Lens based video...

'22 pounder 2013'

The brief was to make a photograph by only using sounds, no images. I recorded all the sounds on my old digital camera in my back garden then layered them on I-Movie. The sound isn't brilliant as the camera is so old (best watched with the volume at its loudest) but I think the sounds work well together to make an audio image....

Drawing/Print...Journey/Dispersion of Electricity...

These two projects are starting to cross over and intertwine with each other.

Field 1 has a massive buzzing pylon standing in the centre. The structure is amazing and the theory of electricity running in straight lines, very perfectly controlled and direct, runs through the structure also. Using photographs and a simple photo editing software I have created a set of prints highlighting this fact and showing the geometric repetition which also runs from one end of the country to the other giving power to all of us. These prints are the next step towards a final set of images which i'm working towards in my print classes. But what that will be is still to be discovered. 

Lens based video project...

The finished video highlights the stress and terror the man talked about in his interview. Who the man is really doesn't matter. The spread of mental health in this country is enormous and everyone dealing with it has a different story to tell but all seem to have the same type of issues. This man was really determined to try and gain his life back and through the use of text I've tried to get this across. Various sounds in the video relate to what he deals with- A high speed train he almost jumped in front of, the sounds of police radio's when he was arrested, alien sounds he can't explain and the constant depressing sound of rain falling.
I wanted the overall piece to confuse and unsettle the viewer, giving them a chance to sample what these issues can do to a person.

I like this finished video but am not sure about the use of text. It maybe gives too much away and directs the viewer whereas with no text the viewer can tie in their own narrative. 

'3rd Field 28 Paces' ...video...Part of my 3 fields journey Project...

I have decided to concentrate my Journey project on 3 fields situated 1/2 mile from my house.
'3rd Field 28 paces' was an idea that presented itself on one of my walks as part of my Journey project.
The title relates to the distance of the journey I made before creating this piece.
The 3rd field I came to had a small wooded area full of small trees and one large old oak. Under a hedge, buried by leaves, wood and other wild growth was a sheet of old, muck stained plastic of some sort measuring 9ft X 3ft. This was exactly 28 paces from the front of the entrance into the woods. I have no idea what it was or how it ever got there but it was full of moss, texture and age.
I wanted to use the found canvas and the wooded area in a piece of work and decided to paint a copy of the body of the large oak onto the panel, then return it to the area where, in disguise, it could become a part of its home again.
Would placing it in the tree actually make it part of the tree? Maybe not but the two pieces, one man made and one natural, could interact together to form a new landscape and a new situation.
The plastic taking on the appearance of something wild maybe gives it a whole new life amongst the natural growth of the woods but with an immortal lifespan; Everything around it will grow and die but the plastic, if unmoved by human hands, will remain there forever.

I carried on with the idea of returning things to the woods and started taking lumps of wood from the building site in kibworth and transporting them back to their natural environment. 

The blocks were tied up in the branches of the tree with natural string amongst a nest of criss crossed small branches and leaves. From a distance nobody would see them but they will always be there.

'2nd Field dead centre'...Drawing...Journey...

The works I've been producing for my journey project have been very controlled and are starting to look like brochure illustrations rather than art drawings. I know I can draw in this style and have lost my way with the project, almost like being blinkered by an old style. Don't get me wrong, the pictures are pleasing but not what I came on this course to do. They look exactly like what they are supposed to be, BORING high school projects!! I need to look deeper into what I'm thinking about or trying to portray, to realise a feeling rather than just a picture and make drawings that are new to me and different from what I can already do.
I'm concentrating on 3 fields which are a short walk from my house and plan to produce 3 sets of work based on each field. Each field at first glance looks quite ordinary but the more I walk there, the more I see. An old barn, small woodland, animals, hedgerows etc all need to be explored as part of this project.

