ellashuladad1002-blog

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Non white male artists Inspired by Agatha Gothe Snape

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Personal Brainstorm/Research

What is the definition of mindfulness?

Does something that relaxes one person stress out another? Is somebody’s safe place another person’s worst nightmare?

Inverted mindfulness

Depicting scenarios that are intended to be calming but actually frustrate the individual.

MARINA ABRAMOVIĆ

Marina Abramović: In Residence 

24 June – 5 July 2015

For example, in Marina’s work she created an exhibition where you would be in a timeless space (no phones/watches etc.) where the audience had to complete a series of tasks - some would refer to them as mindful and relaxing whilst others would find them anxiety enducing.

“In Sydney, for 'Marina Abramović: In Residence', I will be like a conductor in the exhibition space, but it will be the public who will take the physical and emotional journey. We constantly like to be entertained, to get things from outside. We never take time to get in touch with ourselves… our inner self. My function in this new kind of performance situation is to show you, through the Abramovic Method, what you can do for yourself. I wanted to make this big change because I understood that actually you can’t get any experience by me doing it for you… So I’m completely shifting the paradigm, changing the rules."”

- source

- Marina Abramović

We can use images from the exhibition or create our own renditions of a similar environment?

She made people sit at a table and count rice, sorting out the different colours

You had to lie down in a bed and have a stranger tuck you in

You had to stare into a strangers eyes without saying a word - everything was in complete silence

You had to complete a full body meditation

We could start off with each page representing our forms of meditation/mindfulness

Possibly collage?

Links/clips/cutouts from videos as mentioned in class

Moving on to the next pages with inversions/reinventions of mindfulness

non relaxing things that are meant to make you relaxed - like marina’s work

Artist examples - our own works?

Some examples from Marina Ambramovic’s exhibition.

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Research

Some research and brainstorming that Billy has done on the Doc to further our concept

Ideas for Titles (?)

How to do things mindfully

You can practice mindfulness while eating a sandwich

How to be mindful everyday

How anyone can be mindful everyday

Anyone can be mindful

Anyone can be mindful everyday

Things you can do to feel better

Mind over matter

10 simple ways to be more mindful and feel better

Some things you can do to feel better

Witchcraft as a mindful practice

Witchcraft in art Why witchcraft is Making a Comeback in Art

The Witches of Bushwick Art collective Here

How to embrace your inner witch

https://www.ica.art/whats-on/witchy-methodologies

https://hyperallergic.com/200573/us-history-queer-life-and-witchcraft-how-aa-bronson-somehow-comes-together/

http://magazine.art21.org/2016/03/01/dark-arts-coven-berlin-and-the-queer-erotic-occult/#.WeRkEBOCwrI

Marjorie Cameron

Juliana Huxtable

Makeup/beauty routines as mindfulness

https://www.getthegloss.com/article/mindfulness-and-makeup

Mindful & ethical eating

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/mindful-eating/200902/mindful-eating

https://www.mindful.org/6-ways-practice-mindful-eating/

http://www.sbs.com.au/topics/life/health/article/2017/06/06/how-stop-mindful-eating-becoming-another-fad-diet

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Discussion from the google doc

Here is some brainstorming that we have been doing on the google doc

PROPOSAL: How to create mindful practice within your day to day life/ show how mindfulness transcends spiritual boundaries/it can be practiced by anyone OR Proposal for a collaborative art exhibition RE: Mindfulness.

Brainstorming Ideas

Mindfulness, Meditation, existing ‘in the moment.’ - Play on this

What would existing in the moment truly mean, what is happening IN THIS MOMENT that we maybe can’t directly experience, things that are on the other side of the planet

What would experiencing EVERYTHING that is happening now look like?

We are extensions of our own bodies, our environment becomes a part of us

As the founder of MBSR, the definition of mindfulness by Kabat-Zinn (1994, p. 4) is that which is commonly used: “paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally.” He has described mindfulness as a “way of being,” choosing to think of the work as a dynamic process, embedded within all of life, both intra- and inter-personal, rather than a static technique, practiced only “on the cushion” and thereby compartmentalized to “x” minutes per day Source

Mindfulness stems from buddhism - cultural ties lost, westernised, popularised, whitewashed, plagarised.

MANIFESTO - is a published verbal declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party or government.

Carry on from Zahra’s last work, Current health trends and how they differ/relate to obscene health trends from the past.

