After my brief holiday obsession with old signage I am back at college again. For some this may seem like the start of lots of work, and it is, but it is work that I enjoy so much it feels like fun!
So...
This year we have a much quieter studio space as it is only us 3rd years coming and going from the studio we have. I much prefer it quiet like this, with the exception of radio 6 playing away behind us, I think it makes for a more productive place, for me anyway.
The first week of work started right away, not like any '2 weeks to get back in the college mindset' we had previously been afforded. I thought this was great because I absolutely don't want to waste any time on projects this year. I am trying to become a more organised and professional person, especially when it comes to my art practice.
Our first project that I am working on is a live brief...which is quite exciting really!
It has come from the MacRobert Arts Centre in Stirling and they would like us to design a christmas themed piece of art to take the place of the massive christmas tree they normally have just outside the theatre entrance...the only thing is they have asked for it not to be a christmas tree. Hmmm...
Some initial ideas were to look into the panto they have on in the theatre and take some inspiration from that, as well as looking into other areas of the MacRobert Centre that could be utilised by me for the purposes of this project.
I have been really enjoying creating stop motion films...I quite like that they seem to be a cross between mixed media and painting, only they move which I am still fascinated by. The filmmaker Norman McLaren created many stop motion films in his lifetime and I am massively influenced by the work he has done. At the MacRobert Centre they also have a cinema which is appropriately named The Norman McLaren Film House.
I liked this connection and have decided to look into stop motion with cut paper for this piece. Here is one of Norman McLaren's cut paper stop motion films La Merle 1958...
http://vimeo.com/19545301
Tuesday, 21 October 2014
Monday, 4 August 2014
Still on my holidays...
So...I've decided to start a new couple of projects for my own amusement during my time off between college terms.
After having been through to Edinburgh for a previous project I had a fair collection of images from various parts of the city. Views of streets and closes, old buildings and really old buildings, unusual little markings on the pavements or partially worn away posters on telephone boxes. That sort of thing, city stuff. The one thing that did grab my attention was the very old graffiti at the top of the Scott Monument, fascinating stuff. Not just scrawled writings like 'baz waz ere' and stuff like that but beautifully etched perfect lettering depicting initials and usually a date too. I also began to take photos of old and fading hand painted signage for businesses around the city, usually found at the entrance to a tenement which housed several businesses.
With that in mind, I have taken myself into my home city of Glasgow, to do the same. Its amazing how many there are and how many look like they may disappear from sight very quickly. Some are already worn away without much trace but there always is a little left over, maybe even just a slight discolouration of the sandstone they were painted onto.
Well, I thought...and so I'm on a one woman mission to try and preserve as many of these lovingly hand painted signs that may not remain for much longer in our cities or towns and even villages.
I'm not entirely sure yet exactly how I will preserve these masters of signage but I'll just see where my research takes me, either way its entertaining just trying to find them!
Some world famous hand painted signage up The Barras in Glasgow
After having been through to Edinburgh for a previous project I had a fair collection of images from various parts of the city. Views of streets and closes, old buildings and really old buildings, unusual little markings on the pavements or partially worn away posters on telephone boxes. That sort of thing, city stuff. The one thing that did grab my attention was the very old graffiti at the top of the Scott Monument, fascinating stuff. Not just scrawled writings like 'baz waz ere' and stuff like that but beautifully etched perfect lettering depicting initials and usually a date too. I also began to take photos of old and fading hand painted signage for businesses around the city, usually found at the entrance to a tenement which housed several businesses.
With that in mind, I have taken myself into my home city of Glasgow, to do the same. Its amazing how many there are and how many look like they may disappear from sight very quickly. Some are already worn away without much trace but there always is a little left over, maybe even just a slight discolouration of the sandstone they were painted onto.
Well, I thought...and so I'm on a one woman mission to try and preserve as many of these lovingly hand painted signs that may not remain for much longer in our cities or towns and even villages.
I'm not entirely sure yet exactly how I will preserve these masters of signage but I'll just see where my research takes me, either way its entertaining just trying to find them!
Monday, 2 June 2014
Integrated Project...final resolution and projection of film...block 2
And finally...here we have the product of research into community, magnets and murmurations. I decided on filming various sequences of birds together then overlaying them and creating a paper murmuration. I then cropped, detached the unwanted audio and blended in the video of magnetic iron filings.
I also created my own sounds to accompany the video. A bit of an assault on the senses, i mixed the noise of a group of people chatting and a group of starlings taking off and chattering too. I felt they worked well together because I wanted to give the impression of something being overwhelming like very large groups of people or murmurations of starlings.
Stills from my video before adding the iron filings ...
