Walk the Canal

On Thursday the 24th of November we went on a trip to walk next to the Canal from Warwick Avenue to Paddington Station and draw when we see in the process.

Google Maps of where we walked

This process of walking and drawing was a very interesting and beneficial task through the way to draw what I wanted and to keep up with the rest of the trip, I had to draw quite quick which created a chrip, quick movement type of mark from the charcoal. With this I captured parts of the areas that I was at and because I was drawing quite fast my drawing didn't have that much detail making for a quick snip it of the area that I was at. 

This is a drawing of one of the Cabmen's Shelter Fund which I have seen before but never know what it really was till that day. It was very interesting to found out information about hidden history on old building which are scattered around the UK.  

Image of one of the Cabman's Shelter at Warwick Avenue
Image by Prudence Ivey

The Cabmen's Shelter Fund was established in London, England, in 1875 to run shelters for the drivers of hansom cabs and later hackney carriages (taxicabs). 

By law, cab drivers could not leave the cab stand while their cab was parked there. This made it very difficult for them to obtain hot meals and could be unpleasant in bad weather. The Earl of Shaftesbury and other worthies therefore took it upon themselves to set up a charity to construct and run shelters at major cab stands.

These shelters were small green huts, which were not allowed to be larger than a horse and cart, as they stood on the public highway. Between 1875 and 1914, 61 of these buildings were built around London, the first being on Acacia Road, St John's Wood.

Thirteen of the shelters still exist and are still run by the Cabmen's Shelter Fund. All are now Grade II listed buildings.

Trying to capture different parts of the places that I have seen within the walk through that day really interested me through the way the lack of time really opened to my style of drawings because I really like creating, abstract, non realist looking drawings that still capture elements of the real object or place that the drawing is coming from. The lack of time made for me to move the charcoal quite quickly which made for interesting drawings and opened me to s style of drawings that I will like to carry on. 

Also we have a quest teacher on the trip with us called Aldous Eversley and he was also do drawing as we where going on the walk. I learn a new way of drawing through using Chinese ink set, where you place the brush into the water first then into the ink. How long you leave the brush in is how light the ink will come out.

Photo: I took of Aldous' drawing

With that I feel that I want to go and try out that style of drawing and link it within my style of art because I really feel that is it close to my style of drawing and how I like to show my drawings.

Overall, the trip was very enjoyable and I learnt a lot about my drawing style and how I can improve and adapt my drawings.

Morning Departure Exhibit: Work By Ian Fraser

Between the 8th to the 23rd November there was an exhibit of work by a ex-teacher of Middlesex University, who pasted away,shown in The Atrium in The Grove Building. This is an introduction of the exhibit which was written in the hand book:

On behalf of Middlesex University, it is a great pleasure to host this exhibition of the work of Ian Fraser. Ian was a full time lecturer in Fine Art at Middlesex long before it became Middlesex University. His teaching career spanned the time that Fine Art was a subject delivered at Hornsey College of Art in Crouch End, through to Middlesex Polytechnic at Alexandra Palace, briefly again at Crouch End and finally at Quicksilver Place in Wood Green, where he was to become Head of Department. This was to be a brief tenure due to Ian's tragic death in 1986, at the age of 53.

(Simon Read, 1 October 2016)

Photo: I took of the handbook

Photo: I took of the layout of the exhibit 

Photo: I took of the layout of the exhibit

Photo: I took of a close up of the exhibit

Morning Departure

"For a graduate from the Royal College of Art in the 1950's, the opportunities to earn a living as an artist were stark; Ian was married to Anna and with burgeoning family responsibilities started working full time in what was then further education...it is remarkable that artists of Ian's generation were so very prolific."

"The particular model of artist using a specific skill set to reflect upon the ebb and f.ow of a lifetime's experience is often considered secondary to that more familiar insistence upon a signature style."

"Shepperton, where Ian lived with his family, is right beneath the main flight path into Heathrow, the presence of low-flying aircraft...in his painting they become ephemeral and transient events suffused with wistfulness." 

(Simon Read, 1 October 2016)

Photo: I took of a lot of the 'Time-based' pieces

In Ian’s words, written in November 1986, just weeks before he died:

‘My aim is to produce pure poetry, without recourse to secondary imagery. I realise on reflection, that this is a fairly vague definition of intention, but I prefer to leave it so, for I do not subscribe to any particular theoretical credo – I paint according to my intuition and therefor rationality is a subsidiary factor. I seek a kind of perfection, which is a risky confession to make and perhaps not very fashionable. I know that I must inevitably fail, but to achieve even a hint of success (in my own terms) makes it exciting in that maybe I will get nearer next time. The perfection I seek must be distilled from the essence of the activity – the colour, tone, disposition, spatial allusion, paint quality. There must be a tranquillity, which is nevertheless dynamic and therefor poignant. It must be clearly evident that the work is executed by human hand – scale is more important than size. Bravado paintwork must be avoided, however tempting, for it brings the attention entirely to the surface, destroying spatial possibilities the viewer may interpret. Yet the surface must retain its integrity – I seek no optical tricks, but rather to prompt. Colour is, of course, cardinal. There can be no end to the associations it may conjure, it is the inexhaustible stuff of painting, with its implications of light, of life and death. 

The other important element involved is time, painting being as much a ‘time-based’ medium as film, although it operates more in a potential than a kinetic form. It is partly for this reason that I ‘usually’ give my paintings no other title than the date on which it was last worked upon. The other reason is purely practical – so that I may know when I can safely apply varnish as a protective coat.’ 

Looking at these pieces, they have gave me inspiration on how to layout walk within a exhibit. I really like the neat layout with the smaller and bigger pieces mixed together to create a whole piece of work. 

Piece 1:

Photo: I took for 12_2_84 (1984)

12_2_84 by Ian Fraser is an abstracted lopsided rectangle with is made up of pastel coloured squares and rectangle which makes up the overall rectangle. Contracting with the pastel colours there is a black rectangle which stand out within the piece making it more of a focal piece. By Fraser using more pastel colours within this piece it makes the rectangle blend more into the background because the canvas itself is made from a more neutral light colour which is similar to the pastel colours. An important element within his piece like is, is time. "Painting being as much a 'time-based' medium as film, although it operates more in a potential then a kinetic form." (Ian Fraser, online, http://www.ianfraser-arca.co.uk/blocks.html ). 

This make for an interesting element to his pieces because by looking at the pieces, you would never know it is a time-based piece through the way most of the time, time-based pieces are films, photos or performers. So for it being a painting its quite unusual. There is evidence that his paintings are time-based through there is no other title than the date on which it was last worked on. 

Piece 2,3,4:

VICTIMS - IMAGES OF FEAR & COMPASSION (1980-1983)

A extract from a letter sent to the Bishop of Ely, April 1985

“… About 18 months ago, I completed a series of paintings the intention of which is to express a mixture of fear and compassion which I assume to be a feeling common to outrage, in which implied or actual violence is a constant state. I found the subject of implied violence to be more poignant than the depiction of actual violence, with more chance of avoiding sensationalism in favour of images promoting a quieter, more reflective response."

I must quickly explain that I do not wish to sell the paintings, but to lend them for exhibition in a particular environment. While painting them, my mind returned repeatedly to the holocaust of more than forty years ago as a cataclysmic example of man’s fearful ability to dehumanise others of his kind. The paintings are not meant, however, to be pro-Jewish nor anti-German; it is implying that the magnitude of those horrendous events served as a thematic key for a subject which has, unhappily, wider implications. 

You may well think by now that it all sounds very dark and tragic. You would be right. I make no excuse for expressing the grimmer aspects of our condition, but I would like to use the results in a positive and regenerative way.

My reason for choosing Ely … the sight of almost all of the stone figures having been decapitated or defaced struck an obvious chord for me … it would be in keeping for the work to be shown in an English church, rather than a synagogue. …” 

(Ian Fraser, online, http://www.ianfraser-arca.co.uk/victims.html)

Photo: I took of piece 'nientytutiwany' (untitled) 1983

Photo: I took of apart of the 'nientytutiwany' piece

nientytutiwany by Ian Fraser is a dark piece with two faceless fingers standing on ever side of the canvas covering themselves with they're hands. This is a quite interesting piece through the way Fraser has create an ominous feeling to the audience by the piece being painted with black paint for the background and there being faceless fingers. Faceless fingers make for a more ominous feeling because as humans we naturally look for facial expressions on people but for there not to be any, we naturally feel like there is something wrong happening.

 “… About 18 months ago, I completed a series of paintings the intention of which is to express a mixture of fear and compassion which I assume to be a feeling common to outrage, in which implied or actual violence is a constant state. I found the subject of implied violence to be more poignant than the depiction of actual violence, with more chance of avoiding sensationalism in favour of images promoting a quieter, more reflective response." (Ian Fraser, online, http://www.ianfraser-arca.co.uk/victims.html). 

Showing that the pieces have a hidden meaning of deep, dark emotions which partly contrasts with the images on the piece because the fingers are faceless meaning that they have no emotions but I feel that the emotions are more shown through the body language through the way they want to hid, looking like they really don't want to be there. Also, another way to show the dark emotions is through the colour plate because there is dark, dirty black which spreads the dirtiness to the finger through the way the gold fingers have dark grey/black around the fingers. 

Another interesting element to this piece is that Fraser has scratched into the bodies of the fingers which makes a sgraffito effect. This adds some hidden texture with make the audiences look more closely to the piece to see the texture. 

Photo: I took of Dosyc (Enough) 1983

Photo: I took a closer part of Dosyc

Dosyc (Enough) 1983 show the emotions more clearly within this piece because there is a shouting face shown through more detail of the facial expressions within the face and through the way Fraser has scratched in teardrop to the face making more emotions shown.

I must quickly explain that I do not wish to sell the paintings, but to lend them for exhibition in a particular environment. While painting them, my mind returned repeatedly to the holocaust of more than forty years ago as a cataclysmic example of man’s fearful ability to dehumanise others of his kind. The paintings are not meant, however, to be pro-Jewish nor anti-German; it is implying that the magnitude of those horrendous events served as a thematic key for a subject which has, unhappily, wider implications. 

Photo: I took of Preparation for the Holocaust 1982-83

The can be reflected through his piece called Preparation for the Holocaust 1982-83 because there are faceless finger lined up just like people within the concentration camp where all lined up and they where seen as faceless people because they where seen as non people and all the same.

Piece 5:

RAINBOW (1969-73)

The origins of these paintings are in studies Ian made in 1970, whilst a visiting Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, USA. 

On return to England in Summer 1971, Ian scaled up his sketches into large paintings 2m high x 5m long. The paintings are not stretched, but are hung from eyelets regularly spaced along the canvas edge. Ian also produced etchings, screen-prints and small gouache paintings. 

The paintings are inspired by the environment, water, light and the epic scale of landscape. One is titled ‘Greenwell Glory’, which is the name of a well-known trout fly (Ian was a keen fly fisherman). Another is titled ‘Grassington’, after the North Yorkshire town on the River Wharfe, where Ian fished as a boy. 

In 1973, Ian wrote to Jenny Stein at the Whitechapel Gallery: 

“Since I saw you, I have completed another ‘rainbow’, one which has been on my mind for more than three years! It is, in a sense, a definitive one of the series and I would like you to see it, if that is at all possible. It’s the same format as the two you saw and is a black rainbow (‘Black Fell’) – a rather tragic image, I find, with connotations of ecological disaster – sounds a bit trendy and symbolic, which I hope it isn’t! "

(Ian Fraser, online, http://www.ianfraser-arca.co.uk/victims.html). 

Photo:I took of Portland (Rainbow) 1973-74

Portland (Rainbow) 1973-74 is very interesting through the way Fraser has painted a landscape on a long stretched out piece of fabric because I found art that is abstracted which has come from nature and landscapes to have a interesting aesthetic. I'm really interested to reflected this style of abstracting landscape within my own art. 

Darko

From Friday 14th of October to Thursday 17th of November, I have been attending a student run art gathering called Darko.  Darko is a fortnight run gathering for any art student from Year 1 to Master to came and create a page or two for the Darko magazine. Darko is run by three Year 2 student, before you arrive they give you a word of the week for the event and then you have to create a page that links to that word.

Giving one word makes for a interesting but also hard process to create a page because the words are normally very broad and have a lot of different meanings which makes for a very openly creative process. However, I also feel that it makes it easy for interpretation so it makes for a more enjoyable experience for everyone to create their pages.

Another interesting thing about Darko is that, you have to create your piece in a A5 format so it makes you think carefully about what you can create within a small piece of paper. Also the whole magazine is made out of a 100% recycled paper which makes for a positive message within the magazine which promotes recycling and looking after the planet.

Friday 14th of October

Photo: I took of the magazine

This was the first magazine that was created with the theme 'Falling'. Do to the way the themes are quite broad there is many different interpretation within one theme. I feel that it creates a very unique idea for a magazine because most magazine have one style and only one style to their magazine but with this one, it has many different interpretations giving each magazine a different look to it.  

Photo: Of my own piece

Because the theme was 'Falling' I chose to create a piece inspired by Autumn's falling leaves because I love the season and I love to use mixed media so leaves made for a great idea for my piece.

Wednesday 2nd November

Photo: I took of the magazine

For this magazine the theme was 'Set' which has over 400 different meanings this made for a very open interpretation.

With the the first one I went with the idea of sets of wood and with the second, different ripped sets of paper.

Thursday 17th November

Photo: I took of magazine

For this magazine the theme was 'Limbo' so I chose to create an idea of a dark, urban place where there is no freedom and wildlife which can only be accessed by a rope bridge to the other place which is bright and has freedom and fun. This creates a sense of Limbo because the people in the dark place are in Limbo waiting to be able to cross to the light.

Darko is a very interesting and creative magazine that I am so gratefully to be apart of and I can't wait till the next one. 

Auto-destructive

I watched a 40 minute, BBC4 documentary about art school in the 1950/60's and how art school shaped the art world.

About 28 minutes in the documentary was talking about how art school had an impacted on pop music in the 1960/70's. This was shown through the way Pete Townshend (singer, songwriter and guitarist from the British Rock band, The Who) learnt about the artist Gustav Metzger. Metzger created is own art term called Auto-destructive, where he destroys objects and through that art was created. This feed into the style of music through the way they experimented with feed back when the smashed up their own instruments.



Gustav Metzger

Gustav Metzger
Recreation of First Public Demonstration of Auto-Destructive Art 1960, remade 2004
© Gustav Metzger
(On Tate website)

The term Auto-destructive was created by Gustav Metzger during political unrest known as The Cold War, soon after the end of WWII. The use of nuclear weapons by the U.S against Japan in 1945, left a deep impression on the whole world. In reaction against this the anti-war group The Committee of 100 which might was been named by Metzger, was formed in 1960 and Metzger began making paintings using acid as a form of creative protest.

Auto-destructive art was automatically political; also carrying anti-capitalist and anti-consumerist messages.  It addressed society’s unhealthy fascination with destruction, as well as the negative impact of machinery on our existence.

"The idea of Auto-destructive is that the destruction and decay of things/ objects was a suitable subject for art." (Brian Eno) 

Sonic Sabotage: The Noisy History Of Auto-Destructive Music Robert Barry , March 5th, 2015 13:41
(On Website)

29 minutes in there was a part where destruction artist smash up a piano for 24 hours in September 1966. This really interested me through the sound that is created in the process of destroying an object. Through this my friend and I got an old piano and he smashed it up and I filmed is so I could get the interesting sound.

First video of the piano getting smashed 

Second video, were the hammer is hitting the kegs

Through the smashing of the piano there was a very interesting sounds from the wires inside the piano vibrating and creating there own unique sound. I found that natural sound that is created through an action to be very captivating through the way, every time someone makes an action the sound that is made each time is very different.

  

Tilbury Trip- Esturay 2016

On Thursday 29th September, I went on a trip to Tilbury for Esturary 2016 which is this art festival on the Esturay in Tilbury. 

Photo used on Estuary 2016, Metal website (photo by Simon Fowler)

"Metal presents, Estuary 2016 Festival, sixteen days of art, literature, music and film curated in response to thespectacular Thames Estuary. A mix of new and existing works pull together powerful themesresonant to the place, its landscape, history and communities. Presented in significant, historicand unusual venues along the 40 miles of Essex and Kent shorelines." (http://www.estuaryfestival.com)

One of the first art piece that I saw was John Akomfrah's film installation called Mnemosyne (2010) which shows many different archival material to retell the experiences of postwar immigrants to the UK. The archival images shows how the UK became more multicultural. 

A clip filmed by me from John Akomfrah's film Mnemosyne

A clip filmed by me from John Akomfrah's film Mnemosyne

I many chose to film some of this film because I really loved the haunting sounds that the film created as it echo around the decaying building. I'm really interested by sound within a art piece now and I really want to experimenter with sound within my work. To me it the images of this film did not interest me it was the way the background sound that Akomfrah had within his film and how that reacted with the building to make the audiences more immersed within the film. Also the sound brings the outside of the building to become apart of the film itself and I really want to create that type of feeling when I have sound within my art.

The next piece I saw was Adam Chodzko's piece called Ghost (2010-2016). "Ghost is a Kayal; a Sculpture as vessel, coffin, bed, costume and camera rig." It is designed to ferry people to the 'island of the dead', which has a rower at the back and the passenger lay down low and flat in the front. The way the passengers are laying down is like the way a person lays in a coffin, "with their head slightly raised, travelling along the interface between water and sky." The camera is places where there passenger is so it captures the point of view of the passenger which is very interesting through the sound that is captured.

A clip filmed by me of Adam Chodzko film Ghost

The sound that was capture was a mixture of wind and water sounds with similarly to the other piece echoed with the decaying building that it was in. As the videos where shown on these older TVs in different dark, decaying rooms which created a ominous feeling through out the building. The sound and the overall atmosphere of this piece creates the feeling that you are in watery coffin and gives that overall feeling to the audiences that they are apart of the piece.


I then went a listened to a audio piece called Waterborne (2016) by French and Mottershead. Waterborne is a audio piece where you, first before getting the headphones, you have to gave something valuable to you with the people and then you get the headphones. After you get the headphones, you have to look out at the esturay and listen to the piece.

The view that you look at when listening to the piece. (photo taken by me)

"Waterborne describes in poetic detail the course of your body's decay as it traverses time and place, from a canal, via a tidal, river, an esturary and out to sea." (From Estuary 2016 booklet). This piece really interested me through the way the spoken narrative used a first person pro-noun of 'you' making me feel, like it was my body decaying and with the visual of the estuary itself add more to the image of myself decaying. I'm really interested in sound and through the way, I just headphones on with blocked out everything around me and all I could hear was the audio, it consumes you into the piece for 20 minutes and after all you are left with is the images in your head of yourself decaying. 

Next artist that I saw was Louisa Fairclough's piece called The Incidental Musicality of a Chance Encounter (2016). 

Piece by Lousia Fairclough, Photo taken by me

Fairclough's created a sound installation with was accompanied with some painting in the middle on a canvas which were paintings of found things from the Thames. The found objects have something to do with the body, for example (this is from the booklet) a coughed up pellet, a stone that has the appearance of something chewed, a muddied bovine tooth. Fairclough sometimes paired these pieces together to show the resonance and the relationship between things encountered.  Louisa Fairclough uses ground, tidal water, voice and light as material. Her long-term engagement with the River Severn has resulted in a body of work encompassing film loops, field recordings and drawings.

Through painting the found objects on top the clean white canvas, she has created another contrast between the dark and dirty objects and the clean canvas. But contrasting with that through painting the found object so delicate she has elevate the ordinary through cleaning objects that would normally be cover in dirty from the Thames. These make for a very interesting piece.

Photo by Benedict Johnson (from the website)

"The field recording capture the coalescence of events and the incidental musicality of a chance encounter" (from the booklet) I haven't really got much to say about the radioing because I didn't listen to it.


Next artist was Liz Lake, who create these piece all called A River Once Ran Through My Veins (2016).  A fictional installation made from an imagined future where silt has swallowed the Tilbury estuary and icecapsnof polystyrene, islands of Buddleia and colonces of crystallized snails non proliferate. 

This installation has a very interesting look to it because all the pieces are place in a non gallery space, they are on a boat that is attached to a building making for an unusual place for art to be place. With that in mind the piece in this installation sort of blend in with the room because the room has a very decayed, building look to it and the work reflect that making it apart of the space. Also the colours that are within the pieces are similar colours that the room itself making the pieces more within the background.
  

This is reflected within this piece through the way the rusted stand blends in with the dark wooden floors and the cream coloured rolls of marble blends with the wall.


All the pieces where very interesting and show me new way of seeing art through listening. And also how art can reacted with the space that it is in. Also some of the artist link to my style so the whole trip really help me get inspiration for me to follow through into my studio work.