Landscape Module ‘The wings of time’

1st Oct 202211th Dec 2022 | harussell1

After choosing what turned out to be a module that completely wasn’t for me (designed based) I switched five weeks in and found myself completely at home in the landscape module.

It made so much sense choosing the landscape module (which had been my 2nd choice after all) Having spent the whole summer in Orkney and alot of last year I had plenty of inspiration right at my fingertips.

In my usual macarbre fashion I had a collection of dead bird photo’s due to the bird flu which is a really bad problem just now in orkney so much so that people were (and maybe still aren’t) allowed onto the beach in Birsay.

What drew my attention to these birds was their positioning,and how artful and interesting they were.I also found it an odd juxtaposition,the birds lying still and motionless whilst the sea moved,the people walked and life continued around them,the hands of time only effecting the decomposing effects on their bodies.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/in-scotland-a-bird-flu-crisis-threatens-thousands-of-seabirds

In the above article,it talks about how allready a quarter of gannets have died this breeding season,entire breeding colonies are being wipes out and due to gannets only laying one egg per year the recovery of the population will be slow.Not only this,but seabirds in general help the ecosystem as they have essential nutrients in their feces and are top predators which helps the food chain.Birds who are predators will surely die too from eating the carcasses and catching bird flu in return.Frustratingly,the level of this strong multi-strain has been known about for a while but no money has been put into protecting the birds,national and regional responses are needed now in order to protect the birds before more outbreaks hit.

Still lives in nature.

My direct response using the bones found from birds on the beach on Hoy island (which I later found out I shouldn’t of touched)

Loie Fuller

Over the summer I discovered and became facinated by Loie Fuller a ground breaking American dancer and performer who was a pioneer of both modern dance and theatrical lighting.She used swirling silks and multicoloured lights and her movements were inspired by nature,she helped inspire the art Noveau movement of the early 20th century.I started to think about how I could use this performance style in my own work encouraged by death and life in the landscape around me.How could I use movement to resemble not only nature but the time that moved by?

Rebecca Horne

There seems to be a kind of similarity in Rebbeca Horne piece ‘Weisser Körperfächer’ and Louis Fullers wings and I wonder if prehaps she was inspired by her too!

Starting the process

The cycle I work in is one of drawing out by using a variety of mixed media so that I am able to put together in my head what i am going to do performance wise then I perform then I go back to drwing out based on the perfromance or looking at where things can be tweaked.I decided the best way I could show the connection of time with death and life was to make these wings which would not only act as wings but the hands of a clock an show movement but within the landscape.I also had a latin book which has doing words in it which I was initially just planning on using to collage then thought about how great this would be as spoken word over the top of the video/photos showing how movement is constant within the landscape altho death may be present life never stops.

Maquette

Based on the above image I wonderd how I could make this in a sculpted form,I started off wanting to make a more realistic form in metal (a media which I am fond of working in) but it would occur too many issues,I make a thick card maquette before I weld because then it shows up what will and won’t work altho I have to keep in mind that metal does not hold the same flexibility that card does.So I choose to make a more abstract form which shows the flow and movement of the wings.I plan on taking photographs of it on the costal line.

I initally wanted to make a more realistic form making a skirt but then i realised that the metal would’nt bend like the card would and the circular shape would struggle to attach to the shape below so how best could I attach it?

I decided to simplify the shape.the bottom half could symbolise a skirt of legs and what did it really matter anyway?The arms symbolised balance and flow.It would be interesting to make this into a kind of see saw where it could balance from side to side showing balance and motion.The moving life and the stopping death.

The bottom had to be weighted down using two pieces of card but I know that this shouldn’t be an issue with the weight of metal.

‘The Wings of time’

I choose Balmerino as my location as it is a place i am very fond of and feel a connection with.Altho I would of liked to of done the performances in Orkney that’s not really an option right now.Although the weather forcast said sunny it proved to be very foggy,whether that was to do with the smog left after a massive fire in town it was hard to tell.However,I felt that this gave quite an atmospheric feel.It was hard to balance on the pebbles but I somehow managed.The wind made it rather difficult at times too.I felt that it was important to wear black in order to contrast the white,altho i originally planned on wearing a black dress like the drawings suggested i don’t think it would of been very practical for movement.I found myself with an audience of old people which made it hard to concentrate at times.But once I was in the zone it felt like a new form of Tai chi,I moved with the wind and with my breath as you would with Yoga.I would say I am pretty pleased with how the photo’s turned out and prefer them to the video.My next move is to try and put spoken word over the photo’s in almost a slideshow style fashion. Inspired by Rebecca Horn I also wish to try and paint and draw with them.

Location shot of Balmerino looking very dreary due to the mist.

Using the wings as a tool.

Inspired By Rebecca Horn’s piece ‘Finger Gloves’ (1972) I decided to draw using a black ink wash.I decided that black worked as a great ‘theme colour’ due to not only it’s symbolism of death and decay but it’s connection with oil and oil spills as before oil hits the sun it is black in colour.

Both colours have played an important part in the process,from the ink wash to the brown muddy slime on the wings.

https://www.netregs.org.uk/environmental-topics/waste/managing-waste-materials/disposal-of-waste-at-sea/#:~:text=Disposal%20of%20oil%20at%20sea,miles%20from%20the%20nearest%20land

The above website states that oil should not be dumped into the sea if your vessel is less then 12 miles from land when i have witnessed this from a vessel right next to the land.

I hoped that by putting the hat on my head it would give a feeling of the elongated Gannet neck (a bird I had personally found dead in ebundance during the height of the bird flu pandemic in the Summer.

The wing bowing out in the middle was a happy accident as it helped me to see when painting with it.The split pin under the chin helped it hold on for the best part.

Wing put on my head to give me limited vision whilst painting,the same way a bird’s vision would be limited due to the virus causing blindness.The hat resembled that of a ‘Dunce’ hat.Painting with my head like this in the corner it certainly felt like it too!

I tried to capture simultaneously with both arms at the same time images of myself wearing the wings and images of one of the birds i had found from a photo.I wanted to capture movement with my movement,the movement of myself and the movment of the bird,like that of an aboriginie cave painting.

Jaxon Pollock no 32. I admire the gestural flowing free motion of this piece.I tried to create a similar effect in my painting altho the motions wasn’t quite as flowing due to the wings and width of the paper.

Five stag heads found inside a cave in the Nave region of Lascoux believed to be a stag in different stages of motion.Also believed to be one of the ealiest findings of ‘animation’

I wanted my paintings to reflect this due to it’s connection with nature it felt only right that the paintings should have a primitive feel to them.

Rebecca Horne ‘pencil mask’ was another inspiration behind using one of the wings to paint with.