A still frame from the final film I produced and uploaded to YouTube as Magnetic Murmurations...
A photo of the final projection of Magnetic Murmurations produced by myself M.Muir copyright 2014. The videos of the rooftop projection and final video have been uploaded to YouTube for your viewing pleasure...
just follow this link to YouTube or copy it into your search engine...
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJoTq9dMVgd7vw23Q5A2zlA/videos
Enjoy
I also created my own sounds to accompany the video. A bit of an assault on the senses, i mixed the noise of a group of people chatting and a group of starlings taking off and chattering too. I felt they worked well together because I wanted to give the impression of something being overwhelming like very large groups of people or murmurations of starlings.
A still frame from the final film I produced and uploaded to YouTube as Magnetic Murmurations...
A photo of the final projection of Magnetic Murmurations produced by myself M.Muir copyright 2014. The videos of the rooftop projection and final video have been uploaded to YouTube for your viewing pleasure...
just follow this link to YouTube or copy it into your search engine...
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJoTq9dMVgd7vw23Q5A2zlA/videos
Enjoy
Integrated Project...paper bird animation...block 2
My initial idea was to animate some birds that i would cut from paper, so i decided to continue with this idea too, to help create my paper murmuration and to try another effect...
This is a rough draught of the cut paper animation i had in mind...its amazing how quickly the brain joins things up and even though there is a full second between between frames we still see moving objects.
After the success of this video too I decided to incorporate both elements of handmade paper birds and iron filings together.
After the success of this video too I decided to incorporate both elements of handmade paper birds and iron filings together.
Integrated Project...block 2...development
Well, after finding out about all the magnetic properties of starlings I decided, on advice of a lecturer, to try out some iron filings...the last time I had seen any iron filings was in this old game...
I experimented with moving the filings around from underneath some paper with various sizes of magnets...
I was very pleased with the results I got. The filings looked like the shapes murmurations make in the sky, the only problem I had was that I needed to find a more secure surface as the paper had a tendency to buckle and warp as the magnets moved the filings around...
I tied to secure it with books and candle holders and all sorts but the paper wasn't strong enough, so I opted to use a streched canvas instead.
integrated Project...starling murmuration experiments...block 2
Since I had decided I would create a stop motion animation, I started to research more about starling murmurations and their behaviour...why do they do that? knowing that they did it when coming into roost for the evening I found myself asking. I discovered its for more resins than just that and pretty much the same reasons we gather together in large groups, they do it to exchange information, for protection, for fun, for company, to find food...which all seemed to be very similar to the reasons I would give people for gathering together.
The Shee album cover for their album Murmurations...every one is slightly different...
I also looked into (briefly) the science behind the actual flight patterns of a massive fast moving flocking starlings otherwise known as a murmuration. It turns out magnets can explain it, or the same principle can be applied to that of the murmuration to explain why they don't have masses of in flight collisions...WOW!
I decided to try and include a reference to the magnetic properties of starlings after finding out all this info.
I also looked into (briefly) the science behind the actual flight patterns of a massive fast moving flocking starlings otherwise known as a murmuration. It turns out magnets can explain it, or the same principle can be applied to that of the murmuration to explain why they don't have masses of in flight collisions...WOW!
I decided to try and include a reference to the magnetic properties of starlings after finding out all this info.
Integrated project for Without Walls...block 2
At the start of this project, which specifically had to be produced for display outdoors I had a whole different medium in mind...sculpture, which I was soon to discover wasn't something I enjoyed, at all...don't get me wrong sculptures are fantastic, I'm just not very good at creating them as I thought!
The little maquettes I started creating before realising sculpture wasn't for me...
The concept of starling murmurations and relating their behaviour to our human communities stayed the same but I decided to create a stop motion animation instead as I had a good experience with making one for my last project and having some workshops earlier in the year also hugely informed my decision to choose stop motion animation.
I attended a Norman McLaren exhibition and workshop to learn a little more about how the animation is created on film as apposed to digitally aided stop motions.
I was very kindly given some film from the camera less filmmaker Steven Woloshen, who works for the National Film Board of Canada and was at the workshop with a film he was working on. It was great to speak to someone so knowledgable about film.
The concept of starling murmurations and relating their behaviour to our human communities stayed the same but I decided to create a stop motion animation instead as I had a good experience with making one for my last project and having some workshops earlier in the year also hugely informed my decision to choose stop motion animation.
experimenting with drawing onto 35mm film directly with ink...
Some film with sharpie marker pen scribbled onto it...
