murmurs in paint

scanned A2 work in white ink on sugar paper, detail

inverted image

creases and light

white light tracing paper and below paper over sugar paper, tone and exposure altered

experiments in wax

tissuepapergraphite

tissuepapergraphiteoverlayingsugapaperwork

blackwaxcrayon murmurs on black sugar paper

trialblackcrayon white ink wash

                                     

white indian ink wash black crayon

Vija Celmins

Web 2 2001-01 oil on linen 15 x 18 inches 38.1 x 45.7 cm

Ocean surfaces 2000 wood engraving on Zerkall paper 20 3/4 x 17 1/4 inches 52.7 x 43.8 cm Edition 13 of 75

Untitled 1995 mezzotint on Rives paper 16 x 14 1/8 inches 40.6 x 35.9 cm AP Edition XIX of XXV

murmuring still

still from video




struggling with the video edit
decisions around: exposure, sepia tone,timings, 

technicalities of exporting still from imovie

playing with sugar paper and white ink

poor quality images

3rd one was started with eyes shut

enjoying the repetitive shapes and natural looking forms from using brush

able to produce blurred, 3D like illusions from repeatedly painting over same marks

some marks looking like bird forms

light works

researching contemporary video artists for project 1.



Relating to my murmurations project, I'm stuck but thinking ahead to projections. I'll be limited by space, equipment, plugs and sockets. From the beginning I've been relating to being physically present at the birds moving before bed, and my own bedtime rituals. Ruminating on the beauty of the flocks in flight, even though it's a defensive co-ordinated movement in action to evade predators. Safety in numbers. How at the moment, for me, changing lodgers in my flat, inevitably challenges my sense of space, safety and calm, although I'm not alone. Safety for me, is not in numbers.


Projecting onto moving fabrics ?bedsheets/toile/muslin/mosquito bednets. Or onto painted hanging glass to mimic looking out a window. Still contemplating the size of the projected image. But yet again, all these ideas will be restricted by equipment.

Researching into people's existing works and looking for current video art exhibitions has been intriguing but often of limited use due to the on-line viewing restrictions of artists moving image work.

Pattern of similarities to works that are appealing for their gentle thoughtfulness and use of sculputural elements either in the projection or on how a projected surface plays with sculptural forms.

As like lots of research, the library has become a useful trigger for research. Inadvertently stumbling onto a book called the 'Paradoxical Object' bought me to the work of Susan Collins.

The book's wordy art theory opaqueness is a real turn off, so thank goodness for some of the stills and some of the more concise accessible descriptions of the works that have made me look into artists more.

I was drawn to 2 peoples work most in the 

artist: SUSAN COLLINS





















artist's website: SUSAN COLLINS

distractions

easily distracted in the studio
i might just have needed a coffee and some chocolate but hypnotised by the blinds? 
WTF!
and it's bloody white
some things never change

garden niamh o'malley

video footage showing discussion around Irish Contemporary video artist Niamh O'Malley

B&W recording of a video reflecting this inside of a garden. interesting points by artist

:video...
"physically directing your attention to seeing something...

marking in space (with mirror)

..trying to pin down an image
..unsettling lingering gaze..(it's about) attention and controlling shifting gaze////

using mirror to reveal things as not seen as an image before"


quiet beauty in images, unsettling that what we see is not just controlled by the edited video but also the mirror moving. The artist also comments on the additional unpredicted judders in the mirrors movement due to breathing/moving of the mirror

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rs6Zs6Lyf0Q

we all dance alone now

brainstorming so far


why the murmurations:

• atmospheric, primeval
• symbolic: hunting in packs, drones, mass protests
• viewer: at mercy of weather, unpredictable uncontrolled nature of the roosting, 
• stark black peat, unsettling flat land-no horizon- staring up at movement is disorientating
• quiet sound of the murmuration that isn't sinister or typical of starlings chattering/squawking
• ideas about going to bed together for safety and going to bed along
• pack mentality and syncronicity
• beauty in movement which is actually a defense against attack
• voyeristic nature of watching nature- man wanting to understand the co-ordinated movement but not being able to, we all dance alone

issues to think about

=end projection ? screen
                ? canvas
                ? use binoculars/magnifying glass->voyeristic

=surround viewer ?through installation windows
                 ? using curtain with movement simulating breeze that distorts image
                 ? position of viewer -surrounded, seated.
                 ?interaction with images ? important to reproduce feeling of being at the heath





moving image reflections

-slightly stymied by not being able to see artists video work if it's not recorded in-situ-

-seeing online footage of video installations is a bit pointless as the temperature, lighting, time of day, being able to walk round and alter viewpoint of what is being seen-can't be done, passive

-irony of paintings reproduced, can copy and paste but can't do this with an 'immersive' or interactive piece. when everything is reproducible, this type of art remains stubbornly elusive and excluding.

