ruthjaehnek00224365-blog

[ruthjaehnek00224365-blog]

To conclude my mapping project, I chose to do a stop-motion video (inspired by William Kentridges charcoal technique). 

The video showcases a figure i.e. me, embracing the South African landscape and sea. The landscape consists of hills and mountains upon which the word ‘FUTURE’ is build upon and torn down. Other than the word itself that is being erased, there are slight changes that occur throughout the video, like the slow movement of the flock of birds, the wind through the figure’s hair, the loss and gain of reeds and the rising tide. The video concludes with a ghostly landscape and figure that have undergone a large amount of erasure, suggesting a myth of certainty i.e. a future that is not guaranteed. There is also a background noise of seagulls that I had previously recorded from the Limerick boardwalk. All in all, I know that the video is not perfect, but I am still very happy with it’s outcome. 

[ruthjaehnek00224365-blog]

Because I like working on a large scale, I found it difficult to display all my work on one wall, so I set up a space within the studio to display my larger work. This short video briefly shows what is on display.

[ruthjaehnek00224365-blog]

This video just shows my space set up for the upcoming Assessments. I am pleased with how the works on display and the balance between 2D and 3D. I especially like the table display as well as the hanging structures which seem to loom just above ones head. 

[ruthjaehnek00224365-blog]

This is a short visual documentation of my work space since Progress Reviews. 

I find it interesting seeing what elements and ideas have been carried forth throughout the time. I am happy to see that my latest wall set-up for Assessments portrays my concept better than my wall set-up during Progress Reviews. I’m also happy to see how my concept has strengthened since progress Reviews.  

[ruthjaehnek00224365-blog]

Looking back at the previous landscape drawings I did on toilet-rolls, I decided to improve the idea and relate it more to where my project was now. I did this by tearing the toilet-rolls open and writing a narrative on the inside of the toilet-roll that related to the image on the front. Each narrative was written in a different font with a different medium and was compiled of metaphors and ambiguous phrases.  

[ruthjaehnek00224365-blog]

I decided to further translate the black-torn-out figures into clay figures. I did four figures in total, each about the size of my hand. 

On the first figure I added shards of white card slicing into his back. The words on the card explain how the past can still haunt us.

The second and third figure, I joined together by attaching a corrugated sign that says ‘don’t let chaos be mirrored in the calm’, alluded to the two figures representing contrasting things. 

On the fourth figure, I attached wire words that say ‘the answer is yes’. His praying position suggests that through prayer his hopes will be answered. 

I then made a little stage set-up for the figures. By doing this I cut open a flap from a brown paper bag and stuck down pages from my second hand geography book as a back drop. This idea was inspired by William Kentriges stage-set ups. 

[ruthjaehnek00224365-blog]

Looking back, I realized that I had not documented my black-torn-out-figures... After placing these figures around a light in my bedroom and creating an ambiguous narrative (documented on video and previously posted on Tumblr), I stuck the figures onto the pages of my second hand geography book with abstract illustrations and highlighted words surrounding the figures. The figures were originally inspired by the crumpled-up-tissue figures that i had previously done.

[ruthjaehnek00224365-blog]

Upon entering our last week before the end of the semester, I looked back at a lot of my 2D stuff in hope to transform it into 3D work. I realized that in my second hand geography book, I had previously written down quite a few synonyms relating to the words ‘future’, ‘guaranteed’ and ‘not’. I decided to tear the pages out and compile a small book using different book-making techniques, but after playing around a bit, I preferred the book to be open and displayed as above rather than to be lying closed on the desk. 

[ruthjaehnek00224365-blog]

I thought about how to use the rest of the tracing-paper graphs that i had previously done, because i didn’t want to leave them as flat 2D works. So, I decided to slice two of the graphs into strips (one showcasing South Africa’s credit rating history and the other it’s index of economic freedom score) and stuffed them into two brown chipper packets. On the outside of the chipper packets I stuck two photos (previously taken) where I’m holding up a cardboard sign with the phrase ‘Nothing is guaranteed’ written on it. 

As a whole, the work shows that because of the statistical information fed to South Africans, we can foresee that there is no guarantee of a successful future for SA. 

[ruthjaehnek00224365-blog]

I further edited the photos using Pixlr Express. (The above photos were taken with me behind the white-card structure)

[ruthjaehnek00224365-blog]

Taking advantage of the hanging structures that I had made, I took a few selfies hiding behind the structures, allowing their shadows the distort my face. (The above images were taken with me behind the tracing-paper structure.)

[ruthjaehnek00224365-blog]

Using the projector once again, I set up a space where I could hang all three of my word-structures and brought in the yogurt-lid-alphabet as well. I did this because the hanging words (strength, change and transform) contrast to the words on the yogurt lids (torture, enough and failure). I loved the shadows that the hanging structures produced as well as the hints of red onto the structure itself.

[ruthjaehnek00224365-blog]

Returning to the work of Tord Boontje, I chose to continue making hanging-word-structures. I used words that embody what the Protea flower symbolizes: strength, change and transform. I made the structures using white card that I had already written on, as well as one of the tracing-paper graphs that I had previously done. I’m very happy with how the outcome. 

[ruthjaehnek00224365-blog]

After doing research on actual South African statistics, I decided to showcase the graphical information on tracing paper, making reference to SA’s eight recessions, crime rate, credit rating history and its index of economic freedom score. 

I felt that the graphs also showcase how ones confidence in the country often undergoes a roller-coaster ride based on the statistic they see.  

[ruthjaehnek00224365-blog]

As the semester was drawing to a close, I decide to look back at some of my previous works and ponder on how to expand on them. The above images show that I made reference to my previous use of yogurt lids, typography, projection and expressing feeling through line and mark making. Using the word ‘future’ as a base, I chose to isolate each letter similarly to how they teach the alphabet to children:

F is for Failure 

U is for Unfortunate

T is for Torture

U is for Unfair

R is for Riots

E is for Enough

On top of this alphabet, I used line and mark to express the feeling that each word gives off. I then placed the yogurt lids onto the projector, projected it onto a wall and stood in front to enable a distorted projection to rest upon my figure. I did this because these were feelings I underwent before I left South Africa.

[ruthjaehnek00224365-blog]

During my projection of the antiqued acetate memories, I took photos of myself standing against the wall so that the words could be projected over my face. This communicates ideas of myself being embellished with memories and regrets.

[ruthjaehnek00224365-blog]

Embracing ideas from Anselm Kiefer that relate to poetry and memory, I printed some of my previous photos onto acetate and tracing paper. I then projected them onto the wall using an old projector and attempted writing short phrases onto them. The projections give off a musty feel - antiqued and outdated. I further compiled a short book using these acetate prints and tracing paper.