Friday 30 April 2010

Sam Jinks - Fascinating

Sculptures created by sculpting the body in clay and then casting them in silicon.

Sam Jinks -Australian Artist.

"Jinks makes the skin look like skin, which is luminous and penetrated by light. You could imagine seeing pores and follicles if you took a microscope to the surface."
(Robert Nelson 2005)












I think the realism and attention to detail is extreme. I like how clever I think the art is and am fascinated by it. Not something I would have hanging on my wall though!

Sam Jinks Website
This artists work is definitely true of the statement that,
"(Art)it is a unique visual and tactile language with a set of elements that can be combined to make possible, powerful, visual, statements" (Cox and Watts, 2009, p3)
I think these pieces are definitely powerful, love it or hate it, you will have an opinion on it!
References
Cox and Watts (2009) Teaching art and design 3-11. Continuum. London.

Monday 26 April 2010

Bumble Hole

The aim today was to see a place i was familiar with, but in a different way. In order to gain the best potential from it for my art.

Addison (2003) agrees saying,

"A freshness of vision is required to see beyond stereotyped views of continuity and progression in order to extend the scope of the debate about transition" (Addison, 2003, p33)

I wanted to see it with fresh eyes.

I wanted to be creative with the surroundings. In order to do this, I needed to use my imagination as creativity and imagination go hand in hand.

"Imagination is definitely a key part of creativity. But are all imaginative ideas creative?"
QCA, 2004, P7)

I have learnt that people's perceptions of creativity vary as there is no generally accepted defintion. For me it is about freedom and expression as well as perception.I know that peoples imagination is different from the next persons. It is what is gpoing on in your head so who can tell you that that is wrong?


Here are the photos from the day...












References
Addison B, Burgess L (2003) Issues in art and design teaching. Routledge - Falmer. Oxon.
QCA (2004) Creativity, Find it, Promote it. QCA. London.

Wednesday 21 April 2010

Good ArTists boRRoW, gREat ArtiSTS stEAL.


Plagiarism?

Stumbled across this is the world of art news.

Sam Leach from Melbourne, winner of prestigious Wynn Prize for landscape, outed for copying.

. No one realized how heavily he had borrowed from the 1660 work Boatmen Moored on the Shore of a Lake by Dutch master Adam Pynacker. Leach makes no attempt to deny he was "influenced", the gallery says they didn't realise, has been criticised as Plagiarism rather than appropriation




But Van Gogh claims

"Good artists borrow. Great artists steal."

Shelley Essak expresses her view on this on her art history blog.
-"I think the words "Good artists borrow, great artists steal" constitute one of the most misunderstood and misused creative phrases of all time. To me, it means the difference between aping and assimilating; between copying and internalizing; between being unoriginal and innovative. Between, sad to say, right-clicking an online image and picking up a low-tech pencil. Even Andy Warhol, that master of the appropriated image, had a solid foundation in studio skills and could actually draw well when/if he chose to.

I'm tired of seeing the paraphrasical use of "Good artists borrow, great artists steal" as an excuse to be lazy, and, yes, I'm angered when non-transformative "works" are, in turn, copyrighted, feted, receive royalties and/or are sold for staggering sums--though the original artist does not often benefit by so much as a credit line. How does this mindset advance an art form? What message does it send to younger generations of artists? Why, if a big enough "name" engages in this ... borrowing ... is it not only tacitly condoned, but often applauded?

Every artist of every stripe builds on that which was done by his or her predecessors. It's only the great artists who manage to take things to new heights, in new directions" (Essak, online. accessed 21/4/10)

Some thoughts to ponder I think.

References
http://cyart.blogspot.com/?expref=next-blog
http://arthistory.about.com/b/2009/01/26/good-artists-borrow-great-artists-steal.htm

Participatory Art

I never thought about my art in a participatory way, until I was with Jaz, photographing it around uni and I began to ask people if they would like to interact with my art.No one said no, which i was really surprised about. I think maybe the reason I never asked people before was I was kind of skeptical about their enthusiasm to participate.

Here are the pictures, Some require explanation, some speak purely on their own...

Mr Macho (2010)
"Excuse me, You look like you are strong, can you hold my ball please"?
"Yeah sure, Shall I pose?"




I have no idea who this member of staff is, I know she had an Aussie accent but she was one of the first people who approached me about my snowball with curiosity. She in fact showed a desire and willingness to interact with it, without me instigating it. Here are her chosen ways of interaction.I have named them.

The touch.
(2010)
The Lounge.(2010)
The slouch.(2010)




Jaz, my lovely friend, I was so grateful for him on this day, it went a lot like,
"Jaz can you stand there?"
Jaz can you sit here?"
Jaz can you pose there?"]

So i could experiment with compositions.
Thank you Jaz :)

Perch.
(2010)

Pondering(2010)
Hung (2010)



This boy was sitting outside the library working away, so I kindly asked him if i could use him in my art. He obliged.

Untitled (2010)





Some of my fellow art class were passing through, so naturally I asked them to participate. I think they were quite surprised how heavy the ball seemed, as it was thrown at them. Can you see them laughing?






ooooppsss :S

We tried strategically to balance the ball on the chapel steps, It began to roll away, jst as this picture was taken.The body is that of Jaz, running after it.

Action Shot...








