HEAR, MAKE HEARD

"We didn’t set out to be a venue as such but live music at the Windmill Brixton, just kinda evolved. Late night sessions at this bar revealed that the regulars carried a wealth of experience in musicianship, sound engineering and promoting, and since we drank there anyway we decided that we should get a good band down now and again to listen to. The bands came. They loved the informality and the fact that we bothered to pay them, and, some five years later the Windmill is known far beyond the backstreet in Brixton where it’s situated. Although we’re just a little backstreet place, Windmill Brixton has gotten a glowing “Ace Place” review in Time Out, was called “your new favourite venue” by Drownedinsound.com and has been name-checked over the airwaves by the likes of XFM’s John Kennedy and Radios 1’s Steve Lamacq. Gigs have been reviewed in NME, Kerrang! and other mags and The Independent newspaper named us one of the TOP TEN VENUES IN THE UK (the only other London venues to make the cut were Brixton Academy and Cargo)." - https://www.windmillbrixton.co.uk/about

- Alternative culture/subculture/music scene

- Independent venue 

- Community, regulars who come and listen to the music 

- When you walk in you feel like you are in a time warp due to the decor, the music, the way people dress 

- Explores the music scene in the 80s when he was growing up, the subculture surrounding it, how people acted a certain way and dressed a certain way. - This is the section I am really focused on

-Talks about family life, growing up in a small home in Sunderland with a massive family

- Overall, just a regular man talking about his life and experiences growing up in the North of England during the 80s, a time of political unrest but a pinnacle time for subcultures to thrive. 

- Focus on subculture 

"Zines and underground culture offer up an alternative, a way of understanding and acting in the world that operates with different rules and upon different values than those of consumer capitalism. It is an alternative fraught with contradictions and limitations...but also possibilities."

- Talks about the origins of zines, how they started off as science journals and eventually emerged into becoming a huge element of post-punk subcultures.

- Mentions how people would create zines and trade them, the zines could range from being about a subject of interest to stories, images and even diary entries.

- Big emphasis on the DIY element to zines, how they usually weren't glossy or perfect. Usually home-made, scanned in and printed then hand bound. 

- Shares anecdotes on different types of zines in the past e.g One man made a zine about him trying different medication in excessive amounts and documenting how it made him react.

40 HOURS

'Diary' is a documentary-photography book based around Corrine Day and her friend Tara Hill revolving around their youth; growing up partying, drinking and taking drugs with other pals. The overall feel of the images feel raw  , similar to Wolfgang Tillman's work,  it emits an honest feeling rather than a just a message. This work is guiding me to want to be really truthful with my images and not try to rose -taint anything. The aim is to take pictures of myself and how I am in the moment, no matter how ‘ugly’ it looks.

My idea for 40 hours is a development from my Self, Portraits and Body Politics project where I would like to continue the birds eye view perspective in black and white of myself but instead at each hour of the day. 

The plan is to be completely honest with myself and what I get up to and create something that feels very invasive yet intimate. I feel that I did this well in the first development as the bed is quite a personal space and there's a weird balance between being aware and unaware of the camera. It will be interesting to see how making this a rule-based project will change the direction of the development. 

Francesca Woodman has always been a key influence of mine within photography. Her style and work fascinates me and inspires me to go down a similar surreal yet minimalist route. 

Woodman was best known for her black and white, enigmatic self portraits often at a really slow shutter speed capturing only the silhouette and frantic movement of her body. “Am I in the picture? Am I getting in or out of it? I could be a ghost, an animal or a dead body, not just this girl standing on the corner …?” quoted by Francesca Woodman. Most of Woodman's work was shown in exhibitions such as, Life in Motion: Egon Schiele/ Francesca Woodman in Liverpool Tate, after she committed suicide due to having a very troubling creative career and difficult relationship with photography. I personally think this may be due to the connection between such a dark and sombre life story reflecting through her haunting photographs.  Overall, her work proves and captivates the idea that less is more, in the photo above we simply see a black and white film photo of her moving across the room yet it has endless and open narratives that the audience could interpret. 

I would like to incorporate the black and white into my images as even though it is such a simple addition but completely changes the tone of the image, making it a lot more emotionally dark and uncomfortable. 

*See under 'Self, Portraits and Body Politics research for more in depth.

As this is a development from my self, portraits and body politics project, this artist still remains a pinnacle part of my research as she turns the subject onto herself. 

Themes:

Vulnerability 

Introspective 

Honest

Gritty

Real 

ON SET 

FOLKLORE: 'The traditional beliefs, customs, and stories of a community, passed through the generations by word of mouth.'

Ideas of old rituals and fantasicial stories fascinate me and it would be interesting to replicate this with materials that I use in everyday life. Traditional artwork of folklore stories and the eerie mystery behind them has encouraged me to want to replicate this and create a set that portrays a moment in time from what could’ve been witchcraft or unexplainable. 

“New family” is an interesting choice for a title considering it sounds wholesome and bright yet the image feels grunge and dirty. I like the way the hallway is a very basic subject yet looking at it makes me automatically feel a bit weird. The use of film strongly pulls out the red and beige tones in the frame creating a rich effect and the angle makes you feel as though you are in the room. I like that this is set design but it doesn’t feel like a set, it is so natural and humble but conveys strong feelings and mystery. 

Geeting’s work here feels contemporary and relevant within pop culture through the vibrant colours and unusual compositions with everyday materials. He creatively transforms the plastic bags into fashion through changing the function of the bags into a display and stylises them. It would be  interesting to see how controversial people perceive this as since the use of plastic as a material in our current climate isn’t the most sustainable or neccesary. This image in particular has inspired me to take a mundane object and transform it into something completely different in order to create a story out of it. 

