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.

The space

 

My space for the final show.... I chose a space the same dimensions (8ft x 8ft x 8ft) as that of the space I used last year in my previous end of year exhibition. I like the control I will have over an enclosed space, creating an environment for the viewer to enter and experience. It will have a ceiling and door. 

  

Final Show Ideas...

I have been playing with my dream text and ideas as to what I could do for my final show.

Dream text..... I want to use the dream text but in a new way, out of the frames. When I woke up the other day I realised that I stare at the ceiling and walls of my room.... can I somehow convey the idea that our dreams are in some way imprinted on the walls of our bedrooms?

Dreamscape.... Reflecting on the timelapse of myself sleeping I have had the idea of creating a film that has images from dreams I have had. To maybe overlay this with the timelapse film, creating a 'dreamlike' film. This showing my experiences.

Sandy Skoglund

Whilst researching I came across artist Sandy Skoglund. In her practice she explores photography’s power to redefine reality by fabricating compelling fantasies and illusions. This is known as tableux or directional photography. It requires a knack for storytelling, a sense of style and a repertoire of convincing technical skills. From her earliest major installations and photographic works to the more recent, Raining Popcorn (2001), Skoglund proves her mastery of these skills. She is a canny pop-culture showman, producing ultimately disturbing artworks that attract viewer attention.

 Fresh Hybrid (below) is an installation and photograph that explores the shifting boundaries between life and lifelike by fabricating an artificial landscape. Replacing blades of grass with pipecleaners and bark with wool fibers, the materials strive to transform nature into a cornucopia of human pleasure with ubiquitous soft and fluffy surfaces. As if on a spring day, the sculpted hybrid trees blossom with impossible bounty and cheer in the form of chenille chicks, mass-produced lucky charms that give us a fragile and unsettling glimpse into an imaginary lost innocence.

  

 Fresh Hybrid (2008)

Goldfish (1981)

     

 Raining popcorn (2001)

 

Picnic on wine (2003)

Just a thought...

I am just typing up more of my dream memories. I find it fascinating that when I read even just a snippet of a previous dream, whether from 2 days ago or 2 months, I can see vividly the dream as if a film I had watched.
If I don't write the dreams down before they are forgotten, they are lost forever, I can never remember them. Even just saying the dream out loud is enough to store it in memory.....
I hope I can find some scientific explanation or reason for this.

Phenomenology...

I cannot ignore the subject of phenomenology whilst delving into my dream world and consciousness. This is a subject that I am trying to get my head 'round'... it's heavy stuff!

This is the dictionary definition....
phenomenon |fəˈnäməˌnän; -nən|
noun ( pl. -na |-nə|)
1 a fact or situation that is observed to exist or happen, esp. one whose cause or explanation is in question : glaciers are unique and interesting natural phenomena.
• a remarkable person, thing, or event.
2 Philosophy the object of a person's perception; what the senses or the mind notice.
ORIGIN late 16th cent.: via late Latin from Greek phainomenon ‘thing appearing to view,’ based on phainein ‘to show.’
USAGE The word phenomenon comes from Greek, and its plural form is phenomena, as in : these phenomena are not fully understood. It is a mistake to treat phenomena as if it were a singular form, as in : this is a strange phenomena .

I came across this article that has helped me to understand more so the subject of phenomenology.... It is by American Philosopher Thomas Nagel, entitled, What is it like to be a Bat? He looks at the relationship between mind and body, why we have, at present, no conception of what an explanation of the physical nature of a mental phenomenon would be. Do read....

instruct.westvalley.edu/lafave/nagel_nice.html

Future Plans....

After failing to even get to interview for the PGCE teacher training (this was due to only Eight spaces being up for grabs!!) it has meant my reconsidering my next step.

As I now have the luxury of time, I have decided to make sure that 11-18yrs is the age group for me. To achieve this I have started a placement working in the art department of Hayle Community School. I have already been in to help with a Primary Day, where children from local primary schools come into the school to enjoy fun workshops. This was easier than I anticipated, the children were great and I enjoyed the making of olympic medals! I have started to work with the GCSE students, giving ideas, looking at their coursework and encouraging them. I look forward to seeing them progress.

I hope to gain some experience in College aswell to see if I'd prefer 16yr+.... watch this space.......

Chiharu Shiota

Like a dark obsession with arachnids, Japanese-born artist Chiharu Shiota wraps objects from floor to ceiling in miles of black wool, as though clambering around in the skeins of our unconscious. In her best-known installations she has weaved black yarn into hectic webs that take over entire galleries and in which personal objects are found cocooned. Shiota has ensnared everything from the wedding dresses seen in her Walking in my Mind exhibition at the Hayward gallery, to a grand piano and childhood toys. In one of her sleeping performances, you might even find Shiota herself ensconced beneath layers of mesh. Her work, ambiguous and stunning, leaves you curious about the strangled objects seemingly suspended in time and space.

Personal experience is central to Shiota's work. For a project initially staged as Dialogue from DNA in 2004 in Poland and then recreated in Germany and Japan, she invited people to donate footwear with a memory attached – resulting in thousands of old shoes, many of which had belonged to loved ones who had died. She attached each to a taut red thread, a symbol of the path through life as well as the imprint of journeys taken.

There's a similar push and pull between closeness and separation in her sleeping performances, where women doze on neatly arranged hospital beds beneath a canopy of black threads. However intimate watching these people sleep might have felt, the artist implies that we can never know what's going on behind their closed eyes.

'The hinterlands between waking life and dream states' ... An installation in the "House of Imagination", Berlin (2008)

'She weaves black yarn into hectic webs' ... Chiharu Shiota's installation During Sleep (2010)

Assessment Presentation

For my assessment I was unfortunately unable to use a space that would have been more suitable for the presentation of my dream frames. In an ideal situation I would have hung them in a dark space, the viewer then having to use a torch to view the pieces, giving a more personal interaction with the work. Valuable feedback was gained during assessment on where my work could lead, to expand on my exploration into the boundaries between the conscious and subconscious, and how I do and don’t control my work.