Another attempt at uploading my photos...

More recent experiments....

I quit..... I can't wait any longer for the pics to upload... bloody technology....

Whats been happening...

My work so far. 

7 days and counting.... eeekkkk....

Ok, so its about a week before all the work iv been doing over the summer is going to be put under the microscope and di-sected bit by bit and im really kind of nervous.  I feel like iv done enough but I guess il have to wait and see.

Ive spent the summer (part of it, I do have a life) gathering information about my chosen subject, which is time.  I have looked at clocks and watches, day and night, life and death and just about every other time related subject I could find.

Ive discovered that the present is the consciousness or awareness of recording of memory into the brain. Past is just a record while future does not exist.  I have also discovered that a FEMTOSECOND is to a second, as a second is to 32 million years.  This is all very interesting but hard to define in terms of sculpture.

Through various attempts at experimenting with time I realised that my whole life is totally dictated by it.  I can't go for even a few hours without checking what time it is, this leads me to believe that I either have an addiction or my life has been completely influenced by the clock. 

The pieces I have been working on reflect this overwhelming feeling of submersion in time, by translating it into colour and bombarding the eye with pattern.  In doing this I hope to be able to create a visual understanding of how my life has been affected. 

I will put up some photos to hopefully explain this a little better.

Assumption and Presumption...

OK... so maybe I was a bit presumptuous in a previous post, thinking I could tick all the boxes before the end of the summer was a complete farce.  I feel like I'm at a standstill at the moment and nothing seems to be progressing.  What I seem to have, is a collection of experiments with no obvious coherent thread and it is really starting to worry me.

I keep reading the brief and it doesn't seem to be enlightening me in any way, shape or form.  AAAAGGGGHHHH.... I need a severe injection of input.  I didn't realise how easy I had it in college, there was always someone to bounce ideas off and to discuss options with.  At home, although I have great support and copious amounts of interested ears to listen to me, it's just not the same as having someone who understands the processes and language of art.  I now understand how people feel when they say that they feel isolated. 

I am really looking forward to getting back to college and to getting some clarity.

Flavio Melchiorre

Time is ticking by ....

Well another week over and another week closer to the begining of a new term.  Really don't know what to expect but am looking forward to starting something new.

The summer project is going ok (I think) and I at least feel like ive started on a road that im happy to travel down.  I only hope that the 2nd year tutors feel the same Ha.  Im not sure if ive ticked all the boxes on the project brief but I feel confidant that I can tick them all by the end of the summer (fingers crossed)

Right ive nothing else to add right now, I can't seem to pen what im doing at the moment and I don't have any new photos to add but as soon as I do I will up load and update.

Bye for now. 

Image and re-image....

Working with colour and perspective...

Tangents....

AAAGGGGHHHH..... I think i've wandered off on a tangent that has no real relation to my topic.  The worse thing is i'm enjoying it so am reluctant to pull back.  I have a sneaky feeling that I may have to work it alongside something else in order to make it more relevant.

Eventually....

Well its about 4 weeks since the summer project started and I eventually feel like im getting a handle on things.  Although I havent actually made anything in the physical yet I at least have the the beginings of some research so thats a start.
Im still not sure where exactly im going with this research but I suppose thats a good thing.  I still feel unsure as to what im doing im just hoping that it falls into place and something clicks.  Only time will tell how it will all turn out im just keeping my fingers crossed that im not going too far off on a tangent.
Well lets hope that the next time I update this blog that I have a much better handle on things..

Summer Project....

Ok... so the first days of the summer holidays have arrived and I have begun to have cold turkey already (prime time to start researching).  I have read the details of the brief several times now and I am still none the wiser.  I have to consider the relationship between a part of something and the whole of something... sounds easy right? Well thats were im stumbling it actually sounds a lot easier than it is.
Because im attracted to natural materials I automatically am drawn to look at these first however my thoughts keep drifting to the predictable and the mundane.... trees as part of a forest, grass as part of a garden, bark as part of a tree and so on ... how bloody boring and unoriginal.  I really want to come up with a starting point that is going to inspire me for at least the next year and somehow I don't see myself hugging trees anytime soon.
Back to the drawing board .... and back to reading more words of wisdom from the project guidelines....

• Are there details within a place, an object or a person that tell you something that the whole of that same subject does not????
• What does one reveal that the other does not or cannot????
• How does an investigation of the detail of something and 'the thing itself' contribute to an understanding of a form, how it is made, how it is, how it ages/develops??

These are just some of the questions that should help direct me but im finding it harder than I initially thought.  Right best get back to the journal and INVESTIGATE this project a bit more.   I shall update as I go along (providing that I manage to progress a little further than the questioning stage) 

Some of the images iv been working on at home...