 I like how this image forces the viewer to focus by being skewed and through a circle whilst the black and white touch  makes it feel as if it is from an old film, therefore,  adding character to the image. This simple technique of manipulating the way the viewer experiences the images, through simple techniques such as adding different shapes over the image, adding filters and changing the rotation, is an effective result which I’d like to experiment with. 

When it comes to image making,Myoung ho lee is an artist who documents nature with a conceptual twist. He has been photographing trees in Korea, where he is from, since 2006 amongst a white backdrop which as a result isolates them and makes the trees feel out of place from its natural surroundings. The white backdrop like it is floating and is ethereal-like through the way he smoothly retouches his images in Photoshop. The use of the backdrop makes the tree feel like an art piece, showing how Lee uses these ideas to transform the conventional traditions of landscape painting and photography, playing with the contrast between nature and man-made constructs. 

FILM AND THE MOVING BODY

Following on from Marina Abramovic's 'Art Must Be Beautiful', this fashion film featuring Jodie Comer for LOEWE has a similar essence to it. Even though she isn't inflicting physical pain onto herself like Abramovic was doing, you can still sense the heightened intensity and frustration through her simply repeating the word LOEWE. 

One of Marina's earlier work, 'Art Must Be Beautiful' is a piece about the way you are psychologically effected by physical pain. In the video, Abramovic forcefully combs her hair whilst repeating the sentence 'art must be beautiful, artist must be beautiful'. You can hear the disturbance through her tone of voice and her face also shows that she is in physical pain. As the video continues, the force she puts upon herself varies and at times  her voice is softer, the way she moves her brushes through her hair is less heavy.

"According to Abramovic, the purpose of her self-inflicted pain is to free the body and soul from the restrictions imposed by Western culture and from the fear of physical pain and death. From her perspective, performance art can be used to challenge and transgress physical and mental boundaries. In later years, she became acquainted with the Tibetan and Aboriginal cultures and with the rituals of the Sufi tribe. In the rituals of these cultures, the body is also driven to extreme physical limits, in order to enable a mental 'leap' into another dimension where physical limitations and fear no longer influence the human mind. During an interview in 1999, Abramovic said about her 1975 performance: "A long time ago I made a piece called Art must be Beautiful, Artist must be Beautiful. At that time, I thought that art should be disturbing rather than beautiful. But at my age now, I have started thinking that beauty is not so bad"' -  https://www.li-ma.nl/lima/catalogue/art/marina-abramovic/art-must-be-beautiful-artist-must-be-beautiful/4454#

A more recent video that this reminds me of is Jodie Comer's Loewe commercial, where she repeatedly says Loewe but gets more and more frustrated and upset. It is engrossing to see the way the repetition of words can hold much more meaning that just saying it once, as well as, the significance of building up emotion via the repetition, almost like the Meisner technique in acting. 

'Killing Time sets up a similar disjunction between the banality of the everyday and the searing passion of music. The juxtaposition of visual and aural elements suggests that the music is a kind of soundtrack of the unconscious; that beneath the calm, ordinary surface, primal desires are raging. Taylor-Wood describes this dichotomy as ‘the collision of high and low culture; my friends lolling about at home shot on cheap video matched with this operatic music, something that is so elite and fantastic, set so high up in our cultural stratosphere’ (quoted in Carolin, ‘Interview with Sam Taylor-Wood,’ in Sam Taylor-Wood, n.p.). The double meaning extends to the title: Killing Time refers both to Taylor-Wood’s characters passing time and to the murderous acts of the opera whose libretto they mouth.' - https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/taylor-johnson-killing-time-t07937

In the 1990s, video projectors became affordable and Sam Taylor Johnson took this opportunity to make her  become cinematic through creating multi screen, elaborate video installations, which as a result, offers an immersive experience to the viewer. Galleries Began to purchase video equipment to be able to collect and present these types of video art and the use of  projectors within this body of work transformed into a filmic wallpaper. 

Birnbaum's footage of Wonder Woman, from the 1970s TV series, repeatedly transforming herself. The video was inspired by an entire art movement called 'Scratch Video': Taking already made footage and 'scratching' it out (changing the speed, tempo, colour, sound etc)  to make something entirely new and so therefore erasing it's original context to usually portray absolute nonsense through repetition. 

Art galleries did not take take this movement seriously for a long time so Barber, who coined the scratch videos, had a government grant where he was able to sell these VHS compilations to record shops. Scratch videos evolved into a DIY form of art, examples include 'Absence of Satan' by George Barber'.  This movement eventually became hijacked by commercial enterprises and pop videos where it became less about art and more about using DIY technique and comedy to sell a product. 

'Explosive bursts of fire open Technology/Transformation, an incendiary deconstruction of the ideology embedded in television form and pop cultural iconography. Appropriating imagery from the 1970s TV series Wonder Woman, Birnbaum isolates and repeats the moment of the "real" woman's symbolic transformation into super-hero. Entrapped in her magical metamorphosis by Birnbaum's stuttering edits, Wonder Woman spins dizzily like a music-box doll. Through radical manipulation of this female Pop icon, she subverts its meaning within the television text. Arresting the flow of images through fragmentation and repetition, Birnbaum condenses the comic-book narrative — Wonder Woman deflects bullets off her bracelets, "cuts" her throat in a hall of mirrors — distilling its essence to allow the subtext to emerge. In a further textual deconstruction, she spells out the words to the song Wonder Woman in Discoland on the screen. The lyrics' double entendres ("Get us out from under... Wonder Woman") reveal the sexual source of the superwoman's supposed empowerment: "Shake thy Wonder Maker." Writing about the "stutter-step progression of 'extended moments' of transformation from Wonder Woman," Birnbaum states, "The abbreviated narrative — running, spinning, saving a man — allows the underlying theme to surface: psychological transformation versus television product. Real becomes Wonder in order to "do good" (be moral) in an (a) or (im)moral society."' - http://www.eai.org/titles/1673

