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Friday 30 December 2011

Personal stories: WE-VOICE

Am working on using the 'We-Voice blog, personal stories i am gathering of women's personal experience's of being women. I am also looking at the aspect of trust in what is being told, do we believe these women and their pieces of writing, could i use parts of them and create a fictional story? I am interested in these confessionals, narrative's and how they can be told, and if they are of interest to the viewer, what makes them interesting? I am looking at video, sound and installation to find a way in which the pieces can become stronger without over doing them.

Group exhibtion

Have made a group for the group exhibition and have had our first meeting. I am working with Ellie Huh, Jacqui Jackson, Helen Dixon, Camilla Raffo, Kaoru, Jacey, Sophie Gallager, Libby Ireland, Abi Frecklton and Kyla Harris. Jacqui and myself are co-ordinating the group. We are all looking into finding a gallery/space to exhibit but haven't found one as yet, we are a large group so this is adding to the challenge. We haven't got a theme as yet and are not sure it will need one, but we are discussing this. We have a nice selection of practices and installation's to go into the exhibition.

artists film and video elective

have almost got to a place where i am happy with the princess/doll face, renamed "because i'm worthless' video piece for elective. Decided to add text to it that flashes up over the images, they flash very fast so hard to catch what they say, this is aimed at being subliminal. The words are words we see and hear everyday in magazines, adverts, words that describe what it is to be feminine and not feminine. Words like 'beautiful, sexy, because i'm worth it, ugly, buldge' plus some fashion and beauty brand names we are very familiar with. I'm not a hundred percent happy with it but i think if i step away from the work for a while then i will see what is needed when i return to it. So although the piece is unfinished i am happy with it at the stage it is...to be continued.

Tuesday 29 November 2011

confused.com

After having a tutorial with Mo Thrope, Jane Madsen then a group crit at my fine art studio practice group i meet with once a month at the Working Men's College (where i previously studied my access course) i am now confued as to what to do with 'Doll face'. I have been given 3 different sets of feedback and advice as to where to take it....this often happens with tutors i find, everyone has different opinion and feedback and ideas of how to push it forward and it just confuses me. I suppose i should just go with what i feel the piece should do and take the bits of feedback that i feel the best!!??
One thing that is helpful is when asking for direction and feedback is when a tutor actually knows your previous work i think, its hard for them to see how i've progressed, digressed or gone in a completely different direction.... i think my piece 'Doll face' (also now known as princess because i have trouble with givong them a title), has gone too far, i think i've lost my sense of me within the work, i think maybe i am trying to please others with the work, trying to please the institution too much!? Having looked back and reflected on previous work i think i was producing stronger work and work that was true to me way back on my access course and in the begginign of my first year at chelsea. So i am going to revisit these pieces and see how i can be true to myself and continue with them confidently!?
So im going to strip 'dollface/princess back to the bare bones, take each of the pieces within it and play with them individually.
I want to use the catwalk model and continue to edit her, make her more repetative, scratchy and create an uncomfortable, unbearable feeling. Then i want to find a way of possibly installing it with projection and mirrors so the viewer then becomes a part of the piece by refleting in the mirror< will play witht this.
I want to rework "The Wardrobe' and see where i can take it.
I am frustrated that i am being made to work on several piece's at once, one for film elective and one for unit6 assessment, i want to work on one piece at once as i find it more intense and satisfiying and i dont like the time limits being set, i am hping i can be assessed on work in progress but then i realise we are supposed to be exhibiting a piece for assessment. I dont feel i have anything satisfactory for exhibtion to date.
Basically fairly frustrated at present!

