Barthes and My Art?

 

I think when attaching Barthes ideas to a project like mine, I feel more lost on what exactly a possible assumed message may be. I’m not sure I can argue that my representation of the bed as an object is a “message without a code” (pg 36), because every bed I’ve encountered says something, whether that is it saying visually that it is unmade, or if the person is a clean freak. In terms of planning for my project, I was thinking of text, but as I drafted ways to write on the cyanotype paper, I found myself leaning towards using a white posca pen, but this then made me think that my audience could see my cyanotype magazine as a blueprint/ or instructional vs. the mock-magazine that it is, due to the ques given with the blue of blueprints and that of cyanotypes. plus the usage of diagram like images. 

Another interesting thought I had was about Barthes secondary idea of a collection and its signifiers. As much as I am focusing on a singular object: aka the bed, the bed itself is more of an idea of where we sleep and rest, rather than what exactly creates the idea of a bed as a structure. 

Ultimately, as I dissect Barthes in relation to my project, I’m finding that my idea to create the anatomy of a bed is more about communicating a relationship between body and object, than it is to advertise the object like the Panzani ad

My update for my project is just earlier in the week I secured my Nikon camera, and this weekend I will be doing my rounds and taking at least 10 pictures of my friends’ beds that way I can start planning out the magazine type format for my magazine.

Int. New Media Project Ideas! ‧⁺✧(˶´u`˵)⁺‧

 Hello Everyone!!! 🫧🐟

⋆Final Installation Blog⋆

 

This experience was like no other!

When this idea was on the chalkboard of my mind, I felt like it would stay put forever just because I was a bit doubtful about its execution..that was until we (the class) blew a great life into my chalk dust.

I remember the morning of this installation. I’m a huge early bird type of person so on this day I got up at 7am, got my supplies ready, and went to have breakfast. This is all context but when really getting into the set up, it was a therapeutic process. I got way too much paper but I loved using my obnoxiously large ruler across our grand table, and taking out my fresh set of pastels. I am also glad I got reminded to document because this image of anticipation makes me feel ready to make art!

In this midst of setting up supplies, I lost sight of setting up any restrictions. All I remember repeating is that the installation was about creating a mirror image to your partner, and to switch around colors when you were done with what you started with. I didn’t give too much direction on the tango of leading the mirroring and I think it had the great effect of people really connecting with their partners.

I think some beautiful outcomes from this happening was the sounds of the pastels going across paper and the silent conversations across the table. The laughter is also something that made me smile and feel like this installation did what I wanted it to. I wanted a connection, no matter how temporary, that helped us (as a class) express ourselves to each other.

This picture is one of my favorites because it truly shows a moment. The class may be off washing their hands at that moment (or what have you), but they created something that spoke for them in their absence. This piece was so huge that I had to stitch it together differently in a janky photoshop, but this work will always stick with me. 

I am glad we all came together this day and created something so beautiful. 

Rebecca Carlton Reflection -

 

I absolutely loved this artist talk. The time for self reflection is so hard to really sit down and have but when we were prompted to talk amongst each other and have a moment of retrospective, it was great. Rebecca talked alot about how these memories beg the question of “What do you want the viewer to see about you?”. She also talked a lot about her exposure to art being a consistent thing. Through this connection she often  later found herself in conflict between her and her environment. 

This is where she talks about Vanish: To become Zero. There were 4 main leaves used which took up a lot of the installation in size. Through this Rebecca then talked about thinking globally when creating art. To go out and look for what is around, and not being said. She also put emphasis that intention is key, and you have to know why you are doing something. 

She continued with how the process is one of the most important pieces to any creation.

5 billion to none: An extinction is an installation that really broke my heart. This piece revolves around passenger pigeons and how they were pushed to extinction. Rebecca talks about creating the 5,000 porcelain eggs (with no molds btw!). She also states here that global imagery is also essential for making an audience recognize that they understand something within the work, even if it is just an egg or a basket. 

There was much more said but ultimately I adored this artist talk because Rebecca Carlton put emphasis on the process and artists self within the evolution to the end product of all this work. I also loved her passion. You could just hear it. Many times she told the audience “Be persistent!” and “Follow through!” with whatever we get into. I appreciated that.

This opportunity was one of the best.

