in the file if they want more information.

I also did some more experiments with taking catalogue pictures by trying to take advantage of daylight and using a tripod and no zoom or flash. I think what might be better for me would be to take these photos in college as the studios have off-white desks and plenty of light.

So that's all I have for you this week, I'm hoping to try and find time next week to do a walk leaving diary notes and also leaving a premade ogham mark, however next week is looking pretty busy, seeing as I have an interview, Frankie Boyle Live, the examiners coming in and babysitting duties.

Busy, busy, busy, busy, busy, busy, busy, busy, busy, busy, busy, busy.

anyways...

byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Róisín -x