FIP

May 2016

FIP

For my final piece at University I have decided on having three different pieces, which will be sectioned into thirds by white painted MDF boards. I want the piece to be seen as one but the pieces are very different ways of collecting flaws, this is why I have sectioned them into separate bays. The pieces will get more personal as the viewer goes along, I'm created it this way so hopefully the viewer will tell their flaw and not be ashamed. I believe these are some of the best ways of collecting flaws, which are all completely different and may make it more personal for the viewer to push a reaction. One will be a glass cabinet with cast flaws in jars, which I collected throughout the year. Next to that will be a letter box and plinth with medical cards on for people to write and post their flaw. The other piece will be a photograph collage of people's flaws complied throughout the exhibition and they will be displayed on a vintage framed cork board.

The reason behind the glass cabinet, casts and jars is that I have always been interested in specimen jars. It's just a curiosity of mine, plus I think the displaying aspects of it is very appealing to the eye, especial with the stark white plaster casts. I prefer the flaws detached from the body, as it gives a better focus on the flaw but also making it look superficial to others. The appearance of the piece seems like a museum exhibition and exhibits the flaws perfectly. I researched and visited a few museums for this idea but it has been something I have experimented within my work frequently and used in other exhibitions.

The rationality for the letter box and medical styled cards are purely experimental, there is no big hidden meaning to this piece, it's just a way of collecting flaws. I want to see how many people will write down something personal and post it in a box, when they have no idea what will become of it. The cards however may be used by me for research purposes in the future.

Finally the idea behind the photograph collage is another way of collecting people's flaws but making it more personal, as I will be displaying them on a board for all to see. A lot of people will probably be less willing to openly admit what their flaw is or want it photographed and framed up on a wall. I personally think it will test the viewer and hopefully they will see that their flaw is not as bad as they think and it is all just a mental hype. The reason I want to display the Polaroid photographs this way is because I want to show them off by using a traditional framing method but not conventional pictures associated with such a frame.

Final piece

Prep

Lately I have been working towards getting everything sorted for the final exhibition at University. I have been painting the plinth, sectioning boards, making pieces and setting up my exhibition.

Painted Plinth

Plinth with pens and cards

 Letter box

MDF boards

Putting up sectioning bays

Installing work

FIP ideas

FIP ideas 

November 2015

While doing Mod-Roc casting of my body, I started thinking of how to display it. I was thinking of doing an instillation using a full bandaged cast of me led on a stainless steel table, then have either a male mannequin or cast of one as the surgeon, not sure yet if I will clothe the mannequin in scrubs or leave his perfection on show. The piece would look like a doctors surgery with cupboards and tools like kidney dishes and scalpels. Obviously this will be an on going process, I'll be improving and adapting the work until I am happy with the results.

The piece will be of me because of my struggles with myself and body issues, the bandage cast, tools and room is to resemble me having plastic surgery because I am imperfect; the male mannequin shows perfection and the male dominance over female beauty. The viewers will be the four wall, which is an imaginary wall that the observers of the piece see through.

I've been looking and pricing these ideas up and somethings are just not feasible because of price, such as a steel table, thus I am in the middle of changing things to make it more achievable.

Collage of idea using found images

January 2016

In January I resurrected an idea I had messed about with previously within my art, which was people's flaws in jars. I ended up showcasing these in an exhibitions for Uni. I may also want to explore this idea again. 

February 2016

After a crit we had with students and teachers talking about my work, it got me thinking. Someone mentioned that they like my work in fragments, rather than a whole, thus my mind started working on how I could display my work that way for the final exhibition. I started imagining my work in different positions, such as hanging, I could maybe create like a slaughter house rail with meat hooks holding up flawed body parts; showing the reality of society, that we are all just a piece of meat. Maybe even a conveyor belt similar to a toy factor or food line, which people could interact with, by placing the body parts on and moving them a long the line with a cog mechanism to a bin or just a pile of useless body parts at the end. 

