Richard Huges exhibition

I recently wen to the Richard Huges exhibition at first site in Colchester. I thought it would be interesting and influential to my work as he looks at using materials and confusing the viewer. The photo above looks like mattress against a wall, it is not. It is a plaster cast of a mattress that is then painted. I think it is amazing the detail he takes in his work, it looks so real. I like the way he combines the plaster and paint to create the illusion, i think combination is becoming important in my work. I also like the way he has presented this piece of work, it looks like it has been discard. he makes it look out of place, a dirty old mattress against the white wall of the gallery. Through doing this he gives the work more impact. 

I think Huges's work is uncanny the way it is something familiar and everyday but through the sue of materials he has made it foreign. He has distorted the object so that it become alien and out of place. I want my work to do this, i want people to question what my work is made out of and to want to examine it thought. One thing that i think is interesting in Huges work is that with out reading the work summery on the wall people could just think it is a mattress, their is no give away in the work.

Development of expanding foam
I decide to have another go at using the expanding foam, even tho i don't think my first experiment worked out very well i was inspired by the artists i looked at. I thought about making a wall of falling expanding foam, i had a go with this idea but found i could not apply the expanding foam to the upright wall so had to do it on a flat section. I loved the shapes that started to develop and the wall it grew as if it was above. However i am a bit limited with how to display it as it can not be bent or manipulated once it has set. I think if i wanted to create an initial shape with lots of folds and depths in it i will have to apply the foam to a shaped template. I am wanted to somehow use some left over packing paper that i had. I loved how it had holes that got larger when stretched  I created a kind of pop shaped basket by gathering up the edges and trying an elastic band around it to hold it in place. I then inserted the expanding foam and let it seep out of all the holes. I loved how it tried to escape and spread, the shapes that were created were organic and individual. 

Development of wax idea
I finished my large version of the sparkling water and wax experiment. I don't think that is that effective larger, it looks a bit boring to me. I think the fact that it is larger also takes away the interest a little bit, as when i did a small version people could pick it up and exam it, look closely. I think i need to look at some artist who experiment with wax or trying to capture water. If i find inspiration from these artists then i will continue to look at ways of capturing water from a sculptural form. 

Print Workshop 
Anna did a printing workshop, i found it lots of fun and found the prints that i produced to be really interesting. We used acrylic paint and medium to paint directly on a a plastic sheet. We then placed paper over the top and used a roller to press the paper on firmly. The images that was produced was a mirror image of the painting we had done on the plastic. I found it to be fun using expressive gestures of the paintbrush, lots of paint to create deep colors  I think it would of been fun to print on to fabric as well, to see how the texture and tone differed to the paper. I think printing is a quick and easy way to communicate broad shapes and general ideas. I don't think i will use the method again in this project but it was good to learn the process of it for later on ideas. 

Lynda Benglis

Benglis is an American artists, she is well known for her work with pouring wax and latex to create sculptures. Her influences for her methods of building up paint through flicking are from Jackson Pollock, she uses mass quantities of the medium to communicate her theories. Her work is feminist, it looks at woman's sexuality, the fall of woman and art from a woman perceptive. I wanted to look at Benglis not for the meaning of her work as my own work is not feminist but for her methods of sculpture. I found it interesting how she built up her work through pouring, flicking and throwing. How her sculptures spread across the room, and looked like paint frozen in time. I also like the scale of her work, she used a medium that is not typical for building up sculptures. Her large installations make her work more interesting for me as they add awe, how did she make them this large. I think the size also distorts the materials in a way that makes people question how they are made. 

Benglis work for me has a sense of the uncanny, it distorts materials and manipulates them in to foreign forms. I do not like the colour of Benglis work i think it detracts from the sculpture. I think through the use of colour the work becomes less about the impressive shapes and form of the sculpture and more child like. I think it would of been more effective if she had just used white this way people could of admired the shapes of her sculptures with out getting lost in the bright colours. I thought it would be good to look at Benglis for her methods of making, i want my sculptures to have this same free element, this spontaneous art. I don't want my art to look labored  i want it to look like a natural occurrence, a growth or a pour. I also wanted to look at the size of Benglis work as she managed to make her work on a large scale but keeping the form detailed. I find it hard to make my work large and think if i refer to Benglis, how she uses a method i will be able to make my work how i imagined. 

I think Benglis work above, "fountain" is a really successfully piece of work. It does everything i want my work to, it freezes time, it makes it look like the water has stopped moving. I like that it has no colour, it becomes more surreal and focuses on the shape more. I like the drips that look like they are about to fall and the way it builds up in to a shape.

