Inspiration: Vladimir Koncar

image source

Croatian Designer Vladimir Koncar has created a fantastic range of object typography as part of an experimental project 'Diary Type'. With each new set of objects he creates an alphabet along with thoughts that come to him whilst he's making the letters, often creating a symbolic link between the words and the material used to create them. He's used a whole range of different objects including; raw meat, condoms, cigarettes, rotten apples, beer caps, paperclips and more. I think my favourite set is the one above made from clover. 

The Big Draw

The National Gallery are taking part in The Big Draw: the national campaign raising the profile of drawing as a tool for thought and inventiveness. They provide the materials and there will be advice from artists on hand too - to take part turn up at the National Gallery between the 3-7 Oct at 1pm. If you don't fancy any of these why not see what's going on nearer to you and take part in the big draw!

Inspiration: Aldo Lanzini

Aldo Lanzini caused a bit of a stir at this years S/S Missoni Catwalk show when 30 ushers wore his crochet masks as they lead people to their seats. His masks are beautiful and combine vibrant colours with unusual shapes and forms, Lanzini described his pieces in Vogue Italia as "the condition of contemporary man, some kind of conscious schizophrenia" You can see pictures of the masks at the Missoni show here and Aldo Lanzini's full portfolio, here.

Inspiration: Devon Dagworthy

image source

I adore these knitted drawings by designer & stylist Devon Dagworthy. If your thinking of creating fashion accessories this approach of drawing onto vintage photographs could be a great way to create some beautiful realisations of your design ideas on the figure. 

10 seconds project

Alma Haser's ten seconds project plays homage to the childhood game of hide and seek, which the photographer used to play with her brothers. The project rules are loosely based on the game - Alma gives herself ten seconds to try and hide, or make herself as small as she possibly can, before her camera goes off on self-timer. The photographs show Alma in a variety of domestic locations, with her adult body squeezed into confined spaces, never completely concealed, but also never revealing her true identity.

Alma wants you - no matter how advanced your photography skills are, to join in on this project and bring out the inner child in you. Take your own hide and seek photographs and share them with Alma and the on-going project. All you have to do is email alma@haser.org for more information or to submit your photographs and videos, with the title Ten Seconds Project in the subject. Go on, give it a go!

Listen to these shows!

In this BBC radio 4 programme Adil Ray looks at British life through the lens of contemporary photographers in a new series called Picturing Britain. In the first interview Adil talks to renowned Tim Walker, one of the UK's most influential photographers, as he creates one of his dramatic sets. Listen here as Adil enter's Tim's dream world to look at the impact he has on British design and beauty.

In episode 2 Adil meets Andy Fallon, a music photographer whose authentic style enlivens Britain's music magazines and newspapers. His wife Elle was also a music photographer, but she has left behind the mud of Glastonbury and crush of concerts, to take classic, black and white portraits of bumps and babies. Adil hears how women, four weeks before their birth, no longer hide in tent shaped clothes but celebrate the beauty of their changing bodies.

Listen here to episode 3 where Adil takes to the banger racing track! He goes to an evening just outside Eastbourne with documentary photographer Chloe Dewe Mathews as she works on her latest project: following lady banger drivers as they prepare for their first race. I've always been a bit skeptical about photography on the radio but radio 4 is proving me wrong. There's 2 more show left, it'd be great if you listened to them live and fed back to Kate or Jess about the show afterwards. It's really nice to get a chance to talk about issues and different aspects of photography on the radio - Kirsty

vision11

Vision 11 is London's must attend event for photographers and image-makers, brought to you by the British Journal of Photography. Vision provides an opportunity to meet the industry's latest innovators and test drive their services and technology, get inspired by world-class image makers, access emerging trends and network with like-minded photographers. The event is being hosted over 2 days (18-19 Nov) and features a great programme of talks, demos, seminars and portfolio reviews. The 18th takes focus on the business of photography, whilst day two is for photo enthusiasts who just love taking pictures.