Meditation as a new health trend

Mindful Practice: Makeup Application, listening to music while travelling etc.

How to/tutorial OR proposal

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Assessment 3 Discussion

In class on Friday, we had some time to discuss with our groups where we were going to go with our publications. We started to move towards the idea of mindfulness and how we can portray that through our work. Would we be creating our own artworks or using a mix of some artist examples? 

In order to pinpoint our idea, we began brainstorming what things we find mindful. Some people find sitting on a train for hours relaxing whilst others find it anxiety inducing. I for example find it relaxing to put on makeup and play around with nail polish and beauty products whilst others couldn't think of anything worse. 

What if we were to find a way to portray our places that we go to to feel relaxed whilst merging it in with everyone else’s as well? We wanted to make sure that our works weren't separated, but all linked together instead.

We created a google doc as a place for brainstorm and discussion whilst we weren't together.  https://docs.google.com/document/d/15vGnrTqmFmm92unMN4f-sBuxhB_iGmg5EE6Syr-aQB8/edit 

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Assessment 3 - Question/Topic

For this assessment Billy, Zahra and I have decided to explore the topic of -

‘Now’ is a temporal concept – it refers to a period, moment. Your work might consider ‘nowness’ in terms of time-based or temporal practice (like performance, archival art, video work, durational aesthetics, epics or miniatures, etc.)

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700 Word Statement + Bibliography

“You Look Nothing Like Your Mum”

Genetics is an interesting developing field of biology. The interaction between ones environment and their genetic make up has long been of interest; specifically how different environmental factors can cause major differences within a population. How is it that two people can be made up of such similar things yet turn out looking so different? Do you see more similarities between other people and their relatives than you do with yourself and your own family members?

When looking at people I have just met, I’ve always found that the first thing I do is connect their features to the ones of people that I already know. “Wow you look exactly like my friend!” I would probably say 50% of the time, and the other 50% I would point out the similarities like having the same hair or eye colour as another friend. I always hear people saying that there must be a ‘glitch’ in the matrix when they see a stranger that resembles a person they already know. We as humans find it so hard to believe that two people can look so similar, and not know each other at all, but as soon two people tell us that they are related suddenly nobody believes them because they couldn’t look more different!

In my assignment I initially wanted to explore the creative possibilities of glitch in more of a natural and subtle sense. After doing some research I moved onto the concept of the uncanny and it’s role in everyday life. I wanted to create an artwork that evoked my audience to feel like something was misplaced and out of the ordinary, whilst not being able to quite figure out what that difference was. Artist David Claerbout, who creates works with this exact idea in mind, inspired this concept. He does this by placing an unknown character into a domesticated environment, but upon further inspection the audience will recognize this person’s face as a known celebrity. This generally leads to a reaction of discomfort and confusion, as nobody knows why this feels so out of place, but everyone knows that he just isn’t meant to be there. 

This artwork got me thinking, what factor can I change in familiar situations to make them seem just a little wrong and out of place? Which lead me to my next experiment; slightly altering celebrity’s faces whilst still making them recognizable to the public eye. This didn’t really work out too well as my photoshopping skills weren’t that great and it didn’t have much of an impact when I took it to others. I still loved the idea of working with portraits, and wanted to continue working with this concept. What would happen if I combined different features of people and their relatives and created a whole new person? Would they look the same or would it create some sort of weird optical illusion of a morphed being?

Chuck Close was another huge inspiration in my work, as he creates hyper realistic portraits that trick the audience into thinking that they’re something that they are not (a photograph). So how could I create an artwork that combines hyper realistic portraiture and artistic illusions? Well after some more research I came across lenticular images. Which is basically an artwork that resembles an accordion, made up of 2 images that change when you move from either side of the artwork. This was perfect and matched my concept completely!

I decided to use images of my mum and I as the 2 subjects; and this links back to the concept of genetics and the uncanny. People always tell me that I don’t look anything like my mum, and that I’m definitely “my father’s daughter” whatever that is supposed to mean. By placing each individual feature from both of us side-by-side the audience is able to see the similarities in our faces when looking at the work front on. But once they get the chance to walk on either side of it they then become aware of the differences in our features once the individual faces are revealed, despite them being so similar when split up. So, do I really look nothing like my mum? I think the resemblance is uncanny.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Anon., 'Parasol unit foundation for contemporary art', E-flux[website], 2016,  http://www.e-flux.com/announcements/5987/magical-surfaces-the-uncanny-in-contemporary-photography/ accessed 4 September 2017.