Looking back at my original project proposal i said i would look at the artist lynda Benglis, i wanted to see if through the influence of her work i could experiment with materials that created the illusion they were oozing across the floor. I want my work to explore different materials to achieve this.

Esma Pascal Turam

A Turkish artist who uses hot glue as a medium, molding it in to a fabric that she can manipulate, sow and combine. He work with silicone explores the theme of individuality.  Her technique of using the hot glue gun allows her to draw with he medium, Turam wanted a lace like material to create her forms, glue allowed her to show people her sculptures from all sides, create a paper like material that she could work with. 

I was researching artists who use hot glue and i thought Turam work was really interesting. The way she makes the hot glue become like clay, manipulating it and molding it in to shapes. I really like her chandelier, i think it is amazing how it Can look like a solid form when it is really fragile and delicate. I thought it would be interesting to see if i could use the glue gun in this way, directly draw with it. 

I find it interesting how deceiving Turam work it, it makes me think she has made her art out of ice, or fabric, it is deceiving to the viewer. I think her work branches on the notion of the uncanny though the way she uses the material. I looks familiar, people can tell what the objects are but though using a unique material she makes people question her work. I also like how she looks in to the uniqueness of her art, the way she creates and draws means no shape will be the same. I also like the way she has displayed her art. I think the use of suspension through out her art works really well. It allows people to experience her work from different angles and shows of the transparency of the material. 

In my project proposal i said i would experimenter with different materials and process of making i think it would be interesting to look at using hot glue as if i was drawing with it. I think this would give my work another element, would add depth to my art. I also think it will allow me to manipulate the form more and create my desired shapes. 

Lights
I have booked the small installation room in college for next week, i want to experiment with lights and my glue sculptures in there. I think it will be good for me to try out a range of different lighting techniques and see what one best communicates a sense of the temporary. My initial ideas were to use light bulbs  have the glue blanket draped around them at different levels. i don't think this will communicate the natural like i want to. I think i want to experiment with white and blue light, see it it cast a natural glow. This then lead me to think of how i can use the light, when i went to the light show at the Haywood galleries that had a flashing light or strobe lighting installation. I think the flashing lights worked really well, it gave a sense of disorientating the audiences view and also felt like flashes of lightning how it came and went. I think this would be an interesting angle to look at, combining two different ephemeral ideas.

I have an idea that my final piece is going to become quite large, i am not sure yet what medium but i think i want it to overwhelm people and make them feel smaller. I also am leaning towards suspending it having it hang above people. I know this idea did not work very well at the pop up show but i know know that i need to build it high up so that i can keep on seeing it from this perspective.

Original Project proposal
Explore the ephemeral and to try and capture a moment in time, to immortalize through a sculptural form the impermanence of liquids. To help me solve this I will be looking at artist such as Lynda Benglis whose art work appears to ooze and pour across the room. Thus I will explore the different ways to make my art appear as if it is a frozen moment. My work will explore the notion of the uncanny; I want to see if I can make my work effectively communicate the sense of the familiar and foreign simultaneously. I want to experiment within sculpture and develop my skills of building and constructing work, reflecting on initial experiments with liquids. I plan to create a large installation that involves experimenting with materials such as plaster, expanding foam and wax. I also want to look at the artist Alberto Seveso who captures ink in water through photography. I want to look at how effective his work is in portraying motion and take inspiration from the unique shapes his work captures. I will experiment with photography, trying to capture movement in water and take influence from the shapes create to design my sculpture.

I have been exploring the ephemeral and trying to capture moments in time. Some of my experiments have been more successful than others, the cloud idea at the pop up show i hated, it did not look like a cloud and in no way communicated the ephemeral  This is because i think i was taking my theme to literally, i have now been look at moments in time and trying to capture them in a different way. With rain, i really liked the idea of capturing rain but i did not literally have to make hundreds of rain drops and suspend them . I looked at the shape of rain on glass and tried to communicate it throughout the use of hot glue and capturing the pattern. Then again with water my initial ideas were to use clay to create a small river but i took a step back and instead tried to capture an element of water. I looked at different types of water, sparkling. I looked at the bubbles and tried to capture this through the use of wax. I have noticed that i am draw to try and capture a lot of the elements as i think that are very temporary and ever changing. This however was not part of my project proposal and so i have tried to come away from it a bit and just look at the temporary. I looked at materials, expanding foam how it changes and captures growth.

I have not yet looked at lynda Benglis i do not feel like she is an important artist reference to influenxce my work now. I think i should change my project proposal to maybe say i will look at the artists Alberto Seveso or Yasuaki Onishi. I will still look at Lynda Benglis as i feel her work will help my work become more informed about materials. I have not looked at the notion of the uncanny and i have not talked about yet if any of my work communicates the notion of the uncanny, i have had it in the back of my mind but i have not yet wrote about it in depth. The rest of my project proposal i think i have been looking at it but i have not yet wrote about it or refereed it back to my project proposal in enough depth.

Foam experiment 
In my project proposal i said that i would experiment with expanding foam. Today i brought some foam and tried to squirt it on to some cardboard. Later my dad told my that i would never get it off the cardboard so instead i squirted some in to a plastic bag. I then held the bag so that the foam would set in a liquid like manner. I thought this material would be a good way of capturing liquid as it expands and so would fill all the space and is manipulable. I found the foam really hard to use however as it did not squirt out how i wanted and started to expand to quickly so that i could not manipulate it as easier as i had originally thought. The experiment i have done has not set yet but even so i do not think i will develop this idea as i can not mold and manipulate it like i want to.

Katie Wallbank's
I Googled expanding foam art and i found some really interesting things. One artist in particular i found really interesting, Katie Wallbanks. " Wallbanks created work that explored the themes of tension, repetition, suspension, strain and weight. Her initial influences came from nature-the change, morph and repetition occurring within a wooded habitat. I found her work with hair nets and expanding foam to be really interesting, the way the foam oozed out of the hair net, froze in place looked really out of place and almost like a freeze frame. It looked like a moment in time, that at any point the foam would spill out on to the floor.

I just had a talk about how to visually analyse art work so i am going to try and go in to more depth with this artist so that i have a greater understanding of her work. Wallbanks work uses expanding foam and netting, the foam seeps throughout creating these unique and different shapes. She displays her work in a bold way by them being on their own, on a white wall, all ways hanged or suspended in a way. My initial thoughts are that it is growtest, it looks like a growth or a mold the way it seeps and expands, also thought the use of a net it feels like she has caught something, organic or alive. It also to me looks temporary, that at any minuet the foam will spill out on to the floor and escape. I think she is trying to communicate tot he viewer, freedom or escape, organic forms. The the natural shapes are moving and growing, a sense or time maybe. Wallbanks is trying to communicate tension and fragility through her work, how the netting it holding back this huge monstrous shape that is growing out of control.

I checked this morning and the foam has set, it has not gone in the shape i wanted but i still find it interesting. I love the natural qualities of the foam it looks like frozen ice, full of bubbles and natural shapes. I want to find a way to use this, i think i need to try maybe not filling something but building it up. I am think i could use thick paper, cut it in the way that it becomes like a net, stretch it out on the wall and coat it slowly in expanding foam. I am hoping it will go through all the gaps. I will try this tonight as i need to go buy some more expanding foam.

Questions i need to ask my self

Context- have i been looking at and writing about the proposed sources in my bibliography, have i looked at and if necessary redrafted my proposal and have i been referring my research back to my proposal.
I have not currently been looking at my bibliography, i need to make sure i look back at it and also make reference to the new things that i have been researching. I also need to look at different sources, magazines and TV, i think this would make my work more informed. I also need to keep referring back to my proposal as i have not been doing this. i might need to redraft part of my proposal; as i have started to look at different materials that i had not planned on using.

Research-how many sources have i looked at, have i been looking at a range of different sources and does it fit with my original idea. I need to do more research in to theories and artists and reference them better, evaluating them more critically.

Problem solving-have i been looking at the problems i have encountered throughout this project and looked at how i have overcome them and have i been looking at my theories and trying to solve the problems that have arisen because of these theories.I need to look at the problem of how i am going to display my ideas so far as the materials i have been using are quite fragile. I Also need to over come the theoretical problem of making my work communicate the ephemeral and the notion of the uncanny.

Planning and production- have i been referring to my action plan and looking in to my time management.
Practical skills-how good is my sculptures or photos, have i documented everything practical in my books, have i used a wide range of things and experimented with new things. I have not been referring to my action plan so i need to make sure i start to do this more regularly. I need to make sure my photos are better, the quality of them and that i edit them so that they are perfect. I also need to look in to ways of building my sculptures before i just make them as my cloud at the pop up show was rubbish and badly made. This means that i have to look at many different ways of using the materials and that if i use hot glue for example the joins are not visible and it is of all one thickness so that there are no week parts. I need to document better in my blog as i have not been recording everything as i am doing it i have sometimes been going back and writing about it after this could mean that i am missing parts out. I also need to experiment more with new materials, i proposed in my initial plan to experiment with expanding foam, i still intend on doing this as i have never used it before and i think it would be interesting to see how it comes out and what i can do with it.

