John Blake

I discovered an installation put together by the artist John Blake. Called Their Eyes II (1980) It comprises of a one ring-circuit of green rotating lamps, on the walls are white letters on white walls that spell "THEIR EYES" 100 times.

When the viewer entered the space appeared to be empty until their eyes adjusted to the moving light, becoming aware of the words written on the wall, increasingly so until the fullness of the walls is realised. Blake thought that these gradual series of realisations in seeing ‘THEIR EYES’ all around, which make up the piece, had a duration of about 20 minutes for most people.

I chose to mention this piece as it has a distinct similarity to my final piece. The words that I have written in varnish on black walls will not be obvious at first, becoming more so with the adjustment of vision. I made the decision to use torches rather than a lamp as I want the viewer to have the control to explore the writing themselves.

The White Rabbit...

The use of words leading up to the space has become more important than first thought. They have become the ‘white rabbit’ as from Alice in Wonderland. Enticing, intriguing, leading the viewer into a dream world. They create a narrative preparing the viewer for what they will experience when entering the space.

Subliminal Messages

After a conversation with my tutor I have made the decision to place words along the journey viewers will take leading to my installation. I intend it to subtly intrigue or maybe prepare the viewer for what they will find in my space. Words that were taken from an explanation of dream memories by Jessen in Versuch einer Wissenschaftlichen Begründung der Psychologie, 1856. They will be placed in inconspicuous places and written in an almost see through manner, some may not see them at all. For me it reinforces the idea of dreams being elusive, a phenomena that can be so easily forgotten or lost by us.

These words are...

 Investigation
Interpretation
Persistence
Memory
Coherence
Exaggerating
Perspective
Embellishing
Form
Incoherent

Intents Project

I have been volunteering at Hayle Community School for the last few months which is proving to be valuable experience. Through this I have became involved in a schools project called Intents, this is in connection to a coastal installation called Peace Camp being set up around the UK.

Children from six schools near the coast have been given the opportunity to create their own 'peace camps'. Along with artist Lucy Willow and poet Phil Bowen the children at Hayle Community are creating an installation of poems collaged onto glass bottles. The intention is to capture the feel and vastness of the ocean and of love.

I have a great feeling about this project, the children are really excited about being involved in a larger project, and creating their very own installation which will not only be seen at the school but that will travel to the Eden Project and then London! 

If you'd like to know more I have included a link to the Peace Camp website below.... I shall keep you posted.

http://www.peacecamp2012.com/schools.aspx

Projection experiment...

I have been working on the dreamscape film that I am hoping to use in the final show but I wanted to test the idea out using the model for piece of mind. I have bought a mini projector and used the timelapse film of my nights sleep. I am really pleased with how these photos turned out, they give a good indication of how the installation will look.

 

I do however still feel that black writing on white is too light and the words too clear. I will re paint the model and take more photos.

     

Time....

One of the most evident reasons for my anxiety during the last year has been time.... or lack of it! Is it me or however much time you have, when busy or 'on a roll' it always seems to run out, but nothing to do and it drags! When writing my thesis I felt such pressure from time, I felt it was always there in the back of my mind tick ticking away like a bomb waiting to explode.

I want to create an atmosphere in my space that gives the viewer the impression of time always ticking away, even in the back of your mind, highlight that pressure we feel when we have little time left.

The idea is to collect many wall clocks, to paint over them so they blend into the walls, leaving just the sound of tick ticking. I hope this will create the tension I'm seeking.

The Model...

Due to the distance I am from uni and to allow me to work at home, I decided to create a scale model of the space I have. This has allowed me to try out ideas without the time needed if done full scale. The models scale is 2": 1'.

Here are some images from my playing with the wall colours and the text colour....

  I'm not happy with how visible the text is. I want the text to be more subtle, to replicate an echo, as though being an imprint on the walls. I have been thinking that black may be a better choice for the walls.... maybe the text written in varnish.