Contextual Research

Marcus Coates

Coates often assumes the identity of an animal, such as a fox, goshawk or stoat, by simulating its appearance, enacting its habits and appropriating its language. In the film, ‘Stoat’ (1999), for example, Coates totters around on ramshackle platforms, learning to recreate the animal’s bounding movements; in ‘Goshawk’ (1999), a telephoto lens captures the artist as a rare bird perched precariously at the top of a tree; while in ‘Finfolk’ (2003), the artist emerges from the North Sea spluttering a new dialect, as spoken by seals.


Coates has also trained as a shaman and the exhibition includes films of his rituals, where he achieves a trance-like state and communes with the animal kingdom to address social issues. Wearing an array of costumes such as a badger’s hide, a stuffed horse’s head, a blonde wig and a necklace of money (all of which will be on display), Coates has addressed issues including prostitution, regeneration and swine flu for communities worldwide and most recently in Israel, Japan and Switzerland.

http://thisistomorrow.info/articles/marcus-coates-psychopomp



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfBgWtAIbRc






Serena Korda

Serena Korda was born 1979 lives and works in London. Through large-scale ensemble performances she reconsiders aspects of communion and tradition in our lives. Underpinning her practice is a desire to find and highlight ritual in the everyday, which is developed through encounters, conversations and the researching of abandoned histories. Audiences are often encouraged to participate at some point in her process creating collective experiences that often focus on the forgotten and overlooked.

http://serenakorda.com/aping-the-beast/

Contextual Research

Jackson Pollock

Jackson Pollock, 

1942, Oil on linen, 

Museum of Modern Art, New York, 

40 x 56 in, 101.6 x 142.2 cm

The artist that I have selected is Jackson Pollock and his work is called "Stenographic Figure". Jackson Pollock’s Stenographic Figure is confusing. Since the painting was unveiled in 1943 there have been so many theories about the number of figures, the position of the figures, the significance of all the numerical scribbling’s. The numbers, letters, and other notations Pollock deploys across the surface of the canvas carry a greater significance than the merely visual interest. The painting Stenographic Figure was completed in the year 1942 by famous painter Jackson Pollock. Unlike most of Pollock’s first few paintings, this painting is more colourful and the palette is not that sombre. Many consider it as a bright and airy painting. In fact the prevalent style of this painting is regarded as abstract expressionism. Apart from viewing the flat and planar fields of colour, Pollock went a step further in this painting. This is because there are two elementary human forms which give more character to the painting. And this is where the name itself, Stenographic Figure, comes from. One of the figures is at the right edge of the painting, and the other one is just left of the centre. Pollock then finished off the painting by applying brush strokes in various parts of the painting.

Jackson Pollock was an influential American painter and a major figure in the abstract expressionist movement. He was well known for his unique style of drip painting. Pollock was introduced to the use of liquid paint in 1936.  He used paint pouring as one of several techniques on canvases of the early 1940s, such as Male and Female and Composition. After his he began painting with his canvases laid out on the studio floor, and he developed what was called his "drip" technique. With this technique, Pollock was able to achieve a more immediate means of creating art, the paint now literally flowing from his chosen tool onto the canvas. By defying the convention of painting on an upright surface, he added a new dimension by being able to view and apply paint to his canvases from all directions. A possible influence on Pollock was the work of the Ukrainian American artist Janet Sobel(1894–1968). Pollock moved away from figurative representation, and challenged the use of easel and brush. He used the force of his whole body to paint, which was expressed on the large canvases.the whole arrangement of the picture is expressive. The place occupied by figures or objects. the empty spaces around them, the proportions everything plays apart. Pollocks similar attitude towards composition in addition to his newly heightened colour sense.

Contextual Research

Oblique Strategies is a deck of 7 by 9 centimeters printed cards in a black container box, created by Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt and first published in 1975. Each card offers an aphorismintended to help artists (particularly musicians) break creative blocks by encouraging lateral thinking.

