Artist Research: Kimsooja: A Needle Woman
Posted: March 20, 2014 Filed under: Contextualisation, Field | Tags: a needle woman, alone in the city, Art, art student research, artist, artist influence, Contextualisation, hidden loneliness of city life, kim sooja, kimsooja, loneliness in the city, overlooked, people just passing you by, single figure, surrounded by others but alone, unnoticed, Video, video art, youtube Leave a commentThe artist Kimsooja was brought to my attention by one of my tutors. In particular, it was suggested that I looked at “A needle woman”, a video installation of the artist standing in the middle of busy streets in different parts of the world as people pass her by and walk in the direction of the camera. She is a feminist artist and is approaching women’s labour of sewing within this work but I believe it definitely applies to the concept of my city project even if being alone or singled out amongst others in the city was not the artists original intention.
This work made me think about the hidden loneliness of city life and the notion of being surrounded by others in the city but alone. She is standing in the middle of many people, but no one is interacting with her, she is being overlooked and people are just passing her by. She is an insignificant figure to them and at the same time all the people around her may as well not be there at all. The feeling of loneliness if highly evident in this work and I believe her video showing herself surrounded by others who are not interacting with her or even acknowledging her existence is not dissimilar to my project imagery of a coloured figure surrounded by white silhouettes.
This piece is highly inspirational and influential to my work, it confirms to me that you can be surrounded by others in the city but at the same time singled out and alone. It sort of highlights the ideas I have been working with and in supporting them adds to my works success.
PAINTING: Working with Monochrome and Being More Gestural
Posted: March 15, 2014 Filed under: Documentation, Field | Tags: Art, Art Student, artist, Black and White, Brush, city loneliness, colour, experiments, Fine Art, gestural, lonely, monochrome, monochrome paintings, painting, Paintings, palette knife, singled out, surrounded by others but alone, tones of grey, white silhouettes 6 CommentsAfter attending a tutorial on Monday, I was glad that the tutor gave me some direction and new ideas and techniques to work with. After looking at my work, she suggested that I work with Monochrome and use the tones of grey to enhance the feeling of loneliness and make the individual coloured figure appear even more singled out and alone.
She also felt that my work was not really gelling as a whole and that I was working with three different realities and had to express the relationship between the figures, the single figure and the architecture. She said she thought the detailed buildings that were included in my work detracted from the figures and from the message within the pieces. She suggested that I experiment with contrasting colours, monochrome and full colour as well as contrasting languages, the gestural and the more realistic. I was encouraged to make marks and shapes that represent the buildings and to make them more gestural rather than focusing on every detail, window or door etc. I have experimented with making less detailed marks to create the city landscape with both brush and palette knife.
I feel that working with a palette knife definitely helped me be less controlled and more gestural but doesn’t really gel with the figures painted with a brush and therefore is unsuccessful so I have experimented with more gestural brush work.
I think this is far more successful and the monochrome definitely heightens the feeling of loneliness and the colours of the lone figure. After producing this piece, I decided to experiment with how much of the surrounding is seen within the painting, because even though the technique is successful, I feel that the buildings still are overwhelming the figures here.
This definitely puts emphasis on the lone figure and draws the viewer to wonder why they are the only one not painted as a white silhouette and consider their loneliness rather than being distracted by the buildings in the piece. These are highly valid experiments and have inspired me to create a final piece working with monochrome rather than the sepia alternative I have worked with previously. I feel this colour palette and deeper contrast portrays a more negative vibe and adds to the feeling of loneliness within the work.
Photo Manipulation: Stop Motion Animation Experiment
Posted: February 28, 2014 Filed under: Documentation, Field | Tags: Animation, Art, cutting out figures animation, Fine Art, lonely in the city, people cut outs, photo manipulation, stop motion animation, surrounded by others but alone 2 CommentsInspired by my collaborative work, I have decided to experiment with combining my photo manipulations I have produced within my individual work and stop motion animation that I have experimented with as a collaborative.
I think this is a highly interesting outcome, It portrays the idea of everyone else in the city being silhouettes or just bodies that may as well not be there. The figures being cut out one by one shows how you are surrounded by so many people but you might as well be the only one. This has been a successful experiment and I will continue to think about animation within my individual work.
Quick Stop Motion Animation inspired by Collaborating: – Lonely in the City
Posted: February 24, 2014 Filed under: Documentation, Field | Tags: Animation, Art, city, City Art, documentation, Drawing, drawn, drawn animation, field, Fine Art, hidden loneliness, lonely in the city, Pencil, Photography, Stop motion, stop motion animation, surrounded by others but alone, text, youtube Leave a comment
After producing a collaborative stop motion with my field group, I was inspired to create animation within my individual project. Here is a quick stop motion experiment drawn in my sketchbook portraying the hidden loneliness of the city, where the person is “surrounded by others but alone”. I hope to create more of these and maybe work with animating my photo manipulations or cut out photographs.
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