Eyes As Big As Plates: Riitta Ikonen and Karoline Hjorth
These photographs by the Scandinavian artists initially really struck me for the way in which the models were positioned as if they were embedded into the earth and appeared as if they were just emerging from the earth itself. To me this highlighted the connection of humans and earth in the sense that the earth gave birth to us and that we are not separate from the earth itself. It also reminded me of the recycling of matter through cycles of life and death, what I mean by this specifically is that the matter that makes up our bodies could have once been part of another plant, animal, microbe or mineral. This was just my initial interpretation however. When I began to read more about the project, I discovered that it was initially inspired by Scandinavian folklore and creatures like trolls. The name of the collection “Eyes as Big as Plates” was actually inspired by a folk tale of a large-eyed dog and throughout the images, the artists try to capture the same curious nature and eerie gaze of this creature. I definitely felt this in photos such as #Brit (Norway 2018) and # Bengt II (Norway 2011), where the subject directly gazes into the camera and there is an eerie and mystical feeling that is captured and emulated through this. On the other hand, there is also a very curious and mischievous nature that comes through in some of their other photos, such as #Tuija (Finland 2012). In this particular photograph the subject skinny dips in the frigid waters of Finland and looks at the camera through a crown of lily pads with a playful smirk pasted on her face. Everything about this image speaks to mischievous water creatures of folklore. Essentially, the task that these artists have assigned themselves was to use old photographic techniques, such as shooting with natural lighting and using a medium-format film camera, in order to capture older people existing as a part of nature. This process is extremely delicate and requires lighting at particular times of day and the film being used doesn’t always turn out, for example they lost 75% of their photographs taken in Iceland. Time is also a very important aspect of their photographs through the older age of their subjects, the painstakingly long process of shooting and the old photographic techniques being used. Additionally, despite the seemingly fantastical nature of the photographs, they are also deeply connected to the natural environment through the subject and their own personal connections to nature. Maybe the subject is a swimmer and is photographed in the water or a farmer who has strong connections with the land. A more specific example of this is in #Agnes II (Norway 2011), where she is photographed as a wind goddess to represent her connection with the wind through her joyful and memorable experience while skydiving.
Pollen from Hazelnut & Wax Room: Wolfgang Laib
I was initially very attracted to the piece “Pollen from Hazelnut” because I was just imagining how badly my pollen allergies would be acting up around this piece and handling that much pollen. However, after this initial fear I also began to think about how long this process of collecting jars upon jars of pollen to cover 18 x 21 feet of floor space with pollen must be. The process itself would require a lot of time over many seasons and being within nature up close with plants, in this case Hazelnut Trees. In addition the significance of pollen itself is such a pure organic material that represents the beginning of plant life. The artists himself put it beautifully, “pollen is the potential beginning of the life of the plant. It is as simple, as beautiful, and as complex as this. And of course it has so many meanings. I think everybody who lives knows that pollen is important.” -Laib. Further than this, pollen is also such a crucial part of any ecosystem for its importance to the lives of insects such as bees and butterflies. Therefore the task that this artist has assigned himself was to capture the beginning and essence of plants, through spending quiet and meditative time collecting this material. This was extremely important to Liab on a personal level because of his previous work in hospitals with sick and dying people. Additionally it is also a physical representation of his time spent over many years, specifically his time alone just outside a small and quiet village, something which he highly values. He also values the ability to be doing the same task every year, especially in a world where everything in a constant state of movement and change.
Another piece that he has done, “Wax Room: Wohin Bist Du Geagangen – Wohin Ghest Du? (Where Have You Gone – Where Are You Going?)”, creates a meditative space filled with the natural scent of beeswax. This experience emulates a cocoon-like feeling and the combination of the smell, dim light, colour and material of the room induces a loss of awareness of time, space and self. The space is contemplative and meditative and infers a connection to the natural world through its use of beeswax material. In a way this piece is also deeply connected to the concept of beginnings with the cocoon-like nature of the space and entering it allows one to feel as if they are in a completely new body and otherworldly place. A lot of his works are appreciative of meditative states and time, and are able to connect to the natural world through the materials being used and the time spent collecting them.
