London Shows and Reflecting

On Wednesday I went to Butley again to work for Laurence, which was enjoyable as I was taught a new skill, how to invest. I began the day by shovelling grog, which is always hard work and strenuous.

After this I opened up the wax sculpture that I had poured the previous day into a wooden mould. This had worked really well, which confirmed for me once again that using wood is much better than using cardboard. I do hope to make more of these, and begin to explore new avenues to go down with this project.

I was then taught how to invest wax sculptures. This is a process that involves covering a (usually) wax sculpture with two layers of materials, the first layer being sand and plaster mixed into a paste, and the second layer being grog and plaster mixed into a paste. This is something that is easy to learn, but hard to master, so hopefully in the next few months I will have many more opportunities to improve my technique.

An exciting aspect of this was the fact that I was investing a couple of my own wax sculptures, to be cast in bronze in about a weeks' time. This will be the first time I've ever had anything cast in bronze, apart from having a tiny chalice made when I was around eight or nine. The interesting thing about bronze is that, like wax, it shrinks a little when it cools after it's been poured. So the dip in the work will be a natural occurrence, rather than a manufactured one that is being created when I make the work using a two part mould. This will probably be something that I want to do more of.

After investing the sculptures I was left to my own devices, so I created another small scale wax piece. As well as this I thought a little bit more about the concept of the work, considering whether or not I should start to experiment with different shapes other than a square. This made me think about what the different shapes could mean, building on the idea of having a solid wall around your inner self. I will have to think about this further, before embarking on making the new sculptures, or even during the making process,

At the end of the day I helped to load all sixteen of the concrete heads that I helped to create into a van, which will be displayed in Cley as part of an open exhibition that's being held there.

On Thursday I didn't do much, which is a shame, as I still have to upload some old work to my main website. I did go on a lovely walk though, which was incredibly refreshing after two days of working.

Today though, I went to London to see some of the end of year shows. I began by going to Chelsea, looking at their Fine Art and Textiles work. Over the years of going I feel that I've slowly begun to neglect the other pathways, culminating in not even stepping into any of the other rooms this year, which was a shame. I enjoyed a few pieces of work, one that was especially interesting involved the artist betting on himself winning the Turner prize and other accolades by particular dates in the future. It was also invigorating to see simple bronze work being displayed, and thinking to myself that I have the skills to create this, even though I might not necessarily want to.

I then briefly went into the Tate Britain to see the Christina Mackie commission. I felt that it was okay, if a little boring.

After that I went to the Royal College of Art to see the Sculpture and Painting. I also went into a few others like Architecture and Jewellery, but these are less interesting to me. The majority of the sculptural work was awesome, as it almost always is. A few pieces that were particularly enticing involved a huge copper cube and a makeshift wave machine. I did like some of the painting, but as it's not my favourite medium I tend to not engage with the work as much as I should. However I did enjoy a piece that was made up of basic colours and shapes, as well as being handed a card by a uniformed woman stamped with today's date and the word psychotic after leaving one of the rooms.

After reflecting on the day I feel that, in comparison to last year, a lot of the work seems be focused on assemblages of sculptures, putting random objects together to create something that looks aesthetically pleasing but doesn't really have any noteworthy content. Or maybe I'm just not seeing the ideas that the artist was trying to communicate to his/her audience.

It will be interesting to see whether today will have any impact on the work that I'm currently creating. I guess I'll just have to wait and see what happens in the next few days and weeks.

Daily Snapchat:

Loneliness and Skip work

For the past few days I've been trying to think more about the concept behind the work that I'm making, looking at why the shapes that I'm creating start with a square and what that may mean. The square side of the work is rigid and un-inviting, whilst the dip is circular, which promotes a slight softness. This made me think about how the sharp corners of the outside are kind of like a wall, protecting the inner circle. This could reflect how one makes a protective wall to hide their true feelings/emotions. I think this meaning works well with the overall concept, of moving forward in life, making it a little more personal to myself, but at the same time allowing others to reflect on how they let people into their lives to look at their true selves.

