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October 2016
What makes you uncomfortable
On the way back from Glasgow today, I was doodling in a notebook and I thought about this incomplete circle I drew...
An incomplete circle makes people with OCD very uncomfortable. I am fairly familiar with OCD behaviour as my brother suffers from it which led me to reading a lot about it. That got me thinking about how much I like making people feel uncomfortable and I listed down all the things that people usually find discomforting. From things such as odd socks to nudity I came up with a long list.
I feel I need to do something with this, like a project of some sort but I am not too sure yet. I made an anonymous type survey to hand out to the whole art class tomorrow to find out what people find most uncomfortable and work out the statistics then make something (I don't know what yet) that will freak people out, will give them shivers down their back and ask why the fuck I would do that.
I came up with this completely unintentionally and I got so into this idea I spent the whole journey from Glasgow to Gala scribbling stuff down in my notebook.
I wrote down the survey and took a picture of it, got my mum to do it on a drawing app (obviously not anonymous at this moment, but I did it as a practice run) and these are her answers.
An incomplete circle makes people with OCD very uncomfortable. I am fairly familiar with OCD behaviour as my brother suffers from it which led me to reading a lot about it. That got me thinking about how much I like making people feel uncomfortable and I listed down all the things that people usually find discomforting. From things such as odd socks to nudity I came up with a long list.
I feel I need to do something with this, like a project of some sort but I am not too sure yet. I made an anonymous type survey to hand out to the whole art class tomorrow to find out what people find most uncomfortable and work out the statistics then make something (I don't know what yet) that will freak people out, will give them shivers down their back and ask why the fuck I would do that.
I came up with this completely unintentionally and I got so into this idea I spent the whole journey from Glasgow to Gala scribbling stuff down in my notebook.
I wrote down the survey and took a picture of it, got my mum to do it on a drawing app (obviously not anonymous at this moment, but I did it as a practice run) and these are her answers.
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| this is the survey |
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| This will be what the complete surveys look like, my mums answers are a template. (she doesn't mind) |
Fell in love
Honestly I think that Dundee will be the pathway I choose to take, I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked literally everything about it. The coffee was shit but that's a minor issue. The atmosphere was amazing, everybody was so excited constantly reminding the visitors how much they love the course, the space each student gets is fairly big and depending on what a student is working on they will be given a space to fit. Soooo many different workshops, different things to do. I am just so excited I wish I could go there now .
I am so glad i chose to go to the open days, it's all about the real experiance because how would I have known otherwise that Edinburgh was dreadful and Dundee was my destiny? Tomorrow is Glasgow and I can't wait, not just for the open day but I like going there in general, it's the people and their accents, but mainly I cant wait to see what I think of it as a place to study and to see if it fits me personally, as that is what it's all about.
I am so glad i chose to go to the open days, it's all about the real experiance because how would I have known otherwise that Edinburgh was dreadful and Dundee was my destiny? Tomorrow is Glasgow and I can't wait, not just for the open day but I like going there in general, it's the people and their accents, but mainly I cant wait to see what I think of it as a place to study and to see if it fits me personally, as that is what it's all about.
Why do people run away from the truth
Mimicking Nan Goldin's approach to reality I have chosen some photos from my phone that I took in the last 2 weeks, keeping her style in mind.
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| Harsh reality of what people look like on drugs. Just like Goldin, I took a photo of people close to me that speaks the truth because in reality this is what they are. High. |
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| Thinking about the self portrait that Goldin took, after being battered. I took this photo of my hand after hitting a girl in the face in the club on Friday. |
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| I was waiting on my friend to pick up, looking in the person's window there was dead flowers in dirty plant pots on a mucky window sill. Didn't use the flash to avoid any trouble. |
A few like Andreas Gursky's
Gursky's mages are repetitive images of man made things, such as insides of stores, architecture etc. His photos are much more colourful than these, but the same idea is revealed.
TASK 1 - 250 word report comparing 2 artists
Having a
look at many different photographers in the last few weeks, I have fell in love
with Nan Goldin. Her work is independent and intriguing, I could look at her
photographs all day.
