Grant Thompson

Lecture with Grant Thompson

Our lecture with Grant Thompson was one of my favorites, he began the lecture by briefly describing the nature of the word modernism (which I thought was fitting seeing as the rest of his lecture was based around modern concepts and ideas). He quoted "Modernism - Consciously rejects the past to look to the future", this is the theory he used to support his main topic "form follows function". He started off by saying there are two approaches in design, a formalist approach (which concentrates more on the overall appearance and aesthetics of the design), and a functionist approach (which revolves around how the design works).

Grant talked about how people look at something and immediately try to work out it's function rather than acknowledge the objects form. I actually didn't realize how ignorant I was being lol but I guess now that I know, I'll be a little more observant from now on. Grant gave us an example on functionist approach, saying that if we look at a fork, the first thing that comes to mind is that it's an eating utensil, our natural instincts tell us to acknowledge it's function before the form.

I did some research and found out that the term "form follows function" is a principle used in modern architecture, that the shapes used in modern 20th century buildings are used to be suitable for the functionality of the building. I wasn't really surprised about this finding though, in actual fact, I thought it was quite obvious that buildings should be more concentrated on function rather than form, otherwise it would be a pretty dangerous world (knowing how some architects let their imagination get the best of them sometimes lol).

Google images: http://www.bluefountainmedia.com/business/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/form-vs-function.jpg

Auckland Art Gallery

My first time visiting the Auckland Art Gallery, and I quote Usher Raymond when I say "OMG" lol. I thought it was amazing, the architecture of the building was phenomenal (you can laugh but this is my opinion), the whole mumbo jumbo about form following function left my brain while I stood there in awe. After 5 minutes of drooling over the architecture, I got myself together and started analyzing the place (such a weird word "analyzing" I feel like a scientist saying this).

The Auckland Art Gallery to me had a very unique structure, if I were to sum it up in a few words I would say "flashy but also very stable". I wanted to observe the building piece by piece so first I looked at the shapes involved, the gallery was very cubed. Immediately you would think "BORING!" but the composition of these cubes were interesting, they reminded me of tetris for some reason, like the blocks were just pieced together but the entire structure wasn't fully cubed (an incomplete puzzle maybe).

Google Images: http://dangerousintersection.org/wp-content/uploads/2006/04/tetris%20-%20unsafe.jpg

Grant also gave me a "heads up" on the water flowing through the art gallery, making it's way outside to the flower chandelier. To me, it revealed the idea of continuity and the art gallery having a life of it's own (this idea would be more effective, seeing as the gallery is right next to albert park). The art that was on display at the time also supported the idea of continuity, like the benches in the lunch area which went through the ground, and if you were on the floor underneath the lunch area, you would see the chairs coming out from the ceiling.

Google Images: http://www.wayneyellow.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/IMG_1971.jpg

Overall I thought the Auckland Art Gallery was awesome :)

Tiffany Singh

Tiffany Singh

Our lecture with Tiffany Singh was quite interesting, I expected an artist who exhibitions her work just like all other artists, but, she impressed mewith her projects as they were community based works. A great example of her community based work would be her project "Table of Exchange", which was a project which involved 77 of her sculptures on presentation in Albert Park, instead of her work being sold, she wanted the works to be traded for items.

Her project "knock on the sky and listen to the sound"was a project that involved a large number of wind chimes hanging from a ceiling of an art gallery, but the work wasn't the thing that impressed me, rather it was how the people interacted with the work, she quoted "I am more interested in what people do with my work rather than the work itself". The main objective of this project was for the public to take a wind chime with them and decorate it, and in due time, bring the wind chime back to be hung from a tree in the middle of the gallery. I found this amazing, the journey's these wind chimes go through after leaving the gallery, one of thethe wind chimes ended up in Hong Kong, which I thought was unbelievable.

Color

Color is an a key factor in Tiffany's work, she quotes "color is what binds everything together", her color palette resembles the color's from the rainbow, or in her case the 7 chakras system, which I found very interesting that she would use these colors in her work, these colors have very important meanings and how she applies them to her work is somewhat unorthodox, but very bright and full of life (which in my opinion is the purpose of the 7 chakras). Her work involves a lot of religious and cultural motifs, like the sculptures of the Virgin Mary, and other religious gods, and in my opinion, her way of decorating them with these colors is somewhat of a celebration or embracing these items, which in a way links to India's "Holi Festival", a day where the people throw colored powder (I don't know if they're spices) at each other, a way of celebrating two of their gods making love.

