Stain glass window...

So following on from my tutorial I made a stain glass window in my living room using black insulation tape and  painted acetate for the coloured glasses. I took images of the window at different times of the day to see when it would look it's best:

When the light indoors was turned on the tape would be doubled by the reflection on the glass.

When the light is shining behind the window the image is at it's clearest, but when it is extra bright you can't see what is outside the window. However during different times of the day when the sun was at it's strongest the picture would be projected onto the wall, moving from opposite in the kitchen, around the room and onto the ceiling. 

When one of my flatmates walked past the projection I liked the interruption it created, moving the image onto his back and distorting the overall picture.

When I stood in front of the window my shadow blocked the projection but left my silhouette in the middle, making me part of the image.

I took photos of the window from different places in the flat to trying to include other items and details unlike the pristine images placed in the window, below shows the sink, cooking utensils and work surfaces but you can;t see outside the window, where as the next one includes daily left items around the living room space and shows you the same view from the window as my film.

Tutorial (January)...

The last time I had feedback on my practical work from my tutor group I was working on the filming of trains in the view from my window. Since then my work has moved on quite a bit and change direction, so I wanted to show this to my group to see what they though of it and to explain how I've got to this point.

I printed off examples of my work so far to show the development from photos that have been edited, to traced outlines, one of which I chose to be enlarged and split onto frames for the group exhibition. I also included the edits of my sketches that started of the Michael Craig-Martin inspired style.

Considering the majority of the group didn't get to see my films (due to the tutorial being half my tutor group and half of another's) and that they didn't know what the idea behind this work was I was pleased with the initial response some of the group suggested. One said that the scenes with the glasses made them think that it had been placed by someone, that there could have been somewhere there and this is what was left behind. As a scene this is the feeling I wanted to create, the idea of there being a presence, someone having previously being there. Unlike the series of photographs that I took in the past where you could see the difference between each shot, the group felt that the glasses looked like destination points, or a marked out route of where someone had been, which was a pretty close guess. 

A point that my tutor made was that the glasses didn't excite or intrigue her, that maybe the scene would be more exciting if it showed the remains of a party or a strange night. However when asking the rest of the group it was split that this would be a scene they would recognise or feel is realistic compared to their own lives. This made us come to the conclusion that my work is very subjective, so if I did change the scene it would still only apply to the half the audience. I find the idea that this scene could be mundane quite successful as one of my intentions was to take an everyday scene and make it special by highlighting it, so if you look at the image and are led to question what it is about that image that made me chose it kind of fulfils it's purpose as you are thinking more about a scene that you would normally pass by.

My tutor felt that my most successful images were the two in the centre shown above, the one to the right being the image I chose to enlarge at the exhibition. The composition of the setting, the more detail in the scene, the angle compared to the others and the flatness of the colour, liking the hand drawn quality of the photocopied sketch tot he left. To bring the Image back to my first Idea of the view from my window I was thinking of putting it onto the same window that the trains were filmed from, making my own stain glass window.

Tutorial exhibition...

On the 13th December my tutor group and I set up an exhibition to display one piece of work each in our studio space. After sharing some ideas as to what the exhibition could be called Charlie came up with the name 'Hybridity', finding that the word refers to a mixture that creates a single body... culturally and biologically it refers to the blurring of distinction. This definition seemed perfect for an exhibition of pieces that were more likely not going to relate to each other yet still be shown as a whole. This was our poster: 

This is how we used the exhibition space:

I could have shown my film again with the improvements suggested in the group tutorial but I wanted to see try out one of my new ideas. I chose to take one of my Michael Craig-Martin inspired pieces. I wanted to continue with the idea of making an everyday situation more special by adding techniques that would be easily recognisable, for example making something larger would suggest it had more importance than something on a smaller scale. I chose to blow up one of my edits onto a larger scale. When considering how to present this, whether to print it as a whole or in smaller pieces I thought of how the pieces could look like sections of a window frame. I split my image into eighteen A4 pieces and put them each into separate frames, the idea being that when they were put together and hung on the wall they would hopefully look like a window frame with my image being the 'stain glass window' effect.

One of my ideas was to put black tape and coloured acetate directly onto a window to make a stain glass window, but in this white cube space I think it's appropriate that the sections were printed and had white backgrounds, as though this could have been a ready made window placed onto the wall.

I chose frames in a dark wood with a gold trim as I though when put together they would look like the sort of window frame you might find in a church. This would hopefully encourage people to see the complete piece as an important symbol. I tried to get the frames as close together as possible to give more of an illusion of it being a whole. I suppose this could have been done more easily by getting an actual window frame, but this may not have been to the correct size and I also liked how it wasn't to obvious. This piece could be seen as separate parts to make a whole, I wanted the viewer to get the same feeling as they do when presented with a large image or religious symbol but for them to not perhaps know why they thought that way about it. 

I like the reflections the light causes when hitting the glass, it distorts the images and makes it less visible from certain angles but also adds a quality to it as though it is a precious item, which is enhanced by the use of gold.

Looking at the work a lower angle as shown above gives it a more overwhelming effect. For the exhibition I displayed this piece at eye level to fit in with the other works in the show, however if I were to display it  again it might be an idea to put it up higher like the windows you may find in a church .

Before putting up the frames I laid them out onto the floor. Some people made comments that they liked the gaps in between and the contrast between the wood floor and the white background of the pieces. Others whilst passing said it reminded them of a London Underground tube map with the black lines and occasional colour blocks. This could work well with the film of the trains and the idea travel being part of our everyday journey and existence. The final comparison was with Dexter Dalwood, as though it was a window you looking through into someone's living space.

Micheal Craig-Martin inspired work...

Using my sketches and Michael Craig-Martin as inspiration I have taken more photos of my living room without anyone in it. Using the stain glass idea I've highlighted the use of the glasses in the room. One evening, every time someone left their drink on the side I put a sweet wrapper of a different colour in the glass. Conveniently the colour from the sweet wrappers spread through the drink to make a stronger colour. I've taken several different photos from different angles and then gathered all of the glasses together and took close up shots to get the best 'stained glass' effect I could. The best were the ones that where taken from an angle looking upwards as I felt like it had the same overwhelming feel you would get when looking up at an elaborate window in a church.

I wanted to highlight the colour in the images, so I edited them in Photoshop to turn everything I didn't need into black and white. These were the most successful:

I took this idea one step further by actually taking away the other elements of the photo so the only thing left was the colour from the glass. They have come out quite abstract but are still vaguely recognisable. It's almost as if a very strong light has been put behind the glasses so that they are all you can see.

Inspired by Michael Craig-Martins style I did the same to some of the photos as I did to my selected sketches. Tracing over the original photo in Photoshop I used simple outlines of all the shapes to create the images below. I purposefully didn't include the christmas tree and other details as I didn't want it to be seasonal or to have a significance to a special occasion seeing as the point is to show it on a 'normal/non-special' day. Selecting the same colour as what was shown in the original photos I coloured in the glasses to once again make them the focus. I like how the  black lines make it look more like a stained glass window effect.

I like the idea of perhaps making these images on a larger scale and cutting out holes where there is colour, putting a translucent film of colour in it's places and hanging it to allow colour to come through. Or I could mark our these lines onto a window with black tape with coloured translucent film again.