Tuesday 8 November 2011

Images from latest video piece-Doll face






Living Dolls and Bodies

I've been reading 'Living Dolls - The return of sexism' by Natasha Walter and re-reading 'Bodies' by Susie Orbach as i feel these are relevant to my practice right now and will hopefully help in my essay. I am focused at present on the chapter 'Princesses' in 'Living Dolls', its helped inform my latest video piece, which as i said in previous post is about beauty and age along with the way in which women are shaped within today's society.
Natasha Walter talks of how children are bombarded in today's society (this new generation) by a very strong divide in what is male and what is female, the rise of the Disney store has had a huge impact along with toy manufacturing in general. As an example, she speaks of Hamley's toy store " When my daughter was four, i remember taking my first trip to Hamleys toy store in London. There, the floors are absolutely divided; as you rise up the escalator you go into a pink and silver world of Barbies, tutu's and fairies.' (p:131). She goes into further depth but basically is talking about how advertising and mass marketing has divided the male and female from a young age in this generation, and this is so obviously true as i see it.
In Susie Orbach's book 'Bodies' i am re-reading the chapter on 'Bodies real and not so real' (starts p:77) which focuses on the beauty and fashion industries and their power to affect women today in society. How we are obsessed with perfection and chasing the fantasy that we see around us in film, air brushes models in magazines and celebrity lifestyle.

Looking back to create new

I've been reflecting back and looking at previous works i've done since i started my access course all the way through to more recent work done this year, to see where i am going and what can be re-worked and  improved. It's sparked off a new piece (Doll Face) in which i am looking at the same issues that have flowed through all my previous work, that's looking at the female and how she is shaped within our society, the pressure and beliefs of what a woman should be. It also brings up issues of age and beauty. I have been creating a video piece with my previous video work and new filming edited into, to convey these questions and comments.

Friday 28 October 2011

Camden arts centre

Went to see Nathalie Djurberg 'A world of glass' at Camden arts centre, along with Haroon Mirza 'I saw square triangle sine'.
Djurberg has produced some really interesting animations that are dark and provocative. The installation of these 4 videos are synchronised in the gallery space and have a sound track created by Hans Berg. Along with the videos are glass objects displayed on tables, that for me represent the fragility of life. There is a lot of inclusion of animals, a sense of harm and violence along with the naked human form (female) which for me again show this fragile-ness & vulnerability of the feminine.
Miraza's work was very different. He addresses movement & sound with this installation of instruments. Each instrument creates a noise, less of a musical sound, the crackle of a radio, the constant drone of a keyboard key pressed permanently down, the microphone lead rubbing around the edge of a symbol, but together they create a rhythmic audio, for me it was womb like, the comforting rhythm of a heartbeat. The added part is the installation was the drum kit that the viewer can play, placed so that whilst playing he/she can view the set of paintings on the far wall.  I didn't think i would enjoy Mirza's work as much as i did, i enjoyed the interactive part but unusually for me i like the sound aspect, something maybe for me to consider in my own work, I've not used audio as i have tended to be focused on video but could be a good challenge to explore. i don't often find sound pieces i like. The only part of this installation i didn't particularly get or connect with was the purpose of the paintings!?

Now what?.....

I have started 'The Voice' project but that is an ongoing piece and not at all finished for a long while so need to get working on another piece.
I have a brief from my chosen elective 'Artists film & video', plus i need to get going on some more work, but... i feel really stagnant and stuck, a block! I feel lost as to where my work is and where it is going, i've lost inspiration, drive and direction i think.
I don't feel i've made anything significantly successful or interesting since being at Chelsea, i feel my work was more interesting when on my foundation/access course. So i am thinking i may take the advice of Gill Addison from last year and consider revisiting old work. I am looking at previous video and photography pieces and will start to question where and what was successful & interesting, what was not successful but of interest and what could be improved, worked on. At least then i will be working rather than feeling stuck!

Thursday 20 October 2011

www.we-voice.blogspot.com

Have been working my ideas through regarding my most recent project on 'giving women a voice'. I wanted to collect women's personal experiences of 'being woman'. After spending time filming women for my previous pieces i found it interesting how these women opened themselves up to be filmed even though they hadnt felt too comfortable with it. They found some trust in me and opened up themselves off camera too, it was these conversations that got me thinking.
I am now moving forward by asking women to write me their experiences of 'being woman' (and no this is not a typo, i want it to read woman not women). I have put posters up in uni, i have emailed every woman i know and asked them to forward to all women they know. I have set up a blog and a new email account to collect these pieces.
I am going to start collecting email addresses of women's centres, women's publications, feminist publications, female artists, writers, women in the public eye etc. I will then be emailing them with my poster, blog and email address in hope of building interest and hopefully entries to the project.
This piece will become the women who contributes to it's. I will not edit or pick and choose, everything within reason that is sent to me will be entered, obviously excluding anything obviously offensive, abusive etc. I will have to make careful decisions as i really don't want to edit people out, this is about giving ALL women a voice if they want to be heard.
I presented this project to my tutor group this week and got some useful (and some not so useful) feedback. The useful were questions that i am thinking through now and will be able to use to clarify my practice and this piece.

