At first, I found the blog challenging, because I struggle why I have created a piece of art, I have always preferred being practical rather than focusing on the theory aspect of art.

However, I have used the blog as an opportunity to study and enhance my knowledge on art theories (as I have never based or connected my artwork to art theories before this degree course). I have mainly focused on the the “female in art (feminists)” theory, however I have briefly looked into religious theories including “supernatural power”. I have found this experience extremely intriguing as I have thoroughly enjoyed connecting further with the art works due to gaining knowledge on the struggles feminists have had involving themselves within the art world and the range of medias they have used, especially performance art, to draw attention to themselves.

Also, the blog has encouraged me to visit a range of exhibitions within London and explore a variety of art from Jack Whittens’ abstract paint surfaces to Lorenzo Quinn’s symbolic sculptural work about “human love”. This has encouraged me to expand my techniques further by creating sculptural work and exploring print further.

Experimentation, outlines, overlapping, textures, bold, abstract, vibrant, dynamic, creative, unique

I have used the past semester to study “females within art” and to create the idea of women being oppressed and their true identities being faded away, this is specifically portrayed through Yann Houri’s “the complexity of mankind”. I have decided to use this photograph to represent my practice, as a key part of my work is experimenting with various medias, as I am unsure as to what pathway to choose.

Therefore, whilst attending a number of life drawing classes I have experimented using charcoal, print, collage and water crayons to create abstract drawings of the female body. I was especially intrigued by the outcome of the print life drawings, as the applied pressure on the page, resulted in the ink transferring onto different sections of the face, creating the idea of how bleak the oppression is. I decided that the outcome was successful and printed the same image over the top of the first one and reflected, creating a the idea of these, figures all being trapped and merging together.

For my contemporary art work, I have decided to discuss Marilyn Minters’ “Orange crush” 2009, which consists of a faceless woman who appears to be ‘sexually’ licking glass, however Minter has created this image to deform the woman’s’ sexual features by pressing her wet lips and nose up against the surface.

The feminist movement within art has been around since the late 1960’s when many women began to fight for their rights for freedom and control over their bodies. Minter designed her “Orange Crush” work as part of “A year of yes” which was an exhibition based in the Brooklyn museum, which was an opportunity for feminist artists to “push the often denigrated 1960s styles of Photo Realism to new extremes”.

Feminist artists including Minter, believed that women “were invisible to the public eye”. Women believed that the art industry was mainly male dominated and that they were “denied exhibition and gallery representation based on the sole fact of their gender” therefore, feminist artists wanted to find alternative venues where they could promote their art work and they steered away from the traditional male techniques such as painting and sculpture and used different medias including textiles and performance to create wider artistic perspectives.

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/11/arts/design/a-nasty-woman-of-contemporary-art-fearlessly-renders-the-body.html

http://www.theartstory.org/movement-feminist-art.htm

For this task, I have decided look into the artist Ciara Philips work “Things put together” (2003), which consists of numerous greyscale screen-prints of her own photographs, combined with bold ‘dyed fabrics printed with repetitive patterns and geometrical elements’. I was fascinated by this piece of work because it really reminded me of the pop art movement and specifically Andy Warhol’s’ Marilyn Monroe paintings. I loved the way both artists use these repetitive images to explore political issues and the celebrity culture, in a way they use their art as a method of advertising and persuasion to express their artistic views.

Therefore, as part of my manifesto project, I decided to use this idea a repeated bold design to portray my views on the major social issues of “British youth vs cops”. I began by using adobe Photoshop to crop and overlap negative newspaper articles about the youth of today and their relation to crime, and ensured it was monochrome. I then went on to alter the brightness, contrast and colour balance and repeated these four times, so that each poster had a range of colours and tones, making it unique. I then experimented repeating the images in different compositions, sizes and brightness until I was content with the overall outcome. I am going to continue exploring this method of art but through the use of paintings, film and sculpture, to try and create my own style of work.

https://frieze.com/article/ciara-phillips

http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/andy-warhol-2121

Leo Steinbergs’ essay the “Other criteria” is focused on the modern art from the 19th century to the present and he discuses the “changing continuum” of the world going back to the Renaissance era. Steinberg discusses the “Old masters” and his theory that it is portrayed through Cubism and Abstract expressionism due to the picture representing a world; the top of the picture being the head, whilst the lower is our feet. He particularly praises the likes of Rauschenberg as he believes he is changing the art world with his idea of “art being engineered by the subject matter itself” as the bold colours, proportions and intricate detail against a blank wall, allows the audience to consider the true meaning.

Whereas, Richard Serras’ essay based on ‘The Yale lecture’ is targeted towards his dimensional work and the purpose and process of how the work in created. However, Serras’ work varies to Steinbergs’ because he believes that his sculptural work has to be left in the space that it was initially created, for the audience to properly connect and understand the context. He discusses that an artist needs to consider the current social and political situations aswell as the “scale, size and location” before putting the work in that location.

