Material developments

1st and 2nd of March

Over the past couple of days I've been experimenting with texture and colour. I've really enjoyed it and its made me feel like like I'm getting more into the swing of things. Ideas are coming a bit more easily now. Here are some pieces I did as experiments in my sketchbook.

Will Alsop's work, which I saw some of over the weekend really inspired me to be more bold in my use of colour.



This second piece gave me some ideas for the development of my messaging centre. I liked using the scrim and felt it was something that i could easily manipulate. Yesterday evening I did some experiments, dipping the scrim in a mix of Pva and water, creating these gaping holes in it and leaving it to dry in different shapes. Here are some designs I developed from there.

I like these initial sketches, but I feel that they are prehaps a bit too safe. In an assessment I once had with Camilla, she once talked about the way I have a tendency to go down a route which is quite safe, and will always lead to something quite conventionally pleasing to the eye. With this project I want to do something that feels like my style, but also something which is a bit different and perhaps a bit riskier. This idea is quite similar to my Ernesto Neto inspired xmas project.

I'm still thinking about the blue plaques and different ways I can reinvent that style of messaging. However, working with the plaques perhaps limits my freedom when developing the space's overall form. the shape would have to be simpler, so the plaques stand out as a main focus.

The internet is being a bit weird and keeps on shutting down, so I won't write too much more.

For the rest of today I'm going to go and visit this other space at the Royal academy which has some more pieces by Alsop. I'm also visiting the Haunch of Venison with a friend from Camberwell.

For the next few days I'll carry on looking at texture, weaving and fabrics, but I'll also look at printing some templates for blue (or maybe, red, orange, green etc) plaques

Message to the Council

Today I was sorting out some research and emailing the Haringey Council to get permission to put up my temporary message hub. The research is going quite well, but I still don't feel that everything is clicking together properly or that ideas are growing organically. I feel at the moment as though I'm trying to control and order notes, images and articles instead of the work developing on its own accord. I need to carry out my 'temporary messaging space' idea first because I think it will be a really fun and different part of the revival project.

I wrote to the council so I can get a license to put up my installation, but I'm a bit worried they'll grill me for all sorts of health and safety things.

In the meantime I'm going to try and develop some material samples for the installation itself. I'm going to do some weaving (inspired by Alsop's piece I saw yesterday). I'm also going to try experimenting with fabrics like different types of netting.
Rupert had a look through my work this morning and we discussed the way's in which I will encourage people to leave messages and become involved with the piece. I would quite like to build on the blue plaque research I was doing last week. I could do a string of prints for blue plaque templates and get people to fill them in. It would tell me about the type of people that live in crouch end today, while also making it seem as though the residents will be remembered in the area's history. The plaques could be hung all over the installation.

Visit to Museum of London and Masterworks at the Royal Academy

On Sunday I went to the London Street Photography exhibition at the Museum of London. In my research I have looked at some old postcards of Crouch End in the early 20th century and I was fascinated by the clear sense of community which was bought to the are through trading and markets. I wanted to look further into London life at the turn of the century and the ways communities were shaped by various cultural factors.
Overall, the exhibit was interesting, but didn't help me greatly in widening my ideas. My favourite photos were a collection recording life for the West African community in Notting Hill during the 50s and 60s. At a time of social tension, the photographer wanted to capture the strong bonds between black and white people.

Also as I was in the area, I went to Postman's Park to visit the monument to the 'heroic self sacrificers' which Susan Hiller used in her piece 'Monument'.

It was helpful to record another example of messages and the spaces which are created to display them.

I then went to Masterworks: Architecture at the Royal Academy. It was great. I really enjoyed the work of Alan Stanton and Will Alsop- 2 architects I haven't really come across before. Alsop's piece 'Fog is an Urban Experience' was inspiring- It was refreshing to see architects approaching projects in a more rough and creative way. I want to use some paint, collage and colour in my revival project- its a good way to build up a realistic picture of the part urban, part suburban character of Crouch End

example of Alsop's work
source: http://www.e-architect.co.uk/images/jpgs/toronto/alsop_artexhibit_310507_3.jpg

Example of Stanton's work
Source: http://www.arbuturian.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/article25stanton-300x244.jpg

Saatchi Gallery

25/02/2011

Today we were meant to stay in college all day for a crit. Not many people were in though, because of interviews and portfolio preparation, so the crit was finished by about 12. I found it really helpful though. when I showed my research so far to my group Alex told me it reminded her of something she had seen recently in the saatchi gallery- the piece was 'The followers' by Ximena Garrido- Lecca.

