Documentary: Bas Jan Ader

We were shown this documentary 'Here is always somewhere else' which I found very interesting and really enjoyed it. It showed the journey Bas Jan Ader went through as an artist and how he was never recognized for his work. Even his lecturers never appreciated his work and so he proceeded to create more work in hopes he would one day feel appreciated and to prove himself. Bas Jan Ader was a Dutch artists who went missing in 1975. His work was in many instances presented as photographs and film of his performances, of which were installation performances. He attempted to cross the North Atlantic Ocean and set out from Cape Cod, Massachusetts in a sailing boat that was found to be abandoned 150 miles away from Ireland.

It is a very sad tale of a very talented artist that unfortunately never got recognized while he was alive. This is often the case, much like Vivian Maier, and I find it quite unfortunate as the artist will never feel what all artist want, being rewarded in what we do. However, creating art is never done for others, but rather to express ourselves. It's important to keep creating content, even if others don't like it.

2nd Year Book Review

During a session in University, we were asked as a group to review the 2nd year students on their photography books that they produced. This was to get some insight on what we are expected to create and produce in the 2nd year of the course. I found this session incredibly helpful and interesting as I remember a few books that stood out to me and will be in the back of my mind when I have to carry out this project. 
However, I did not take any pictures of the session as it was a very hands on session. Even so, I learnt quite a lot in this session.
We were asked to categorize the books at the university standards such as 3rd, 2:2, 2:1 or 1st. I was surprised at how many books were at the lower end of the scale and working as a group to do so was interesting as it opened up my own opinions of the books, and it gave people the opportunity to share their ideas. A lot of the books I liked were the ones that had their images fill the whole page without the boarder, with a blank white page on the other side to break up the images. I personally like the images to have no boarder as it gives more detail to the image, and I can view the image as it is, not setup in an 'exhibition' form that controls my thoughts so much.
We had to comment and rate on:

• The quality of paper
• How the images were set up on the page. And if the text was complimentary.
• Is the subject matter apparent and articulated?
• Does the book have a professional look to it?
• The quality of the book, and how was it assembled.

I very much enjoyed this process and look forward to doing this in the future.

Final Project: Potential Final Images

Here are a few potential final images for my current project. I wanted to create images that show the relation between myself and my surroundings. This project is titled Out Of The Woods, playing on the phrase when expressing that you are out of danger. In my case, it's the act of coming out of feeling anxiety. This title came from the song 'Out of the Woods' by my favourite artist/musician Taylor Swift. There is a lyric in the song which really stuck a chord with me, which is "but the monsters turned out to be just trees" which I found describes the feeling after a panic attack. 

As well as trying to express the these feeling through my images, I wanted to do this in positions that felt natural in the environment around me, as well as being inspired by various aspect of dance, eg Ballet, Contemporary. 

I think I am going to present two images from each place I visit in the woods. They will show my expression of anxiety. One displaying a state anxiety, and the other 'coming out' or being free. 

I will be showing my final images on my blog when completed.

Related Posts:

Martha Graham

Anastasia Mastrakouli

Bertil Nilsson

Documentary: Sophie Calle

Sophie Calle (born 1953) is a French writer, photographer, installation artist, and conceptual artist. Sophie Calle’s work is distinguished by its use of arbitrary sets of constraints, and evokes the French literary movement of the 1960s known as Oulipo. Her work frequently depicts human vulnerability, and examines identity and intimacy. She is recognized for her detective-like ability to follow strangers and investigate their private lives. Her photographic work often includes panels of text of her own writing. 

During Visual Studies, I was shown a Documentary about an artist called Sophie Calle. It was a documentary on her life, and I have to say I was quite dazed after watching it. She is a very interesting woman, a little bonkers maybe, but I found the documentary interesting. Although, what the documentary showed the viewer may have been fiction, even then. As it Sophie Calle controlled what we saw in the documentary. Sophie Calle liked to live her life in personas and often lived in different phases. I did enjoy the documentary and I think Sophie Calle is an important artist to learn about and celebrate.

Suite Venitienne 1979, is a series in which she disguised herself and followed a man she had previously met around the city, photographing him. She identifies him as Henri B., and these are the images below.

Suite Venitienne, 1979

Another series we see in the documentary is The Shadow 1981, which consisted of Calle being followed for a day by a private detective, who she had told her mother to hire. It was, in Calle's words, an attempt 'to provide photographic evidence of my own existence'. Aware of her follower, she also wrote about in frequent journal entries throughout the day. Such projects, with their suggestions of intimacy, also questioned the role of the spectator, with viewers often feeling a sense of unease as they became the unwitting collaborators in these violations of privacy. Moreover, the deliberately constructed and thus in one sense artificial nature of the documentary ‘evidence' used in Calle's work questioned the nature of all truths.