Arm maquette

I really liked how much the card maquette resembled the shape of the human figure but with over exsagerated arms to capture the wings.I was really excited to make this maquette into a metal sculpture then take it down to the beach to take photo’s of it but then due to the strike the teacher never showed up.I had allready waited 3 weeks at this stage just to use the facilities and couldn’t afford to wait another 3 weeks as this would go right past assesment time.

The markings resembled the gentle pitter patter of bird feet,with other areas more chaotic which made me think of the **Bird Flu** virus itself seeping through effecting **90-100%** of a flock within 48 hours

‘Passing through’,Sonnabend Gallery May 1977.Taken from the book ‘Rituals of Rented Island’
Interesting arm extensions of a human kind.I would be quite interested to know what they were made of altho it doesn’t seem to mention.Prehaps Paper mache?

Green Screen test

Altho asthetically pleasing I felt that these images didn’t reflect the bird itself when dying from bird flu/oil spill or a harsh death in general.The movements were to soft and fluid and suggested a gentle death,prehaps dying in it’s sleep or from old age.

I liked the movements but they were far too fluid and should of involved me squirming on the floor.I didn’t end up editing these photo’s in after effects due to this

Performing on the beach.

Looked too much like praying and didn’t want to cause any offence towards anyone.

Sample collected from the slimy looking mud which covered the beach

The image of this gloopy slime type mud resembled that that i found on the beach.

How Oil Affects Birds

Birds are often ‘beached’ when they loose there buoyancy due to the oil as the sea becomes to cold for them to return to.

The above is something I really wanted to bring into my final piece but i am not naturally a great contortionist!I would however in the future try a different series of photos on the beach prehaps using facial expressions to express the pain. I did have a series of photo’s where I was flat on my back on the ground but I had the headpiece on which i felt was too ‘distracting’ and ruined the piece.Below I thought of the seabird chick who jump into the sea prematurely if their parents have died,still attempting to gently flap their wings as the disease takes hold.It is also said that as the virus takes hold of the brain the bird itself starts to loose it’s eyesight and become disorientated.

Final performance.

**This over exposure actually made for a great final picture in the series of photo’s as it told the end of a story where the baby bird finally passes away.**I decided that the Colour should return as death is a comfort.

This piece made more sense,after some discussion with my tutor we discussed how the movements should really display the struggle of dying and how i should really get involved and grotty on the beach. I tried to immerse myself and really feel the birds’s last moments and how uncomfortable it would of been.Would they of been comforted by listening to the sea in their final moments whilst looking up at the sky?

Taken from ‘Student body’ by Marina Abramovic.After looking at the video it was decided that the images were stonger then the video itself and that one of the final pieces would work well as a series of images.I felt particualry inspired by this performance I found where the woman acts out a different celebrity in each shot.However,I decided to just have rachel snap photo’s every time i moved in a slow and static fashion even tho the pain of the pebbles underneath my knees made me want to move fast!

An example of what I could see in some of the photo’s with the headpiece on my head whilst lying on the beach. It was comforting yet clostraphobic at the same time.It obscured my view the same way the virus would as it slowly made the bird go blind.

Final installation

**I looked at a variation of ways I could display the wings.Firstly a paper plane?**

Super pleased with how the print turned out.Altho the university printing unit was closed so had to use the one down the road

I am really pleased with the final results of my work and mostly the presentation for assesment altho my measuring isn’t great!But otherwise my placement in general I think flows as one item directs you to another.I also decided to have the lighter markmaking over to the left as it would otherwise be swamped by the darker colours and you wouldn’t notice the delicate detail as much.

Semester 2 Week 11 Final video’s/Collaboration/displaying work.

21st Apr 202221st Apr 2022 | harussell1

This week was mostly about tying up loose ends in regards to video work and looking at how I could pull all my work together and display it for assessment.

Firstly,I decided to add some music over both edits of the Red Lady and the flag combo.I decided to use music that gave the feeling of tension with a beat that seemed to echo that of a heartbeat as I felt that it was important that the viewer felt the tension and fear that the red lady feels.The swishing had a space-like feel which I felt added to the dystophian feel behind it.

The Halloween edit gave more of a creepy vibe then the tension I was seeking but being a sucker for a baseline I decided to make this edit anyway as i felt like the flash imagery worked well with the beat.

Collaboration

I got asked by a fourth year Claire Gamble if I would want to collaborate with her in a photoshoot which would be shot by a local photographer (Lydia Smith Dundee) as she was making viking styled jewlery and thought it would be a great idea to incorperate the Red Lady’s asthetics with it.So I modeled holding an old book with jewlery on it,a challice with earings in it and a stuffed crow on a branch with jewlerry hanging from the branch.There was a white mark which had appeared on the hood of the cloak which Claire tried to remove with a wet wipe which ended up leaving a wet mark on the hood which the photographer wasn’t happy about.It was decided to tie a shoulder throw made from crow feather around the hood area.I agreed to this altho it doesn’t particualry go with my aethetic.Upon viewing the photo’s afterwards i realised it looked more like hair and I can’t say i was a fan of it but these photo’s were to be used by Claire for her degree work mostly so I didn’t say anything and luckily the wet hood dried for the ‘in character’ shots that I did. I particulary like some shots that were done using red lighting and the ones which were up close to my eyes are it looked like I was going to cry (but really I just had hayfever eyes that day haha).Sadly the photo’s are not yet availible so i’m not able to post them to the blog but hopefully in the future they will be so that I can add them here.

Displaying for assessment.

It’s difficult to get a real perspective from this photo alone but I had originally envisioned having the head cage up on a plynth as I felt that it was a very important part of the story so I wanted to draw attention to it but I felt that it would distract from any other found items/sculptures I also found that the other pynths weren’t long enough for the other items particulary the long spear shaped found item.

A class mate suggested turning the longer plynth on it’s side.I liked this idea height wise because it instantly makes the audience member crouch down and therefore starts to get them actively ‘involved’

Dirt!I decided that why not involve the audience member in what I found most exciting,which was a huge part of the process and also part of the story an archaelogical dig/found items

Digging style tool used by Archaeologists which has a similar shape to the digger tool that I forged

I decided to merge alot of the strong ideas together for the final assesment piece.I took Maria Fusco’s advice and filmed a performance piece where the Red Lady appears and leaves her mark and tell’s her story by making cave-like paintings.I felt that it was important to partially use natural colourings due to the Red Lady’s surrounding being the woods, so I mixed the compost used for the dig in a little water and used a mixture of sticks and an electric cable to paint the images I also mixed the red paint with compost water to give it a darker grungier tone.I also used the cable to scratch in some detail to show frustration,anger and a feeling of being on edge.It also helped with the primitive feel.

I felt that the reverb of the door slamming went well with the reverb present in the music.I wanted the movement of the red lady painting herself to be almost as if she was praying and moving in a hypnotic motion.