Anon., 'The Arts Club of Chicago' E-flux[website], 2017, http://www.e-flux.com/announcements/147578/roman-ondakman-walking-toward-a-fata-morgana/ accessed 18 September 2017.

Big Self-Portrait Chuck Close DATE 1967–1968 DIMENSIONS unframed 107-½ x 83-½ x 2 inches TYPE Paintings DESCRIPTION self-portrait of the artist MATERIALS acrylic on canvas CREDIT LINE Art Center Acquisition Fund, 1969 ACCESSION NUMBER 1969.16

David Claerbout, KING (after Alfred Wertheimer’s 1956 picture of a young man named Elvis Presley), 2015–16. Single-channel video projection, HD animation, black-and-white, silent, 10-minute loop. Courtesy of the artist and galleries, Sean Kelly, New York, and Micheline Szwajcer, Brussels.

DIY Lenticular Images!! [video], Youtube, 'WondersEscape' , 30 November 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmGB9ADKr5Y accessed 16 September 2017

DIY 2 pictures in 1 - How To Make 3D Optical Illusion Picture Tutorial[video], Youtube, 'IdunnGoddess', 3 August 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtRdaOQMCFM accessed 16 september 2017

Leitakcocgaming, '˙˙˙ǝɯ s,ʇI ˙˙˙ollǝH', Reddit, 9 Aug. 2016, https://www.reddit.com/r/illusions/comments/4wyr2j/ǝɯ_sʇi_ollǝh/ accessed 6 September 2017.

Maurizio Cattelan, “Untitled,” 2001. Stainless steel, composition wood, electric motor, electric light, electric bell, computer, 23-½ x 33-5/8 x 18-5/8 inches.*

N. Coghlan, 'Uncanny & Startingly Real', Aesthetica[website], http://www.aestheticamagazine.com/uncanny-startlingly-real/ accessed 16 September 2017.

P. Jahner, '21 Pictures That Will Fuck With Your Brain', Buzzfeed[website]. 2017, https://www.buzzfeed.com/philippjahner/mind-fck?bfsource=bbf_enau&utm_term=.owKxKlMzl8#.eqOx8pv1py accessed 6 September 2017.

Roman Ondak, Escape Circuit, 2014. Modified metal and wood cages, 77 x 510 x 295 cm. Courtesy of the artist and kurimanzutto, Mexico City.

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ASSESSMENT 2 FINAL WORK

Here’s a video of my final work in action! :)

(bibliography + statement in separate post)

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ASSESSMENT 2 FINAL IMAGES OF WORK

(bibliography + statement in separate post)

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FINAL WORK IN PROGRESS

So finally I got to making my work. I used photos of myself and my mum because people say we don’t look alike. I wanted to show our similarities by putting each of our defining features side by side. I really love the way its turning out! It was very tedious and time consuming and I learnt some techniques from last time on how to map it all out. I decided to add some coloured paper for the background to add some contrast to the photos. This is still looking a little messy and flimsy so to fix that I think I'm going to mount it on a black piece of card.

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Illusions - Research

I decided to do some research into artists that indirectly use illusion in their works. I found this very interesting artwork by Roman Ondak which is of interlocking cages in a large space. At first glance some of them looked like they were floating, or that they were on top of one another but in fact they are all carefully connected like a puzzle. I would like to have the same sort of effect on my audience with my final piece.

“The visual and conceptual centerpiece of the exhibition is Escape Circuit, 2014, an arrangement of 42 colorful, wooden and metal cages placed in a rough circle with interlocking passages. Ondak presents the cages as a hypothetical habitat, with the implication that an animal inhabitant could experience the illusion of freedom, but without ever leaving the loop determined by the architecture of his environment. Purchased in the markets of Mexico City where the work was first shown, these cages project cultural specificity with their weathered patina and potential for a not-so-subtle political metaphor. Ondak’s gestural intervention gives lie to the Duchampian assertion that found objects could be “indifferent” or somehow resist meaning.” - Source

Roman Ondak, Escape Circuit, 2014. Modified metal and wood cages, 77 x 510 x 295 cm. Courtesy of the artist and kurimanzutto, Mexico City.

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My attempt at lenticular images! I really love the way this turned out and I am so excited to try it out with faces for the real thing. A few things I would do to improve the look of it would be to cut the edges a bit more precisely because if the edges aren't straight you can see the white gaps in between the images which looks quite messy. I am going to photograph my family this afternoon and work on my final work.

