The opportunity to attend a display at Manchester's Museum of Science and Industry was intended to provide our team with some inspiration, particularly around our theme chosen for the Dialogue project and Dreams. The stimuli for this inspiration was a new exibition by MOSI on the brain. It was an exhibition created by both scientists and artists working together, and the resulting combination provided a worthwhile trip. I was a little dissapointed that only two others from our team of five decided to show up at the agreed time outside university, for me to drive over and collect them, take them to Manchester and then return them back again. Nevertheless, the two students who accompanied me were clearly grateful and I hope inspired in some way by what they saw.
I am still working on what to prepare and present within the Dreams / Dialogue project as I have struggled to successfully remember the dreams I've experienced over the last few nights. My task was to research the scientific theories around why we dream, and I have started to gather sufficient material for that to be evaluated by the team to chose what we include in our intended publication.
Meanwhile, my artistic output has been a little slow overt recent days as I have perhaps been thinking rather than doing a little too much. I must keep in mind the latin phrase that I found earlier, which tranlates to 'never a day without a line'
Tuesday, 29 October 2013
Friday, 25 October 2013
An open mind...
It's been a strange week. I've been very anxious for the other students a little too much this week, and this has had a bearing on my own concentration and output. Unfortunately, it's something I have to accept that sometime my empathy is a little too strong, I just automatically start worrying for others. It's a habit that locks me down so often, which caused me to ruminate and hence loose time and some creative enthusiasm. It's a schema that I would benefit from changing.
Anyway, to summarize where I am... The contemporary practice in context (i.e. the theory part) seems to be raising a lot of concern and fears in the group this week, as to what needs to be done, and what is right, and what is wrong. It has meant that there has developed a conversation and notion of rightness and wrongness, which when thought about deeply, doesn't actually exist. What has been set for us to do, is really quite open and whilst there is guidance, there are no hard boundaries that might hold us in. We are free to explore where-ever and whatever we want to. The only output (or products) at this stage is for each of us to create a mind-map of a philosopher / theorist, or a favoured artist's or even an art movement's Manifesto. Once this mind map has been created, we then should be able to create an image (in what-ever format we want, so it can be a drawing, painting, piece of sculpture, electronic representation or whatever), that captures some key identifying component(or components) of the chosen theorist or manifesto...
To repeat the phrase that I keep coming back to, which Shakespeare wrote in Hamlett act 2...
"Nothing is either right nor wrong, but thinking makes it so"...
(I shall keep coming back to this wonderful phrase again and again, I am sure of it...:-) )...
This notion of "nothing is right or wrong but thinking makes it so" is really part of the essence of post-modernism I suppose. Almost anything goes... This is reflected very much not just in our contemporary culture but also in our art too.
So, onto a more focused reflection my thinking...
Having decided to consider the artist Jean Tinguely, for my choice of theorist for study in Contemporary Art Practice in Context project, I've been gathering references to his material.
The choice of using Jean Tinguely as both a theorist, practitioner and artist (someone whom I had never come across before), has given me a greater challenge to gather research, simply because records of him and his work seem a little harder to obtain, if compared with a more generally known artist or celebrated movement... I see this as a positive thing. It has meant that I have to research in a much more focused way, but in so doing, has caused me to touch and review very many unconnected sources of inspiration and resources of study.
Tunguely, perhaps a lesser known artist within the UK but much more celebrated in Europe (especially in Switzerland, his birthplace), created the Manifesto "of Static" and from it grew the movement itself and corresponding manifesto; he has probably become most famous for the creation of the theme and idea of "Meta-matics".