I feel that I need to work on this a little more, before I completely decide on this concept. So I need to spend a few days simply writing down ideas in my sketchbook, which will probably happen next week, or later this week. Hopefully sooner rather than later.

Today I went to Butley to work, in the morning I shovelled and crushed grog, which isn't so bad when you haven't done it for a couple of weeks. After this I took part in a little skip work. I then cleaned up the metal shed (the space where cutting metal takes place) and had to sift through dust to find small bronze pieces to re-use in the pouring process. This was made bearable by listening to This American Life, a podcast that is centred around interesting stories told by a range of different people. I thoroughly enjoy the weekly episodes, as well as their incredibly popular Serial series.

After lunch I was allowed to make my own work, so I made another wood mould. I'm slowly trying to improve my wood cutting technique using the band saw, so that by the end of this project I will be able to cut straight.

I also took apart the large wax sculpture that I made last week, by hammering nails into the work. At the beginning of this process I was simply doing this to re-use the wax, but as I broke off pieces, I realised that the break in the wax created an interesting contrast to the clean straight lines made by the mould. So this may be a new avenue to go down with this project, deconstructing the lesser work that I make to create more interesting work. Obviously the meaning of this would be distorted, but it could be manipulated to fit into the general concept, thinking about breaking down the barriers between my own inner changes to share with someone else? I don't know, it's something that I need to think about more if I feel that the destroyed versions are interesting enough to be their own thing.

I also used my two part mould again today, experimenting with making the dip bigger using a drill. This worked well, so it means that when I make some more moulds I can subtly change the same sculpture every time I pour the plaster.

Towards the end of the day I went to an exhibition of all the end of year A Level work at my old school. It was really weird to see how far (in my opinion) my work has come in only a year, the change between sixth form and foundation is staggering to see. I wasn't a big fan of any of the work that was displayed, and the few pieces that I did enjoy I couldn't find any information about them, what the work was about, etc. So that was a shame.

Over the weekend I played an outwardly simple game called Thomas Was Alone. On the surface the game has very basic 2D platformer gameplay, but as you play it the blocks that you are manipulating on the screen are slowly given their own personalities, which allows you to have an emotional bond with a coloured block on the screen. As a whole it was very enjoyable.

As well as this I went to see my sculpture in Framlingham, which is still there. Unfortunately it had fallen over, and been defecated on by multiple birds, but this is all part of the work. I also checked on the other sculpture near my house again. I only need to go and see the one in Dunwich and I will have checked on all five.

Tomorrow I'm working at Butley again, which I'm sure will be exciting and enriching in its own way.

Daily Snapchat:

Conceptual Moulds

On Thursday I began to think more about the meaning behind the work that I'm making, considering what all the different parts are saying about the overall concept. I began by thinking about how the work is coming out of the wall, and how this is forced, as opposed to how the sculpture goes in on itself, which is natural. This reflects how, in life, I make a conscious effort to move forward, to make work and do things. It also looks at how, occasionally, I slow down and stop, moving back into myself.

This made me think about how, if I keep touching and moving the wax as it dries, it doesn't dip back into itself. This adds to the idea of moving forward, and how if I'm constantly doing things I won't dip back into myself. I can stop the work from dipping into itself, and at the same time I can stop myself from slowing down and keeping things as they are/were. This is interesting to me and gave me an idea to juxtapose a dipped piece with a non-dipped piece, showing the similarities and differences, two different futures in a sense, one where I move forward with my life and one where I go backwards into myself.

I also considered how stopping the work from moving in on itself is like actively stopping myself from being who I am, stopping myself from "going with the flow". These are all things to consider, but I do also want to think more about the shape, considering what it may or may not mean.

