December 2013 Review

I have fallen behind my planned schedule in November, December. this is probably because I am preparing for Christmas and getting presents for my 26 nieces, nephews and God children.Also because my son has had a psychotic episode and is back in hospital.

I have to allow myself some time off and get back to work when things settle.
I didn't do much in November, but have been able to do some research in December.

I  have been researching snakes and their 'disgust factor' (post 'Sinful snakes')
I have looked at the idea that deformity and signs of disease in the human body are elicitors of disgust.
(Posts: 'Grotesque Goddess' 16.12.13 and 'Inside Out' 16.12.13)

sinful snake

I know that snakes are a common stimulant of  the emotion of disgust. This could be because of the Biblical reference of the serpent; the evil tempter in the garden of Eden. It could also be the result of a more ancient and primal training to keep us away from things that could hurt us.  The way snakes move on their bellies in a sideways slither can be very unsettling and cause a shudder.

I set up a shoot with a small black snake, some fur and feathers. I was trying to create the idea of the snake being a predator, silently stalking its prey.

As I was going to cut and rotate sections from the image several times to compose my image, the original composition was not important.

From these originals I mage  repetitive and kaleidoscopic patterns. I am hiding the source of fear and disgust.

The snake has been reduced to a shiny, textured, arching curved bar within the pattern.

My manipulation has created a deco-style design. It is interesting how the eye is led around the image and new forms jump out from it. There seem to be moths and other insects lurking there.

However, these images do not cause jolt of recognition as the subject matter is too well hidden. Also the image is too regular in its form and quite seductive and calming. There is a gothic feel, similar to the vine images, created by the strands and fibres of fur, but I do not think it feels sinister. I will have to ask  for feedback.

Hurst's A Thousand Years

The piece consists of a large glass-sided, sectioned box containing a rotting cow's head, flies, maggots, sugar water and a fly ‘zapper’.  It is a life-cycle enactment that has continued to function in this enclosed environment since 1990 when it was made. According to Jerry Saltz (1995) writing in Art in America: ‘Given that the average life span of a fly is three to four weeks, there have been upwards of 60 generations of flies within the piece since 1990’ In the image below, the cow's head is 'new' but now all the skin and ears have been stripped off and it is pink and softer in shape.

www.artinamericamagazine.com/newsfeatures/magazine/more-life-the-work-of-damien-hirst

 In an interview with Tate director, Nicholas Serota, Hurst said that this was the most exciting piece he felt he had ever made. (Searle, 2012) In the same Guardian review, Searle describes the piece as ‘Clean and dirty, full of life and death, formally shocking and rich, it has an air of maturity and finality’http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2012/apr/02/damien-hirst-tate-review

These contradictions and binary opposites are what I am trying to incorporate in my installation.

I have been considering adding maggots to my curiosity cabinet to allow them to feed on sugar sprinkled onto a photographic kaleidoscope of rotten meat, but that all seems a bit  too obvious and clichéd having realised that Hurst’s A Thousand Years was created almost 24 years ago!!

 I know that the use of creative plagiarism is O.K in the art world and that every artist has been inspired by previous work, but Hurst is so well known and 24 years is almost too recent, but I am not sure if I can move forward with this idea. I was going to use maggots, flies and possible spiders and other insects like cockroaches  not to represent the life/ death cycle as in A Thousand Years but to comment on the inevitability of decay and chaos not matter what we do to control and forestall it. But I do not want people to look at my piece and say ‘Oh yes, Damian Hurst’...

Grotesque Goddess

Linking with the idea of human disgust at appearance that is considered ‘Ugly’ the opposite of our notion of ‘Beautiful’, is ORLAN’s plastic surgery project, The Reincarnation of Saint-Orlan. This is a series of 9 procedures which are filmed and photographed at every stage.IMAGE
She describes it as “re-creating the self through deliberate acts of alienation.” The way she has reconstructed her face is both discomforting and horrifying. She is very brave to have become something that is visually not ‘feminine’ and also hardly recognizable as human. ORLAN wants to expose how the nature of female beauty has been falsely constructed using templates from Western Masters like The Mona Lisa and Boticelli's Venus and the facial features of Greek Goddesses such as Diana. She has ‘horns’ on her temples and various implants under her skin on her cheeks and chin. The contradiction in ORLAN’s work is that by using a combination of various features that are considered ‘Beautiful’ she has created something Grotesque. The images are from the website below prepared for a series of lectures by Professor E. Heckendorn Cook (2003)

http://oldsite.english.ucsb.edu/faculty/ecook/courses/eng114em/carnal.htm

  

  

Inside Out

 Landreth,(2004)

Continuing with the sense of disgust that humans feel when confronted with damage or deformity in others, the animated film ‘Ryan’(2004) By Chris Landreth presents an  interesting form of this damage. It tells the life story of Ryan Larkin in the form of an animated documentary built on the actual interview with Ryan.

