‘Bird flu is the new oil spill’

Week 1

After reflecting back on last semesters work I decided to continue with the work I did for the landscape module as this had worked successfully which after lots of contemplation I realised was due to the fact that I was pulling my information more from fact then from my imagination.

I realised that the performance art/photography and gestural mark making had worked well but I thought about the subject matter and how the dying birds became part of the ground and part of the soil and that it made sense to connect that to clay.Talking to the claywork technician we discussed the contamination side of the project and how clay had to be separated so that it didn’t contaminated each other and about the cleaning process.We also talked about how due to my dermatitis (a condition I have had for the last few years which has put me off using clay)would mean I would have to wear gloves which linked in with the contamination aspect aswell.So I decided to film myself with the gloves on making the clay figures.

Inspiration

Daniel Silver

I started off wanting to make a gnarly looking seed which could be filled with oil but which would also leak oil thus representing life and yet destruction.But as I started the process I found myself somehow creating vessel like creatures.Strong and hench which I felt was inspired by Daniel Silvers creatures that I had viewed in his exhibition during the summer.I personally liked how each piece had it’s own characteristics whether it had facial features or not.I feel that the one piece that didn’t have facial features was the most sucessful of them all.

Photoshop

I decided to experiment with adding my gestural work to my performance work.I fel that it was sucessful in expressesing the movement of the wings.

INSPIRATION

Idris Khan

Reflection.

Upon reflection I feel that the first week back was really sucessful.I felt fully charged from having spent the previous week in Berlin and Amsterdamn and having viewed work from the KW art institute and the Contemporary Fine Arts Collection.Claywork really helped kick the process off giving way to lots more ideas.I can’t wait to glaze them in two weeks time and pour oil through them.I sent a few pictures to friends and asked for words that came to them when they saw them and ‘corruption’ ‘power’ and ‘greed’ were some of the words which enabled me to know that i as on the right track.It will be interesting to see how the works also evolve when they are glazed.

WEEK 2

Gestural Mark making

Experimental mark making using watered down oily mud found from the beach mixed with black watered down acylic.The black and brown representing Oil before and after it is photo oxidised by the sun.I felt that this piece was particulary effective at highlighting the issue and also my emotions of anger felt towards it with the splatter and explosions of the ink and mud had quite a rebellious ‘punk’ feel to it.

‘The birds’

All three pieces were made using a bamboo stick dipped in the muddy oil,the skeleton of a bird beak and a piece of rock found on the beach for the parts where the bird has been killed in a ‘Mercy killing’ which was the case of some birds i found in Orkney. Altho I like these pieces asthetically I think that they are to gentle and almost ‘poetic’ aswell as literal.I discussed this with a tutor and he said that there was nothing wrong with the work being ‘poetic’ and that the point can still be expressed and maybe to use words as a sideline to co-incide with the destress that the bird feels.

Jerry Springers ‘final thought’

This week was a very productive one,due to most of the studio being away in Berlin I was able to use most of the floor space to do lots of messy markmaking/gestural work which really got me into the swing of things because the main thing is to get into the motion of the swing of things and get the ball rolling of the thought process becomes stagment.I feel that this weeks work was sucessful in expressing my thought pattern but especially the poured paint/expressive mark making in expressing the problem mixed with my anger over the issue.

WEEK 3

Bird bones found on the beach in Orkney (I proberly shouldn’t of collected them due to bird flu but I haven’t died yet so should be fine) Created this sculpture from them to represent the unnatural contortion of the bird’s body when in pain from bird flu which causes them to stretch their bodies into unnatural positions.I then decided to use the sculpture as a mark making tool to great tally marks representing the amount of death’s due to bird flu which was inspired by the quote I found from a news article which stated ‘It’s not just a pandemic,it’s a catastrophe’.I also used some cracked plaster that I found which i felt perfectly symbolised the fragility and vunerability of not only life but the life of a species which isn’t human and not able to speak up for itself.A species very quickly being killed off,a species that may one day become instinct because nobody spoke up for them and the goverment never cared.

