Thursday, November 27, 2008

27/11/2008

A lady came to talk to us today about submitting some work into an exhibition in Limerick, it is very short notice but will submit a couple of pieces. Put 3 items into the drawing competition today. Went to blog after tea but the computers broke down and no internet access.
We had a discussion with Katriona and Nigel about our video exhibition in January, it was very intriguing but seems to be an awful lot of work for so very little marks, especially as it is assessment time then.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

26/11/2008

Essay.Jigsaw.
Essay finished t.g.
Jigsaw not finished

25/11/2008

Essay.Jigsaw

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Good morning Marian !


25/11/2008

Photography this morning, just developing stuff in the dark room, very interesting. I prefer the process to digital, I think the photos are better too.
Health man said they going to install heaters in studio, fair play to him.More research for the essay today, did a bit more to the jigsaw. The down side to the jigsaw is that it looks like that I have got no work done!

24/11/2008

Was under this misguided notion that our essay had to be in today, turns out its Wednesday.
Spent the day researching for the essay, it is about the simulacrum in representation. I am very intrigued about the notion of the era of the simulacrum, it is similar in some respects to the matrix. Like the writings of Guy Debord, he could see the matrix for what it is.Did a bit more to the jigsaw. Wrote e mail to the health and safety guy again, about the heating (or lack thereof).

Saturday, November 22, 2008

21/11/2004

Started writing the essay today, got bogged down with the intricacies of the format, so never really achieved a lot by going in. Did a bit more to the jigsaw.
Hope to make a jigsaw puzzle in ceramic, should be interesting. I am also going to investigate the topic of missing people in Ireland. I can use the metaphor of the missing jigsaw piece of a puzzle. I hope to perhaps get some images of missing people and to make portrait paintings using the reduction method, so as to make the images barely recognisable. I am quite excited about this new direction, it has a lot of potential, and is also a contemporary issue.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

20/11/2008


Tried to upload a DVD I made in France when on Erasmus but there were complications, I had to get the computer guy in the end but it turns out I will have to compress it, so as to fit it on to blog spot. After many attempts and a lot of man hours,my blog spot can now be finally googled, yippee ! When this sculpture brief is finished, it will be handy to keep this as a web page, to display my work etc. Went to class reps meeting today, it was mentioned to the student union guys that they seemed hard to approach, and that there was a sort of "clique" there, I think they were genuinely surprised that a lot of students felt that way, I am sure they will take that on board. Carrying on with my big brother theme, I have started putting BB images on the screen savers,on the computers in the multi-media place. It will be intriguing to see how far I can take this before someone complains ! Perhaps they won't, we'll see. Had a thought, will see if I can photo shop a jigsaw image of BB, that would be more appropriate to my work.

Quick tour of art college and Quimper, while on erasmus study period, april 2008

1984


Wednesday, November 19, 2008

19/11/2008

Introduction to animation today, intriguing, but 2 hours is not enough time to absorb the technicalities of the animation programmes. Did a bit more to the jigsaw. Had discussion with Mark about my work, the conversation was, to say the least, complex ! nevertheless, I believe Mark understands where I am coming from.
Had tutorial with Dr.David, he really is such a helpful tutor, he goes out of his way to help and discuss any ideas or questions that may arise, he really wants all of us to do well in our studies.
Didn't go to the library again tonight, it is like a mad house there, a lot of people are complaining about the noise level there, it is hard enough to get essays done without that added distraction.

18/11/2008

Photography A.M,.took one of my works to be photographed.
We went through the developing process again, which was handy.We had to take portrait photographs of each other (cringe) !
P.M. essay but had to leave the library as it was too noisy, the canteen would have been quieter !
Did a bit more to the jigsaw, it is starting to take shape now.
Meant to have draft of essay for Dr. David tomorrow but that's a no go, too much other stuff going on at the moment.

17/11/2008

Seminar with aine am, very intriguing film using stills with commentary.
pm essay

Friday, November 14, 2008

14/11/2008 Chaos and banality strike an uneasy truce


14/11/2008

Spent the day sorting out the jigsaw pieces on to a board, started putting some pieces together, and got bored!

Thursday, November 13, 2008

13/11/2008 photo of blog post !


