Ideas Factory Research Pt.1
Gather= act of bringing together things in order to present them as a whole. Working with this idea, mediums such as collage comes to mind. However, the gathering of people behind one idea is basically the definition of propaganda...
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Collage itself is a bit counter-culture, rebellious; selectively cutting and gathering images, and then juxtaposing them in certain compositions. For example, in an advert on a magazine or newspaper, the images and text are organised in a way that is telling its viewer to do something; however, a collage plays with this idea by altering the original meaning of the source.
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In other words, collage is basically gathering information from the source, then altering them to have a meaning different from its source. This ultimately evokes a satirical or ominous theme about the works
Thomas Kohler in Manifesto Collage believes collage works are "almost always political, collage is... a technique and message", and "employed by a range of artists ...playfully and subversively ". Likewise, Christiane zu Salm also in Manifesto Collage believes "collages are an important means for many contemporary artists to explore the diversity of social realities". It is interesting to note that simply gathering images and presenting them as a whole, what is Thomas Hirschhorn (also in MC) believes as the most powerful means of expression.pore
On the other hand, propaganda is people believing in the same idea. It is utilised by large organisations to sway the public opinion. Artists play with this notion and alter the message itself. For example, Martha Rosler's Gladiator (2004) juxtaposes photos of American Marines in somebody's living room. By using photos of Marines that the public can easily identify with, then gluing them in someone's house, it inevitably evokes a sense of confusion at this unwanted presence-- what the public American would have believed in America's involvement in the Gulf.
Ice
Ice= It could be solid water, it has preserving and reliving properties and can describe somebody. My group wanted to incorporate ice's ability to melt (duh), and from there it reeks of climate change overtones. So naturally our references would be icebergs and glaciers melting.
- Ice sculptures were ruled out because as a medium it didn't provide anything special other than being cool
- Throughout the first day we pondered with the ideas of freezers and fridges, because it definitely had the climate change theme. We abandoned it because it would limit our project to only be installations
Stefan Hunstein's collection of photos in his In the Ice photobook forces the readers to reevaluate their concept of icebergs. Normally being all big and capable of downing ships, the once mighty chunk of ice is slowly melting. In Ice No.16, in the foreground there is a solid block of white iceberg, and slightly below it is its reflection in the water, surrounded by numerous little bits of ice. In No.51, we see something akin to our ice cube in a drink; the last bit of ice struggling to remain solid and not melt. Likewise in No.118 a wall of ice shows destress by having a chipped surface, alluding to its eventual fate. Hunstein could have photographed a bunch of ice anyhow, however he chose to present them in a way that gave they human qualities--animism.
Futurism
Futurism= the movement seeks to capture "art the dynamism and energy of the modern world" (Tate.org.uk) Its core tenets were denouncing the past, and embracing everything that is dynamic and modern. In Marinetti's manifesto about Futurism, one that stood out most was "We affirm that world's magnificence has been enriched by a new beauty: the beauty of speed." (Futurism, Richard Humphreys) Futurism doesn't have a certain aesthetic to it, sure some artists adopted Cubism and neo-Impressionism because they were avant-garde, other than that, they were only united by their common idea of modernist ideas.
- As such, the project needs to exhibit a sense of dynamism, lots of energy, fearlessness, audacity and violence (all essential elements of Marinetti's manifesto)
Ideas Factory Pt.2
Delving deeper into the realms of Futurism...
- "The futurists advocated the destruction of traditional poetic language regulated by laws of causality in favour of a new language based on intuition"
- Marinetti wants to revolutionised how people live their lives, by dismantling the language first, he hopes to rewaken the human spirit
- "From a technological and philosophical perspective, the traditional Newtonian concept of the universe collapsed...The futurist aesthetics of speed reflected the poetic perception of a chaotic universe... Chaos was elevated to the status of a poetic principle"
- Marinetti believes technological advances has influenced the human psyche, especially how there's a "new dimension in speed" in transportation and communications
To sum it all up, the Futurist did not have a certain aesthetic style, instead it were the core tenets that was reflected in their works. Love for all things fast, destruction of the past, and idolising the machine were basically it. Tying it to my work, it has to exhibit the feelings of outrageous self-confidence, aggression and modernity.
Humphreys, Richard. Futurism. Tate, 2006.
Futurist Cuisine
This video shows some recipes from a Futurist menu. The menu is based of Marinetti's article Manifesto of Futurist Cuisine (1930). Marinetti believes just like Futurist art, food must about embrace modern and dynamic life; "the subject needed a good shake to reawaken its spirit" (Revelli & Cutini). As a result, starchy food like pasta was outlawed, cutleries were ditched, perfume was regularly sprayed on people while eating, and some food were stacked vertically like sculptures.
https://www.finedininglovers.com/stories/futurism-cuisine-manifesto-dining-marinetti/
Ideas Factory + Tate Brit/Mod + Victoria Park
SURGICAL WARD, 1939--SAM HAILE AUTUMN COMPOSITION, FLOWERS ON A TABLE, 1932-- IVON HITCHENS
- Haile here paints something violent, without the use of aggressive strokes like Ivon Hitchens's "Autumn Composition, Flowers on a Table"
- Hitchens used rags, heavy brush strokes and his palette knife to create an "active surface"
- For me, Haile creates an unsettling composition, that is reinforced by his weirdly childlike wonky lines.