The Shadow, 1981

The Hotel (1981) Sophie Calle got a job as a maid in a hotel. While working there, before tidying up the room she photographed it. Capturing the occupants clothes, unmade bed, rubbish and whatever else they brought with them on their journey, giving us an insight to that anonymous person's life. Acting as a spy.

The Hotel, 1981

One thing that stood out to me in the documentary was her work The Chromatic Diet, where Sophie Calle prepared meals for each day in colour-coordinated ways. These images are somewhat satisfying, in the sense that everything is neat and perfect. Each photograph is placed in the exact same placement, with food in the same arrangement too. They make very attractive and appealing images.

The Chromatic Diet, 1998

Martha Graham - Lamentation

Martha Graham was one of the most innovative modern dancer/choreographer for the visual arts, spanning over 70 years. In her lifetime she received honors ranging from the Key to the City of Paris, to Japan's Imperial Order of the Precious Crown.

Martha Graham talks Lamentation, Performed by Peggy Lyman.

Critics and Audiences soon became accustomed to Graham's innovative style of movement and she developed a following among serious dance patrons, scholars and critics. During the early 1930s, her work was focused on emotional themes. Her famous solo, "Lamentation," for example, was a portrait of a grieving women, sitting alone on a bench and moving to an anguished Kodaly piano score. The scholar Elizabeth Kendall has written that "Lamentation (image)" is both a piece about the emotion of grief and a visual homage to contemporary architecture, most notably the new skyscrapers that were beginning to fill the New York skyline Source

I found this dance piece after coming across this image that inspired my current project. I loved this image for the concept and thought it was beautiful. The image struck a chord with me, as it seemed to speak of anxiety, struggle and pain. I want to be able to capture emotion within my own images through the expression of dance, and body language.

I find the dance incredibly moving and again, it struck a chord with me. You can feel the emotion throughout. You can feel the grief, and that's what I want to capture in my images.

"I have spent all my life with dance and being a dancer. It's permitting life to use you in a very intense way. Sometimes it is not pleasant. Sometimes it is fearful. But nevertheless it is inevitable."

Anastasia Mastrakouli

Anastasia creates typography by incorporating the naked human figure. These naked silhouettes form gestures to create each letter of the alphabet by being pressed against glass covered in water, coming closer or further away to make parts of the body form a letter. These images alone are amazing to look at as they individually are their own work of art, even when taken from the sequence. These figures seem very mysterious and are somewhat sensual, whether it be intended or not.

These images have inspired me in my work as I want to capture the body and am interested in how we can use movement of the body to express ourselves. This body of work is a perfect example of this. Here are a few of my favourite images as individuals. 

See images here and here.

Mission Gallery: Right Now!

The exhibition brings together a group of Goldsmith’s graduates who had previously shown an exhibition in 1988 which was titled ‘Current’ at Mission Gallery.

The invitation from Mission Gallery to revisit this event is not just a review of sorts. Right Now! looks at the trajectories of lives from one fixed point, that of an historic art exhibition. Right Now! is a snap shot in time. It is a framework in which to examine the legacy of a definitive period in British Contemporary Art. The focus is on the lives of the people involved and the directions in which they have travelled. 
Curated by Paul Emmanuel & Craig Wood

The more interesting pieces to me was the Crow piece called 'Don't Be Afraid Of The Big Scary Thing', 2015, By Craig Wood. On the assisting plaque it says "Plastic crow with faeces from small birds". I think the aspect that interests me about this piece is the fact it was a bird, instead of a human, with bird faeces on it. To me, I think it's a more comical and witty piece as it seems to be mocking the fact that we humans are quite afraid of birds flying above us, and we flinch and recoil in fear. I'm not sure if I like the piece or not as I feel like it has no valid meaning to it. But art can be whatever you want, I guess.

Don't Be Afraid Of The Big Scary Thing, 2015

My favourite piece by far was the 'Untitled' piece by Ian Davenport. I like how he has worked with the space around him, and how the piece becomes part of the space. I have seen this space before with other pieces including various installation and this work has stood out to me. I love how it stands out against the windows also, I just think it was a beautiful space and spent a lot of time just looking at the merged paint on the floor. I was quite mesmerized. 

Untitled, 2015

I do encourage you to visit this exhibition as there are many more pieces to look at and is showing from 25 April - 07 June 2015. These were just the ones that stood out to me personally. 

Blueprint For A Curtain, 2015

Pencil on Paper piece