Rita Duffy

I have chosen to include this installation as i think it is just stunning and very profound. It is called veil by Rita Duffy and is situated in Wolverhampton Art Gallery.The artist was inspired to produce the piece after visiting an abandoned women's prison and the structure is made up of six real prison doors; slots, eye holes and all.

It is through these holes that you are allowed to travel into a different world. As in the centre of the structure hang what seems like hundreds of long, delicate, glass droplets against a blood red background. It is contrasting that such a thing of beauty could be representational of something so sad, so deep.







The piece is in ' The Northern Ireland Fresh Perspectives' collection and the glass droplets are a metaphor for lives of the women in Northern Ireland and how they have been shaped by political turmoil. There is even salt around the base of the installation that represents the tears that have been shed in the violence, whether it be for their husbands...brothers... etc. They are bitter and many.


I really appreciated this piece and I believe it is because I understood and have empathy for the context in which it was created. I like the way it has beauty and skill as well as meaning. This is definitely an ideal example of something that is aesthetically pleasing. In my eyes it fits the quota for all of Crawfords (1989) 5 clusters of Aesthetics which are The art object, appreciation and interpretation, critical evaluation, artistic creation and cultural context. In his theory in order to fully understand the aesthetics of a piece of work you need to understand all of these concepts regarding a piece.

Reference
Crawford, D in Smith R and Simpson A (1991) Aesthetics and Arts Education. University of Illinois Press.

The New Walsall Art Gallery

Today myself, jaz and Amy went on an arty farty trip to find some art. Although the fourth arty farty was absent it was a great day. Alot of the special exhibits had just been removed so there was only a few exhibitions that were not resident exhibitions.

The main one was 'CRASH' by Jonathan Shaw.It looks at the representation of time and movement through photography and is definitely larger than life. It is a surreal experience walking through all of the images, it gives you an almost dizzy, queasy feeling.The images were almost imposing.





Because of the theme of movement, I decided to spin my camera and take pictures of the exhibition conveying the movement of the camera. I don't like the effect, it is not one which i desired to achieve. It just resembles a photo that has not been developed properly.


This may be because this is not related to my own work at present and this may be why I dont have such a great appreciation for it.

Thistlewood 1989 agrees
" I believe art history, art criticism and even preference and even aesthetics, take on greater meaning for students if they are related to their own productive work" Thistlewood, 1989, p54)

Reference
Thistlewood, D (1989) Critical studies in art and Design Education. Longman Group Ltd. Essex

Trish Morrisey

Last week I went to visit my younger sister in Bradford and during this visit we went to the local art gallery where i stumbled upon the work of Trish Morrisey. One of her exhibits was a collection of photographs of various families on vacation.
At first they all appear to be genuine families on genuine holidays, until a closer inspection shows that in every picture one person has been removed and replaced with the same lady, the artist herself but she is dressed in the original clothes of the person she is replacing.The picture is then entitled the full name of the woman who has been replaced and the year the picture has been taken.

I like the way the artist is versatile in her approach to who she replaces as she is around her 30s/40s and replaces people younger and older and slips into role. She doesn't look out of place or alien in any of the images.

Here are some examples...

"This work deals with the notions of borders, boundaries and the edge, using the family group and the beach setting as metaphors."

The piece of work as a whole is called 'front'. This represents a number of meanings; a promenade at the seaside, bravado or confidence in presenting ourselves or something fake.

Banksy

The banksy exhibition in Bristol was amazing and really inspired me. At this present time i am almost certain that i would like to do some kind of installation for my work next year as it is something that i am interested in at present.
I thought the pet shop was amazing and definitely a 100 times better in real life and it was extraordinary to begin with. I like the way Banksy' work is extremely controversial but i love the way that it is very thought provoking.You cannot help but ponder as it addresses real life issues head on.
I went with some awesome people who were just as inspired and motivated to find great art as i was and this made the day even more exciting.
It is free entry and only an hour and a half away, definitely worth a look :]

Here are some example to tickle your imagination and question your thinking...





Each persons perception may be different to the next. But Crawford (1991) indicates this is okay

"What makes one persons interpretation better than another? Is an understanding of the artists intentions either necessary or useful to interpret a work correctly?" (Crawford, 1991, p24)

Reference
Crawford in Smith and Simpson (1991) Aesthetics and Arts Education. University of Illinois Press.

Here goes

Ok so, Lift off has commenced. This is my blog to keep you up to date with my art journey; galleries i have visited, places that have influenced me as well as people and generally anything art related or that i can tie in somewhere. Enjoy. :)


Art is an ambiguity. It tells a story. Its an expression and is obtainable by all. It is a preference, a talking point. It promotes thought, discussion, opinion. It prompts individual definement (Rachel Aston 2010)