To book a place click here. Just have a look at what day would suit you best and get inspired!

A2 Reflections

A2, here is the link for the Central Saint Martins MA animation students transcriptions videos we looked at in lesson last week. Just to remind you all, the pieces came from a live brief with the National Gallery which involved producing a short film inspired by the gallery's collection. One to watch is Hannes Stummvol, whose graduation film 'La Messicole' was inspired by Paul Gauguin's Harvest: Le Pouldu (1890). With a painterly aesthetic created through digital tools, it features a girl called Chloe daydreaming during the wheat harvest and explores the boundaries between fantasy and reality, work and play, visual arts and music, wheat and poppies. There is nothing wrong with enjoying an artist's work and reflecting a final piece upon it. Watch some of the animations through again to help you get that balance right and become inspired with the modern interpretations you are creating.

Last chance...

To book reduced tickets for Frieze Art Fair 2011 at Regents Park. Tickets are available at the reduced rate until midnight Oct 1st. So hurry! If your thinking of doing art foundation this contemporary art fair is something you shouldn't miss. The fair presents the most interesting galleries working today. To read more about it click here to remind you of what the big fuss is all about.

Pipilotti Rist: Eyeball Massage

Contemporary Swiss artist Pipilotti Rist presents her first major London exhibition at the Hayward Gallery from the 28th Sep.. that's tomorrow (to Jan 8th 2012).
Rist is renowned for fusing colour, sensual images and mesmerising music to create immersive video installations in which the visitors themselves become important elements of the artwork. She uses themes such as birth and death, family and love, the body and the natural world whilst playing with size and scale and the natural world vs the urban environment.

You do have to pay to get in but it will be worth it as it won't just be your eyes that are 'massaged' at this psychedelic exhibition. There will be sculptures and installations that provide an adventure for the whole body, with opportunities to lie on beanbags and listen to music and watch films peering through floorboards. Watch the video below to get a sneak peek into the exhibition!

Artist creates masterpiece on an iPad!

Artist David Kassan paints his life models using a simple App called Brushes. The short video above shoes Kassan using a variety of virtual brushes. You can watch the painting take shape from blank screen to a finished piece from about 6mins. Kassan is not the first artist to use the iPad for his work. David Hockney has been converted too! So much so that in Jan 2011 at the RA, Hockney will be showcasing his first ever iPad landscapes (See image below!)

"The iPad is a very new medium for artists, but it has certain things about it that are quite fantastic. One of them is speed with which you could establish colour, palette, faster than any other medium I have ever come across." [David Hockney, Metro] 

Using an iPad as an artist brings you new freedom with your materials and if any of you want to have a go and don't have one at home then ask Kirsty (Who might let you use hers if you ask nicely!)

GERHARD RICHTER: PANORAMA

A new exhibition of Gerhard Richter's paintings is taking place at Tate Modern from 6th Oct to coincide with the artists 80th birthday. Panorama is a new major retrospective exhibition that groups together significant moments of the painters career. It includes realist paintings based on photographs such as the famous 'Betty, 1988', gestural abstractions such as the squeegee paintings, subtle landscapes, colour charts and glass constructions.

Since the sixties, Gerhard Richter has immersed himself in a rich and varied exploration of painting. Panorama presents Richter's most ambitious abstract paintings from his 1974 colour chart containing 4096 different coloured squares, to his 20m long 'Stroke' of 1980, to the richly coloured 'Forest' squeegee paintings of 1990 and culminating in the beautiful six-part series 'Cage' from 2006 on long loan to Tate Modern. The exhibition is curated by Tate Director Nicholas Serota and is one not to be missed!

Inspiration: Caroline Mak

How incredible is this installation that artist Caroline Mak created entitled 'Root Architecture'. The tubing itself spans an incredible 4000ft and I think it looks fantastic! Her installations often involve slow repetitive processes and unique uses of materials, you can read more about her work here and see the rest of her portfolio here. 