I made one of the field journeys at night under the full moon and the difference really helped with what I'm trying to achieve. The lack of bright light distorted my view and I took some shots to work from, keeping in mind the dark tones and moon lit bright areas which moved as I changed position and direction. I also wanted to get the whole journey into one image and thought a collage would achieve this. I decided to use dark charcoal to give a feeling of the time of the journey. 

This image is more in line with what I want to make. I don't want to produce straight forward images, but make things that force you to read whats going on. I'm really pleased with this first drawing and keen to carry on to see where it leads and I feel like I've cut the strings that tie me to my old style of drawing. 

Something else I looked at was trying to tie a photo and a drawing of the same scene but from a different angle to show 2 views in one image. To do this I decided on drawing an image in pen on clear acetate then taking a photo. I wanted to some how involve the process of 'moving position' into the making of the final image and decided to import the images into I-Movie and take a long exposure photo as the images cross transformed through the frame on the monitor, (like 2 images in a movie) changing position, as I did outside at the barn. I didn't want to use photoshop as it would make the picture too perfect and the factor of chance was added to the process by not being exactly sure when to press the shutter release to capture both images on top of each other. 

This idea is really interesting to me and needs to be explored more. It ties together photography, drawing and movement into one image. It also brings together two very different ages, the barn has been imported into the future through the use of a brand new Mac. 

This process of using I-Movie to layer images on top of each other using the movement of the still images gives me a lot to explore. In these prints I have used a drawing of a tree and four close up photo's of sheet metal panels used as fencing surrounding the area where the tree was standing. The resulting images show layers of history and a depth of texture made up from years of being battered by the weather. I like the idea of using modern technology to produce images of the past. 

The next step is to take these images back out into the barn and project them onto the building itself, maybe at night? Or inside the barn, across the walls, on the roof etc and film the results. I like the idea of projecting the sheet metal panel shots onto the bark of a tree tying together the man made and the natural elements of the landscape. 

Print...Experiments...

My print works have been mainly produced around dispersion and the idea of 'controlling a process but not an outcome' which has led to some interesting pieces. In these works I've been using materials found and recovered from jobs I'm doing on house renovations and this has lead me in a completely new direction.
I'm now concentrating on the dispersion of electricity and how it affects our whole lives. I'm trying to push the idea of the constant flow of electricity through our dwellings, our possessions and our lives.
I've started to go completely off track as far as producing straightforward prints goes and am working with the idea of using electricity and its components in installation pieces and sculptures, the way it imprints on us and where we live. I'm also looking at schematic electrical drawings and recreating them without the symbols, as maps of the installations.
This first piece is interesting in the way it brings together the waste parts from a domestic re-wire and couples them with a mobile electricity meter which changes colour when too much electricity is being used. With this in mind the piece is controlled externally by the use of power being used by individuals wherever it is positioned and the piece changes its appearance with no warning.

Through the process of taking these dead parts and piecing them together in an art form I'm giving them a new life and a new existence. This idea continues when the piece is plugged in and the lights shine like an electronic heart through a thin skin of wire and cables. 

Drawing...The Journey Project...Landscape painting/drawing 6ft x 3ft...

On my journey I've studied the old barns dotted around the village which are monuments to lives, families, business' and times long gone.
Even though some are derelict now and unused they still give shelter to animals and birds and stand strong and proud amongst the landscape of Kibworth. Some are re-born as dwellings, others crumble and disappear over time but all have served a purpose and played a major part in several lives.
With this painting I wanted to capture one of these buildings and its surroundings, the colours and textures. I didn't want a perfect image so worked fast and quite uncontrolled, not concentrating on specific detail but more trying to capture the essence of the environment with the main focus on the building. I decided to paint it this size (6ft x 3ft) to add to the feeling of size and area in what I was trying to convey.
Environmentally friendly household Paint was applied with brushes, twigs and sticks picked up on my journey and the cardboard was found in a lay-by, dumped with other stuff by fly-tippers which over time would become part of the environment too if not removed.
I'm pleased with the finished work and think the ripped, distorted texture of the cardboard adds to the old, rough feeling echoed through the landscape and building.