I felt that a bedsheet was the most fitting for the covid monster because if it was gonna spring up from anywhere it would be your bed!Especially as you spend the most time in it whilst ill.
Dylon dilueted in water and salt.The colour turned out much better then expected and esactly what I wanted considering the dye sachet was only meant for a small amount of material equal to that of a shirt.
I used a mixture of pva and olive green paint in order to gloop it onto the bedsheet and make it seem as realistic as possible giving the effect of snot/mucus.
Using the plasma cutter in Welding I cut out the shape of the ripe sternum using the card maquette that I had made previously (something i do which helps me work out the size and how things will work/not work.I had drawn out the outfit but it wasn’t untill I tried ti on in realisty that I realised it could easily be mistaken for a hijab which ofcourse I didn’t want.It made sense that the ribsternum needed to be detached from the headband as it was the headband and the colour grey that as making the outfit look most like a hijab and that the rib sternum should be made into a necklace to sit where the ribs are.
The theory behind the plague Doctor outfit was that it would ‘isolate’ the doctor meaning that they wouldn’t get contaminated.Much like the modern day PPE.I wanted one of the eyes to give resemble one of the plague dr goggles/gasmask.
I wanted the covid moster to resemble almost that of a scooby doo villian in terms of it’s mischieviousness but with a more sinister intent.
Same of the scariest masks are some from the victorian era,outfits would most commonly be made using ‘crepe’ paper (something which was new to that era and everyone was very excited about) masks were however made using paper mache,fabric and paint all of this left terrifying results!I wanted the covid monster to be infuenced by the simplicity of outfits like these almost with a mixture of a ‘bedsheet ghost’
simple yet sinister
Amazingly sad movie but I love the fact that altho the outfit was just a bit sheet the meaning was so much more then that.
I decided to attach the positive covid test first using super glue and then by stitching them on and adding the positive symbol in the middle of the ‘eye’ and then adding the pva and ink gloob to the other eye area.The necklace then gave great shape to the head and the shape of the rest of the gown had a rather formed yet high fashion shape to it the fitted ends of the sheet giving great shape to the arms.It resembled a body bag tho but also the hood used before someone is hanged.I hoped that the body bag shape wouldn’t cause offense to anyone who’s family member had died due to covid as that isn’t what i have intended.
The hooded head reminded me of a hang mans sack.
‘Pirates’ was a show I watches as a child and the top right character who allways remained in a sack reminded me of the covid monster.As I child I forever wondered who was in the sack which I want the audience to do with covid also.
A mixture of pva,ink and olive green paint left int he plastic pot from pouring onto the sheet turned out to make a perfect eye!
A poster I made and put up in the corridoor in order to see what people would respond.The respose wasn’t as interesting as I thought it would be.I think I will mayb put more up around the uni and see what happens.
On the left a collage piece aiming to resemble the gloom of the covid monsters.I find this to be quite an effective way of resembling it.
On the right is a page from the book ‘A brief history of the dance of death’ by Ian Breakwell.I think I would like to overlap the faces of thoose who have had covid with the covid monster.After speaking to a tutor who knew the artist himself he said that most of his work was actually done on the photocopier which is something I used to be really keen on years and years ago.
This week my project took a full 180 degrees turn.What was meant to be a weekend visit to my partner who lives in Okrney turned out to be a full week due to us both getting Covid.In my fevered delirious state i started to wonder if the cloaked figure I had imagined was actually a premonition of my own covid due to the fact it had a rib sternum as a face covering.I had felt so lost with what esactly the world was going to be that connected to the cloaked monster but now I knew.That world was this world and Covid visits us when we least expect it.The most hideous monster of them all
Covid Feels like.
Covid feels like: Burning hot pokers pushed into your eye sockets.
Covid feels like: Having your head crushed slowly by a car door.
Covid feels like: A lump in your throat that will swallow YOU whole.
Covid feels like: ‘Welcome to the worry factor’
Covid feels like: ‘I’m gonna fail,I’m gonna fail’
Covid feels like: ‘I can’t afford it’
Covid feels like:’Rich,Rich,RICHARD’
Covid feels like: *SNORES*
Covid feels like: *Cough…spew…cough*
Covid feels like: ‘it’s chocolate,it’s something you like’
Covid feels like ‘Not on your nelly,not one little bite’
Covid feels like: Missed opportunities.
