Reflections - Final Evaluation

The only way to start this evaluation is to say that Reflections has had a huge impact on the manner in which I looked at Art. I've got to confess that I wasn't keen on the whole idea of art and I didn't even want to understand it.  But, having to research on other artist's work to get inspiration, has actually done much more than that. I had the opportunity to get to know magnificent artists such as, Issac Julien whose last film installation (Playtime) I've seen.  Not to mention the pioneer Nam June Paik; the contemporary Bill Viola; the funny collages from Hannah Hock; Vito Acconci whose idea of spreading art by doing it in public places I'm very keen. Even the artists which I didn't enjoy - either because I didn't understand they work or simply because I don't like their pieces in terms of aesthetics - helped by making me aware of what I don't want to produce (at least not at the moment).  *important to mention that Time Art was equally important on such aspects above cited. 

• Photography Project

Photography has always being a frustration for me and this is one of the reasons why I've tried to make collage pieces instead; as a result, I now have one more technique to be frustrated with. 
After that, I decided to keep my theme - The time when I use to live in London - but to change the approach. 

The final result wasn't as good as I planned; I'm actually happy with the images, the problem is the wrong dimension in which they were printed. As I've said before, photography has never been my strongest skill and to be honest, I'm really fine with that. Not being a great photographer made me wanted to change my images digitally, which I believe worked well. In addition, I decided to use audio to portray the places represented in the pictures. I believe that would help the audience to get the feeling of such places. 

Furthermore, I reckon that the images which were digitally manipulated (Dalston, Voho and Fulham) were stronger than the others. This makes me thing about, trying more of that in the future. 

The way the work was presented, in my opinion, was the weakest aspect of my work. Although it was my idea to have the Cds hanged, I could have done a better work. I didn't want the Cds to be lined  because I though the memories are not precise neither rigid. But having the Cds hanged by black strings  and not having them lined up might have given the audience an idea of a poorly presented work. 

• Film Project

My main role, in this project, consisted in creating and assembling the sound track for the film. Normally, students tend not to like being responsible for the sound of a film; however, on this project, I saw a very good opportunity to apply the skill and knowledge acquired on Experimental Sound module as well as being able to be creative. 

The final version of the film is ok. I would be lying if I said that there were nothing to be improved in the film. In terms of the narrative I reckon it would be more engaging, for the audience, if some scenes were edited shorter. Moreover, the soundtrack doesn't keep the same quality throughout the film and it is clear that some parts were better produced than others. The ending scene is a very good example, as it lacks creativity and it's poorly assembled, sound-wise. The dream scene, on the other hand, it was done on a creative way and using not-so-simple skills. Moreover, the text used on the scenes hasn't add much to the film in terms of information; the choice of fonts was also bad.

The worst enemy in this project was the time management. However, it is important to say that trying to learn new techniques, researching and filming it not a very easy task.  

A decent idea for photography, finally !!!

It has always being difficult to express myself through photography and this time hasn't being different.
Having to express my thoughts using one still image it isn't' easiest job. Not to mention that normally  my 'art work' are aesthetic displeasing, in my opinion. Considering that and after my my firsts failed attempts to create  photo collage pieces, I decided to change my approach.

I want to use relatively simply composed pictures (founded and taken by myself) and stamp them on an Audio CD. The CD,  will contain sounds and/or music that reminds me of different places where I've lived. To enhance the audience's experience a portable cd player will be available on my photography installation.

• My challenges are:  

to produce strong images which will be capable of showing connection with my memories.

to use audio in my installation but, in a collaborative manner with my pictures and not to rely mostly on sound.

• So far these are the 2 two pictures I've produced:

I'm particularly pleased about my first picture and reckon it won't need any changes.

The second picture , however, has potential for improvements. I'm considering changing some of the black tones, not sure though.

Hannah Hoch

On a previous post, I've mentioned the Germany born artist Hannah Hoch (1889-1978). On that occasion, I was doing some research on film collage and her name came up as being the one of the pioneers of Photo Collage. 
Appropriation, regarding either video or photo, is something that really interested me. And in order to get a better understanding of it I went to the Hannah Hoch exhibition at The Whitechapel Gallery in London.

 Reaching my expectation, her Dada period was the one I liked the most. I credited my interested on these works, also, to the fact that humour was used to manifest her critic point of view on women's liberation, society and polities, in  post-World War I Germany. Additionally, they were visually pleasant to my eyes. Finally, I was able to understand the connotations applied to these works.

Another aspect that has drawn my attention is her ability to maintain harmony among colours and forms, regardless the numerous images present on a piece and even on her late works, which have a more surrealistic approach.

Judging by my first trials I reckon that the harmony, among the different elements, is my number one enemy. But, in my case I'm seriously considering to adopt the proverb and instead of fighting against it I might just enjoying joining it.

Photo Projects - Trials

First Trial: 
My intention was to reproduce the Sutton Borough Logo using cut out pieces of trains ticket. In this first trial I used blue tack instead of glue, by doing that I could 'easily' moving the piece around. Although the 'final' result wasn't the one I expected, I still believe the concept is good.

 

FAIL

Second Trial:
This is a second trial/rough draft. This time I tried to use digital image manipulation (appropriation) to represent the time when I lived in Dalston, London. When working with image composition, I reckon I still have a lot to develop. I feel that I lack notions of both colours and forms; however, if I choose to use a more humours language, I believe, my roughness won't be a big problem.

From and to SM2 6AN

Supporting SW6 1NR