30/10/2009

For reasons previously mentioned in earlier posts, as part of my studio practice, I change the layout of the space every day, and photograph the work.In some respects, it is like a daily theatrical experience. (What kind of a spectacle can I put on today.) I do not put the photos on the blogspot, I believe the  repetition would become too banal, nevertheless, in this case I will make an exception; I believe the work merits it. In continuing with the narrative of visual/perceptual confusion, I have placed the table and chair on the wall. I have photographed the piece with a person supposedly 'sleeping'  under the table. Using the person as a prop in the photograph, heightens the tension in the piece; you sense something is not quite right.

                         

29/10/2009

Added more mirrors to the installation. Some in frames, some broken; one frame in fact, with no mirror at all. It is progressing far better than I had expected. The broken mirror in particular (within the frame) has added an extra dimension to the piece, insofar as it makes the viewer rateocinate what is actually happening in the piece; excellent ! (Which, in some sense, is interaction in itself)

28/10/2009

Have decided to be a little more creative, in terms of the daily  re-arranging of my studio space. Stuck a chair and table to the wall; on the table, I have glued some items. Again, I suppose I am carrying on experimenting with visual confusion. Went down town and got some mirrors, and tried to get a bulb. Apparently, the kind I need is a mercury gas type one, and two shops did not have them. I will try the place out the childers road tomorrow; failing that, it is going to be a two week wait until they come in. As regards my mirror, the company that sells them is out of stock, so they have put some on order, I should have it within the next 2/3 weeks. Added a couple of more mirrors to the installation; it is getting more visually interesting, in terms of the visual confusion that I am aiming to create.

Photo taken in mirror view.

23/10/2009

Another colleague came into my mirror installation, and had a feeling of 'visual confusion,' so I have more proof for my experiments. I will continue to gather more mirrors, and indeed, continue with my experiments. I had to get some timber cut to blank out the window and the roof window as well. Although the room is considerably darker, the lamp I brought in is just not strong enough to create the effect I want, so I am going to get some stronger bulbs, or maybe a spotlight. Other artists that I am researching include; Felix Gonzalez Torres, Martina Galvin, Anish Kapoor, Banks violette.

22/10/2009 Contd.

Brought in a 'disco' ball that I had, to experiment with the other mirrors I had. The sun was shining, so I positioned the ball to capture the light. It was an unusual effect; like 'stars' on the inside of the room.
I continued scraping off the paint from the archglass. It made for quite an interesting phenomenen, insofar as, that, which was once  a painting, now lies  on the floor; its' life in tatters, all the creative energies that were  expounded, now disregarded to the realms of oblivion; poor painting.

 

Whilst researching  other artists using mirrors in their work, I came across an interesting image of the artist Michelangelo Pisteletto at the venice biennale. It entailed him being in the throes of an installation piece. (See photo). In the reflection of the mirror, there were people can be seen  taking photos of him. What I have done, is taken a photo of the photo, in the reflection of a mirror; I suppose, again, raising questions about how we perceive things, and indeed, how easily we can be visually confused. Which one is 'real' if any?

22/10/2009

Scan and Peter having a nice chat.

21/02/2009 Contd.

21/10/2009

Continued to clean up the mirrors. I experimented with the mirrors by arranging them in various positions; I was trying to create a visual confusion. Space was limited, so I have moved the mirrors into the workshop area, where I continued to experiment. In some sense, I partially achieved my goal, that is to say, I looked at a mirror at one stage, and felt a sense of disorientation. I will get more mirrors and continue with these experiments. One of my colleagues is ordering the carnival mirror for me tonight; I hope to have it within the next week to ten days. Went to multimedia room to edit my video; as usual, half the brand new computers are not working right (students can't log into them, and even if they could, they can only use the exact computer that their video work was originally edited on, it's like we have gone back to the 90's);it is the same fiasco as last term.

I am going to take off the white paint on the archglass, it is not appropriate for the painting I want to do on it. I scratched "All painters are sneaky" (we came to this conclusion in yesterday's seminar) I will scrape it off tomorrow. Repaired my diachronic installation; one bit broke. Added a bit more  colour to the shaped canvi.

20/10/2009 Contd.