'Excess is an important theme in this iconic work in which a camera is trained on the artists as they become increasingly drunk. Sitting either side of a bay window in the front room of their house in London's Fournier Street, the artists pour glass after glass of Gordon's gin, sipping it in a slow and stately manner. A gramophone in the background pumps out music by Elgar and Grieg, while a voiceover intones the words 'Gordon's make us drunk'. As the performance progresses, and the artists imbibe even more alcohol, the voiceover changes to 'Gordon's makes us very drunk', and then to 'Gordon's makes us very, very drunk', and so on. Simultaneously a spoof and a celebration of Britishness and high manners, 'Gordon's Makes Us Drunk' reveals the point at which habitual drinking becomes, as the artists put it, 'not a pleasure, but a duty to perform'.' -Emma Mahony Exhibition Organiser Hayward Gallery

This video is successful due to its sophisticated comedic value. It is a very slow video but the progressiveness of two gentleman-like figures attempting to retain their gentlemanly manner whilst getting very drunk is such a simple concept but very laughable. Stylistically, the 1930s aesthetic of the way it is shot is also very in context with the idea of being a 'gentleman' and drinking Gordon's gin; it is an interesting idea to play on within the 1970s - a time where people were starting to break down these stereotypes. 

Comedic repetion , portraying gentleman pretences for seven minutes as they get progressively drunk in the manner of English gents. Very slow video.  

Elaine Shelmit was the first female artist to experiment with video in the UK, as well as, using 16mm film. She set up a camera on a tripod in order to explore her own relative freedom; in the performance based video, ‘Doppelgänger’, she applies makeup to a mirror to explore the differences between the inner self and the face that we present to the world. The makeup distorted the reflection of Elaine in the mirror symbolising how people want to evade human conflict, however,  there is nothing we can do about it except suffer from it. When Elaine walks away from the chair, all that is left is the distorted makeup reflection, the doppelgänger that takes over from the real person. The video intricately focuses on the difficulties of trying to express yourself in a society that found any differences intolerable. 

Female tape-artists in the 80s were political and expressive of Feminist ideas. They tended to explore the subjective space and discover what it was and how our experiences have been distorted by the patriarchal culture. The video camera enabled women to show a perspective from their point of view, simply recording was a powerful image in itself.

An outdated colour television studio was  donated to an art college, Donebauer attended, by a Midlands production company trying to recreate music through vision.

His video work is abstract and people who engage and gain their own experience from it tend to experience psychedelic and  mesmerising sensations through it being within a square frame. Even though Peter Donebauer highlights how Entering represents terror and chaos, it actually also feels relaxing to watch through the combination of movements, graphics and colour. 

Video feedback was an early day artist technique that if you point a video camera at a screen you, get a backwards and forwards looping inception. Teina and woody Vasulka were known to have pioneered video feedback in the New York art scene. 

Monitor by Stephen Partridge

Using video feedback, but acting out the whole piece himself  in every television. He did this through trying to copy every action in the previous television and physically acts out the video delay. As a result, he builds on this technique and transforms it into a sculptural piece rather than just a video.

Another simple, yet effective, piece that explores the relationship between the viewer and their television in the 1970s. A tap is turned and the television screen is 'filled' up with water creating a playful and exciting reaction by audiences at home as it manipulates them into thinking it's a fish/water tank. The public watching from home felt so confused as the piece was so hard to get your head around through creating illusions and presenting it on such modern technology that was accessible to everybody at the time (televisions).

Nam June Paik was regarded as the pioneer of video-art making. The video consists of someone simply doing up their jacket, even though it looks like its being recorded by accident, it has become a pinnacle video that arguably started video art.

With the rise of film in the mid 60, Nam June Paik filmed this video on a Sony Portapak, the first available portable camera to the public. When going to New York and passing by the Pope who was visiting, he took his video camera and stuck it outside the window and recorded the whole event as it passed by in a single unedited shot. This action of repeating doing up his button in front of the camera is apart of a movement formed of radical artists called Fluxes. Fluxes believed that everyday actions could be art and in this instance Button Happening is an art piece that is so mundane but so attractive and compelling to watch; it is an interesting philosophy to put monotonous life onto a platform which, as a result, becomes art. 

Documentary Brief: 

With contributions from leading British artists such as Isaac Julien and Rachel Maclean, Jim shows how the arrival of the portable video camera in the 1960s allowed artists to create work that set out to take on the power of corporate media. New York-based artist Nam June Paik, credited as video art’s inventor, once declared, ‘television has been attacking us all our lives - now we can attack it back.’ 

With the arrival of video art in the UK in the 1970s, British artists discovered that the instant playback of the video camera gave them a level of control not possible with film, and led to a creative explosion, from works of cosmic abstraction to feminist visions and Dadaist TV pranks. 

Jim looks at the tradition of performance art and sees how artists used the latest developments, from home video to artificial intelligence, in their work. And he explores, with the arrival of the epic video installations of the 90s and early millennium, how this outsider art form became part of the creative establishment, as well as a purpose-built platform for our screen-obsessed world.

I am really inspired by older techniques within art and always like to experiment and reintroduce it to my work in a way thats relatable to me. This documentary was really helpful and informative to watch as I learned about  innovative techniques, such as video delay,  artists and historical context in relation to video art since the 1970s.  There are many artists within the documentary who I will explain in further detail within my research page who have changed my perception on how video-making can actually be a career. Overall, it is really inspiring to see their art and how they do this for a living. 