I asked John Bayley to be creative with the snowball. He sat on it and was laughing about the fact he would struggle to get off it. The interesting thing for me, was that when asked to interact with the ball, however they wished to, with almost all the people asked, they instantaneously chose to sit on the construction.Therefore would this be considered a creative act?



Here are a selection of thoughts to ponder in regards to creativity;


Cropley (2001)
"Creativity is a medium for beautifying the environment, a form of self expression and communication or a way of understanding, opening up or coping with the previously unknown" (Cropley, 2001, p40)

Fisher and Williams (2004)
" The world, as it is presented to us, is not the only possible world. Through our imagination we can use it as a model for other possible worlds." (Fisher and Williams, 2004, p11)




These selection of photographs were taken as people were passing through.I placed my snowball in a place and waited or I rolled it into a place and waited for it to stop. I then took photographs of people responding or not to the installation.

Unaware (2010)







I thoroughly enjoyed this day. I was overwhelmed by people's interest in my project. I enjoyed venturing around with Jaz and inserting my ball into compositions. I am fully engaged in it now. I actually walk around and think, my ball would look great there, and have to find a day to make it happen. It's a shame it is not portable and I can't carry it with me everywhere. I like the way the snowball is portrayed in a photograph. It looks so white and snowy and i think you cvan definitely tell what it is meant to be.



It has created within me a desire to get my art out there, I think I am going to take it somewhere urban and record how people respond to it. Which leads to the question... if people respond to it in a way I don't like.. eg they vandalise it, steal it. Then what do i do? Is that not there response to my art? Not sure how it would go done assessment wise. hmmmm. Sarah?
Well a dog has already urinated on it, (don't worry, people who have touched it, I sorted it)and i can't say that was my ideal response. Maybe I need to cast off preconceived responses and interactions and just let go. After all that is part of the process. (Mcniff 1999)

References
Cropley, A, J. (2001) Creativity in Education and Learning - A Guide for Teachers and Educators. Kogan Page Limited. London.

Fisher, R. Williams, M. (2004) Unlocking Creativity, Teaching across the curriculum. David Fulton Publishers. Oxon.


Mcniff, S (2001) Trust the process, An artists guide to letting go. Shambhala Publications Inc

The Sailing Club Photographs

I decided to take my snowball to Bartley Green Sailing Club before art on Monday. I did this because I have now attended Newman University College for just under four years and this too is located in Bartley Green.

The sailing club has a superb fleet of boats do I decided to use this basis to take some pictures of my ball, juxta- posed alongside them. I had a lot of fun deciding where to place my installation and I got a variety of looks from fellow students as they were parking their cars to attend lectures.I wanted to create a photograph to represent the Bartley Green area but not in an obvious, direct way. Just as I tried to before.

Here are some of the results...




Since starting this task, I have become increasingly fond of black and white photographs. I particularly like the way all of the masts are visible in the image. They appear to be infinite and just go on and on into the distant.




The sky was a pale blue on the say of the photographs, In this image I particulary like the range of blues that are present. The paleness of the sky and the material on the boats.The image appears to be off balance in my head. I am not sure I like the way all of the main subject material is on the one side of the picture and the other side is bare. Compositionally, I do not feel this works well.



I took this photograph, just as I was walking out of the car park to my lecture. It was a spur of the moment idea and I do not like anything about it at all. It is ugly and doesn't excite me at all.


I like this image. I feel that in the composition there is a balance of horizontal and vertical features and this draws my eyes backwards and forwards around the image numerous times.I have also edited this image slightly to by adding a small amount of sharpening to the overall effect. I think it works well.


A similar shot but from a different angle. I am not so keen on this one as much as I prefer the view as it is perceived straight on. I also like how green and luscious the grass claims to be, contrasting and highlighting further, the little areas of shadow. Dwarfed by everything else but carrying the shape of the boats and prominent all the same.



I like the way the masts look like they are a continuation of the branches in the trees and the complimentary shades of blue, but overall I don't think the image works. It is not dynamic enough and doesn't scream wow at me.



This photograph makes me smile. I like the way the ball is just resting in the center of the path. Boats positioned on either side of it.It appears out of place and this was one of my intention when thinking about this project.



This composition looks too random. I do not like it.It looks cluttered.

I think I am developing an appreciation for photos that are compositionally balanced or black and white.

How do you perceive any of the images?

Thursday 15 April 2010

Vandalizable Monuments by Jose Carlos Martinat...

Found this whilst doing some artist research. Thought it was cool. Little research can be found about it however.


sculpture made of 11 models of buildings, structures or symbols of institutions of power in Lima

Star (symbol of his political party) done by president of Peru Alan Garcia







I like the way the artist does not know what the final outcome will be.It shows freedom. This links to Crawford

As Crawford (1991, p.27) states,

"Art does not exist in a vacuum. Its origins and its acceptance or rejection are intimately tied to other aspects of society and culture."



Reference
Crawford in Smith and Simpson (1991) Aesthetics and Arts Education. University of Illinois Press.
Sourced at
http://www.valentinatanni.com/2010/04/vandalizable-monuments/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ValentinaTanni+%28Valentina+Tanni%29

Fun with Words, Fun with Photo, Fun with Jaz

Pictures taken and exhibited for no other reason other than they were the products and fun that was produced when Jaz and I interacted with some of the participatory art.