On Friday I went to Butley to work again, I started by taking the concrete heads that I had poured on Wednesday out of their shells. I think this was the last batch of heads that I have to make, as next week they're all being transported to somewhere in Norfolk where they will be displayed on a beach. I then moved the cement mixer outside, so that Laurence could distort more of the heads again. I also managed to take a picture of one of the heads after being in the mixer for around 20 minutes, having had the majority of its features removed.

I then continued to make my two part mould, this entailed pouring the rubber, which was an exciting material to use. When I had finally made the complete thing I tried it out using plaster, it worked well, but unfortunately the wax piece that I had used to make the mould wasn't that great in the first place. So the sculpture that was created was good, but not as good as some of my work in wax. So I think I'm not going to make another mould until I make a really good wax piece, as the mould making process does take a fair amount of time and money. 

After making the small plaster sculpture however, I do like how fast the material dries, as well as the finish that is created, so maybe with more experimentation, plaster will be the main material used in this project, with wax simply being the starting point.

I also had to do lots of skip work, which was obviously boring, but at the same time it's nice to actually effect a space in one way or another.

Today I've been thinking more about what the work means, as well as thinking about the scale of the sculptures.

Towards the end of the day I played a few interesting and mind bending games. One was called Antichamber, which is a first person puzzle game of sorts, that's accompanied by intense visuals. It was an intriguing experience, that encouraged you to think using a different part of your brain. The other game that I played was also a puzzle game, centred around the idea of choice within videogames. It was called The Stanley Parable. It had a really unique concept, with so many different endings. I thoroughly enjoyed playing both games.

In the next few days I want to think more about the concept, as well as finally finding some wood to make a mould for a wax piece.

Daily Snapchat:

Results and Mould Making

Yesterday I went into college for the last time to take down my work and get my grade for the course. Taking down my work was easy, and only took a short amount of time, as the majority of the sculptures were simply glued to the wall using a glue gun. Getting my results was exciting as I received a distinction for all the work that I have created over the past few months. This is a result that I'm really happy with.

Today I went to Butley to work, I began the day by moving lots of pallets from outside the studio to their new home outside the chicken sheds. This was strenuous to say the least. I then had to flatten the skip, as it was nearly triple the size as it should have been. This involved lots of jumping, which sounds like fun, but was not.

After this I poured some more concrete heads. By this point I very much know the process. Even though it's quite a simple one, it's good to know it off by heart.

After lunch I only had to move the cement mixer outside and plug it in. This was used to make each of the concrete heads unique, accomplished by putting one head in at a time alongside some scrap pieces and turning the machine on for about two minutes.

As I had been left to my own devices and didn't have any tape to make any wood moulds I decided to attempt to create a two piece mould using plaster. I had some help from a guy called Freddy (https://instagram.com/freddy_morris/) who was really helpful throughout the whole process. I was only able to create the plaster parts today, as it took quite a long time and it was already quite late by the time I had got to that point. I won't go into the details of the make, as it is a surprisingly long process. Hopefully I'll have time on Friday to pour the rubber into the mould so that on Tuesday I'll be able to test it out to see if it works, as you need to leave the rubber to dry for at least a day or so. Even if it doesn't work as well as I want it to, it'll still be a success, as I will have made my first plaster mould!

At the end of the day we had to load a van full of Laurence's work which is going to London tomorrow (I think). This was quite hard as a lot of the work is incredibly heavy and has to be tied down so it doesn't hit into the sides of the vehicle.

Tomorrow I want to think more about how I'm going to use wood as the main mould piece for my work, working out ways to fold the wood rather than having it snap in my hands. I also want to finally upload all my photographs of my past work onto my main site, something that I have been meaning to do for a few weeks now.

Daily Snapchat:

Illness and Another World

Over the weekend I unfortunately didn't get a lot of work done as I became quite ill, this is obviously not a good thing. I did however go for some walks to see the sculptures that I had placed in different spaces a month or so ago. I went to the one near my house first, which is still standing, with plants slowly growing around it. This makes the work a lot more interesting, slowly becoming a part of the environment. I also went to one that's in Aldeburgh. This one hasn't been stolen yet either, but a lot of growth has happened around it, reducing your ability to see it from a path nearby, which is a shame. I do intend to go and check on the other pieces when I get a chance to do so as well, but for now I just hope that they're still there.