This video was created by Paris based music artists who also made the song. They are a pair who are well known for creating cinematographic videos. The movement through cinematic aesthetics is effective as it pulls out a lot of emotion that keeps the audience gripped. Furthermore, the story-like concept also makes it relatable to the viewer and the scene where they dance on the roof feels like a breath of fresh air to watch through how vast the sky is and how fluid the dancers are in slow motion.  The rooftop scene is very beautiful to watch and the contrasting transition to the next scene, of the man moving in the space, creates a more darker ambience. Unlike the The Verve - Bittersweet  video, a lot is going on which makes it exciting for the audience to follow so I think how much you decide to implement in to a video depends on the context. This song is a lot more upbeat and percussion-y so it makes sense that the video would be more fast-paced.

Walter Stern was an award winning video director within the 90s and 2000s and has worked with stars such as  David Bowie, The Prodigy and Massive Attack.  The music video feels very solemn through the blue tones but also hopeful due to the  punching music and the frontman constantly walking forward, despite the public pushing him. Him pushing them back and not caring is also very comedic even though it is such a simple concept.

Moreover, I like that the concept is very basic through repetition and it shows that you don’t have to overdo something for it to be effective.

Pina is a dance film in tribute to ,  German choreographer, Pina Bausch and her renowned dance troupes. Pina Bausch was known for blending together movement, sound and striking stage sets. She became a huge influence in modern dance within the 1970s and onwards. The Seasons March sequence in the film was interesting in how it starts on stage very theatrical through spoken word and gestures to then transitioning over to a group of people doing gestures within a vast and natural landscape. The contrast between the bold, offbeat costumes and movements against the organic space creates a very surreal tone. Despite the surreality, it is still beautiful and fascinating to watch. I like that there’s no distinct concept to it and that it allows itself to stay abstract.

SELF, PORTRAIT AND BODY POLITICS 

This video explains how sometimes a photograph that isn't technically perfect or unblemished, can still sometimes evoke significant emotion when taken in the appropriate context. The narrator talks a lot about Nan Goldin and their casual, art house style of photography that feels more like a documentation from a friend, of a friend, but still is emotionally powerful and relatable.

As mentioned before, I have taken a lot of inspiration from photographers who focus more on pulling out emotions rather than ensuring the photograph looks immaculate. Being a perfectionist, I'd like to challenge myself in this project to be as DIY  and as simple as possible in order to solely focus on the story behind the image and the people involved to hopefully capture a fascinating moment or emotion.  

Photographer, John Dugdale, uses his work as a reflection on his penchant for relationships and antiquity which is evident through his choice to use cyanotype printing. John Dugdale was diagnosed with HIV which, as a result, caused him to go blind  and so this inspired him to take a new approach to photography shown through the rich Prussian blue within his portraits. The cyanotype portrait above feels dreamy and dazed whilst the 19th Century feel to it creates an element of sacredness and sentimentality. It is interesting how different processes add different layers to the photographs, in this case, the cyanotype pulls out the loss within the man's eyes as we see him in thought. Moreover, there is a heightened sense of honesty and emotiveness as the blue naturally arises from the page rather than just edited on digitally.

I went to visit the Tracey Emin exhibition at the White Cube earlier this year and the exhibition, featuring sculpture, paintings, photography and a documentary film, overall was very hard-hitting emotionally as the whole premise explores her life and struggle on a very layered level. 

Walking into one of the rooms at the White Cube, you are immediately confronted by large scale prints plastered all around the walls, encircling the viewer, of Emin's series of selfies taken on an iPhone. The photographs document Tracey Emin's overwhelming relationship with insomnia, similar to Corrine Day, Tracey Emin's photos do not have a technical sophistication to it but are still completely absorbing and harrowing as we see an eclectic range of states that Emin experiences on a nightly basis. The usual perception of selfies being fun, societally 'pretty' and made to share on social media are contrasted by Tracey Emin's selfies being direct, intimate and uncomfortable yet ironically she still shares them everywhere just like you would with an ordinary selfie. The spontaneous photos document moments such as when she is with her cat, when she hears about her mother's death which captures a vulnerability that transfers to the viewer and sets a lonely tone.  

I went into the exhibition not really knowing much about Tracey Emin but came out of the exhibition feeling incredibly moved, related  and fascinated by her work.  The work she decided to share to people were emotionally heavy and had the ability to pass on the weight that Tracey Emin felt/is feeling on to the viewer to experience for a fleeting period of time. With my work, I would like to experiment with forgetting about any technical aspect, maybe even shoot on an iPhone moments of vulnerability or intimacy that I would never tend to share. It would be interesting to step out of my comfort zone with photography and self portraits through simply stripping back and photographing what there is right in front of the lens rather than having a plan.

Allan Kaprow was an American pioneer in establishing the concept of performance art; he suggested that art in the future was to be art that was incorporated into everyday life and objects. 

In his series 'Comfort Zones' focused on intimate and private actions between a couple for example: staring at each other intensely, the performative act would be concluded once both participants have found their comfort zones. The extreme physical and emotional closeness carried out in this series intends to at first cause awkward discomfort as it is often unusual for an individual to experience someone entering their personal territory. Overall these performances had connotations of intimacy, vulnerability, mutual trust. 

I was drawn to this series due to the surrealist aspect of it, it feels so dramatic despite being so simple and minimal in terms of bodily movement. The concept is very interesting since, even though it is an art piece, it psychologically observes the shifts in comfort and discomfort between two people connecting emotionally and physically. I also love how the photography isn't technical, a trending aspect that I have been drawn to throughout my research for this project, instead it just documents what is happening, leaving the individuals in front of the camera to perform without interfering with any additional technicalities. I'd like to use two people at least in my work to explore how the dynamic changes when the context is about vulnerability between one and other rather than just from within as an individual. 