Covid feels like: -£900.18
Covid feels like: There had to be a positive.
I wrote this in the midst of covid and altho I felt down and burnt out by it to start with one night whilst wide awake with the shivers I felt inspired to write this.
I also kept a diary entry.
When life gives you covid make a cup of mucus.
Day 1 8pm: It all started when I went for dinner with Richard and the girls. He wanted to sign up to
Rev comps and I was trying to ignore the fact that I felt ill until he went to sign up and it delayed us
leaving so I blurted out ‘I feel ill! Please don’t!’ Can we go now?
We watched 1408 as it seeped in I sure as hell wished we hadn’t as most Stephen King movies are
like a fever dream anyways and I swear this just made it worse. I didn’t know what day of the week it
was by the time it had finished and my temperature soared through the roof. Rich tested me.I was
negative which was the positive in my mind.
DAY 2 5am: Searing pain in my eye sockets, my head feels like it’s been slammed in a car door several
times. The pain keeps me awake the chills make me not want to leave my bed to search for
ibuprofen. Decided to wait until almost day light (which takes a while in Orkney in the winter) to
wake Richard because I couldn’t handle the pain much more. Out of the goodness of his heart he
wet me a small towel and applied it to my head and eyes. It was a small gesture but one I was so
grateful for. I finally slept until 9am.
He took the day off to look after me.
He’s too sweet.
I lay on the couch lethargic and coughing up flem balls like flemy cat.
Somehow, we came to the unanimous decision that going to the spa would be a great idea.
(It was not)
Turns out the sauna and steam room did not clear the flem in my throat it just made it SO much
worse. It felt like the thickest flem ever that I couldn’t clear or get up. The coughing was leading to
me gagging, which was so embarrassing (especially in public)
Rich told me to spit.
I’d rather swallow.
I was meant to be going home tonight but I had to reschedule due to feeling so ill. It cost me £30 to
reschedule.
Day 3: I slept so well!!!!I woke up so refreshed!!I never sleep like this, I barely even noticed Rich
leaving for work! The hill is alive with the sound of…shivers? The cough of doom? FFS. At least I
managed to get the clothes washed and some of the dishes done though. I decided to run another covid
test because something isn’t right here…
POSITIVE.
Messaged Rich because he was in a meeting. He comes home then…
POSITIVE.
Couples who get covid together stay together right?
His &hers
How sweet.
I had to reschedule the ferry (again)they let me do it for free this time though because to travel with
them with covid is against their policy. Thank God as I had no money left.
Feeling so para about Uni, had to cancel my welding session, tutorial and everything. I didn’t want to
fail.I can’t fail. I really don’t want to fall behind but what can I do?
I messaged Pernille, she said t would be ok to talk to her about it. That and the 10,000 other things
keeping me behind just now. My Dads ill ,my cats ill ,I’m ill. I have no money. Urgh.
I can’t differ again. Not this time.
We played stardew valley. It was addictive yet therapetutic I can see how people got hooked during
lockdown and how it helped mental health. Planting, listening to rainfall and relaxing music.
We watched Goodfellas.
Day 4:I couldn’t sleep, Rich’s bed is as solid as a mortuary slab and my hips and back cant take it. I
shivered so much, hugged him for warmth but even he wasn’t his usual warm self. I didn’t wanna get
up because I was too cold to turn the heating on. I finally got up and turned it on. Tossed and turned
consistently. My back and hips hurt, it was too hot it was too cold, coughing,I thought covid was
meant to make you lethargic? I thought up a spoken word poem about covid and all of a sudden it hit
me,
THIS IS A POSITIVE.
The hooded creature with the rib sternum IS COVID. The elephant in the room!!The ultimate
creepester in the room! The one guy you didn’t invite to the party but he turns up anyways
UNINVITED. No matter how big or how small he is he’s there.
I moved to the livingroom to sleep but the ideas paced and paced my head.
Day 5:I can’t smell or taste. Somehow I never noticed this until now. It makes life so abysmal.I keep refusing food and Rich is getting worried. Trying to makesure I atleast take supplements. We went for a walk across the beach. I only managed half way before feeling absolutely freezing,I feel that this was mostly down to me not eating. Everything tastes like textures. My head feels heavy. All I want to do is sleep constantly. I moved the ferry again to Friday this time. Luckily having covid means you can’t travel with them so they will transfer the trip for free.