Evaluation and reflection-how regularly am i updating my journal, am i evaluating my work throughout in a critical way. I need to update my journal more regularly and make sure that i write about all the little ideas i have even if i do not think they will be very good as it is important to show the development of my ideas. I think i need to be more critical in my evaluation of artist, refer to the sheet Jane gave out during one of her talks as this will help me to look in more depth at my own work as well.

Presentation-did i reflect on the church show and how my presentation as there, have i used a range of considered strategies, have i drawn a lot, documented everything, looked at ways of presentation in relation to the nature of my work, looked at what audience it is aimed at. I think i need to think more about how i am going to present my work, what would best show the nature of my work, as i am drawn to the use of suspension as i like how it manipulates the audiences view but this may not be the most effective way to communicate the ephemeral. I also need to think about the audience  who are they going to be, i am only getting critiques and evaluations of my work by art minded people but there will be people who have not got the knowledge of art or artists as the show and so i need to keep that in mind.

Looking back at my action plan
My original action plan

Week 1	Do research in to artists that look at the temporary. Explore my ideas though the use of drawing Look at developing initial experiments for next week’s show at St Martins Church.
Week 2	Research artist who use different methods to capture moments in time Experiment with capturing movement through the use of photography. Create an initial experiment piece that can be displayed at St Martin’s Church Install art work in St Martin’s Visit London galleries
Week 3	Explore the link between the ephemeral and the notion of the uncanny Research artist who explore the idea of the uncanny Continue to use photography as a way of capturing movement.
Week 4	Start to experiment with materials to create me ideas Research in to different materials such as armature, plaster on fabric and fabric with starch. Reflect on experiments’ in journal and through the use of drawing.
Week 5	Keep experimenting with different materials and creating initial ideas Have a peer critique and reflect on what they say Research In to artist who try and capture movement within their work
Week 6	Look at previous experiments and think about what material worked best With the most successful material build more complicated experiment’s
Week 6	Research and reflect on if my work is representing the notion of the uncanny Draw initial designs for final outcome with reference to previous experiment’s
Week 7	Research in to how I would be able to display my ideas if it is possible to suspend it Look at artist have suspended their own art work Reflect on progress so far with in my journal and through the use of drawing
Week 8	Finalise how my final piece is going to be suspended. Buy the materials need to create my final piece Have a clear drawing of what final piece is to look  like
Week 9	Start to create final piece Reflect in journal and through drawings a talking to tutors if it is going OK
Week 10	Complete creating final piece Decide how work will be displayed in the exhibition
Week 11	Install and display final piece Write final evaluation

 I said in week one that i would do research in to artists who look at the temporary, i think i have done enough of this, i need to look at more references and look in to artists who experiment with this theme in more depth. I did do some drawing but i think i did not do enough, i need to become more efficient in communicating my ideas through the use of drawing. I did look at ideas for the pop up show and i think i even started to make the piece that week. This means my plan for week one did not go that well, i need to make sure i do the things i set out each week. This is my revised week one detailing what i actually did.

Week 1

. Begin to look at ideas for pop up show and experiment though the use of drawing. .Start to develop idea for the pop up show

The second week was centred around the pop up show. I underestimate how much time i would spend on this project. I had planned to Look in to artists who capture the tempory. I changed this and focused on artists who where influential to my cloud idea. I looked in to people who had created cloud like forms and also artists who had experimented with my medium of fabric and starch. I said that in this week that i would experiment with the use of photography, i did do this, i used photography to try and capture the reaction of milk in tea. I did however have to spread the use of photography to the next week as i did not experiment enough in the first week with different liquids. I did create a piece of work for the pop up show and i did display it. I think i needed more time for this however and so i need to make sure that i plan enough time to make and display my final piece. I did manage to visit the Light show at the Haywood Gallery in London, i found this a really interesting exhibit, i think i should of planned for more gallery visits though.

Week 2

·         .research artists who have created cloud like forms or sculptures ·         Look at people who have experimented with the medium of fabric and starch. ·         Use photography to record the reaction of milk in tea. ·         Create an initial experiment piece that can be displayed at St Martin’s Church ·         Install art work in St Martin’s ·         Visit the light show at the Haywood gallery in London.

The third week i did not do much work, i was disappointed with my work at the pop up show and i was not sure if i though my idea was not any good. I did not explore the notion of the ephemeral and the uncanny, i still, need to do this but i need to first look at the notion of the uncanny and solve a theoretical problem with how i can incorporate and represent it through my work. I still need to look at the notion of the uncanny and i think i will do this this or next week. I said that i would continue to explore the use of photography and methods of capturing movement in water. I experimented a bit with this in the way that i photographed tea and beetroot going in o water, though i found it an unsuccessfully experiment as the photos came out blurry and so i let this idea run in to next week.