www.we-voice.blogspot.com

Tuesday 18 October 2011

reading

As i am interested in documentry film and am interested in the interview techniques. i understand that interviewers will adjust their questions to get the answers and angle they are looking for so i am reading 'Doing interviews' by Steinar Kvale as it has been recommened.

Friday 16 September 2011

Curent work...

At current i am working on a few ideas, the main being a film installation piece, i am unsure as yet of the technical aspect as it how to shoot it, my initial idea needs to be unpicked and the content and purpose questioned, i also need to just play around with it, do some test shoots to see how it works in the practice.
The central part is giving a voice to the women i have previously been filming (not nessaceraly those particular women but women i have come across). My previous pieces i shot, the 'Make up girls' and the silent '4 Minute Women' started me exploring individual women, i then started to think about these women individual and began talking to them about their experiences of being a women, this then made me see that behind the camera we had a story and in front of the camera they only had a physical and silent emotional presence. These women had stories, experiences and often wanted to have a voice. I decided i wanted to give them this voice but found they often became too animated and held back if the camera were turned on. so i asked them to write me a short piece on 'what it is to be a woman', their personal experience, i gave them anonymity so they could speak without inhibition.
Now is where i am at, I have the pieces of writing and am deciding how to present them. I am going to test shoot somebody else reading a piece or various women reading them out, maybe an actress. I also need to consider how to shoot it, initially it was a simple one camera to woman with paper reading. i experimented with voice over and with subtitle but this was not giving enough of a voice so i do think woman reading it aloud will work best for this.
I also have a decision about which pieces to include and which to discard, or if i actually should be discarding any. Surely if i discard any then this is taking a voice away, i am deciding who can and can't speak, i am editing the women? This is contradictory to what i want to achieve. The reason i am questioning weather to discard some is because of content, some of the pieces are what could be considered as 'sensationalising' or 'shock tactics' maybe 'stereotyping', maybe considered as directed by me But these are true stories (as far as i and the viewer wish to believe). Yes it is true that i have handpicked these women for their stories, their experiences to a degree, although i have tried to spread the word further than the close circle around me and those connected to these women. Maybe i need to keep putting the request out further a field, as maybe i want a more rounded experience of 'what it is to be a woman'....how do i get a facebook/Internet/blog to invite women to write to me, how to publicise it???? maybe this is a way forward to solve the problem?

2009/10 Sophie Calle: 'Talking to Strangers' Whitechapel Gallery

My recent viewing at the Camden Arts Centre of Kerry Tribe's work, my thoughts about narrative & documentary film, along with this trust or distrust in an artist made me reflect on the Sophie Calle exhibition 'Talking to Strangers' i saw at The Whitechapel Gallery back in 2009/10. Particualry the piece in the main gallery, 'Take Care of Yourself'. I recall the video installation of the various women Calle asked to read the email that was the central theme of the show, an email sent by her partner breaking up with her. I like Calle's use of investigation, story telling and the blur between fiction and truth, i like her playfulness. I like the way she shares her personal experience and detaches from it by involving other people (women), it is as if she is ridding herself of the reality and personal attachment to the experience and making it somebody else's experience.
The video installation in particular is particularly relevant to the piece i am working on at present in content and technical/visual format....

