Paper
Paper making, an invention of the Chinese dates back to over 2000 years ago where cloth sheets were used to record drawings and written word. Prior to the use of paper, materials such as stone, bone, cave walls of clay tablets were used as canvas? to etch pictures and symbols onto as a method of communication. Nowadays paper comes in all shapes sizes and is used for an abundance of purposes; mainly however for the purpose of communication information. Receipts, books, newspapers are all examples of this. Today most paper derives from forests and recovered paper, hence why paper is widely recyclable. This makes paper cheap to obtain despite the tiresome process that goes into the creation of paper. Simply put, logs of wood are turned into wood pulp by firstly being tumbled in drums to remove any existing bark.
Malika Favre
French born, london Based Malika Favre is most famous for her distinctive graphic print pieces. Her minimalist, colour specific work is often described as Pop Art.
If the piece above was translated into words, to me it would read 'less is unmistakably more'. I say this because Favre has used less than 10% of the whole space to create a visual that takes up 70%. It is evident that the few markings on the page are representative of a nose, mouth, chin and neck and the use of white and red emphasise this very simply. By looking at the few markings on the page the brain automatically uses the negative space to present Favre's visual to us.
Her unmistakable style has established her as one of the UK?s most sought after graphic artists. Malika's clients include The New Yorker, Vogue, BAFTA, Sephora and Penguin Books, amongst many others.
Favre was brought up in Paris where she studied graphic design. Following this she moved to London to venture into the Illustration field.
Personally I am a huge fan of Favre's work as she accordingly selects each colour and shape so that each piece has a enticing effect. Favre takes on photographic components such as Shadow, tone, depth of field, perspective and pattern which neatly come together communally to create almost like lifelike pieces.
Richard Serra (Interact)
Richard Serra known best for his large-scale sculptures was born and raised in San Francisco. He went on to study English Literature at the University of Carolina before Serra studied painting in the M.F.A. program at the Yale University School of Art and Architecture between 1961 and 1964.
Serra's primary sculptures were made of of non-traditional materials such as fiberglass and rubber. He soon moved on to more minimalist constructions made from large rolls and sheets of metal, What's interesting is that most of his pieces are self-supporting so they emphasize the weight and nature of the materials. Additionally rolls of lead are designed to sag over time, meaning that the shapes of Serra's sculptures are not permanent. One visitor of Serra's exhibition claim that "The feeling of being around the sculptures is utterly overwhelming even though it feels like the sculptures were going to collapse on me".
Serra's work is an example of how artwork which relies on the interaction of the viewer/audience to communicate his message.
In 1967 and 1968 Serra compiled a list of infinitives that served as catalysts for subsequent work: ?to hurl?. He used this list of infinitives to inspire the shapes he would sculpt from his large sheets of steel.
Serra was also fond of drawing, yet again in large scale, however this time his outcomes were more abstract and process-based. Using molten lead hurled in large splashes against the wall of a studio or exhibition space was his most common tendency. Below is an example of Serra's lead drawings. Whats most fascinating about this piece is the 3d effect that he has created. The effect is interesting because he has smudged the sides of his 3d shapes adding creating a darker tone as opposed to shading them. Also because Serra hasn't drawn all 4 sides of the 3d shape fully as the viewer we are obliged to imagine and mentally create the remainder of the image. This intrigues us to looking at the drawing for longer because i think its fair to say that completion is a natural desire most humans. Much of Serra's work including the pieces below and above are quite random but it he never fails to produce large scale making him a very distinct photographer and artist.
Connect
"To bring together or into contact so that a real or notional link is established"
The word "connect" can have many meanings. One way "connect" can be conveyed is through art. Connection in the arts is very important, especially if the artist or creator is looking to relate with the audience and viewers. When researching the word "connect" I was surprised to learn that there is not as much information on the word.
The David Hockney exhibition (82 portraits and 1 still life) being held at the Royal academy of art, is a great example of visual connection. On a trip over to the exhibition and looking at his portraits it was evident that Hockney is a master at captioning emotion and connection between him and his subjects. Subjects- family, friends and acquaintances, this is unique and important to remember when touring this gallery of portraits because it gives the viewer a stronger since of of the connections between the subject and Hockney.
Hockney experienced "visceral connection", meaning "coming from strong emotions and not from logic or reason" when he encountered Rufus, 11 year old boy on a trip to LA. Rufus soon became one of Hockney's youngest sitters. "Staring at Rufus for many hours, Hockney recalls, his mind turned to his own self-portrait". Hockney expresses that Rufus's "precocious seriousness" fascinated him, and reminded him of himself. Hockney successfully captured a sense of vulnerability although paying strong attention to the subjects seriousness.
Figure 1 - Margret Hockney Rufus Hale
Figure 2 - Martin Gayford
Figure 3 - Rufus Hale
As a group we spent some time and came up with a mind-map of things that we thought related to 'paper'
Kei Kegami
Kei Kagami began his creative path by studying for a bachelors degree in architecture. Meanwhile he decided he simultaneously wanted to take up a tailoring diploma course at Bunka Fashion College.
