So,
this first week back has been vaguely productive, beginning two new projects
alongside inviting more people to guest curate for isthisit? I also installed
my work for The Sacred Screen exhibition, which went fairly well, and is still
on for a few more days. Unfortunately, I didn’t go to any shows (apart from my
own), as they seemed to all be opening this week. Next week, however, will be
packed full of viewing.
Towards
the end of last week’s post, I mentioned having an interest in Amazon Dash
buttons, small devices that you place around your house which allow you to
order certain specific products with a click of a button. They are hooked up to
your Amazon account, so it’s effectively ordering products with Prime that you
would buy anyway, but attempting to automate it more. For example, there’s a
button for Andrex toilet roll which you’re supposed to place next to the
toilet, so when you see you’re running out you can simply press the button and
new rolls get delivered to you the next day. There are multiple buttons for
different products. These buttons simply function as another step towards the
automation of our daily lives, one step closer to the post-human product being
portrayed in WALL-E. Although these buttons are a ‘great’ thing, there are
various set-backs, having to be in when the products arrive, delayed posting,
people randomly pressing the button, etc. These buttons, whether they work well
or not, are still shown to be a milestone of progress. I’m currently
incorporating these buttons into digital prints that I’m having printed onto
aluminium. The prints utilise imagery from various video game/film worlds,
where the automation has occurred, usually leading to unhappy occurrences. They
also feature some of the things happening in the now, in ‘real’ life, from an
image of a drone transporting a package to the first AI.
In
the image displayed below I’ve combined 2 locations from video games, Half Life
2 and Mirrors Edge. Each of the video games feature government corruption and
surveillance, set in two different versions of a future society. On top of the
two already overlaid images is a Sky Sapience drone, a product that hovers
above various moving vehicles in order to gain a 360-degree view of surrounding
areas. These are utilised in warfare, alongside border control and traffic
control. I find it interesting how one product can be utilised for both
military and civilian use. The 3D button attached to the print is for Simple
Human products, specifically there bin bags, although the company itself is
dedicated to ‘make people more efficient in their daily tasks’. I’m thinking
that these prints can become a series of works, each considering various future
works mixed with our own current ones, similar to the covers of various sci-fi
novels; an illustrator creating new worlds by looking at the current one.
I’ve
also been working on some very basic VR ideas, alongside a sculptural form
which will work alongside the piece. I’m always frustrated when I go to
exhibitions that feature VR, due to the fact that they always have the sets
showing, you can see the product name alongside just having the general
aesthetic of the black mask. It very rarely seems to be taken into account,
probably due to the cost of the machine being so high. Due to the fact that I’m
working with incredibly basic VR, I have no such worry, so this week I’ve been
adding to my VR device, covering it with artificial grass, usually used to add
realism to train models, but in this case used to create an idea of a simulated
world. On the actual VR I intend to show first person footage of an individual
walking up Grand Theft Auto 5’s Mount Chiliad, based on San Gorgonio Mountain
in California. The walk is a very calm one, carefully enjoying the sites whilst
occasionally stopping to experience the awe inspiring, fully rendered,
landscapes. This footage will not be in full 360 unfortunately, due to the fact
that only one or two people on the internet seem to have created full 360
videos using GTA5. At the moment the video is quite distorted in 3D, although
still watchable, but not quite as serene as I had originally intended. I’m
slightly torn between embracing this distortion, or keeping it to a minimum.
The
VR device will be perched on top of a pile of fake rocks, adding to this idea
of a simulated serene, utopian environment where nothing matters. Everything
within the installation is a simulation of a real thing, the simulated grass,
simulated rocks and the simulated Californian mountain that you’re traversing.
The video/VR experience will be about an hour long, an intentional aspect of
the work, attempting to place you in this simulated environment, getting you to
be properly immersed in the experience, alongside being aware that no one will
probably watch the thing for this long, with people always experiencing a
different point in the journey.
The
idea for this piece is kind of a continuation into my interest in utopian
spaces, or the idea of a perfect place, and attempting to replicate a perfect
experience, or a completely serene one, or looking ahead to how one will
function in a fully simulated society. I began by thinking about video games as
the perfect utopian space, where nothing you do matters and everything is
forgiven, alongside the fact that it literally is ‘no place’. At the start it
was going to be a compilation of different games, each in first person,
allowing you to experience these different worlds as the film continued.