The image on the right is her abusive husband warning her not to meet or gossip with others.

The red lady then uses her time traveling powers to travel through different decades leaving items and hints at what is to become the future for women if they don’t act now.

“Nolite te bastardes carborundorum”

(Don’t let the bastards grind you down) (Margret Atwood 1985)

The handmaids tale has played a huge part in this project I think more subconciously then conciously as I am a big fan of the books and TV series. Something that has echoed in my mind is that in the second book ‘The Testaments’ there is a chapter where many decades on into the future diaries are found written by Ofred which then become artifiacts as the historians try to piece together what happened and I like to think that about the ‘unknown artifacts’ left by the Red Lady as people try to piece together what these items are and where they have come from.

I have been following a facebook group for a while called ‘Remebering the accused witches of Scotland’ which is a petition which has been started to get the goverment to issue a public apology for the hanging of scottish witches. I found that this radio programme discussed the issue in more depth.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0015bdj

Also the fact that woman are still being painted as ‘witches’ in today’s society should they be too outspoken.So really how much has changed?Particulary in the sense of abortion laws being brought back into states in America by states either goverend by ‘christian’ males or ‘christian’ females but more often then not males. This is why I felt that it is important that the narrative that the red lady is trying to tell is that the past is going to repeat itself in the future if the change doesn’t happen now.I feel like the rust on the items particualary the headcage ties in with these ‘age old’ laws and ways of thinking.And yes,some of the items may look medevil but it is a physical representation of age old laws making a revival.

Here are the states that have passed laws restricting and enshrining abortion access

This article lists the states which have banned abortions.

A woven piece of wood which looks like a vagina a symbol of the female being entrapped and restrained.

I wanted some of the prints to look like little gifts from the red lady to the audience to enable to give us little clues of her past.

I think I am mostly happy with the resolved display altho I would of liked use of the projectors so that I could of had my video work of the red lady and the flag displayed over it. As this is an important part of my work but I understand that projectors are prioritized to fourth years at this time of the year.I also wish I had more space so that things could be laid out a bit better but hopefully that oppertunity will come in maybe third year and hopefully fourth year. But I feel like all in all I have used all media’s to the best of my ability and tried to pull them all together along with the performative and story-telling aspect.I hope that the audience are able to participate and feel a sense of excitement,thrill,horror but also take into consideration the more serious undertones.

I feel like my creative journey to get to this stage has been a bumpy yet exciting ride,I am firstly super glad that I differed so that i was able to use the workshops and really draw them into my practice. I have learnt alot of new skills through them which I hope to take into my future practice. Secondly, I have learnt the importance of a strong narrative from speaking to Maria Fusco which had a really strong impact on my work as I felt like the narrative had to many loopholes and was too ‘lost’ prior to speaking to her.I feel like the mixture of story telling with the feminist undertones has relayed real problems that are still current for women in today’s society.

Semester 2 week 9.Photoshop/beach combing.

21st Mar 202223rd Apr 2022 | harussell1

The tree that bleeds.

This week I edited some images from photo’s I had taken at Roslyn country park a few weeks ago.I felt inspired by a scene in Pan’s laberynth where Ofelia climbs inside the dark looking tree where a toad lives with a key in it’s mouth.Mixed with ‘The tree of the dead’ in Sleepy Hollow which of the grave of the ‘Headless horseman’ and contains the bodies of all his victims.I felt that the image of this tree would help piece together some of the story telling in regards to the main character.Prehaps this is where she was tortured and once a year the tree bleeds reminding everyone of her final resting place.The white filter on the tree was my favourite as there is a better contrast with the blood.I also altered the colour of garlic grass surrounding the tree to a black looking mould to add to the feeling of decay.

‘The tree of the dead’ containing the victims of the Headless horseman.

A haunting

I decided to use a couple of filters on some pre-exsisting images taken at Roslyn Country park.I felt that it was quite symbolic the removal of the face as by being silenced she had lost her identity,it also connected with the hole in the tree.This image of the woods at Balgay had red lighting without even a filter being used which I felt was perfect.

Flag

if the hole was even slightly too big then the eyelet would fall through,was a bit of struggle to get it to the right size!

Due to illness,the technician had to cancel the forging of the flag pole for this week but I’m going to try and get booked back in for hopefully next week or the week after.The 4th years have the workshop from the 1st April onwards so hopefully I can get booked in before then!

One of the least patriotic flag making video’s I could find.And the technique seemed the easiest.I drew up a similar design and took it to the technician who agreed.

Found objects

I found the metal looking grill on the beach and decided it would be great to use for weaving

Following on from the binding theme I decided to hang this almost hang man figure to the wall.The split at the bottom of the ropegiving the inanimate object legs and a life of it’s own.

https://youtube.com/shorts/Gj5Sp6IHkVI?feature=share

I travelled to Balmerino again on order to beachcomb.The tide was very nearly in but not quite (I keep wrongly judging the tide times online) so I managed to have a quick rumage and somehow pull this light from the beach which must once upon a time of belonged to a ship.Water had entered the lighbulb and it had little growths on the bulb also which made it all the more interesting!I feel that adding the lightbulb as a found object will give more of a ‘dystophian’ theme as i feel that everything else that i have made is more medevil.

What I imagine was once the end of a wall?

1 to 1 tutorial and written work.

This week I decided to have a 1 to 1 with the amazing Maria Fusco,her advice really pointed out what my work had been missing,a stronger narrative, Maria posed the question; ‘Are we visting The Red Lady or is she visting us?And that since the Red Lady doesn’t have a voice what about visiting one of the locations I have been to and doing some impromptu writing?So I wrote the following;

Underground.

The damp moist leafs.The smell of dirt rich in my nostrils.The smell of pine needles my only relief.

I scream,the birds fly.

These creatures, they reach unbelievable places,

Don’t.

The box is too tight.

But that’s the point, isn’t it?

Discomfort,pain,agony and torture because I felt too much pleasure. I felt too alive and now they want me dead.

My legs are bound. No such thing as wriggle room.

I had too much wriggle room.

My head is caged so they can hear my screams.

They.

Females,women,girls.

And god forbid the animals should cause such a racket.

My face is hot.

The cage is heavy.

I try to kick the top of the box with my bound legs.

Of course, they made it too high.

The creatures itch, they tear at my skin.

I welcome death now,

I demand death now.

But I also demand

HIS.

The Cage.

The cage.The dreaded cage.The cold hard steel weighs heavy on my limbs.My view is partial.

Too many friends,

Too joyus.

He never had any.

I did.

My hands are blue.

I don’t talk now.

My throat is seared with heat.Dry hoarse heat.

This death is too long.

It’s night now.

Or is it?

My hands are heavy.