Anyway, to summarize where I am... The contemporary practice in context (i.e. the theory part) seems to be raising a lot of concern and fears in the group this week, as to what needs to be done, and what is right, and what is wrong. It has meant that there has developed a conversation and notion of rightness and wrongness, which when thought about deeply, doesn't actually exist. What has been set for us to do, is really quite open and whilst there is guidance, there are no hard boundaries that might hold us in. We are free to explore where-ever and whatever we want to. The only output (or products) at this stage is for each of us to create a mind-map of a philosopher / theorist, or a favoured artist's or even an art movement's Manifesto. Once this mind map has been created, we then should be able to create an image (in what-ever format we want, so it can be a drawing, painting, piece of sculpture, electronic representation or whatever), that captures some key identifying component(or components) of the chosen theorist or manifesto...
To repeat the phrase that I keep coming back to, which Shakespeare wrote in Hamlett act 2...
"Nothing is either right nor wrong, but thinking makes it so"...
(I shall keep coming back to this wonderful phrase again and again, I am sure of it...:-) )...
This notion of "nothing is right or wrong but thinking makes it so" is really part of the essence of post-modernism I suppose. Almost anything goes... This is reflected very much not just in our contemporary culture but also in our art too.
So, onto a more focused reflection my thinking...
Having decided to consider the artist Jean Tinguely, for my choice of theorist for study in Contemporary Art Practice in Context project, I've been gathering references to his material.
The choice of using Jean Tinguely as both a theorist, practitioner and artist (someone whom I had never come across before), has given me a greater challenge to gather research, simply because records of him and his work seem a little harder to obtain, if compared with a more generally known artist or celebrated movement... I see this as a positive thing. It has meant that I have to research in a much more focused way, but in so doing, has caused me to touch and review very many unconnected sources of inspiration and resources of study.
Tunguely, perhaps a lesser known artist within the UK but much more celebrated in Europe (especially in Switzerland, his birthplace), created the Manifesto "of Static" and from it grew the movement itself and corresponding manifesto; he has probably become most famous for the creation of the theme and idea of "Meta-matics".
Wednesday, 23 October 2013
Project 2: Collaborative text & publication on the theme of "Dialogue"
We are now into week 5 of our degree studies; the first project on the theme of Identities is now beginning to crystallise into a proposal for a final piece.
Our next four week assignment will be to conduct an in-depth and disciplined approach to help us develop a collaborative product. This will be a publication of some sort which explores the theme of dialogue in some way.
The brief given is that it must be cheap to produce, we should aim to create between 25 to 50 copies, more if successful. (2 copies will be required for assessment and additional copies will be required for an end of term exhibition). We have a free range on materials / media / size etc. We were told to work in collaborative groups of 4 people, preferrably with two students who we didn't know and had not worked with before, so we quite quickly formed into a group of two males and two female students.
My initial instinct, (after many years of conditioning from being a Project Manager), was to think of an approach, just like any other project or task... That is, to create a plan. My thoughts were almost automatic in Establishing an "OST" (Objective(s), Strategy, and Tactics.... Collaborative - delegation of duties, i.e. What needs doing, by whom and by when. Creating a timeline of sub-products to bla bla bla.....
- I immediately stopped myself from taking charge and putting my views forward, and I allowed the group to evolve it's own ideas before committing any of my own rather regimented preconceptions. This was a good thing to do, as it allowed for a better cohesiveness between the team members.
We adjourned to the relaxed atmosphere of the SU bar; discussed potential topics for the publication (not), and then after generally chatting and getting to know one another briefly, coming up almost spontaneously that a good topic, which we had just been chatting about for a while, might be "DREAMS"...
We returned to the studio. Three different exercises were presented by Bob, Jill and Christian, our degree tutors to help us with our dialogues project. These exercises were all focused on achieving the act of dialogue. Each provided a concept or vehicle to start a conversation, or to exchange images, or movements or an ongoing process of creative meaning, through sharing. i.e. "A dialogue".
Our next four week assignment will be to conduct an in-depth and disciplined approach to help us develop a collaborative product. This will be a publication of some sort which explores the theme of dialogue in some way.