- Whereas like Hitchen's composition looks aggressive, but it's really just some flowers on the table...something like what the Kitchen Sink painters would paint 20 years after
PELAGOS, 1946-- BARBARA HEPWORTH
- holy shit it's so beautiful
- What really gets me it's how simple it is, so it's basically a ginko nut cut into a spiral kinda shape
- The strings and the thin layer of wood would stand out with plaster, but Hepworth unifies them by:
- having the strings all taut (tension)
- the intersection between the wood and plaster is invisible, it's like the wood was laminated on then the plaster covered the edges
- Aesthetically and technically this is a very well done sculpture; taking a shape we all know, then carving the inside out
DRONE BALLET, 1940-- EDWAR WADSWORTH
- I'm not sure what to call this technique, but he uses other colours to substitute those in real life
- I'm pretty sure the dark sides of the propellers weren't orange, or like the shadows it casted were bluish orange
- that being said, I think it's quite pleasing how Wadsworth uses colours that are opposite each other to make them darker (duh)
- And yes the propellers are arranged in a way that makes them look like dancing starfishes (animism right there bruh)
CROWD, EARLS COURT, 1953-- EDWARD MIDDLEDITCH
- Seeing this up close was really a treat, it was massive and the solid chunks of black and grey really gave it a gloomy look
- The background consists of three colours, and all of them looked unblended
- There are a lot of detail trailing up to the crowd, then it all ends abruptly
- It's interesting because it makes sense the throng of people don't have much detail, but the street and background is quite empty
SKIPPING (THE GUTTER), 1934-5-- WILLIAM ROBERTS
- Aside from the subjects having a Sovietish feel to them, I also find the subdued colours of this piece interesting, like each individual colours could bleed into each other
- I know Robert is focusing on the working class in America, so maybe that's why their hands are so big, maybe that's also why the subjects resemble the buff labourer we see in Soviet Realism
- On a personal note, the muted colours reminds me of my childhood, flipping those Chinese art books and looking at a lot of Russian paintings.
GADDAFI 3, 2011-- WILHELM SASNAL
- The brain fills in details when given an outline
- in this case, we can recognise the the black figures around Gaddafi's body, just using the some shadows and outline
- It's based off a photograph, so we can tell the perspective is not very natural
- With only the chin visible, Gaddafi's body is nothing much
A MI-VOIX, 1958-- DOROTHEA TANNING TABLE PIECE CCLXI, 1975-- ANTHONY CARO
- Are there works that you just see and thought, "wow I bet artist had a wonderful time making this"?
- Tanning's idea was to "paint a white and gray picture that would still have color in its veins as we have blood under our winter-white skin. And lots of unexpected light sources’"
- You see three figures just chilling around a table, and really I just think that's it
- I'm not too sure if this happens to big artists too, but maybe they are forced to have an idea behind a piece of work, so they b.s something up
- Caro's piece looks like something I would do (If I knew how to work metal)
- Other than it needs to be balanced, it looks real sparse and really bland
ISHI'S LIGHT, 2003-- ANISH KAPOOR
- So it's big and encapsulates you with you (since it's reflective)
- It has thin edges and two contrasting surfaces
- It takes a common shape and carves it out, like Hepsworth
- It's really beautiful
US CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION, CONTRABAND ROOM JOHN F. KENNEDY INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT QUEENS, NEW YORK, 2007-- LYNNE COHEN
CHROMES, 1970-- WILLIAM EGGLESTON
- It could be argued that there's less room for ambiguity when the subject is a photograph
- A box of rotting food and agriculture, a random gas station in the States, both pictures were not staged in anyway
- Aside from vibrant colours, both pictures just transport me to a nice place in memories
Reflection Pt.1
Working in a group will always have its problems, like eventually getting everyone to settle on one idea. Part of this problem, at least for me, is that I have to articulate and organise my thoughts in a concise way so people can understand. Despite the problems, researching as a group and dividing the work up makes up for it.
Day 1:
- After long talks about fridges and installations, we kind of end up with the frozen poster idea.
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- It uses ice as the material
- people gather around the see the poster, kinda like propaganda
- the viewers only have a limited time to see and absorb the message before the poster melts
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Sounds kind of obvious, but in the beginning I should have gone round asking who is good at what, then divided up the work. I felt I wasn't asking the questions that provide insightful thoughts, those that steer the project in a meaningful way.
Important things from Day 1:
- get loose and comfy, don't get bogged down on the same word/idea for too long
- make sure everybody is not too hungry or full (sleepy)
- recognise each members strength, then divide up the work
Day 2 (library):
We talked a bit about the project, but at that point it was clear that whatever we are doing is not influencing our project; we were more or less set with the idea of our poster, and that all this background research was just giving it some context.
Day 3 (today):
- Combining the research I've done, I came up with new directions the project can go on my sketchbook
- Instead of just interpreting ice as material, I tried using it as the drug, and its cooling property
- IDEAS (the better ones):
- a meth pipe that is made out of ice, and when the user uses it gradually melts
- a portable ice cube maker that looks like a waffle-maker, it is less cumbersome than modern ice cube makers
- a refrigerator that has slits on the top that allows trays to be stored inside. The trays save space and can be customised in terms of their shape and volume.
- IDEAS (the better ones):
- Instead of just interpreting ice as material, I tried using it as the drug, and its cooling property
- It was at this point I discovered that Futurism actually extended into cuisine, and it basically is the wackiest thing I have ever read that existed
Page 1 from my notebook
Page 2
Page 3
I.D, the Tates and the Park
IDEAS FACTORY:
- When presenting the work of art, must must introduce the big idea first, then like onto the specifics of whatever thing being presented la
- The specifics in my case was the machinery, and it was not interesting at all
- After that experience I needed to clear my head, so I head off to Hampstead Heath to do some sketches
TATE MOD+ EXPLORING LONDON
- I started on my fourth pinhole when I first got to London
- I wanted to remove all the necessary parts, basically strip it down to the basics
- Will post an update once I get the film back
- Exploring some canals and parks of London, I rekindled my love for charcoal
- Honestly quite lucky to be here in London, where inspiration and beauty is everywhere
- or maybe it's just the novelty effect