When rescaling work there are a number of factors to consider. The materials used become of increasing importance, can they withstand the process, how much will it cost, will it need structural support, etc. Composition also requires much consideration, when going bigger do you need to account for perspective, is the intricacy of the work feasible when going smaller? Most importantly, does the work continue to say what you want it to say in this new scale?

In order to consider reproducing the work presented ^[fig1] on a smaller scale there are a list of changes that would be required to make. The work was originally painted on cartridge paper, and on a smaller scale, it is easier to overwork the paper and tear it would therefore have to be primed better or an alternative material chosen. In this instance, I would choose to use canvas stretched over board, primed with a fine, gesso plaster mix. This is because it provides a rigidity to it that would help the work survive the screen printing process more. The printing process would have to be applied ore delicately using pipettes to apply inks and soaps whilst applying the printing mediums with small teaspoons.

The work would also need some compositional changes, at a scale such as A4 or A5 the work would become too intricate to reproduce accurately even with 000 brushes when considering my own skills as a painter. Due to this, the composition would need to be suitable simplified, in this case removing some of the finer brush marks. When scaling down cost becomes less of an issue, however if I was scaling this up I would want to consider using acrylic paints over oils or whether or not to use paper, board or canvas to work onto.

My blog documents the way in which I view art and the world around me. It shows how I think, comprehend and understand what I see, hear and feel. Further yet it displays this for other people to see allowing them to understand my views, processes and concepts.

In completing my blog, I have been able to further my understanding of art and the concepts behind it. This includes but is not exclusive to philosophy, theory, politics, appropriation, process and history. It has also developed my research skills in locating, understanding and referencing information.

The blog has allowed me to develop my studio practice skills by allowing me to apply my new knowledge into advancing my concepts and problem solving my processes and techniques. It has opened up a new door of opportunity in which I can now successfully and reliably find and discover new approaches to my work and apply them. It has made me more accepting of alternative opinions and views of art, whilst also allowing me the opportunity to break down these opinions and views in order to develop my own.

Tasks 6 and 7 were of particular interest to me as they allowed me to expand my knowledge and consider period’s art and materials that I would have previously dismissed. In doing so, it has greatly expanded what I would consider to be my areas of interest and my art practice.

William Blake’s ‘Ancient of Days’ was first published in 1794 as the front piece to his book ‘Europe a Prophecy’. The work encapsulates Blake as an artist and his religious beliefs whilst also providing a commentary on the French Revolution and British politics of the 1790’s. Ever since a young age Blake had visions of celestial beings and would regularly converse with them. He once stated that his artwork was more popular in the heavenly world he observed. The work he produced depicts the views and beliefs of his own unique religion; the religion of his invention was predominately Christian but also included inspiration from other sources such as Norse and Greek mythology.

I chose to appropriate this piece of work as a continuation of one of my personal projects. I was particularly interested in the dark and effective use of colours within the work and the significance behind the work. In the last verses of ‘Europe a Prophecy’ Blake describes the coming of the apocalypse. I was considering the ideas of what would happen if the book had been written in a post apocalypse dystopian state how would the work have been changed or altered, who would represent god and what would the meaning of apocalypse be after it had already come to pass.

I chose to start the work with an image transfer in order to lighten the work to create an easier surface to work with. God was then reworked to be deformed and mutilated, whilst having a gas mask grown into his face. I felt I needed to darken the image and age it suitably to recreate the depth seen in the original work for completion. The final outcome confers the all the meaning of the original work however brings the context forwards in time leading the viewer to question whether the work is still relevant today.

 

Bibliography

Blunt, A. (1974). The art of William Blake. New York: Harper & Row, p.353.

Bleak, Façade, Austere, Biblical, Forsaken, Semblance, Ardent, Crestfallen, Barbarous, Expectations

The work explores the emotional instability of the artist and the continuously developing problems and issues of his life both physically and socially. Through the considered application of plaster and paint, the artist has imbued the piece with reference to and perspectives on, the complex nature of the human condition. Using the canvas as a body the artist’s deepest secrets have been compartmentalised and scrawled across the work, then protected by a bony wall of plaster.

Each segment of the wall has been constructed from the compositional breakdown of photographs taken at key points throughout the artist’s life encompassing social events, family meals, hospital visits and even the mess of his room. Informed from the embedded memory a façade has evolved, carefully concealing his true self. Drawn over the layers of plaster, a thick skin of paint reveals in depth, colour and hue, the emergence of the artist’s emotional response to the subject of each canvas.

However, these true responses are tinged by the social expectations of a modern society that leaves no room for anyone to be anything but happy.  This distortion results in the large emotional imbalance seen in the applications of red glaze and bitumen.

The innate fragility of the human condition will reveal itself over time.  As the piece ages, the inherent flaws within the plaster will slowly reveal themselves in cracks and chips.  These will slowly penetrate the facade and in breach of self-imposed convention reveal the artist’s true emotions.

In this piece, we therefore glimpse into the artist’s mind and find the nature of the piece unveiled is redemption.