Exhibition: Block Party

image source, Rohan Chhabra 'Hunter Jacket, Embodying Ethics' 2010 

Opening today is the touring exhibition by the Crafts Council 'Block Party: inspired by the art of the tailor'. The exhibition features work by 10-15 artists/designers who use pattern cutting as basis for their practise but who create not only garments as outcomes, such as the piece above by Rohan Chhabra. 

Where: The Design Junction

When: 22nd-25th September 

Cost: free

You can see some more images of what will be on show, here.

Hunter Jacket, Embodying Ethics, Rohan Chhabra, 2010

Inspiration: Andrea Bricco

Artist Andrea Bricco's 'Food Series' photographs are simply stunning; combing drawings of food and real food within them as well as quirky scenes created on plates with food and plants. 

Inspiration: Andrea Bricco

Artist Andrea Bricco has made these wonderful 'Food Drawings' combining drawings and actual food. Perhaps your initial observational studies could be documented in the same manner?

Exhibition: Origin and Tent

image source

Each year the Crafts Council host 'Origin' a craft event that showcases the amazing work of designer/makers for across the globe, with the ethos that the objects for sale are 'made not manufactured'. It is well worth a visit to see these amazing handmade objects. It's worth investigating whose showing before you go so you can make sure you find them once your there. Some of my personal favourites are Ekta Kaul, Nina Fuhrer, Annie Neill and Muir & Osbourne. You can also see pictures from last years event here.

If you are visiting Origin you might as well visit it's partner show Tent which showcases design objects with everything from art to furniture. Also remember this is all taking place as part of the London Design Festival so check the listings to see what else is on nearby!

When: 22nd-28th September 2011

Where: Old Spitalfields Market and Truman Brewery

Cost: Single ticket £10/8 Multi ticket £15/12

Inspiration: Wear Palettes

image from Wear Palettes

If you're at the stage in your project where you need to come up with a colour palette 'Wear Palettes' will provide great inspiration! They take pictures of street fashion and create palettes from what people are wearing - you could do the same thing! Find a picture that inspires you and use it to make your own set of colours. This palette below was created by Design For Mankind from an image by Aaryn West (a great resources for current trends in colour and pattern) I love the way the colours selected are in triangles rather than rectangles or squares!

You could use a colour palette generator or investigate ways of creating palette's in Photoshop, there's a tutorial for one way of doing that here. Here's an example of a palette I made from the Batik Project still life in Photoshop using the eyedropper tool and the rectangle tool.

COLOUR LESSON

We have just looked at the colour wheel.  In this blog are notes and images from the lesson.  During the lesson we laid thick opaque paint in Newton's Colour Wheel and thin watery translucent paint in boxes beside it. In the wheel and the boxes we have painted 3 Primary Colours (Red, Yellow and Blue)  then mixed those colours to make three 3 Secondary Colours (Orange, Green and finally Purple).  We have then mixed those secondary colour with the colours either side of them on the wheel to make our 6 Tertiary Colours.

The wheel can now help in grouping colours together.  Harmonious Colours can be seen next to each other and Complimentary Colour opposite.

• If the Complimentary (opposite) colour to blue is orange, what is the complimentary colour to red and Yellow? Record this on your colour sheets 

 The colour wheel was originally devised by Sir Isaac Newton, he of apple on the head fame. There are more contemporary colour wheels, predominately the wheel produced by Johannes Itten, who taught at the Bauhaus School (Germany) in the early to mid 1900’s. The colour wheel contains all the colours in the colour spectrum. The colour spectrum is made by passing light through a prism, the light divides into bands of colour, from purple, through blue, to green, yellow, orange and then to red. Newton then turned the flat lin spectrum into a circle. The circle then makes it easy to read the colours and how the two sides of the wheel contrast.

