16/03/2010

Unfortunately, the footage has not turned out as good as was expected. I had a chat with Matt and then Nigel about it to see what they would suggest. (When the mirror shattered it caught the reflection of the sun, and the result was like a photo flash over the whole sequence of the shattering mirror). Matt says perhaps a higher frame rate might be an option to get a better result in slow motion; he is going to refer to the manual, hopefully I can get the desired effects. Nigel has suggested that I shoot some more footage, but this time on an overcast day. Went to the "Art in the Making" today; an ex sculpture student was giving a talk about his work. He and a couple of other students have got a studio/exhibition space on Catherine Street Limerick called Faber Studios. It was interesting to hear about the group/studio dynamics. Apparently, there is a lot more to having a studio than meets the eye; he is trying to organise artist talks/visits etc, something which he had not envisaged himself doing. The MA students were having a critique today down in Georges quay. I was in two minds as whether to stay and get the benefit of the crit, or to go and give them some privacy; I chose the latter; hard enough to be in a crit with your peers, without a pesky 4Th year being there too ! LOL
Nigel mentioned that one of my submissions to the "Table of Contents" website was published; I had almost forgotten about it.

(Photograph of workspace; published on the "Table of contents" website.)

15/03/2010

Spent most of the day getting footage for video work. A cousin of mine assisted me with the shooting (sorry for the pun!). It went well, although the biggest problem was the sunshine; it was very hard to see the video camera screen. Of course, it was on my mind that there was a chance that the 3cc camera might get damaged in the process, but thank God it didn't. Went in to college and managed to get the footage downloaded onto my computer. I also made a sound recording of the shot gun being fired; one at low level and the other at high level, to see which one would be more suitable. Got that downloaded as well.


Shattered reality. Experiment.

12/03/2010

Got some research of the shootings in Limerick, and some information about the feuding families etc. I realise that this is perhaps a macabre topic to bring to art practice, however, it is nontheless a part of the cultural reality of modern day Ireland and especially Limerick. Perhaps if we all just turn a blind eye to these kinds of things, they will go away !

11/03/2010

Carried on editing some video work; I wanted to put a still frame in the video, but it was not really a success. I will have to take my own photo and edit it down. (The picture will be of a "Happy family"). I have entered 2 audio pieces into the work; one of birdsong, and the other of a police siren; it is a good effect and adds great effectiveness to the piece. Went to the art in the making saminar, it was hosted by University of Ulster lecturer Dr. Justin McKewon. It was mainly a talk about the centre for suburban research, which he ran from his home. He offered a series of residencies to different artists including:Gavin Peacock, Denis Romonovski, Paul SnowdStapleton, Caroline Pugh, Sinead Bhreathnach Cashell, Emily Kyoko snowdon and Nathan Crothers. He also spoke about the nature of the work each artist was doing; it was quite interesting. Unbeknown to me (and others) the GRO meeting was moved to another location, however, Kieran Cashell kindly gave a quick overview of the GRO application procedure.

10/03/2010

Had a tutorial with Mark this morning. As usual, he has given me some good advice as to what areas need addressing in the work. As each tutorial goes bye I gain a clearer understanding of the dynamics involved in contemporary art practice. Although a closet pragmatist; I realise now that in terms of the course specifics, this kind of approach in not really appropriate.
How can my work add to the discourse in contemporary art practice, if there is not a clear and concise ideology behind it ? I know that my work in essence raises questions about the notions of reality, perception, time, space and cognition, but the work articulated in these terms is in some sense too general/incoherent. My challenge then is to delve into the SPECIFIC ! With this in mind, I have pondered the possibilities within the work, and have come to the conclusion that the actual focus of the work seems to be leaning in the direction of cultural reality, and more specifically Limerick's cultural reality. One video work which I will be working on over the week end, involves the use of a shotgun, and it was only recently I heard on the news that Limerick has the highest incidents of shootings in Ireland; is this not the shattered reality of which the work speaks of ?...........Eureka !

09/03/2010

Nigel has very kindly given me more instruction in premiere pro and adobe sound booth; I believe I can progress now. Another peer critique today; two very different artists, one a painter another an installation artist. It was another good discussion on the intricacies of the individuals work.Art in the making was not on today for whatever reason; it has been postponed until next Thursday which coincides with the GRO talk (In the same room too!). Got the 3cc video camera out on loan, I aim to do a video of mirror getting smashed; it should be fun, although, not sure how unlucky this will make me! LOL. I brought home the recording device to record some bird song in the countryside, but they must have gone to bed early tonight; I seemed to have missed their chorus.

08/03/2010

Got three films sent off for the LIT student film festival. Had a quick chat with Kieran Cashell about MA proposal; he has suggested it would be better to discuss it with Alan Keane, which I suppose would make more sense. Still not quite got the hang of premier pro video editing programme; i movie HD seemed so much easier, I can't believe they did away with it here, as a consequence of this I am not making as much progress as I would have hoped.