Again, I’ve taken this painting from my contemporary project. Originally this painting is from a series of similar smaller paintings, however, if I was to imagine it larger, I would keep it how it is but simply enlarge it to as big as it could be. I think the slightly gross and unfamiliar atmosphere created around the piece would be amplified as it grows in size. The viewer would become almost surrounded by this fleshy piece and possibly start to feel some discomfort with it. I think the subject of flesh for a painting is usually seen in figure/life paintings or the classic nude paintings seen throughout history. Therefore I think audiences have become numb to nude figure being shown in a painting, almost as if you’re expecting to see atleast one when visiting a gallery. However, I think the idea taking the body and zooming in so far that it becomes just flesh and at first is difficult to figure out which part of the body it is from, is a fresh and new approach to using the body in art. The viewer could possibly have a more uncomfortable and confused reaction than they would if it was made clear it was a painting of the body. But, again, once they do discover it is from something as simple and common as the human hand, this confusion may go. Whereas, the sheer scale of the piece will always be there to surround the viewer and make a statement.

Writing this blog has helped wider my knowledge of art history and theories in areas I wouldn’t think I’d have found without it. Tasks 2 (consume a book) and 7 (compare the two texts) have pushed me to explore artist theory and the infinite interpretations that can be found in this art world. Task 7, in particular, was one of the more challenging tasks for me because of the sophisticated and wider range of vocabulary that they used. However, after discussing these texts with my classmates I was able to understand what each text was saying and trying to portray. These tasks allowed me to explore theories that I otherwise probably would not have ever come across.

Completing these tasks has not only opened my eyes to new ideas but it’s also allowed me to explore the theories and areas that I already have an interest in. Task 9, where we had to apply a theory to contemporary art, allowed me to explore into both the artist Barbara Kruger and feminist theory; both of which were some of the influences for my individual projects. For example, I wrote task 9 at the beginning of the Manifesto project and that tasked pushed me to look into that artist and the meanings behind their work in greater depth. It gave me a better understanding of her work and ideologies; so much so that Barbara Kruger’s work was a huge influence for my Manifesto project and that was also the project I felt the most confident in creating.

This blog has also pushed me to experiment in my practical work. In particular, task 6 (new mode of practice), at first seemed very daunting to me as I am used to using the basic mediums of paint, pen and pencil, so the idea of having to create something new was a challenge. However, after thinking about it, this task actually gave me the push to finally get out and experiment with the idea of embroidery, something I’ve recently wanted to experiment with but never had the courage to attempt, and try and work that into my work some how.

When looking back at the progress I have made throughout the blog I have realised that knowledge and skill on written work and artist research has grown. The blog has helped me to explore various modes of practice and look further into the history and making of different movements; the transformation of art itself.

It has also helped me in learning the value of the ‘strategic approached’. By learning more about different artists, political views and theories it has helped me work develop into more personal pieces based upon world wide issues, such as racism. The blog has taught me how to assimilate the history of art better, and developed the ways in which I place it into my own work.

I found that ‘Task 7’ was by far the most challenging; to compare two texts by Richard Serra and Leo Steinberg. Reading and interpreting what the two artists were trying to say hard due to the vocabulary used throughout. Furthermore I struggled to summarise the texts because they were both based of two different practices within art. Although I do find the history of the transformation interesting.

Overall I found that although some tasks were difficult, they forced myself to be push forward in my own pathway. It helped to summarise reflections, lectures and critics. It is beneficial in the sense of learning more about art movements and developing understanding of the concepts behind each artist/ art movements work and their influences.

For my video project, I recorded myself making simplistic but expressive movements, documenting the process of using obscure materials for the purpose of ‘painting’ in this performative way. While considering how I could make this work more elaborate, two things came to mind.

First of all, I could physically make my workspace bigger, so as to free up my movements. The surface of my piece may cover the wall space of a room so that I would have to work harder to reach up to certain areas in order to create marks: I will be able to be more unapologetic about my movements.

Second of all, I could make this work participatory. This would open up my project, in that you would be able to almost compare the personalities of the ‘performers’: some will be more confident with their movements compared to others, for example. This will unlock the potential of play, which could be an interesting attribute. I named my film ‘play’ for the purpose of suggesting this idea, and to watch others engage and have fun with the activity would suggest this further.

Finally, I could experiment with VR in order to capture everything that is happening at once. This would enhance the energetic vibe by allowing more than one thing to happen at once while still capturing it. The act of watching the video will become part of the performance: it would be far more immersive, allowing you to move around in order to take in the entire environment.

The given lectures have been impactful to my own knowledge on art movements and periods. However, I have learnt that this is a weak area of mine: I struggle to maintain an interest in art history despite its importance, and this is because I strive to push away from traditional techniques in my practice. I need to be more open to the ways in which having a basic knowledge regarding art history could positively impact my work. I will be able to contrast with the work of renowned artists: I don’t have to necessarily relate to artists in order to find artist research useful.

This is why I enjoyed the tasks that had the most creative potential. Specifically, I liked tasks 6 and 8 due to the fact that there was a personal element that meant I could incorporate my own interests. I enjoyed the first task because I was able to analyse my own work: the opportunity to explain my work is something I value. Through this, I have come to recognise that I’m driven by my personal interests.

From receiving these tasks with a short amount of time to complete them, I have learnt that I should better distribute my time between this module and my studio practice. I recognise that I could dedicate more time to my blog posts each week. Although I am satisfied with my submissions overall, I could have fed the knowledge learnt from this module back into my studio practice more effectively, had I ensured that I completed each post promptly.