James Turrell

 

This research project was very overwhelming in the beginning. The first ever image I saw of James Turrell was him illuminated by light and I really wanted to know what he was all about. This project had a lot of trial and error for me unfortunately. I went through so many of his grouped works, I looked at his pictorial renditions of the more 3D examples, I just felt overwhelmed by my options. It wasn't until his work “Unseen blue 2002” that I felt any sense of guidance with what I was trying to convey. This work helped me solely because I had more variety with the light depicted which is what I was trying to get at in how viewers are experiencing something different each and every time with his work. He also is described as both a light artist and a musician because of his usage of optical illusions and projections/LEDs that help enhance the space or site specific art he is creating. I fell in love with the differing colors in his work but what stuck out to me the most is his extra attention to how viewers would feel in a space. This ties in to his Quaker faith but that strung in experience of meditation and occupying quiet space with others is what catapulted this discovery!. Despite the difficulty I had with certain aspects, I do feel like this project helped me not only learn, but feel recognized as an audience member. This is a similar feeling I had when we had seen work by Dan Graham describing his audience and how they were seeing him both in body language and eye movement. I appreciate artists who look at art as a relationship between audience and subject rather than a one-sided action of viewing.

James Turrell Presentation

Mock-up and Progress Report✨

 As with all projects, this one has changed in several ways. I decided that instead of a complex dark room, I am going to go with bright and simple. When looking at my rough drafts I realized that I wanted to head in a different direction.

 I found a website that when you dragged a cursor it created different flat kaleidoscope stills, and from there my idea took off. I also found out about the pre-school activity called the “Bilateral mirror”. This is where you and a partner are across the table from each other, and use an assortment of colors or paper to create a similar mirror image of each other. It also doubles as a mindfulness and team building exercise.

I took these two concepts and did a test run or mock-up. The difference I found was that the rainbow pencil (I bought enough for the class) did not show up well on my paper. It was instead my oil pastels that really gave a bright mark. My revision for this instead now is incorporating the cosmic effect I want by using pastels on black paper, and maybe incorporating the rainbow pencil some other way. However, this test run really gave me something to work with and I am excited to see how it translates into my installation. I am also excited to see how people work together when it is different from friend with friend, versus peer with peer. 

Project Proposal 🪼⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

 The theme: Expressing the self temporarily

When looking into what exactly I wanted from my project, I found that I really wanted to work with 3 main elements: Light, Color, and Participation. I gained a lot of inspiration from those nostalgia-esque edits of childhood that are always floating around in ‘2000s kids remember’ type of videos.

The original idea I had came from thinking of a “pocket installation”. My mind instantly went to kaleidoscopes and how although those don't exactly count as an installation (YET), there has to be some light, beads, and the participation of an audience member (or a single hand moving the lens).

With this I was thinking about what exactly it is about Kaleidoscopes that make me want to blow the images up onto a wall and show everyone. I only found an answer when a disk labeled “rainbow peephole” helped push forward my journey into what my installation is about.

However, although the original plan had some footing with this new tool, I still didn’t know what I was doing. I aimlessly took photos of everywhere light was its brightest. I tried to take as many photos in the daytime, but especially at night. When it was night time, and I was on my final walk home from watch, I took a quick photo of the main hall. This is where my purpose revealed itself to me. 

I took this photo and instantly thought "just because the center portion of this image occupies my reality, does it make the surroundings any less real?". I love this picture as it is, but it brought on my recognition of what this was: a fractured subject.

The definition of fractured here is: "split or fragment so as to no longer exist or function". This definition seems more fitting rather than a word like shattered because this photograph still feels like a whole image. The only major difference is what I've captured with my disk is not sustainable without it. I am able to create something new, but have no proof except this photo.

I don’t really have another photograph similar to this, all my other photos are of a singular light source that is open rather than against another subject. These two photos were my favorite of the day because they are polar opposites. One is the sun, the other is man-made. 

Despite the main elements I want incorporated, and the concept surrounding these images, the kaleidoscope keeps calling back to me. In order to make the fractured idea work I would need several of these disks, and a decent sunny day to take out our group to use them, but I want to incorporate the Kaleidoscope because that idea feels much better to execute.

I imagine a dark room, with light very dim and only really strong through the kaleidoscope that is projected onto a wall. From there there are chairs to sit and look at the projected images, however the audience can change the lens position themselves, and keep changing it based on what they feel in the present moment. In how I think of installations, I want participation to be key in how people express and interpret one another. 

I want something that feels awkward at first, that begs the question of who feels what in the present moment, and yet at some point in the process someone would be willing to answer the question, even if briefly.

This idea is still on the chalkboard, but here are some questions I had when I was drafting ideas before writing my proposal. 

Questions:

• Are the photos revealing something, manipulating it, or both?

• Are emotions able to be captured with something as simple as light and beads?

• Should the space be open and light, or concentrated and dark?