The words I have chosen are my immediate response to my own work with the knowledge and understanding I have over its creation and concept. They display my opinions of the piece and the associations I make with it. I do not believe the work depicts a particularly positive part of my life and these words and the way I describe the piece reflects this.

In the past narrative has paved the road to success for some of the greatest artists in history. The works of the Old Masters play on extracts from the bible, the romanticist’s took on classical mythology while baroque depicted heavenly glory. Dinos and Jake Chapman use the narrative of a children’s tale to comment on the ongoing social changes that are taking place around us in their book ‘Bedtime Tales for Sleepless Nights II (XI)’.

The book provides illustrations for variations of iconic Victorian cautionary tales. The rewritten endings inevitably result in the appearance of monsters or the death of the characters involved. Through this, the artists states that by doing anything that is considered socially unacceptable you convict yourself to a painful death. The artists criticise the increasingly prevalent PC social movement in which everyone is prevented from harm with extreme levels of health and safety or the removal of true freedom of speech.

The use of Victorian moral tales is very important to understanding the work due to the social status of the time. In which the health and safety of an individual was their own concern. Children’s tales of the time period reflect this notion. The work suggests not to fully revert to this state but to prevent the bubble wrapping of individuals that is currently prevalent before it becomes too extreme.

 

Bibliography

Jake and Dinos Chapman, Bedtime Tales for Sleepless Nights II (XI), 2012. (2012). [image] Available at: http://Bedtime Tales for Sleepless Nights II (XI) [Accessed 2 Dec. 2017].

Leo Steinberg (b.1920) from Other Criteria pp. 61-98

The extract taken discusses the changes that occurred in art during the 1950s onwards. Steinberg argues that during this period there is a distinct change in painting style from vertical to horizontal perspectives. He defines vertical painting as any form of work that uses illusion to create depth and perspective and considers it to be a continuation of the ‘Old Masters’ principles and celebration of the natural world over the man made. Consider this to be any work in which the artist aims to portray what he see in front and around him whilst in an upright position. Steinberg argues that this is outdated and that in order to move forward art has to accept the idea of a horizontal perspective in which the painter aims to obtain a flat surface such as the floor below his feet or the top his desk. This new form of art should be adaptive and react to the new man made environment it is surrounded by.

Richard Serra (b. 1939) from The Yale Lecture

This extract comments on the change in sculptural art that took place during the 1980’s. Serra suggests that sculpture has stagnated since the coming of the modernist sculpture and has failed to adapt to the industrial and social revolutions of the time period. He argues that other industries such as construction and architecture have seized on these opportunities’ to use new materials such as steel. In reaction to this, he suggests that sculpture should move towards more site-specific constructs using modern materials and techniques. Serra believes that sculptures built in a studio fail to react to their final environment properly and thus the viewer will always fail to envision the artist’s concept correctly. However, Serra recognises that installation and site-specific artwork relies on corporate funding, as it is not commercial enough to be sold independently and therefore has to be commissioned. As a result the artist believe that is site-specific artwork is prone to the manipulation of its funders in order to relay a message of desire and one that the artist does not stand for.

The two texts both reflect on how art should be adaptive to its time period and that what is radical at the time soon becomes old. As a result, art should always be changing to represent the most prominent or most important movements in a way to support the artist’s views and ideas and to create a greater change.

Since the beginning of my exploration into the world of art, process has always been of great interest to me. The complex stages in which an artist prepares and paints a canvas or casts and carves a sculpture have always offered me entertainment through the notion of figuring out the necessary stages to create the final product. In this sense, I have always held an interest for reverse engineering not just within art but also the wider academic spectrum. I believe that understanding the process that an artist goes through to create the work helps the viewer to understand the full depth of the work.

I particularly favour artists such as Anselm Kiefer, Antoni Tàpies and David Alfaro Siqueiros and my own practice has been influenced heavily by their style of work and their processes. Ever since my GCSE’s I have been experimenting with texture, layering and using unique, unconventional, materials within my work to develop my own process.

Figure 1 displays a chart of progress made on a painting I am currently working on. The process revolves around the themes surrounding identity using complex notions of facades represented by the layers created in my process. Initially the strainer is made before the canvas is stretched over the frame and extracts from my logbooks are written in charcoal before a compositional diagram is drawn onto the work. This is extracted from collages I make of my friends and family. After this, the whole canvas is sealed with PVA glue and sand. After this, an overworked mixture of plaster and PVA glue is applied, the mix being sculpted as it goes off.

Once dry the plaster is sealed on the front and back of the canvas with a mix of PVA glue, water and washing up liquid and primed with white emulsion. Following this, multiple layers of acrylic paint and inks are applied to create a sense of depth and build up a façade over the canvas. In the future, I would like to develop further this process by using two part clear resin or liquitex flow medium to create a semi translucent film over the canvas giving a watery depth to the work whilst maintaining its weight.

Ever since I started studying art, I have always been fascinated by the dioramas produced by the artists Jake and Dinos Chapman. After many failed attempts, I recently managed to attend an exhibition displaying their diorama ‘Nein! Eleven?’ ^[fig1] in the exhibition ‘Age of Terror: Art Since 9/11’.  The work consists of two piles of mutilated Nazi’s and bloody skulls as a representation of the atrocities committed in the 9/11 bombings.