13/11/2008

All quiet on the western. Went to sculpture this morning, tried to play a DVD i made in France, for some reason it wont play, Marilyn going to see the illusive computer guy about it.
Went over to the moylish campus today for a learning skills workshop, it was very useful, we got a personality questionnaire to fill out, apparently it would cost 300 euros for the test, if it was done privately. The lady from the company is meant to e mail us back with some help/advice to aid our ways of learning, as Mr. Tesco would say; every little helps !
Painstakingly slow trying to sort the pieces for the jigsaw, at my present rate of progress, I figure I'll have it completed by the summer !
Had tutorial with Dr.David today, fair play to him, he actually came to me in sculpture to arrange it. I was really struggling with the essay and couldn't figure out why, apparently, I was missing the last line of the essay question, no wonder it wasn't making sense !!! Got some great advice from David, when he explains it; the format etc, it sounds really easy ! Perhaps it will be, we'll see.

13/11/2008 seen on a van on way home.


13/11/2008 Chaos or banality ?

If you were a jigsaw piece, what/where would you rather be, part of the chaos, or part of the banality ?

13/11/2008 Banality


13/11/2008 Chaos


Wednesday, November 12, 2008

12/11/2008

A.m. we had video crit, it went well, there were good videos, some great ideas. The soundtrack for our piece is going to have to be strong. Started putting together the 1000 piece jigsaw, it's going to take some time! Had a thought for one piece, will stick a pipe to a jigsaw puzzle (Magritte) and paint on it "ceci n'est pas une simulacrum"!!! That should get a few brains thinking !
Spent rest of day reading more of Dr.Davids' lecture notes. There was some mysterious element to ccs today, tutorials ? staff meeting ? who knows ?

11/11/2008

Missed photography today, we (Marian and I) had to go for class Representative training. It was a very intriguing day, we were given great advice and tips, for effective presentations etc. We were treated to lunch which was a nice gesture. Apparently, one thing that a large proportion of world, and business leaders, successful entrepeneurs, etc, all have in common, is that they were all class reps, now there's food for thought!

10/11/2008

Spent the day reading Dr.David's lecture notes

Friday, November 7, 2008

06/11/2008

Would of really liked to have gone to life drawing today, to improve my skills, unfortunately,because of the "needs to put in more effort" comment, I cannot, because life drawing, or the body, does not really fit in with my "concept".
so, today has been spent trying to come up with theoretical concepts about my work. (I wonder did Van Gogh have to ponder the theoretical concepts behind his work, or did he just actually paint ?)

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

05/11/2008







Feedback from progress review today, I have to say I was rather disappointed with the review, constructive criticism is well received, and much appreciated, however, to be told " put more effort in" really stung, and I personally believe it was both unjustified, and unwarranted, I have both a practice diary and a research folder, which were never even looked at, how can judgements be made like that?
CCS in the afternoon, it was an interesting lecture. Did not go back for feedback. as I have not started essay yet. On a bit of a downer after the review.
Completed the transformers jigsaw today (on the board). A couple of comments from different people, one thought it was like a "town", another thought it was like a football team.
The rows of the jigsaws bring to mind notions of order, mindless minions, parts of a bigger picture, streets, people going to work in their droves, production lines, buildings, chess pieces etc. These are constructs that I will investigate.
Really pissed off about the progress review, (or should that be regress review)!

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Pete in his usual spot.


04/11/2008







Started our photography block today. I found it intriguing, the various ways artists employ photography in their artworks. I feel confident that photography will continue to play a big part in my studio practice.
I produced a photograph of some money, phone and a thermometer. The money, because it did not lie flat, becomes almost translucent, due to refocusing on different areas of light.
In the afternoon, I painted a piece of mdf with black polyurethane paint, when dry, measured out a grid of equal length and breadth, then started to stick my completed transformer jigsaw, to the board, with the pieces standing on their end. Why?! Again I am continuing to explore the possibilities of the jigsaw. I have deconstructed the puzzle, and arranged it a way which, to the viewer, has become an almost impossible to solve, once again all sorts of questions are raised.Is this a puzzle? is it an artwork? what is the significance of the grid? why black ?
In a sense, the mystery of the puzzle itself, has now become almost insignificant.

03/11/2008

Spent the day organising my research, documentation and photographs of studio space

Sunday, November 2, 2008

31/10/2008

I have placed all my research into plastic pockets, will get some ring binders to file it away. Again, this will be a more professional approach than what I have employed in the past.
The rest of my day was spent transcribing my practice diary into print.

30/10/2008

Could not automatically get my blog spot to come up on a google search for some reason, enquired from the tutor as what the procedure was. She was uncertain herself, and spent a considerable amount of time gathering the information for us, which was extremely helpful. Unfortunately, after following all the procedures, I am still unable to get the blog spot to appear on google, for some unexplainable reason.
I spent the rest of the day obtaining images from my files, to insert into Microsoft word. (I have come to the conclusion that my hand written practice diary, does not look very professional, so I have taken it upon myself to transcribe the diary into print, with images this time. It will add to the professionalism of my studio work.