Day 6: We chanced a walk to Tesco. The exercise did me good and if it was Richard’s way we would be climbing mountains by now but am I fuck. He tested negative. Can’t help but feel bitter about it! Starting to wonder if I will ever test negative at this rate. Or even get my taste and smell back. Not looking forward to getting the ferry home tomorrow especially feeling like this.
Day 7:Even packing for the ferry was a killer let alone getting on it. It was pouring down too which wasn’t great, the ferry wasn’t too rough atleast.
Day 8:I had to wait atleast 2 hours on the train. Forcing myself to eat food I couldn’t taste and then struggling with my luggage to the taxi rank. Taxi driver felt so sorry for me after I told him my multiple sob stories that he gave me a can of energy juice.haha.
Day 9:still positive and I need to pick the cat up.My brothers autistic OCD traits were going into overdrive. Sanitising my hands at his door, wearing a mask. wouldn’t let me use the toilet or touch anything that wasn’t Tia’s. I’m definitely greatful that this happened now and not during lockdown as I spose I would of faced this off everyone. Went to the shops, bought food but barely ate it.
Day 10.Still positive although my mentality is not.Apparently I am well over the infectious stage so is ok to return to the public even though I feel guilty about doing so.Rich is sending me vitamins.I managed to eat breakfast and lunch although it felt like yuck. Mushroom stroganoff tasted like the texture of slugs. Emily made me eat a banana for her project because the joke is that I ‘wouldn’t be able to taste it anyway’ I still hated the texture. I couldn’t even swallow so I spat. Spoke to Pernille, feel better about things now. I will just take everything one step at a time and stop comparing my workload to last years. Done printmaking prep which was an effort and a half. Pushed myself to stay all day and do as much as possible
Did you know your an amazon warrior?
I decided to smear body paint where i felt it the most which was my eyes,head and throat,I also felt like I was drowning in my own mucus which wasn’t particulary a pleasent feeling.Mucus which never comes up.
During a talk from a lecturer (Delia) in my expansive module she mentioned how Amazon Warriors use a type of red seed which is also used to colour cheese in the West and cheesey crisps etc to smear there bodies with in order to protect them from measels!I was in shock as I knew nothing about this but instinctively I was drawn to do this!
I think when I return to uni (hopefully next week) I will ask fellow students who have had covid to go over their stories of it and to choose a colour that they feel best resembles their experience with covid aswell as interview them about their experience.
The covid monster.
I decided to play about with the idea of covid as a monster,the cheap halloween costume kind made from an old snotty bedsheet.But first I decided to create it in shadow form watching over me whilst I slept.
One..two..Covids coming for you.. I like the fact that this shadow figure was reminiscent of ghostly figures from the victorian era.
An abandoned church in a chzech village was filled with lots of statues made by a local artist ‘Jakub Hadrava’ His work was to try and save the abandoned church and was meant to resemble the ‘Sudetan German’s’ (ethnic minorityGerman’s) who were expelled from the country atfter WW2 to Austria and Germany.
On the right the figue of ‘Nadja’ from ‘Art and the Occult’ prehaps ‘The Covid Monster’ is like a spirit figure only ever seen by thoose who are hallucinating due to fever.
Through out dark times in history,people have created art.What I like the most about American Gothic is the fact it was painted during the ‘great depression’ and yet the couple seemed to be in some kind of depression themselves,the painting is such a satire.I want my work to be this,dark humour,based around a dark era in the world’s history.
In this age of darkness,do we need a modern day demon to blame our troubles and woes on?Can we blame our woes on ‘the covid monster?’ as it seems that everything esp at the time of the full lockdown was blamed on Covid.Businesses being behind with workloads,people not replying to emails when they should etc etc.
Over the summer holidays I have been inspired by working in orkney and visting not only skara brae but excavation sites,cairns,ancient graveyards and other such oddities.What interested me more then anything was the objects from these sites that could not be explained.What were they?Nobody seemed to know but rough guesses were they were used for some kind of games.