Landreth shows his own and Ryan’s psychological damage and scars ‘on the outside’ in the form of gaps and holes in the body or brain of the main characters. The ravages of alcohol and drug addiction were represented by thin arms stripped of flesh with twisted bones showing; or a face that had dissolved, taking one eye with it.

Some physical abuse is usually visible on the outside of the body, but psychological damage and trauma are often kept hidden, locked in our memories or even expunged from our conscious minds and pushed below the surface. This is perhaps because the experiences are too painful or distressing to face or because they cause shame. They may think that others will be disgusted by what is presented to them. It is a fascinating idea to almost turn the body inside-out and show on the outside that which is normally hidden.

October 2013 Review draft

I have had a massive 'work spurt' this month! I seem to have periods of frantic activity where I get a lot done. This is the start of my Final Project and I have lots of ideas to explore and exhibitions to visit.
Having the targets for each individual week mapped out in front of me in the planning table is quite a good way of motivating myself to get stuff done.
I have looked at insects as another elicitor of disgust and made some images. I visited museums and galleries. I have discovered that some methods of learning do not work for me!! (post: Photoshop Session) I have learnt from a student the proper way to flip a section of image either vertically or horizontally. He explained slowly while I was doing it.This will make a big difference in the accuracy of my images.

Flipping horizontally and vertically

I studied Gymnastics at college and learnt to do all kinds of flips  and vaults over the horse-'long arm over-swing', 'neck spring', 'forward and back flips'…
 When I learnt to manipulate sections of images to make the kaleidoscopic effect, I related the steps back to learning to vault. This sounds crazy, but must be connected to my Kinaesthetic learning style!

I have a set of hand written notes next to me while I am doing this and work very slowly, with lots of mistakes!

To start with, I select a section from the original image that 'has a lot going on in it'. By that I mean interesting shapes, contrasting light and colours.

The area in the centre with a combination of dark and pale branches and some grass in the background looks interesting.
 I cut a section using the select tool, create a new page,  and drop the new section onto it.

Then I copy that layer 6 times. Sometimes I do up to 22 sections, but I start with 6.
Using command and 'T' I select a copied section and line it up exactly alongside the original section.

Then using Edit,- Transform,- flip Vertical or Horizontal, I start to create symmetry.

I build up the image in blocks, making the pattern radiate out from the centre. At this stage I have to make choices about how I want the pattern to develop. I try to imagine the finished shapes once all the sections have been lined up and flipped. I can choose to create a flower-like structure, with the shaped radiating from the centre, or I can focus on drawing shapes out to the borders of the image, to frame it.

As the image builds up, I either get excited or disappointed as I can see how it is going to look when complete. I finish it anyway just to see if my prediction is right. here I stopped at 4 sections as I thought there was enough detail in it to make a strong and interesting image that draws you into the centre, then leads your eyes along the coral like, intertwined branches.

I can either make the final image bigger and more complex by continuing to build up the tiles, or I reach a stage when I think it is finished. Sometimes it is hard to stop, as I want to see what happens when I keep adding!
Then I flatten the image and apply any colour and contrast adjustments. (again using my scribbled notes)

The final Image:

I added a black frame and have increased the black level using curves, this darkens the background, bringing the organic shapes into sharper contrast. The black from the frame has crept into the image at the top and bottom. Although this is unintentional, I quite like the effect. But I will have to find out how to stop this happening. I will ask one of my Creative Arts students.
I try to save each piece of work with a memorable name and number in series as I have found it hard sometimes to find images again. My filing needs more attention, but I am getting there! I now have a collection of themed folders on my desktop like 'Twigs' and 'Gothic'