Gestural marks created using a bird beak,bird bone sculpture/tool and charchol found from the beach.I found that this excercise worked alot more sucessfully then I thought it would And i think next week i would like to try it on a much larger scale on the wall and by attaching the found object sculpture to a bamboo stick with twine.

Experimental piece using clay on a bamboo stick on some packaging paper.I liked the fact that this had a very primitive look to it and looked almost like a found piece

Glazes

I suspefically choose glazes that were either black or brown or would like like they were contaminating each other when they had been fired by looking through samples and discussing with the technician the kind of ‘gnarly’ effect I was looking for this seemed best.I also used different methods of ‘dipping’ the sculptures into the glazes.using painting brushes to flick and drip the paint on.Due to a large majority of my work having not been fired due to it being too wet Sean advised that i could ‘wet glaze’ but this came with the risk that thoose particular pieces may ‘collapse’ in the kiln depending on how wet they got so i had to be careful not to put too much glaze on them.I am excitied to see how and mor particulary (if) they work out!

Reflection

This week was particulary a sucessful week for mark making and I can’t wait to try it out on a larger scale in regards to the ‘tally marks’.Glazing has been particualry a case of ‘trial and error’ and i have more to glaze next week but i am also anxious as to how this weeks sculptures will of glazed and whether or not they will of survived the kiln.It seems to be alot of ‘trial and error’ mixed with alot of patience (which is something i really struggle with as I like to work fast and see instant results).

Week 4

Mark making continued.

Inspired by tribal and cult-like shaman’s staffs I decided to use the bird sculpture as a tool in a different way,I also felt that this would work well in regards to ‘contamination’ working with the bones of the bird at a distance.

The bamboo stick didn’t allow for much flexibility so was hard to get the lines I hoped to get with it so I ended up removing the bone sculpture from the stick and using it how I had done previously by hand.To start with I wasn’t really liking the painting but I decided to just keep going with it because nothing ventued nothing gained and if I don’t like it then I can allways paint over it with white emultion and start again. I used a variation of methods in the end and brought together the symbol for the molecules mixed with the lines from the tally mark and some paint/mud thrown on top to represent the oil contamination.I experimented with the gannets being in different positions but decided to give the appearance of either several gannets falling of one gannet falling stage by stage in the black rain of death.I feel that this piece has grown on me over the last few days aswell as it having had good feedback and fellow classmates stopping to look at it.

Winged creature

I think that working in clay has really helped my creative process incredibly well by helping me to build more ideas in a 3D sense and also on paper.Conversing with my advisor she mentioned the sculpture being made into a giant puppet which is actually something I had thought of myself whilst making the piece.It made me think a bit of a giant puppet at one of the Pink Floyd stage shows.We discussed this happen as prehaps part of my degree show and who I could contact.I decided to email one of the tutors who makes giant puppets and she has agreed to meet with me for a chat and to help me with the creating of it for the degree show if need be.

I think it makes so much sense that the sculpture becomes a puppet as people and the goverment seem to feel a ‘disconnect’ with them and this puppet will hopefully make them feel re-connected.I have been considering as to whether it is important that the audience reckonise it as a gannet or that there is a fantasy element where the bird is more of a creature who’s characteristics are ‘sorrowful yet loving’ I personally imagine it to have a character much like a horse where it gives gentle nudges to the audience,which also acts as a reminder that it is still there.

The above was in response to he Idris Khan gas tank photo/print that I posted lasst week mixed with the tally mark theme.The white card held a much better contrast and I liked the effect of drybrush painting on it in parts.Combined with pouring on some of the muddy oily water it gave a kind of ghostly transparent effect which I felt connected well with the how ‘forgotten’ the birds are.

Considering two of the above were ‘wet glazed’ they turned out particulary well apart from two of the beaks falling off none of them ‘collapsed’ in the kiln so win win.The glaze and oxide on the screaming bird worked out particulary well in giving a really gnarly/distressed apperance which is what i was aiming for.Since I had noted down all the glazes and oxides used for each,I then doccumented what worked well and what hadn’t and used them on the new pieces that went into the kiln this week.

