This project has seemed like an excuse for me to pursue my own interests and has been really enjoyable. Just because there is a deadline doesn’t mean I will stop collecting and presenting my collections on the blogs I have created, I feel that this medium of expressing myself will be something that will stay with me for years to come. I am proud of the developments I have made in the exploration, investigation and analysis of cherishing an action but also the final photos are something I am really pleased with. When I finished uploading a bulk of the photos I posted a link to facebook, several friends commented and one person re posted one of images which made me feel like what I’ve been working towards isn’t simply an isolated university project but something which is real, alive and serving its purpose. On a personal level it has helped me assess myself, as I haven’t gleaned information about cherishing by researching others but my researching myself.
Thursday, 26 April 2012
REVIEW....
If I could improve anything I would improve my ability to pack a mosaic for a train journey and trek across London so it didn’t break (and also maybe improved it durability by using a tile adhesive or glue first)
The quality of the photographs I am sure could be improved if I had a better knowledge of photoshop and using studio lighting.
When re-reading the brief I asked myself whether I had fulfilled it. I have certainly developed ideas about what cherishing….
But had I questioned materials? Then I thought back to the workshop session with ‘Material X’ I think the idea that if you disregard your previous knowledge and experience of an object or material you can develop much more interesting explorations with it. I think this is what I have done. I have put collections together which I cherish and so do others with rubbish off the street, left over train tickets which get binned, broken ceramics people from various eras have disposed off and left to be washed up, broken and neglected on the shore of the Thames.
NEW BLOG...
An initial plan I had was to produce a print of the image I produced from this project with vague ideas about producing it on a bag or other useful everyday object, however I had so many images by the end of my process! I thought about the opportunities of printing large poster sized prints as I took all the photos with an SLR they were high quality enough.
However what is my project really about? And surly the medium of the outcome should reflect this?
I wanted to produce and outcome that was associable in order to educate as many people as possible about the prejudice when it comes to which materials are traditionally cherished.
A blog seemed naturally the best way to communicate with as many people as possible, this BLOG . Really inspired me. Its clean, simple and plain layout with no real explanations or type I thought added to its appeal, it made me question the image more having no information describing it as it somehow added to the intriguing nature of the mixture of photographs.
Presenting the images on this blog didn’t seem like the right Idea as they would not be showcased but mixed in with notes and other bits and bibs, presentation, display and order are the key attributes to what I have been investigating so I applied how I arranged my collections to how I arranged my collection of images of collections.
It was also interesting using a different blogging site, as Blogspotter was my first experience of blogging. I suppose with anything there are advantages and disadvantages and they are good for different things. There is a limit of how much video you can upload in Tumblr and although it uploads images quicker there are less options on how you can display them.
KNITTING...
OH NOOOO!
DISASTER!
I had planned to drive up to London after Easter with my Mosaic nicely wrapped up however change of circumstances meant i had to go by train, my mosaic did not mike this, it broke :( i think it happened when i tripped and fell down the electors and Paddington, or getting on the 73 bus. anyway, i am not sure what to do...maybe try gluing it together? or embrace in new form and photograph it i little broken pieces representing...the fragile ecosystem int he thames that we as a socially are threating? hummm...
I had planned to drive up to London after Easter with my Mosaic nicely wrapped up however change of circumstances meant i had to go by train, my mosaic did not mike this, it broke :( i think it happened when i tripped and fell down the electors and Paddington, or getting on the 73 bus. anyway, i am not sure what to do...maybe try gluing it together? or embrace in new form and photograph it i little broken pieces representing...the fragile ecosystem int he thames that we as a socially are threating? hummm...
HOW I DID IT....
THAMES COLLECTION....
I had my Thames Adventure on Monday the 26th of March, i had to set my alarm early to time the tides right, http://www.pla.co.uk/display_fixedpage.cfm/id/11/site/recreation afterwards i traveled with them to the V and A, around Kensington, Harrods, and showed Tai. I then travelled to New Cross and washed them in My friends sink as they were a little smelly, everyone was curious. the next day I packed and they travelled with me across london as I sprinted for my train at Paddington, bumping along in my suitcase. When I arrived at Castle Cary station I took them out my bag and showed my mum, and purposely left them out so I could see them in the morning. I decided early on I wanted to make a mosaic in the shape of the Thames...I think the idea came to me in my sleep.
The idea that all these individual pieces of broken, neglected washed up pieces of ceramics used to be a tiny part of history, meals from another era, drinks with past company and hold stories that we will never know.
PHOTOGRAPHY NOTES...
I was wondering, when I viewed the photos on my blog on my laptop the images seemed darker compared to when I had edited them in the computer room, I suppose the disadvantage of a blog is that peoples monitor and room lighting will affect how the images appear.
Vinegreting - I found out how to fix this HERE
White balance- Using the simple histogram of levels on iPhoto could make a dramatic improvement and i changed the exposure as well on most of the photos i took. however it is something I would like to learn more about on photoshop and the settings on the camera. I found that when I changed it because there were so many colours the changed seemed to be picked up on at least one of the colours in the photograph besides the background. humm, well the yellowy background is quite nice anyway if you ask me, more relaxed, less harsh and clinical.