Pulling.Something is pulling.

Is he coming back for me?

Please don’t.

My ribs, piercing like sharpened daggers straight into my lungs.

The rope is too tight.

Mock me.That’s okay,it reminds me I’m still alive.

I’m cold

My ribs hurt

My hands are heavy

I don’t forget.

We also talked about how my work would be displayed in an exhibition context and how would the red lady visit?By the touching/moving of these artifacts do we bring her alive?Is she upset by changes in her environment? No matter what decade in which they should occur?Maria also suggested that aswell as having the artificats laid out and the video’s playing what if she enters the room and paints on the wall with the twine/straw.The item is then left aswell as the painting telling part of her story and adding to her own personal narrative and Maria also posed the question how would she of been able to paint herself in the other paintings that i had done.How would she know what she looked like?And that prehaps these paintings were best left as records of what happened by locals adding to the story.

1921 – Six characters in search of an author

Maria mentioned the playwright Pirandello Web and his play ‘six characters in search of an author’In this play the characters visit the audience in search of an author to make their characters more ‘complete’Prehaps the Red lady will visit the audience in order for the audience to give her her ‘voice’ by understanding her paintings.

Maria had suggested one of her own pieces of work ‘Master rock’ mainly due to all the different elements that came together to create this ‘experimental drama’ it was interesting to think of all the different narratives combined from the poetry to using the narative of a survivor called a ‘tunnel tiger’ who dug through the mountain and was the only person to survive,to an artistical mural and a musician as the voice of the Master Rock. It made me wonder if prehaps I could bring spoken word back in and prehaps use it over the videos.

Another person mentioned was the writer Ursula K. Le Guin and her science fiction based short stories ‘The Buffalo Girls’ which features a dystophian world and a play which is currently on at the Royal Court.

The play features a woman in a windowless cell in an Asylum in 1863,the audience visits her there where she has no memory of whom she is and becomes the accomplice of a medium who requires a new assistant.Altho I like this narrative I think that it’s all too common that we visit the character and what is expected instead of the character visiting us which changes the whole dynamic.

Semester 2 Week 8 Move for Ukraine/short movies

11th Mar 202222nd Apr 2022 | harussell1

This week was a great week for many reasons,but especially in reguards to the fundraiser.Sunday night a reporter contacted the #Move for Ukraine facebook page from ‘That’s TV Scotland’ asking if one of us would mind giving an interview about the walk.Kristina and Taylor were obviously going to be too busy with the walk and would want to save there phone batteries incase anything were to go wrong.Alyssia was working so I volunteered to do it. It was via zoom and the journalist made it as relaxed and as friendly as possible.I was really nervous but knew that it had to be done to get as much coverage as possible for the cause.

https://www.facebook.com/ThatsTVScotland/

She asked me to send her any photo’s related to the cause and asked me how we came up with the idea,how Kristina was feeling,about her connections to Ukraine and how much we aim to raise etc etc.The interview only lasted about 10/15 minutes but it was enough time to get the point across.

That afternoon I decided to make some art in relation to the project using movement.So i used my feet and hands to create the ukraine flag.I felt that using my feet had an important significance as people had walked 1000’s of miles fleeing the war and i wanted it to represent that.

The left hand side was made using my hands and the right my feet.Altho i liked the ‘swishy’ sea like motion that the blue had made on the left I felt that the flag on the right was more symbolic.

https://youtube.com/shorts/D_dpcsOwYJs?feature=share

https://youtube.com/shorts/9ZeJcIx7C_0?feature=share

Wee blue and yellow bird made by Rachel in my studio.Was unintentially painted the colours of the Ukraine flag and given to me.Thought it would serve as the perfect wee emblem for our project.Birds reflect freedom,flight and most of all movement.

Poster I made for the protest expressing concern at the actions of Putin reflecting Hitler’s.

The girls finally completed there walk around midnight on the Thursday night.Kristina said that they were tired but mostly from not getting a proper night’s sleep due to the cold and that they decided to double up the end of their journey so that they didn’t have to spend another night in a tent.And that they had managed to book a hotel for one night at Burnt Island along the way and that that really helped give them the energy to spur them on.

Rather frustratingly,my toilet decided to leak (yet again) all over my bathroom floor so I wasn’t able to attend the protest which I was really wanted to attend but I heard from the girls that it went well.

Our current amount is sat at £740 so hopefully by the end of the month we will of reached our target if all continues to go well.

This project has turned into something that i would never of imagined and I am so proud at all the hard work put in.I had never met any of the girls prior to this and we have all worked so hard to get the project to where it is at.

Headcage

I like how the cage frames particulary well areas of the face.

This week I did some filming with a friend who is a fellow student.We have been in education together now for a few years and she is an amazing director and films really well so I love having her film my performance pieces.I wanted to display anguish whilst in the head cage but we also realised through trial and error that the filming worked best when the hood was fully up and the cape was tied right up under the chin in order to create more shadow and the hood moved really well particulary in slow motion.

https://youtube.com/shorts/NikBsR5ZMCs?feature=share

I feel that the movie’s work well but that the images alone are more striking.I think i may work on shortening the video’s down even more so that they just consist of a few images.

I grew up watching this music video on repeat as my dad was a big fan of Jean Michel Jarre.I can’t seem to find who the artist was that shot this video but it also was the inspiraton behind the headcage shots altho the Red Lady’s eyes are deffinately more threatening!

Ana Mendieta

Mendieta would often use chicken blood in her work to raise awareness of issues women faced such as domestic abuse and rape.

Joseph Bueys

‘The Pack’ I like the way Bueys has transformed these inanimate objects into looking like living things.

Anselm Keifer

Der Gordische Knoten by Anselm Kiefer. I appreciate the darkness in Kiefers painting and the way he incorpates Norse mythology by marking Runes into his work.I also like the dark textural effect.

‘Field of the cloth of gold’I particulary enjoy Kiefer’s exploration of the tension between beauty and terror which I feel that this painting depicts well and the textural elements.

Mark Dion

I feel that my fascination for beach combing and for curiosities long hidden within nature could be compared with that of Mark Dion’s work.Altho he doesn’t re-purpose the objects as such he stores them more as artefacts but in an artful and interesting way.I suppose this could be something to consider when it comes to displaying my ‘Artefacts’ publicly.

‘The Texas cabinet’ The Texas cabinet actual reminds me of a cabinet within my house where i store alot of curiosities.

Goshka Macuga

From Gondwana to Endangered, Who is the Devil Now?, 2020 Altho this tapestry is based on economical issues mixed with humans portraying animal characteristic as part of the ‘furries’ trend I look the dark dystophian feel to this picture.

Hanna Tuulikki.

‘Deer dancer’ Taking from a performance piece at the Baltic.