During the lesson we looked at artists that have used colour in their work. The use of colour has been used to maybe express an emotion.
 

Patrick Heron (monochrome colour)

Anish Kapoor (vibrant sculptures)

Pablo Picasso (early blue period)

Tony Cragg (found objects)

Other artists to look at would be Mark Rothko, Henri Matisse, Marc Chagall, Piet Mondrian, Wassily Kandinsky, Robert Delaunay, Andre Durain, Vincent Van Gogh, Louis Anquetin.

• Choose an artist and think about: How does the artist use colour? Is it harmonious, or primary or complementary colour? If the colour expresses an emotion, what emotion is it?

 

The websites of the Tate Gallery , Royal Academy and the BBC Paintings website may help you.

DEPTFORD X 2011

From the 23rd Oct - 3rd Nov 2011 Deptford X is returning with a full programme of events spread over two weekends. The main programme features work by artists responding to a theme set by curators Indra Khanna and Hew Locke. It is an arts event born of Deptford's creative community and based on a belief in the limitless potential of the area. Look out for the Billboard project, Deptford Biscuits and a host of exhibitions in all art galleries in Deptford!

Deptford X exists to promote the best contemporary visual art and celebrates art with the widest possible audience. A lot of the main studio spaces in the area will be opening up for either one or both weekends so this is a great chance to see what up and coming artists are getting up to! There are 2 walking tours during the festival: one by Q art on Sat 1st Oct (Ask Kirsty for more details on this!), and one which starts at The Old Police Station, New Cross where you will be given an MP3 player and a map to find your way round.

Have a look on the exhibitions board in the resource area to see the programme and check out whats going on when. It is well worth a visit!

Exhibition: Heal's celebrate 60 years of Marimekko

The centerpiece of the pop-up shop will be this limited edition mistral sofa, image source

Heal's London are celebrating 60 years of Marimekko as part of this years London Design Festival with a pop-up Marimekko shop. The pop-up shop opens today and until 25th September and promises to be a 'whistle stop tour of Scandinavian design'.

In addition to what's on display there will be an in-store talk by Wallpaper's Editor Henrietta Thompson taking place at the pop-up shop on Tuesday 20th September from 6pm; for tickets email marketing@heals.co.uk with your full name and postal address.

When: 17th-25th September 2011

Where: Heals London (Tottenham Court Road)

Cost: free

Painters Framing Their World

I was lucky enough to visit the highly acclaimed Frank Auerbach show at the Courtauld Gallery in London two years ago.

The exhibition displayed Auerbach's paintings and drawings of London building sites from 1952 to 1962.  This was a period in history when central London was being hastily rebuilt, following the devastation of World War Two.  Auerbach spent the ten years between 1952 and 1962 sketching on the building sites, quickly capturing his reactions to the construction taking place.  In the drawing below you can see how Auerbach was thinking of using bold lines of perspective to FRAME VIEWS and lead the spectator into his painting.  The resulting works are a WINDOW onto a world of large mechanical construction sites.

Study for Shell Building Site from the Festival Hall

Many of the paintings and drawings are dominated by the thick lines you see above, portraying the huge building girders that make up the frame of a modern building.  Cranes are also used as FRAMING devises in many of the paintings and drawings, their legs once again portrayed in thickly rendered lines.

Shell Building Site from the Thames

In other works (like the one above) Auerbach conveys the devastation to the earth using light, colour and texture to document the vast holes that are cut into the ground.  Here the PICTURE PLANE is used to frame areas of earth at the sides and the vast spaces below.  Auerbach used IMPASTO oil paint (thick areas of undiluted paint) to build up areas to create more depth to the painting.  The whole effect draws the viewer into looking beyond the frame, into the painting and then onto areas the artist wanted the viewer to focus on.

Have a look at these videos, explaining the work and Auerbach talking about the work himself.

Exhibition: Wool Modern

La Galleria are hosting an exhibition which I cannot wait to visit; 'Wool Modern'. The exhibition is showcasing the versatility of wool with pieces by designers such as Alexander McQueen and Vivienne Westwood along with examples of applications for wool for safety, technical and smart textiles, car interiors and more. The exhibition is in association with the 'campaign for wool' and you can see a full list of exhibitors, along with a wonderful colour changing sheep - here!

Exhibition: It's London Fashion Week!

It's London Fashion Week and as always there is a whole host of things going on in London this week.

It seems as though this year theres a big push to enjoy what's happening without attending! The London Fashion Week site are streaming the catwalk shows as they are happening, have a look at the the digital schedule to find out what's on and when so you don't miss out. The Guardian will be posting on tumblr throughout the week. Topshop are also streaming events from their Unique collection.  

Matthew Williamson will be showcasing his S/S12 collection in the Turbine Hall at the Tate Modern.

Chanel have a pop-up shop at Harrods. This one-off shop is located on the ground floor, with black and white walls, embossed lion heads and Chanel accessories, bags, shoes and fine jewellery set against the backdrop of a magical forest it promises to be well worth a visit.  

La Galleria are hosting an exhibition 'Wool Modern' showcasing the versatility of wool with pieces by Vivienne Westwood, Kenzo, Richard Nicoll and more

Inspiration: Mimi Pong

Mimi Pong has created these wonderful reversible bags so that you can decide which to have, Swan or Cygnet it's up to you! The bags are made from a heavy weight cotton canvas and have embroidered features. 

Student Work:A2 Photography

Here's some wonderful new work by some of our A2 Photography students.....

Journeys

ASSIGNMENT TITLE: Journeys	YEAR         AS PHOTOGRAPHY GROUP
TUTOR/S            K Potter, J Townsend ASSESSOR/S         VERIFIED.	START DATE       19 September 2011 SUBMISSION DATE     21 November 2011

UNIT MAP: Technical Studies introduction assignment   Unit 1 Please ensure you have your own SLR camera by the Half Term break!

ASSESSABLE OUTCOMES AO1   Record observations, experiences, ideas, information and insights in visual and other forms, appropriate to intentions AO2   Experiment with and select appropriate resources, media, materials, techniques and            processes, reviewing and refining their ideas as their work develops. AO3   Develop ideas through sustained investigations and explorations, selecting and using materials, processes and resources.           Identifying and interpreting relationships and analysing methods and outcomes AO4   Present a personal, coherent and informed response, realising intentions and articulating and explaining connections           with the work of others (Assessment Grid attached)

GUIDELINES The first 8 weeks of your AS Photography course will be focussing on technical studies to get you started in how to use an SLR camera, process your own film, build your own camera and confidently use a darkroom, assess your own work and carry out competent and thorough research to establish professional links between your work and the work of others. For this initial project you are required to experiment as much as possible, go with your ideas and develop skills in observation, composition, tone and the formal elements.  Firstly, you need to have a think about what a journey is and what questions you can ask.... Where do you take journeys in the day? How many? When? What was the last journey you took? How are your journeys documented? How do you plot a journey? You might want to consider journeys on a more simplistic level too. The journey of a leaf falling, your bus trip to college, what you hear, see and taste, where your things travel from and to, where do you end up at the end of the day? Where do planes travel? Consider evidence of journeys instead such as vapour trails, clouds, water, railway lines, roads, tyre tracks, foot-prints. Raindrops and snails. Perhaps think about animation? How could an inanimate object undertake a journey? You might also want to explore internal journeys, those of your mind, your thoughts, your dreams or the journey of your body. We will be doing a group and individual brainstorm to get you going, always an important part of the idea generating process. In order to help the thinking process, research is the vital clue to finding ideas and identifying key photographers whose work is relevant to your ideas and the theme of the brief. It is ok to copy their tactics first and then see where your work goes from there. Without the research, your ideas cannot move forward and must all be analysed and documented in your technical log books and forms the majority of all your assessment objectives!