Research

Ingela Ihrman

I really like the textural element of her performance costumes,this bird in particulary looks like it is made from natural fibres which is something I feel would be important to add to the puppet in the future making of it.Apparently one of her performances as an oilbird will be happening in London on March 23rd so I may see if i am able somehow to go down and see it as I feel it will be beneificial to my practice.

‘How it felt’

Yes men fix the world

Marcus Coates.

I like the fact that Marcus Coates tries to ’embody’ the animal and become it but that his work also has a comical element when he mixes with the public (Altho i’m unsure if his work is supposed to be seen that way)

Week 5

Birds and bowls.

This week I felt like I had hit a bit of a block in regards to clay work so I decided to try some large scale gestural paintings of the birds like one of my tutors had suggested. Altho I liked the bottom drawing as I felt that it had a primitive feel to it I disliked the drawing above as the scale wasn’t write and neither was the wing,so I painted over it twice in order to readjust it and try different techniques but I just didn’t feel satisfied with it.I decided I like the bottom painting but ended up throwing paint over it thinking this would help it conect to the painting next to it but ended up disliking it after that aswell.

Whilst creating the above bird I completely forgot myself and forgot to add the wings on with slip as they were added seperately which was frustrating as the left wing broke off in two places once I piked it up to move it.When speaking to the tutor she suggested prehaps keeping it like that because a birds body breaks up when it disentergrates anyway.She also discussed my sculptures not all being made flat underneath so that they stood in different ways.And when my work is displayed would the birds be displayed in ways that they were like items being discovered or ready to be found?These questions made me think and question my work in ways I hadn’t before.I somehow hadn’t even realised that all my clay pieces had flat bottoms underneath but will strive to change that when I create more.

I wanted this piece to represent the pain and anguish that these birds go through with each sharp cut.I plan to use this dish to balance it on me whilst the dirty/oily/muddy water seeps out onto my top.I plan to use both this bowl and another bowl that i have made in the performance on the beach which shall be happening next week

Experiment with the use of some straw/hay that i found in order to make what appears to be a bird’s nest.I really like the placement of it in this corner with what looks like the gannets falling into it.

Experimental placing of the items within the nest.I found that the items became lost in the nests so it didn’t present them properly as such but the nest hides them in such a way that it may be an interesting way of discovering them.Or prehaps if they are hidden amongst the straw?

Research

Brian Eno

I feel that the use of light gives an almost ghostly feel to Brian eno’s images and the fading aswell.I would like to introduce this kind of ghostly appeal to my work in some given aspect of it in the future.

Project Maping

This week I signed up to a project mapping workshop as I felt like it may come in handy when it comes to my degree show.Especially if I do plan on making a large scale piece like a puppet that could prehaps be projected onto.

Hospitalfield

I’ve chosen to volunteer at Hospitalfield (which is one of the most incredible buildings) So that my foot is in the door in regards to being contacted with assistant artist/lead artist positions over the summer. I would also absolutely love to do a residency here and already have ideas of a performance piece that I would like to do in response to this room!

Upon Reflection..

I don’t think this week has been the most creative practically as I have felt quite frustrated but it has been a good week for new ideas and gathering new ideas from people with an outside perspective such as the tutors.I hope to take these ideas forward in order to ‘keep the ball rolling’ and the process of creativity.

Week 6

Performance

This week I decided to perform a performance at Balmerino that I had been planning for a while but I had been waiting for my bowls to go into the kiln first.

Altho I had tried to plan this excercise via my sketchbook,it wasn’t untill i was on the beach that i realised that this wouldn’t work and I thought of what Alister Mckennan had said about practising everything before I try it out.I realise that i really should of practiced this prior.I personally think that it looks kinky with the fact I decided not to wear a bra as i didn’t want it to show but now my boobs are showing instead and my tutor mentioned it looking like a kidnap which is true also!I will deffinately be practising prior in future!