An excavation site where three layers of settlements were found,medevil,victorian and modern day!An ‘uncertain mess’ of trawlers nets mixed with other pollution.Nortland Castle on Westray Islandan old combine harvester discovered in an old abandoned barnhouseSkara Brae,one of the oldest Neolithic sites in the world.A discovery of strange findings outside some kind of strange house on Hoy island called ‘Charlumpa’an instalation I made from the bones of a bird I found in Hoy.An unkown item burnt out.Remaining parts of a sunk submerine fron the museum in Hoy.Limpet growths from the once submerged submarine window
I also visited Crete for a week before i returned to uni and visited the palace of knossos.One of the oldest discovered palaces.What particualry intersted me was not only the paintings which would of been done super quick whilst the plaster was drying but the vast amount of findings which had been stored at the Herakilion museum such as clay objects with there arms risen up in a cult like worship,giant burial vases one which showed the skelton still inside it.A board game with the rules unknown.I realised that it wasn’t what was known that interested me but what wasn’t.Which is what give me such a morbid obsession with death because there is so much that is unknown in regards to after we die but the greeks has such a fascination with it that they made up a whole universe and characters that would look after you after death such as Thanatos who would come to carry you off when your time given by the fates had expired.Objects made to look like this god were also to be found in this museum.
A burial vase.Believed to be clay utensils for liquid with a double spout.But I love how eerie they lookOne of my favorite figures due to how ominous it was without it’s head.
Returning to uni I found it really hard to get into the swing of things so decided to help inspire myself and my morbid curiosity that i would take myself to Surgeons Hall (a place i have never visted even after 10 years of living in Edinburgh) it was extemely worth a vist with miles and miles of basicaly body parts in phthalimide that had either suffered certain fates or had a tumour/disase,tumor,bones and other such items of morbid curiosities.Unlike the Greek/neolithic findings there was much known about these findings.Photo’s weren’t allowed for the obvious reason of the items being body parts but sketches were. One item I found particualry interesting as random as it may seem was the rib sternum in particular the shape it inspired me and made me think of what a wonderful headpiece the shape of the sternum would make,I thought of this,the god Thanos and prehaps an alternate surreal universe where a cult of white clothed figures lived,the leader where the rib sternum as a had piece.
Rib sternum headpiece imagined.Sketch of Rib sternum without ribs attached.
After recently having watched ‘Keep sweet:Pray and obey’ I thought of how all the morman women were required to dress the same.Same hairstyle,clothing etc within a particular sect a polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, an offshoot of mainstream Mormonism.The women were required to do a dance infront of the men in order to ‘keep them sweet’ and what if this particular cult of white clothed figures did the same.
Female Morman’s dressed in cerimonial white after the death of their leader Warren S Jeffs.
Female mormans of this particular off branch were expected to have their hair styled in one of four particular ways aswell as a certain dress code.
A world where nothing is quite understood we can only guess,a world of darkness,mystery,weirdness and alure.I felt that last semesters work was too dark and heavy and it made me miss the light surreal tones of the semester before.So I feel like moving forward I wanted to mix the best of both worlds altho I haven’t yet worked out if i want there to be a serious message behind this cult (prehaps about removal of female identity?) or just completely nonsensical but this will be something that i imagine will come to light as I work further through the project.
My first stop tho is to make the rib sternum into a headpiece.My first consideration is whether or not I should first make a maquette from card or not and how much of the rib sternum I want to make,do i want the ribs included or just the sternum?Should i make a maquette of both and which would have most impact?
After painting out one of the creatures in black ink I felt that it would transfer really well into waterless lithography which is a technique i tried out last year due to the bold and gestural paintmarks.
The white voile sheet i hope to cover myself in is inspired by Loie Fuller.I hope to experiment with movement and light when I am within the voile.
sewed together piece of the rib sternum of prepared scrunch brown packaging paper with black ink,An imagining of the cult together dancing.
Tomorow i have a visit to the Hawkhill museum college and hope to take sketches of further odditities particualry from the pathology department to add to my research collection.
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’The table was too basic
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.Gossiping and singing with friends.This is my favourite image due to the simplicity.The blood Robots have arrived sent by her busband to kill her by draining her of her blood which helps keep their lights bright and the rest of the village.Instead of painting over it i decided to use the coffee stain on the plynth as the full moon which powers ‘the tree that bleeds’Unbeknown to the blood robots the Red lady’s spirit is eternalised due to the eternal powers of the blood from the tree that bleeds she is also given able to time travel.Kerpowww!The red lady is back to seek revenge on her husband,men and to warn women of the past and what is to come so that history stops repeating itself.