The following list is seen as indicative but not definitive as reference to this assignment brief. You are encouraged to broadly research at first whilst ideas develop, then refine your research and increase the level of depth of your understanding. Stephen Gill’s A Book of Field Studies, Richard Billingham’s Black Country, Francesca Woodman, Ana Mendieta, Daniel Meadows’ The Bus, Robert Capa, W. Eugene Smith, Magnum, Boris Mikhailov, Bill Viola’s Nantes Triptych, David Wojnarowicz, Andy Goldsworthy, Douglas Gordon, Simon Norfolk, Wolfgang Tilmans’ Commuters, Walker Evans’ Subway Passengers, Dryden Goodwin’s Cast, Cindy Sherman

TASKS – the things you must do

All of the following are initial points for you to get started with; therefore you are expected to generate further material in order to produce a personal response to the brief that goes beyond this.

1. Research composition, tone and the formal elements including composition.
2. Take photographs of a Journey using pinhole camera and photogram.
3. Take photographs of a small Journey using SLR.
4. Think of a metaphor that relates and photograph this. 

As 1^st year AS Photography students you are expected to not to simply rely on 1 roll of film. A successful student will sufficiently explore potential themes for some time before developing (AO3 – strand 1) the idea further

Also:

• Gather as much information as you can based around the theme of Journey through drawing, photography, collecting visual information from magazines, exhibitions, newspapers etc
• Gather as much information as you can based around the theme of Journeys through art historical research into the list of artists and photographers given
• Use the Library effectively to improve your research not just the photography section!
• Start making and collecting images that explore your theme
• Develop work from this collected and researched information which shows a sense of direction and strength of idea
• Produce your own photographs and other means of recording observations
• Learn new skills and processes as part of your investigation and research
• Develop your ideas towards a coherent outcome
• Produce a outcome/s which fulfils all criteria
• Provide analysis of your work

1.     Sketchbook

2.     Evidence of research

3.     Evidence of development

4.     Exploration of media and techniques

Outcome(s) Written evaluation of the work which makes reference to time and your creative problem KEY SKILLS MAP This assignment will foster key skills in C3.1a Contribute to a group discussion about a complex subject C3.2 Read and synthesise information from two extended documents about a complex subject. One of these documents should include at least one image.

GRADING CRITERIA

A separate feedback sheet will be returned to you once this assignment has been marked. Should you disagree with the grading decision, details of the College Appeals procedure can be found in your Student Handbook or your Programme Handbook.

AS Photography updates

Coming soon in photography AS:

Pinhole Cameras:

You will need to bring into lesson:

A piece of tin foil
A pin
A suitable box (twining tea box is perfect)

We will also be doing some Cyanotype Prints of which you can find further information prior to the lesson here on the V&A website: http://www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/microsites/photography/processframe.php?processid=pr012


For your research into Journeys photographers you can find information on Stephen Gill'S Field Studies project: http://www.stephengill.co.uk/portfolio/about

Ori Gerssht: http://www.westminster.ac.uk/schools/humanities/modern-and-applied-languages/news-and-events/events-calendar/2011/artist-in-conversation-ori-gersht

Dryden Goodwin:http://www.drydengoodwin.com/

and Wolfgang Tilmans: http://tillmans.co.uk/



Information here should get you started, but don't forget the library too!

Inspiration: Andere Monjo

Artist Andere Monjo uses some interesting techniques to get her primary source imagery, such as these pieces above. Painting sheets with ink and leaving them out in the rain. The surfaces she captures are then used to create these wonderful 'Rain Tables'. Have a look at her full portfolio for more images, as well as different projects and techniques. 

inspiration: Klash Erbert

Swedish designer Klas Ernflo has the most exciting portfolio - from drawings of knitwear, quilts and fabric footballs.