We lucky or what?

"10men9women15children" Photographic image, size variable. 

new work

Our nation has become a land of followers. We devour slogans which are directed at us constantly and over time we believe and we start to follow. We don't need to vote for the next big thing but we do. We're told to.
 Celebrity is created through constant media download. Commercials instruct us to buy the things we simply cannot survive without and TV show adverts tease us with whats to come. Inevitably it results in an anti-climax.
We've become a nation thats easily led by slogans, messages and signs.

'Do As Your Sold...no.1',   Household paint on black canvas, 60cm x 30cm.

This gives me the idea that we can change a persons attitude with a simple set of words. One single word, whispered or shouted, can in an instant enrage someone as-well as calm them. The constant pressure of being told to 'VOTE NOW' can eventually see you making that call or sending that text. 

I like the idea of using these words and creating signs to alter peoples attitudes towards the day ahead. The traffic moves slowly along the busy road every morning. Cars are filled with job hating workers heading toward what they already regret. Can my signs change this? I doubt it very much but just for a second they may encourage something, start the ball rolling and bring the idea to life inside someones head. 

These are my hope signs; 'Highway Observational People Empowerment' signs. 

I like the idea of them popping up at the side of the road for people to see on the way to work. Of course, they don't all have to have a positive message. My mood for the day can change the sign I put up, thus changing the mood of the people reading it. 

All week you see positive encouraging signs then on friday one that reads

 'You've got to do it all again next week"....

I want the signs to be seen and questions to be asked by the viewer of themselves and the lives they live. Viewers can use them. Be inspired or encouraged but then at the same time the possibility exists that the signs can anger you, make you realise things, empower you. They have multiple meanings.

I'm interested in the way the words become 'owned' by the viewer. The actual signs stay fixed to one spot but the words go with the viewer. They look at society today, the way we live and survive. How many people hate their day to day routine but in this world of job shortages, huge mortgages and recession can't do a thing about it. 

The words can be placed in situations to create an atmosphere. This garage door would entice you to look inside but at the same time you'd have the feeling that something terrible may lie inside. A simple message that works in two different ways. Because 'no one should see'... I want to see. 

charcoal work.

The inevitable black expanse and the point reached.

Frontrunner Research, Evaluation of Audience Engagement.

Weds 6/8/2014.  Meeting with Dr. Sophy Smith. 
This research is to highlight and Evaluate the role of Audience participation and engagement at  exhibitions housed in the gallery space of the Phoenix Arts Centre.
Our first meeting was to discuss, with Dr. Sophy Smith, the processes, direction and outcomes for the project and gain an overview into previous research carried out last year.
The focus of the research is to assist the Phoenix and highlight the experiences of people entering, viewing and participating in the digital art exhibitions and produce a paper detailing our findings.
'Video cued recall', questionnaires and verbal feedback will be used to provide insights into viewers thoughts and feelings towards the exhibited works.

Fri 8/8/2014.   Introduction meeting.
Met with other front runners and the frontrunner team to discuss the projects we'll be working on and get an insight into what's expected and how to get paid etc, Essential info!

Thurs 14/8/2014.  Team Meeting.
Met with Dr Sophy Smith and Professor Ernest Edmonds to discuss the reasons behind the project and outline the artists who might participate in the research. Also had the chance to watch the previous research footage which had been filmed in the gallery space at the Phoenix centre. The footage was accompanied by written transcripts and statements collected from visitors and participants and was a good indication of what we'll be aiming for.

Mon 22/9/2014 Meeting with the artist.
Today was a chance to meet and discuss the project with the artist Esther Rolinson.
Esther is a well established visual artist working in public spaces to create site specific installations in various mediums. Her work engages the viewers experiences of built and natural environments.
Her installation piece for the forthcoming October exhibition is a very interesting combination of sculpture, technology and light and the visitors will be able to walk amongst the piece when its installed in the Phoenix Centre. The main point of todays meeting was to establish the questions she'd like to ask visitors to the space and to look at the proposed installation and her very in-depth creative process she has used to reach the finished piece.

'Untitled', house paint on paper, 90cm x 90cm.

New work...

I've been looking at the personalities of people, hidden sides and secrets. Its the thing of whats inside us that interest me, what we do and who we are. The stripped back and the hidden. Some people are bare, some wrapped tightly.

I'm working towards something but not sure what yet?

The outcome created through different media interests me. The theme stays the same but the overall look of the finished piece, which is 3D and lit with an old wire lamp, makes the finished piece a lot more intense and more of an experience. What experience would a closed room full of tightly crammed faces and time controlled lights create? 

Looking at each image we see its the eyes and mouth that give away the subjects feelings towards the viewer. The stares can show fear, anger anxiety and rage. These features alone could be something to concentrate on. A large blank space with one feature? 

Kathe Kollwitz.

 Kathe Kollwitz, 'Mother with dead child', 1903, Etching, 42 x 48cm.

At first glance its hard to tell exactly what this image is. The subject, with its delicate edges and soft detail blends into the background and it takes a few seconds to decipher what we're looking at. 

Created with a skilled hand through the process of etching 'Mother with dead child' is filled with emotion directed at us with a message from the artist. 

The slumped, lifeless body of the gaunt child lays in the folds of his mothers arms, tightly gripped by the oversized hands in a protective embrace. The child looks weak and fragile against the heavy strength of his mother. 

The image is all about protection and suffering but ultimately loss. 

The German artist Kathe Kollwitz looked at the suffering, hardship and poverty of humans in her works and the war had a major impact on what she produced and her her sculptures relay the same feelings.

' Kathe Kollwitz, 'Mother with twins' 1937, Bronze sculpture.

'Mother with Twins' again shows us the protective urges of parents over their children. This strong, solid piece of sculpture is softened through its subject. The mothers hands, arms and legs wrap around the children trying to protect and shelter them from the harshness of the outside world and the nakedness gives them a togetherness but also a feeling of vulnerability. 

Kollwitz showed her inside self through her work, her personal suffering and heart ache. She lived through 2 wars, lost her son in the trenches and she was heavily scared by the things she witnessed in Nazi Germany. But without this life would she have made these works with such feeling and emotion?

Kathe Kollwitz died in 1945 after producing a large body of work including an ongoing set of self portraits showing, in great depth and honesty, the change in her face through the years. She left her mark on not only the art world but also Germany where over 40 schools are named after her.