Excited for the show!

Here's some photos:

I started by hanging the prints in the space as they were, (around 16" wide), but the width became awkward to work with when more were added into the space, not to mention the fact that the paper curled inwards quite a bit. When cut thinner, they curled less and interacted better with the other prints, so I followed suit in cutting the paper into less wide strips from then on. 

Next problem was tackling the length of the space - I could stick the prints together with double sided tape, leaving a slight overlap in colour on the taped area, or I could try looping the pages with jump rings. I tried jump rings, but with some help and guidance I concluded it would be far too difficult to use jump rings (they were lovely rings though).

PLUS, the paper could be hung in two ways from the net - using jump rings and using box clips. Again, this lead to the conclusion that whilst jump rings were prettier and more subtle, it would take far too long to hang everything and would be tedious. The paper also was more likely to rip and fall down if tugged from below.

To make each print into a long, thin strip, I cut it into 3 or 4 lengthways and stuck it together with tape. This meant I could have strips of the same colour and design going down.

Here's some photos:

I found a bird net on Amazon and managed to put it over the top of the cube using staples and cable ties. So far, it's working great - hooray!

For the print you can see in there I've clipped a ruler as a weight to the bottom of it, since it was curling inwards and upwards. This will have to be something I think about for when I hang more.

Then I wondered whether the prints I made at the beginning could work in the space a bit better. They would have more rigidity and less boldness in colour, not to mention being able to be layered in themselves!

Here's some images of some large prints I've made this week and how they work in the space. I also put a bulb in the centre because I like the idea of something being central and the work having a direct reference to light in general. It also kinda reminds me of Cornelia Parker's 'Cold Dark Matter' piece where the shapes make beautiful shadows around the room.

I put some cellophane in there too, but you can see it doesn't really work the same as the prints. I'm thinking of a large piece you can see from several angles and where hopefully the prints can cast shadows of colour, like windows. Thing is that it's an open, light space and the bulb is probably never going to be bright enough.

Here's some images of the ideas I've been working on:

I can't work whether I want colour to feature. In Cerith Wyn Evan's piece the lack of colour is good because the piece moves together and no one piece juts out more than another. But then again I saw these installation/spatial pieces by Olafur Eliasson and I really like them.

Though I can confirm my space for the work I will produce - an 8ft white cube that was already at college. I may tweak it a bit but at least this will narrow down my design choices. This week I've had a go hanging some cellophane in there to see how it interacted with the space and the ambient light.

I loved the simplicity of the design and how the lights interacted with each other. It sort of meant that you could not see in which plane the actual pieces were hanging - which made me think about how you could have 'flattened' depth in an installation. 

Here's some photos (unedited):

In my previous project I'd made some little curved plastic experiments and it made me wonder whether if you used clear plastic there would be a way of shining a light through it and making some sort of pattern. You can see the plastic sculptures from the City project here.

I found an acrylic sheet that someone printed on and discarded to the scrap pile. Using the heating element in a vacuum former it melted and dropped into a bowl shape, with the surface bubbling and stretching (so cool!).

It cooled down pretty quickly and I took the opportunity to put it on the projector. It made some great patterns as you can see if you scroll below:

Not sure though how I will actually be able to use this idea. I really want some pattern in the work and I like the idea that it can come from the way you frame the light source. Overall, I think the plastic will be too difficult to source and work with, but it was a cool experiment!

Here's some images of my work where I have tried to reflect and refract, using the strong light from the projector.

I think the effect is so clever! Here's some of my own images from this week's work involving the cube. I used a covered space and a collection of fairy lights since I didn't have a bulb:

Here's the kind of ideas I was looking at on Pinterest:

I created a small wooden cube and stuck some fabric to the sides using making tape. With one side left uncovered, it could sit on the projection screen and made some lovely patterns.

So I turned to acetate, and here is a print (shockingly yellow I'm afraid, but I was going for drama), created on an A4 acetate sheet.

I was enjoying how the print interacted with the corner of the space I was working in and I thought that the way it interacted with the objects was very interesting. It warped and abstracted the already abstract print - which made me wonder what I was really trying to achieve.

