Evaluation

Our theme for the exhibition was "Time and Movement". As a group we decided to name the exhibition "Motus" which is the Latin word for movement used in music theory. There was a good response to this title, and I think it was a good decision. Our work in the exhibition was very relevant to this title, Sarah displayed clocks and tried to convey a sense of being watched and time passing. I created a path and dictated movement in my space, which led directly into Jordons room. There he displayed a contrast between Wind Street in the day and Wind street in the night, playing a recording he had taken on a Wednesday night out. Molly showed a dance routine on a screen in a dance studio. The exhibition ended on Gemma's work. She had made a mirror which distorted the image of whoever stood in front of it and caused their reflection to bounce and move. Overall I think our exhibition flowed nicely and was easy to navigate. It was unfortunate that Molly's work was not fully functioning and it was mentioned that it let the exhibition down.

If I was to do anything differently I probably would have done more research prior to having my idea, this would have probably made the project less stressful for me, as there was a long while when I didn't know how to respond to my space. I do not think that this stress was reflected in my final piece, I dont think there is anything I would change about my final work.

Overall I am happy with the co-operation of my group, although Molly was very quiet at times and did not contribute much, we managed to pull through and put on a good exhibition. I am proud of our final works.

Other work in the Motus Exhibition

Sarah Bennett

Jordon Davey

Gemma Griffiths

Molly Thirtle 

Remainder - Tom McCarthy

Hamish said while assessing my work during the exhibition that my work reminded him of the novel "Remainder" by Tom McCarthy.

"Remainder tells the story of an unnamed hero traumatized by an accident which “involved something falling from the sky”. Eight and a half million pounds richer due to a compensation settlement but hopelessly estranged from the world around him, Remainder’s protagonist spends his time and money obsessively reconstructing and re-enacting vaguely remembered scenes and situations from his past, such as a large building with piano music in the distance, the familiar smells and sounds of liver frying and spluttering, or lethargic cats lounging on roofs until they tumble off them. These re-enactments are driven by a need to inhabit the world "authentically" rather than in the "second-hand" manner that his traumatic situation has bequeathed him. When the recreation of mundane events fails to quench this thirst for authenticity, he starts re-enacting more and more violent events"

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_McCarthy_(writer)

Comment Book

These are the comments left by visitors to our exhibition. They all seem to be praising our work. I am very happy with these comments.

Exhibition Day 2 (21st Nov)

At the end of the exhibition on Tuesday I had to take my work up because of a class taking place in the evening, so my work looked different on Wednesday when I put it back down. Hamish said that it wouldn't matter and that it was a good thing that my work was interchangeable. The meaning was not lost and it was still consecutive with everyone else's work. We did not have as many people show up on Wednesday but some of the other groups did come to see it. Again we had a good response to our work. Overall I think it was a successful exhibition. 

Exhibition Day 1 (20th Nov)

I had to lay my work on the morning of the exhibition as I couldn't get into my room until 11am due to a dance class taking place there. We had at least 20 people show up for our exhibition on Tuesday. I think considering the limited amount of time I had to lay my work it looked good and fit in well with everyone else's. The lecturers seemed impressed with it, they said our work flowed well and was consistent throughout with subtlety and the theme was evident throughout. They had some criticisms for Gemma and Sarah, only minor things, and they did say that Molly's work let us down a little (unfortunately she could not get her work up and running for the exhibition.) Overall I think we had a great response to our efforts. 

Edward Muybridge & The Bechers

I have decided to reference these artists becuse they both use repetition in their work to aid the appearence of their photography. Muybridge' work is more relevant I think, because his use of repetition creates movement, which is what I am trying to acheive, only in a more real sense. Even though neither of these artists use the same image over and over as I am doing I think they are still relevant. Their use of repetition makes what would be benile photographs on their own, appear more interesting. They almost create a narrative with their images. 



Video of Path Experimentation

 

A short video of my experimentation.

Installation Experiment

After printing out as many of the previous image shown as I could (18) I went to my site to begin experimentation.

 

 

I began my experimentation with one line to indicate the direction of the path. For this experiment I used normal printing paper just to save on costs, so the way it looks in these images is not true to how it will look once I have printed in Semi-gloss, to match the shine of the floor. I thought about cutting out the groove that I had photographed to make it look less obvious, but after experimenting with it I preferred the look of the whole peice of paper. By cutting the groove out I created problems with aligning the seperate peices and I didn't think it worked quite as well.

 

 

The more of the path I was aligning with one line, the more boring it began to look. I decided to try it with two parallel lines intead. I thought that this worked much better, and it is more clear where you are supposed to walk. After working out the amount of paper I would need to get from one end of the space to the other with parallel lines, I came up with 70 A4 sheets.

The more I thought about it the less cost effeciant it was becoming for me to print them all myself on semigloss. I decided to go to Jessops for the printing.

Instead of having my image on A4 I printed it on 8x6 as it was the cheaper option, and I think it will aid my project, as it will be less noticable now that it is smaller, and easier for me to position around the room.

 

I intend on experimenting further with my actual media on Friday (17th Nov).



 

Artists Statement

This is the Artists Statement that will appear on my part of the leaflet. 

"When first examining the space I was looking for things that would be overlooked in normal circumstances. This led me to photograph the marks made on the floor of Studio 1 by previous movement (dancing). Whilst returning to the site the absence of movement began to bother me more and more.

The more I looked, the more evidence I found of previous movement, and I was continuing to be drawn to the floor time and time again.

This piece of work is an attempt to dictate where visitors walk, and create movement that the space currently lacks and needs. It is about putting movement back where it belongs, in the most subtle way. Follow the path, if you can find it." 

Further Development

After looking at artists who dictate the movement in a space and talking to Hamish about subtlety I have decided to make a path in my space, using a photograph of the largest evidence of movement over and over again.

I thought by printing this image several times and joining them together I could create an unpredictable path, hopefully from one door to another. This will then lead the viewer through my space and out into Jordons space. I intend on experimenting with this tomorrow as there are no classes in the studio and I will have unlimited time to find out what works. 

Group Name Decision

As a group we have come up with the name Mótus. 

 Mótus is the Latin word for movement. The reason we chose this is because it ties in with everyone's individual work and Latin is the common language used in musical theory, which ties in with the dance element of our site.

Poster and Leaflet Draft

These are the current documents for publicizing our exhibition. The poster (designed by myself) is finished it just needs to be printed. The group has decided that 10 posters will be printed. The leaflet (designed by Gemma) is currently still in the draft stage, it cannot be completed until the entire group has sent her an artist statement. The group has decided to print 30 if these.  

David Dimichele

Continuing with the research of creating my own movement, I found the work of David Dimichele. 

It is similar to the previous work I have referenced, but its on a much bigger scale, and I think it would interfere with the movement of the audience a lot more. I am thinking about combining the two techniques, and making something more similar to Carlie Trosclair's work, but on Dimichele's scale. 

Carlie Trosclair

During my research I found this artist. I think her installations are very intriguing. I think that this work is relevant to our theme of movement (or lack of) within our dance studio space. Not only is the work itself a representation of movement, but if it were placed correctly, would cause to viewers to have to move around it in a certain way. I like this idea of dictating where people move, especially seeing

as that is what the space is lacking. Also if the right materials were used, the act of walking around the installation would cause the materials to react to the air shift and move themselves, similar to the work of Richard Wilson, using people's movement to create ripples in sump oil. Even though I have limited time and my space is not available to access until Tuesday (13th Nov) I would like to experiment with this technique.  

Martha Bowers - Site Specific Dance Choreographer

"Martha Bowers is the executive director of a dance company that is Brooklyn, New York-based, called Dance Theatre Etcetera. It has  been able to present site-specific performances in Brooklyn, and in other international and national locations." - http://oxfordindex.oup.com/view/10.5744/florida/9780813034003.003.0015

Although this work is not a photographic response to a space, I think it has enough relevance to act as helpful research. I do not think that my final representation will be anything like this work, but this content will help me look at my space from a wider perspective, because at the moment I feel like I'm stuck in a rut and my ideas are not developing at the rate that they should. 

Christian Boltanski

After looking at Christian Boltanski's work I am inspired by his way of working, and how he portrays his interests in traces. Although his work is to do with the Holocaust, it is the fact that he is looking at something that is not there anymore that is relevant to my work. His work also varies from being very literal, to being subtle in its meaning. 

I think by looking at his work, it will broaden my ideas about my project, because at the moment I feel I am looking at it from a very one dimensional point of view. Perhaps I don't need to reproduce the traces, maybe just emphasize them with particular lighting, or create shadows like Boltanski that lead the eye to this trace of what once was. 

Experimentation

After listening to Hamish's ideas about continuing with the imperfections of my space, I decided to experiment. Instead of taking photos, printing them large, and re-enter them into the space I decided to use a more immediate format, Polaroids. On this particular occasion my chosen room was occupied, so I used the next studio over, which has similar components to it.

 Hamish anticipated that I photograph the evidence of previous movement in the space, reproduce them, and place them on the ceiling. Although this would make the lack of movement apparent and close the space in on the viewer, financially it is going to cost a lot for me to cover the entire ceiling. He also mentioned being subtle enough so that the space looks unchanged, until studied, which really appealed to me.
At the time of the experimentation I could not reach the ceiling, so I decided to place the Polaroids on top of the area that I had photographed. At the moment I don't know what kind of message this has, but it seemed to work in making you look at the floor and notice the marks. Which under normal circumstances you wouldn't.

 As well as experimenting in this way I tried photographing other imperfections and placing the polaroids directly opposite what had been photographed, reflecting on what Hamish said about displaying what was on the floor on the ceiling. I found that this did not work as well due to the imperfections elswhere in the room are not evidently made by dance. They could quite easily have happened under other circumstances. However it did add more depth to the aesthetics, there was more to catch your eye than just some polaroids on the floor.

Monday Site Visit

Unfortunately when Hamish came to visit the site today we were unable to gain access, there was no response when we tried to buzz and no one answered the phone. Due to this I was unable to get any further feedback from Hamish. I have arranged to visit the site tomorrow to shoot further imperfections and hopefully build up to a solid idea by the end of the week. 

Tutorial with Hamish

Whilst speaking with Hamish on Friday he suggested that I revert back to looking at the subtle evidence that there was once movement in the space (scratches etc.) as I was doing before. He recommended that sometimes making subtle changes to the space is more effective than being bold and obvious, which my Ben Heine research was. I intend on shooting the scratches further after Hamish visits the site with my group.

Ben Heine

 Whilst investigating the space I have become most interested in the absence of movement and life in the dance studios. I have been honing in on evidence of previous movement in the space and photographing drag marks and scratches in the what first appears to be shiny clean floors. Although the images are showing something that was in the space but is there no longer I still don't feel like I am portraying how much the lack of movement "bothers" me when I enter the dance studios. After some research I found the work of Ben Heine, who incorporates drawings and photography to create fantasy worlds, and portray things in situations that aren't really there.

I would like to experiment with this myself within one of the dance studios. Perhaps instead of incorporating fantasy things into the space as Heine does, incorporating something that should be there but isn't. At the moment I am thinking of returning to the space and photographing in point blank, just as it is, which is something I am yet to do. I can then look into stock images of dancers (as I am not able to obtain them through my own imagery) and somehow incorporate them into the images of the space. My drawing ability is no where near up to scratch enough to draw these things myself, so I will

probably require the aid of Photoshop to change my images from photographs to drawings or paintings. I will then re-enter these images into the space, aligning them precisely as Heine does. At the moment I do not know what scale these images will result in being, or even if I am going to proceed with this idea until the end. I do intend on experimenting thoroughly with this idea and executing it to the best of my ability. 

Four Walls and a Ceiling

After further discussion we decided that the dance studio was the better option between the two sites we were looking at. For the "Four Walls and a Ceiling" brief I decided to look for imperfections, and signs of previous movement within the space. I wanted to create a contrast within the space, normally it is full of movement, control and etiquette, but when you look at it while derelict, you find the opposite. Cracks, dents and scratches are not things you associate with dance. Without the act of dance the space loses its grace and structure. It seems too still and lifeless.

Group E Site Viewing: Dance Studio

After deliberating over everyone's proposals we decided to go and view the dance studio situated above Yates in Wind Street. The location is of easy access for everyone in the group, and it has many different rooms so we can choose to work individually if we wish to do so.
We are still contemplating another location which we are planning to view in the next couple of days. This is due to most members of the group being undecided about what they would actually put in the space. No one in the group wishes to do a literal interpretation of the space, but it is difficult to see past the aspect of dance as it surrounds you in every room.

Site Proposal: Elysium Cinema

The site I have chosen to exhibit for the site project is the Elysium Cinema, located at the top end of the high street. I have chosen this site due to its significant place in Swansea history. Although it is abandoned, and has been since 1994, a lot of the history still remains inside. For instance when it was built in 1914 it was opened as a Cinema on the top floor, and a working man's club on the ground floor (named Dock Workers Hall), and a lot of the 900 seats provided for the cinema are still apparent. Like many working men's clubs in South Wales, the Dock Workers Hall had strong links with the Labour and socialist movement. Eventually it became home to the Labour Party in Swansea, with their local headquarters being located in the upper floors of the High Street building. Not only did the Elysium play headquarters to the Labour party, but it also saw the Second World War, and was one of two buildings left standing on the High Street after Swansea took heavy bombing. I think these facts alone would interest any artist who is interested in the history of Swansea and its past economy. At present the council are fighting to retrieve the building from private ownership to find a new use for it, so I think it is important to capture it in its original state before it is lost forever.

After the building closed and re-opened again in 1960 it became a bingo hall. My research has discovered that all of the bingo equipment remains in the building. This adds character and authenticity to the building which most derelict sites do not posses.

Despite the amount of research I have done I am yet to find contact details of the private owner, but have emailed people who have already entered the site, inquiring how they went about going inside. In saying this I have received no replies as of yet. The amount of imagery online of this site would suggest that gaining access to this site shouldn’t prove too difficult; whether they entered the site legally however is yet to be seen.

The only problem with this site is the issue of safety. Images of the inside suggest that certain areas are to be avoided, but there seems to be a lot of empty space too, such as the bingo hall. With a site this big I don’t think getting 6-7 people inside would be much of a problem, as long as there is enough secure space to work with.

Further information about the site can be found here: http://www.forlornbritain.co.uk/elysium.php