In 1970 Peter Schmidt created "The Thoughts Behind the Thoughts",a box containing 55 sentences letterpress printed onto disused prints that accumulated in his studio, which is still in the possession of Eno. Eno, who had known Schmidt since the late 1960s, had been pursuing a similar project himself (which he had handwritten onto a number of bamboo cards and given the name 'Oblique Strategies' in 1974). There was a significant overlap between the two projects, and so, in late 1974, Schmidt and Eno combined them into a single pack of cards and offered them for general sale. After Schmidt died suddenly in early 1980, the card decks became rather rare and expensive. Sixteen years later software pioneer Peter Norton convinced Eno to let him create a fourth edition as Christmas gifts for his friends. With public interest Eno once again produced a new set of Oblique Strategies cards. The number and content of the cards vary somewhat from edition to edition.

Each card contains a phrase or cryptic remark which can be used to break a deadlock or dilemma situation. Some are specific to music composition; others are more general. Examples include:

• Use an old idea.
• State the problem in words as clearly as possible.
• Only one element of each kind.
• What would your closest friend do?
• What to increase? What to reduce?
• Are there sections? Consider transitions.
• Try faking it!
• Honour thy error as a hidden intention.
• Ask your body.
• Work at a different speed

Self Directed Assessment 2014

Here are the images i have taken to show what i have made and included within my assessments for Self Directed that i thought was a strong body. 

Zebra

Lion

Deer Antler

Moose Antler

Sketch book, Tribal drawings and Patterns

Drawing Assessment 2014

Drawing Assessment 

Here are the images taken from my final Drawing Assessment. This is the work i have recent worked on and have progressed on. i have enjoyed this work especially the physical side of it. 

Dobok with White belt (beginners) and Yellow Tag

Dobok with muliple images that have been emulsion printed on to show effectiveness and the strong relationship between them. 

The chosen images that i have manipulated on the computer to show movements being used.

(above and below). 

Portfolio

Cloud of Pins,

Acrylic, Ink, Drawing Pins, Cardboard, String,

21 cm x 29.7 cm

2013.

Cloud of Pins, 2013

Mask,

Acrylic, Drawing Pins, Tissue,

10.7 cm x 12.6 cm

2013.

Pain is Colourful,

Canvas, Acrylic Drawing Pins, Newspaper,

91.5 cm x 122 cm

2013.