Book Stacks: Inspired by Nina Katchadourian
For this project I wanted to focus more on creating punchy statements and sentences using the spines of the books rather than trying to create a more sculptural piece. I experimented with a lot of different lengths of book stacks and sentences and I ended up liking more of the phrases that I made with stacks of two books. I really enjoy the punchy and direct nature of the stacks when there are just two books, compared to the longer stacks. When experimenting with longer stacks of books I feel that a lot of the messages I was trying to create were getting muddled and lost in all the words. This was probably largely due to the fact that I was mostly using my own limited collection of books, however I did also borrow some graphic novels from my workplace (The Dragon) and I loved the humour I was able to create with some of the titles. I did include one of the longer stacks of books that I made however, because I did actually end up liking this one and I don’t feel that the message was lost or muddled. For this particular long stack I decided to format the words like a list and I feel like this helped a lot in keeping the message clear. I had spotted the book “The Hazards of Love” on the shelf at work and I was determined to create a list with this, so I was able to focus my search more for this particular stack. I also enjoyed how this stack ends with a rhyme (rhyming “me” and “be”), as it creates a more poetic feel as well.
Bird Banding Arboretum Trip
Video Art Brainstorm
Bird Species (left to right, top to bottom): Common Grackle, Northern Flickers (woodpecker), Red Winged Black Birds, Hairy Woodpecker, Northern Cardinal. All of these images of birds were taken by me in my backyard in Guelph.
Protecting certain geographical areas of biodiversity is extremely important for the overall survival of the natural environment. Canada harbors approximately 80,000 different species of plants and animals and many people believe that sanctioning off any land that humans aren’t actively using and don’t need will suffice in sustaining these species (NCC). However, many plants and animals, take birds for example, require very particular types of habitats spanning over a vast amounts of land. Most bird species in Canada live and migrate along the border to the US, which just so happens to be where the majority of the human population in Canada also resides. For nesting, some bird species may require marshland, shorelines, grassy fields, or dead trees surrounded by thick forest. Additionally, in order to migrate, birds also need patches or strips of natural environment in order to rest and sustain themselves throughout the journey. In response to the rapid decline of bird species all across the world due to habitat loss, designated areas have been established in order to try and maintain these species. An area such as this has been established right behind where I live, a marshland that houses a large diversity of bird species that I get the joy and privilege of watching come and go throughout the year. Interacting with bird species has been a large part of my father’s life and now it has also become a significant part of mine. I often enjoy spending my evenings and nights following in my father’s footsteps, and with his advice, calling owls. The thrill of being able to hear one call back is like nothing else I’ve experienced. The first time I got an owl to call back to me I remember the chill it sent down my spine and I never get tired of that feeling. I love the birds and I never want to have to see them go. So, for my video project I wanted to film a sort of performance done by me and my father. My idea is that the two of us will go out in the evening to a large field that is close to my house and sit facing each other while practicing owl calls. I want the performance to appear almost as if me and my father are having a conversation with one another in these unique bird calls and sounds. The overall performance will highlight the importance of birds to me and my father, and the activity of watching and enjoying their sounds, as well as how this has connected the two of us on a personal level. I also want to highlight that birds aren’t just important on an ecological level, but also for the wellbeing of humans and human connections.
Links:
https://www.natureconservancy.ca/en/blog/archive/beak-to-beak-the-importance.html https://www.ibacanada.com/mapviewer.jsp?lang=en
Video Art Project: Calling Owls
Toronto Gallery Field-Trip
Book Project: “The Assorted Archives”
This project was almost too difficult for me to do, as I love books so much and they have played such a large part in my life, that it was hard to try and focus on one solid idea. After sharing my books in class however, I noticed that I have quite the collection obscure or eldritch horror as genre, so I started to gear my ideas towards the theme of eldritch horror. However, rather than being inspired by one of the books I posses, I decided to use the notebook I am currently writing for a podcast called “The Magnus Archives” produced by Rusty Quill. The best way that I can describe this podcast is eldritch horror on steroids, so I knew this notebook would be perfect for me to use in order to produce the effects that I wanted. I wanted the layout of the book to appear as uncanny as possible, so I decided to format each page with a scanned image of my notebook, creating a book within a book affect. Sometimes my hands are even holding the edges of the scanned notebook which creates and odd effect, as the reader holds a book that has image of someone holding a book. Aside from the notebook scans, I also scanned other objects and found some images from online to add things on top of the notebooks pages that related back to the text of my notes. For this particular element I was partially inspired by old “I Spy” books, trying to create a three dimensional effect on two dimensional pages. I also added objects and effects to the pages in a way that shouldn’t make sense in order to add to the uncanniness of it, such cracked glass, digital glitching and warping the pages and text. These effects also helped me to bring the readers attention away from the actual text and contents of the notebook pages and on to the physicality of the notebook itself. I intentionally wanted the book to be difficult to look at or fully comprehend, as eldritch horror is all about not being able to fully grasp or understand something, as there is something just not quite right or natural about it. Although, if the reader is familiar with “The Magnus Archives”, they would have context for all the pages and just about every decision I made for the contents of each page is some sort of easter egg for the podcast. Finally, I decided to loosely title the book (by loosely I mean its not advertised on the front cover) “The Assorted Archives”, as the pages are all from varying sections of my notes and aren’t in order. In the podcast, the main character, Jonathan Sims, is an archivist who is sorting statements people gave to The Magnus Institute about potentially supernatural encounters, however Jon finds that the archives are in a such disarray after the previous archivist passed away. The statements that Jon reads in the episodes of the podcast then are never in any order (chronologically or numerically) and I wanted this aspect to be reflected in my book as well. I therefore, wanted this to be reflected in the title, and I also really liked the alliteration and sound of “Assorted Archives”, so I stuck with it.