Goldin was
born in September 12th 1953; American photographer first started
taking photos as a teenager in Boston, MA. Her earliest works were black and
white images of drag queens, which still occur in her work as she developed an
interest in the LGBT community. 1990s, photographs varied from portraits of
drag queens, to photographing her close friends dying of AIDS. She often presented her work as a slideshow with a soundtrack which I am going to give a shot. Her work grabs
my attention especially, due to the raw true reality of life, she is the
example of “art isn’t about pretty pictures” her work makes people
uncomfortable and that gives me shivers down my back. Her photos aren't always neccesarily good quality but because of her subject matter it works. It is important, as a photographer to know when and how to make things work. I would say her photography fits in the area of location photography as they are not taken in a studio, they are in the environments of the people she is photographing, usually quite messy, junkie looking houses.
Fashion
photographer David Bailey really differs in the sense of reality from Goldin.
Fashion photography is great but there is nothing real about it, pretty
pictures are the key in it, not for Bailey. He was born in January the 2nd,
1938 in London. Entered the scene in a period known as the Cultural Revolution
called the Swinging Sixties and exploded with a completely different approach
to the British Vogue. Bailey pretty much slammed punk onto the previously taken
pretty fashion pictures. Everything changed after his arrival, he became as
famous as the stars that he photographed, and he is still considered as one of
the greatest photographers now. His work is very much studio based, working in a bigger team with a lot of props and professional lighting and camera kit. His work makes me think of fame, money and celebrities. Goldin's work has a completely different feel to it, its almost opposite, with the cluttered backgrounds and a theme of poverty rather than fame.
David Bailey’s
fashion photography, even though his was punk and more energetic than
previously, is very controlled, it’s about making the model look as good as
possible. Where as Nan Goldin conveyed the idea of how shit you look when you
are dying of AIDS throughout her career.
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| This photo is taken on some kind of public transport, possibly a bus. People in the background are faded, minding their own business. The man asleep in the woman's arms is an image that gives the impression of being unplanned. The rule of thirds applies, the top right and bottom right are focal points of the two faces. Tiredness in the eyes of the woman tells a story of a difficult childhood/life. |
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| Black and white has a very strong effect, the lighting of the photo is taken care of, the way the hair blows is obviously down to a fan or something similar, the pose, make up, body language, facial expression - everything is planned and rehearsed, god knows how many times Bailey took the photo before deciding that this is the one. In comparison with Goldin the nature of the photograph is to look nice, Goldin's is to look real. There isn't much to figure out from this photo, I can't see a story behind those eyes, there is no background to try and fit in with the person. That is the difference between fashion photography and photos of real people in situations. |
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| This image of Goldin's looks a lot more rehearsed. It gives me the idea of this being taken behind the scenes of a theatre, where the actors are taking a hit before the show and the man is too high to go on the stage. This image is lit well with interesting shadows on the white curtains. The way they are dressed and the curtain is what makes me think of a stage. It may be staged but not for Goldin I think, staged as in the sense that they were going on stage and are ready with their outfits and make up, but the plans turned the other way. |
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| Bailey had his preferred model, which he, himself made famous. The messy hair, not real messy hair, very controlled by a stylish messy hair - it's the way he wants the model to look. The way the people in Baileys photographs look is all down to him, he knows how he wants them and they will be that way. The reason I have chose David Bailey to compare with Nan Goldin is because he is a very successful fashion photographer, he knows exactly what he is doing to fit into the area with fashion photography, there is no way Nan Goldin's photo's would fit the fashion scene, that's not the point. They have completely different purposes in their work and it is important to appreciate both. If all photo's looked like Nan Goldin's and showed the true reality of life obviously the world would look a lot different. David Bailey perfectionists the world and there is a purpose in that. If all photos looked like his, there wouldn't be a line between the different classes of people. |
Well money is just an illusion anyway
Devastated... I have always developed photos in ASDA, last week I thought, I might try boots.
Firstly, they took a week to develop, after collection I realised I only got 9 photos out of 16 taken plus I paid £6.50!!!!!!!! £6.50 for 9 fucking photo's? I have to admit they are better quality than the 1 hour service at ASDA but half of them have light faults anyway. Fuck photography, it costs so much money. Especially now, I have lost my job I am relying on bursary. I'm not even going on to study photography, so why the heck am I spending so much money on it, I know 6.50 isn't that much but I use up around 5 disposables in a month and now i have a film camera - god knows how much it's gonna cost to get that film developed, then get new film??? another 8 pound.
