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

Contextual Research

Evaluation

In my evaluation I will discuss about the power point I have done about an artist called Spartacus Chetwynd. I will also discuss the reactions of the audience with multiple responses and feedback from peers and experiences gained from this event.

My PowerPoint is formed of nine slides all of which shows and explains my artist’s influences, who the artist is, the works of Spartacus Chetwynd including multiple videos on YouTube showing her shortlist turner prize entry in 2012 including several images showing a partial performance with the audience in the making of The Snail Race (2008). Spartacus's work of The Mole, The Lizard and The Stick Insect is inspirational to me as they were all made to show the performance about wildlife conservation. All three creations are displayed with white and clear backgrounds along with their titles, sizes, mediums and year of creation. I have gathered several quotes from Chetwynd as she describes her approach to art making as "Unbridled Enthusiasm" for each work she strives for total immersion into the worlds of her subjects, honouring their passion and contribution with her own. This reflected in the DIY style Chetwynd employs: her objects are handmade to illustrate how the earnest (and the seemingly ridiculous) efforts of one person can have real meaningful consequences.

Chetwynd never used prefab materials the outfits are sewn from cloth which she dyes herself using paint and salt and masks and other accessories are made from latex moulds and or cardboard. Her figures such as the mole are humorously sympathetic and also slightly sinister, highlighting the moral dilemmas and fatal plights associated with fanaticism. During my Power Point presentation about Spartacus Chetwynd two co peers in my class had been taking notes and summarizing my presenting skills also on the information given whether it was relevant or not. They said my presentation had good varying media, well planned and thought out and I spoke clear also had good lengthy timing. On the other hand I thought I spoke really fast and I mumbled a few words I think this was down due to nervousness at the time. Images used in my presentation helped my peers understand and to help visualise the work Spartacus was doing and why I am deeply influenced by her work. I think that I had plenty of information to help talk about the costumes however others thought I had a bit too much information on the slides.

What ideas or issues are outlined by the student when discussing the work?

Peers within my group outlined the ideas that I was and Chetwynd was also inspired by the performance and traditions. The way she hand made all her costumes and creatively came up with aboriginal performances and other circumstances she had been placed in. some inspirations came from films, books and world history. She also likes to include other performing artist and the audience in her work this helps everyone to interact and become more personally connected with her work. Spartacus is influenced by popular performing traditions such as medieval mummer plays, carnivals, communes, drag acts and political demonstrations, as well as the history of performance in Avant-garde art. There performances have referred to the ideas, images and storylines of John Milton, Charles Dickens, Karl Marx and Dante, for example but also Meatloaf, The Addams Family, Star Wars and Star Ship Troopers. Brought up on film sets and studying both anthropology and fine art university Chetwynd moves easily between folk and traditions, Sci Fi, 60s happenings and contemporary moral issues.

Chetwynd is a British artist known for reworking's of iconic moments from cultural history in deliberately amateurish and improvisatory performances. She specialised in sculptures and installations that often starts handmade props, costumes and sets for her joyful anarchic performances. They acquire an afterlife in exhibition spaces, occasionally animated by amateur actors and professional dancers. Her performances are really gestural and not meant to exist afterward. She wanted to burn the costumes after but she had to change her attitude and her heroes are the Marx Brothers. They bothered to make their fun, gestural off hand experience package able, not in a dark way that people can enjoy afterward forever. Another quote from Spartacus Chetwynd "It’s important to make an effort to make things that last so they can continue to communicate to people".

Overall in this evaluation I have enjoyed the overall experience and information gained from producing a power point about artists as they help with learning and gaining skills ideas to help with future works and inspirations. I have also enjoyed peer feedback as it helps me to understand what people think about my work and how it affects them.

http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/talks-and-lectures/turner-prize-artists-talk-spartacus-chetwynd

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yCGXalCEws

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbvpQhmDocA

Contextual Research

 Analysis

The "Last Supper" is a mural painting created by Leonardo da Vinci. The mural is painted onto the back wall of the churches dining hall and spans 15 by 29 feet. Da Vinci created the piece of work and it took a total of four years to complete it.

The "Last Supper" is named after an event in the Holy Bible that can be found in the gospels of Luke, Mark and Mathew. Jesus Christ and his twelve disciples gather for a Passover dinner on the night which will precede his death. During the meal Jesus announces that one of his disciples will betray him and he will be killed. Da Vinci's painting illustrates this exact moment when Jesus' disciples are shocked by what they have just heard.

The painting illustrates thirteen men sitting behind a table. The man in the middle of the painting is Jesus Christ. He sits with his eyes closed, hands on the table and he doesn't have an expression on his face. The twelve disciples surround Jesus, with six of them on each side. The twelve disciples have been grouped into four groups of three people, with the individuals of each group sharing a common expression. Starting on the far left side are Bartholomew, James and Andrew. All three stare at Jesus with a puzzled look on their faces and their eyes wide open. The next group is composed of Judas, Peter and Peter. Judas holds a bag of silver in his hand which symbolizes a bribe he was given to betray Jesus. Peter leans over and clenches a knife as though he wants to protect Jesus and John appears to sob. The next group of men is Thomas, James and Phillip. These three men looked surprised and appear to want an explanation from Jesus. The last group of men is Matthew, Jude and Zealot. These three men are all facing each other as though they are having a discussion on what they have just heard.