The brief given is that it must be cheap to produce, we should aim to create between 25 to 50 copies, more if successful. (2 copies will be required for assessment and additional copies will be required for an end of term exhibition). We have a free range on materials / media / size etc. We were told to work in collaborative groups of 4 people, preferrably with two students who we didn't know and had not worked with before, so we quite quickly formed into a group of two males and two female students.
My initial instinct, (after many years of conditioning from being a Project Manager), was to think of an approach, just like any other project or task... That is, to create a plan. My thoughts were almost automatic in Establishing an "OST" (Objective(s), Strategy, and Tactics.... Collaborative - delegation of duties, i.e. What needs doing, by whom and by when. Creating a timeline of sub-products to bla bla bla.....
- I immediately stopped myself from taking charge and putting my views forward, and I allowed the group to evolve it's own ideas before committing any of my own rather regimented preconceptions. This was a good thing to do, as it allowed for a better cohesiveness between the team members.
We adjourned to the relaxed atmosphere of the SU bar; discussed potential topics for the publication (not), and then after generally chatting and getting to know one another briefly, coming up almost spontaneously that a good topic, which we had just been chatting about for a while, might be "DREAMS"...
We returned to the studio. Three different exercises were presented by Bob, Jill and Christian, our degree tutors to help us with our dialogues project. These exercises were all focused on achieving the act of dialogue. Each provided a concept or vehicle to start a conversation, or to exchange images, or movements or an ongoing process of creative meaning, through sharing. i.e. "A dialogue".
Wednesday, 16 October 2013
Reflections on Personal Identities
So the time has come to round off this project on identities for the time being.
My next planned piece of artwork to represent personal identity has been forming...
I think a great metaphor to represent Personal Identity in a contemporary way would be to use a subtly recognised symbol of identity, that being the finger-print, but formed from the shredded personal information that is held on our behalf, but also with which we are bombarded with throughout our daily lives. By this I mean the reliance on the use of physical copies of Bank Statements, Utility Bills, Council Rates, Mortgage Statements, printed emails and personally addressed junk surface mail...
The current 'safety' messages constantly played out by our western societies' major authorities, (i.e. the creators and keepers of all these records and references to our personal identity), is to "SHRED IT"...
... The irony of identity theft is that it is because of the very nature of those same authorities' practices, by seemingly endless duplication, that makes it more possible for identity theft to occur.
Equally, those same organisations of power and authority, hold so much electronic data on the individual citizen that it is impossible to know 'who knows you'...
An individual is constantly leaving a trail of electronic presence through their very existence in this world, the level of which is hard to comprehend. This trail is recorded in the exchanges we make with any type of electronic transaction, from the more intentional or conscious "swiping" of an identity card, to payment transactions using a banking or credit-card, to the more insidious tracking of an individual's mobile phone, - each having it's own unique identity, which can be located through triangulation of mobile transmitter cells and collaboration between the organisational and authorities' databases.
We are in the Orwellian era, post 1984.
... "Big Brother" does not need to watch you anymore,
... he already knows were you are.
(Reference to "Big Brother" taken from George Orwell 1903 -1950. Book, 1984; University College London, Library Services,The George Orwell Archive. As an interesting irony to this project of personal identity, George Orwell was not a real personal identity, the actual name of the author was Eric Blair, the name George Orwell was used as his 'pen-name').
Our electronic trail is left where we have been. Likewise, where we physically touch any object through the skin of our fingers, so to we leave a trail of our identity through the finger-print.
The symbolization of a finger-print is often associated with that of crime. The finger-print is regularly used to make connections between verifying an identity with the physical manifestation of an individual human being. However, few people realize that this verification is not 100% fail-safe. The accuracy of recognition and verification depends on many factors, in addition to the obvious transposition and mal-administration of records, to fraudulent manufacturing of identities.