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Lenticular Images

During my research I came across this really cool style of work called lenticular images. It is basically an optical illusion where 2 images are placed next to each other and folded out like an accordion, once the audience moves around the each side of the work they are able to see the individual images, but upon looking at the work straight on, both images are warped and are morphed into one combined mess. I really love how this looks and this could be exactly what I was looking for!!!

Some tutorials I found online on how to make these.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmGB9ADKr5Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtRdaOQMCFM

I took some screenshots from a video I found from IdunnGoddess’s video titled ‘DIY 2 pictures in 1 - How To Make 3D Optical Illusion Picture Tutorial’ which I found very helpful. The video is linked above.

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More Experiments - Portraits

So after researching these hyper realistic portraits by chuck close ive figured out what I wanted to do for my final work. I want to work with the uncanny but in a way that I change the human face to look un natural but leaving just enough similarity for the viewer not to be able to distinguish what the differences are. I'm going to explore the idea of genetics and how similar they actually are. I was thinking of taking some photos of my family members faces and combining them all together to form one face. Since we share the same genes we must have some similar facial features right?

Here’s a quick example I made on photoshop of 3 of the Kardashian sisters. This was not as successful as I was hoping but I still want to work with the concept of uncanny similarities and differences in human faces. I am going to research some techniques on how I could approach this 

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Last semester I visited a few exhibitions with my classes during uni and I remember photographing a few artworks that related to this concept. Unfortunately I did not record the names of these artists/artworks but I do remember the galleries. 

The images of the books are from an exhibition in Carriageworks back in April, I remember loving this artwork because it tricked the mind of the audience. The book in colour is the original version and the ones to the right that are in black and white are reversed hand drawn exact replicas made by the artist. I loved the immense detail in this as it was so hyper realistic and made me question whether or not it was a drawing or a reversed image for so long (until I read the description).

The image of the shopping lists was from an exhibition that I saw in the National Art School main gallery also in April this year. Initially I didnt think the installation was very successful as i didnt really understand why someone had ripped papers from note pads and written a shopping list on it. I thought it was another one of those anti artworks and I was pretty over it. Upon further inspection and actually reading the description of the work I realised that the paper was actually porcelain and had been hand painted to replicate the texture and look of a torn piece of paper. That completely blew me away!

These artworks and concepts are exactly what I am trying to follow for my own work and revisiting these have given me a few more ideas of my own!!!

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Chuck Close - Inspiration

The article that I spoke about in my previous post also mentioned artist Chuck Close, who’s artworks I am familiar with but haven't really thought about in a while. He creates large scale hyper realistic portraits that trick the viewer into thinking that it is a photograph, but upon further inspection they realise that it is hand made. This got me thinking about my research topic (glitch) and the uncanny in a sense that some find it so hard to believe that these portraits aren't photographs; these are in fact just hand drawn/painted. Below is one of his self portraits.

Big Self-Portrait Chuck Close DATE 1967–1968 DIMENSIONS unframed 107-1/2 x 83-1/2 x 2 inches TYPE Paintings DESCRIPTION self-portrait of the artist MATERIALS acrylic on canvas CREDIT LINE Art Center Acquisition Fund, 1969 ACCESSION NUMBER 1969.16 - Source

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RESEARCH

I was doing some research on the uncanny in the art world, and I found a very interesting article that spoke about just that. This section of the paragraph particularly stood out to me.

“Sigmund Freud once stated: “The uncanny was not to be found in the exotic but the everyday.” The uncanny, that which is known but not familiar, has become a fixation for many artists working in the 20th and 21st centuries. The status of the art object is called into question when everyday objects are re-presented as art, as are everyday objects called into question when they are laboriously re-created by artists using new techniques and materials. These art objects are exceedingly realistic, often surreal in their appropriation of the visual characteristics of the object (or person) they are meant to represent.” - source

Maurizio Cattelan, “Untitled,” 2001. Stainless steel, composition wood, electric motor, electric light, electric bell, computer, 23-1/2 x 33-5/8 x 18-5/8 inches.*

This artwork was featured in the article and really stood out to me. It completely represents what the paragraph is talking about and also what my concept is about. I want to replicate the same sort of reaction that I have with this in my own work. I want the viewer to be excited and shocked when they take a closer look.