Camden Arts Centre: Kerry Tribe 'HM'

I spoke earlier here about the exhibition;Kerry Tribe at The Camden Arts Centre. Have been thinking more about it...i was drawn to the piece 'H.M (2009)', an "experimental documentary about an anonymous amnesiac" (write up by Camden Arts). Again i was drawn to the narrative and personal experience of one person (H.M).  There is also this element of trust in the artist, in the narrative...Is this factual, part factual or all fantasy? As the viewer i was lead to believe the story and H.M to be factual and i wanted to believe what i was told, which was that this was truth.
I like the use of documentary style with an expansion into a more art installation style, maybe overcomplicated, but this was purposeful, to challenge the viewer's own experience of 'amnesia'/memory. (a two screen installation, images and interview coming in and out of sync, various relationships between images and sound).
It has made me think about the documentary style of my piece i am currently working on and weather a simple documentary style is enough, if it right for the piece or if it needs more. I need to look at the technical aspect of the piece and see if it enough to just film with one angle, one camera. I need to question where and how the piece will be viewed. Generally i think i need to ask more questions about what i am trying to achieve and test out different ways of achieving this. More planning is needed.

'The Women's Building: Feminist Art Workers (otis college)'

Another link to another interview with some of the collective artists (Cheri Gaulke, Nancy Angelo, Laurel Klick) from 'The Womens Building' about another piece, performance again, 'The Feminist Artworkers'.
Again i am not sure if this is the way i am heading or what actually interests me,  i am actually finding the stories, the interview itself the part i am interested in more than their practice. It is the relationships and experience of the women that i am more intersted in, so this i think again comes back to narrative and personal experience rather than a collective or global experience?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWSNY-_KWJA&feature=relmfu

The women's building

Have been watching some 'you tube' interviews with members of 'The womens building', a feminist collective that started in the 70's. This particular link leads to an interview about a piece "Sisters of survival' which was done by Sue Maberry, Cheri Gaulke, Anne Gauldin and Jerri Allyn.
As i've found reading text hard, partly due to dyslexia and partly the laungage, i have found internet based videos (mostly 'you tube') and DVD's a good way to take in information and get insight into areas of interest for me.
I'm not so sure that my interest lies in the political and global sense of feminism but more so in the individual and narrative around the individual, but saying that, i am focused on female experience (gender). I think i need to clarify what i am actually focused on and what my practice intends to do?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlGS3E-bnY4&feature=results_main&playnext=1&list=PL9BF2A6F540F23156

Thursday 15 September 2011

'Her name is Sabine'

I recently watched the documentry film by French actress Sandrine Bonnaire about her sister Sabine. The story of Sabine and Sandrine's life and the deteriation of Sandrine due to her autism that had been undiagnosed and wrongly treated for many years. It was captivating and beautifully shot, a documentry not art film but all the same Of interest to me as it is about telling anothers story with them present, narrative of a life.

'Strange culture' by Lynn Hershman Leeson

I recently came across the film 'Strange culture' by Lynn Hershman Leeson about artist and professor Steve Kurtz which i found interesting as a documentry type film. I've been looking at art film and documentary style in particular. I liked this particular one because of the crossover between the real interviewing, the acted and the out take/between acting and the cartoon. I'm interested at present in telling people's stories, the giving voice to my previous pieces, specifically the '3 minute women' piece. I'm also interested in moving the pieces from the gallery and into a movie theatre setting as I want to move toward film as a means of keeping the viewer for the duration of the piece and to engage them in the whole narrative, it is too easy for the viewer to move on in a gallery setting and I as artist want them to stay and hear the entire story, Control the viewer more, this is important as it is about giving voice to my subjects of my piece, letting them tell their story and be heard, maybe for the first time.

Tuesday 21 June 2011

Subtitles

I've been experimenting and teaching myself how to do voice over and subtitles on my films as I think this next project may work well with one of these methods!!

What do I want my work to say?

This is the question I've been asked and after some thought and reflection to my earlier works I see amd feel it's about giving voice to women, to myself, to empower and recover women. I've started work on a piece about Womens experience and memory of 'being woman'. I've asked a selection of women from different backgrounds, age, class, race, sexuality and professions to write a piece of first hand experience/memory of being a woman, of what it means to be a woman. The words are written and sent to me anonymously. I will then film different women reading out these pieces writing. This is in the beginning stages so may well evolve amd change!