Cropping-Nealy all of the photos I took I cropped, I think this is okay as its easy to crop bits of the photo but you can't adds bit in :) also I decide not to conform my crop to a standard size or keep a universal picture size as I felt by individually cropping the photo to suit the subject exactly it adds to the elevation of the subject 'its so important that the photo size fits around the subject and not the other way round'
Straightening-Always seems to be the same way I have to straighten it so I must be making the same mistake every time!
N.B if uploading to a blog files from Photoshop don’t upload, I think this might be to do with size? I found the setting on ‘Save As’ where I just clicked jpeg cause that seemed to work fine.
The quality doesn’t have to be extremely high as the photos on the blog aren’t that big! If I were to print them up obviously it would be a different matter.
Videos
I edited them in imovie as the movies were not final pieces in themselves. They were all shot on my digital camera with out use of a tripod. I would like to learn more about taking quality videos and this is something I would like to maybe incorporate in my next project.
Simply Google searching my question always resolved any issues I had. I found out how to rotate a video and how to speed it up this way.
BELOW
Videos of me sorting out my collection of
nuts which I had invested several pennies towards! I like my nuts and
seeds, for me they are very much a luxury item I use them sparingly and
enjoy having a selection. My collection of glass jars was sitting there
reminding me that I never did make jam this year. I decided to elevate
my nuts and seeds by showcasing them in a glass cabinet in individual
glass jars.
PHOTOS OF MY COLLECTION, SCEEN SHOT FROM BLOG
SHOWING FINAL PHOTOGRAPHS
Wednesday, 25 April 2012
OUT AND ABOUT....
Photos from Shorditch Spitafields Market, these items of furniture accommodate an ordered approach to collecting and curating which I think adds value to the objects housed inside them.
Friday, 20 April 2012
RESEARCHING OTHER COLLECTIONS...
http://resobscura.blogspot.co.uk/2011/01/cabinets-of-curiosities-in-seventeenth.html
http://scienceblogs.com/bioephemera/2008/04/cabinet_of_curiosities_edition.php
http://www.stalbansmuseums.org.uk/content/view/full/11614
http://www.prm.ox.ac.uk/
http://www.wellcomecollection.org/press/press-images/miracles--charms-press-images.aspx
Wednesday, 14 March 2012
WHAT TO PHOTOGRAPH....?
I am going to try and extend my cherishing emotions to as many objects as possible by medium of photography.
COLLECTION-
By having a set, a family or a group i feel that the importance is elevated
ORDER-
By showing order you show that they are important objects and you have invested time to display them in a particular order.
DISPLAY-
By displaying them in an aesthetically pleasing way and making a pleasing pattern with objects it is easier to see the act of cherishing.
I think a way to see analyse a word is to analyse its opposite counter part
personally I feel that the opposite of cherishing is neglect,
if I was to show something in a neglectful way I would show it alone and abandoned, in a messy, lazy, haphazard way and make it look aesthetically ugly.
PLAN
I think that the essence of my ideas stem from the idea that
CHERISHING AS AN ACTIVITY CAN BE APPLIED TO ANY MATERIAL OBJECT
I feel I have proved that by collecting what is traditional seen as material rubbish and applying emotions to it and COLLABORATING, DISPLAYING and PRESENTING it in away which makes others cherish these objects.
To continue this I am going to try and distill the CURATING OF OBJECTS INTO A COLLECTION which evolves a sense of IMPORTANCE, INTEREST AND PRIDE.
To do this I am going to collect objects and photograph them in a way which ELEVATES THIER STATUS.
By elevating their status I am allowing people to cherish a object which as a material is considered disposable. irrelevant and unimportant. It is easy to cherish gold; traditions, social cultures and our upbringing teaches us this. however we are not so used to cherishing deposable objects such as fruit, everyday objects like plastic tooth brushes and coins. I would like to challenge myself to present everyday un-cherished objects in a way which makes them appear important materials.
In a way I think I am trying to question our pre conceived ideas about the value of different objects and materials.
FEEDBACK
It wasn’t that I hadn’t done enough work or development of my ideas, and it wasn’t that I had missed the point of the brief it and it wasn’t that I was unhappy with the work I had achieved it was just that something was missing, a key linchpin which underpinned my ideas and a main drive of what I was doing and why and resolved answer for the questions the brief had raised within me.
I asked for feedback on what my final outcome should look like. There were lots of suggestions. I thought about what I personally wanted to achieve, I wanted to end up with an outcome which I could cherish personally. Over the Easter holidays I simply did what I wanted to do, I fancied going for a walk on the Thames foreshore and seeing what I could find, so I did. This relaxed way of thinking gave me room to be inspired.
I enjoyed taking photos of my A-Z collection so I decided to continue taking photos of collections.
DIFFERENT INTENSIONS OF COLLECTING....