However, this slowly changed as it became more about the tranquil and idle
nature of a future space, one where you’ll regularly go on walks through your
devices. I hope that this idea will work out well, and it seems to be doing so
for now.
I
think I need to have another side project, maybe a new video
piece/installation? Something involving social media again, something,
something… Something that fits in with my overall practice, which I think all
these new works do fairly well.
In
isthisit? news things are going well. The Scaffold Gallery collaboration went
well, with both of the exhibitions launching on Thursday. For the coming weeks
guest curator, we have Jake Moore, with a very well-considered and very good,
exhibition hosting some great artists.
Last
week’s exhibition, the first of 2017, was fairly interesting, here’s the text I
wrote to go alongside the show: A lot of important things happened in 2017, from
the first iPhone being released, to the surge of 30,000 troops being brought
into Iraq from the U.S. Alongside all this, Kaiser Chiefs’ indie rock track,
‘The Angry Mob’, was released, discussing the way in which society keeps people
under control via the tabloid media and an established 24-hour drinking
culture. The first exhibition of 2017 ironically utilised one of the lines from
the song, connecting the works within the show under the exclamation, ‘WE ARE
THE ANGRY MOB!’ The exhibition features Martin Kellett’s silent video
compilation ‘Cinecuperation’, a mashup of slightly dated television adverts,
transporting the viewer back in time to their consumerist past. As the film
continues on one sees more and more adverts geared towards the idea of the
other, considering the notion of the unique self, culminating with a family of
clones in a seeming utopia. Also on show is Dominic Ewan’s looping video ‘Angry
Mob’, a simple animation harnessing the ‘angry’ emoji commonly used on the
social media platform, Facebook. The endless screams from the disembodied heads
functions as the only sound for the show, adding a new layer to Kellett’s
seemingly unobtrusive advertising experience. A photograph from Matt
Greenwood’s series of prints titled ‘Field Work’ bridges the gap between the
two videos, documenting a simple structure that no longer exists. Maybe this
becomes a flimsy metaphor for the lack of television we now watch as a society
due to the advent of streaming services?
I’ve
also been talking to some great people about the residency, and have been
receiving some really good applications, so I’m really excited for that to
begin. If you’re reading this and feel like being an online resident of
isthisit? for a month, follow this link: www.curatorspace.com/opportunities/detail/the-isthisit-residency/1001
Alongside
this I’ve been talking to a few people about putting on physical shows in the
future to coincide with the online isthisit? exhibitions. This is something I’m
truly interested in and hope that it will begin to manifest itself in the next
week or so. Details to follow soon.
Hmm
what else? In terms of uni, we had a few briefs of what is expected of us this
term, offsite shows alongside another essay. We also have professional
development days, which actually sound really good, curators/people in the arts
coming in and talking to us about what we can do post-uni. We also have to
produce a publication for each off-site show, which is simple enough. Now I
just need to go into a good group, one that actually works with similar ideas
to myself.
On
Tuesday I went and installed my piece ‘Let’s Be Friends’ at The Sacred Screen
exhibition at the Square Gallery. It was fairly easy to set up, having done it
a few times already. Altogether it was an interesting show, with a few high
quality works from Col Self and Bex Ilsley. You should go if you’re around Battersea, the show closes on Thursday!
Oh
and the artist talk this week was actually really good, featuring Ian Giles and
his plethora of works. These are my – very basic and hurried – notes from the
talk, where he talked about three of his video pieces.
Ian Giles – artist talk – 10/01/17
Writing about mmusic is like dancing
without architecture’
Human relations creating an energy –
collected like sculptural materials – able to be unpacked through this media –
language and rhythm interests – radio informed this love of linguists
Film editing – relationships – subject
matters – still and moving image together – frame of video – siuttion formed by
blurring things together – creating a single experience with all of you
together – funneleing ite – bringing the work to a T when the viewer waaches
the thing
The Stone Balancer – a nice visual
metaphor between balancing stone and balancing people – comparing
physicallities – the stones are the people, the man is the catalyst! Quite
mediation on this – is there anything else?