The storage of fingerprint identity relies on mathematical de-construction of a copied image, (and possible encryption) for transmission (and storage) of a coded data set. The onward transmission from the storage device to an authority is likewise coded (and often encrypted) to either be used to verify an individual by the coded form, or possibly 're-constructed' into a likeness of the original image... At each point in this chain, there is that slight chance of adaptation. Either by accident or human error (such as incorrect mathematical algorithms within computer software that may miss out vital detail), or as a result of purposeful intervention to exploit authorities data records (hacking).
The adjacent concept piece, made from shredded bank statements, utility bills and other electronically stored identity artifacts, on a granite base, is an allusion to our electronic identity, the throw-away culture, our ephemeral existence, the labyrinth of our journey through life, and finally the granite permanence of our identity left in records after we are dead.
Shortly after I created this concept image of cross-cut shredded bank statements, I simply blew them away into the bin. That event in itself is something to reflect upon.
Footnote; - The image depicted above is merely an unfinished test piece to evaluate the concept. The final work should provide a more readily identifiable representation of a human finger-print, however, this concept-piece provides a visual assurance that such a final piece can be crafted.
My next planned piece of artwork to represent personal identity has been forming...
I think a great metaphor to represent Personal Identity in a contemporary way would be to use a subtly recognised symbol of identity, that being the finger-print, but formed from the shredded personal information that is held on our behalf, but also with which we are bombarded with throughout our daily lives. By this I mean the reliance on the use of physical copies of Bank Statements, Utility Bills, Council Rates, Mortgage Statements, printed emails and personally addressed junk surface mail...
The current 'safety' messages constantly played out by our western societies' major authorities, (i.e. the creators and keepers of all these records and references to our personal identity), is to "SHRED IT"...
... The irony of identity theft is that it is because of the very nature of those same authorities' practices, by seemingly endless duplication, that makes it more possible for identity theft to occur.
Equally, those same organisations of power and authority, hold so much electronic data on the individual citizen that it is impossible to know 'who knows you'...
An individual is constantly leaving a trail of electronic presence through their very existence in this world, the level of which is hard to comprehend. This trail is recorded in the exchanges we make with any type of electronic transaction, from the more intentional or conscious "swiping" of an identity card, to payment transactions using a banking or credit-card, to the more insidious tracking of an individual's mobile phone, - each having it's own unique identity, which can be located through triangulation of mobile transmitter cells and collaboration between the organisational and authorities' databases.
We are in the Orwellian era, post 1984.
... "Big Brother" does not need to watch you anymore,
... he already knows were you are.
(Reference to "Big Brother" taken from George Orwell 1903 -1950. Book, 1984; University College London, Library Services,The George Orwell Archive. As an interesting irony to this project of personal identity, George Orwell was not a real personal identity, the actual name of the author was Eric Blair, the name George Orwell was used as his 'pen-name').
Our electronic trail is left where we have been. Likewise, where we physically touch any object through the skin of our fingers, so to we leave a trail of our identity through the finger-print.
The symbolization of a finger-print is often associated with that of crime. The finger-print is regularly used to make connections between verifying an identity with the physical manifestation of an individual human being. However, few people realize that this verification is not 100% fail-safe. The accuracy of recognition and verification depends on many factors, in addition to the obvious transposition and mal-administration of records, to fraudulent manufacturing of identities.
The storage of fingerprint identity relies on mathematical de-construction of a copied image, (and possible encryption) for transmission (and storage) of a coded data set. The onward transmission from the storage device to an authority is likewise coded (and often encrypted) to either be used to verify an individual by the coded form, or possibly 're-constructed' into a likeness of the original image... At each point in this chain, there is that slight chance of adaptation. Either by accident or human error (such as incorrect mathematical algorithms within computer software that may miss out vital detail), or as a result of purposeful intervention to exploit authorities data records (hacking).
 |
| Concept Piece; - Identity-Print, Graham Hadfield 2013 |
Shortly after I created this concept image of cross-cut shredded bank statements, I simply blew them away into the bin. That event in itself is something to reflect upon.