I also played an infinitely frustrating game called Another World. This came out in 1991 and has some interesting graphics, but it's gameplay is very much trial and error, making me repeat sections countless times. This was an incredibly painful process, and I gave up about half way through.

Today I went to Butley for a bit, to open up the moulds that I poured on Friday, some of them had turned out quite well, whilst the big one had hardly dipped into itself at all, which was frustrating. The tilted sculptures had worked, bringing to mind some interesting ideas about where to display the work on the wall, as some of the pieces are nearly at a 90 degree angle, enabling me to place the work in the corner of a wall. This will be something to look into further. It was a shame that the larger piece didn't work very well, as it was the biggest one that I have made so far, being about 40cm in width and 20cm in depth.

For the rest of the day I sat outside and read the latest instalment (volume 21) of the Fables graphic novels series. This is one of the final books, and it's slowly beginning to tie up all the loose ends and character story lines that have occurred within the novels. Overall it was an okay addition to the series, but not as good as the earlier additions. The last one comes out in August, and I'll be excited to read it then.

For the next few days I need to start to think about how to make the wood moulds perfectly straight, as opposed to how the cardboard ones are. I also really want to think more about the concept behind the work, creating layers of thought behind it, rather than just the initial concept. I want to find a reason why it's a square shape, rather than a circle, as well as why the dip is circular, and the overall sculpture is a square. Although aesthetically these things work, I want to find a way to tie the meaning to them as well.

Tomorrow I'm going to Wensum Lodge to get my results for my foundation course, as well as to take down my work. I'll also take some final images of my piece before I take it all apart. It will be the last time that I'll be obliged to go there, which is both exciting and scary. I'll also take home the outside sculpture that I have there, and probably end up putting it in my garden, as I feel that it's too far away for me to simply go there and check on it to see whether it's there or not on a regular basis.

Daily Snapchat:

Reading and Prepping

Yesterday I didn't do a lot of work, as I was enjoying the sun and reading some Philip K. Dick (one of my favourite writers) short stories. One was called Exhibit Piece, which concerned a man moving through a time gate. It was a really interesting read, with a humorous twist at the end. It was also nice to try out my new Kindle, but unfortunately when it got too hot in the sun it stopped working, which will probably be a problem when it comes to going on holiday.

In the evening I updated my primary website with some photographs of my final piece of work for my foundation, along with prices. Although each sculpture is the same size, some are priced higher than others, as these are the higher quality ones, in my opinion.

Today I went to work at Butley again. In the morning I shined a bronze figure with sand paper, which took up a lot of my time. This was a tiring and tedious job, but it is an essential part of the process of prepping a piece of work. To combat this however, I listened to a podcast called Mark Kermode: The Soundtrack Of My Life. It was really interesting to hear all his favourite film soundtracks, and was a good supplement to his main radio show with Simon Mayo.

I then had to put all of the old shells from the moulds in the skip. These are heavy and it was a hot day, so it was quite a painful 20 minutes. 

After lunch I was left to my own devices, which was fun, as it allowed me to make a few more moulds and pour some wax. I made three small moulds, two that were made of wood and one that was cardboard. As well as experimenting with materials, I also played around with pouring the wax when the mould was at a tilt. This seemed to work well, but the sculptures hadn't dried completely by the time I had left, so I don't know whether it worked completely as I would have liked. I also tried out some more colours, a bright yellow and a light blue.

On top of this I made a larger mould, made from cardboard. This seemed to work well, with no wax seeping through the sides, but I think I have decided that cardboard isn't the best material to use as a mould, as it does bend slightly outwards and creases easily. So I think I'm going to solely use wood for the moulds, as long as I can get my hands on a lot of thin wood.