I like the way Tuulikki communicates words with movement via her performance pieces and the simple,effective yet symbolic use of costume.

Semester 2 week 7 ‘Move for Ukraine’

8th Mar 202223rd Mar 2022 | harussell1

Group PRoject

‘Movement’

This week I started the group project,it was something I had been dreading as I don’t often work well in groups and I usually end up clashing with another member or I feel like my ideas aren’t being listened to.But this group project as deffinately changed my outlook on group work/collaberations and instead has shown me the power of working in group projects and how a small group of people with determination and their heads in the right places can work as a total and utter powerhouse that can achieve anything.Next is a day by day account of our actions.

Day 1

Today we met for the first time,I was really anxious and not looking forward to it much.Myself and Katrina were the only people that had Idea’s.I spoke about prehaps doing a performance piece based on something I had done in a performance based workshop in the past where each person is frozen to the spot and there hands/legs etc are moved by another person.Kristina came forward with pretty much a fully written out proposal suggesting that we do a charity walk to raise money for Ukraine walking from Dundee to edinburgh.She had calculated the distances between towns and where we would stop over.Due to having really bad bunions I soemtimes struggle to even walk to college so I said i wouldn’t be able to do the walk as such but could work hard behing the scenes with fundraising/media etc.Kristina had friends who were still over in Ukraine so felt like the war there had really effected her.Alyssia had suggested that as part of the walk she could ask the scrapyard near her if she could paint the ukrainian flag on one of there crushed cars.I was really bemused by this suggestion and had to advise her that this would be highly insensitive and that you need to really think about the art and actions that you do when it comes to such a sensitive subject.I also advised the group that we need to think carefully about who we give money to,as having worked paid for the Red Cross for a few years I am understanding of the fact that they do good work but often the money can be spent in the wrong places because they are such a big corporation who’s CEO’s are making an incredible amount of money for pen pushing whilst there front line workers are often facing a humanitarean crisis themselves by being paid pennies.Kristina said she had been told by friends of the best charity to contact.

Day 2

Decided to allocate myself the position of external communicator.Contacted DUSA in regards to getting a stand for ribbons etc.

Day 3

Emailed Newspapers about the fundraiser.I also asked DUSA if they could advertise via social media and emails what we were doing (no reply which is the typical standard from DUSA).Emailed Victoria Edwards who sent an email out to all the students about the walk and the fundraising stall.Looked at the prices of ribbons on Amazon etc and decided that they would take too long to arrive for the stall as DUSA had agreed we could have the stall for Friday 11-1.I had decided upon these times as we would hopefully be able to catch the most people whilst they went to grab their lunch.Victoria Edwards also posted our email out to all students.

Day 4

Decided I would present them on the inside of my broken sewing box lid and that way if it was windy they wouldn’t blow away!

Benchmark as we had raised £320 before the walk had even taken place and the Dundee Courier had emailed me back in regards to media coverage.I told him Kristina has connections in Ukraine so I arranged a phonecall for 4pm between Kristina and the reporter then arranged for a photographer to come to the uni for 11 for photos.Went to Hobbycraft,collected ribbon and made only 18 ribbons from 3 metres of ribbon!The shop assistance mentioned that alot of people had been in buying ribbon to do the same.

Day 5

Today was the day of the stall in the foyer.Myself and Alyssia turn up early to paint our faces etc.Became a little worried as we hadn’t heard from Kristina and Taylor.Kristina showed up just before 11 but Taylor didn’t.I went down to reception to collect the photographer and the receptionist made a fuss saying i would need ‘a press release’ in order for the photographer to take photo’s of us inside the university and that he wouldn’t be allowed here anyway as no visitors are allowed currently due to lockdown restrictions.I advised her several times that the photo’s were going to be taken outside in the foyer area.Went away to ask Anita Taylor’s permission but she was about to go into a meeting then asking another pen pusher who said we would only be allowed to get photo’s taken outside the building.(Which is what i had told them we would be doing in the first place)The receptionist even commented that she ‘hadn’t seen anyone doing fundraising in a while’ well no wonder when everything is made so difficult!!

Photoshoot took place on the grounds with us posing beside and walking beside Katrina.Holding the poster and ribbons up.

No sooner had I spoken to the receptionist the Vice principal (or someone of some kind of importance) decided to send out a really feeble emailing saying that the uni ‘stood in solidarity with Ukraine’ and that in order to show this the chaplaincy were organising for people to meet up on the ground to show this.Absoloutely no mention of our walk which was actually going to make a difference unlike the universities pathetic all talk no action as per usual.

DAY 5

Today our story made it into the paper and on the online paper also.

Reporter had made up that myself and Alyssia had said things which we hadn’t.(He hadn’t even spoken to Alyssia) Had written that we were all doing the walk (which we weren’t).The online article had more photo’s etc but the link wasn’t very clear at all so it made no difference to our donations because people clearly didn’t know where to click.So we ended up making more money through our stall.I think what I hated about this the most is that we couldn’t be in control of the outcome of how it would be written or look in the paper and that we just had to trust that the reporter would do his best to raise awareness but upon reading the article Kristina stated that she could of written it better herself and English isn’t even her first language!They also mentioned the university in the post alot which I thought the university would make a fuss about but so far so good.

In other news…

I finally finished off the headcage for the red lady.The technician finally agreed to let me tack myself (as i had never done this type of welding before) I actually found it alot easier but my tacks were visable compared to the parts he had done as it was too fidderly to get the hidden the way he managed and as he said ‘it doesn’t matter aslong as you have managed to join the metal’

You can visably see the top two tacks compared to where the tecnhician has neatly hidden his on the bars below.

Very pleased with the outcome altho the cage it’s self weighs a ton and falls alot lower on my body due to the sheer weight of it.

Artifact no6

I had brought in the rusty bolt I had found at my front door in the hope it could be used for this piece but the technician advised that it would need to have a pretty big hole made for it and it would be better just to blow torch a new bolt to make it look old.

Hammering a hole into the Artifact caused the debris from the bottom to come away but I soon sorted this by glueing it back on.The bigger issue became that the top once attached was too heavy for the metal strip and would bend it if you didn’t support the top when picking it up.I think I may consider re-inforcing the rod with a strip of metal somehow attached underneath it altho this may ruin the asthetics.

Semester 2 week 5 Tools and Ghouls.

18th Feb 202220th Feb 2022 | harussell1

This week I was working between a mixture of disaplines (my favourite thing to do) I started off the week by learning another skill in forging which was to ‘draw out the metal’ in order to make a small spade like tool.I felt that it worked well with my theme and provided another ‘artifact’

In order to make the flat end the metal had to be ‘drawn out’ by heating then hitting the metal from the top to the bottom of the heated section.The metal then had to be hit hard on the edge of the axel in order to create the ridge. The bottom half was also made by drawing out the metal and tapping the metal whilst rotating it on the axel and the twist (which is allways my favourite part) was made by simply heating the metal and twisting with a vice before brushing it over with a golden bristled brush for added effect.

