Odilia Bird FDA

  Final development of plaster cogs: I decided to move away from simply piling my cogs on top of each other or on top of a light source, it didn't feel right to me and when looking at the different options I had it all seemed lacklustre and boring. while doing research I was inspired by artists such as Andy Goldsworthy and his land art working with stone stacking, Michael Grab, as well as my own experience of finding stone stack on hikes and more famous structure such as Stone Henge.  Firstly, I experimented with simple stacking without using precarious and odd angles, just piling different sized cogs on top of each other, I thin used the parts of a broken cog to test out the super glue that I had and see if it worked and was strong enough which it was. I use super glue to attach the cogs together, The way in which they have been stacked is random as I wanted the structures to feel authentic, like they could be found naturally in a landscape. I started with one cog laying flat as a

Developing film and using light sensitive paper:  I used an enlarger in the dark room to put one of my photos onto light sensitive paper, I chose to do the sea tractor as I believed that this image was the clearest out of all of the them and had the most detail to work with. I set the timer to 10 seconds of light exposure and did two test strips. I found that 70 seconds produced the best result and I then adjusted the amount of magenta in the light to achieve the correct tone for the image. Before putting the light sensitive paper underneath the light I made sure that the image was properly in focus.  When looking at the final image there is a lot of tone and contrast that create a sense of depth and bring the image to life, the image is clear and focused which allows the smaller details to be seen easily. The tones also allow a sense of light within the image which makes it clear that the photo was taken during the day. 

 A guide to galleries: During this lecture we spoke about the different types of galleries that exist and were given examples to look at, and how art dealers and gallerists represent and exhibit artists. We were also asked to speak about where we could see ourselves exhibiting our own work. These included: Commercial galleries such as 'Transition gallery', 'Oxo Tower', 'Brick Lane' and 'Surface gallery'. Artist run galleries such as 'Bloc' in Sheffield, 'Blacklit' in Nottingham, 'Airspace' in Stoke, 'Spike island' in Bristol and 'Espacio' in London. Major collections such as 'The Tate galleries' and the 'Guggenheim Collections'. These tend to have permanent collections and seem to be for either historical art or well established famous artists.  We also spoke about 'regional flagships' which are galleries that are invite only, show international artists and are often partnered with organisat

  Film camera images: I took a film camera down to Devon as a final development for my original collections project, I used the film camera to take some more final photos of my dads bikes and then moved onto more scenic images. I decided to move forward from bike collections but still include the personal and family aspects by photographing my family holiday. I believe that by doing this I have still managed to keep these images personal and meaningful. I also wanted to bring back aspects of the project that I had explored earlier on, such as the water collection experiments that I conducted. I have achieved this by showcasing water in different forms such as, rain, mist, streams and the ocean.  I believe that the final bike photographs have turned out really well. I made sure to take up close shots to showcase a variety of dynamic angles. I think that the black, white and grey tones cause these images to have a much more moody atmosphere compared to the previous coloured photographs.

George Segal: George Segal was an American painter and sculptor associated with the pop art movement, and many of his sculptures have been created using plaster.  The first image depicts Multiple humanoid sculpture seemingly walking in different directions, the plaster has been left white and the over head lighting has allowed shadows to be cast onto the floor and onto the bodies of the sculptures. I believe that this allows the pieces to feel even more human as they are casting shadows of themselves just like real people do. When looking at this piece I think there is a feeling of familiarity and comfort that is invoked, these pieces seem to have on everyday outfits and are going about their lives just like us or the people we know. They are each dressed slightly differently and seem to be living their own lives, and some of the sculptures seem to be repeated which I believe is a commentary on how our lives can become mundane and repetitive.  The second piece has a far darker atmosphe

Max Ernst: Lunar Asparagus 'Lunar Asparagus' is a sculpture made of plaster by artist Max Ernst. I have chosen to do artist research on this piece as it relates to the materials that I have recently been using and experimenting with, which is plater.  When looking at this piece what stands out immediately to me are the pure white tones of the sculpture, and the slight shadows that are cast onto the floor and body of the piece. I believe that this helps to convey the dimensions and depth of the structure as the shadows highlight the curves, bumps and texture within the piece.  I believe that there is something void and lonely about this piece, the lack of colour causes there to be a lack warmth. It's cool and uninviting and I think that the way that this piece has been displayed on a white plinth against a white background adds to this atmosphere. It's bare and clinical, there is no discolouration and it seems to be almost too clean and perfect which I think invokes a sl

 Sanding plater cogs, displaying and experimenting with light: While taking out my plaster cogs from the moulds I noticed that they were quite rough around the edges and had an uneven surface. I decided to sand down all the larger lumps and bumps to create a nice smooth surface, and by doing this I believe that the cogs look far more put together and professional, and overall cleaner and neater.                                                Once I had cleaned them up I decided to start experiment with how to position and display them. At first I wanted to create an abstract structure and have the cogs sticking out at odd angles. This would have been a harsh and jagged display exploring the concept of connectivity. However when experimenting I found that piling the cogs onto of each other created an enticing scene to look at. I think that with this positioning it creates a friendlier atmosphere and there something sweet about the way they seem to be huddling together.  After this I dec

Professional practice Mik Godley: Mik Godley is an artist who also works part time and teaches life drawing at a. college during this lecture he gave advice about how to improve our own practices and spoke about his own work, processes and family history . Godley emphasised the importance of doing research about the subject of you work and pieces and advised to make the most of all the resources that are available. Such as online data bases, google translate and google street view, as well as apps such as sketchbook and concepts and when speaking about his own work he mentioned that he uses different forms of technology to aid his work.  While talking about his own work Godley spoke about his family history and their ties to Poland and Germany. He stated that his lineage and ancestry is a great source on inspiration and is something that he actively researches and implements within his own work and pieces. This is something that resonated with me as I am also interested in my own famil

Professional practice Rachel Carter:  Rachel Carter is a full time professional artist who has worked on many projects and is currently working on her newest named 'The Pilgrim Women'. She went back to study at college as a parent and went to university as a mother of two studying applied art.  During our lecture Carter made some valid points on how to achieve and be successful as a professional artist, such as networking, applying for funding, being cost effective and seeking advice from other artists during projects. Seeking advice and guidance from others was something that I particularly took away from this lecture as I believe that you should never be too proud to accept help when needed and there is always going to be someone with more expertise about a certain technique or area of art. Carter told us about a project that she was working on where nothing she tried was working until she sought out help from university lecturers who then recommended an art company she could