ART21 Video Notes
The first artist that really stood out to me from the videos was An-My Le and her piece, “29 Palms”. The piece really struck me as she decided to take such a powerful, emotional and devastating subject, war, and framed it in a manner that I have truly never seen before. War is a subject many artists try to tackle in their works, as it is a very real part of many peoples lives, however it is almost never portrayed in a positive manner. I really enjoyed how she took the moments of war that those who have never actively fought in a war would never know about. When thinking of war, we almost never think of peace or peaceful moments that might occur during it and I found it was very beautiful and moving for Le to focus on these moments. I also love how she chose to incorporate how nature and the landscape plays a role in these peaceful moments of war and war in general. I think the way in which she chose to shoot her images as well really helped to enforce the importance of the landscape in the pictures. She spoke about wanting to take as many steps back as she could and this allowed for her to capture landscapes where the soldiers and vehicles appeared extremely small in the vast expanse that surrounded them. Additionally, her use of black and white was reminiscent of the techniques used by landscape photographers like Ansel Adams and his work.
I also really enjoyed the pieces done by Stephanie Syjuco in her “San Francisco Bay Area” exhibition, looking at culture and protests through a very digital and consumerist lens. She was largely critiquing digital culture through her “transparent” photoshop background sheet and green screen pieces. It was very interesting to see how she took aspects of digital art and creation that people who create digital works will recognize but almost never think about. It was also interesting that these aspects, such as a transparent background and green screen, are also things that are never seen in the final products of digital works, but are still very much a part of the image or digital piece. For example, a green screen is still technically in an image, but its not the green that we end up seeing in the final results. To me this gives her pieces the feeling that they are somewhat unfinished, as we don’t expect to see these elements of digital production that are supposed to be hidden or only viewed by the artist.
Final Book Images
I really enjoyed the way my books turned out. I think the framing of the journal in each of my pages was very effective and the solution I came up with for the gutters of my pages ended up looking quite nice. I also really liked the texture of the inner pages of the book, as it has a nice, almost papery quality to them which I think complimented my concept very well. If I were to go back and change anything about them however, I would change the covers as I don’t particularly enjoy the glossy photobook covers. I believe I tried to order the hardcover trade book, but I think some sort of mix up happened and I ended up with two photo books instead. Regardless, I still really like how the overall design and layout turned out. I also might decide to paint the inner covers black, as they originally came in white and I think the black just ties in better with the overall black background that I used throughout the rest of the book’s design.
Artist Multiples: Horror Trope Pins
For my artist multiple I really wanted to keep with my previous themes of work in the horror genre and mix it with my interests in film and the film industry. I have always found the tropes within horror movies to be absolutely absurd and began to think about what these tropes might look like if they were applied within the real world. My goal for this project then, was to create and apply these common tropes through my artist multiples. I chose to use pins/ buttons in order to do this, as I really enjoy the declarative nature that is typically associated with them. What I mean by this is, pins are often used to declare a political or social message/ viewpoint. I think this helped to create a double meaning within the text of my pins. I wanted my pins to move further beyond simply displaying absurd tropes, but also conjure messages about our society in general. For example this is evident in the pins which declare, “Why don’t responsible adults exist?”, “I’m not proud of it but I ran”, “Why does the cute girl always die first”, “Killers wear a mask”, and “Cell service isn’t provided to those who are being chased by killers”. I really enjoyed the discussions that my pins ended up invoking within the class critique, so I think I was successful in bringing out meaning through these horror trope pins. I also liked that these pins made people start to wonder about the true horrors of our own world and if they are as far off from the movies as we make them out to be. Overall I think that, especially when applied in certain scenarios, my pins can be both shocking, comedic, and profound in their meanings and messages.