Week 22

This week was painful there is no simpler way to put it. Frankly the entire week felt very disorganised, with two large collaboration projects taking place within the one week. Not to mention one which in my opinion at least required two weeks to become evenly slightly beneficial. Starting with the interchange project which I thought really should have been an ongoing project with several of these cross-course workshops each week for four weeks. However I understand with budgetary restrictions and other year groups demands, this could not be achieved but even so The workshops I chose to re immerse myself in a digital medium which, I have not touched for several years now, was a complete waste of time; the first being an introduction to zbrush, which I am very familiar with and really enjoy yet I need to refresh myself on the software. The workshop was meant to be and I quote "hands on" implying we get to use the software and therefore would be useful. NO, when I got there me and a friend realised this was a 2hr 30 min speech on zbrush not a "hands on experience" after we spoke to the workshop leader he explained that it was a talk but if we wanted inductions on zbrush we could go through the usual channels we would have used if we didn't have interchange anyway, So we decided to leave. The next day was the Photoshop workshop how to get really good edges, which I had hoped would have been an advanced look at Photoshop, except it realistically was a reaffirming look at what I had learnt in sixth form. So over all the interchange project has been a total disappointment and frankly a rather stressful experience as now I feel I have lost valuable time which I would have dearly liked to use working on my own studio work or research for my 1000 research report proposal.

Secondly this week we had to conduct a cross course collaboration with Games art (firstly I don't understand why we were paired with Games, the only really interesting merger of fine art and games I can think of is the trailer for death stranding yet that is a collaboration which has taken years not a week to develop.) We were asked to develop a short video(5s to 1min) in a group of 5, within 1 week except with interchange and the lack of uni resources on the weekend this was really four days.

For our video we were assigned the topic "CUBE". we started the project by creating a group chat on Facebook and a Trello account so as to all be able to share and document our progress throughout the project. My Fine art pier was unable to attend most of the week understandably because of a family death, however despite this she was very eager to try and contribute as much as possible, therefore we assigned her the tasks of storyboarding and Research. On our first group meeting only three of us turned up myself one of the Games artists Will and Arianne my fellow fine artist, the others gave no reason for their absence one of who did not show throughout the entirety of the project which slowed the development even more. Nonetheless I must say Will's contribution to the project was astounding It was great to work with someone who for the little time I've known him was an all round decent guy and good worker.

The three of us settled on the concept that the Cube is an unnatural man made object which related to buildings and other man made structures. We decided to try and incorporate each others wishes therefore with my sculptural practice and changing form themes, Wills digital painted mediums and Landscape paintings and Arianne's nature reclaimed building themes we came up with quite a nice concept. We decided to make a plaster cube which would be chiselled down and photo stage by stage for stop motion. The new form we were looking to create was a natural mountain ridge sort of form. This would then be added to a time lapse video of a landscape growing around the mountain in a digital painting this would then be reversed and return to the start. I was assigned the tasks of creating the cube, creating the rig on which the cube would sit, sculpting the cube and photographing the process for stop motion, furthermore I was given the tasks of creating preliminary sketches and additional research to support Arianne's. Will's Tasks consisted of helping me take the photos, creating the digital painting and editing. Owen and Campbell we asked to help edit and render the video, also to assist Will in any way to create the digital landscape.

 Overall the project turned out well the video was 11 seconds long yet was satisfactory considering the time and complications we had. Unfortunately due to the Blitz speed of the project we all had to focus on our own specialities therefore were unable to learn from one another which I felt was the whole point of the project. Therefore this became a one week project to make an unnecessary video when I really wanted to be focusing on a new collaboration I have been planning to work on with Paul Bryan based on the work of Oliver de Sagazan. Here is the link to the projects joint documentation page on Trello: https://trello.com/b/jbY98JpF/fa-and-gad-collaboration-project

Furthermore below is the finished video we created...

Outside of the collaboration and Interchange projects I have not been able to really progress in my own practice this week, despite sketchbook work and preliminary discussion with Paul about the new collaboration. I wanted to create a video piece inspired by Sagazan's work which both me and Paul are fascinated by; my aim was to create a piece which showed the shifting form of a humanoid figure using clay and stop motion, based on my thematic focus around the grotesque qualities of the human condition. II wanted to work with Paul as I really like his video work therefore we have a similar interest in Sagazans work, I have the sculpting skills needed to work the clay and Paul has the filmography skills required to make the work. I have also secured a model for this project I simply need to inform her When and where I will need her, The model being my friend on the Fine art course Beth Bartlett, therefore Beth can now also be considered a collaborator. I met her at the Playhouse bar on the Tuesday all I needed was to mention the collaboration and Sagazan and she was in; it Would seem Sagazan has become something of a celebrity within the year group.

