Untitled [Singing Film]


My final edit of the film Untitled [Singing Film] was uploaded on YouTube, in order for not only easy access, but also as this is a useful platform to use for the artwork, and for the message of mine to come across. The piece was displayed by projector in a bit of a mess of wires – this was not the intended effect, as I would wish to have the projector and wires behind the wall, out of sight to the viewers of the piece. I also did not have the chance to warn people that they must take part in the film by singing along to at least one song, also making a different atmosphere to the piece altogether. I did, however, enjoy the uncomfortable atmosphere that was created when the piece was shown to the studio group, as this was unexpected. It is an aspect that I wish to continue through my work as this is an aspect I did not know that I could control with my art practice.

 

Don’t Look At Me Exhibition

At ten o’clock this morning, we were gathered as a studio group and instructed to set up an exhibition by 12:30 with all of the portraits that we previously hung around the department.
The space that we used initially had to be cleared as it was full of tables, chairs and work from other studio groups. The floor was swept and we were informed of our brief: set up an exhibition of our portraits using exhibition inspiration from artists such as Wolfgang Tillmans. We were not to put all the self-portraits along the wall in the same manner and at the same height. A press release also needed to be made.
We lined up all of the portraits and found that common theme was the use of backgrounds. There was four categories of background: black, white, blue and ‘other’ colours. This made the planning of the exhibition easier: the black portraits were quickly hung on the windows and the white portraits on the pillars in the room, as though these opposing colours were looking at each other.

A suggestion of hanging some of the portraits from the ceiling was soon raised by myself. The hangings from the ceiling would make the exhibition more interactive as you would have to walk between them and look up in order to fully appreciate the piece. Everyone helped to put the four portraits with the blue background up at varying heights using sting.

The last three pieces, with the coloured backgrounds (excluding blue) were then placed at equal intervals on the floor. Once again, visitors to the exhibition would have to walk around, and look around, in order to view these portraits.

Lights were added in this process along the floor. It was thought that we should black out the windows, however many in the group were confused at this prospect – not only would we of had to have used bin bags to black out the windows which would have looked tacky, the room was also chosen for its natural light. As a group, we therefore decided to stick with natural light in the room. As it got darker, however, the two small spotlights on the floor began to seep into the space, illuminating the floor. When it was brighter outside, however, the spotlights were not as effective and almost pointless. I did find that they did reflect on the shiny surface of the floor and this created a river of work when stood at the right angle.
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A suggestion was also made of using the TV screen that was next door in order to play the videos that we made of us talking about our videos. I piped up and said that I didn’t really want to see my own face replicated three times in one room, and for everyone else to see me four times! I proposed that we used the voices instead of a video. A voice recording was then made of each person talking about their self-portraits from the Facebook videos. This was then placed under one of the pieces on the floor, making it discrete, loud and central to the room. Other places, the phone would have been seen, or it would have been in the corner of a room.
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A press release was also crucial to the exhibition. As this was the first press release that I have written, I enlisted some help from the Athen B GalleryWild Art on Virgin WallsTom Ford and The Practical Art World. These were all used collectively in order to write a complete and concise press release containing the details of the gallery, the artists, exhibition dates, and information about the exhibition. The final Press Release is available online. We came to a group decision on the name of the exhibition as ‘Don’t Look at Me’.

I enjoyed curating the exhibition with the other students, especially being able to bounce ideas off of one another about different elements, and the quick pace of getting ready. I found the final outcome of the interactiveness of the exhibition very powerful too, as it invited you to travel down the portraits and look up and down, in order to view all of them. I did, however, find that my portrait was a little swamped with light from the window behind, and thus could not take an effective photograph of it displayed. It did work effectively hung, looking down at people, as sometimes I catch myself doing this – another secret revealed.

