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'.

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!!

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.

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...

'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!!!!??????

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.

'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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Francesca Woodman at the Victoria Miro gallery

I love Woodman's work so a chance to see her work in the flesh was a treat. The photographs were all printed small which drew me close and created a more intimate feel which is perfect for her work as I think it is very sensitive & personal work. There were images in small series's, 2 or 3 that connected. The work went from her very first piece to the end of her life where she was starting to explore using colour (previous work was only in black & white). As I've previously said I'm interested in her work as she questions sexuality and uses her body as subject. I'm still questioning If she makes herself sexual object for the male viewer by being the female nude or, if by obscuring, blurring herself, especially her face, in a lot of the images, does she then de-sexialise herself? I think I might explore this in my next essay.

'Art, fashion, identity' at The Royal Academy

Went to 'Art, fashion, identity' at The Royal Academy. This exhibition i found really exciting, have been waiting for ages for it to open and it didn't prove a let down. Yes i think there could have been a bit more, it felt a little bit craft orientated in parts? It challenged my mind as i walked from a very fashion based piece to a much more art based piece, my head was shifting from seeing fashion to art but i think a lot of the work successfully merged the two.
I was really drawn to the installation by fashion designer Hussain Chaylian in which he created a theatrical installation that was really eary but beautiful (cant find any better words!!???), it was very fashion orientated, much like a living photo shoot.
A really interesting video/performance and installation piece by Mella Jaarsma about homeless shelter caught my eye. The shelters were wearable and representational of their chinese/Indonesian surroundings.
Also there were works I've seen 2nd hand on the internet, like Yoko Ono's 'Cut Piece', Cindy Sherman's dress up dolls video (can't remember actual title) and Gillian Wearing's 'sixty minute silence'. I love the Wearing piece, the idea of a living photograph, the idea of endurance and subtle movement...a photo can be very formal but by making it time based takes this away as the subjects become uncomfortable. I want to look at the idea of living photos, the extension of the moment that is being captured as a still?
I obviously have a strong feeling when it comes to fashion, i worked as a stylist in the industry for over 10 years and it is still something i am passionate about but not in a commercial way anymore. I'm interested in the issues of the female in society, the fashion and beauty industry and the female form. Plus a love of the physical act of sewing and crafting, i have a love of fabric and form. I think this passion will work its way more and more into my practice.

Stephen Farthing at the Royal Academy

Went to the Stephen Farthing exhibition at the Royal Academy, only went because my ticket from another exhibition allowed entrance to this one, so i wasn't going to waste it. Didn't like his work much but the was interested to see images of faceless women, again this relates to what im exploring in my practice at the moment, exploring the female form and weather hiding, distorting or disguising the face can make the female form less of an object or more of an object. How to de-sexualise a female nude especially.

V&A Shadow catchers

went to the V&A to see 'Shadow catchers' exhibiton. it really challenged me simply because of the technical process, i need to look into it more, its a shame that the technical side interferred with my viewing. I love the work of Floris Neususs (the image on the advertising is one of hers). The ghostly, floaty, blurred images remind me of Francessca Woodman. They are innocent, pure and although there is a female nude in the work, she is not objectified, not sexual, her identity is hidden, this is something i'm exploring at the moment.

Here it is in gallery. The gloss finish meant that the viewer was aware of themselves surveying.

The final image I exhibited this week.

Stitch