Dictionary definition: documentary

doc·u·men·ta·ry
[-men-tuh-ree]
- adjective 1. of or derived from documents 2. depicting an actual event, life story, etc. - noun, plural-ries 3. documentary film
- Related Forms    un·doc·u·men·ta·ry- adjective    sem·i·doc·u·men·ta·ry- adjective, noun    doc·u·men·tar·i·ly- adverb
[Origin: 1795–1805; document + -ary]

Kerry Tribe: Dead Star Light at Camden Arts Centre

Haven't been to an exhibition in a while so was pleased when I managed to get to Camden Arts Centre today to see the Kerry Tribe exhibition 'Dead Star'. A mixture of film, video, sound installation and very relevant to what I'm working on at present. The piece that most interested me and related to where I'm at with my practice at present is 'Dead Star Light shown together with HM'. the work is about memory and the piece is documentary in style, about a man (HM) Whom suffers amnesia. I'm particularly interested in peoples personal stories and memories at present and looking at using documentry type filming as art, I've been researching what makes a film become documentry and also I'm interested in truth and fiction and what the viewer chooses to believe, if an artist say's 'this is fact' does it become fact because it is a piece of art rather than a documentry... Must look up dictionary definition for 'documentry'.

Monday 16 May 2011

2 way mirror

I've managed to blag a free bit of 2 way mirror/glass for the next step of my practice. I'm interested in moving the '4 minute' women forward by placing them in front of a mirror rather than the camera len's to see how they change, it will obviously form a different relationship between the subject and the viewer, does subject also become viewer (of self)? does she become more animated or more comfortable with the familiarity of self looking back at her? does it then create a 3 way relationship between subject, subjects reflection and viewer behind the mirror, the lens? Ive had to do research on how to actually light it, it needs darkness behind the camera, well light in front, lighting the actual subject as bright as poss. am going to experiment with black fabric over camera to see if that works before i start building myself a black box!!

Wednesday 11 May 2011

Good tutorial with Gill Addison

Good tutorial with Gill Addison this afternoon. Looked at the idea of '4 minute woman' being a cinematic film, a durational piece, I've already put it together like that on DVD and like the idea, will continue filming then try it out.
Also getting an understanding, thanks to Gill's help, of my practice at present being about 'being looked at'. Am just gonna keep pushing forward and deeper.

Monday 9 May 2011

Technical ability!

Am looking at improving my technical ability! Am playing around with my camera equipment along with using iMovie and iDVD to all help me get a more professional finish to my videoed pieces. I am also considering lighting and setting of filming. For '4 minute women' (new title- previously 'naked 4 minute women') I wanted it to be inside with natural daylight so had to make sure I filmed each woman around similar time of day and had to rebook a few when the day turned out to be dull grey sky's.
I'm also questioning the installation of each piece more and how that affects the way in which I film. For '4 minute women' I am looking at projecting the video large scale onto Walls so the quality of the film needs to be really good so I don't loose detail, which is very important- wrinkles and twitches need to be seen! The room will also need to be very dark.
I'm considering if any of the videoed pieces could be shown in a cinematic situation and if so then a high quality DVD with titles and sound need to be considered.
I think all of these considerations will help me pull my practice up a level to being in line with my critical thinking.... Well, that's the intention!!

Feminism & Postfeminism

Have just started reading 'The Routledge Companion to Feminism & Postfeminism' by Sarah Gamble, it seems so far to be easy to read and looks like it has just what I need, an all round introduction...

Monday 2 May 2011

'Naked 4 min women'

Its interesting seeing whats coming out of filming the women without makeup...not only can you see insecurity in some but there is a real sense of age in the performances as a whole. I see the younger women actually as more uncomfortable without their makeup which is the opposite of what i'd expected to see.
Am thinking of ways to install the performance/video, i am thinking about projecting large, onto 4 walls of a room/gallery, showing young opposite older woman. Will have to set up and experiment...if i can get a bookable space....like sometime in the next few weeks ha!!!!??????

Wednesday 27 April 2011

Developing ideas...