 

Personally, I was disappointed by the artwork, as an avid scale modeller and Warhammer player I felt that there was a large lack of attention to detail within the work. This is not present within photographs as they can never truly capture the attention to detail given in similar dioramas. Take for example ‘The Beginning of the End’ ^[fig2] by Won-hui Lee or ‘The Last Light’ ^[fig3] by Jarhead in comparison both these dioramas exhibit a far greater level of skill and a better comprehension of composition.

If I had not of seen this work in person I would never have been able to judge with my own eyes the level of detail on each individual model or the true scale of the work, approximately 1:15 scale. I also would not have been able to perceive all sides of the diorama or focus in on certain areas of interest. I feel that this inability to capture the full depth of the work or the emotional impact over a photograph is why it is so important to see work in the flesh.

 

Bibliography

Jake and Dinos Chapman, Nein! Eleven, 2013. (2013). [image] Available at: http://cdn.jakeanddinoschapman.com/wp-content/uploads/9203-680×453.jpg [Accessed 5 Dec. 2017].

Won-hui Lee, The Beginning of the End, 2017. (2017). [image] Available at: http://imodeler.com/uploads/2017/11/w/won-huilee-171104-59fddfd8f1ce5.jpg [Accessed 5 Dec. 2017].

Jarhead, The Last Light, 2013. (2013). [image] Available at: http://www.puttyandpaint.com/images/uploads/artistworks/3432/09__sized.jpg [Accessed 5 Dec. 2017].

Presented by the Imperial War Museum, London and curated by Sanna Moore, ‘Age of Terror: Art Since 9/11’ exhibits the work of over forty artists from around the world. All coming from different backgrounds and using different mediums the exhibition provides a unique opportunity to compare how the events of September 11^th 2001 affected the world.

The show aims to portray the ongoing political and social change that 9/11 has had on the world. From increased security measures, George Bush’s ‘Global War on Terror’ and the Iraq War have all contributed to a significant change in the wests social and political out looks. Each exhibiting artist has helped to express the opinions to how each nation; social class and religious group have reacted to the atrocities committed in the subsequent fall out.

One particular focus of the exhibition is Iván Navarro’s ‘The Twin Towers’. The work consists of two LED infinity mirrors placed flat against the floor; the work creates the illusion of an infinitely deep pit as the lights recess into the void. In order to account for the impact and nature of the work the curator has decided to isolate them from the main part of the exhibit. The work is thus displayed in a slightly darkened room to emphasise the depth of the piece and the isolation of an eternally dark pit. However, the work is simply placed onto the floor of the exhibition rather than built into it, due to this there is a six-inch skirting around the work, which, I find, breaks the illusion.

Overall, the exhibition leaves the viewer reflecting on the impact of war and how the war on terror might be resolved in the future. However it also leaves them questioning the appropriateness of continual surveillance, increased security measures and living in a world on high alert and how that has affected us and our following generations.

Muntean / Rosenblum Untitled [Everything was as it had

been a minute ago…], 2001 [painting]

Muntean/Rosenblum’s Untitled painting ^[fig1] depicts a scene in which three individuals stare back out of the painting intensely at the viewer. The work relies on the viewer’s interaction to create an aura of suspense and tension about the painting. This is further emphasised by the statement written at the bottom of the piece, ‘Everything was as it had been a minute ago, except for a sense of general suspension, as of things holding themselves in stillness, not daring to breathe.’, which confirms the artists intentions as to make the viewer feel as if they are intruding on the piece.

The compositional arrangement of the work ^[fig2] is composed of thirds and triangles, which takes the viewers eye around the three individuals in the painting but ultimately always leading back to the top right third. This creates a point of focus on the central woman and her nudity resulting in the viewer becoming awkward yet further questioning the scene that plays out before them. Further analysis of the individuals in the painting shows that the outermost figures depict strikingly similar facial features, bone structure and hair and eye colour. In this regard, they can assume to be siblings. Meanwhile the central figure is heavily reminiscent of Gustav Klimt’s ‘Danaë’ ^[fig3] a painting which depicts Danaë, mother of the demigod Perseus, as she has intercourse with Zeus.

The viewer then comes to question exactly what was going on before they stepped into the room, what a brother and sister would be doing alone in a room with a nude women, a bottle of alcohol, television and a clock. The clock gives the viewer a snapshot into the enigma before them, the time displayed is 8:05 precisely. The positioning of the clock suggests that the artists made it intentional for the viewer to recognise the time. 8:05 happens to be the title of a song by the band Moby Grape on their debut album ‘Moby Grape’, the song focuses on a breakup the last lines of the song being ‘I guess you’re leaving…goodbye’. This entices the viewer to keep viewing regardless, creating a paradox in which the awkwardness of the scene is inescapable.

 

Bibliiography

Gustav Klimt, Danaë. (2015). [image] Available at: http://www.gooly.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/gustav-klimt-danae.jpg [Accessed 2 Dec. 2017].