Despite Ren Hang's photography career being filled with censorship and threat from the Chinese government, his work was unapologetically sexually explicit and controversial in China to the point he was arrested multiple times. 

"I usually shoot my friends because strangers make me nervous" said Ren Hang, which as a result changes the relationship between subject and the photographer; there is an element of a strange comfort and intimacy radiating from the images despite how vulnerable and surreal-y performative  they are. Ren Hang's work features both men and women, nude and in abstract positions together which as a result displays ideas of queerness and sexuality in China, as well as there being no hierarchy between genders in the perspective of Hang due to neither having a higher power within the photos; their bodies intertwine and work together rather than for each other. 

The image above manipulates the viewers perspective as we see only one face but in an awkward, and discomforting position, as if the model has bent backwards to rest on his backside.  Of course, there are two people in the photo which also adds an element of discomfort as you would never usually see people photographed so closely in a weird manner. Shooting on film adds this DIY, documentary like aspect, for such a posed photo the film approach to it makes it seem quite natural and innermost between the subjects and the photographer. 

Corrine Day created a pivotal shift within fashion photography through steering away from the unblemished and what looks desirable in preference to capturing a disputed rawness which soon coined the term 'heroin chic'. Day was able to echo the culture of Britain within the 90s which also included the rise of Britpop, drug culture, cutting-edge artists such as Tracey Emin and 'Trainspotting' author, Irvine Welsh. Overall, looking at a Corrine Day photograph, you could feel the grunge and gritty atmosphere that was existing in Britain at the time.

Initially, Corrine Day discovered Kate Moss and although was aware that she wasn't of the conventional height a model would usually be, Kate Moss was still a muse to Corrine Day featuring in several shoots including "The Third Summer Of Love" for The Face magazine, as well as, the controversial "Underexposed" for Vogue Magazine in 1993 where Bill Clinton, president of the United States at the time, used these images as a reference to his belief that "fashion photos in the last few years have made heroin addiction seem glamorous and sexy and cool". The intention of 'Underexposed" was to document a youthfulness and relatability that Kate Moss had, yet, because it was visually so contrasting to Vogue's usual old fashion elegance, it created a topical conversation around traditions within fashion photography changing, as well as, feminism; the way a woman photographer had come into the photography scene changing the game through taking pictures with less technicality but more honesty and bareness.

The photo above is not from 'Underexposed', however, it still has the same unconcealed and natural tone. There are no planned poses, studio lighting, styling or built set and if there is, then it certainly has been carefully curated to feel as close to reality as possible. There is a timidity and innocence to Kate Moss in this image, as if she has been caught in the moment or mid conversation, which juxtaposes the usual idea of how a fashion model is presented; the viewer can instantly assume there is a personal friendship between Day and Moss. Altogether, Corrine Day presents an alternative way to fashion photography, the photograph doesn't have to look 'good' technically but being able to portray specific emotions and feelings can leave a lot more of a significant impression.

Karel Chladek is a Montreal based nightclub photographer with a twist, rather than taking photographs of people posing and enjoying their night, Chladek takes a more surveillance like appraoch and captures moments of intimacy, people losing themselves and the overall atmosphere of nightlife. He accompanies DJs all around the world and focuses on people anonymous to him as well as to everybody else. Everybody in his photos are usually people who have met for the first time. He steers towards low lit, ambient neon lighting due to the air of mystery it leaves lingering in the photograph, also because that how the clubs are expected to look but coincidentally they do add a layer of emotion to the already extremely intimate images. 

I was drawn to these photos as I share the similar interest of electronic music that Karel Chladek has and looking at these pictures, I literally feel like I am in that space since he captures the essence of the electronic nightlife scene effortlessly. Regardless of whether there is one person in the photo or a handful of people, Chladek always manages to add an intimate and private feel to his photos. Even though the subject is not aware that they are being photographed, it still feels like there is a tunnel vision relationship between the camera and the subject, that the camera is capturing what nobody else sees. The colours combined with the actions of people being romantic, people dancing or simply being lost in their own world makes the photographs feel like an indie/art house film through how stylistic he has made something so introverted feel. 

Valie Export is a contemporary artist from Austria known to be publicly radical and performative with her art revolving around the female body and male gaze. "“The female body has always been a construction. Even feminist art of the 1970s fashioned a body in accordance with its own ideas, and in this regard it was a form of manipulation too,” Valie Export examines. 

The photograph here was taken through the silver gelatin print process which as a result created a rich black and white finish to the image. There is a lot of white space surrounding the subject, Valie, enabling the viewer to automatically look at Valie Export whose pose is comedic yet defiant to traditional stereotypes as to how a woman should portray themselves. Valie is mid-movement and laid back with the cigarette hanging from her mouth, there is a sense of her not caring at all what people judge of her. The cigarette box half covering the artist's face is stamped with the her name 'VALIE' in which she expresses how this name she gave herself "became my trademark. This became my brand." 

The self portrait aspect to this photograph is really impactful in a sense Valie Export talks often about subjects such as the male gaze yet here the gaze only comes from herself the very most as even though she is the subject, she is also somewhat the photographer/creative director of the shoot. Yet, the use of self portraits doesn't make it feel like a shoot but a personal and playful experiment, especially as there are no distinct and posed actions; just Valie Export acting quite natural and offbeat in front of camera. This has inspired me to create images with only a loose sense of plan, if there has to be one, to try and capture a casualness which I believe transforms the photo into something more relic-like than constructed/art directed. 

In this photo series, it is very contrasting to Alix Marie's 'Orlando' series, where she uses print and wax techniques to completely transform a body into something unrecognisable. Instead, Julie Greve takes a straightforward approach through taking photographs of young girls against the wall, yet they still have just as an effective emotive reaction. Julie Greve found girls through social media from her hometown, Denmark, and photographed them for Miu Miu's pre Fall and Fall/Winter collection 2019. 

