Saturday 24 January 2009

I wanted to print the image of an eggshell onto a fax roll over and over again, to juxtapose the similarity of the objects as a group with their individuality; in the same way, each image would have been the same, but each print different from the last. I am finding printing to be technically difficult. I find the technique isn't 'at one' with the way I like to work, despite it being entirely relevant, considering my interest in repetition. I feel that for me it is somehow too clinical.

I worked at home throughout the middle of the week, melting inky ice cubes on to paper. On cartridge paper, the result (as I have been using pinky-red ink) looks brutal. I like them though, as each one is different and, in their own way, shocking. I tried doing one on some handmade paper I brought back from Thailand with me, and the way the ink has been absorbed, rather than settling, makes the image much less gory, as it is more pink than red. It reminds me of some sort of cell. I particularly like that each inky, egg shaped ice cube has created a different pattern, despite me using the same method each time. I am considering experimenting with photocopies of them, rather than the images themselves, as I think they could be easily ruined.

Friday 16 January 2009

Hazel's talk on Monday made me think more about the concept of mass production. I thought it was interesting when she talked about having to "mass-produce" objects, and how against the idea she was. When she showed us the result of her mass-production, however, to me each object looked different from the last, they were beautifully crafted and completely individual, yet still very obviously part of a 'set'. It was a very good example of what I am interested in, and I am thinking about trying to do something similar.











On Tuesday I went for my meeting with Joanna Verran. I found the whole experience a little intimidating, and I felt we were at crossed purposes; I wanted to know what was possible, she wanted to know what I wanted to do. However, I have a much better idea of where I should start my research.

I had been feeling a little confused as to what to do with my egg shells I have been meticulously collecting, but after I photographed them, I started to think about their differing shapes and volumes and how I could represent this visually. I decided to fill one half with ink and water and freeze it, and then leave the ice cube on a piece of paper to melt - the theory being that each similar object - the egg half - would produce it's own inky pattern. A series of unique images coming from very similar objects.





Tuesday 6 January 2009

I spent most of this week "doing" my journal - writing up reviews, orgainising the work (the ability to format a Word document is an underrated skill).

I went to see the Turner prize exhibition, which was a huge disappointment; I found it pretentious, irrelevant and inaccessible. I also saw the GSK Contemporaries, Part II, at the Royal Academy, which was visually exciting and very interesting to me, particularly the William Burroughs exhibition within it.