Pinned Femur,

Acrylic, Clay, Newspaper, Drawing Pins, Tissue,

18" x 1.4",

2014

Pinned Femur, 2014

Pelvic Joint,

Lino, Acrylic Metallic,

27.9 cm x 43.2 cm

2013

Bracelet 1, 

Masking Tape Roll, Acrylic, Blu Tac,

7 cm x 7 cm,

2014

Sun Variety,

Acrylic, Paper,

27.9 cm x 43.2 cm

2014

GTUK,

Image Relay, 

21 cm x 29.7 cm

2014

Me 2,

Image Relays,

21 cm x 29.7 cm

2014

Me 3,

Image Relays,

21 cm x 29.7 cm

2014

Camouflage 3,

Paper, Acrylic Metallic,

27.9 cm x 43.2 cm

2014

Zebra, 

Acrylic, Wool, Newspaper, Blu Tac,

12" x 10",

2014

Lion,

Newspaper, Acrylic, Blu Tac, Fur Scarf,

10" x 11",

2014

Moose,

Newspaper, Modroc, Spray Paint,

 21.7 cm x 56.2 cm

2014

Deer,

Newspaper, Modroc, Spray Paint,

27.8 cm x 14 cm,

2014

Self Directed

My project is focused on the African culture and the species with the African plains that are effected by everyday events such as poaching, hunting other animals etc. Africa's great cat, the magnificent lion, is facing a poaching crisis. Intensifying the pressure, the use of wire snares by people has devastated wildlife populations across the Savannah of Africa. The bush meat trade doubly impacts lions; it kills off their prey species to feed a hungry human population, and lions themselves are caught in snares, usually to die a slow and excruciatingly painful death. Pieter Kat said "About 50 years ago we had about 200,000 lions living in Africa,” Therefore I have created performance pieces of an lions and zebras head as a person can use them to act in the respect of the animals that once use to roam the African plains in peace, the movements that where involved actually got me to learn more about the specific animal and how it learns to survive in the wild. It shows the peacefulness they all shared within the images I have chosen and it’s a powerful thing showing the head of a creature that was free and now is used as a trophy for a show to satisfy the world. I have learned a lot about the African culture and what has happened over the past 50 years or so and is very emotional to learn that they are used for coats, medicine and the black market no part of the animal is spared.  Spartacus Chetwynd as inspired my creative side toward the feeling and performance of a lion and zebra on how they act in their natural habitat. She had a strong supportive network with wildlife conservation's where she helped support the protection of almost and extinct animals now in captivity. She also said “It’s important to make an effort to make things that last so they can continue to communicate to people.” With the learning of the artist and the emotional status I was in I decided to put both the performance and wild side together by creating two masks/ heads on a shields to represent the stability and support this world has gained over the 50 years these animals have been on this planet. Spartacus Chetwynd creates her work from house hold material and recycled object and I have used this inspiration to do the same but based on the masks of animals rather than the full piece i.e. costumes. 

Lion

This head piece took about a week to make less time than the zebra but on the other hand i made the head lighter and more durable. I did this by making a gum strip duplicate of a large mixing bown this was then formed in to the base where a persons head would go. As the tape was forming i used to packs of Blu Tac this was used for the teeth. I choose Blu Tac as it was easily to manipulate into different sizes and smoothness for each tooth. with the left over Blu Tac I flattened it out and bent it to form a tongue. To make the texture right i used the led end of a pencil and began to poke and smudge small hole into it. Making tape also helped me alot through the process of making the top half of the face near the nose area as i filled it with Newspaper and to seal it I used masking tape then Gum strip this not only helped keep the face together but it made it more sturdier.T o get the overall texture of the lions face I used a plant basket padding as it was rough and unusual to use. I then used different tones of golds, oranges, and browns. I then recycled an old hood i had on a coat this was the most effective way for me to create the mane I was looking for.

Zebra

The zebra was the first piece i had created as this was just an experimental piece it turned out to be part of the final outcomes. It took me about 2 and half weeks to make as the process I used was new to me but it was an enjoyable experience. To create the head i used a small celebrations box for the nose area followed by several manipulations of newspaper to form the snout of the zebra. I then used cardboard to form the rest of the zebras neck. to create the ears i used newspaper covered on wool smoothed over with PVA glue and white acrylic paint. The zebras mane was formed using wool and the bristles of decorating brushes. after this was done i used two layers of newspaper strips to smooth out the whole face and then i painted it all white and added the stripes for effect. 

Moose

To create the moose antler i used 2 whole newspapers PVA glues back to back to create the thickness needed for the modroc to form. I then used 3 layers of modroc and manipulated it to bend slightly this was to shape an actual antler. After it fully dried i then spray painted it to an off white colour.

Deer

To create the deer antler i used 2 whole newspapers PVA glues back to back to create the thickness needed for the modroc to form. I then used 3 layers of modroc and manipulated it to bend slightly this was to shape an actual antler. After it fully dried i then spray painted it to an off white colour.

Here is some of the development work i have done for the painting side of this project. this was very influential as this helped me to understand the culture more of the African Savannah and what they actually represent.

I created this image by cutting up strips of A3 card and painting them in metallic colours. After they had dried i decided to cross hatch them to create a colourful center piece. I them backed it up on white A3 card to show off the colours contrasting one another effectively. 

I have used multiple sized cardboard and splodged each piece in different tonal colours of reds, yellows, golds. and with the paint becoming thick and tacky it created this textured piece of art.