-how video footage is something we see all the time and might not want to be what we see/experience in a gallery space. Static paintings/images provide more of an opportunity for the viewer to bring their own experience and interpretation to a piece of art. The stillness, silence, provide a sought-after, meditative, calming and pensive experience, which continues to compound the idea the art can elevate ideas/experiences. 

-should audio and interactive experiences be left to gigs, concerts, real life



moving image research


-Brian Eno and his 'video paintings'- now available on DVD so can rotate the image which previously shown 'on its side' necessitating the viewer to lie on floor and watch or turn TV on side

artists using video paintings: http://www.nomig.net/index.php?subsub=Video%20Paintings&navid=ambientvideo

starlings roosting, stills from project

shapwick heath still from film 11.1.15

stills from moving image work

decisions to be made about mood, abstraction, audio

sound recorded too distracting

above images no saturation - original footage overcast tint too yellow. prefer B&W more atmospheric...hopefully adds to hypnotic malevolence of the starlings movement when settling down and roosting

ongoing research into artists working with video, framing, audio and video 'painting'

islands and rivers

islands and rivers

i'd seen footage of murmurations before but this clip by islands and rivers that went viral last year gave me goosebumps and stuck in my mind.

at the same time I'd come across some black and white still images from a guardian mag of the shapes,

this also coincided with doing a nightly drawing in a diary before I went to sleep. the idea was I would be thinking about the day and using a biro see what came out, often the shapes and drawings reminded me of flocks of birds and the starling mumurations.

all these links have been going over in my head unconsciously,.

when thinking about my next project, there's a pleasing parallel between the starlings roosting nightly, settling and getting comfortable and me doodling to settle my mind to help me sleep.

working in white

scultpure magazine dec 2014:featured artist Daniel Arsham

galerie perrotin:artist DANIEL ARSHAM




like this artists use of materials selected for their properties more than colour
use of familiar objects put into different context
article enjoyable to read, artist honest and open and self-aware about what he is trying to convey and why he's interested in the mediums

arnolfini exhibit

show by Josephine Pryde, Berlin based, British photographer, who subverts the glossy advertising style of images our lives are saturated with.

I hope to go to her talk.
I'm trying to avoid reading up the bumpf before i walk round somewhere.
Always feel for artists stuck up on the first floor. less foot fall. but i guess the distraction of the view of the water concentrates the gaze. hard not to be distracted or trip over the surreal placement of a train large enough to sit on that sat pointlessly awaiting a bum at one end of the room.
quite how the hornsby collectors' wet dream fitted in I couldn't be sure, these thoughts more unnerving with photos of white liquids bubbling in photos around the track. cornflour and water forms formed from noise from speakers apparently. all a bit too obtuse for me


the photos in main rooms are apparently staged and lit in the 'blue hour' the time between dawn and day when natural light lends a sci-fi glow to natural lighting.

The idea being apparently that the objects we use have become more and more an extension of ourselves. we do hold (our) world in the palm of our hands, hence the shots of long slim manicured fingered anonymous hands holding various objects, phones and gestures.

Did make me think about the photography final show at bower ashton and that becoming a fine artist, lecturer, success, whatever, someone with gravitas and appeal is all such a load of blurry bollocks. do what feels right, it can't be wrong, but it probably will be but by then you'll have moved on, no-one will give a crap so there's no point in giving one either.



http://www.arnolfini.org.uk/whatson/josephine-pryde

easy does it

the plan:

to come unstuck in the new year and gear up for next project

. it's all about the light, white. no colour, right? 

the rules:

1. white objects out and about. on screen they won't be white but that's a rule that's a grey area

2. no tinkering with photos. allowed more that one snap. But that's it, no altering the image other than cropping, exposure and tinkering with tones.

3. indefinable.

the point:

none yet. no depth here. but to get my mind twitching and shaking about what's around. i don't do draw but point and shoot.