#sketchbook

Semester 2 Week 2 (A Week of inductions)

| 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.
The machine used for heating the rod up.All of the grey scale from the metal must be gone and the metal must be yellow in colour before the metal is ready to be hammered
The axel is what is used to lay whatever your hammering onto.
In order to add the twist the metal but be clamped into the vice then clamped again and twisted.Depnding on how tight or how far you twisted the metal effected the final outcome of the lines!
If the stick was slighly out of shape a cow hide hammer which is softer would help mould it back into shape.This was best done not when the metal had returned to it’s grey colour but still hot.
The stick must be kept close to the leg and when hammering you must hold the hammer from the middle because as I found out,if you don’t it strains your wrist and makes everything much harder work then it allready is!
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.

Before the paint and polish
After the paint and polish
The outcome was deffinately worth the wait but I just don’t think I could see myself using the foundry in the future.I found the process far too time comsuming.Maybe it has something to do with my very short attention span but I like to work on serval things at the same time and sandcasting doesn’t really allow time for that and what if you go through such a long process just for the outcome not to be what you expected?!?I am glad however that I gave it a try.Nothing ventured nothing gained.

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!

Objects bound in a banishment spell.
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.

Week 9 ‘Bojo’s wig’

| harussell1

This week I added the finishing touches to Bojo’s bus and wig. I realised that the finishing touches to the bus just had to be the union jack. Due to Bojo’s being the embodiment of ‘British and proud’ and because of Brexit. I also bought a 5ft by 3ft union jack to pin up in the background for filming. I searched the charity shops and bought an oversized shirt, blazer jacket and tie for £1.99 each was a really affordable student price. I also liked the fact the shirt hadn’t been steamed as it added to the look of Bojo’s well known unkempt ‘scruffiness’ I also had ‘air pillow packaging’ to wrap around under the shirt.

Bojo’s wig riding on the back of ‘Bojo’s buses’

To make the wig I simply took the bald cap I had used for the old lady on one occasion and super glued sheep’s wool to it. To start with I added far too much wool and somehow didn’t realise this until i tried it on Louis’ head and realised he looked like Rick from Rick and Morty instead. This would make absolutely no sense especially due to the fact that Bojo notoriously has very fine fly-away hair. So i began to pull tufts out, spread the sheep’s wool with my fingers to make it look thin so that you could see the scalp and pinch sections of the hair towards the middle of the scalp and backcomb it with my fingers. I’m am very pleased with the finished results as I didn’t predict it would turn out as well as it did. One of my classmates said it needed to be more yellow, but Bojo’s hair is so blonde that it is verging on white and adding yellow (which i had at one point plotted to do after receiving that comment by doing a ‘dye bath’ with turmeric) would make the wig seem more like Trump. I looked up Boris’s caricature from spitting image and his hair is white blonde which confirmed that i had in fact made the right decision. Even tho i felt that the wig in general had turned out well, I had to come to the realisation that Louis’ head and face shape wasn’t the same shape as his; but in the long haul I realised that this didn’t matter as Louis was so good at the impersonation that people would without a doubt know that he was impersonating Boris. Also did how he look matter so much as long as the comedic effect was there?

  • Tufts were too thick
  • I used my painting shirt to improvise and pad out the bald cap.Next time it would be good to get hold of a dummy head.
As you can see there is an immediate difference between the thick wig and the thinner wig

A few photo’s of the wig and the bus with the old lady and Willy Johnson.I feel that the wig takes on lots of human traits in these photo’s.

This week I had a crit with Ellie Harrison and a few other classmates.This crit got very positive feedback,Ellie mentioned prehaps submitting some of the films to comedy festivals which i am going to do over the Christmas holidays.One of my fellow classmates said ‘What if she becomes the bus?’ And i felt like this was a very big Eureka moment!So i started to sketch out a few potential ideas…

The idea of her becoming a bus amuses me greatly and hopefully would have that reaction in other people.I started to think what material would work the best,would MDF be too heavy? Would cardboard work well enough?How would i attach it to my body?I plan on thinking these things over during the Christmas holidays ready for the next semester.