Week 3 1st – 7Th (half term)

·         Use photography to capture the movement of water

The fourth week I really got in to the idea of experimenting with photography. I tried different types of ink and photographed the results. I did not start to experiment with materials, i have only started this in week six. I did however evaluate the use of photography and the photos i took.

Week 4 8th – 14th (half term)

·         Continue looking at using photography to capture ink in water. ·         Evaluate the use of photography.

In week five i got a bit more focused and did more work than i had done over half term. I said in week five that i would to continue to experiment with different materials. Instead i evaluated the pop up show and looked back at what i though went well or did not work. I then applied for the this one wall exhabit in colchetser. I manipulated some photos and submitted eight of the ink in water photos i had taken last week. I then had a talk with Claire and because of this looked in to the artist Yasuaki Onishi. I started to experiment with the medium of hot glue. I also experimented with paint as a way of building a sculpture and looked at the artist Margie Livingston in reference to this. I did have a group critique this week on the Thursday, which i found really useful i also evaluated the group critique and talked about how it helped me.

Week 5 15th- 21st

·         Evaluate the pop up show ·         Apply for This One Wall exhibition ·         Look at the installation artist Yasuaki Onishi ·         Experiment with hot glue ·         Look at the artist Margie Livingston ·         Experiment with paint ·         Have  Group critique ·         Evaluate the group critique

I am currently in the middle of week six, and have been continuing to experiment with different materials. This week i have started to be more experimental and have been looking at glue and wax. I experimented with ways of capturing water throughout the use of hot wax. I did two small experiments and looked in to what worked well and what did not. I then took the experiment that worked well further and have started to build a bigger more detailed version. I have also looked in to ways of displaying my glue idea and what would look better. I had planned on in my first action plan to reflect on if my work is representing the uncanny. I have still not yet researched the uncanny and so will plan to do this, this week.  I am not going to draw initial ideas for my final out come yet as i am not ready to narrow down my ideas yet. Also i think that i have not experimented with different materials enough yet. I also have a work book check this week on Thursday.

Week 6 22nd- 28th

·         Continue to experiment with hot glue and different ways of using it. ·         Look at ways of capturing water through the use of hot wax. ·         Evaluate wax experiment ·         Develop wax experiment ·         Continue to build hot glue blanket ·         Look at ways of displaying the glue idea ·         Look at the notion of the uncanny ·         Work book check

In week seven i had panned to look at ways of displaying my work, as i am now in week six and i have still not decided what to make i do think i will be ready to look in to methods of displaying. So instead that week i am going to continue to experiment while developing the hot glue idea as i think that is so far the strongest. I also need to prepair for my group critique as it is taking place next week. I am not going to look at artists who have suspended their art work instead i will look in to artists who have experimented with hot glue and wax. I also need to look again at the notion of the uncanny and ways of communicating this notion. I also had planed in my action plan to reflect on my progress so far. I think this is still a good idea and will keep it in my updated action plan.

Week 7 29th – 5th

·         Prepare for FMP critique ·         Develop glue idea ·         Look again at the notion of the uncanny and ways of representing this notion in my work. ·         Look at artists who use the medium of hot glue ·         Reflect on progress so far.

Week 8: i had origionaly planned to buy my materials for my final peice, i think this is still a good idea and so iam going to keep this in my new plan. I then planned on haveing a clear drawing of my final peice, a plan that i could refer to. I am goiong to keep this in my plan as i think it is a good idea. I am going to add to my plan to start to build or construct my final peice as i think it will take a long time and at the moment i have a idea that it might be quite big. his means that i am going to want lots of time to develop it and get it right. I also need to look into ways displaying it, how to make sure it is going to be most effective. 

Week 8 6th – 12th

·         FMP critiques happening this week ·         Start to build my final piece ·         Look in to how it is going to be displayed ·         Get the materials for my final piece ·         Draw a clear plan of  what your final piece is to look like

Week 9: This is where i had planed on making my final peice, i what to continue to develop it. I thihnk this is going to take all werek as i want it to be really amazing. I had also planned on while i am building my final peice i will be reflecting and critique it thgough out.

Week 9 13th – 19th

·         Last week of studios ·         Continue to build final piece ·         Reflect on progress through out construction

The last two week i will need to finash installing my work and to evaluate my work.

Week 10 20th – 26th	·         Studios are being refurbished for exhibition ·         Installing FMP ·         Reflect and evaluate
Week 11 27th – 2nd	·         30th is the dead line for all work ·         Installing FMP ·         Reflect and evaluate