Sometimes I am just give up, sometimes is now, I'm done.
Portrait photography in the studio is wellllll difficult
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| This one is good I think in terms of the quality of the photo? But the facial expression is quite fake and unnatural |
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| This one is the winner, conveys her personality as she is quite bossy and silly.... and German. |
To start - racism posters which I like
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| This one is very simple and straight to the point, just like a poster should be. It's throwing a rhetorical question at the viewer, which can have a strong effect if used correctly. A simple abstract image doesn't overcrowd the poster and doesn't take the attention away from what the point of the poster is. |
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| The dominant image - the hand, very strong, used in propaganda posters. A pointing hand in conveying the message of "YOU, LISTEN" it grabs your attention. This is the opposite of an anti-racism poster. Another rhetorical question is used. |
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| This is probably the best anti-racism poster I've ever seen, A very strong, double sided image that conveys the message so well, there are no words needed. Black white and red are all very strong colours, abstract guns that are also hand, are held together rather than using the gun side. |
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| I'm sure that everybody hates it when filling in an application or registration, they have to specify their RACE. Why is it even a question? It should not matter because we are all human. That is basically the poster saying exactly that. I like it, the use of RED is very strong. |
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| This image is nice, really close up of people different races holding hands. It just has an amazing effect, it actually looks beautiful, and thats how it should be. The world is better colourful. In my opinion the typography is not needed as the image does the job itself. |
Artist Talk. Kevin Greenfield
Kevin Greenfield is a commercial photographer, so commercial I don't think it could get more commercial than that. He just kept talking and talking, I mean he definitely knew what he was talking about but for me it was just too boring. There was no creativity in his work at all that's why. He was obviously a professional, he knew how to do all the stuff and had the whole kit for it. It's just not the kind of photography I'm interested in. He would do things like taking pictures of artists and their work up to taking photos of clothing for a website. He spoke more about money making rather than it being a passion, I didn't see one photograph of his that was not taken for money. Everything was for the client, not for himself, he gave the client exactly what the client wanted, which is good of course because that job is important but I just switched off near the end cause it was not to my interest and I doubt I'm ever going to do photography like that. So yeah, he was excellent at his job but he didn't have a single creative bone in his body.
Cai Guo-Qiang - Sky Ladder
Absolutely amazed at "sky ladder" on netflix. 100% reccomend to anyone. Cai Guo-Qiang, very inspirational, leading artist with a great understanding of his subject matter. Explosion is such an unusual medium to express in, his ideas and concepts of the indangered environment and the enormous explosions of ninth wave impress. I have actually never heard of him and I am wondering why? Conceptual art in the sense that he conveyed it in is a completely different level and I strongly believe everyone needs to see that film. I feel new born and ready for it all
RAW
The most inspirational photographer for me, so far, is Nan Goldin and her pure photographs of people around her. I've been thinking more about self-portraits and how to make them into autobiographies - "A picture speaks a thousand words"
Real people in real situations is something that I like to think about when taking a portrait, when I was in the shower before, I thought, this is me at my purest self. It's the place we are ourselves completely, we can't hide any of our imperfections, we are naked, we have no make up on, our hair is wet, we don't pretend or lie to ourselves in the shower. We sing, we think, we have that short period of time to ourselves, without any disturbances. Me and probably most people, think about the biggest life decisions and solve the mysteries of the world in the shower. I feel the shower is an extremely important place in our lives. I feel sorry for people who don't have a shower and need to take baths, they're not the same, not for me anyway I just get too hot in a bath and feel like sleeping. Where as in the shower, we clean ourselves but intuitively so we don't need to think about that because we have done it so many times before that it just comes naturally. Maybe it's the sound of the water? Maybe it's the way it feels? I don't know but shower is definitely my favourite time of day.
While thinking about all that shower stuff when having one, I was also listening to music on my phone so I took a picture of myself, at my pure self, in the shower, where I am me.
art over anything and everything
Due to attending Edinburgh University open day, I have lost my job. Now, I am literally the skint art student that gets stereotyped. However, I am way past giving a fuck, now I have time to do things I never had time for, like go about wasting disposable camera film and literally draw half mugs (because I struggle to finish a drawing). What really made my day after getting told I have been dismissed from the bingo, was going into boots to hand in my camera and seeing the BLACK AND WHITE disposable for sale. The excitement was unreal my mum was like what the hell its just a camera. In the fortunate turn of events, I am going to country and western festival on Saturday so the camera will get me distinction quality monochrome photos of cowboys.