The photographs capture a rawness and innocence about the girls, they aren't particularly young but they are neither adults; we see young teenagers experiencing adolescence. With the simplicity and naturalness of the girls' expressions coinciding with the bold styling choices, the photos explore a coming of age story of young girls finding out a sense of who they are. There is a subtle beauty through Greve's portrayal of the fragile bridge between girlhood to womanhood.

This photographic installation is composed of large scale close ups of Alix Marie's partner's, Orlando, body which were then dipped into wax, scanned and then printed to result in a 'trompe l'oeil' effect, a technique that deceives the eye and makes the image to appear realistic, as if it it exists in three dimensions.

It is interesting that Alix Marie chose her subject to be the person she is the most intimate with but then depicts his body as simply meaty/flesh-like - he feels cold and faceless, there doesn't appear to have any connotation of warmth or love. Alix Marie explains how her influence comes from her own female body and the perception of bodies surrounding her. Here, the body portraits lack human-ness let alone a sense of gender, Orlando in this sense goes from being a man to melting into a genderless form.

Professor as the Royal Academy of Art, Olivier Richon, notes how "There is something cannibalistic in the nature of love, a desire for incorporation. It is expressed in Orlando through the juxtaposition of photography, a shapelessness of the body, and flesh resembling meat amassed in a monumental pile." 

What makes this installation so peculiar and fascinating to me is that even though they are technically portraits, they reflect more of the internal side to the body rather than the external. I like how Alix Marie wasn't afraid to go against the current and portray her boyfriend as chunks of meat. I feel an instant emotive response to this piece, it makes me feel slightly uncomfortable as I stare at the fleshy pink tones and the way the pieces are all just piled up onto one another. It is barbaric-like yet still extremely smart and original. 

When doing the test shots, I had photographer, Campbell Addy's, work in mind as inspiration. Even though I didn't have the means of makeup, styling and time, I still focused on the similar feeling of fluidity that you get from his photographs. 

Campbell Addy is a photographer, graduated from Central Saint Martins, whose main focus through his pictures are bringing underrepresented faces to the forefront and capturing raw emotion. Aside from photography, Campbell Addy has a bi-annual publication called Nii Journal celebrating arts and culture, as well as, a modelling agency. The photo above is from a series called 'Black Dolls', I was gravitated towards how the portrait evokes both a softness and strength through the bright colours and the pearls contrasting with the confident expression of the model. The overall dewiness of the photograph shifts a change and deconstruction on what masculinity is making it more about who the person is and their identity rather than just what gender they are. 

This series was another inspiration of mine when doing the test shots of Can in class as I wanted to include that same element of simplicity yet sensitivity within my images. 

Jennifer Pattison is a photographer, graduating from London College Of Communication in photography, her work captures authentic expressions as her main interest is catching people when their mind wanders. Flower Boys is a series, inspired by Victorian portrait miniatures, focusing on boys (not related to but casted within the UAL foundation classes) photographed in a classic, victorian style through their poised posture and classic flowers yet with a contemporary twist through the vibrant colours and modern clothing. Her intention was to question the stereotypes of what it is to be masculine whilst almost embracing ways that men can be feminine and flamboyant. 

I like how not only is the theme of the photos focusing on gender, but there are also undertones of youthfulness and nostalgia through the casting and styling decisions. There are so many focal subjects in this image which makes it really exciting through the bold hat, the intricate flower and the model's striking facial expression which altogether works really well in creating a gentle mood. 

INTERACT

"ALL SINS ARE ATTEMPTS TO FILL VOIDS"

Interpretations:

-Taking things too far

-Impulsive behaviour 

- Sins = religion = immoral/moral

- Drugs, Alcohol, sex addictions

- Temptations 

- Breaking boundaries 

- Sense of adrenaline

- Lack of satisfaction, always wanting more.

- 'Attempt' applies that it doesn't actually help or is effective

The Marshmallow Test is one of the most famous social science research conducted by Walter Mischel, a Stanford psychologist, in the late 1960s. 

The interactive experiment involved: 

1. Putting a marshmallow in front of a child.

2. Tell them that they can have a second one if they can go 15 minutes without eating the first one, and then leave the room.

3. Whether the child is patient enough to get an extra marshmallow, indicates a willpower that will follow them through to  school and eventually at work.

The idea suggests that delayed gratification equals long term gain even though many children quickly succumbed to eating the first marshmallow for the short term enjoyment. Overall, the experiment leads to our interactive project as it focuses around the theme of temptation and attempting to fill a void. The child may experience happiness when eating the marshmallow instantly, however, once the marshmallow is gone they are left to want more. We are never satisfied. 

With our project, we'd like to use our challenges to lead people to wanting to win and wanting to carry on even if we tell them they're not allowed to and even if they do win the challenge, the prize is anti-climatic which therefore raises the question on how satisfied will we actually ever be and whether being completely satisfied is obtainable. 

"Fully immersive, I Don’t Have Time For This invites viewers to participate intimately with Stewart’s legendary doodle-bombing illustrations, becoming part of an illustrated fantasy world that results in a short and memorable break from reality. The  exhibition is a bold, escapist, large scale floor- based artwork that invites the viewer to make time. Made up of Stewart’s subversive style references; psychedelic art of the 60’s and the comic absurdity of hybrid post-modern classics like Who Framed Roger Rabbit, this large scale installation features a mix of characters, patterns and galaxies,  giving the feeling that the artwork is alive. Through densely packed mirrored illustrative detail, the viewer will be able to float in space, lie in a field of flowers and even ‘fly’." - http://nowgallery.co.uk/exhibitions/3959/

I really enjoyed going to this exhibition as it was very accessible where children could enjoy it whilst students and adults were also releasing stress interacting with it. Even though, our interaction project is very different in terms of themes, I would still like to include that same element of everybody being able to take part which I feel is possible through how child-like and party game-y our challenges are (such as hitting a piñata). Moreover, I like that with this exhibition, older people can engage and be playful with the artwork rather than taking a serious approach to looking at artwork. Overall, I would like my interaction project to enable adults to break down any social etiquettes and be able to go back into that child-like state of mind. 