"At that time I didn?t really put a boundary between fashion or architecture. For me it was one and the same thing: starting from something flat and two-dimensional and making it three-dimensional," he explains. However, fashion soon won him over. "I just wanted to create something for myself and express what I wanted. With clothing, I can design, draw patterns, stitch and wear it. I thought that is fantastic. I can express myself in each process and manage everything by myself up until the very end," Kagami says.
I feel like the initial quote of Kegami's is really reflective of the way he works. He's work is pure and reflective of his preferences. For example the Shoe of Kegami's below brings so many elements of design together. Fundamentally we can see that he has joined half of two shoes that are typical of opposite genders and attached them by their middle. This already provokes thoughts of which gender this shoe has been designed for or whether the design is gender neutral. Colour is another element Kegami has considered. There is a huge juxtaposition between the colours of each shoe part and the symbolism in which they hold. Black shoes are useful when you're venturing into places where you may get your feet dirty, while white shoes are usually worn to places of etiquette. The style of the white shoe resembles a a shoe that a bride would wear on her wedding day. To me the composition reads 'protection'. as the womanly shoe is inside what looks to be a male shoe. additionally the high heel is rested on the black shoe which symbolises that the black shoe is protecting the white shoe.
The pair of Shoes below is similar in its quirkiness to the shoe above in the sense that it doesn't coincide with this decades definition of stylish. It appears that Kegami has almost rejected the idea of finesse and being clean cut and randomly just attached an old heeled shoe to a scrap piece of metal. I suppose Kegami is trying to go against standard stereotypes and show that a shoe is a shoe irrespective of how neat and tidy it looks. This shoe definitely screams 'look at me'.
The metal heel reminds me of horse legs because of its shape. As you can see there are three parts to the heel that are held together by a joiner piece of metal and some screws. This makes the shoe look rather industrial and makeshift. because of the horselike legs i can almost visualise the shoe galloping away. This makes the viewer question the perception that shoes only move when they have feet inside of them. Subsequently we are encouraged to think more about the concept of as shoe and its actual purpose. Shoes are generally made for comfort when doing an activity which involves the movement of feet. This shoes is a complete juxtaposition because it barely appears very hard and painful for the feet. Maybe this shoe is just a statement piece, a piece of art simply to provoke the mind?
The colours of the individual pieces of shoe are also fascinating. To me he contrast between the different colours and materials are symbolic of unity and diversity. Visually they are so different but nevertheless they unite and stand together as one. Perhaps the message that Kegami is trying to connote is that you should never let anything or anyone stop you from doing what you want to do. Perhaps its a reminder to society that life is short and relationships and bonding with others are important for progression. If you have to have to do socially unacceptable things to get by or to be true to yourself, then go forth.
Jim Goldberg - (breaking rules by writing on photos)
American born Jim Goldberg, is an artist, photographer, and writer whose work reflects long-term, in-depth collaborations with neglected, ignored, and outside-the-mainstream populations. He is best known for his photography books which are full of photos of sub-cultures photo collages sometimes with text over them, often written by his subjects.
At first I wasn't fond of Goldberg's work for the reason that I felt that the writing completely ruined his work. But after much investigation I have come to a conclusion that it tells us what the photo cant. If the writing in the image above on the left was never there, I would have only assumed that the man was looking down because was thinking about something deep that I would never know. The text allows the subject to verbally communicate with the viewer what they want them to know about them and that alone. I would never have known his name nor would I have been able to infer that his dream is to go to Europe. By Goldberg allowing us to know the names of the people in his photography adds an element of intimacy because when you meet someone and you find out their name they are no longer a stranger anymore but someone that u are acquaint with.
The written word on the image of Mary on the right allows us to be aligned with her truth. The fact that she looks sad but proclaims that she is not with an exclamation mark at the end of sentence "I look sad, I'm not!" reinforces that you should judge a book by its cover because the cover may be fiction. The fact that the colour red has been used to write Mary's proclamations suggests to me that there is a lot of passion in what she writes about as passion is connotation of the colour red.
What is interesting about the photograph of Goldberg's above is that the written word is in Arabic. This highlights the amazing nature of language. What is understandable to one individual is complete gibberish to another. Because of the language barrier the truth that the man in the photo is declaring about himself makes no difference to how I interpret the image because I don't understand what he is saying; but to someone who understands Arabic the photograph would have a complete different translation. I feel like if I was to see this image in an exhibition the language barrier would make me look around for someone I thought could understand Arabic. Although this could be considered as stereotyping, I'm a very inquisitive person and would only do it because I'm intrigued as to what he is saying. Maybe this is what Goldberg intended. Perhaps he had hoped that the language barrier would provoke interaction amongst the viewers of his work to prevent those who are usually ignored and neglected from continuing to experience this.