#artstudent

Week 8 ‘Bojo’s buses’

| harussell1

A lot of people had asked me ‘what is bus shit crazy old lady’s backstory?’ and it’s been at the back of my mind for a while now.My partner who is also on the course is passionate about politics and often does impression of Boris Johnson (Bojo) it just so happened that one day he was doing an impression of him when he was interviewed about his hobbies and talked about making buses from wine carriers. It then occurred to me; Bojo created her!

The absurdity of this man and the fact he is prime minister makes him the perfect creator of ‘bus shit crazy old lady’ on her bus.

I didn’t have a wooden wine carrier (I’m not Bojo after all) but I did have a cardboard box and an egg box and some foam which i used for the seats.I wanted the bus to look as childish as possible but also link materials to the wig/eyes.The wires are from the eyes/wig and follows on with the theme of ‘the cable connects’ Bojos son ‘Willy Johnson’ is of course included. His eyes are triangles which will connect with the short film I am about to make of which the bus is a prop for. The film will of course show Bojo making the bus, but an abstract/surreal version of Bojo which will connect with the characters through the reoccurring use of materials. This will be a collaboration with my partner Louis as his theme for his project is mostly political and features Bojo in some parts so this fits in really well. It also really helps having Louis there to bounce ideas off of. Especially when there are very few people in the studio. We want to get across the absurdity of Bojo in a avant-garde fashion and also identify his racist traits. I want him to almost be like the creator of Frankenstein.

A couple of sketches related to the short film and prop or costume design. I intend to make Boris’s wig from the sheep’s fur included in batshit crazy old lady’s wig. I want to include him pulling a bit of his hair out and adding it to the props head.

Bibliography

The Guardian. (2019). Boris Johnson says he makes models of buses to relax. Available: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=bojo+making+buses. Last accessed 29th Nov 2020.

Movieclips. (2011). It’s Alive! – Frankenstein (2/8) Movie CLIP (1931) HD. Available: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=it%27s+alive+frankenstein. Last accessed 19th November 2019.

Week 7 .The making of the eyes/Artist Manifesto.

| harussell1

I decided to further develop the eyes taking them to a whole new abstract/surreal level.Inspired by some of the surreal elements of Shana Moulten’s whispering pine video’s.And also some of the characters from ‘The mighty boosh’

https://images.app.goo.gl/eLYFvnUxV9Q8krJ86

I used a coffee cup holder to create the eyes along with packaging foam that was also used in the wig to create the eyes.I also used that same packaging foam to create an attachment for the head.At first I noticed that the eye mask was slopeing too far forward with just having the foam band attached to the sides so i decided to attach a band to the middle of the front and the back in order to pull it up and back a bit.I also cut a hole to allow room for my noise.Altho i found this a little uncomfortable so i may add some padding to that part.

This week i was finding it hard to get motivated but found it helpful that i had left notes for myself last week guiding myself as to what i was doing.I feel this is something that would be quite useful in the future considering the circumstances and only being in the studio for a day and a half a week.

During my one to one i had mentioned to my tutor about potentially being able to sit in on costume tutorials and how i would go about doing such things as i think it might offer a great influence to my work having some techniques to add.

I would also like to add some more inspiration in regaurds to 17th century hair and make-up.

https://images.app.goo.gl/VRLEYKG64GsJgvng6

https://images.app.goo.gl/NqpABZcQxhTJkEH19

Artist’s Manifesto

We were asked to write an artist’s manifesto and to create it in any such way we pleased but then told how to structure it and what we should listen to and read before we write it; and that it would help us ‘realise the artists we are’.

I find this completely absurd because at this level in your education you should not be ‘discovering’ the artist you are, you should know who you are as an artist and your values, morals and principles. I also feel quite offended by the fact that I’ve entered this level of education at 32 years of age and get given information which tells me or should ‘inspire’ me to write my own manifesto.

I decided to write a spoken word piece inspired by my viewpoint on the establishment which I feel has leaked into the university. I was mistaken in thinking that DJCAD wouldn’t stand for such things but i have been proven wrong in the consistent lack of diversity from the speakers programme.

My manifesto comes from a place of honesty, truth, passion and justice for all artists no matter what their class, race or religion.

I have never performed spoken word before, only written poetry so this was a first time for me and this video is just a draft performance as i know i still need to edit parts and i also plan on trying different ways of performing this. One way i have considered is by having a Farmfoods bag on my head whilst i perform it and taking it off when it comes to the last line. My only issue is that due to my dyspraxia my short term memory isn’t the best but I am willing to give it a try and hope that my nerves don’t distract me!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1n0GYKFcFz4qGNRfPE3w0xHMbyBrqk_tB/view?usp=sharing

Bibliography

Hughes A. (2011). 10 Incredibly Minor But Hilarious Mighty Boosh Characters. Available: https://www.toplessrobot.com/2011/05/10_incredibly_minor_but_hilarious_mighty_boosh_cha.php. Last accessed 29th Nov 2020.

Pininterest. (2018). 17th century make-up. Available: https://images.app.goo.gl/VRLEYKG64GsJgvng6. Last accessed 22 November 2020

Pininterest. (2015). 17th century hair and make-up. Available: https://images.app.goo.gl/NqpABZcQxhTJkEH19. Last accessed 22nd Nov 2020.

Week 2 A Derive

| harussell1

Asked by the uni lecturers to take a local derive myself and my partner (who is also on my fine art course) decided to take an hour long one.Louis decided to choose my destination by closing his eyes and scrolling upwards on google maps.We then followed the instructions google maps gave us.I doccumeted interactions made,sights,smells and sounds partially using a small reflective diary.

I noticed many sounds and sights and also had an interaction with a very friendly homeless man selling the big issue and a small child on a bike.A simple ‘hi’ but interaction none the less.

I feel like i am generally a very visually aware person so I don’t feel like I noticed anything more then I usually would but i feel that audibly I switched on to the noises around me and tried to identify.I noticed particualry how noises would clash against each other.The sweet sounds of the birds chirping against the harsh craw of the crow.The children playing against a man shouting to his wife about an unfair situation at his work. I also noticed how his energy almost made his toddler run away with only his wife noticing.I realised that even tho I don’t live in city centre that there was so much noise pollution surrounding me.Other noises were drilling,lorries reversing and an coversation made comical (I found) merely by the accents of the male workmen conversing.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_ajo-ZqD7R_SCAcCYzQQg6X4m45DO4Qp/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_XSxE4ceey8KhTcdY9-ZkAyuxnjgYFQM/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_XKje6D1rWUqbW9FIjfz2Y518fdDhfpN/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_Uzm7MDjDzCr0vkO7ygN2I7bDMqL_osc/view?usp=sharing

I feel like the derive can be added to my repetoir in terms of ways of working especially during these times and not allways having access to the studio.

I am hoping to collaberate with my partner once we have worked on some of our own stuff.After watching a doccumentary about the situationalists I feel inspried by one of the pieces I saw on that to do some gestural work on lining paper that i have whilst listening to some of the audio.Hopefully the outcome will be sucessful!