I met Paul at the Golden star pub on Duke street on the Thursday with Beth, to discuss the project. I had been making sketches and drawings in my sketchbooks to inspire the forms we created, however we decided the best thing to do would be to cover Beth in Clay then working very dynamically and energetically we would change the forms rapidly allowing the material to dictate how the work progresses not worrying to much about what we are creating (so much for my sketches:)!). Paul then mentioned that he has asked his manager and boss at the Birdcage bar if we could use the stage room with perfect lighting and space for this project, so now we have a venue and a model we just needed to decide on a time. Furthermore Paul expressed an interest in painting Beth before hand in a very vibrant red or dark black to emphasise the clay and her form to greater effect.

Week 21

During Week 21, having shaved ample material from the back section of the sculpture I was in a decent position to begin Tig welding. This being an introduction to Tig welding for me, I had not done myself any favours by choosing aluminium. Aluminium has an oxide layer which needs to be brushed away with a staleness steal brush before welding can begin as the exterior of the aluminium has a far higher melting temperature than its core, therefore its not the easiest material to weld.

Fortunately due to the damaged nature of the skulls surface I wanted to maintain a few cracks and rough edges to show scars from past traumas.

Therefore I would weld small sections, then file it down, weld another patch and so on and so forth, whilst leaving small cracks in appropriate places, suggesting severe head trauma during the creatures life showing that the beast has been exposed to conflict during its life.

Once I had welded the two pieces together I crisped some parts of the joint using the tig welder to blend the smooth sections with the rougher surface of the sculpture.

Furthermore to hide the margin more successfully I used small chisels to work the lines of the skull back into the material.

As documented below:

Once I had finished the welding I took a step back and looked at my sculpture, and I couldn't help but feel that it was lacking some how. The aluminium felt really flat, as if the details melted away even if you stepped only a metre away.

Therefore I decided to add a layer of black wax polish, by doing so I would darken the whole object, yet the wax would cling to the recesses along the details emphasising the marks across the surface. This would hopefully age the object as well, making the work feel less like a block of metal, but more like an actually deformed skull of a great beast.

Below I have documented the application of the black wax:

Below is an image of the finished piece, Even now I struggle to accept that it is finished, it has taken five months to reach this stage, and even though at times this project has really pissed me off I still feel that I need to keep working on it. One thing that I am certain of however is the success of the black wax. By applying the wax I have converted the block of metal into a more dynamic piece. Ageing the material beyond its time. All that is left now is to create an exhibition around this piece. However I want something unconventional. I have considered taking it to the local beach and doing a one day show. Where I film the piece as it rests on the waters edge as the waves wash sand over it.

Furthermore this week we were introduced to the new project next week called interchange. In which all year two students have to choose two classes outside of our chosen course one on the Wednesday and one on the Thursday. Below is the booklet with the two corresponding pages describing the classes I have chosen:

I chose the z brush introduction as I saw it as an entrance to a digital platform, now that my work has become very sculptural I thought it would be appropriate to try a transition to digital media. Furthermore I chose the Photoshop class as once again I saw this as an appropriate transition to digital media.

Week 20

I think for my own state of mind I needed to get the aluminium sculpture finished as soon as I could without compromising on the quality of the work, just so that I could feel a sense of completion so that I don’t have to start this unit with a great weight on my back. Therefore every day this week I focused solely on said project. This week I have used an angle grinder to remove the runner system from the sculpture, I started by removing the excess material roughly 2cm from the surface of the sculpture. Later I worked closer to the object, until I had roughly a mm's worth of material to remove which I either filed down or used a flat disc on the angle grinder to create an even surface level. Once the runner system was removed I had greater access to the remaining plaster and sand which I was able wash out of the sculpture. Now that the runner system has gone and the sand and plaster has been washed away I can now align the two pieces, unfortunately the wash has created a bubbled margin across the seem, which means I now need to sand down one side until I can get the two to match up smoother before I can begin tig welding. Below I have documented the progress of the sculpture during this week below. ​

BA2b Fine Art: Reflective journal

This blog shall act as my reflective journal for BA2b Fine art, and will document the continuation of themes and work from BA2a. For this unit it is very clear to me that I want the context of my research and 3000 word text to continue to inform the body of work which I produce through studio work. The simplest way I can describe the thematic context of my practice is as follows; society objectifies the non-human seeing it as inferior or a symbol of regression, whereas the individual sub consciously desires to return to the primal uncanny to the honesty and purity of the natural world. This theme is best embodied by the human/non-human hybrid from myth and legend e.g. the werewolf or lycanthrope. My studio practice pursues these themes primarily in a three dimensional sense, however I wish to continue to experiment with media and techniques so as to better inform my work. Furthermore I wish to truly immerse myself in the collaborative nature of this unit so as to learn from my peers. The simplest way I think I can describe my studio practice is as follows; I create a tableau of unsightly worlds and organisms embodying arrogance, violence, conflict and other disturbing aspects of the human condition.