March 2016

I've been experimenting with the ideas I had in February of displaying my pieces. I have tried hanging them and think it looks very effective, the clinical white colours with Sharpe silver hooks gives it a sinister edge. Although I want to try more visual ideas with this piece, maybe add red dripping blood with a puddle on the floor using such materials as paint, fake blood or fabric.

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Hanging

With the help of my dad I then continued with experimenting with ideas and built a prototype of a conveyor belt. This is just for idea purposes, see how it looks and how to make one; I will also use it for testing the conveyor belt to bin idea. before or if I decided to build or buy a proper conveyor in the future. As you could build a bigger one out of different materials, such as, a paste table with brackets on to hold the rollers etc.. Or have the objects/body parts made of different things, maybe made more fragile so they will break or smash as they hit the bin.

Conveyor belt prototype

Conveyor belt with bin

April 2016

After experimenting with different ideas lately, I am drawn back to the Flaws in jars, I don't feel like I have fully explored this idea and I like the way it showcases my work and how it presents them as a piece. I would like to experiment with lighting and displaying the piece, see what works best; I will also have to collect more flaws of people. Although I will continue experimenting with my other ideas, this seems like the more feasible option for a final piece.

April/May 2016

I have had another idea for collecting peoples flaws, or should I say two more. The first idea was to have a letter box were people/viewers can write down their flaws on medical cards and post them in the letter box, this will be handy for future research for me. The other was to take close up photographs of people's flaws, then have the photographs displayed on a board for all to see. The reasoning or idea behind these is to see how people react to having a flaw on show or giving information that will be concealed in a box, people may not be as willing to have a picture of their flaw taken, as it starts to make it more personal and people may get self conscious.

For my final piece I have decided to have three sections and in each bay have a different form of collecting or displaying flaws. In bay one will be a lit glass cabinet and flaws in jars, bay two will hold a letter box with a plinth/table below it, with medical type cards and pens on it. Finally the third will host the collage of peoples flaws, that I will take during the exhibition. I think this will be the best way to interact with the viewer and get a reaction, as people will be showing or telling their most intimate faults and this is not easy at times. 

Sketch/diagram ideas

May 2016

I have decided to display the flaw photographs on a black vintage styled cork frame, it will make a good contrast to the white bay. I will be using a traditional method of framing but not conventional pictures that are associated with that type of frame, which is the effect I want because I would like the flaws to be shown off. Although I will be contradicting myself by having imperfect body parts and modern armature photographs, this will demonstrate that people can have different perspectives when things are visually appealing eg.. framed well. Personally I think this is the best way to display the flaws and draw attention to the piece.

The frame and a few pictures collect so far

I have installed my letter box and plinth but had to change the idea slightly, I realized I have not taken people's heights into consideration. So instead of having the letter box above my plinth, the box will be on the front of it, making the posting hole easy access for all. Although without the letter box above, it leaves a big white area of sectioning board. I had a thought about covering it with posters I made myself associated with medical/dentist waiting rooms or magazines. I did try this idea out and talked to a few tutors about it but we came to the decision that it might effect the piece and influence the viewer, plus the white pureness of the piece looks effective. 

Posters

Letter Box piece

Experimentation

October 2015

Past few weeks I have been trying to get a good face cast to make a mold from for an idea I had. I wanted to make lace/messy fabric cast masks using dissolvable fabric and cotton stitches. The mask symbolizes how people put up a front for others, maybe a smile or wearing make up to cover the face and ones true self.

So far this has been unsuccessful because I haven't got what I wanted out of the casts yet, I need to create a deeper face and better barrier to achieve the idea I have. And the stitching isn't as thick as I would like, so I have bought bigger needles, cotton and wool to experiment with and hopefully get the desired look.

The lace did not turn out the way I wanted and I tried different ways but with no success. I decided to take on different ventures instead, maybe I will return to this idea but for now I'm working on other things.