Video – forms of listening – listening
to others, objects, bodies – object orientated onthologie – video looking at
sculpture – thinking of himself as a failed/reluctant sculptor – working with
stone/the human body – production of a video – instigator for scoail exchange –
thinking about this as an instigator for the sculptural – extending into cinema
– showing this malleability – sculpture = sensible – grounded in sculptural
sensibility – rathe than a direct sculptural hood
Building up images/taking them away as
the thing continues
‘steven listening’ – putting steven
into the same space as we are in – doesn’t know what’s he’s listening to – act
of listening sculptural act – slowing
things down – watching his eyes move – we as animals of the same species
register these things happening in his face – ‘early days’ – moving to new York
– using headphones as a way of shutting off/shield – internal locked in loop
On the way to language – pulling
together various concerns – annoying work – interruptions – lack of subtitles –
still image works of architecture
Main footage – invites you to see this
group – how/when you join the discussion – being able to actually interact with
the discussion – flex between moments of watching/moments of listening – words
becoming sounds – willing to give up what’s going on – video teaching the
viewer to laugh at something/find a way to keep going – complexities of
speaking/living between different languages – choosing grop –
frecnh/English/mandarin/Italian/portugese – at ease with each other and the
mode of operation – cleaning fictional elelments, all themselves – working in a
different mode – work = plays with tension – staged? Language class? Performative
loosenes – prick up your sense – architcetuee – visual joke, screensaver –
designed to trigger sculptural/structural reading of language – building =
functional/decorative/conceptual – modernist architecture – falling into the
‘international style’ – creating a decenturalised identity with archtiiectue –
occurring everythwehre – they have no home. Lots of public spaces – metaphor or
language, etc
Planning who/what/when you want –
sitting with the footage – coming back fresh – 6 months editing – if lucky –
with people = pressure – leap of faith – creating this web of the screen - crunching things down – becoming it’s own
bin – idea of engaging with human relations – like sculptural materials –
palpable sense of stuff – communiities =
places – that’s a thing and has a weigth – like the body of the
sculpture/building – heritage/society is important
I
think that’s it for art, a slightly slow start to the year, although I feel like
I have made some progress within my own practice.
I
finally finished Gilmore Girls, and
then watched Gilmore Girls: A Year in the
Life, which was an interesting reflection on the ten years since the series
ended. I enjoyed the retrospective feel, alongside the high quality visuals and
enhanced camera movement. It was a nice end, with lots of call-backs to the
series and nice moments.
I
also watched the new series of A Series of Unfortunate Events on Netflix, which was actually incredibly enjoyable.
I remember reading all the books when I was younger, and I think this series
captured the dark elements really well, even though it’s a ‘family friendly’
series. The amount of CGI and green screen also made me think of Rachel Maclean
and her video works, incredibly well put together lush environments which you
know are false, but you embrace anyway due to their high quality
texturized-nuss. Really worth a watch, especially as a family unit.
Other
than that I’ve only been able to watch two films, which is a big shame. Too
busy gorging on tv. The first film was Automata,
a fairly basic film featuring a world where 98% of the population has died out,
where robots are used frequently. The main protagonist is Jacq, an insurance
agent who discovers that robots are altering themselves, thus violating their
primary protocols and becoming sentient beings, thinking for themselves, etc.
It was okay, but was slow to start and more complicated than it needed to be.
It made me think of – obviously – I Robot, but maybe a more serious version,
that wasn’t as good. Hmm…
The
second film was La La Land, an
incredibly satisfying film that didn’t have a lot of content. There were only
one or two key scenes where a real conversation actually happened. It was good
in spite of this however, as I left the cinema feeling content and joyful, even
though the ending is kind of a cop-out and didn't need to be so sad. Very good sets, fairly good songs that brought
the film together, but not a very deep plot. Kind of basic. I think I preferred
Whiplash.
I
think that’s it for this week? I’m going to continue to think about the VR
work, hopefully finished the sculptural goggle creation by the end of the week,
alongside the rock structure that it will sit on. I also need to consider the
video further, either deciding to make it fully abstracted or somehow make it
more pleasurable to experience. I’m also looking forward to the aluminium print
arriving, seeing if it looks good and installing it on the wall.
I
guess we’ll see how it goes…
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