Costume making

I decided to use voile,mixed with mud from the beach and some charcoal that i found on the beach to create the wings.Altho the dust from the mud started to make my nose,throat and chest burn slightly.So I am considering using coffee as a back up option.The voile was stiched loosely onto the arms so that it would fall off and could be torn easily.This outfit was inspired by an outfit of Alistair Maclennan during his ‘Land to sand’ project’ and due to the fact that Alistair suggested I make an outfit that I can tear which would move in the wind and the pieces flying in the air would then link with my gestural work mixed with the photography.I am going to trial adding pieces to the back and front to see what this would look like also and also to give the back a birds tail.

Alistair Maclennan.

‘From land to sand’ was a piece that had inspired the outfit through it’s use of scraps.Altho i haven’t used food waste and more material and paper.

Alice Auaa

I love the ‘goth glamour’ used in Alice Auaa’s work particulary the way she roughly cuts the material and leaves it to hang at the bottom,this is something that i intend to try.

Dancers

After speaking to Kate Mcleod last week about doing a collab with dancers from the dance school I had a teams meeting with Eddie Gaines,one of the teachers from the dance school,he suggested that I spoke to one of the MA and fourth year students at DJCAD about how I direct the dancers as this isn’t something that I have done before.But said that I was only ‘A few steps’ away from working with the dancers’.He also said that he would put a BA theatre student in contact with me who was specialising her study in the decomposition of bodies and that this could be the potential for a collab?I feel that this would be a great idea and am looking forward to being contacted by her. I have arranged to meet with Shannon Maitland on Monday to talk about directing the dancers and i’m still awaiting to hear back from the masters student.

My idea for the dance would be that it is more focused on movement,very slight which was taught to us at the Alistair mclennan workshop then the performance would pick up pace bit by bit untill it was in complete chaos. And then gradually back to slow small movements. This would represent the life and fall of the bird,the preciousness of a life beggining,contrasting with the chaos of a life taken down and stricken with pain and agony whilst the costumes fall apart piece by piece. I think I may get the dancers to respond to music particualry a classical piece which also means if I decide to use that footage that I can keep the music in due to copyright laws.

I was hoping to use the paper wings for the dancers but my tutor suggested using the material ones and prehaps making arm pieces to attach the material to.After contacting a friend who studies fashion she said that elastic would need to be attached to the top of any arm pieces but my best bet would be to just crop tops right up past chest level and to prehaps thread the voile through slits in the arms? I feel that this would altho cover the whole arm would maybe stop the pieces falling out of their own acord but the dancers could prehaps pull them out?

Clay work.

This piece was the piece i like the best before it was glazed but I think that it may of got squished slightly whilst being on the shelf and waiting to be fired as the mouth is slightly stunted and the hole meant for liquid coming through has moved aswell.I think i may position it half leaning during the crit so that the liquid is able to sucesfully come out of the mouth.

The walking mouth/chest had taken on some really interesting textures,the only disapointing part is that the glaze seems to of covered up the hole in it,so next weeks task for the crit will be to free up the hole as i have purchased some fake IV drip bags so that black oil can make it’s way slowly out of it.

Artist’s book Collection.

This week myself and a couple of others were given access to the artist book collection.This was a fascinating display of may different artist’s books and i also found out that DJCAD has the biggest collection of them in the u.k!It was interesting to see what is considered as ‘a book’ and lots of different ideas of how to display work.

‘It all started with a bic’

A second year exhibition,created using bic,I enjoyed the mixture of abstract and realism.

Reflection

I feel that this week has really picked up the pace,with the ball rolling across many different area.I think what I want my main focus to be on now is creating these outfits,and researching and working through how I will direct the dancers by talking to other people with experience of this.it will be interesting to hear from Shannon and what her thoughts are.

WEEK 7

Performance based mark making

I decided to use performance using the wings and dipping them in ink to create marks aswell as using the clay piece I had made to project ink onto the paper before attaching the paper to the wall and allowing the fan to create the material on the paper to move and create more marks on the paper and the wall.