For some reason my wrist and fingers were really hurting with the hitting that day.I blamed it on not using my favourite hammer but the technician told me this wasn’t true.I also prefer to use a lighter hammer as otherwise it puts too much strain on my wrist and I only have tiny wrists.The technician said that not everyone is built for forging and that if it hurts too much it’s ok to stop.But as they say ‘Mumma didn’t make no quitter’ haha

I decided to start the waterless lithography process for making a flag with the symbol on it. The process was deffinatley alot more then I expected and very meticulous.The process deffinately wasn’t as long as the foundry one tho.First the plates had to be cleaned with acetone,then scrubbed twice (with a liquid i think had silicon in it),rinsed and then a liquid applied which had a mixture of wheel cleaner and silicon in it before being dried off with newsprint before the design got painted on.I decided to use light washed down toner on one sheet and undiluted toner on another and a layer of silone with white spirits applied.The sheets then had to be left to dry over night before booking another session.I then had to use a heat gun on the design so that it would set into the aluminum sheet.To start with I didn’t have the heat gun close enough so the design hadn’t set and then i had it too close and the heat had travelled back up the gun causing smoke to billow out! (apparently this has never happened before) the gun had to be left at an open window to cool down!

Once the ink was rolled up I then applied the ink by rolling it on I then put the design under the electric roller.It was interesting experimenting with more and less ink just to see how the final design would turn out.It was also hard sometimes to apply enough pressure so the ink would mark the plate showing up on the paper.I did lots of practice prints on newsprint.I was advised by the teacher to maybe go smaller on the design next time as it was too big for the paper and mounting board and would mark the sheet. There seemed to be a small part of the print missing on sheet i liked the most which may of been due to missing that section with the heatgun.The technician advised that waterless lithography would never be perfect and at some stage you just have to come to terms with what you have.But I find that really hard to do unless it is a ‘happy accident’ and i like the end result. Luckily as a back up I painted with acrylic onto some transfer paper the design but due to time limitations I have had to book another session next to do that in.

Image painted with acyrilic onto transfer paper.

Next week I aim to try printing with the transfer paper and maybe try printing onto cloth and seeing how it goes.I can feel my impatience kicking in as I feel deperate to see the design as a flag allready but printing requires alot of patience which hopefully I will slowly learn that patience can pay off and results aren’t allways going to be instant but something that can slowly be worked on in time.

Scold’s Bridle which I viewed in the Mcmanus Gallery.

I bound together the straw and willow branch with plaited twine.I felt like this was almost ritualistic and needed to be done as part of the process.The object was bound together which is a popular practice within witchcraft in order to protect someone or something.The object had ambiguity in working wel not only as a sculpure but also as a prop and painting tool.

I felt that the action of binding with the straw fit in quite well with a couple of the reasons witches may do binding. Particulary ‘controling a person’s behaviour,thoughts or emotions’

I then flicked the branch up and down in the paint before using it to paint the image of the red lady on the wall.The image looked as if it had been drawn with bloody nails and even the red paint that the straw lay in had a gory looking after effect to it.

I felt that this image worked well to represent the ghostly yet ghouly image of the red lady that would of been etched into every child and women’s head.

https://youtube.com/shorts/4wepq59k0GQ?feature=share

https://youtube.com/shorts/7L_Wvh19uDw?feature=share

https://youtube.com/shorts/Hvay6XEP3MM?feature=share

I deffinately felt that my work connected rather well with Cy Twombly’s lines.

I thought it would maybe interesting to hand the things I make from the beach onto this tree.

Semester 2 Week 4 TRial and error.

14th Feb 202215th Feb 2022 | harussell1

This week was alot about experimenting,trialing different ideas and seeing what worked and what didn’t.I also felt like it was quite a lsow week and I have been struggling with not really having anyone to bounce ideas off of in the studio.

I did however,find that it really helped having my one to one with one of the tutors this week.She really helped clear my head in regards to the whole performance/sculpture balance.She recomended that i do keept the performance aspect even if it is just the short films and maybe have a performance opening night of the exhibition then leave all the things i have made out and some films running.We talked over the idea of this dystophian world and the importance of the character having a backstory.Prehaps her character was invented by men in order to stop there wifes from gossiping and to keep them under control and these stories were told to young girls so that they would behave.We also talked about leaving bound items in the woods and punlic places etc.

We also discussed the myth of the red lady in the modern day world.What if she was like Bloody Mary or slender man?What if parts of her tale were true and the rest got lost in myth and then resurfaced as an internet myth?

Slender man was created on a ‘something awful’ online forum for a 2009 photoshop parnormal image contest.The myths were then expanded by fan fiction.The myth of ‘slender man’ encouraged two 12 year olds to lore their friend into the woods and stab her 19 times.Which infact seems more sinister then the myth itself.

Bloody Mary was used in the olden days by women in order to see their future husband in the mirror.They would either day it 3 or thirten times whilst holding a candle in a mirror and soemtimes when walking backwards upstairs.It is said you would either see the face of your future husband or they may see a skull or the face of the grim reeper instead.It is said that staring in the mirror for long spells in darkness actually causes hallucinations.

https://www.fastcompany.com/3058915/the-first-monday-in-may-throws-gasoline-on-the-debate-of-is-fashion-ar

Designed by Alexander McQueen for the New York Met Gala.

https://dygtyjqp7pi0m.cloudfront.net/i/36328/31252773_1.jpg?v=8D6159642A10370

After watching ‘The First Monday in May’ on Netflix I was inspired by some of the faces cages on the catwork and the whole concept of fashion and art merging.So i drew up a design for a medevil style headpiece almost on par with a ‘scold’s bridel’ but without the mouthpiece as I wanted to show that altho she was free from her husband’s control she was still imprisoned within her own mind consistantly looking for revenge.

Image drew whilst watching’the first monday in May’

I was encouraged by the welding technician that before trying to make the headcage,to try and make it from cardboard first so i could then take it apart,Measure the strips and then make it with metal,it would also point out where there might be difficulties as he predictied that making this kind of structure may prove troublesome but in order to problem solve it was best to make the maquette first.

The cardboard proved to be too heavy so never held the shape well enough and started to fall inwards.For some reason I had forgotten that maquettes are supposed to be made with card.Using card wouldn’t have as much give and therefore would hold much more like metal.

The card proved to be much easier and more light weight in regards to holding it’s shape.The card to however reveal a problem area which was in the top right corner which didn’t attach very well.

