Week 13:
Thursday ~
Final multiples critique:
For the critique I brought in kits for writing letters to nowhere. These kits included a sheet of six stamps, a wax seal, and a long list of instructions all contained within an envelope. Going into the critique I already knew there were things that I wanted to change about the kit and those thoughts were supported by the feedback I got. The instructions could be simplified and shortened, the kit could include paper to write on, and the kit could include a pencil to write with. I also felt that if the stamp sheet was going to have six stamps all of the other supplies should be available in the same quantity. So before documentation I made these changes.
This new kit comes in a box with six envelopes, six pieces of paper, six stamps, six seals, a pencil, and an improved instruction card. The new instruction card is half the size of the old one and is made of nicer materials than the previous plain printer paper.
Tuesday ~
Final book critique and documentation:
Week 11:
Tuesday ~
Take A Stand playlist from Art 21 – https://art21.org/playlist/taking-a-stand/
The artists from this playlist that really stood out to me were Stephanie Syjuco and the collective Postcommodity.
Stephanie Syjuco’s counterfeit crochet project really stood out to me. I really enjoyed how this project got people involved. Stephanie posted simple instructions and it became a large movement. She uses this project to talk about partaking in and denying consumerism as well as outsourcing labour.
Postcommodity created a site specific installation using hot air balloons along the Arizona – Sonora border. This symbolic fence was used as a way to “almost flip the script or to complicate the way we understand fences,” also “The idea of the balloons is to intersect the U.S.-Mexico border. That signified a suturing or connecting of the Americas together”.
Week 10:
Tuesday ~
Week 9:
Tuesday ~
Book progress ->
The theme of the book is time and is shown by the age of the hands progressively getting older on each page.
Week 7:
Thursday ~
Initial Book Brainstorm:
My three books I brought to class ->
I started with these books because they are what was immediately available to me. However, there are many things about them I like for this project. The Printmakers Document by Jim Dine has an interesting layout with a mix of text and imagery. I particularly enjoy the pages in this book that are just long skinny columns of red text. Daily Magic by Judika Illes talks about time and the creation and evolution of the calendar in a really interesting way. This is a theme that I often think about and sparks a few ideas about how I could show the passing of time in a book format. The final book Images of Age by Micheal Jaques shows images he has made (drawings, prints, etc.) of the elderly. I really enjoyed these images and his art style.
Class Notes ->
Week6:
Thursday ~
Environmental Video Art Final Work: “Glowing in the Thicket” – Anna Syme & Alyssa Dupuis
These videos explore interacting with and being a part of nature through the ideas of camouflage and bioluminescence. During the day the feminine figure is seen trying and failing to hide within and mimic the natural world and at night they are seen glowing and enjoying being seen. The videos are to be watched in tandem on screens that face each other so that the viewer has to stand in the middle and look back and forth between the two. You can’t watch it all at once and will notice something new each time it loops. One audio track of ambient day and night sounds together plays in the background filling the space and immersing the viewers in both worlds at the same time.
Audio –
“Instead of masking like they did in the day, now that they’re visible,
they celebrate the vulnerability of being witnessed.
Though they risk shame, rejection, and humiliation by being so visible,
they are content.”
– Anna
Week 5:
Tuesday & Thursday ~
Video Art Work in Progress:
After getting all of our footage on Friday we started to put it all together into two videos, one for daytime shots and another for nighttime shots.
At first we thought of displaying them side by side in with a split screen but then after some thought we decided to display them separately on two different computer monitors.
(opening shots for each video) ->
Week 4:
Tuesday ~
Video Art Brainstorm:
Initial ideas with partner:
Research from arboretum website:
Moving with the wind- In one of the natural areas of the arboretum, Victoria woods, there are many types of old growth hardwoods such as sugar maple, white ash, black cherry, and beech. These trees have grown to be big but not huge because their root systems don’t grow out very far due to the wet soil. This means that if they grow too tall a strong wind could blow them over. So, even though this forest has never been clear cut it is not very dense, this leaves room for a variety of woodland plants to grow in the space between and in the upended root systems. Cool videos of trees .
…
Week 2:
Tuesday ~
Eyes as Big as Plates
Eyes as Big as Plates is an ongoing photographic and book series by artists Riitta Ikonen and Karoline Hjorth. The project started as an attempt to illustrate certain phenomena – folklore, stories, figures from myth. However, more recently it has become more about just working with whoever they are interviewing.
I found the photos captivating. They all carry a level of mystery and intrigue that makes you want to look at them for hours. I thought that the idea to reimagine older people as figures from lore and legend was such a cool concept. I love painting older people because they have the best stories and such a strong, sure presence, you can really feel this in Riitta Ikonen and Karoline Hjorth’s photos.
Riitta Ikonen and Karoline Hjorth work with the person they are photographing. They start by getting to know them, then they go to a location that makes sense for that person, and use the landscape to inform the viewer.
In the first image sits Halvar, a retired farmer from Norway. Halvar suggested that they shoot on the land where he and his family have their roots. His headdress is made of wild grass found in the landscape they were shooting in and is a symbol in local legends about figures that live underground.
In the second image is Agnes, a 90 year old woman who has gone parachute jumping twice (once at 85 and again at 90). She described “floating through the air as pure joy” so they decided she would dress to depict the fabled north wind.
These images feel powerful, and magical in a way that makes me believe these people could truly be the figures they depict.
Thursday ~
For my book stacks I went to the third floor of McLaughlin Library. I wandered around and pulled books with titles that sounded interesting and books that I thought looked interesting. I then put together books that I thought worked together. I played with stacking them upright on the floor.
Then I decided to put my stacks on a shelf. I liked that you can kind of see where they were found.