The Followers by Ximena Garrido- Lecca. I liked the work but wasn't sure if it fitted in with the surrounding works. Saatchi usually seeks to include stand out works that are shocking or completely new. The piece didn't really feel completely convincing as a piece of bold installation or sculpture.

I had pictures of Pere Lachaise cemetary in Paris- I went in the summer and had taken loads of photos of this semi underground memorial. The walls of the space were basically grids where people's ashes were placed and then covered with plaques.

source: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2557/4121539841_121c95e59a.jpg

In the afternoon I went along to the saatchi gallery to do some sketching. I normally go to the new Saatchi exhibitions but mostly I find them quite disappointing. The first part of the Newspeak exhibitions last year I really didn't enjoy, but I actually quite liked this recent Newspeak one. The sculptures and installations got me thinking about just how wacky my message space could be- especially if I want it to be something eye catching and fun for residents. For example, I really like how Graham Hudson's piece was alot like a performance in itself. It was chaotic, noisy and had to be re-erected in a different way with each new exhibition.

Graham Hudson 'All My Exes Live in Tesco's'

Dean Hughes 'Shelves (iv)'

Juliana Cerqueira Leite 'Oh'

All these pieces above really helped me to widen my ideas of how to design a messaging space. They're all very different but they make me feel confident that I can come up with something bold and experimental. Like Hudson's piece I want to experiment using found objects aswell.

Aswell as developing this 'message space' idea I've also had another idea which I'd like to look at closer. In Crouch End there is this magazine vendour Colin who sits in this small green shed on the Broadway facing the clocktower. He's been there for ages and is somebody all the locals know quite well. I'd like to design him a new space to sell his papers from. I want to reinvent a space which is somewhat overlooked- everybody is aware who Colin is, but they dont really notice much when it comes to his green shed. He's based in such a prime spot on the broadway, a new 'shed' would be instantly noticeable.

Susan Hiller at the Tate Britain

24/02/2011

I went to see Susan Hiller's new exhibition on thursday. I'd never come across her work before, but I really enjoyed some of her stuff. I had read about her work 'monument' in the tate magazine before I went. The piece caught my eye instantly because I have often visited the wall of self sacrificers on which it is based- the wall of plaques is in Postman's Park, not far from the Museum of London. I liked the way Hiller had included the bench and the audio in the piece, it made it more of an installation and something the viewer could fully involve themselves in.

Monument 1980-81

The other piece which immediately comes to mind is 'Witness', where hundreds of speakers hang in a dark room flooded with an eiree blue light. Each of the speakers is playing out somebody's recount of an extra terrestrial experience. It is impossible to discern an individual voice without holding your ear up to one single speaker, and even then you find yourself being distracted by a voice a few speakers on. I know you cant see the piece very well in this video, but you can definately hear whats going on.

Apart from these two quite obvious and memorable audio installations, I found Hiller's presentation of her other 2D work interesting aswell. I liked the L shaped frames she has used and the way she hung shredded canvases or bound them into small parcels.

One of the pieces I found quite frustrating was 'From the Freud Museum'. I just couldn't properly connect with it. I didn't really understand what Hiller was trying to communicate and I didn't find the small compact boxes she displayed the objects in that interesting- especially when put next to the sprawling threads from her canvases or her bold prjected films.

I found the exhibition really useful in developing my ideas. Especially 'Monument' which directly links with my explorations into plaques and the spaces used to display them. I still want to start working in a more bold and experimental way with materials. When I look more closely at constructing my temporary message space for crouch end, I want to use netting or woven fabrics that can be easily manipulated.

These are plaques that were lined up on the hand rails on Southwold Pier. I visited Southwold last weekend and I loved the way these personal messages added a bit of personal interest to the pier.