An interactive and conceptual approach to transforming a simple website into an art piece. Made by Martine Syms, the website features a drop down option showcasing all the artist's google searches from 2004 to 2007. 'EVERYTHING I'VE EVER WANTED TO KNOW.COM' was inspired by the 60s Oulipo Movement, the concept of creating work using restrained writing techniques; Martine takes is approach and uses her website as an interactive writing process. The website also reveals and questions the use of data and the way it classifies its users, moreover, it is a modern peek into the artist's history and digital life; almost like a condensed diary.

I was drawn to this piece as it links loosely to my project revolving around the theme of temptation, viewers have this urge and curiosity to want to have a peek at the drop down options on the website, even though it isn't necessarily moral to implode on someone's internet history. I like how transparent the piece is overall, through the honesty of exposing to the world what you search but also through how clear and minimalist the website is; there is no need for overcompensating or fancy designs. This is a really helpful concept in developing my work as we didn't raise the stakes high enough with our activities to evoke temptation amongst the public and we were unsure on how to do so without temptation equating to sensitive or inaccessible ideas to everyone such as alcohol, sex, violence etc. Yet, this website shows a really easy, friendly to all concept that still emits the same level of temptations because of how intrusive and nosy it is. 

"Truth, myth and the spaces in-between in visual representations of the North of England. An exhibition exploring contemporary artistic and stylistic representations of the north of England. Featuring contemporary photography, fashion and multimedia work, sitting alongside social documentary film and photography, highlighting how the realities of life in the north of England captured in the mid-20th century continue to influence new generations of photographers, artists and designers." -https://www.somersethouse.org.uk/whats-on/north

I really enjoyed this exhibition and the way it had subtle but effective use of interactive displays. In most rooms it was simply just photography and garments from artists, designers and photographers, such as Alasdair McLellan, Corinne Day, Mark Leckey, Jeremy Deller, Alice Hawkins, Raf Simons, Paul Smith, Off White’s Virgil Abloh, Peter Saville, Stephen Jones, Gareth Pugh, Nick Knight, Glen Luchford, Jamie Hawkesworth, plus the likes of Shirley Baker, John Bulmer and Peter Mitchel, on display. However, in one room there was an installation of several documentaries in which each video had their own little designed area where you immersed yourself into that person's life whilst watching the documentary. For example: I found myself sitting on a church bench when watching a video about identity and religion, sitting on a karaoke stool in front of a microphone when watching a video about youth and femininity, alongside sitting on a train seat for another documentary. It was really fascinating since when I sat down in this space and put on the headphones you felt like you were sitting with the narrator of the video and experiencing their life and the time they grew up in. I believe that the simplicity and ease of just sitting down in different types of environments made it so memorable through how focused it made me feel on each specific section. 

"Universal Everything was commissioned by Hyundai Motor Company to create a multi-sensory experience using 1,411 kinetic rods, a 360º video wall, LED lighting and surround sound. The four-minute experience guides visitors through the Hyundai design philosophy: sensuous sportiness, human-centric design, hyper-connected vehicles, clean energy, and future mobility." - https://thefwa.com/cases/hyundai-motorstudio-design-room

This installation is very experiential without even having to physically involve yourself with it. This is through the extreme movements and colours projected to the audience and even though this is to promote a car brand, it can feel completely unrelated to it because of the abstractness of it. I like how you do not actually see a car within the installation, you just see the non-physical components of what makes up a car through the use of smooth and satisfying movements, metallic/industrial materials and emotive colours. I don't think this necessarily grabs people to engage with the installation as you cannot really touch or immerse yourself into it, instead, the installation surrounds you which perhaps makes one question what makes an interactive installation. Overall it is a very memorable piece in terms of how dramatic, well produced and sensory it is but I don't think it holds the same qualities that the other exhibitions I have mentioned include, the ability to let yourself go and physically take yourself into a different dimension; this I feel is what makes an audience come away completely elated by what they have just been in involved in. 

Droog is a design company from Amsterdam that focuses on conceptual and anti-disciplinary practises. Their projects revolve around what matters and what contributes to society.

Splendour In The Grass is a sensory and experiential exhibition conveying the complexities around sexuality; it is described as an immersive 'erotic camping ground'. Aspects of the exhibition include a steamy, scented chamber and a whispering girl made from grass. Overall it combines nature with erotica to encourage guests to explore different phases of human sexuality and arousal. There are five different tents which invite guests to be open sexually and with curiosity rather than judgement and Mark Snyder, the director of Exhibitions at the Museum Of Sex explains how "Through our Kinesthesia Art Commission award we hope to push the boundaries of traditional Museum-going experiences and encourage patrons to appreciate physical art..expect to use your entire body when you visit Splendor in the Grass.”

The title of the exhibition, 'Splendour In The Grass', is a play on to the actual music festival which already pulls guests in through its wit and curiosity on whether there are any links. The exhibition is effective because of its controversy and thrill, sex is often kept private and it is perceived as awkward to express arousal and what turns an individual on publicly; yet this exhibition creates a safe space where guests can experiment and immerse themselves into something that is risky and, what the exhibition promotes, as human nature. The glowing colours around the room provide a soothing ambience and intimacy which is very fitting for such a complex and personal theme of sex and the different tents allow the guest to be daring to own their sexuality in their own pace. Altogether, it is a unique exhibition where sex and arousal is proudly put on a platform in a refined and immersive way. 

