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

mmm..... Food for thought....

Okay... I get the fact that we have to try everything out.... and I get the fact that we have to choose only one option ... but... what I don't get is how this process is meant to work when you love doing all of the electives...
I have just finished my sculpture elective and im even more confused than ever, I love the freedom of expression that this dicipline offers and that a group of people working together in a brainstorming session can have such varied takes on the same word. 
To look around the studio today and not to see any two pieces that were even remotely connected was astonishing.  The fact that sculpture is fundamentally conceptual is more than I could have imagined, how could an artist not be happy in this area?
In the past two weeks I have managed to produce an array of pieces that I can only describe as eccletic.  Who knew that a ball of string and an old battered palette could go on such a journey.  I am truly overwhelmed by the endless posibilities that this dicipline offers, however... how do I know if it is really the one for me?

During the painting elective I worked hard to learn the techniques to enable me to produce a successful piece and I felt a huge sense of achievement when these techniques proved successful.  Yet in sculpture the pieces seemed to take on a life of their own and almost dictate their own direction, so would it be true to say that the achievement I felt on their completion was belittled by the fact that I had no real techniques to qualify them as successful? 

For the moment I suppose I will just have to leave the final decision in the laps of the gods, who knows where my mind will lead me after the next elective, so onwards and upwards and roll on ceramics.....

Sculpture elective...

I started my sculpture elective this week and it really couldn't be any further away from last weeks elective.  The approach is very different, even relaxed to an extent.  We started off the week with a group brain storming which I found extremely interesting, its hard to believe how many tangents you can go off on when your given one word.
From this initial brain storm we were able to list a huge amount of verbs to which we then individually broke down into words that interested us personally.  I chose words like devour, intoxicate, salivate, convert, emancipate and cannibalize.  From these lists we discussed with Mike ways of initiating them into the manipulation of materials.  I finally settled on 'To Cannibalize', as I felt that this was the word that would give me the greatest scope.
From there we were left to work out materials and processes that would enable us to use the verb and in doing so get us started and a path of discovery.
All in all the first week was a time for exploration.  Can't wait for week two.