Textiles...final pieces...Block 2
In the development of my final piece I thought about producing a series of inkjet printed fabric in A4, to be hung like on a washing line or in a photographers dark room...however with a bit of thought and a good look at it, I decided that A4 was just a bit too boring for me, and it was at this point I changed my mind about the size and layout of the print...
First ideas about size change...
Hung on a window you could really see the fibres in the print too, I added some extra bits of fabric, which made me think of negative strips...so i changed my mind about layout again!
I love this photo of my fabric on a washing line, even although I decided not to go with this design after all...
I did go with this design however. In my final piece there was twice the amount of printed fabric strips, I also had more of the film draped and coiled over the washing line too.
Textiles...block 2...development cont...
So, I decided that the t-shirt transfer paper hid too much of the fibres in the fabric and gave it quite a glossy finish, which I didn't want...I was really looking for an image stained into the fabric so I could still feel the true texture of the fabric.
I decided then to try simply printing directly onto my fabric, I had tried to find printer friendly fabric but to no avail, and any I did find was out of budget.
I glued a sheet of fabric I had cut to the same size as an A4 sheet of paper onto normal printer paper, very lightly and only with a glue stick. I then quickly printed my series of photoshop images onto the fabric and removed them from each other so as the glue wouldn't fix my paper completely to the back of the fabric.
This was the final article which was very cheap to produce and very simple to do...I also liked the photographic quality and detail I could achieve by doing this...
I decided then to try simply printing directly onto my fabric, I had tried to find printer friendly fabric but to no avail, and any I did find was out of budget.
I glued a sheet of fabric I had cut to the same size as an A4 sheet of paper onto normal printer paper, very lightly and only with a glue stick. I then quickly printed my series of photoshop images onto the fabric and removed them from each other so as the glue wouldn't fix my paper completely to the back of the fabric.
This was the final article which was very cheap to produce and very simple to do...I also liked the photographic quality and detail I could achieve by doing this...
Textiles...Block 2...ideas development
As my project is based on transient memories, I thought I would focus in on the quick degradation of these unwanted memories.
I started to experiment with altering an image on photoshop then transferring it to fabric somehow...I bought some T-shirt transfer paper which I printed onto, then ironed onto my fabric.
I choose nice tight weave cotton so as the fabric would be as smooth and easy to print or draw on as paper/canvas.
photoshop images printed onto transfer paper...
image on paper cut out and placed face down onto fabric...
transfer paper was then ironed onto fabric. Iron hot with steam settings turned off completely...
The type of t-shirt transfers I was using were for light or white coloured fabric.
I started to experiment with altering an image on photoshop then transferring it to fabric somehow...I bought some T-shirt transfer paper which I printed onto, then ironed onto my fabric.
I choose nice tight weave cotton so as the fabric would be as smooth and easy to print or draw on as paper/canvas.
Textiles...Block 2...lovely fabrics!
Well...I previously mentioned how I had been trying out hand making paper. In this blog however I'll be taking you through my devore velvet piece, which I enjoyed the process of very much.
To start with I cut a piece of freezer paper about the same size as my piece of black velvet and drew a small design onto the back of it. I cut this out carefully with a scalpel then stuck it to the back of the velvet, the side with no velvety texture.
I then painted/brushed on some devore paste, which eats away at the back of the fabric so the fibres come away where it's been applied. I left it to stand for a minute or two after ironing it in, and gave it a little wash to remove the excess fibres and any unwanted paste.
There are many ways of applying the paste and stencils need not be used all the time, many effects can be created with this technique.
Here is mine...
I over used the devore paste a little, as the two big birds near the top left have little holes in them...oops!
To start with I cut a piece of freezer paper about the same size as my piece of black velvet and drew a small design onto the back of it. I cut this out carefully with a scalpel then stuck it to the back of the velvet, the side with no velvety texture.
I then painted/brushed on some devore paste, which eats away at the back of the fabric so the fibres come away where it's been applied. I left it to stand for a minute or two after ironing it in, and gave it a little wash to remove the excess fibres and any unwanted paste.
There are many ways of applying the paste and stencils need not be used all the time, many effects can be created with this technique.
Here is mine...
I over used the devore paste a little, as the two big birds near the top left have little holes in them...oops!
printmaking...block 2
For my final print idea, I took the idea for the colours from the suffrajet colours...green, purple and white.
Green = Hope Purple = Dignity White = Purity
A beautiful protest poster with the suffrajet colours
My final designs for text and background of my notes...I had them framed with the final dry points over the top of these and framed with a brief handwritten description underneath about this note.
Green = Hope Purple = Dignity White = Purity
Printmaking...Block 2...
As I said in my previous post, I was looking into feminism and its origins and the ongoing fight for equality in the workplace...