These images were taken by the pshycic and photographer ‘William Hope’The material I used for the performance had the same transparent qualities and movement as the material used to create these photo’s of supposed ‘spirits’ from the early 1900’s.

I love the way that using the fan creates a back splatter of ink similar to the marks made if someone is shot to the head using a gun.

A replica of the claypiece itself?

What I found particulary interesting is that the ink that spouted from the claypiece created an ink splatter which then in turn resembled the claypiece itself.An interesting coincidence?It’s almost like a symbol left by the monster that created the spill.I think i may create a series of drawings inspired by it.

Another coincidence?!?

The marks made created a bird person!

Marks made by the performance.

An interesting range of marks created by both performances.

Glaze

A glaze and mixture of two oxides.I’m intrigued as to how these will react when mixed with each other.

Cancelation of dancers and Organising ‘Wing Defence’

After sending my proposal for the dancers to the head of the dance school I was told it was now ‘too late in the term’ and to come back next term.

So I decided to problemsolve the issue.What else could I do?After speaking with one of the fourth years who uses performance in her practice she had suggested using other students so I had the lightbulb moment of deciding that I would use a excercise during the performance workshop that we did with Alastair Mclennan where one person almost plays ‘piggy in the middle’ and the two other people don’t let them escape.So I have decided to do this excercise with both dancers and non-dancers to see how they use there bodies in reponse to this.

The reason i have choosen this excercise is because i want the bird to be trapped in the middle with birdflu/oilspill on either side not letting it go anywhere.

The people depicting ‘birdflu’ will wear only black whilst the bird will wear the outfit.

I have booked a room and equitment for Tuesday and I am collaberating with Naia who sits beside me in the studio as she specialises in filmography and I have asked some people who were previous participants of the performance workshop to attend.

Upon Reflection.

I think this week has been a great week of experimentation not only with mark making but with the outfit aswell.How does it move?How can I move to be at one with the outfit aswell?The mark making proved to have some interesting results but I can’t say it has created my favourite painting due to this.As I prefer the previous painting which used more agressive techniques and mixed the ink with the oil.

This week was also a learning curb aswell in regards to communicating with professionals and problem solving when outcomes don’t go your way.

Week 8

‘Wing Defence’

This week focused on the performative aspect of my work combined with redeveloping the costume.

I decided to use Lewis as the Northern Gannet due to his height and that corresponsing with the wing span of the gannet.I also added the black eye make-up to make him more convincing as the gannet.This activity was a great collabrative effort, Lewis really helped with what area we should use in the room for the performance and sectioning it off accordingly. Naia and Lewis were great with what filming angle I should use.We communicated really well as a team which was the most important part. I gave the group loose instructions and ordered Emily and Georgia to ‘block lewis in any way possible with your bodies’ they then decided upon themself to strip him of his ‘feathers’.The piece was filmed aswell as photographed but i decided that the photographs were so much stronger then the filming because it was photographed using long exposure which caught singular moments of movements as the material swished and caused such a beautiful poetic blur.I felt that this balanced really well with the rest of my work which has a poetic feel to it.

Inspiration

Alexander Mcqueen’s ‘Oyster dress’

The movement of the wings has made me decide that i want there to be more movement/ flow/twists and turns in the dress overall more like Alexander McQueen’s ‘oyster dress’ I want the movement to not only replicate the fall of the bird but the angst,tension and physical/mental torture that they suffer also.

Shamanic Shape shifting.

I feel I need to add more to the outfit so that the soul of the seabird can be emobodied much like the shaman who was a shape shifter.

‘In the shaman’s world, animals are kin, an ancient belief reflected in mythology and in animism — the belief that non-human entities are spiritual beings. It is a mental world where the seen and the unseen; the material and the spiritual merge Dorothy H. Eber, “Recording the Spirit World,” Natural History Magazine, Sept, 2002, p. 54.’

I think it is really important that the material and the spiritual merge not only in regards to the seabird but by using the essence of Occult photography from the 1800’s within my work.