Da Vinci has also incorporated several elements and techniques into this painting. Perspective was used by tapering the lines that form the walls, windows and ceiling of the room to give the illusion value and depth. Jesus' head is centered perfectly both horizontally and vertically. This alignment combined with the perspective makes Jesus' head the central focal point of the whole painting. The use of geometric shapes is evident. There are many rectangular patterns built into the structure yet all the objects on the table are round. There is a wide range of colours used in this piece, especially in the clothing. Lighting is also incorporated in this painting. The left wall, back wall and ceiling are all dark in comparison to the wall on the right which is really bright. I would guess that this lighting difference is in reference to the sun's location to symbolize what time of the day it was.

My own design of the last supper influences from Leonardo Da Vinci "Last Supper".

also Jean Michael Basquiat "Fallen Angel"

This image consists of four canvases sizing (unknown) and put together forms this long and modern image i have created using my family and friends as influences as they are all different shown with different objects on each canvas shows their personality and hobbies and other objects that are personal to them. 

Analysis

Jean Michel Basquiat  "Fallen Angel" 1981 (167.6 x 198.1cm)

Jean Michel Basquiat is very energetic. His work called 'Fallen Angel' is the image I have chosen to use as a pastiche. In this work he draws out angels, devils, halos and saints. In 'Fallen Angels' I see his work like of an angel falls from heaven and they are either losing a right to their wings or going straight to hell this is because an angel has done something wrong to end up in a situation like this. When looking at this image there are alot of dark red colours on outlines of this picture. Sometimes the colour red represents the devil or hell in most religions. You can tell with this with this image even though it looks very gestural and energetic but even though it is quite visible that a child has created it you can tell that it is an angel with the recognizable features i.e. wings, halo etc. With the title 'Fallen Angel' Basquiat gives the idea and concept away by giving us a clue to the message he is sending us that an angel is falling from the sky and it could be either going to hell or stuck in limbo on earth.

But he uses sharp and aggressive lines in his work as it looks rushed and domesticated. On the image in the detail of the angels eyes you can see that he are closed but with a bit of red showing through the blue eyelids that could show that it is a devil now and not an angel. With the colours red and black they mean to us warning danger and with Basquiat using these colours it tells us to watch out for this as it is a hazard. Some of the colours Basquiat has used are vibrant and loud with the use of yellows, blues and reds. All of these draw your attention in towards this image as it is wacky and exciting to view his work. While looking at Basquiats work he uses themes of x-ray looking figures in most of his work were you can see the inside of the body with the background faintly coming through the body in a pastel blue colour.

Basquiat uses very thick paint throughout 'Fallen Angel ' with the colours black reds, yellows, whites and oranges these are direct to the canvas he splotches them on and spread them out thickly to get bumpy texture with the paint. He has layered each of these colours on the canvas to gain a bold and direct response from the viewers. As you can see on the right wing there has been a drizzling effect going down the wing and to do this he has used dirty water from his brushes and spread it on the wing in a rough way and tipped it to allow the water to come down the image with Basquiat doing this it looks like that there has been acid poured on the wings to dissolve away. With the thought of this it must feel very painful in this manor and experiencing excruciating pain from the acid being poured down him and turning in to a devil from an angel.

Basquiat has used tin marking for the fingers as this suggest that he is boney and thin in scale. The shapes that Basquiat has used in his painting s are very flat and suttle in the way that they are not in 3D form but are simple for example the halo. When looking at the image you can tell that it is an angel and a devil as this image could represent both as one with the wings and the other one with the bloody red thick lines on the eyes and body. He has used contextual lines throughout his work as this I think is the most important part of Basquiats work as this is a mark of recognizable work to let us know that it is his work and no one else's the lines could be sharp or smooth looking but rough in places. This image comes across to me very willing and strong in the marks he has created it shows that he has a great vivid imagination with angels, devils, saints etc.

He works with applying thick acrylic on top of each other and using oil pastels to add detail in his work such as the markings of the lines, letters, numerals and symbols he was influenced by CY Twombly and Leonardo Da Vinci with reading and drawing from anatomy books. Basquiat uses a 3 point crown to symbolize and mark his work the lines he has used to create this piece of art are very quick, sharp and slick on the wing it looks like he has rushed the depth and colour but on the other hand it looks abstract but the style looks crazy with the use of random points of colour such as the yellow as this is the brightest colour. With the idea of doing an angel on his surface it is very spontaneous and naïve in the way he has layered the acrylic paint and the theme of making it energetic and vibrant. He hasn’t included tone or depth in this image as it looks flat and there is no form to it. But with the use of the bright blue it highlights the angel and allows it to show.