I am trying to do what's been suggested and work further into an idea, to get my practice up to speed with my theoretical/critical thinking. I think its actually going well, i've been focused on the 'makeup girls' performance video and moving the idea forward as i spoke about in my last post 'Naked Women'. I've also been looking at filming the women just putting on lipstick, lipstick is a very sexual and womanly piece of makeup, its the actual putting it on that i believe is a very seductive act, plus the gloss, the sheen on the lips, the lips also being a very sensual part of the body. I am also editing down the 'Makeup women' so that it is divided up into a different woman putting on a different piece of makeup, i'm thinking of dividing it and putting in order of age, the youngest appearing first, wearing the least makeup and later the eldest with the most, there is obviously a lot here about how beauty is also defined by youth.

Friday 15 April 2011

'Naked women'

Have been developing the multi screen 'Makeup girls' piece, am now in process of filming these women 'naked faced' (without makeup). I am shooting close up, focused just on their unmade faces, filming them looking to camera for 4 minutes (as in Warhols 'Screen tests). They are like moving photographs, tiny movement, blinking, swallowing, tiny twitching eye movements(also see: Gillian wearing '60 minute silence') I'm trying to capture some kind of exposure that may be felt by the woman (just as a successful photograph might), unable to mask herself with her makeup, an emotion, a vulnerability of being filmed, looked at for a period of time longer than that snapshot of a photograph, the uncomfortable gaze, from each woman.

Thursday 17 March 2011

screen shot from 'make-up girls'

Susan Hiller exhibition

Went to the Susan Hiller exhibition at Tate Britain with a few people from uni. I was most interested in an installation titled 'Witness'. The piece was visually stunning, a calming feel but then unsettling. The sound from the suspended speakers of different peoples experiences of seeing UFO's (various languages spoken), all the voices talking at the same time gave a confusing and eery feel. I wanted to listen in to each account but it became distracting and confusing, i like the feeling of this mix of responses to the piece.

'Make up girls'

Working on a performance piece about the process, the ritual of the woman putting her daily make-up on. Have used other women (to see how this changes, enhance's or detract's from my work) and myself, filming each one with webcam so that they can see themselves whilst being filmed, i wanted it to be face to camera so this seemed the best option to use webcam. I'm looking at why we wear make-up, is it for ourselves or is it to fit in with societies view of what a woman should be, beautiful in the eyes of man? Obviously the beauty industry is huge and we are fed with countless images of what we should be striving for, the perfect woman....i'm still figuring out what i'm really looking at and have many questions to ask and to answer for myself....ongoing!!

'High Society' at The Wellcome Collection in Euston

Went up to Euston to The Wellcome Collection gallery to see an exhibition 'High Society', a look at drug culture. A mixture of science and art (thats what they specialise in). Interesting but noting much that jumped out at me except a series of photographs by Tracey Moffat, titled 'Landanum'. The photos were about a mistress and maid experimenting with the drug Landanum, set in victorian times the images show the relationship between the two women, the power of the mistress over her maid. The images were slighly disturbing and erotic at the same time.

Michael Landy at The National Portrait gallery

Went to see the Michael Landy exhibition at The National Portrait gallery. A series portraits, pencil drawings, really simple but very expressive, really liked them and i went straight home to do a self portrait in pencil....not so good but will keep practising.

Friday 11 February 2011

Interim review

Got some really useful thoughts and feedback from my review. Again we talked about slowing down and revisiting work. I was told my critical thinking is ahead of my practice, so this slowing down and re working on pieces will hopefully help. My work is not what my thinking wants it to be so I don't really feel satisfied with each piece. So am revisiting, as I said with Melissa, the make up performance. I've started by filming the simple act of putting my make up on and have used other people too. I'm going to experiment again with the tights over face and work out a way of putting the makeup on the surface that seems mote realistic, for this I may need to change to a new surface as the tighta are hard to work on, they slip and don't take the make up smoothly. I find it hard to stick to one piece but i'll give it a go.