There are rules that have been created in order to help you merge with your spirit animal which I think I will use once the outfit has been adapted further.

Francis Bacon

Francis Bacon, Study after Velazquez’s Portrait of Pope Innocent X

I love this study particulary as it suggests this other wordly movement of him moving into another dimension.

Reflection

This week has been a really sucessful one,I enjoyed collaberating more then I thought i would of which was a learning curb for me.It has also made me consider starting up a performance art collective in the future with these conections that i have allready made as the uni doesn’t seem to have one.

The photo’s are also something that I want to consider doing using either long exposure or continous shutter speed.

I think the outfit will improve as will the photo’s with the more material I add to it to give it a more shamanic feel and to embody the seabird more after researching and finding the shamanic guide.

Week 9

outfit additions/embodying the gannet.

Rules.

1. Create sacred space as you would for other spiritual work, dim the lights, and sit comfortably erect in a chair or on the floor.
2. Close your eyes and take a couple of deep breaths.
3. Call upon an animal that you have an affinity with. Visualize and invite this animal spirit to come into your body and consciousness.
4. Meditate with it. Be open to the feelings and sensations of being that animal. It is not uncommon to be and see the animal at the same time.
5. Simply observe whatever happens for a few minutes, and then thank the spirit animal and release it. 

Dorothy H. Eber, “Recording the Spirit World,” Natural History Magazine, Sept, 2002, p. 54

Outfit was given more material which ranged from voile to another kind of polyester based material that my classmate donated,these were again partial dyed using the oily sludge found up and down the coast line.

These were ‘practice shots’ taken using my phone with a count down timer on it which worked not quite as effectively but almost as effective as using continous shutter speed.I’m really pleased with the way the material moves in these greating an otherworldly/freefall effect.

I unconciously recreated one of the images that has inspired the use of this material from the ‘photography and the occult’book.

Playing by the rules.

Using ‘the rules of shamanism’ I created these photo’s whilst deep in mindset trying to capture the movement and inner angst,torture of the bird.

These are rules that I hope to use in the future with the dancers for my dissertation.I’m really pleased with the outcome of these photo’s as the camera technique/editing/costume and technique perfectly encapture what I had envisioned which is an 1800’s stylized photo ecapturing the torment and angst of seabirds whilst wearing a shamanic style outfit.

Inspired by

Sondra Perry

Pina Baush

Pina Baush’s work uses movement to display torture living within the soul.The way she uses her body with the males is jarring and thought proving.

Francesca Woodman

I love the ‘outerworldly’ effect that slow shutter speed has on Francesca Woodman’s self portraits giving them a demonic/haunted feel.I like the fact that one small effect can have such a huge impact on the work itself.

Claywork

Very pleased with how this particular piece has turned out due to the textural qualities displayed not only with the clay itself but with the oxiide giving a feathered look.The claywork teacher suggested next time adding feathers to the clay and then letting the feathers burn out to give an imprint which I think is a great idea.For my final installation I’m going to experiment with different ways of balamcing this piece onto the mud/sludge i have collected from the coastline and piling it into the stomach/chest area.

Reflection

Moving forward.

Next week I plan to try some ‘on location’ shots myself,I have also talked to my aerialist teacher and a few other students in regards to performing some hoop moves that are bottom of the hoop spin based and tumbles.I was hoping to use the ‘open rig’ which gets used for performances as the union but due to difficulties with DUSA (the usual) they cancelled the slot twice and i couldn’t make the third date due to work,so this will take part in the studio during open training.

Bottom of hoop style that I wish to use for the project as it incorperates the most movement.

Otherwise,I feel that this week has been the most sucessful wee in regards to the solo shots that were taken,i’m now just trying to figure out how i can edit my work down and what i will show for assesment as there is so much!I’m also unsure as to whether or not i should print my photo’s at A3 size because the bigger they are the less photo’s/work I can fit on the wall.

Week 10

By the beach/aerial photosAerial photo’s.