Although I haven't created what I wanted yet, I do like the cast off's of the Mod-roc, they are like covered faces. I tried painting one of them, to make it look dirty and to see what it would look like but I'm not as keen on that one, I prefer the white ones, makes them seem eerie in away.

November 2015

Felting

I have made some felt from scratch the other day, which might be useful eventually within my art.

Mod-Roc casts

After finding the Mod-Roc face cast off's interesting, I have decided to try other parts of the body, thus far I have done leg, foot, arm and hand.

December 2015

More Mod-Roc casts

Continuing with the bandage body parts, I decided to try cast my torso with the help of my mother (never again, she nearly blinded me with Mod-Roc dust). It didn't turn out the way I would of like as we run out of Mod-Roc stripes. It was not structurally sound, the weight of the chest part bent and warped everything, next time I know to add more Mod-Roc evenly and maybe get someone else to help me.

Wire work

After seeing someone else's wire dress today, it inspired me to start trying wire to produce body parts. I have begun a hand/arm in wire. 

Late December 2015

I had my tutor help me with casting my body, after the disaster of my mothers help. I now have a body piece I can work with and add other limbs too eventually.

Castings of my upper arm to continue my full bandaged body cast.

My bay 2015

Dec/Jan 2015/16

I started thinking about displaying my flaw casts which I have collected lately, I decided to revisit a way displaying I researched a few years a go and was interested in. It was specimen jars, I was always been fascinated by them, so I thought it would be a good way to showcase the casts I have created. So far I have teeth, hands, nose and chest to experiment with, below is a few pictures of the work and experimentation. 

January 2016

I have purchased a glass display cabinet to go with the specimen jars of flaws, I have been creating lately, which will be showcase in an exhibition on the 28th of January. I have yet to experiment with the visual aspects of it, what and where things will be placed etc.. But hopefully it will all come together soon.

January 28th

Exhibition

I think the display cabinet works rather well, although I could have a play with lighting the jars to make it more visually appealing.

February/March 2016

I have experimenting with different ways of displaying and creating more casts to do so.

April /May 2016

I am exploring different places put the lighting on the glass cabinet and jars, I bought a battery powered light because there is no plug socket near and it would make the piece untidy if I had wires hanging out of it. After careful consideration of where best to place the light, I decided to have it at the back, as this gives better lighting to the piece. Although I'm not 100 percent happy with this, I'm considering getting another light for the front to fully illuminate the piece.

I have been experimenting with taking photographs of my families flaws on my new Polaroid camera, as i'll be using it in my final piece. It is a little hard to get the right position sometimes but I think I have got the hang of it now. I do like the visual appeal of them looking armature, as it displays that the object/body part is not perfect, I'm considering how I'll exhibit them, I have a few ideas such as a cork board or have patch on a wall. I did order a black vintage style framed cork board, as it has an appeal of a old picture/ art frame, I want to see how displaying it this way will look.

Practice photographs

Cork board with pictures

May 2016

I started creating tags, I tried different ways of doing this but my printer wouldn't work with such small pieces of card. So I ended up printing the table and writing on paper, then cutting and sticking it to the tags. I also experimented with making them have an old appearance using a wet tea bag and sprinkling a few coffee granules over it, which is a technique I learnt as a child. I might use these tags to label my jars for my final piece, on it I will have the name, age, sex etc.. of the person's flaw. 

Practice tag 

Using aging effect

I recently made a new flaw cast to add to my collection, my brother's girlfriend does not like her feet. I did all the usual prep and made a mold with Alginate, then poured plaster in it. It did not work out as planned, as I did not get good enough detail of the flaw, so I will be doing another one in a bigger container. Also I was carrying a load of things upstairs and put the plaster foot in my pocket but I forgot about it and sat down. Which was a big mistake I ended up snapping a toe off, so moral of the story is, do not carry casts in your pocket.

Foot casts

I've gone on to make more foot casts, eventually I produced one that I was happy with and will be using in my final piece. 

Foot cast and it in a jar