Weeks Reflections

Following on from a very practical 2 weeks this week has been based more on research and reading. Through exploring my own thoughts I often find myself with my mind ahead of the verbalisation of thought. There is a moment that occurs where one is between a thought and the understanding of that thought. The way the mind fumbles around its own thoughts paired with a refreshed interest in the feature of a hand in works I have begun to develop an idea for a video. As a hand struggles to grasp a piece of paper on a flat surface the mind struggles to grasp what it is already thinking. I would like to capture this moment on video, the hand exploring the behaviour of the paper. Even through thinking about this video I know that it will convey something but i am not set on what that is. It is a grasping of your own thoughts although this time they are visual. The development for works often materialise this way. There is a knowing and trusting in an idea that makes you follow through with it and when it then feeds back to you even more that you put into it a feeling of success arrises.

images of hand – red balls, balloon, hoverly, hand photos artist, hand exploring space artist. tim davies

This week the installation in the project space and spending time with the work and exploring the works response when composed differently within the space. A tutorial with Craig Barber involved talking about making and breaking the work. The importance in finding the compositional breaking point where the work is no longer ‘right’. Through pushing these boundaries new area of the room come into play and interact with the works. The ‘Hoverly’ piece and ‘Is My Blue Your Blue’ – bench and wall piece are two seperate works but through pushing the limits of works the interactions between these works intensify. There is sound playing with Hoverly which i have found, along with the video, draw people to this work first. The positioning of the sound being exclusively a part of this piece could be a strong player in why this occurred. It would be interesting to consider the sound a part of both pieces, unifying them within the space.

This week has been focused on materialising works for the exhibition next week. I have had to consider the works practically and physically to bring them forth to realised works. Working with the print of the hover fly and finishing the video to accompany this print has has lead to some techincal difficulties and compromises to be made with the work. Initially the image was to be printed on vinyl however the uni don’t print vinyl the size that i would have liked it. For this reason i settled for the high gloss paper print, although not what i originally planned i think that the physical print allows for more objectivity within the piece. The projection and vinyl were going to be very 2 dimentional together but the gloss print comes away from the wall and will interact with the space and other work in the room more. Working on both works at the same time has encouraged me to think of how they will work together in the space. Drawing from their relation to the space and then with one another relates to the dialogues within each work well. Materialisation of the bench part of the other work for this exhibition has been a big step this week. Bringing it into the space i can now begin to see how the work will all fit together and respond to the exhibition space.

Exploring the compositional possibilities for the work has enabled for new possiblilites for how the work can involve the space more. Viewing the wall as more than a place to hang the work and as another element to consider along side the work instead. This has also lead me on to the floor, how can this space be breached? Incorporating the floor as what it is to the viewer the wall is to the artwork. Wall holding work and floor holding viewer. Intertwining these elements could lead the piece to be more involving of the space and also bring the bench part of the piece closer in consideration. Distancing and spacing the elements of the piece can be difficult to get right, you want there to be space for the work to breath but it is also possible to distance a part so far that a visual connection is difficult for the viewer to come by.

Starting work on the bench as enabled a stronger visualization of the piece and a chance to see what is possible for the materials. Wanting to encouperate some steel in the bench somewhere to bring relation to the steel on the wall I have come to the decision to weld some steel legs. A glimmer of steel slipping out from beneath the bench would be a subtle hint to the wall works. Making these myself also keeps with the hand finished quality to the work and will accompany the gloss colour painted surface of the bench well. The gloss paint being the same as on the wall is important. The paint I have used I have not applied perfectly and shows up the brush marks when the light reflects. This quality to the paint on the bench will contrast with the solid nature of the large object. The paint and bench balancing and accompanying one another as the wall works and the bench work do. Each aspect of the piece working together to form a sensical whole.