25 February 2018

Photography:

Over the last few weeks I have been taking photographs a short distance from where I live, in an urban environment. For several years I have been fascinated by two wooden telephone posts (on different streets) which bristle with staples. It is partly the idea of the accumulation over time of past events whose traces have almost disappeared and partly my love of interesting textures.

I also enjoy photographing nature. I managed to catch a crow in flight just after it took off. It then circled around and moved out of shot, leaving me with a picture of trees with the light peeping through. The camera was set to single shot and there wasn’t time to change it to continuous shooting..

 

 

I have started experimenting with Google’s Nik filters https://www.google.com/nikcollection/ , which I found out about on YouTube and have watched a number of tutorials. The software is free and can be used within Photoshop and Lightroom as well stand-alone (which I haven’t tried). For the picture of the crow I also used the filters on Instagram to increase the dramatic effect.

 

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Dada

I am researching Dada as background for my 2,000 word essay, starting with a book by Hans Richter who had personal involvement with that art movement.  Dada: art and anti-art  is a totally gripping account of the events, personalities, ideas and methods.

Dada was not an artistic movement in the accepted sense; it was a storm that broke over the world of art as the war did over the nations. It came without warning, out of a heavy, brooding sky, and left behind it a new day in which the stored-up energies released by Dada were evidenced in new forms, new materials, new ideas, new directions …

Richter, H. (1997). Dada. Art and anti-art. London: Thames & Hudson Ltd.

I have chosen to explore the collages of Max Ernst, who was associated with Dada and later with Surrealism. The artwork I have been focusing on is a collage Here Everything is Still Floating created in 1920.

Max Ernst Here Everything Is Still Floating (Hier ist noch alles in der Schwebe) 1920

Ernst used pre-existing printed material which he combined to create an alternate dreamlike reality. Relating this to my work, it connects to one type of collage I make, in which I  juxtapose unrelated images from magazines to create hybrid forms, strange worlds or the absurd.

The original collage for the above work was 10.5 x 12.4 cm (without the mount).   It was photographed and reproduced at a larger size, which overcame the limited size of the source material (an issue I also face with using images  from magazines).

19 February 2018

Image transfers cont’d.

I used another image in the same way, transferring the laser prints onto heavy paper, trying to achieve an eroded quality.

I photographed the one I found most interesting, which I may use for a screen-print.

After transferring more images onto fabric I washed it to remove the residual bits of paper and instead of ironing the calico squares I decided their crumpled state enhanced the worn appearance.

 

impermanence
wear & tear
fragmentation
damage
chance

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Sigmar Polke

I have started looking at the work of Sigmar Polke, who was fascinated with the halftone dots of printed material, enlarging the images using a projector to scale them up on his canvas then painting them.

One of the issues with using found images from magazines is the relatively small size of the source material. I am considering ways of overcoming this limitation by re-photographing my collages and printing them out at a larger size or creating screen-prints at a larger size

 

12 February 2018

Halftone dots cont’d

Images edited in PagePlus showing changes to original image with increasing dot size

I have continued experimenting with halftone dots. While resizing an image in Serif PagePlus I looked at the image editing options and found a filter for changing the image to halftone dots. The dots were circular in shape even at larger sizes (see above), unlike converting to halftone in Photoshop where the dots became distorted.

At this stage, I am interested in the process of partially breaking down images. I prepared more images in Photoshop and got multiple laser copies so that I could have repeats which I transferred using acrylic medium as before (applying patchily so that parts would rub away when the backing paper was removed).

Backing paper being soaked and removed

 

Inverted image – Photoshop halftone – acrylic medium transfer

 

Layers of green/gold acrylic washes added

I added several layers of green gold acrylic wash over the whole surface. When it was dry I added red to the lips, but I was not happy with the result so I’m going to try reworking those areas.

I have overpainted the lips with an opaque magenta, which I think is better and I may add some patches of gold leaf. I am also considering ripping up the piece and rearranging the fragments.

 

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Acrylic medium transfers

I found this information on transferring photocopies some years ago, probably some of the earliest info online about this process

http://www.calsk8.com/zeitgeist/acrylicgeltransfers.htm

5 February 2018

Halftone dots

One of the techniques to prepare digital images for screen-printing is to use half-tone dots saved as a greyscale image. I thought of applying this to a photograph of one of my small casts, which I then printed out at A4 size. I am fascinated by the way this becomes something different, looking like a very old illustration. I am starting to create more work using elements from previous things I have made.

 

Simplification & Fragmentation

I had a piece to complete for a collaborative exhibition. The theme was to make something which was about ourself or where we were from. I used the photo taken for my college ID, turned it to greyscale and experimented with the size of the half-tone dot.

I am fascinated with how visual representation can be broken down through simplification and fragmentation. I wanted the image to start breaking down but be still recognisable. As I did not have time to make a screen-print I decided to make an image transfer. It was quite a long time since I had used that process and I misjudged the amount of acrylic medium I needed to apply. When I removed the paper backing some areas lifted off the background. I had originally intended work further into the surface by sanding and painting, but the fragmented quality I achieved through mishap was just what I wanted.

Moving between digital and physical processes allows plenty of scope for manipulating images and the use of physical processes brings with it the element of chance and unexpected results.

Chance & Unpredictability

Chance and unpredictability are vital aspects of the work I  most enjoy making.  I am inspired by Russell Mills for whom chance and unpredictability in the processes he uses underpins his work and I feel a strong resonance with his ideas.

http://russellmills.com/russell_mills/