Appropriation piece

This is a great example I found of appropriation. On the left we see the classic painting by Monet 'water lilies' which is a very popular and well known image. On the right is a copy of this image created by Banksy but with his own twist, including abandoned shopping trollies and a traffic cone floating in the water, becoming the main focus point. He has created quite a few pieces of work like this, using a classical painting and making it controversial and bringing some of the issues that we encounter today into his work.

In the time when the original painting was produced this is probably the actual scene you would find, a serene, beautiful setting, with flowers and lighter colouring. Banksy has taken this and modernised it to almost hit people in the face with the fact that his image would not be a surprise to see in the 21st century, with litter filling the rivers and pollution darkening the scene. His work sets out to send a message to the public in a way they may listen to, rather than talking in magazines or on television. Instead he creates these altered interpretations and places them around in the public eye where they would not expect.

Although I still think that his work and appropriations have a larger impact than an article in the newspaper would, I think that the growing interest in Banksy will sooner or later lead to him being discovered and named to the world. If this happens I think his work will not be as special and interesting to many and may stop spreading the message as well. I personally do not wish to know who he is, and could never stop appreciating the work he creates.

I really enjoyed these pieces by Sui Jianguo. There are three of these very large suits made of some sort of metal, all lined up a good distance apart from each other almost in a military fashion. He is quite famous for creating these suit figures all over the world. I am not sure how they've been created but they look very detailed and smoothed off. As they do not have figures in them they have no personality like military soldiers should not show emotion. They should stand strong, tall and proud as these do.

Personally I do not like this sculpture created by Eva Rothschild as I think it looks like it could be found in a children's park.It looks like a cheap, broken climbing frame. She is a very highly regarded artist and sculpturist known for her minimalist style but personally this piece did not excite me one bit.

These men, by Elisabeth Frink really gave me the shivers. They reminded me of the casts of Anthony Gormley in his piece 'Another Place' apart from these are all individual, each doing their own thing. I do not like the idea of life sized or larger statues of men with creepy faces so neither of these artists pieces would I wish to see again!! The white faces are almost like over-done war paint, or it could be a piece done on race, as the statue is a dark brown/grey/black colour with the face painted white.

This piece, created by a polish artist Magdalena Abakanowicz is called "Ten Seated Figures". It stands at ten feet in height and is influenced greatly by her experience of war and political oppression. All of the figures are very similar, almost identical from a distance but when viewed up close you realise that they are all individual as they are roughly cast in iron leaving a rough wrinkly texture, with some sort of protective coat splashed over areas to leave some to become rusted and turn a reddish-brown colour. I thought this was a nice piece of art as you were able to touch it and get up close. If these figures had heads I think that they would loose the sense of similarity from a distance as they would have a personality attached to them.
 
This 'lady-hare' created in 2007 entitled 'sitting' by Sophie Ryder combines animal and human forms, attitudes and instincts. It expresses sexuality and emotion by using a female figure. Sophie herself is the model for her sculptures and drawings. She takes attitudes and poses from her own body which are repeatedly drawn and made in wire and bronze.  I am really interested in any work involving animals so automatically as soon as I saw this piece I was drawn towards it. The split through the middle allows you to look through and inside the Galvanise wire sculpture at its hollow innards. This is quite left open to the interpretation of the viewer.


Donna Wilson creates many different small quirky hand knitted cushions and other objects. She hold workshops to show people how she creates these unique and pretty designs. The show we saw at Yorkshire Sculpture Park is about endangered species and was full of earthy colours and patterns making up cushions of trees, animals and directions like these arrows. All her work is computer generated before being created on the sewing machine to be able to look at the patterns. I think they look quite homely and inviting as they are a bit uneven and comfy looking.

• Graphic: Inside the Sketchbooks of the World’s Great Graphic Designers Steven Heller and Lita Talarico, Thames & Hudson, 2010

• Obey the giant: Life in the image world                                                      Rick Poynor, Birkhäuser, 2007

• Drawing on the right side of the brain                                                       Betty Edwards, J.P. Tarcher, 1989

• Mythologies                                                                                        Roland Barthes, Paladin, 1973

• Practices of looking                                                                                             Marita Sturken, Lisa Cartwright, Oxford University Press, 2001

• www.designobserver.com

• www.wgsn.com           

Crim collective

Brief 5

An opportunity has arisen, Herbert’s Bar in Huddersfield have an outdoor space that they would like to be made habitable.

Following discussions with the owner they are open to our students putting forward proposals to make the outdoor area more interesting.

You are required to produce and submit proposals for one of the following;

Lampshades,

1. A body of research into outdoor areas of bars
2. Decide how many and what size of lampshades would be effective
http://www.fredaldous.co.uk/craft-shop/lampshade-making.html
3. Respond to the title “Herbert see’s the light”
4. Present all research and development work
5. Present final artwork for your chosen amount of lampshades (these can be reduced down in scale for ease of presentation.

Wall space,

1. A body of research into outdoor areas of bars and murals
2. Respond to the title “Herbert looks to the stars”
3. Wall space 9x5 meters approx.
4. You can work in any medium.
5. Present all research and development work
6. Present final artwork for your chosen wall designs (these can be reduced down in scale for ease of presentation.

I decided to choose the wall mural.

Bruno Maag

Today we had a guest lecturer in, Bruno Maag.
He informed us on the history of typography

• 5000BC cave drawings - record of events
• Egyptian Hieroglyphics - evolved
• Greek script - Rosetta stone covers three stages: Egyptian, Phenetian, Greek 

Boustrophidon - writing changing direction

                       - lasted about 100years

Roman Empire built over around 600years - 100AD

Introduced branding - Trojan column

Said to be the best lettering ever produced - evenly spaced and harmonious

Implanted roman script everywhere they landed so people knew they were in the Roman Empire.

450AD Book of Kels - Original in Dublin written by four people in the Alps - 2 Italians (More flourished) 2 Germans (more precise) - same lettering style.

42 line bible - Gutenberg - industrialized information - helping knowledge spread - original in Bridge Library in London.