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.
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.
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.The piece of card with the red paint was initally used to paint off of during the performance piece and the test piece that i did on lining paper but I felt was a strong piece in it’s resemblence of bloodshedI 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.Final resolved display.
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.
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!Hurrah!An eyelet is born!The kit I had bought seemed to be more for leather punching then materialAs advised by the welding technician i measured the distance between the eyelet as this would then be the distance that would need to be measured out on the flag pole as i would make hooks there.I also measured how long I would want the flag pole with a little extra left at the top of the flag for some kind of design (which i’m still slightly undecided on)
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 weavingI found the middle object at the beach and felt that it looked similar to the Red Lady’s symbol.The weaving has a troubled anxious feel to it.The feeling of a tangled web or something that would be done with repitision whilst the person worried.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.
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?A burnt almost snakeskin looking effect cast onto stoneI wanted to take this whole stick home but it proved too heavy to carry and kept getting metal splinters in my hand so I just kept the metal triangle.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
Ana Mendieta liked to work with the four elements and created this piece as she felt that she had been torn from her homeland and wanted to feel the body to earth connection again. Altho her theme is very different to mine I admire the symbolic qualities of her work.Particulary the use of red in the top left and bottom middle photo,it really adds a darker context to the work and is simple yet captures your attention.I also find it slightly ironic that the top left and bottom middle photo look like that of a murder scene and the and the artist fell to her death from a 33rd floor window of her apartment (it is thought that she was pushed by her husband)Prehaps she predicted this through her art?
Mendieta would often use chicken blood in her work to raise awareness of issues women faced such as domestic abuse and rape.
Joseph Bueys
I can’t say I believe in the ethics of Joseph Bueys work as it seems rather ‘show off’ in terms of how much he must of spent on particulary the exhibition I Like America and America Likes Me (performance, 1974) by not stepping foot on american soil.Using a plane then an ambulance to get to where he needed to go.I do like the fact that he used being a shaman as part of his work practice and how performance particualary in this exhibiton was mixed between his natural state and symbolic shamanic gestures.It made me consider how this could possibly influence my work in reguards to mixing the every day with the performance itself.
‘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 libary for the birds of London’
‘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.
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 hammeredThe 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 polishAfter the paint and polishThe 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.
I’m baaaaaack!And damn it feels good,after a turbulent nearly a year of being homeless,working in Orkney untill I found my feet again I have deffinately come back very reformed and very ready/eager for this semester to begin.
Because I had spent so long ‘out of the game’ it was hard to know where to start.So what better place to start then my blog itself.Looking back on my most previous post I occured and onimous hooded character who never had a chance for the character or costume to develop (certainly not technically anyway so I decided to start there.
I got so excited to start using the workshops that I imediately drew up a plan to make the bone mask into a metal mask and started off by looking at the shapes within the mask and making it more abstract so that it would work more effectively in metal,I also love the process cycle (i think that’s what it’s called) and how and object can change when made using different materials.
Original Bone headpiece using a birds breast bone and skullOmninous character,headpiece could also be flipped.Could the same effect happen using metal?
I decided that the shape made by the breast bone would work more effectively if this shape was cut into the metal.I decided that it would all be made using sheet metal.
I talked over what the process would be with the welding technician,I wanted to individually weld together individual sheets of metal to make the headband to be in keeping with the asthetics of the original piece but we soon realised it would be much easier to just bend a piece of thin metal to the size of my head.(A very big measurement due to my alien sized head)
Used a bucket to bend the metal around then hand clamps to clap it into place before using a clamp to hold it into place and weld it/file down rough edges.drew out the headpiece shape onto sheet mentalUsed a plasma gun to cut the shape out.
I decided that i prefered to use the shape that had fallen out of the sheet of metal rather then the shape that was left in it.Instead,I decided to use this spare sheet of metal to practice using the spot welder on(a piece of machinery which i find genius).I ended up really liking this little demo piece and wishing I could use it for something!I think i will deffinately use a similar technique for a future process.
Once I was confident and happy using the spot welding machine I attempted to attach the copper welding rods to the metal.Via trial and era I realsied that it would be too difficult to use the original one rod that i was intent on using as i wouldn’t be able to successfuly sandwhich the metal plate on top as it wouldn’t balance properly so i instead decided to use three to help the plate on top balance out better.However,once I added the three copper roads altho i intitally thought it looked better once I put it together i felt like it looked worse and that i should of just left it how it was.
Overall i think it was a good first attempt and alot of problem solving helped develop the process and the finished piece in ways I hadn’t expected.
Drawn using the left handContinous linedouble penA couple of developmental pieces drawn using different techniques as part of a process cycle after the handband had been sculpted,I really love how this accentuates the change,
I started working on a short film for this character and also wondered how i could attempt to use her in my crit on Tuesday.I decided that it would be interesting to see how this character could effect other people.I once did a performance workshop where one of the participants simply sat infront of the audience and just stared at each individually individually.I actuall found it really intimadating and felt that this would work well with the darkness of this chracter who is meant to be a mysterious myth and ledgend.
After pulling off the paint from a paint lid i realised it would look pretty cool on the eyeIdea for short black and white movieVariation of styles drawing the characterEye has an egyptian eye feel to it.Need to try out make-up and headpiece.works in progress.
The idea I have for the film would be a black and white silent stop motion style film.The only noise would be the zzzaaaaapp of the teleporting shamans stick/wand that would transport her to different places in the woods.
This week I also decided to visit a couple of local exhibitions to help inspire me again and get the ball rolling a couple of these included the Bauhaus exhibition at the Cooper Gallery.I was super hungry during my visit to this exhibtion so I didn’t spend as much time there as I wished so will re-visit again prehaps later next week altho I’m rather embaressed after mistaking one of the booklets that belonged to the exhibition as a freebie and having to do the walk of shame today in order to give it back.The part of the exhibition that really caught my attention was the black and white video at the end which was a recording of art students talking about the huge ‘gap’ between what was being taught in schools and what was being taught at unversity.This still seems very relevant today,why has nothing changed?!?
I also visted the DCA’S Ray Yen Song and Tako Taal exhibition,my particular favourite being Ray Yen Songs as I loved the mix of media which intertwinned,as it was based on family mythology it made me think about ideas of how i could intertwinne different media’s for my current project aswell as the mythical element.
I loved the textural element of the gown and how it displayed the mysthical creatures faces on it and that the faces of the monster were on everything even the shoes!
I finished off this week by looking at medievil torture devices for the head as mentioned to me in my tutorial the headpiece was quite reminiscent of one of them.Which as i have allways been facinated by the darker side of history but i also love high fashion so why not mix the two together!I also thought that prehaps the headpiece could be part of the characters tale was she tortured and then in turn haunted the land?
Was she pacing the land forever looking to get revenge against thoose who scorned her?The silent movie could be reflective of her now having her voice taken away by the contraption due to tales of her gossiping etc.
I also felt that the head piece had a shamanic feel to it with the one that was made from bone and the one after that so looked at a couple of shamanic headpiece,I feel like it would be interesting to see how the style of some of them would look if created with metal.
I love how the bits with the ovals at both side look similar to that of a woman’s ovaries.
Not being able to see the eyes gives a further air of mystery but how would the character otherwise interact with the audience?
Today I photocopied some of my latest works and reversed the colours. Although I was impressed with the outcome of some of the photocopies I started to feel like I had lost my way a little and hit a bit of a wall.After having a discussion with the tutor and artist in residence they talked about how my work had developed a alot since the word ‘eviction’ and that due to the nature of the 2D work taking on almost a look of 3D work in the photocopies due to the dark background beside the swirl of galaxy like colours there was a feeling of a ‘void’ which could link with the emotions brought by homelessness. Tomorrow i hope to create further pieces inspired by this aspect and take it further forward.
Encouraged by my tutor i stripped work off my wall that wasn’t working and kept up those that were which really helped my vision in moving forward.
Mark Rothko-‘Black blue painting’ I Felt like this work related to some of my pieces where I had photocopied the emulsion with ink on it and reversed the colours.Rothko’s abstract work also has a feeling of a kind of ‘void’ about it which is very prominent in his darker painitng’s such as this one.I feel that some of my 2D work such as the tissue paper on ink and the emulsion piece have a feeling of being 3D even tho they are 2D which echoes alot of what Rothko’s pieces do.
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