On: Ideas Factory Model
We created a miniature scale model of the gallery installation piece. The meshes were formed from knitted string, woven wire, and strung plastic tubing. The variety in material is what excites me the most in our final outcome. I think that this was a successful way to present ideas, because it is more interactive than a drawing. For something that is so large in scale in actuality, this is something that is more tangible and possible to create.
Final Film for Ideas Factory
On: Obscure
Obscuring is quite an abstract process in and of itself, so it takes many forms with a creative practice. It can be taken as to hide or conceal or to make unclear. Where a bag obscures its contents, a pixilated image is also obscure. I think that this process is an easier process to work, purely because of its open-ended nature. There are no specific tools required, but there may be certain techniques that are practiced. For example, using Photoshop to digitally manipulate an image by blurring or pixilating it or using a projector to splay a looping video in a gallery space would require a certain skillset. The highly open nature of this process lends itself well to being using by design practitioners and artists.
Books Referenced:
Artworks: The Progressive Collection
Video Art by Michael Rush
Electronic Superhighway: From Experiments in Art and Technology to Art After the Internet
Ian Carr-Harris: '231 Queens Quay West' (1998) / electronically controlled light projections on continuous cycle
On: Film Test
I played around with split-screening and juxtaposing contrasting clips, which will be the film for our final outcome. This idea was inspired by the contrast, yet similarity, between religion and anti-religion. This is apparent in the ideas of soft and hard that we want to convey to the viewer. These were iPhone clips we took, and I would like to reshoot them on a higher quality DSLR. Projecting this onto layers of mesh would create the obscurity that we want.
Film Test: Splitscreen
On: 'Three Landscapes'
I researched split-screen imaging in film and wanted to explore different methods of display after viewing the 'Duplicate' exhibit. This was Lichtenstein's only film and I like the subtle movement of the landscapes. They are shown on three side-by-side screens and play on his dot motif as well as photo-imaging.
On: Hard vs Soft
In our research at the CSM library, we looked for books that referenced religion and anti-religion. Olly came across a book on the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club, and I found a Time magazine archive with issues on the world's religion. The main idea that we got out of looking at the images was how different these two cultures appear to be, but in reality they are very similar. The hard versus the soft is the contrast that want to focus on after seeing these photographs.
On: Kirsty Whitlock
I stumbled on Kirty Whitlock who is an embroidery artist that uses found objects as a basis for embroidery. Her work takes the shape of many mediums, primarily recycled and reclaimed materials, to show the throwaways of consumerism. The most interesting aspect of her work for me is the nontraditional forms they take, rather than purely used for garment design or textile work. This led me to think of other possibilities for my embroidery concept, rather than just for a product design. I also love the loose threads on her 'Barcode' piece, which I think could translate well for our textile sample.
On: Andres Serrano
I immediately went to Andres Serrano as a reference for religious art in regards to polytheism. His 'Piss Christ' is arguably one of the most well-known, controversial, and self-proclaimed "shock-art" pieces that delves into religion. As a Christian artist, Serrano is not polytheistic, but I think it's important to look into art that has a religious emphasis.
He says about his piece, "The only message is that I’m a Christian artist making a religious work of art based on my relationship with Christ and The Church. The crucifix is a symbol that has lost its true meaning; the horror of what occurred. It represents the crucifixion of a man who was tortured, humiliated and left to die on a cross for several hours. In that time, Christ not only bled to dead, he probably saw all his bodily functions and fluids come out of him."
On: Tube Maps
The tube map was an initial concept we had, as London is a multicultural city with many religions. I think that this idea is strong visually because the map reflects the image of mesh. Mesh as a verb also means the interlocking of items.
On: Mesh
Mesh can take many forms and is made out of an array of fibers. Mesh in garment design is often made from nylon, but can also be used in a construction setting when made in metal. And as such, it ranges from being soft to being more rigid. It is very malleable as textile to create a softer item, such as lingerie, and is rather fragile in feel. When made in metal, it can be used as sheeting for buildings. The variety of fibers and sizes of mesh make it versatile and offer high potential for design.
Books Referenced:
Electronic Superhighway: From Experiments in Art and Technology to Art After the Internet
Three-Dimensional Embroidery by Janet Edmonds
Techno Textiles 2: Revolutionary Fabrics for Fashion and Design by Sarah E. Braddock Clarke and Marie O'Mahony
Threshold
Janet Edmonds: Fine wire was machine stitched into an open, lacy mesh and used to surround the inner sphere
Tennis rackets equipped with electronic components by Bill Kaminsky and Jim McGee for Robert Rauschenberg's performance 'Open Score' (1996)
On: 'Duplicate' Exhibit
Our group headed over to the Chalton Gallery to view a small exhibition by local artist Byzantia Harlow. The exhibit was titled 'Duplicate' and consisted of a multimedia installation work and a film projection. The latter was the piece that really piqued my imagination. The film was split-screen with dual display images and was projected onto metal. The visual imagery was gorgeous on the film and I particularly liked the score and hand gesture movements.
'Duplicate': Audio Recording
On: 'Martyrs'
'Martyrs' is a film work by Bill Viola and Kira Perovin that opened in 2014 at St Paul's Cathedral. Lasting 7 minutes, the piece displays vignettes of four individuals being martyred by the four classical elements, namely earth, air, fire, and water. I think that the juxtaposition of putting modern art in an ancient cathedral is of great interest.
Bill Viola says of the piece, "In their most violent assault, the elements represent the darkest hour of the martyr’s passage through death into the light." The Reverend Canon Mark Oakley of St Pauls also commented, "Good art, like good religion, questions our answers more than answering our questions and with a form and language that resist cheap paraphrase."
I think that martyrs is a route that I need to explore more with my research. I'm finding that polytheism is not inspiring as a whole, so finding ways in is key to my mode of working. An idea that sprouted would be to create a mesh building material that would seek to break barriers between different religious institutions could be a possibility.
Visiting St Paul's I think would be of great help. Even using it as a platform to sketch and get inspired would be fantastic. The Tate Modern hosts a tour on different design materials which would be very useful. If we wanted to go into product design, the Design Museum would be very useful.
'Martyrs': Bill Viola
On: Embroidery Techniques
Some of the embroidery stitches that I reference here are the backstitch, split stitch, the French knot. As our work with embroidery would have to be done my hand, if executed, I wanted to look at different stitch types. I really like the aesthetic appearance of the split stitch, especially because the threads appear to link and mesh together, which ties back to our initial concept. But it would not be practical for a short-term sample project; instead, I think that using the backstitch is the best potential option. French knots create absorbing patterns, and I see a clear visual link between them and the tube stops on the map.
On: Ai Weiwei
I have always found Ai Weiwei a fascinating figure because of the political/religious associations in his work as well as the visual impact. His piece 'Remembering' sparked some ideas for the final outcome. The 9,000 backpacks each represent one student who lost their life during a 2008 earthquake in Sichuan due to poor construction.
A backpack obscures its contents, which brings in the process part of the brief. I like the idea of doing a product design, rather than a performance piece or otherwise because I think that mesh lends itself well to such a design form. I love the idea of embroidering a tube map or some other visual over a number of products that when put together form a complete image.
I think that the sheer number of items present in his work is something really inspiring my process, because there are no physical limitations with this proposal. An additional research item I found is that roughly 4,200 religions have existed and with Hindu (a polytheistic religion) there are 330 million goddesses and gods.