Fine Art- Week two (2 weeks) : Using New Materials

  Today, I worked in the Fine Art classroom working from a grid of photos where we must create the drawings out of the recycled/ salvaged materials at the front of the classroom. I feel as though this was a really exciting workshop day to be involved in within fine art as we tested the limit of materials we wouldn't necessarily use that are being chucked away anyways.

The first drawing that I recreated was a circle with diagonal lines coming off of outwards so I immediately saw this loose tinsel and petri dishes, then using double sided tape I began to stick the tinsel around the edges of the petri dish to create a kind of whimsical flow of glistening tinsel. I then began to experiment in much more of a comedic way to see where this design could be taken elsewhere and shown in a different way and one way was taping it to a lamp that created a warm yellow light with wavy shadows almost acting as though the beams of light after dangling from the light. The other way I shown it was by taping it to a tap because the tinsel's fluidity almost reminded me of water and made me want to explore the outcome it would have, that I believe is my favourite outcome using this creation. However I struggled a lot with keeping the tinsel stuck to the petri dish as they kept dropping off singularly every so often, I managed to solve that problem by sticking a layer of cellotape over the top to restrict them from falling off.  I chose to use the lose tinsel as one of my main materials as there was masses of it and it was both flowing and metallic gold meaning that it would stand out in the light also, I thought that the petri dish would maintain the circle-like shape from within the diagram while keeping all of the tinsel stuck to the edges.

                           

The next outcome I created was based off a diagram filled with six circles, that I immediately had an idea of what to do with as, I saw circular sponges and buttons to my left ready to be exploited to my full advantage. I crafted this design on top of a piece of thick card and used PVA glue to stick everything down, after looking for other circular objects I found metal washers, buttons and white felt circles that I tried scatter and position them almost as a representation of atoms. I feel as though this experiment is very successful because I recreated the grid with the circles inside using completely random recycled materials that wouldn't necessarily be used when creating a piece of art. Also, I achieved my desired outcome and have created a complex yet simple piece making it extremely interesting and unique in itself, the potential within this piece is never ending as I can cut it up, remove the circles and reuse them in a different circumstance or even use it in a additional way to develop a piece further. To improve upon this I could trial the deconstruction of this piece and the reconstruction of something knew whether I use the sponges to print circles with acrylic paint and instead of washing the sponges afterwards leave them to dry so that the colour remains or even if I was to try make something very abstract and use the edges of the buttons or metal washers to make fluent, unpredictable lines. The only thing within this piece that I believe hasn't worked well is when trying to stick the circular objects in particular the buttons on to the top of the sponges as they kept springing off or not fully being secured meaning in time they would drop off, I solved this problem by using PVA glue and squirting it onto both surface of the sponge and the button so that they merge together to stabelise. 

The next section of the diagrams I chose was one that looked like a grid that immediately made me think of a window, which is what I wanted to explore and within the four cut outs of the windows I made smaller grids using square sequins. To create the window I used a piece of black mount board that I cut four squares out of and stuck the mount board on top of a square piece of wood (an off-cut). I think that the squares within the windows that I created using sequins worked really well as I have created a smaller grid emphasising the diagram in multiple ways as well as bringing a reflective surface to the inside that would reflect light onto the surrounding area a shown against the white background in the second photo. Although I am pleased with my outcome I feel as though the edges I cut along the sides of the mount board could be a lot cleaner because they're not all straight and they are uneven making it appear a lot more sloppier. If I was to recreate this piece I would measure the square on the mount board and use a ruler with the scalpel to ensure that ever edge is clean and straight, I would stick the grids with the sequins down first before sticking the window I cut out of mount board down because I would have straighter grid lines from the sequins making it a lot neater. Based off of my evaluation above I could improve upon this by measuring and ensuring everything's equal and straight and also making sure that the grids within the windows are symmetrical and uniform. To develop this piece further I could use only silver square sequins so that i'd get a reflection from the surroundings almost as though it's a mirrored effect while maintaining the extra grid inside or I could put a mirror underneath the mount board and stick the mount board to the mirror and then draw 3x3 grids on top of the mirror in the window sections so it is a mirrored effect with the grids underneath. 

 

The next section I chose was a square with what looks like little lines crossing over showing star like line drawings that I thought could be interpreted as matchsticks crossing over each other to show the lines not visually crossing over yet crossing over underneath I wanted to approach this in a weird, less instinctive piece where I chose the last thing that i'd think to use which ultimately ended up being a crinkled dish sponge/cloth. I created this piece by piercing the coloured matchsticks diagonally through the sponge repeatedly to form star like shapes through the sponge. One problem that came with this method was how some sticks would snap or the whole would end up too big and the matchsticks would just fall through, I solved this problem easily by using the tip of a pencil to continue making holes that are all the same size meaning it caused no more problems. If I was to do this again I could use string or thread and sew the lines through the cloth however that doesn't involve using as complex and unusual materials. I believe that I could improve upon this by using a different thickness of material such as a thin cloth as opposed to the thicker sponge meaning that it would be less rigid and more interactive. I think this experiment was very successful because I achieved a unique outcome that is very peculiar in itself and is something completely out of my comfort zone.

The final section was a circle with lines shooting diagonally across it from the one side, after seeing this diagram I immediately saw an broken embroidery hoop that I could repurpose into a spinning abstract thread piece of work where I started with the pink thread first just tying each end diagonally to form an abstract like shape using the lines of string and then I decided to add to it by adding the blue and green colours of string that added much more dynamic to the piece. Also, I tried to differentiate between light and dark colours within my three chosen colours to emphasise the singular strings by themselves, I then suspended it from a plank of wood within the studio space and tapped it a little bit so that it would begin to move slowly and eventually move naturally on it's own creating a very interesting moving shadow on the white background. I think that the string worked extremely well for creating this piece and the tension between each string added more to the piece as well as tying the string to opposite sides of the central string. However, securing the tension within the string did come with some difficulty where it would move slightly when tying the next colour of string on and would slide down and I would have to try tie it again more tightly while making sure i'm not restricting it too much, I solved this problem by tying one string from each colour singularly and moving around tying them one by one switching between the colours making sure each one is secured well. If I was to recreate this piece I would either just use alternative colours of string or I would wrap the string around rather than tying it either end meaning it is secure just without the knots sticking out around the edged making it look less neat.