  

20/10/2009

Went down to George's quay to get the mirrors, fair play to Jim the caretaker for coming down and getting them for me. They need a bit of cleaning up, nothing a little elbow grease won't shift. Maurice was using the mirror piece when I returned; I asked him if I could take a few photos, he didn't mind. It was an ideal scenario really, insofar as I have an actual record of someone interacting with the piece.  I took one photo from behind the mirror, through the 'hole,' it was quite a good shot, I am sure that these will be a good reference for paintings, at a later stage.
Had a quick chat with Mark; me being his tutee (his words). It is true what he says; in my attempt to bring  painting into my practice, I have drifted away from my original ideas and focus, nevertheless, he seems quite interested in the distorted mirror idea, and the eventual socio-interaction with it, will be a good reference source for studio work. I aim to approach a company regarding the use of cctv/security cameras, to use as a recording of these interactions. Mark as ever, is a wealth of information, in terms of artists, writers, and philosophers to research; he has mentioned Michaelangelo Pistolletto, Cerith Wyn Evans, and Jaques Lacan.Added a little more white acrylic paint to the archglass (a new word) !

19/10/2009

Spent most of the day in the library getting the first chapter of thesis finished. Went to see the careers lady to get some advice about applying for a masters degree. I have to admit, there's a lot more to it than I had originally thought, still, I am quite determined to see this through.
I painted some acrylic on to the glass that I got, I will use it as a base for an oil painting. Tried to order my mirror today, but there was a problem with paypal.

16/10/2009

OMG, it finally happened, Scan has been captured on camera doing the 'painting thing'. What next I hear you ask........ an actual painting on canvas ???.......... surely not !!!

16/10/2009

I got an arch shaped bit of glass off Richard. I will use this to paint on, and see what kind of effects occur. I took a few photos of the reflection, it was in some respects quite interesting.
I have stuck another piece of mirror to the original one, just to add to the visual confusion. Jim the caretaker said I can have two big pieces of mirror that are down in George's quay, fair play to him. Went to see Matt about hidden camera, but he was not there on the occasions I called. Even though there does not seem to be a lot going on in my studio space, I am working diligently, and am happy with my progress so far.
I have begun painting on one of my small canvi (a new word I invented for more than one canvas ! (like fungi)) for Tuesday; a thin layer of green; scraping marks into it, removing them, and so forth. Again, just raising questions in terms of 'post square' (a term Mark came up with).

15/10/2009

Spent the day researching mirrors. It seems like I have to send to America for the mirror I want. It is not too dear. The amount of artists doing work in this particular field, are limited, but the kind of  distortion that I am aiming for, is not too unlike the work of Francis Bacon. Other artists that I am looking into include: Wilhelm Sasnal, Gerhard Richter, Marlene Dumas. While this kind of work is based mainly in the realm of painting, it is derived from the sphere of relational aesthetics (I realise this is in itself a paradox, nevertheless, it is a fact !) (Due to the socio-psychological interactivity with the mirrors, from which I will gain research for the paintings) Yeaaah!!!
Got two books from the inter-library loan today: The language of new media, by Lev Manovich, and Postproduction, by Nicolas Bourriaud. I know that Manovich is a leading authority of new media, but I feel the book is a little dated now.(Pre- Social media).

15/10/2009

14/10/2009

Had a tutorial with David today. He gave me some final advice for the submission of the chapter due on Monday. He seems confident that my critical writing has improved very much, and I have to say I can see this clearly in the work too.
Went down town to see if I could purchase the 'magic mirrors' anywhere, tried a few different places; the man in the magic shop was sure to be a certainty, unfortunately, he has never had them. Will have to look online for them, alas, their seems to be some problem with the O2 broadband in my area (North Tipperary) it has been absolutely pathetic over the past few days, and it is having an impact on my work.

13/10/2009 Contd.

13/09/2009

Took some more photos of the the mirror piece. Seminar in afternoon, again, very interesting. It was about the different art magazines we should be reading, to inform us of our creatividentity

Someone sabotaged my diachronic instillation again today; simpletons. I was lucky enough to be able to untangle it though. I am feeling a bit shy today, so have screened myself off from the world.LOL

12/09/2009

Stuck the mirror inside the road works sign that I found, and have polished them to a high  finish (I found that the little marks  could be a little distracting). I have left a gap between the two mirrors, which I had noticed causes a visual disorientation, especially when I placed a coloured board behind, which filled the gap. I have placed the mirror so that anyone walking past it cannot help but see it. I have noticed that some people take sneaky glances, but the majority of people chose to look away, a sense of uneasiness seemed apparent in others. When I was taking some photographs of the work, some people were aware of the possibility of being captured in the reflection, and moved out of view. Had an interesting conversation with some colleagues at tea time, if indeed a mirror reverses images, then we argued, that it is impossible to get a true representation of what we actually look like.

12/09/2009 Contd.