Source: https://www.droog.com/project/splendor-grass 

Olaffur Eliasson's 'In Real Life' immersive exhibition at the Tate Modern was an experience of idyllic and mesmerising installations involving light, water, fog, reflection and many more heavily inspired by his strong interest in natural phenomena and weather patterns. His exhibition was a sensory experience which invited people to engage and interact with the issue of climate change, prompting us to question our actions on the planet. Experiences included walking through a room full of colourful fog, walking through a kaleidoscopic tunnel and playing around with your projected shadow through body movement.

What strategies have they used to initiate their interactions?

The activities were very dramatic and self-explanatory which meant that the audience could not miss it or feel confused by what you had to do. This included bold elements such as colour, large shadows and projections, light and touch which as a result gravitated the audience to towards taking part through its mesmerising aspects.

How successful were the interactions? What do think made them successful?

I feel that the interactions were very successful as even though they were masked as very striking and big, they were actually very simple concepts that people of ages could take part in, and because of this, every reaction would have been different. The interactions teleported you into a different world, a different atmosphere of playfulness which Londoners especially don't often tap into which is why I think it was a successful idea. 

Did the interactive element make the work more memorable? Why?

Definitely, because they are interactions that you do not usually take part in, the other-worldliness of walking through a long room of fog that had a gradient of ambient colours is something that stood out to me out of all of the exhibitions I've ever been to because it was so unique to what you expect when going to an art gallery. 

"The Beach is an interactive installation that reimagines the familiar natural and cultural elements of a day at the beach, to create an unexpected and memorable experience for people of all ages. Visitors ascend a ramp before entering an all-white enclosure, where the floor descends towards the highlight of the experience – an ocean of over one million recyclable, antimicrobial plastic balls. A pier extends out into the ‘sea’, allowing people to stand in the center of the space and watch others, while an island invites exploration and discovery. Visual cues such as deck chairs, lifeguard chairs, umbrellas, and signage recall elements of the typical beach-going experience." - http://www.snarkitecture.com/the-beach

The Beach has this similar element that Olafur Eliasson's installations had, the playfulness and surreal-ness of it that makes people feel like they are out of touch with reality whilst feeling like they are in a space to be child-like. It is interesting how they made the 'Beach' all white as this creates a slightly different experience to actually being on a beach, despite the same props of having beach chairs, lifeguard chairs, umbrellas etc. The white plastic 'sea' makes the experience feel a bit more clinical and cold which is very contrasting to the natural warmth you connote with a beach. Moreover, the plastic balls make it instantly tempting to interact with as they have very nostalgic links to ball pits in fun houses. Overall, I could imagine the experience being really memorable and maybe not even remembered for being an art installation due to how fun and large-scale it is - it simply feels like an experiential activity that everybody could take part in.

I visited the Other Spaces installation this week; an immersive exhibition exploring light and sound through multi-sensory interactions. 

As soon as you walk into the space, you lose your bearings through how pitch black the building is and as a result you are forced to follow the sound and glimpses of light through the exhibition. This transforms the idea of what an art exhibition is because usually one goes to an art exhibition to look at work, however, within this installation we are made to use instinct and hearing to navigate our experiences. 

Our Time is a developed installation from Momentum, commissioned for the Barbican by United Visual Artists. The mood of the space is atmospheric through the chilling electronic music composed by Mila Calix. Our experience of time and senses  are manipulated as kinetic sculptures swing in and out of phase whilst projecting light and sound amongst a pitch black space. It was a fascinating experience for me as I felt like all I could do was stand in the middle of the room and take in all the sensory experiences around me, because it was pitch black other than the phases of swinging light, my relationship with light changed as I felt dependent and vulnerable to it as a guidance to the next room; I would have to wait until the light would swing pass for me to be able to take a step forward. 

The next room was a projection of laser light in the form of shifting grids combined with distorted electronic music. Your mind is manipulated into thinking the room goes on for a very long way, similar to Olaffur Eliason's coloured fog room, when in fact, it is simple just a projection on a screen. Despite, the mind-tricks of this room, the ambient atmosphere enforces a meditative mood amongst the viewers as the lights are encapsulating and unmissable. 

 The Great Animal Orchestra: Commissioned by the Fondation Cartier Pour L'art Contemporain inviting the public to relax on beanbags and absorb the aural and visual mediation if the animal kingdom that is under threat in today's world. Bernie Krause, a musician and founder of the concept Biophony*, captured natural soundscapes of the animal kingdom all over the world for the last fifty years. He then took these sounds and collaborated with UVA who created a device which provided a visual translation of the soundscape; a striking red flow of scrolling sonograms projected amongst a dark room. The lines within the visual translations  allowed the public to observe the intricate complexities of the sounds amongst the animal kingdom. Although the experience was very relaxing and fascinating, being able to immerse myself into the animal kingdom without even having to see a picture, I also felt an element of melancholy. There was no aspect of tragedy in the soundscape or sonogram yet the installation was very clever at reminding the audience the damage and the loss of such a beautiful ecosystem; I couldn't help but feel a sense of mourning. 

* Biophony: A concept by musician, Bernie Kraus, which was based on the relationship between each living things and the soundscape of its habitat. This concept eventually led to laying the foundations of a new scientific discipline, soundscape ecology. Bernie Krause has created a metaphorical time capsule with these soundscapes that have been archived to pass onto future generations "in case the great animal kingdom orchestra should fall silent one day" - quote taken from Exhibition caption at Strand 180.