Added some Ivy that i found to the design but I feel that the centre part of the structure doesn’t stand out as much with the ivy around it.I think once the headpiece it made that i would like to try weaving around it

An Artist that was suggested to me by my one to one tutor this week was a previous student called Morgan Black who’s work focuses primarily on gender and who’s degree show imagined a past different from the one we know. I find their illustrations interesting,altho personally I prefer to do my illustrations by hand.I also like the artefacts that they have made outside.

https://www.dundee.ac.uk/masters-showcase/2021/morgan-black

Sekai Machache was another artist whom was mentioned to me.I find her performance pieces and costumes particulary striking especially in the surroundings she has choosen which provide the perfect surroundings.The way the colours reflect in the water is particulary striking.

A Hint of Blue

Monster Chetwynd work was mentioned as her crazy bat lady image relays in a similar way to the red lady image.Altho the crazy bat lady imade has been created by cut up seperate images then glued together.I do appreciate and like the surreal quality of this image tho.I have created images like this in the past so may be a good idea to try and do something similar again.

Semester 2 Week 3.May the red lady commence!

7th Feb 2022 | harussell1

This week I focused on more character development for whom I have now called ‘The red lady’I focused on a series of angry faces but reflecting back I think I need to add more menacing like what is seen in the short video I have made.

I experimented with a series of different ways of doing the eye make-up.Two eyes?One eye?Drawn with a brush?Drawn with fingers?I found that altho having one eye painted on worked well in the video as it exsagerrated that eye as I flew towards the camera and my hair covered the rest of my face.The primative look of the smeared on black snazeroo had a real viking feel to it and made the cahracter seem alot darker.

Favourite shot as I love how the crinkles in the corner of the eye causes themake-up to flicker up at the corners.

It is known that the vikings only wore make-up on their eyes,this was called Kohl and mainly made from a mix of antimony,burnt almonds,lead,oxidized copper,ochre,ash,malachite and chyrsocolla.

My future plan is to print a couple of these off using the printing suite for some good quality images (as the libary prints that i did were quite poor) and to hire a black and white film camera to take a couple of images with that too.As i think these would do well blown up.I also want to take a couple in the area where the lecture halls are in DJCAD as i feel like it has quite a dystophian feel which goes along quite nicely with my character.

Forging.

This week in the forging class I worked on something called a ‘pineapple twist’.This is achieved by heating the metal untill yellow and the scales are lost then squaring off the sides with a hammer.It was a very time pressured activity tho as I then had to take what looked like a wallpaper scraper and hammer it in the middle of each side untill it caused a groove.I had to hammer it into the same groove each time so if it had moved whilst hit i had to reposition it.I had to work alot on my hammering skills before I could do this tho as my hammering wasn’t as hard as it needed to be but once I got to making the twist my hammering was spot on which was really rewarding.The technician had said he wouldn’t judge me if i wanted to focus more on the metal work side of things but this was the worst thing he could of said because then I had to prove to him (and myself) that i could do it haha.My lines were straight (ish) but not bang on.I then had to twist the metal in the vice one way and then do it all over again then twist it the other.The results were alot better then expected for a first timer and it showed up quite well once i brushed it with the gold brush.I would like to go back and practice it again tho so that i can get the lines straighter.

You can see towards the left hand side where the scraper didn’t reach into the groove well enough.

A better view of the whole handle.Prehaps the is a likable touch to the almost primative quality of the handle not being quite ‘perfect’

Last year during lockdown I climbed into the ruins of a fenced off castle on the east coast on a liff ledge (urban exploring is one of my favourite past times) and found what looks like an ancient poker.The technician reckons it has been in the sea at one point due to the sand-like crustaceans living on it.I don’t want to alter this object (mostly because I’m worried it will be worth money) but I would like to use it in some way as a prop.I may experiement with different ways it can be used.

Woven Sculpture

I found this piece of wood whilst filming in the forest which I felt was very vulva like.To start with i imagined it in some kind of choker (but it was a bit to death defying) haha.Then it just made sense to weave it into (what was originally) a bin lid (found in the forest whilst filming too).My future plan is to make the lid into some kind of trap/shield so I may take this apart again as I realise how important it is not to be attached to work so that it can be developed further.I also would quite like to try and make the wood into a headpiece.

https://youtube.com/shorts/7c2iAd3I76E?feature=share

Mask

I decided to write out ‘The red lady is watching you’ as if it was written in blood with my fingers.But the piece was too big to fit anywhere.I love the sweeping gestural yet creepy effect of the writing.I may put it up in the corridoor..

I was inspired by Richard Ramirez’s satanic blood symbols that he would write using his victims blood.Apparently due to the oxysidisation of the blood once it is outside of the body it remains bright for a long period of time.

https://youtube.com/shorts/51yDyQot4mA?feature=share

I had initally planned on filming myself walking throught the woods and disapearing at various points the re-appearing.But when filming it my friend who was filming said that you could really see any of the detail of the props/eye make-up when we were doing this. and that it would work better if i was coming towards the camera especially due to the way the light was hitting and nicely bouncing off of the headpiece I felt that i wanted to take advantage of that with some more closer to camera filming.My regret is that i didn’t get my friend to film horizontally for the shot.

I decided that i wanted the film to be grainy as I remember watching the new I.T at the cinema and being terrified of the scene where the scene in the book comes alive and it had a grainy quality to it and this is how i wanted this to seem that it had come straight out of an old horror book/scene.I wanted the image to be silent like a silent movie but I decided that the slow mo sounds were quite creepy within themselves.I do want to try a variation of other edits tho with and without music this week.

Female warriors

https://www.thoughtco.com/ancient-women-warriors-121482

There doesn’t seem to be an awful lot of information about female warriors/tribes of the past (prehaps because the history books were mostly written by men)

But I particualry enjoyed reading about the wrath of Tomyris the queen of the Massaegetae and the vengeful way of which she waged war aganst the Persian King Cyrus the Great

‘…she took a skin, and, filling it full of human blood, she dipped the head of Cyrus in the gore, saying, as she thus insulted the corpse, “I live and have conquered you in fight, and yet by you am I ruined, for you took my son with guile; but thus I make good my threat, and give you your fill of blood.”

https://www.beyondpinkworld.com/featurestories/culture/matriarchal-societies-world-2998

There are matriachal societies which exsist today such as the Minangkaubau in Indonesia where by the mothers and daughters pass down the family name and claim the inheritance etc.

Zadie Xa

A fellow class mate had told me to look at the work of Zadie Xa as her work corresponds to some of my character work.

I appreicate her mixture of discaplines and there is something to be said about how she used the space around her during her exhibitions.Altho her visual asthetic is more playful then mine.

Semester 2 Week 2 (A Week of inductions)

30th Jan 202223rd Apr 2022 | harussell1

This week was a busy week,inductions and my very first face to face crit since coming back!