My first reactions to Basquiats ‘Fallen Angel’ was WOW that’s amazing it’s very bright and colourful and quite bold and you can tell he has expressed his feelings and external and internal visions hens x-ray vision. X-ray vision in this case is a good technique he has used and he has exaggeration with the lines that he called blood lines and other organs. He is a neo expressionist painter and some of his work comes across aggressive because he puts much power and boldness and randomness in to his imagination and his ability to achieve great work he has created. The writing in his work isn’t understandable and he crossed words out to get some ones attention to look in more detail into his work and this makes people feel curious about the decision he has chosen. World of images, body and machine parts, parts of speech, figure cartoons, graphs and cross words out. ”I cross words out so you will see them more, the fact that they are obscured makes you want to see them” – Jean Michel Basquiat

At first from a distance I thought that it was a bird with the obvious shapes of the wings but as I gradually concentrated on the image it became clearer that it was an angel because of the shape of the halo and wings. It looked like a child had created the image the way he has used the lines with the acrylic and pastels. I do like this image but it is very difficult to get to terms about how he created the image in such a huge scale and the difficulty in getting the colours right for the overall image to make it abstract. The work remind me of an explosion of a factory who is making paint and the explosion is on the wings but all over the image as it shows that people who could be working in the factory could be hurt or feared dead. The image makes me feel like this because it looks sad, depressing but scary in the shock of the arms and face is laid out. The halo on this image reminds me of Jesus and the thorn crown he wore on his crucifixion and the raw emotion can be mirrored on to this image.

The work is an angel or devil that could be seen either way. Basquiat is dominated by the figure of the fallen angel rendered in quick rapid red, yellow and black lines, floating against luminous blue background. Within each brush stroke you can tell the energy and strength that Basquiat has put into his work. The lively tonal qualities of the work represent a radical mixture of street drawing onto the modernist canvas. “The colours are not those of easel painting, obtained while learning a craft and constantly worked on. They are lively, swift colours of the street, vibrant, fading, affixed and opposing distant but not foreign” – Jean Michel Basquiat. Basquiats angel appears both conflicted and endearing much as the artist was himself at the time his work was painted. The angel figure was more about historical stuff than religious; he used iconography to discuss his experience. It was to talk about of a black man in America and not about history. In addition to the angel another iconic symbol in Basquiats work is the crown, which appears over the angel’s left wing in the present lot. Both the crown and the angel are central metaphors for Basquiats understanding of his own personal mission and eventually they would become emblems.

This relates to an autopsy in the way he has drawn and painted the physical anatomy of the male in nude coming from heaven going to hell. This relates to the human form and anatomy for the requirements of drawing a figure. With the amount of paint he has used and layered on top of each other it must be a quite thick ripple effect with him applying it thick on canvas material. I don’t think that there is a sense of space in ‘Fallen Angel’ because it doesn’t look 3D and the sense of depth to me isn’t there as there is no tonal aspect on the painting he has created. He has used a large canvas to do this image on (5.5ft x6.5ft) and the media he has used is acrylic and oil pastels. The work was made in 1981 in New York it was therefore presented in Annina Nosei Gallery New York. There is an interesting connection with this work and the year it was created because there was a lot of street pop art going on including expression graffiti and animations of cartoon characters which Basquiat was also deeply influenced by his past. Jean Michel Basquiat created this interesting conceptual piece of art called ‘Fallen Angel’.

He was a New York artist who began graffiting communities and building until a professional person approached him and offered him money to create his work within galleries to show and inspire the viewers of the world who came and visited multiple galleries over the world but soon after at the age of 27 years the passed away due to an over dose. He work to this present day is still inspiring the young people as it appeals to them for the use of sophisticated and vibrant colours used and the techniques he has used to create marvelous work and they are all preserved in galleries all over the world for us all to remember him and to get inspired by the creativeness and imagination he worked hard for in his work. A major history event affects the art world in 1981 by including women into the art world “Feminist art history began with the aim to support women in the arts and to make women artists in art history visible. Until the 1980s the interest was predominately political and research concentrated on women. Major issues were the social history of women artists, the question of a female aesthetics and the representations of women in art.”

http://userpage.fuberlin.de/~glossar/en/view.cgi?file=dat_en@53&url=/~glossar/en/menu3.cgi?l1=abc@@l2=F@@l3=Feminist%20Art%20History:%20Women%20Artists%20and%20the%20Canon. His art work is very x-ray like this is influence by reading and drawing the images from Leonardo Da Vinci’s anatomy work which led to drawing medical like examinations of people bodies. Well I ask several people in my family what do they think it looks like from a distance and they said it looks like a bird which I agree but as they got closer they could see the detail and the obvious outlines on an angel including the wings and halo. The viewer’s said that it remind them when they started to attempt to draw in school when the lines weren’t even and parallel to one another it was very abstract and out of context and the use of colour is random and they wasn’t too sure if he should of used them colours as they were to bright. But with the young people in present time are inspired by simple energetic images such as ‘Fallen Angel’ etc. with it being hung up in a national museum it is difficult to get the viewers to see his inspirational work that is currently helping me to get out of my comfort zone and helping me to understand the art world and what this image is trying to tell me. I don’t think that it needs written supported help to understand what is going on in the image as it is a simple drawing of and angel / devil falling from heaven to hell or in limbo to decide what to do.