I have been thinking a lot about the daily aspect of this blog, and have kind of decided to write every other day, as during this holiday period I'm not going to be doing as much work as I was doing during the foundation. Although I may update it daily at points. Who knows really, I guess I'll see how it goes.

After posting this I'm going to watch the first episode of the new season of Orange Is The New Black, I'm hoping it will be as good as the first two seasons. I'll have to wait and see.

Daily Snapchat:

Private View and Butley

The last couple of days have gone quickly, starting with Monday where I went into college to talk about the course with a group of my peers to the external moderator. This was very much a waste of my time, as it involved driving to and from Norwich, which is a two and a half hour round trip. I mostly talked positively about the course, how valuable a tutorial is and how grades within art aren't important. Making art isn't for anyone but yourself.

Yesterday was my private view, which was fun. I went to Wensum Lodge in the morning to fulfil my allotted time of invigilating the exhibition. Unfortunately the head of the course had neglected to carry out a few essential tasks that needed to be completed before the evening started, like labelling the work and putting together a board outlining the main parts of the course in general, to inform visitors about the type of things that happen there. So myself and my peers were told that we had to do these jobs. After we had finished with that our time was already up, so sitting down among the artwork and observing visitors coming and going was no longer an option, which was a shame.

I then went to see Mad Max: Fury Road with a friend. This was my second viewing of the film, so it enabled me to pick up on some subtle plot points that I hadn't noticed the first time I watched it. That being said the film has very little plot to speak of, so I probably should have just went to see something else instead, but there was nothing else on. It is still a thoroughly enjoyable film though.

The actual private view went well, I enjoyed seeing people looking at my work, as well as touching the pieces and using the books to see which sculpture was linked to each of the 30 emotions without having to place a sign saying "Please Touch". I also heard someone call my work pretentious, which was funny to me, rather than hurtful. I did also get a few nice comments about the piece. Unfortunately I didn't take any photographs of the private view, otherwise I would display them here. I'm really happy about how far my art practice has come during the space of the year and hope that my work keeps improving as time goes on.

I came home to a package which had come for me earlier in the day, which contained a kindle. I had been deliberating over whether to buy one for a few weeks and decided that it was a good idea. This was due to the fact that every time I go on holiday I end up packing my backpack with books, so with the kindle my luggage will be incredibly light.

Today I was working at Butley, in the morning I opened up all the moulds that had been poured the previous day, and then proceeded to hose all of the bronze pieces down. This is a hard process, taking a lot of time and effort. Hosing down the bronze is the worst job in my opinion, but it is a necessary evil.

This is a Snapchat that I took of the water spraying process.

Later on I opened up the head moulds that I had poured on Friday, They came out well, which is good, as I was unsure if the new cement had worked well or not.

After this I was free to carry on with my work, so I opened up my own moulds that I had poured on Friday, the two wax ones and the cement one. These were all successful in their own ways. The thin wax sculpture showed me that poking a hole in the bottom of the mould works to create a bigger dip, but I do need to experiment more, to see whether this was just a fluke or not. The fatter wax piece showed me that leaving a door open when liquid wax is setting is not a good idea, as it creates ripples at the top of the work. Obviously this may be a good thing if I choose to incorporate this into the work, but for the moment I have learned not to leave the door open when pouring. The cement sculpture showed me that as the material dries it doesn't create a dip, which is a shame, but is another good piece of information to discover, as it tells me that I shouldn't use cement as a medium for this work anymore.

I then spent the rest of my time making more moulds, unfortunately I couldn't pour any as I didn't have any tape. I did try to put together a wooden mould, to make the wax piece less bendy in form, but I was yet again unable to pour. In the next few days I will put the mould together to see whether the wood one is better than the cardboard. The wood does take significantly longer to make, requires a band saw to produce, and an incredibly steady hand. So I don't know whether it will be a viable material or not.

I think that my new project is going well, and am glad that I am using this time wisely, rather than sitting at home and not doing anything fulfilling.

Daily Snapchat: