More window updates...

So the masking tape messages have gone further than I thought, originally only being between my flat, the flat opposite and the flat above that, more have now joined in. When stood on the other side of my accommodation you can see other flats in the same block as mine that have the following messages:

'hey Big Boi'

'Marry Me'

'We <3 what we C'

'We can C U both'

They are placed all over the block which is also 10 floors high. The two last ones are clearly related to what has be previously written but the other two messages 'Hey big boi' which is written with paper and 'marry me' in a small font are a bit random compared to the others, but they have obviously been encouraged by the masking tape messages. who knows what will come of it.

Ikon Gallery...

After visiting the New Warsall Art Gallery last term I've decided to go into an exhibition with as little knowledge about it as possible apart from the title and the place that it's being shown in. So with that in mind I've listed the 3 exhibitions that were shown in the Ikon gallery when I visited it on 31st January and explained my original impression of the show and then what I thought of it after having read about it and learning the titles of the individual pieces:

Stuart Whipps Why Contribute to the spread of ugliness?

Images are from Whipp's website about Ikon exibition.

              

The first piece you see when entering this exhibition is one of Whipp's Videos named 'England and the Octopus, Britain and the beast' (shown in the top right photo), simply a film of a beautiful waterfall, a railing and a man trying to capture it on camera. Without the title I would look at this as a man wanting to get a nice photo, most likely a tourist, however due to the title of the exhibition I couldn't help but look at the piece with some thought of negativity, almost judging the person in the picture. Realising this I tried to think of what the artist might be trying to comment on, does he think that people should try and appreciate the beauty of nature rather than looking at it through a lens, or maybe because of new technology anyone can buy a flash camera and suddenly think they're a photographer by taking yet another photo of a waterfall.

The next room had three projectors showing slides onto different walls in opposite directions (shown in photos two to six) with the slides changing at the same time but not necessarily showing anything, this piece was called '487 Uncatalogued Boxes'. The slideshow shows different derelict spaces like cars parks, the outside of buildings like office blocks and damaged cardboard boxes, seeing the title now it is more obvious that the pictures all seem to have some sort of box like form. The industrial spaces remind me of the buildings that have been left to become empty in the space around where I live and of the houses that Edgar Martin photographed for 'This is not a House', they are empty yet have a feel of some previous activity. When considering the title of the exhibition perhaps Whipps is commenting on leaving these building with no intention of improvement or reuse is ugly because of it's appearance but also because of the waste that it leaves behind.

When reading about this exhibition it's interesting to find out that Whipps' 487 Uncatalogued Boxes' is showing the archives (and the boxes they came in) of John Madin's architectural plans with the buildings that they refer to. It mentions how the Birmingham Library which Madin designed and was once seen as 'a landmark of post-war functionalists architecture in Britain.' is going to be demolished in 2013, I feel like I got this feeling of sadness when looking at the work, it was clear it was a sort of documentation but almost like crime scene photos they were heartlessly and factually collecting data on these abandoned buildings. Considering the amount of redevelopment going on around my area it makes me want to look more into what they are planning on keeping or redeveloping and what is completely going to be redesigned or taken away. Although maybe not a human life everything has it's own life span and so exists for a period of time and it's these objects, buildings and environments that we exist around/in. I guess that's why I have such a fascination with what's going on around my home, because it's so relevant in my life at the moment.

John Myers Middle England

 

 

For John Myers exhibition he shows his photographs, all about A4 size or less and spaced equally around the room at eye level in frames. What I noticed first about the photos was that they all seemed to have the same composition, most look like full length portraits with the person in the middle, the scenery/environment framing them. The title gives away the connection between them all, their class, but because of their surroundings and appearance that was kind of apparent any way, although it could also be a comment on the location, so Midlands, which would make sense with the show being Birmingham. Because of their clothing it suggests that these are old photos, emphasised by the black and white effect, however because there are so many of them that are conveniently the same I feel like they could have been staged, unless perhaps this is an old collection of his that he has decided to re-exhibit. This exhibition was the one that made me want to go to the Ikon, capturing the people in their environment is what my work so far hasn't done, I've always purposely leave people out of the scene, focusing on the absence of the figure and the presence they leave behind, so it was interesting to see what it would look like if I included people in the space they live in.

The first thing I found interesting when reading about this exhibition was when the photos were taken, 1970's. So this answers the question of whether they were staged to look like they were taken around that time or whether they were genuine. Next was just how similar Myers investigation was to my own. I was drawn to this particular show anyway because of it's visual similarities but as I read on in the Ikon leaflet similarities became apparent. 'Myers chose to photograph people who lived within walking distance of his home, and so he recorded his world as he knew it' - Like me looking at the space and direct environment around me to look at my own life. 'The juxtaposition reminds us of the fact that we are shaped by our built environments, as much as we shape them' - reminds me of my recent consideration of the development of new buildings effecting our existence within a space and how it may be considered in the design of that space/the life span of that building. '[in Landscapes] for these photographs, Myers ensured there was no hidden story; this is an urban scene without the distraction of the human figure or any implied narrative.' - I currently have been making more drawings of spaces that I feel have a presence without a person being there and in the past term all of my work had an absence of figure.

One final thing that intrigued me about this work was the mention that some has been display outside the space in which the new Birmingham central library is being constructed. Firstly it reminds me of how I am looking at taking my work outside or into new spaces that are relevant to it, but also is interesting considering the work of Stuart Whipps whose work comments on the demolition of the old Central library and is shown within the same building as Myers.

Dean Kelland Living Room Series (Episode 2): The Desperate Hours

The final exhibition in the gallery was a film by Dean Kellend. Shown in a dark room, Kellend repeats the recognisable line from the popular series 'Steptoe and Son', trying to perfect the dialect and improve his impression every time. Dressed like the character and pulling the same facial expressions you can picture yourself sat in front of the TV at home, which is emphasised by the title 'Living room series'.

Ikon describe the work at looking at the 'mechanics of performance and portraits of masculinity' but what I found relevant about the work was how Kellend's interest is apparently in the language of popular culture. At the begining of this whole investigation I started with this idea of what effects our lives and is current in our lives by being inspired by magazine, newspapers and travel, which are all things that interest Kellend, however he also focuses on comedy series like in this example. Like in John Myers study of Television sets, I like how Kellend draws attention to the everyday in a scene we are familiar with causing us to look at it more closely. As for the actual curation of the film, I fond it interesting when researching the work to find examples of the same film shown on an old worn out television set, I think if I saw it this was I wouldn't have need the title to have got the feeling of watching it in a living room setting, it reminds me of when I showed my films of trains on 3 television sets and then decided that I only wanted one to be shown either projected or on a monitor so there were no distractions, I wonder how I would have felt about the work having scene it on a smaller scale rather  that the large screen in the tiny room at Ikon.

Another Living room window update...

After pointing out the top window mocking the 2nd window down in my last update by writing 'we see you both' the second window down has responded. Subtley they have changed their message from 'we see you' to 'we like what we see', so now where the window above says 'they can't see us' pointing to the window below them, the 2nd window down is now saying that they don't like them. Part of the fun of living in student accommodation is the wittiness of the young people you're living which is shown by this example, but I guess it also helps that this sort of environment is filled with people with plenty of spare time to write on their window in masking tape! 

Thinking of it in terms of my existence, this response from the direct audience will help record this period of my life. The original image I made on my window showed the place I lived in for a brief moment in time, but the interaction from those I am living around gives a sense of where it is and my time at university.

Inspiration...

When considering that a lot of my work before the last assessment was influenced by Michael Craig-Marting and stain glass windows I thought I would collect some images to look back on if in need of inspiration for different ways of using glass: