INTRO TO FOUNDATION WORKSHOPS

See Surrender Salvation  

 

Photoshop Workshop 

- Mira Schendel

- Did not enjoy

- Laborious 

Working with text quite boring. Not inspired by the letters .Prefer the handwritten look

Collage Workshop 

- Dada movement

- Cecil Touchon 

- Francis Picabia

My experiments feel gaudy and punk, which is not my aesthetic at all.  I think with collage there is an element of irremovable abrasiveness which I really don't like. I much prefer a collage once it has been flattened and photocopied.

Photography Workshop 

-Absurdism, Ai Wei Wei

I took issue with the photography workshop brief, 'take pictures that reflect how I feel about Carmel'. I thought ' well I feel largely apathic to Carmel. What a silly brief this is something for kids!'. Initially, I tried to take it seriously. I quickly realised that my photographs would feel slack-ish and insincere, and the process lethargic. 

Ai Wei Wei, Study of Perspectives

The decision to photograph my leg was a random one. Going absurd reflected the futility of the brief. I was also partially inspired by Ai Wei Wei's Study of Perspectives. 

Some of the pictures have meaning, some don't. For instance, the picture by the toilet door is meaningful because that's my favourite toilet in Carmel. The picture with the watch reflects how Carmel has meant significantly earlier mornings for me - a standout feature.

In the end, I really enjoyed taking my pictures. Although swinging my leg up began to get sore, and there was only so high that I could get my leg. It was silly and that kept me amused - I was able to be quite prolific. 

Aside from the silliness, I really like the repetition in this series. There is something I find very satisfying about it. I also liked the sense of journey from the changing scenery. 

Homework: 20 Photographs Responding to My Manifesto

- Initially I was a bit stumped for what to take photos of. I worked intuitively and if something I walked past felt like it was relevant I just snapped a picture.

- I took photos of things that were visual poetry - moments of beauty, happiness, or sadness,

- I feel like I was really lucky I got some great photo ops. I suppose I've just realised the point of the exercise is to make us engage with the now. I thought this was going to be a thankless task but I actually really like all my pictures they evoke a feeling that feels like me.

- it was a casual thing, i took all the photos on my smartphone.

Cyanotype Workshop  

Cyanotypes were my favourite of all the workshops.  I really enjoyed the process - it involved a lot of movement and utilising different apparatus. It was a process that could become quite systematic and meditative. I like it when a medium demands something of you - demands you to move, or to wait. That's really fun to me. I really like the element of surprise too, it's similar to getting a roll of 35mm developed. It's quite the thrill; I like to see a piece of work take on a life of its own. 

The photographs I chose reflect my manifesto and three words from the initial work shop; I was tying them both to the word salvation. I had actually chosen three pictures to experiment with. But one went missing in action. It depicted sun hitting water, creating all these fabulous sparkles, but that printed double sided on one acetate - so it became an accidental double exposure (bottom right and left). It turned out looking super cool though ! I was trying to evoke a feeling of salvation; I think the nonsensical ethereal-ness I accidentally created - is quite poetic. 

I like the sense of history and manual-ness (?) cyanotypes evoke. It puts space between the audience and the photograph and really changes the way you engage with it. I think you see less of the image and feel more.

Experimenting with shape and negative space was also really fun, but a completely different vibe. Those experiments feel very punchy and graphic - I could see the star shaped image being printed on a t-shirt. I love the shape of a star, I was partially inspired by a print a friend of mine had made on her own foundation course. 

I'm pretty obsessed with the spiral too at the moment - it changes the photograph from something sober and delicate. Too camp and morbid - it brings some movement to the photo. 

Cyanotypes remind me of pinhole cameras, a technique I'm really keen to try out at Carmel. I for sure want to spend more time experimenting with cyanotypes in the future.

Cyanotype Tutorial

- just wanted to play around with more photographs.

Paper Folding Workshop 

I did not enjoy paper folding. I found it to be a thankless task, which I was not interested in pursing. Looking back I probably could have been more open minded. But it's safe to say it's not a technique I'll be returning to. 

This was the first workshop after deciding the rules of my manifesto; these experiments were putting them to the trial. 

I'm glad I had my manifesto rules to follow because it made the process probably less boring than it would have been without them. 

The rules were: ALL DRAWINGS + PAINTINGS MUST BE PRODUCED USING NON DOMINAANT HAND ONLY, RANDOMISE DECISION MAKING WHEN STUCK, WORK MUST BE NO SMALLER THAN A3, WORK MUST BE ANTI-SLEEK USING ONLY IMMEDIATE MEANS OF PRODUCTION, THERE MUST BE A REFERENCE TO A HISTORICAL EVENT IN EVERY WORK. 

My illustration depicts the beheading of Anne Boleyn. I randomised which historical event I would draw by asking the person next to me to choose. 

Obviously, I approached this drawing very literally. But in future experiments I could abstract my references a lot more.

This rule was effective; it gave me tons of imagery to work with and saved me time I could have lost deciding what to draw/convey.

Drawing with my non-dominant hand (for me, the left) was another successful rule. I think the drawings feel less contrived than they would have otherwise. 

I like to draw, I like to draw a lot. But often the problem is if you're not really good at perspective and proportion (which I am not) - the whole thing falls apart. Drawing with my left hand is kind of like a get out of jail free card.

Using my left hand made the process a lot more physical. I love physicality during the artistic process so that was a real treat. 

I was more engaged with the now too, I suppose. - More focused on guiding my line rather than psyching myself out over what the drawing was looking like (or was going to look like). 

Zine Workshop 

 

- I knew the zine workshop would go really quick and leave me not much time for decision making so I prepped by making a fairly detailed mood board and plan.

- I'm glad I did this because it helped a lot. If I were doing this again I would have gone further and made my plan and mood board even more detailed.

- I wish I would have been more thoughtful with my cut outs so there wasn't text peaking through on one side. 

- subconsciously referenced Kiarostami's quote about the frame.

- would have wanted more pages, i wanted the audience to be able to really enjoy the visual poetry of his films without distraction. I chose a minimalist design to match his minimalist films.

- I also chose to include some quotes and poems of his and his films.

- on the back cover i chose to respond to his work with my own poem and a short explanation of why Kiarostami means so much to me. I think this personal touch makes the zine - it really comes from the heart. 

- really enjoyed being able to celebrate someone I love. 

- it also kind of links to my manifesto because Kiarostami and his work is often a guiding force for my own and a lot of what I do now is inspired by him.