Fran Alison

Fran Alison

Fran Alison is a jeweler and currently a lecturer at the Manukau School of Visual Arts, her practice involves a lot of collaboration as she was apart of an artist group who worked on a project called "Weeds". In the beginning of the lecture, Fran explains the dictionary definition of collaboration quoting "-1.work jointly esp. in a literary or artistic production. Oxford English Dictionary", She further explains her lecture on collaboration with her personal experiences.

I think explaining her work from my perspective isa good way to start. Fran mentioned in her lecture that she loves to work with metal, she loves the nature of metal but her methods of manipulating metal is incredibly unorthodox. She takes a leap of faith sometimes and decides to crush metal, perhaps for the reason that she hopes for an interesting, abstract outcome.

1993 in Melbourne called ‘Conversationswith Kitchen Utensils’.

Fran takes an interest in how false items can be perceived as real items, she emphasizes how the appearance of an item is enough to fool the viewer. Fran made these fake biscuits while she was working for a model making company, using her skills to make false ice cream for advertisements. Fran quotes, "This was my first foray into faking it." I personally like the idea of falseimpressions, and how the the eye and mind are easily fooled by image.

Detail Assorted Titbits

In 1999, Fran worked on a series of works she called ‘dress up’, these were a series of wearable works made from steel and mesh. Fran says the works are heavily influenced by polynesian culture, and she acknowledges the floral patterns and designs for it's diversity (in terms of meanings and ideas). One of her pieces were of a samoan lei which she quoted "The lei particularly. A necklace that is given in greeting and parting in pacific culture, I have repeatedly used this form in my work." her work is an interesting mix of the old and new as she names thepiece "Urban Lei".

"Urban Lei" 1999

a series of works called "dress up" in 1999

Fran decided to work in collaboration with other artists in 2005 with the show "Weeds". The project was her attempt to progress her work and explore different approaches in art making, she quoted ". For me it was also a point at which I started to move my ideas for exploration in my practice from the house to the garden." In my opinion, her work seemed to be stronger in this project, perhaps for the reason that at that time, her experience has made her into a better artist, but, also the fact that she collaborated with other artists, allowing her to give and share ideas with artists who use ceramic and cast glass. "Weeds" was shown at "Galerie Biro" in Munich Germany in September 2010, the work revealed was interesting as they were made from collected items, I thought the idea of using a biscuit tin and decorating it was quite amusing at first, but thinking about the process of which it was made, like floral patterns cut out and collaged on, makes for an interesting composition.

Remake of a piece from Weeds 2 at Quoil

Remake of a piece from Weeds 2 at Quoil

Eldon Booth

Eldon Booth

Eldon Booth is a moving image artist who makes documentary based films, these films are shot over a long period of time in which the characters involved change in appearance and personality. Booth uses ideas that displays information dealing with fact and fiction, usually documentaries are based on fact, and accurate information, but there are documentaries that deal with false information but revealed in documentary style to label it true. A documentary known as Exit through the Gift Shop is an good example of mockumentary type filming.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0b90YppquE&feature=related

Exit through the Gift Shop is based on the world of street art, the documentary/mockumentary displays footage of actual events that occur over a period of time. The film follows Thierry Guetta an amateur film maker as he ventures deep into the world of street art and eventually becomes one himself. The documentary takes a mysterious turn of events as Guetta becomes Mr Brainwash, a street alias that builds a massive reputation for himself. The film becomes somewhat a too good to be true outcome, revealing the locations of the infamous Banksy which is highly unbelievable since the artist is a wanted criminal. Mockumentaries however disguise the fact that the information is false with it's overall appearance and the acting styles of the characters within the film.

Eldon Booth is currently working on a feature length film called Finding Honk, the film is based on a character named Heydon, a young man searching for his older brother Honk. The story is filmed in documentary style, although there is evidence of cinematic techniques such as super slow-motion scenes and colour correction/grading. After watching the trailer, I realized how I couldn't tell if it was a documentary or mockumentary, even if I had no knowledge of these characters, I couldn't tell if the information portrayed is false because the of the little knowledge i have on the characters, the little knowledge I have on the events of that time, and some of the shots seemed shaky as if the camera was hand held.

During the lecture, we had the opportunity to watch the film Elephant directed by Gus Van Sant. The film was a re-inactment of the massacre that occurred at Columbine High School. The film was shot in documentary style with a cinematic film techniques like color correction/grading. Since the film was based on true events, the film seems absolutely true, and any traces of false information would be covered by the techniques used in the film.

Mary Curtis

Mary Curtis

Mary Curtis is a New Zealand Jeweler currently lecturing at the Manukau School of Visual Arts, her work consists jewelry made from functional 3D objects with historical value. Curtis is a collector of objects, like Frances Hansen, not only is the work important but the way it is displayed is just as important as the work itself. "Stuff" was a a show Mary Curtis held that involved 70 pieces of hand made jewelry displayed inside a glass case, the pieces of jewelry were scattered in a random composition inside the case. I personally didn't see the point in making it that way at first, but when Curtis explained how the pieces are so small, it would be a great way of displaying it as one big piece. I also realized that the pieces are so small and scattered, that the display forces the viewer to move in closer and engage with the artwork more. Curtis not only has a unique way of making work, but she also thinks about every other variable when presenting it. I personally don't have much experience with presentation of work, but seeing her work and her installations make me realize how I should take installations seriously.

Personal Experience with Presentation

Coming into art school, I thought the process of making work was the most important part of art making, seeing as it was the longest process, I spent more time thinking about making art work than presenting it. During the painting brief this year, I had prepared 3 main works to display for my final, preparing the work was difficult enough, making 3 main works and preparing experimental works to support those works was time consuming, my thoughts were knowing that I had finished, I wouldn't have to worry about anything else but hanging my works up on the wall before the due time. However, hanging the works up was not the only thing I had to worry about, Frances Hansen advised me to think hard about how my works should be displayed. First off, I had to decide which was my strongest piece and second, how would i present these as works that show development over time. This took me a good 2 hours of thinking, but i eventually came to a conclusion and presented my work with a linear composition, showing my strongest work at the top, and the bottom two as my supporting pieces. The experiments were placed in an order according to the time they were made, the earlier pieces on the bottom, and the latest pieces on the top. I thought this was a good way of presenting my work and showing how they developed over time.

Eldon Booth

Leilani Kake

Leilani Kake

Leilani Kake is a video installation artist of Maori/Cook Island Descent. Leilani Kake acknowledges her culture and embraces it through her art, not to mention her interest in other cultures as well.

I was intrigued by Kake's piece Tino Rangatira Tanga, at first it was difficult to watch the pain her father had to go through, however, I felt it was necessary to look past the pain and realise the importance of the process. Firstly, the video shows the reactions of the people surrounding her father, they're mood seemed to be very calm and they're actions revealed were very supportive. To most people, undergoing this much pain is quiet unberrable to watch, but when you watch the film with and the people there to support him, the mood is very calm and becomes a little easier to take in whats going on. Perhaps kake tries to emphasise the importance of family and friends, how they're presence is of great value, they're presence is a source of stregnth and courage. Later on in this piece, she documents her fathers final moments. I found it extremely difficult to watch because I had a similar experience in the past, however, the atmosphere was very different. By saying this I mean the scene depicted in this piece revealed a calm and soothing mood, her father lying on the hospital bed while two young kids play a song for him. Personally I feel the song is like a departing gift for a safe voyage to the next life, or maybe a sign of respect and acknowledgement of his lifetime achivements, whatever it is, the song was very effective due to the fact that it made it easier to watch.

Another piece that I took interest in was Nga Hau E Wha - The Four Winds, Leilani's piece explores the ideas behind female cancer awareness, in our lecture with Kake, she quoted that women (of polynesian descent especially) are constantly falling victim to cancer because they refuse to get a check up. She felt the matter needed to be adressed, so she planned this project for a very long time, making calculated decisions along the way by communicating with women and gathering they're thoughts on the issues. Eventually she decided to create a video installation, the installation consisted of four projected videos of women floating on water. The women in the installation represent the four different stages of a females life which is young adulthood, adulthood, pregnancy and menapause, each of these projected in a small dark room. According to eventfinder, the nudity was very porocative, but the fact still remained that these issues had to be adressed and I felt the nudity was necessary, seeing as women cannot find the courage to undergo these procedures the piece is to inspire confidence. She commented that women need to take pride in their bodies, and not be afraid to nude. People only ever see themselves nude in two situations, one is when you shower, and the other is during sex, but, if women just take the time to look at themselves nude in the mirror, they will acknowledge their beauty.