Reflect & Research

 It feels as though I have a few different types of work, but all of them are based around the collages. It feels as though the main point of my work was to explore how to present it. However I feel like recently this has changed slightly through using clay. In a way it feels to have become more about representing landscapes. When I first started this I was taking fragments of places and then putting them together to create a whole pice however I was then fragmenting them again to re present them as a whole landscape. Showing that there was a relationship between the sections but also showing that they were in fact fragments of places. With the plain clay piece that resembled a topographical map in a way, it felt like this still reflected the idea of representing landscapes and making new ones. All this was was a piece of clay moulded so it had depth and contours and different levels, by placing it within this project it gave it meaning. It gave it context. This then allows the vie...

 When I created the plain clay piece my intention was to somehow combine it with my collages, I tried this before by emulsion transfer and also projecting the images. Although these worked it wasn't exactly what I wanted. I have found a way that I think works really well. I took one of the isolated clay piece images and then layered the collage on top. After this I increased the saturation slightly on the collage and made the clay piece black and white whilst also increasing the contrast. I then lowered the opacity of the collage layer so that the clay piece was showing through. The contours and shadows added texture and depth to the collage. I then cut out around the shape of the clay piece. This was the first one I made, I didn't like the rough edges. I feel like this has added a new depth to the collages. it feels as though they have become tactile even though they are still digital. They feel less fragmented and more like an actual piece or place. This feels better than the...

 I read this chapter about John Stezaker because he works with collage and although a lot of his work contains portraiture the chapter spoke about the relationships with the images and the fragments. It talks about how through collage we see something that isn't visible and that's what I am doing with my work, I am creating places that don't exist. Giving the viewer a chance to see something that isn't there. I am also buying relationships between the places in the collages by placing them next to or on top of each other to create a new scene. Taking fragments of places and turning them into something else.  This chapter also interested me because it talked about how collage goes against what photography is designed for. Photography captures moments in time and shows a particular place or person at a certain time. However with collage you are editing that and making the photograph not what it originally was. Taking the image, changing the context and it therefore no lon...

 Nakanishis 'Layered Drawings' are some of my favourite pieces of work. To create these amazing pieces of work he will photograph and event such as a sunset over time - he will capture the process of the event. After this the photos are places onto transparent acrylic panels and hung up in chronological order. This creates an incredible experience. It looks like you are living and walking within the event. I think the size of the panels really helps to involve the audience and the way the audience can walk around and live through the event again and again, even if they weren't there originally. I think work that the viewer can live in is really interesting, you very much get lost on the work because you are surrounded by it. Being submerged into a past event. Another thing I like about Nakanishis work is the colours and the light. Because the photos are on clear acrylic the light can shine through the pieces and the colours get reflected and transferred onto the room around...

 Luis Durado is an artist who works with collage and photo manipulation. He uses a mix of p=both physical and digital techniques, his work is surrealism and his photos feel like you're in a dream land. The main series of  his work I am interested in are called Departure, The Garden and Maps. Although I love his collages in his work Into Space, I think the other three series relate more to my work. In Departure Durado takes a landscape image and manipulates it. He takes a shape in the middle of the photo and rotates it so it is a different way round to the rest, he then repeats this process inside the area he has just rotated. In the end he is left with a muddled up landscape. I like these images because you can tell they are landscapes but you will never really know exactly what that landscape looks like. I like the way that he has only used one image and has come out with such a mesmerising image, he has almost created a collage of the image using only the image. In his serie...

 Week 1 In week 1 we discussed materiality in photography -Photography and the Object -Photography and Installation  -Photography and the Archive -Photography and Digital Culture Week 2 In week 2 we were shown some presentations and asked to respond to one of the tutors ways of working. For me I found Sylvias way of working the most interesting. Week 3 This week we had to respond to one of the working methodologies in the last weeks presentation. My work for this week is in a different blog post. I responded to the idea of practising place. Week 4 This week we had to find an image by an artist and create a response to it. I picked an image by Sarah Eisenlohr and responded to that. The images and research are in previous blog posts. Week 5 This week we talked about how things that aren't photographic can inspire work, things like: objects, texts, facts, quotes and sculptures. For me I think text or quotes is something that can help inspire work, if someone else describes their ...

 With the images of the plain clay piece I took I digitally cut out the clay piece, leaving it on a transparent background. It looks really interesting taking these sculptures out of context again. The reason I did this originally is to create some new pieces however when isolating the clay piece I thought they looked really interesting on their own. I like the fact that this is a representation of a landscape without it looking exactly like a landscape. I think especially when the images are on their own they could be interpreted in lots of different ways. I like that there could be multiple meanings to these pieces but you don't know the proper meaning until you've seen the whole project. I think this is one of my favourite pieces in the project. I also really like them with a black background. 

 'Landscape may be shaped by human involvement, but the human is itself shaped by landscape, and neither has the upper hand in this relationship - each is appropriated by and to the other' - Malpas I came across this quote when reading the article by Anneke de Klerk and I felt as though it was very relevant to my work. I am here shaping my own landscapes creating them how I see fit however this does not make me any greater than the landscape as it in itself has allowed me to create this work. My work would not exist without the landscape and my landscape images would not exist without me. I feel like although I have been changing landscapes I am very aware of the respect I have for the natural world and am conscious of the effects humans are having on nature - both positive and negative. This is something I spoke about in my CP3 essay. This quote feels to pull both my practice and my research together to make them tie in nicely.