Cork Street in Dublin with the Guiness Tower




Florence in Italy




Cork Street in Dublin



Some sculpture pieces from the past few weeks....

Welding project

Love the shadow that this piece creates

Body Sculpture

Close up of body sculpture

Richard Long inspired location

The wind blew this piece down and after several walk-bys I decided that it actually looked a lot more interesting this way so I decided to leave it.

End of first year..... WOW....

Well we have reached the end of our very first year in college and it feels like it has flown by.  It only seems like a few weeks have passed since we started semester one.  The past 3 weeks have been filled with small projects which were aimed at giving us the skills to overcome mental blocks in the coming years.  These briefs have included 60sec sculpture ideas, pocket sculptures and new measurements to name but a few.  We have also been given a summer project which should keep our minds busy over the next few weeks and will act as a spring board for semester 3. 

Some of my video stills...

Final sculptural week and assessment...

Its all over now..... 3 weeks of material manipulation and its all finished now.  I've really enjoyed this time and hopefully (fingers, toes and eyes crossed) il be able to enjoy the next 3 years in sculpture.
The room has really seemed to gel together and with so many ideas floating around and everybody willing to give their opinions constructively it will definetaly be a group to be reckoned with.
Late this week we removed all the tables (with Mike Cannings encouragement) and after quietly grumbling about the reality of working on the floor and the lack of storage space I finally accepted the fact that it did make sense (although I wouldn't be able to work that way for long), with all the tables gone the room seemed bigger and the sculptural pieces were able to be presented in less conventional ways.
My area seemed almost clinical compared to everywhere else, due to the lack of color (black & white) but it did seem to fit in well with all the other works that were created around the room.  I finished the brainstorm wall off by running the images onto the floor, the screen was turned around so the inside became visible which gave an interesting visual effect (nothing like what I had imagined) I had intended to lay out my pieces in an installation style grouping with all of them working together but in hindsight the pieces I created worked much better as seperate works and overall I was happy with the layout.
I will upload the images as soon as I get a spare moment and good luck to everyone, I hope you all get your first choices x

2nd week of ranking project...

The pace of work within the room seems to have quickened this week, its seems like over night large alien-like structures have sprung up everywhere.  Im still working within the confines of my brain, trying to push my thoughts and visual interpretations as far as I can to reach an unknown end.  At this stage I am surrounding myself with brainstorm images and creating a closed off space where I intend to keep my thoughts, the outside of this space (screen) seems to be taking on an air of calm which I suppose is the way the brain works (everything goes on inside your head and others only know what your thinking when you speak and give them a glimpse).
The patterns within the brainstorms (including the screen which is, in itself a burst of thought) is based on the neuron network inside the brain.  Each image or thought is connected in some way, regardless of how remote it may seem.
At the moment I am working on the screen structure, a video piece which is based on the neuron waves and a metal work 3d sculpture which I am in the process of welding together so that it can represent the chaotic thought processes that go on inside your brain.
All in all im really enjoying the freedom allowed within this brief and by working on several different pieces at the same time I have found a way of making sure I don't get bored (remind me of this last comment when im up to my ears and have several different projects to complete for an early deadline ha)
Will upload the final video piece and more images when completed.

End of first week of ranking...

Research Project

Tried to upload my research PowerPoint presentation but an error occurred so IL just have to try again later, needless to say the research week is over, the presentation has been presented, the brain storms have provided results and the initial outline of an idea has been planted. 
What a long week, can't wait to start getting my hands dirty.

Ranking Project ....

So.... the electives are over and the choices made and after many days of deliberation I can finally say that I have made my choice.  It took me till the very last min to make my decision and even now I'm not sure if its the right one, only time will tell.  Don't get me wrong, I really love sculpture and I'm excited about getting my teeth into the brief but there is a part of me that is still drawn to ceramics.
My overall decision was based on my own experience within the elective and the conversations I had with other students who studied either ceramics or sculpture.  After weighing the pros and con's and looking seriously at what I wanted to achieve I decided that sculpture could offer me more of a challenge and I just hope that it proves true.

Ceramics Elective ....

So here we are, the end of the final elective and im not sure if im any the wiser about my upcoming choice.  I have really enjoyed the last two weeks in ceramics and have learned so much about the technical side of this disipline.  The naked raku firing was amazing and I couldn't wait to see the result after taking the pieces out of the bin and chipping off the glaze.

2nd Kiln Firing

Piece before glaze is chipped off

Some of the pieces after the naked raku firing

Sculpture Elective pieces

 

Some of my pieces from the painting elective ..

Recreating a Fraud painting

Installation painted with palette knife

Installation

Installation study

Charcoal and ink