Footnote; - The image depicted above is merely an unfinished test piece to evaluate the concept. The final work should provide a more readily identifiable representation of a human finger-print, however, this concept-piece provides a visual assurance that such a final piece can be crafted.
More new inspired directions to view....
Some interesting inspirations received today. I had a good 1-1 meeting with one of my course tutors, and he suggested that I explored a couple of named artists who have worked on very intensive research for their own creations... Off to the library now to look them up!
Langland & Bell - See http://www.langlandsandbell.com/index.html
Essentially, these two artists create work that is taken from the observation that our personal relationships are intertwined with the architecture that we use, and mixes it with the coded systems of mass-communications and our personal transactions whilst navigating through our almost chaotic progress of technology within our globalised culture.
Their material is copyright, so the link will provide an reference point to their work.
Another contemporary representation ,beautifully rendered with the iconic symbol associated with London Underground is;
The Great Bear - Simon Paterson
See
http://shop.tate.org.uk/the-great-bear/invt/82
Ultimately, my objective is of trying to capture a symbol of Personal Identity. The linkage of personal identity with 'the current' is also of importance. I wish to portray a sense of 'being in the digital age'.
The other conscious factor I am keen to include is representation of one that is an aspect of our current culture. Within this sense there are a number of identifiers that I could choose from; I may have touched on some of these in my sketch and allegory of Fashionable Sheep in an earlier blog. However I feel that that image is a little bit too antagonistic though, as it may just provoke some people, but not others...
I want a universal representation of personal identity that is cognizant to everyone.
My thoughts are turning to what happens to all the accouterments of existence we surround ourselves with, once we are no longer living in this world. The throw away society. Nothing really matters to some.
This was brought home to me by an unfortunate recent incident, where I was asked via a computer generated request to provide an endorsement for an old colleague of mine. Unfortunately, the person had died three years earlier. Upon investigation, his records on the web-site that requested his endorsement where still open and active. I looked at two other colleagues who I was connected to, who had also passed away within the last few years... Their records too where fully available to me as though they were still alive and active. We are constantly leaving information about ourselves in the digital ether, but it seems that nobody cares, "polices" or verifies it's validity.
Langland & Bell - See http://www.langlandsandbell.com/index.html
Essentially, these two artists create work that is taken from the observation that our personal relationships are intertwined with the architecture that we use, and mixes it with the coded systems of mass-communications and our personal transactions whilst navigating through our almost chaotic progress of technology within our globalised culture.
Another contemporary representation ,beautifully rendered with the iconic symbol associated with London Underground is;
The Great Bear - Simon Paterson
See
http://shop.tate.org.uk/the-great-bear/invt/82
Ultimately, my objective is of trying to capture a symbol of Personal Identity. The linkage of personal identity with 'the current' is also of importance. I wish to portray a sense of 'being in the digital age'.
The other conscious factor I am keen to include is representation of one that is an aspect of our current culture. Within this sense there are a number of identifiers that I could choose from; I may have touched on some of these in my sketch and allegory of Fashionable Sheep in an earlier blog. However I feel that that image is a little bit too antagonistic though, as it may just provoke some people, but not others...
I want a universal representation of personal identity that is cognizant to everyone.
My thoughts are turning to what happens to all the accouterments of existence we surround ourselves with, once we are no longer living in this world. The throw away society. Nothing really matters to some.
This was brought home to me by an unfortunate recent incident, where I was asked via a computer generated request to provide an endorsement for an old colleague of mine. Unfortunately, the person had died three years earlier. Upon investigation, his records on the web-site that requested his endorsement where still open and active. I looked at two other colleagues who I was connected to, who had also passed away within the last few years... Their records too where fully available to me as though they were still alive and active. We are constantly leaving information about ourselves in the digital ether, but it seems that nobody cares, "polices" or verifies it's validity.
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