Journal - Week Commencing 02/09/2013

Research Development

I found this week challenging as I felt it was the first week I was working without any boundaries. Entering this course from A-levels, where you are always told whether you are doing something right or wrong, I have found difficult as I have found myself trying to discover my identity and personal style.

We were required to bring in 10 objects that meant something to us. Photographing and sketching them individually helped me to observe and identify their specific visual traits which allowed me to think of future print designs and features for my work. I intend to use and develop this process again when I am carrying out research. I deliberately took flat and close-up images so that I could view all of their details equally. However, on reflection, photographing them from different angles and in different scales and quantities may have allowed for more interesting products.

I really enjoyed working on a larger scale with the A1 paper and physically incorporating my objects with my research process. Creating my mind-maps made me analyse myself and my personality which I felt was empirical to my research. At first, I was quite uncomfortable with this but consciously assessing myself lead to my abstract words becoming unique and personal. I felt my mind-maps were successful as they were extensive which allowed me to discover the relevant abstract words which I needed for my concept board. I tried to find words that were diverse, in terms of some being textures, temperature, locations, colours, feelings, verbs etc. 

My 10 abstract words were:

1. Protect

2. Tight

3. Monochrome

4. Safe

5. Calm

6. Heat

7. New York

8. Structured

9. Rushing

10. Sharp

We were then required to find images that resembled our 10 abstract words. The mistake I made was printing my images representing my abstract words from Google. I now realise that I should not have done this as there are limited images on Google and little information behind the images. However, I did print them on acetate and photographic paper which got positive feedback from my colleagues and tutors. Additionally, I was also late for the next workshop whilst printing my images. I was very angry at myself for being late and felt a wave of panic as I had failed the first task. The people that were late had to create a collage of their face using relevant images. I gave 110% to this task as I felt I had to make up for failing the last one.

I was very pleased with the collage of my face as I decided to try and think outside the box so I produced the magnified image on a wall. I worked from an A3 image photo of my own face and referred to it when working on my facial features. This took me a very long time as I had to be accurate with the shading and the shape of the face. For this I used black and white photocopied images from books and magazines from the library. I have learnt from my earlier mistake when I found the images on Google. Although this took longer, I was able to really research and look through lots of images to find the ones that really did represent my ten abstract words. This enabled my finished collage to be much more distinctive and unique.

From these tasks, I have learnt how important research is. I have also learnt many useful ways there are to attain such research. For example, we started off with the mind map of our ten special objects and then branched off again into the reasons behind these objects and the feelings we felt which enabled us to attain the abstract words. I really enjoyed how we then used these words to create a concept board and a collage composition which resemble our inner selves so personally. I will definitely use the concept of the mind-maps again in my future research.I should improve my current methods of planning by beginning my work straight away and not leaving it until later. This will improve my future work as I will be able to think more about the detail.

Tate Modern - Tuesday 3rd September 2013

Transformed Visions - New Images of Man

The Transformed Visions Collection Display at the Tate Modern examines how artists expressed the human figure after the catastrophes of world war. The exhibition also conveys diverse interpretations of violence and grief. It successfully shows how artists such as Jackson Pollock, Francis Bacon and Henry Moore created advanced works using expressive abstraction.

I was particularly interested in Room 2: New Images of Man, curated by Matthew Gale. I was immediately intrigued as to the reasoning behind such abstract compositions.

Gothic Landscape, 1961 by Lee Krasner (1908-1884) is a dramatic oil painting and a perfect example of expressed abstraction. It was created in response to the death of Krasner's husband Jackson Pollock. The aggressive and blunt brushstrokes resemble Krasner's feelings of grief. Whilst at the exhibition I made a sketch of this composition. I observed the dark, heavy lines that dominated the painting. These wide brushstrokes can be seen as 'trees, with thick knotted roots at their base'. I feel that they symbolise Krasner's feelings of pain and desperation at that time.

Additionally, I was also fascinated by the linear approach of Maria Helena Vieira da Silva's, The Corridor, 1950. Vieira da Silva was a key figure within the field of expressive abstraction in post-war Paris. However her work always retained a strong basis of reference to the visible world. Many of her paintings depict labyrinthine interior spaces, with complex or multiple lines of perspective. The elaborate mosaic and tiled surfaces recall the domestic architecture of her native Portugal.

Observing these conceptual compositions has inspired my work as I intend to experiment with deliberate abstraction in response to my environment.

Bibliography

Books

Plaque, July 2012, Courtesy of Tate Modern Gallery

Websites

http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/vieira-da-silva-the-corridor-n06189