I found some wonderful and harrowing photographs of Emmeline Pankhurst, her daughters and the suffrajet movement.
A Suffrajet being arrested by two male authority figures in 1914 for protesting for womens rights
Christabel and Sylvia Pankhurst, Emmeline's Daughters, with a large banner
Emmeline Pankhurst herself, being restrained both physically and mentally by the male authority figures of the time
I found some wonderful and harrowing photographs of Emmeline Pankhurst, her daughters and the suffrajet movement.
A Suffrajet being arrested by two male authority figures in 1914 for protesting for womens rights
Printmaking...BLOCK 2...research continued...
As I am planning on using screen printing as part of my final design, I had started looking into screen printers and their works.
Having also been looking at some of the advances in feminism from campaigning for women to have the right to vote to what it means now, I felt I should mention that I found it very difficult to find female screen printers via the Google search facility...I found way more male printers in my initial search and wondered about the right to equal pay we are supposed to have in the workplace.
I feel that even although we are told that there are regulations in place to make sure there is equal pay and treatment of the sexes in the workplace, the reality still remains one of an un equal workplace.
Thoughout my research in my sketchbook, I did mention artist Kiki Smith...She produces lovely screen prints with a very graphic appearance to them, mainly working in black and white with handmade papers, I particularly like her work, but already knew about this female artist, I was quite disappointed to have to struggle so much with finding female printers...
Kiki Smith...Lucy's Daughter...1992...screenprint on handmade paper
Having also been looking at some of the advances in feminism from campaigning for women to have the right to vote to what it means now, I felt I should mention that I found it very difficult to find female screen printers via the Google search facility...I found way more male printers in my initial search and wondered about the right to equal pay we are supposed to have in the workplace.
I feel that even although we are told that there are regulations in place to make sure there is equal pay and treatment of the sexes in the workplace, the reality still remains one of an un equal workplace.
Thoughout my research in my sketchbook, I did mention artist Kiki Smith...She produces lovely screen prints with a very graphic appearance to them, mainly working in black and white with handmade papers, I particularly like her work, but already knew about this female artist, I was quite disappointed to have to struggle so much with finding female printers...
PRINTMAKING...research...BLOCK 2
So the research for screen printing continues...This time I've been looking at commemorative bank notes, there really is no limit to their designs, and importantly the display of these pieces.
Princess Diana commemorative bank note and above certificate of authenticity...
The displaying of them seems to vary, but the main approach seems to be a mounted note on a dark background with a small plaque or sometimes handwritten note of important information, like designer, bank and date of release.
Above is an Australian £1 banknote circa 1949 framed with detail in type about the above note...this is how I would like to display my notes after I've come up with the final design...
I will base my design and display of it on the examples I have in the research section of my sketchbook, and photographic research I've done too.
The displaying of them seems to vary, but the main approach seems to be a mounted note on a dark background with a small plaque or sometimes handwritten note of important information, like designer, bank and date of release.
I will base my design and display of it on the examples I have in the research section of my sketchbook, and photographic research I've done too.
Wednesday, 23 April 2014
integrated project things and stuff...BLOCK 2
As i have spoken a bit about my other projects and classes i am currently working on, i will now take you through some of my integrated project. I am working on a project which started off as a possible 3D sculpture but has taken a dramatic turn into a stop motion film instead!
I realised that i'm not the best at sculpting and i also enjoy creating stop motion films much more than sculpting...i also felt that the video option fitted my concept far better than a sculpture would.
My research has led me to looking at birds, in flocks, and more specifically now starlings...i've also been experimenting with various ways of animating images on screen.
splattered pink ink on a hand drawn young starling...
I was also lucky enough to meet the camera less filmmaker Steven Woloshen at an exhibition and workshop celebrating the Scottish stop motion filmmaker Norman McLaren, and managed to acquire some blank 35mm film...which i have used some to paint and draw with inks onto...
washing...watery ink painted onto 35mm film, left to dry and scored into with a fine needle point.
I had to work it out in my sketch book...
I realised that i'm not the best at sculpting and i also enjoy creating stop motion films much more than sculpting...i also felt that the video option fitted my concept far better than a sculpture would.
I was left with this cut out from the paper birds i had made...
ink on photocopies of hand drawn starlings...
I was also lucky enough to meet the camera less filmmaker Steven Woloshen at an exhibition and workshop celebrating the Scottish stop motion filmmaker Norman McLaren, and managed to acquire some blank 35mm film...which i have used some to paint and draw with inks onto...
petals...pink ink on 35mm film
scrubbed...black sharpie on 35mm film
Tuesday, 8 April 2014
blogging my heart out...TEXTILES...workshop1...papermaking...BLOCK 2
Here we go again...this time i'm gonna be talking mainly about my activities in textiles class. We have been doing some pretty cool workshops of late and i thought i could share some of these with you too...