I did a huge series of shots (but word press doesn’t like the size of the files for some reason) Not that it matters too much as i didn’t find these photo’s sucessful in regards to movement/positioning of my body (i think this will improve once dancers are able to do the movements for me) and the fact that rachel hadn’t set the camera to long exposure)

This week I got one of my fellow aerialists from the aerialist society to perform some ‘bottom of the hoop’ spins wearing the outfit whilst i captured them using long exposure.I had hired a tripod but the top of the tripod was broken,but I found that it was easier for me just to use my hands anyway.The aerialist really struggled with this due to the heat of wearing a polyester outfit and spinning at the same time but continued on bravely! Pat (the aerialist) is also a fellow creative and made a few suggestions,one of them was to lie underneath the hoop and to move the camera whilst using long exposure.I found these photos to be the best ones.The issue I had tho was forgetting that i had put a filter on the photo’s that i had edited which then makes them grainy for printing and effects the quality,it did however turn out that this would be the least of my problems as the grainyness actually suited the style of the photo’s,it was more the fact that printing them at A3 distorted the images and some images printed much darker then they showed digitally.

Research

Chiharu Shiota

‘State of being dress’ the art of berries is a piece made by Chiharu Shiota which interweaves materiality and the pshycic perception of space using black thread to hold the item in a suspended space.I find this very haunting and poignant and would like to use this inspiration in the future and when thinking of hanging the dress for installation.

Daniel Wurzel

I love the use of material and lighting in this piece.In the future i may try to use lighting possibly with the dancers.

Week 11

INSTALLATION.

This week was installation week for the final assesment.I found myself almost having too much work to choose from so I had to think about what my strongest pieces were.I wanted to showcase everything but had to think about which pieces connected well and theire placement. I decided upon mostly letting the photography mostly have it’s own section,the lone photo’s of me performing astheically mixed well with my gestural and clay work so decided upon having them in the same space.

The hanging of the dress

INSPIRATION

Saint Serapion by ZURBARAN

A paitning I have discussed in my written report for my disertation is that of ‘saint serapion’ by Zurbaran.Instead of opting to tell the realistic tale of events in his painting (where the monk was brutally tortured) he instead to opt for a christ-like crucifixition painted in a realistic style his hope being that the realism would make be question whether they would be willing to die for there faith.I want this dress to impose upon the audience in a haunting manner in a similar fashion but to make the audience question whether they are doing enough?The audience also has to walk through the aunting figure to enable them te reach the next part of the installation and therefore having to face it.

Francesca woodman self portrait

The Ring

‘Samara’ in the ring had a drooped head which is used to intimidate the audience and which the dress recreates with the drooping of the poloneck at the front

The exorcist

The exorcist also uses a similar ‘crucifixtion’ style pose which could be seen as a mocking of the trinity but is also used to intimadate the audience

Installing Claywork

I wanted to create a scene of pure chaos to start with,then once the mud and ink had dried I decided to pick up the sculptures and look at what marks had been made,the big bird sculpture had left the most incredible mark almost like a ghost,I actually got a little bit emotional because it seemed to right and so poignant that this image be left instead of the sculpture because if we don’t take action this is all that will be left,a memory of what was,a ghost,a spirit.Seabirds will become the lost souls of the sea.

My dream installation.

My dream installation would of been to of had the images projected onto the material used for the dress and hung from a high ceiling.I think it would of looked amazing in a church type building especially with the dress hung in a crucifixtion style.

Or possibly have the images moving but just ever so slightly or in slow motion like in a Bill Viola exhibition that I saw a few years ago at the RA in London called ‘Life death rebirth’ which featured some people underwater on giant cinematic screens who would slowly breath bubbles.It was such an immersive experience and one that was hard to forget which is what I would want my work to ideally be like.

Reflection.

I am really pleased with my final installation,I used alot of thought and asked alot of different classmates for their opinion. How did the installation make them feel?Alot of people were intimidated by it and one of the teachers said it made him feel ‘dirty’ walking through the dress which is what i want.A shared experience/connection between human and seabird.For us to feel as one.But also intimidation and fear of a future that could one day become very real if we don’t take action now.