But first of all we’ll start off with the Blacksmithing induction.

My intial idea was to make a shaman’s staff but it turned out that that idea was a little too adventurous. First of all we took some industrial metal rods and cut them up,We then filed the sharp edges off ready for heating up in the machine (of which I have forgotten the name)The rod slid into the machine but wasn’t able to touch to sides of the coil it went into otherwise you may be given an electric shock so the teacher had made a stand to use so that you could easily slide the metal into the machine.

This machine was used to remove any sharp edges on the metal.The metal must be held at either a 45 degrees angle or straight against it so that it didn’t get caught and fly from your hands.

In order to achieve the tip the metal must be continously hit from a certain angle whilst the metal is rolled to make sure all angles are equal.I found this very difficult to achieve especially within the time limit of trying to do it before the metal cooled again.As you can see the angle is still slightly off but not too bad for a first try.The gold tip was created simply by using a metal brush with gold coated steel wire on it which then transfered onto the mental when brushed with it whilst still hot.

Altho the idea was initatlly to make a shaman’s staff I feel that it was important to get the technique right first before trying anything more adventurous plus I ended up making an interesting looking arrow/wand which really isn’t too bad at all!

So for my crit this week I decided to use a performance art technique which I had seen used in the past.I told the handful of people in my crit to sit on the floor and i had choosen a spot in which to put a chair with the symbol i had choosen for my character above it.I went and put on my head piece and retrieved the arrow whilst letting suspense grow.I had also painted the symbol on my eye and was wearing the red cloak.

The feedback was what I was hoping to achieve,so therefore i felt that the crit was sucessful.Some of the feedback was as follows; ‘I hated it,I felt as if I was loosing my nerve.’ (this was from the woman whom squirmed) haha.

‘Sitting on the floor felt like being in a position of weakness,I felt small and un-nerved’

‘The symbol had an egyptian feel and made you look almost like a Spynx’

‘Thou shall not pass’

‘Dystophian,handmaids tale’

‘Alien like’

‘Plague mask’

‘Make-up very sci-fi,should of disapered mid way through someone elses crit and came back with it on’

‘It went from a fanciful fairytale to scifi’

‘Was wondering if there was going to be a speach’

‘Noise brought you back into the room’

It was suggested that i could also of used the staff/wand/arrow to point at different people.

In the future I could do a performance piece within the uni where I jump out on people.

Piece was reminiscent of Marina Abramovic where she sits and stares individually at each person who ques to sit infront of her.

I felt that personally I got the reaction that i wanted from the audience but as the tutor said it would of been interesting to see if i could of held composure should people of not of had their masks on.Which made me wonder how the people I saw do it how they managed.What did they think of?

I think i do want to use the staff as part of the act in the future as I feel that this character should remain silent and reaction should be caused by her movement and eye contact.Part of her back story is that she was tortured for being a tale tale and not allowed to speak so she inserts her control using other methods.I allways remember growing up that when me and my friend had been up to mischief her mum wouldn’t even say anything she would just give us a look that was more scornful and terrifying then a telling could possibly ever be and that it the kind of power that i want this character to purvey.

I don’t know how confident i feel about staring at people within the uni.I suppose within an art school environment your pretty safe but it’s deffinately not something I would want to try in public.I feel that i am happy to perform in a space that has been organised to perform in and I am interested in making short films but that is it.Ofcourse the publics reaction is allways going to be more interesting but there is also nothing more unpredictable or volatile then the general public and having worked with them for many years I wouldn’t feel safe,I mean after all a member of the public held a handgun to Marina Abramovics head when he was given the opertunity so anything is possible.

Is there anything more powerful then a stare?The eyes are the windows to our souls after all.

Lazercutting and Lino printing

I found lazercutting alot more technical then I thought it would be.I really struggle with anything technical due to my dyspraxia.I have a short term memory because of this and because there are so many instructions with anything digital/technical i get lost really easily and have to keep asking the tutor to repeat themselves.I still really enjoyed the process especially how unpredictable the end image is.I felt that my image turned out closer to the original image then anyone elses did as there’s were alot more detailed then mine.The small dots made by the lazer gave it a real pop art feel.It was difficult to get the esact right amount of ink on the lino cut (i have in the past put too much) and then when i got the right amount i managed to get a flek of ink in the middle of the symbol.It’s also difficult to get the print straight on the paper.But practice makes perfect and prints are deffinately something I want to take further in my work so I am currently in the process of booking an induction with the main print workshop.

Sandcasting.

Sandcasting was such a long and complex process,again alot longer then I thought it would be.The technician advised me that the process would normally be done over a couple of days but due to the restrictions and class sizes it now has to be done in a day.

The biscuits were first glued to a board of sorts,had a special kind of sand with oil in it added then a cast was made of that before the boards were drilled together and the liquid bronze poured in.Before this could happen tho it had to reach a certain temparture. (this was checked regulary by using a probe)The liquid travelled down the funnels made in the sand down to where the biscuit casts were.

The biscuits casts were then sanded down to get rid of the rough edges before being sandblasted.They were then taken to be painted using a certain paint that needed to be applied by using the heat of a welding gun.I choose to go for emerald green and magenta/blue.The biscuits then had waxed applied and were polished to bring closer attention to detail.

And for my next trick..

This weekend I plan on making a black and white silent movie in the woods.It will involve the character pacing amongst the trees and disapearing from one area then re-appearing in the next.I also have an idea for the character screaming at the camera in a silent rage.I would like to experiment with different music and sound in the background.(Hopefully I can get some asistance from the i.t lab with this)I like the thought of white noise playing whilst she screams but these things don’t allways turn out quite as you expect.
This weekend I plan on making a black and white silent movie in the woods.It will involve the character pacing amongst the trees and disapearing from one area then re-appearing in the next.I also have an idea for the character screaming at the camera in a silent rage.I would like to experiment with different music and sound in the background.I like the thought of white noise playing whilst she screams but these things don’t allways turn out quite as you expect.

I have found myself becoming inspired by a mixture of different cultures,from witchcraft,to shamans to ancient egyptians to vikings!I think mainly because all these things have allways interested me.So it makes sense that i bring all these elements to my work.Oh and the more morbid the better.My Mum was allways worried about my obsession with The Return to Oz as a kid because I especially loved the part where the queen could choose a different head to wear from all the heads she had cut off and I guess my morbid frame of mind has continued ever since!

The aesthic,style and strength of a viking woman has allways been something to be admired..I want to bring parts of this into my character and the development.

I find the egyptian eye make up quite inspirational and also the power of the female queens.

I have also started to wonder if the warrior like/strongness of the character has become my alter ego.The strong part of me that has prehaps carried me throught the last few months and prehaps even the last few years.