Plaster Workshop

The Plaster workshop taught me how to cast a mould of my hands.
Initially, we had to ensure the bowls and/or buckets that we were using were clean so then there was no contamination with lumps and unwanted materials. The powder that we used for the casting had to be mixed 1 part powder to 3 parts water. With a 900 gram bag, we needed to use 2.7 litres of water. To make this process easier, we worked in groups, meaning a group of 3 needed 8.1 litres of water. Once the water was ready, we also needed to be ready with the bowls we were going to cast in as it would start settling quickly. When we are all ready, all the powder was added to the water and mixed thoroughly for 30 seconds, and poured onto our hands (and some, their feet).
It was then a waiting game as we needed to ensure that the mould had set before we moved. Due to the position I had put my hands in, I found it very difficult to then lift my hands out, therefore taking a few minutes. I was very impressed with the level of detail the mould showed – everything down to the grains of the skin.
To make the plaster, we filled a bowl of water between a 1/3 and 1/2 mark. Sifting the plaster powder (which felt like heavy flour, or cornflour) through our fingers allowed large lumps to be broken up before it sunk into the water. We continued this process with handfuls of flour until small islands in the water were not disappearing. The plaster was then mixed my hand to ensure there was no lumps and a smooth consistency was achieved.
When pouring the plaster into the mould, we did it bit by bit. This was so then we could swirl the plaster around the mould, trying to cover all nooks and crannies that could be hidden in the cast. This process was repeated until either we had filled the mould level with the top, or added a base. This was then left to dry for 24-48 hours.

Above: Photographs of part of the process to make the mould.

Above: Photographs taken during the process of taking the mould off, revealing the hands. I was very impressed of how detailed each finger was, down the the creases of the skin. I do need to go back and take out all the little bits of mould and dust it off.

Self-Portrait

Immediately in second year and a small project has begun. We have been asked to draw, paint, sketch and produce a photorealistic self portrait on a small round piece of canvas board. This self portrait has to show something that no one knows about us in the art department, and took a video with a small explanation of what this was. After looking through many photos from since I was a child and my fears and thoughts no one knew, I decided upon my fear of failure. We then left these at eye level around the second year studio.

Something many people don’t know about me is that I am afraid of failure and afraid of dropping below expectations, especially my own. This happened to me in my GCSE’s – my school, I believe my family and friends, and I, expected majority A and A* grades. I ended up getting three A*’s, two A’s and the rest B’s after getting many papers remarked. I was incredibly disappointed with my overall grades. From here, I knew I could never fail myself like that again, so much so, it has become a large fear of mine, and hence why I push myself again and again and again. Since my GCSE’s, and especially my Art GCSE, I have not been disappointed by the rewards and results, even though it will always be something very much at the forefront of my mind.
I chose to paint this piece as I have never painted a portrait before. I also feel more comfortable using pencil so this was very much stepping outside of my comfort zone. I was shocked and surprised at how difficult it was to create the correct skin tones and expression using a paint brush rather than a pencil. Although I am proud of the final painting, there is still a small part of me that believes I have failed painting my own portrait.

 

Above: An assortment of photographs of me showing different moods, facial expressions and compositions in the photographs. These helped me to paint my self portrait.

Above: testers on whether I was comfortable painting or drawing my portrait. I decided to paint it as I had never painted a realistic portrait before and I wanted to set myself the challenge. I was inspired by the hyperrealistic paintings of Joongwon Charles Jeong and the perfection of the imperfections.

Above: comparing my face half way through the painting process and the palette I ended up with. I was shocked about how many different tones and shades that had to be used in order to recreate the photograph as a painting.

Above: final painting displayed in the corridor of the second year space. I decided to use two pieces of wood to display the piece on the wall. Although this makes the painting stick out from the wall, it ensures that no nails, string or bluetac can be seen, keeping the mechanism discrete. I also put it in a part of the corridor that not many people go down as although I am proud of the piece, I still have the feeling that I have failed painting my own portrait.
Update: Tuesday, 10 October
The corridor started to get used as a storage space, and this made my piece look like it was just hung up to show it, just as I would have done in school. It transformed the space into something that looked very unprofessional and dirty. The piece was then moved to form an exhibition.