Tutorial- Melissa Bliss

Had a tutorial to discuss my practice with Melissa Bliss. Was really interesting to hear what she had to say and what suggestions she had. We talked about revisiting work and looked specifically at the performance piece about make up. She suggested it needs to be more subtle and realistic, to put the make up on as I really would, to avoid rhe obvious 'tights on head', to just have a covering on face so it looks like just a blank canvas of a face. She suggested looking at using 8 then 16mm film as I would need to plan before doing. She also suggested using other people to perform the work as it would give me more freedom to do more than my own limitations. She questioned why I use webcam and camera phone rather than film (easier to access). Lots of really good input that I'm going to take on board.

Wednesday 2 February 2011

Feet


Have been taking photos of feet for about 6 months now, I'm not sure why, I suppose I like the anonymity of the shots, most are of me in various places but I'm more interested in the secret shots of other people. I've no idea why I'm doing it but I'll just keep doing it and see where it goes.

Tuesday 25 January 2011

Cindy Sherman

Kyla and myself went along to Sprueth Magers gallery to see the new Cindy Sherman exhibition and to discuss how her work is relevant to our own practice. The images are huge and printed onto wallpaper (well actually it is a very fine sticky backed fabric but looks like wallpaper), the exhibit is specifically tailor made to the space. I think its an interesting move into installation and away from the print in frame. There's a real power in the installation, the size and expressivness(?) of each character, but still a comfortable feeling That it is still Sherman as subject, photographer and masquerades. This time she is using digital manipulation instead of makeup or actual masks which creates a more subtle disturbance in the character of her face. I found the characters confrontational yet vulnerable, although some where grouped together they each had an aloneness (?).
The ways in which it relates to my practice is her questioning of identity and gender, specifically female identity. I am also looking at ways of masking, hiding, obscuring identity, so a form of masquarade.
I am questioning the objectification of woman, I'm questioning 'can a woman be objectified if her 'true' identity is hidden? If her face is hidden, her expression, her eyes, does this make her less appealing due to the fact that I see the face as the most expressive and the place that will show her passivity that is so desirable in these images that we see so much in contemporary visual culture?
Having worked as a stylist in the fashion industry for many years I am used to these images, used to creating them to please the advertising teams and to appeal to the viewer so it's interesting to re examine them from a different perspective and question them.

Monday 17 January 2011

Daily documentation of intimate life

As of 1st jan 2011 I have been taking one photo a day as a documentation of my intimate life, it's a lot harder than it sounds, how to keep each day different, interesting, refreshing and to express that day...there's a difference between documenting my real life and making art, some days are creative and others just snapshots but I'm interested to see where it goes and I think it's a good discipline for me to aim to take just one photo a day...Hmm we'll see if I can last the year!

Cindy Sherman at SPRÜTH MAGERS london

Looking forward to going to see Cindy Sherman's new exhibition tomorrow at Spruth Magers gallery London.

http://spruethmagers.net/exhibitions/276

Mirror image

Am using mirrors in my photography this week, looking at the several identity's that an individual can have.

Thursday 13 January 2011

reading

am interested in self portrait photography and am reading two good books: 'the photograph as contemporary art' Charlotte Cotton. Thames and Hudson. and 'Auto Focus, the self-portrait in contemporary photography'. Susan Bright. Thames and Hudson. Both are giving me ideas for my essay but still unsure of the question/title but will keep reading and hopefully the question will come.

Alexander McQueen

i have been asked to interview at Alexander McQueen in their print design room for an internship, i feel very privileged to be asked but they want people who draw and i don't feel i am strong at drawing so it may not suit me but am still going to go along and show them what i can do, so am spending the week working on some ideas for them.

re thinking woodman

having thought about the Woodman exhibition over the holidays and been looking at her work again in books i think that the exhibition for me actually felt less intimate than when i view her work in the privacy of my own home. maybe it was the sparseness of the Vitoria Miro, that big cold open warehouse gallery with the small prints, maybe being conscious of other viewers in the gallery, how much time i give to each image in the gallery setting (at home i feel free to flick through images or spend time digesting one particular image. so for me the exhibition wasn't successful in giving me the feel i originally felt about her work when only seen in publications, i came to the exhibition expecting to feel even closer to her work but came away disappointed.

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