dehfiance-blog

[dehfiance-blog]

task four, material II

this homework task was to create an extended work on our four-hour piece. I chose to do a small video of one of my mornings with my partner. We both collect plants and they practically surround us everyday and night. I wanted to emphasise the intimacy both me and my girlfriend share with the natural world each day.

[dehfiance-blog]

digital tasks 1, 2 & 3 // week five, six and week seven (photos in order)

spent two of our tutorials in the computer studios to try out some digital art!

for task 3, we were asked to make a gif out of an existing artwork of our own. Most of us went in knowing nothing about how to make a gif, but I got the hang of it eventually and I really enjoy how it came out!

task 1 was our beginner task and were basically instructed to go crazy, and to explore photoshop’s functions. I ended up not being able to save the original one I made, and created a second one (above) using gimp!

task 2 was our homework task, we were asked to create a new/modified image of a pre-existing artwork that we had done sometime this semester. I used gimp to create an inverted and coloured image of a pencil drawing I created.

[dehfiance-blog]

week four homework - half-dozen works (task five)

this weeks task was to create six different works using three different mediums.

my original idea was to hand make a journal and then five other separate works on paper, but in interest of time, it turned out to work much better with just the journal. The ongoing theme in these works is ‘insecurity’ and my experience with low self-esteem and depression. 

using mixed media collage, stitching and drawing - i completed six journal pages including the front and back covers and the journal itself. the journal was stitched together using a coptic stitch through cartridge paper and two cardboard pieces for the covers. 

each page reflects an insecurity or anxiety surrounding my own life.

[dehfiance-blog]

week three - material I task

in this weeks studio task, we were asked to work in groups/pairs with materials we brought in from home. 

the last studio lesson, we were assigned either FLAT or GRANULAR, and asked to collect materials that would fall under the given category.

I was assigned GRANULAR, which i chose quinoa for. 

for the task, we were to pair with someone that had the opposite material. I partnered with two others - Luca (coffee beans) and Courtney (plastic sheets). As we weren’t allowed to use any form of adhesive or any other material other than the ones we had, we decided to see what we could do with the plastic sheets. Courtney had the idea to heat it up and see what would happen there. We went to the workshop and burned small portions with a gas flame. It created these small pockets where the heat was concentrated and also cleared the foggy aspect of the plastic. We created three different sheets of pocketed/scrunched plastic and then used the shallows in the plastic to place the coffee beans (we ground some up with a hammer) and the quinoa. The plastic sheets were then layered on top of each other.

the end product of this activity was surprisingly aesthetically pleasing. I really like the contrast between the dark brown of the coffee beans and the cream coloured quinoa. The layered plastic also gave the piece an interesting depth and form, you could look through the top and the side.

[dehfiance-blog]

week two - four hour uninterrupted piece (task 2)

for homework this week, we were asked to complete a piece in a four hour uninterrupted time frame. With not other limit aside from time, I really wanted to extend myself in terms of medum and decided to draw. Using aspects from a reference photo of a girl crying, I really wanted to develop the image into something natural. I wanted to let different plants frame her as she shed the tears, to portray almost a veil of comfort, as if her tears were providing for the plants, and they were protecting her in return.

this piece was done with pencil and a blue felt pen on paper.

[dehfiance-blog]

just some soft outtakes 

[dehfiance-blog]

week one - studio work (task 1)

activity;

with a partner, collect recordings of a range of sounds and then individually create a 2D composition using one of the recordings.

my partner, luca masnata, and I used the recording of us stepping on rocks and gravel in the parking lot. We had several other recordings, such as stepping on leaves, knocking a rock against a tree or pole, dragging my phone along a wooden fence and dropping pebbles.

we each created an individual composition based off the chosen recording (linked above).

my composition portrays my own perception of the sound. After listening to the recording over and over, I collected some charcoal and yellow paint. 

The initial sound of stepping on the rocks is a dull crunch, which then abruptly turns into a sharper sound. I used the charcoal to draw some really sharp (but dull coloured) lines and crosshatching to portray the initial crunching and softer, background crunches. The yellow paint was then added at the bottom of each vertex to portray the sharper, louder crunching. I pictured the sound like this in my mind while listening to it initially. The lines that point downwards are almost like the act of physically stepping on the gravel, meeting the bright yellow and creating the sharp crunching noise.

this activity allowed us to explore the concept of listening to a sound and translating it into a visual composition. While both luca and i had the same recordings, our compositions were vastly different. No two people in class had a similar looking work, and i thought it was genuinely interesting that each of us were able to create something from a non-visual prompt.

reflective questions

What did this activity reveal about the relationship between sound and image?

This particular activity revealed that sound itself can be a tool of inspiration and even an accompaniment to a work of art. The relationship is an extremely diverse one, with the connection between the sound and image outcome being totally dependent on the artist that is creating the pieces. 

Did you encounter anything unexpected during the process of making the work?

It was a surprisingly enjoyable experience, I’ve worked with sound to image techniques before but never with natural sounds that i’ve personally collected. It was honestly unexpected how well an image entered in my mind and transferred to paper from such a discordant and natural sound.

What general principles about material and perception can you draw from this activity?

This activity was a perfect representation of perception in art. Nobody had similar looking works, despite everyone working in partners and both working with the same recording and same range of materials. 

[dehfiance-blog]

week one lecture notes!

we discussed the definition of contemporary art and academic art, and compared several artists and works that displayed the core aspects of a contemporary piece.

percept, concept and affect

Charles outlined that these three qualities are already there in every work created. 

the challenge?

harness them, use them to our advantage and to create the depth we want our work to portray.

“NOTE- being a contemporary artist does not just involve crafting materials - it is also about crafting perceptions, affect and ideas”

we also discussed what we would be doing in the studio for this week. Our task was to record a selection of sounds with a partner and then individually create a composition from one of the recordings.

in the lecture, Charles highlighted three artists that used sound to produce a composition.

maryclare foa - drawing the sound in my garden

wassily kandinsky - no title

paul chan - the seventh light

further notes from this lecture are in the images above (leah!! apologies that my writing is so small, please zoom if there are any issues reading)