On Monday I got handed an old film camera, the Minolta x-700 with a macro lens, to borrow for my photography unit, so tomorrow when I get my bursary I will get some film and new batteries and see how those turn out. Gradually levelling up with the cameras I have realised that I absolutely love taking photos, not necessarily professional photography wise but just for the fun of it, keeping albums from disposable cameras is sort of a hobby that I didn't realise I had until I started going strong with this unit.
Artist Talk. John Berry
I've been putting this one off because I still don't think I like his work, I liked him, as an artist, as a person and all but his work was poor in my opinion.
There is another artist talk tomorrow so I had to get down to it tonight before they pile up.
John Berry was another artist who was a member of the wasps studios, also, doing different work than the two previous ones, he is a collage artist, and that is probably why I didn't like his work. John claimed that he always had a different view from everyone around him, a different feeling about the world. He studied illustration at art college and that got him into doing some commissioned work. All sorts of things that he did previously seemed interesting, he did illustration for 'snowman' did some graphic design, some teaching, he went to Istanbul where he found out he was a collage artist. For commissioned work he also did some murals.
There was a particular thing he said that I could relate to "I love technology but I need to use physical things" I get that, I think technology is great for certain things but I just love getting my hands on things, for this reason I am extremely enjoying the paper making unit.
As an artist who likes physical work, he referred to his work as a record player, he says he likes his work being imperfect, just like old records make a scratching sound but that's the point of a record player, that's what we like to hear. A record player is low tech, just like John Berry, he only needs a few utensils to make his work. He said "I worry about stuff that no one cares about" while talking about the scrap bits of paper and super old magazines he keeps - because he uses fairly old stuff in his work - he does that because he feels he doesn't want anything to be recognised. I like that idea, but it seems he's a bit behind, he is stuck in his own bubble...
I noticed that the previous wasps studios artists were quite enthusiastic about having other artists around, where as John often said he goes in and shuts the curtain, he likes to be alone and get on with it, the only time he really mentioned other artists is when he said he looks through their bins to collect more stuff that no one cares about - which I though was hilarious.
Even though I didn't like his work it doesn't mean I didn't learn from him, he reminded me how useful unwanted things may be and he also talked a bit about how he will start something new, hang it on the wall and maybe look at it for a few days and come back to it, very smart way of working and also not over working, which I will keep in mind.
There is another artist talk tomorrow so I had to get down to it tonight before they pile up.
John Berry was another artist who was a member of the wasps studios, also, doing different work than the two previous ones, he is a collage artist, and that is probably why I didn't like his work. John claimed that he always had a different view from everyone around him, a different feeling about the world. He studied illustration at art college and that got him into doing some commissioned work. All sorts of things that he did previously seemed interesting, he did illustration for 'snowman' did some graphic design, some teaching, he went to Istanbul where he found out he was a collage artist. For commissioned work he also did some murals.
There was a particular thing he said that I could relate to "I love technology but I need to use physical things" I get that, I think technology is great for certain things but I just love getting my hands on things, for this reason I am extremely enjoying the paper making unit.
As an artist who likes physical work, he referred to his work as a record player, he says he likes his work being imperfect, just like old records make a scratching sound but that's the point of a record player, that's what we like to hear. A record player is low tech, just like John Berry, he only needs a few utensils to make his work. He said "I worry about stuff that no one cares about" while talking about the scrap bits of paper and super old magazines he keeps - because he uses fairly old stuff in his work - he does that because he feels he doesn't want anything to be recognised. I like that idea, but it seems he's a bit behind, he is stuck in his own bubble...
I noticed that the previous wasps studios artists were quite enthusiastic about having other artists around, where as John often said he goes in and shuts the curtain, he likes to be alone and get on with it, the only time he really mentioned other artists is when he said he looks through their bins to collect more stuff that no one cares about - which I though was hilarious.
Even though I didn't like his work it doesn't mean I didn't learn from him, he reminded me how useful unwanted things may be and he also talked a bit about how he will start something new, hang it on the wall and maybe look at it for a few days and come back to it, very smart way of working and also not over working, which I will keep in mind.
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