I also tried folding the print, and there was a nice interaction and interference taking place. I did a few more experiments seeing how the print looked projected onto the paper mesh, or even the lace mesh I had been using before.

There is something about the lack of focus and refracting of colours that I really like, the process abstracting and confusing something  about the object.

Another acetate experiment involved using a print I had made but then photocopying it onto the acetate sheet. I used quite a dark print (I see this was quite a bad idea now but ahh well) and I think this was the reason it didn't take to being layered with the paper  meshes.

It's one of those overhead ones you may have had in primary school, which projected the lyrics for songs sung in assembly on it using acetate sheets.

Here's the OHP set up and how different materials responded to what I'm calling the 'projection-ground'.

Daisy and I experimented with the different materials, like meshes, papers, coloured cellophane and decorative fabrics. It was particularly lovely to see how the light and focus differed when the materials were warped and elevated away from the projector bed.

Sadly the newsprint/layout paper I've been printing on is too thick (so is the tracing paper!) to let the light pass through, so hopes to use them were a bit flattened.

I decided to use the paper web I made during the City project as well, it was easy to manipulate and created less dense shadows to some of the meshes and gauzes we had.

I was introduced to the work of Conrad Shawcross (thank you Taylor), who uses light and shadows within his installation pieces.

And through this sort of research and thinking process, I realised. Without light we wouldn't be able to understand the static seen 3D world that we inhabit. It's reduced to other senses of taste, smell, touch, balance, hearing. Shadows are after all the reference point for our understanding of volume and depth. (Unless you start thinking about how objects move relationally to each other when you're moving past them - like looking into scenery from a train window for example - but that's not what I'm thinking about in this very idea).

But yeah. Shadows are a big deal. So much, I thought I'd try and make some, because I too, want my work to look as awesome as Conrad Shawcross'. Here's a box I've panelled with my print template designs and some fabric:

Right now it's not up to the shadow standard I was after (I need some stronger lights!), but I feel like this was a helpful way of taking the prints into the next dimension. 

How to do this from a print? I wasn't sure. 

Here's how I tried to develop some prints below:

We went with ink, paper and whatever we could find really. There's some string in there too! 

My favourites carry a mix of curves and blurs and lines, not just blocky ones - hence I felt the string was useful.

During my graphics project, using tracing paper was one of the key things that made the book successful. It made the images harder to understand and gave a process of revealing.

By contrast, the architecture of the Brutalist movement that I've been researching is everything but a revelation. It's in your face and punchy. And that's why it kind of works.

I think I'm going for a balance of both - some mystery and some boldness.

Here are some of the prints I made today using tissue paper and thin papers:

By this I mean ones that are not so beautiful and easy on the eye. They sort of jut out of the page and attack you.

Here are some of my prime examples:

I think the idea of creating clashes is really appealing to me - it fits with this type of Brutalist architecture that is both modern and geometric but also rather imposing.

I think what there is that looks good compositionally is a compensation for a lack of depth and contrast through layering with a deeper or lighter colour.

I think it's quite hard to define what works in terms of composition, especially with just basic locks of colour. Here's an example of one of Mark Rothko's colour-field paintings:

I'm using mono-printing, as it's quick and requires less labour to create a design. Here's a gallery of images from today's printing session:

The idea is to follow a Bauhaus style and I will need to print over these again to add to their layering.

Here's a lovely piece by Laszlo Moholy-Nagy:

Here's where I plan to journal my final major project, with photos of the progression and research I am undertaking, and some good splurge from myself about it all.

So where to start? Well, the basis for this project is looking at how the 2D relates to the 3D. I did a graphics project earlier on this foundation course and it largely involved shapes and composition constructions through printmaking. Here is a small gallery showing images of the final result of this project, it's a little book with different papers.

Since I thought some of the ideas had potential to develop further, I wanted to do more of this printmaking for my FMP. 

A graphics project you say? 3D?

Yes. The idea is that the shapes and forms in the book (inspired by Bauhaus styles and art), have potential as a reference point for 3D work. Can that which works effectively in 2D work well in a composition three dimensionally? That is my question...