Let me see...to start with we got to try making some paper. I was particularly interested in this as i'd only ever seen it done on a massive scale before and that was just on the telly, so...
I blended some old random scraps of paper that had already been used and rejected for other purposes, this old paper was mixed with lots of water and then poured into a big bucket, it was not the most appealing of mixtures...it just looked like a big bucket of spew to be honest...I then had to reach into it with a wooden framed fine mesh then turn them out, like a cake from a baking tray, onto absorbent cloths, usually used for cleaning up worktops and such, and then...from this ugly mix i was able to make some lovely paper.
Instead of reusing old paper you can also make paper from just about anything that you can blend, for example fibrous fruits and vegetables and plants or flowers...you can put things into the mix to make it more interesting like whole seeds, stalks, grasses, leafs and pretty petals...
and here is the product of my labour...a layered piece of paper made using lots of small frames and blended paper in 2 colours, then let to dry on top of each other so they fused...
Not bad for a first attempt?!
Let me see...to start with we got to try making some paper. I was particularly interested in this as i'd only ever seen it done on a massive scale before and that was just on the telly, so...
I blended some old random scraps of paper that had already been used and rejected for other purposes, this old paper was mixed with lots of water and then poured into a big bucket, it was not the most appealing of mixtures...it just looked like a big bucket of spew to be honest...I then had to reach into it with a wooden framed fine mesh then turn them out, like a cake from a baking tray, onto absorbent cloths, usually used for cleaning up worktops and such, and then...from this ugly mix i was able to make some lovely paper.
Instead of reusing old paper you can also make paper from just about anything that you can blend, for example fibrous fruits and vegetables and plants or flowers...you can put things into the mix to make it more interesting like whole seeds, stalks, grasses, leafs and pretty petals...
and here is the product of my labour...a layered piece of paper made using lots of small frames and blended paper in 2 colours, then let to dry on top of each other so they fused...
new project...PRINTMAKING...BLOCK 2
Ok...so...here is some stuff I've been working on for the past month or so.
After a bit of a turbulent start to the year again, I'm trying to become a little more focused in my efforts to blog about my work...something I've never felt i was really any good at, but maybe through pictures of things i can show you what I've been up to and how i'm progressing with my BA...
Let us start with some printmaking then...
I've been working on creating a protest piece. The subject I've chosen is women on bank notes.
It's something that astounds me. When i found out the fact that british bank notes only have one woman at a time on them, if any at all. Whats going on there?! was my thought...Why not have more than one woman on our bank notes at a time, this country has produced hundreds and hundreds of brilliant, successful, groundbreaking women...oh and I'm not counting the queen here all you smarty pants! What would happen if Emmeline Pankhusrt and Viviane Westwood were on UK bank notes at the same time...would the world implode?! I think not.
So with that in mind here are a few first attempts at screen printing after a long break from it...it truly is an enjoyable thing, going through the process of printing things, like a Japanese tea ceremony the joy is in the ritualistic processes of printing, the things leading up to the final movement...
Another go at it, this time with a colour change to white for the fine line drawing and a slight change in its position...i'm quite pleased with the outcome this time though.
After a bit of a turbulent start to the year again, I'm trying to become a little more focused in my efforts to blog about my work...something I've never felt i was really any good at, but maybe through pictures of things i can show you what I've been up to and how i'm progressing with my BA...
Let us start with some printmaking then...
I've been working on creating a protest piece. The subject I've chosen is women on bank notes.
It's something that astounds me. When i found out the fact that british bank notes only have one woman at a time on them, if any at all. Whats going on there?! was my thought...Why not have more than one woman on our bank notes at a time, this country has produced hundreds and hundreds of brilliant, successful, groundbreaking women...oh and I'm not counting the queen here all you smarty pants! What would happen if Emmeline Pankhusrt and Viviane Westwood were on UK bank notes at the same time...would the world implode?! I think not.
So with that in mind here are a few first attempts at screen printing after a long break from it...it truly is an enjoyable thing, going through the process of printing things, like a Japanese tea ceremony the joy is in the ritualistic processes of printing, the things leading up to the final movement...
A wee picture of the acetates used to expose my screen, a clean line drawing and a darker watercolour from a life drawing class.
First attempt at printing my pictures...an uneven outcome but not without its charms!
Another go at it, this time with a colour change to white for the fine line drawing and a slight change in its position...i'm quite pleased with the outcome this time though.
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