I found that i collected objects in two types of situations
1. While walking along the road I would see something that caught my eye, like a MAGPIE. It would be shiny, a bright color, interesting e.c.t I would pick it up, look at it and if I still liked it I would put it it my pocket. Whist carrying on walking I would think about the object and try and open up my mind to memories and try to allow connections to be made. What does it remind me of? What places have I been, How can I connected this object to an already existing memory?
2.Whist in an environment memories are being made, for instance having an especially good laugh with friends, eating some lovely food, the day has be really lovely. I then feel the need to solidify the memory of the particular time. I look around my envionment to actialy seek ot a 'little something' which I can remove from the environment but will inable me to be transported back when I look at it.
1. While walking along the road I would see something that caught my eye, like a MAGPIE. It would be shiny, a bright color, interesting e.c.t I would pick it up, look at it and if I still liked it I would put it it my pocket. Whist carrying on walking I would think about the object and try and open up my mind to memories and try to allow connections to be made. What does it remind me of? What places have I been, How can I connected this object to an already existing memory?
2.Whist in an environment memories are being made, for instance having an especially good laugh with friends, eating some lovely food, the day has be really lovely. I then feel the need to solidify the memory of the particular time. I look around my envionment to actialy seek ot a 'little something' which I can remove from the environment but will inable me to be transported back when I look at it.
HOW ARE THE MEMORIES ATTACHED AND EVOVED TO THE OBNJECT CORRELATE TO THE DEGREE OF CHERISHING ONE FEELS TOWARDS IT?
People were very critical at first and i do not think they understood my challenge!
I was picking up 'rubbish' and I could tell that this disgusted and confused people. However for me it aided in the cherishing process as i had to justify, back up and explain, these actions helped to solidify meaning to the object.
When I realised that my talking and explaining why and object is important was useful i began to do it more often to the objects i had collected. I would explain there meaning, symbolism and importance to myself, and i would layout my ever growing collection at least once a day to review it. i tried to think about the objects before i went to sleep and found myself carrying the collection in my bag to travel it to different places as a whole. i showed different people my growing collection as often as possible to review my emotions and by doing this i increased their importance.
CAN ONE FORCE EMOTIONAL ATTACHMENT ONTO AN OBJECT?
To illustrate this idea of Cherishing be a Verb i am going to challenge myself...
I will collect lots of items which i will CHERISH by applying the action of CHERISHING upon them.
These items can be anything, any item which i feel has the slightest to be cherished.
I will collect lots of items which i will CHERISH by applying the action of CHERISHING upon them.
These items can be anything, any item which i feel has the slightest to be cherished.
STATEMENT OF INTENT...
In my project I would like to Investigate Cherishing as a Verb, as an Activity which can be Applied to Objects in order to Elevating their Cherishing Potential.
COLLECTIONS
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| Shelves in my room at Home with arrangements of things i collect-2008 |
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| End of Year Project, brief was based on 'I ME MINE' I produced a tent which inside had objects which described me-2009 |
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| Arrangements of objects I had collected, arranged and cherished which I felt sumnmerised me, gold thread trailing around the objects linked them together in the safe enclosed and protected environment of the tent-2009 |
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| Pile of dried seaweed, found old net, fishing line and beach debris found at Sidmouth beach-2008 |
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| careful arrangement of objects form dolls house, a summery of a larger object-2000 |
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| Still life arrangement of different colours, textures and materials, most old and worn. for art project-2008 |
HOW DO I CHERISH...?
When I thought about my room in London and my room at Home I tried to SUBJECTIVELY think about what objects I keep there which are kept not because of there function, not because they are useful but for another reason which I am interpreting as cherishing.
Items which I look after, care for, look at, have had for a long time, remind me of a time in the past, a person, an emotion.
There were many of these objects, I wanted to explore HOW do I display them, how are they presented in the environment of my room.
My room at home is very small so not many people enter it, however everyone who has been in my room has always been left slighly speechless at the tactile decoration inside, the walls are dripping with colourful 'bits and pieces' and people have descibed it as 'an Aladdin's cave' these objects are COLLECTED, SAVED, CALLOBRATED, ORDERED and DISPLAYED in order for there cherishing potential to be realised.
WHAT IS CHERISHING TO ME?
My next step was to analyses what objects I cherish? How do I cherish? If my room was on fire what would objects would I grab to save first?
There were two categories, useful objects I cherish because of their function, I cherish the job they do for me, like my laptop, I cherish chatting to friends, listening to music e.t.c but do i cherish this laptop? If it broke it and I got a replacement would it bother me? I dont think so, the same with most technological items such as phones, Ipods.
The second category was objects which are in many ways are USELESS they are purely ornamental (wether this is the objects intended use) they are kept because of an EMOTIONAL ATTACHMENT connected with them.
INITAL RESPONSE TO THE BRIEF...
I was excited and had many intial ideas however from previous experience I knew I had to set myself some personal parameters limiting the scope of the brief we were given. I decided that I would focus on a PERSONAL response to cherishing.
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