Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Monday, July 27, 2009

Radical Nature | Barbican 2009 from RSA Arts & Ecology on Vimeo.


SO COOL!
RSA Arts AND Ecology... oh why don't I still live in England.

There is no PLANet B!!!!

Will we EVER learn? This humorous yet serious opinion by Simpsons writer George Meyer was posted in 2006!

More and more research is being done into the negative effects of humans on the environment, and papers have been published since the 70's saying we're messing it up, but we're still not listening.
BBC's latest on how the artic might not be melting because of global warming caused by carbon emissions, just another example of media brainwashing making it 'ok' to continue F*ckin the planet!

Street Art!

Following on from previous post..
have a couple of awesome Street Art Links :)
Wooster Collective
Invisible made Visible: London Street Art

Little People!

This guy puts tiny little people that he's painted all over london! Very cool!
Check it out!!

Post Public Art Lecture

Am very glad I switched from Life Drawing to Public Art. Spoke to Rita about it the other day, and she agreed that it was a good move for me too, so that's sweet as.
First Public art class was with Andrea Gardner, who is Brit Bunkley's partner - Brit is our usual sculpture tutor, but he was still in the states.

Andrea put together a slide show of Public artists, which was brilliant; she had a lot of information about each particular work as well as information about the artists themselves. She also briefly discussed her own practise, and showed us an image of a public art piece she had created whilst still in the states.

The list of artists she gave us was a very good starting point from which to delve into public art.
One artist which I had heard of but hadn't really researched before was Francis Alys - The piece which particularly interested me was his Paradox of Praxis (Below) 1997.

This piece resonates for me because of it's temporary nature and the documentation of its destruction, which relates back to my apples and forward to another project I have in mind. It is also has a poetic quality which I like.

"This process can also operate on the narratives of art history, not to mention those of the art world. Paradox of Praxis, 1997, a piece in which I pushed a large block of ice through the streets of Mexico City until it melted into a puddle of water, was a settling of accounts with Minimalist sculpture. Sometimes, to make something, is really to make nothing; and paradoxically, sometimes to make nothing is to make something." -A thousand words: Francis Alys talks about When Faith Moves Mountains - Brief Article Art forum 2002.


It was good to read his perspective on his own work, he seems to think a lot about what he's doing and why, and articulates his concepts eloquently.

Paradox of Praxis is showing currently in a group show, The Quick and the Dead at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. He's also currently showing at the National Portrait Gallery, London (one of my favourite places when I lived in London). His installation there, Fabiola , is a collection of copies/versions of a nineteenth century portrait of a fourth century Christian Saint which Alys has accumulated.I think it's a very interesting exploration of a well known icon and of how something becomes an icon. As an installation, the reds in the portraits work very well against the turquoise wall and it would be interesting to visit in person, to really study the differences and similarities between each image.

More of Alys's works can be found here.

Another series of work that stood out was Anthony Gormley's Field.


Anthony Gormley, Field for the British Isles 1993 Terracotta variable size, approx 40,000 elements, each 8-26 cm tall

I really like the way you can see each person's hand in this work.. and the way it's very much of the land that it came from.
I don't really like his Angel of the North sculpture, which was also shown, but I do like some of his more recent stuff, which can be found here.
Andrea also mentioned Charles Simonds, whose name my friend Xtiaan has been trying to remember for months to give to me. He used to make teeny tiny dwellings in walls, more about his work and other miniature things can be found here.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Meeting with Lorraine Webb

Chaco Kato -
Philosophy of cuttlefish
fishing line, discarded cable codes, installation scene for 2020?(organized project by Ash Keating), variable dimension, 2008
Copyright © 2005-2009 chaco kato All Rights Reserved.
http://www.chacokato.com/
Had a critique with Lorraine yesterday, at my request: she said it was 'FUN' to have a break from paper work. At any rate, she flicked me some artists to look at - relating to my Apple Series and my current environmental concern 'angst'.


She recommended a friend of hers: Chaco Kato, who creates environmental work and works with the Slow Art Movement principles. She also works with recycled materials - some found round her own home, others re-appropriated from landfill.


This kind of work really appeals to me, in both aesthetic and principal.

So I googled environmental + 'slow art movement'... and it appears it's been around for a while!

According to this article/manifesto.. the 'slow movement' began in the 1960's as a reaction to consumerism. Basically - “If it is worth doing well, it is worth doing slow.” (-May West)


I also found this list (2009!) of terms on my search, at greenmuseum.org, which is very helpful!


I feel like this relates a lot to my apple series, and I wish I'd found it sooner. The environmental aspect of Kato's work also reflects issues that are concerning me. Since spending all the time with Becca up at Massey in the Ecology department, it's really become something at the forefront of my consciousness.


This is good, because I work better when I look at 'big picture' things. I'm beginning to realiseb this, and Lorraine articulated it nicely for me. She also said my work is becomming more refined, which is good news.


She also suggested I look at Roni Horn, in particular, her work in Iceland (in relation to idea alluded to in my previous post), Iceland, how fitting!
Roni Horn - Library of Water (water taken from different glaciers)
On some level her work relates back to what I'm doing for Waiora, and the reseach about the quality of New Zealand's freshwater systems that was introduced to me by Dr Mike Joy at an ecology group seminar.

Searches for Roni Horn also lead me to find http://slowpainting.wordpress.com/... which references her several times.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

New Ideas a-brewin'

So I have an idea, that I want to pursue. Of course, the specifics of new ideas are something you keep quiet about until you've made the art work! Having said that...
this site has some relevance...

Of course first year sculpture wouldn't have been first year sculpture without our


Andy Goldsworthy - Icicle Star

His style isn't what I'm after.. but it's a starting point. The temporary, ephemeral nature of his sculptures is also something that I find appealing. There's a poetry in it, nature is allowed to follow its course, even though this means the destruction of the work.

What I have in mind is something a bit more politically charged and related to the work I'm creating for Waiora/Intersect*


Mark Jenkins - Storker Project
It's also related on a completely different level to the work of Mark Jenkins**, which I love! It's so playful and cute without being 'cutesy' on a kitsch level.
Anyway, that'll do for now at least.

*Waiora art competition entry is a display fridge filled with baby bottles full of dirty water.
**Mark Jenkins is an artists I've known about for ages, and was linked to through a friend who found his page and thought of me.

Studio Dissertation: Getting my head round the Art World.

Welcome to the institution:

AMELIA HITCHCOCK
Studio Dissertation 81.332 2009
Quay School of the Arts
Tutor: Matt Couper

ARTWORLD WATCHING- WORKBOOK due: 2nd November 2009

So, an Art Journal, documenting my research/reading. Due to the limited availability of print credits,(which in turn is, apparently, due to the recession), and allowing for the meandering nature of my Internet excursions, I will be creating a virtual Journal to compliment/supplement my physical visual diary.

This will also become a way for me to keep all the interesting websites that I have found in one easy to access place, rather than constantly emailing myself the links, then forgetting what they're for.