Astra Howard

#COFA1001 Studio Gateway 1 - Experimental Processes

[cofa1001-astrahoward]

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Staying within the realms of process to explore the limitations of materials, form and subject matter, new 'worlds' appear possible.  The surrounding atmosphere, its complex environment, animal interactions and human experience, shift a little to make room for this new paradigm.  Living in this world of 'experimentation'... nothing is the same again.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

[cofa1001-astrahoward]

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Using the documentation of an original work as the source material to start a new series of iterative explorations (of concepts, materials and techniques) creates more complex, ambiguous, surprising and unconventional results.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

[cofa1001-astrahoward]

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Describing the iterative processes undertaken to develop the final series of ten images, individuals efficiently and succinctly communicate their COFA1001 Experimental Processes key learning moments.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

[cofa1001-astrahoward]

Through a combination of traditional textile techniques, modern industrial processes, and precious and non-precious materials, each light becomes an object of beauty and function, crossing boundaries between art, fashion, and product design.

http://www.behance.net/luiza

Luiza Milewicz discussed the inspiration behind her lighting works developing from dreams, observations in nature, expressions of the human form and pattern/movement systems.  She also spoke about the importance of the visual diary and the evolution of ideas from initial brain-storming/drawing and/or a commissioning brief, to 'play' with materials and processes, to the development of technical drawings, construction testing and refinement, to production and finally distribution/installation.

Luiza outlined the benefits of collaborative practice where the unique expertise of both designers creates an opportunity for new and unexpected outcomes.  Drawing upon a background in textiles and jewellery design, materials such as fibre optics are manipulated using weaving techniques to produce arresting sculptural forms.

[cofa1001-astrahoward]

"Don't decide what the answer is before you've asked the question".

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

What questions did people ask of themselves before these extraordinary human feats were envisaged and then actually realised?  What new tools (and ways of using them) were created to achieve these ideas and how many steps were taken in the process of experimenting with techniques in order for the concept to 'work'?  Don't be limited by what materials, techniques or ideas exist today. Instead, imagine what could be possible (and then start experimenting)!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

[cofa1001-astrahoward]

Whilst the chance spontaneity of the spin paintings stands in stark contrast to the formulaic spot series, both explore the idea of an imaginary mechanical painter.  The results of the spins are controlled purely by the artist's colour choices and the motion of the machine.

Hirst explained in 2000 of the idea of an installation of multiple spot paintings, “it’s an assault on your senses.  They grab hold of you and give you a good shaking.  As adults, we’re not used to it".  Hirst ... began to employ assistants to create the spot paintings.  Any physical evidence of human intervention – such as the compass point left at the centre of each spot – was removed, until the works appeared to have been constructed mechanically, or “by a person trying to paint like a machine”.

http://www.damienhirst.com

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Taking the 'artist/author' out of the making process by designing machines and employing people to 'do the work'.  Colour, chance and repetition are used as techniques to create 'series' of images.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

[cofa1001-astrahoward]

With their faces and hands painted with a mix of bronze-coloured metallic powder and Vaseline, and a table as their plinth, they sang along to the song of two Depression-era tramps, ‘Underneath the arches’, slowly repeating a series of gestures and circling mechanically like figures inside a music box.

http://kaldorartprojects.org.au/project-archive/gilbert-george-1973

Their investigation into the body led Gilbert & George to look in detail at all of its fluids and excretions. They bought a microscope to study samples of piss, and were astonished to discover complex patterns forming and dispersing on the slide. They found they could even pick out recognisable images.

http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/gilbert-george/gilbert-george-major-exhibition-room-guide/gilbert-11

http://vimeo.com/48055498 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The artist becomes the 'art'- the body as material for sculpture and its fluids as source imagery.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

[cofa1001-astrahoward]

Bodies, objects and environments are transformed through the experimental use of materials and processes, creating surreal characters, unconventional engagements and fantasy landscapes.

http://www.cremaster.net/

http://www.theage.com.au/news/arts/shadowy-performance-confronts-its-audience/2006/10/13/1160246328531.html

[cofa1001-astrahoward]

Ominous narrative scripts combine recognised forms with unimagined circumstances, offering dream/nightmare scenarios to the audience.

http://realtimearts.net/article/0/8304

[cofa1001-astrahoward]

'Taxi-dermis' is a measure of architecture today via sculpture and installation. While its problems as a social construction remain unsolved, the architecture of the city remains unsolved.

http://www.richard-goodwin.com/

https://tv.unsw.edu.au/video/richard-goodwin-porosity

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Deconstructing forms (taxi), the city and the body and reconstructing them to create new meaning, images and to provoke further questions.  Sculpture, installation and multi-media photos as 'experimental' documentation of process work.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

[cofa1001-astrahoward]

Challenging the author’s ability to complete an intended image, thereby creating opportunities for new authors (without pens) to impose their ideas onto the outcome.

[cofa1001-astrahoward]

Catherine Cloran discussed how she uses experimental processes including- chance, intuition and structure to develop and refine bodies of work.  She also emphasised the value of keeping and referring back to visual diaries and books as points of inspiration for new work. 

Catherine emphasised the need to have space to allow ideas to come from within and spoke about how one needs to 'go right to the edge' of ideas and processes in order to develop the most surprising and arresting images.

http://www.catherinecloran.com.au/

[cofa1001-astrahoward]

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

How does your response to a task change when it has been authored by someone else? What new approaches to living in the world develop from different techniques of engaging 'incorrectly'?

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

[cofa1001-astrahoward]

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The author develops ideas and processes for the reader- instructions on how to use objects, materials and environments in new and unpredictable ways.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

[cofa1001-astrahoward]

"Hall's choice of material, and the way she uses it, is critical to her art. Hall deliberately transforms ordinary everyday objects to address a range of contemporary issues such as globalisation, consumerism, colonialism and natural history. The core theme throughout Hall's work is the relationship between nature and culture".  (sourced from- http://australia.gov.au/about-australia/australian-story/fiona-hall)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyhWn1tAYkw

http://dl.nfsa.gov.au/module/849/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_-3d75ZItg

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Deconstruction and reconstruction of everyday objects (sardine tins and US$1 notes) into new forms that challenge and reinterpret their inherent meaning and value.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

[cofa1001-astrahoward]

"I have always wondered … what is to communicate with another person? How to do it and why? I have wanted to do work where the author is not necessary. I try. I think that understanding is an individual process, with different times between each person and where you need a special connection between sender and receiver.

Find the moment when everything is combined and everything is possible…In the end, what I understand now are the failed tests. I don’t know what a finished work is, I still do not understand it. Develop testing techniques to understand when to turn back, stop or find irreversible methods."

http://irreversibility.org/?cat=24

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Experimentation, testing and failure as the method used to interrogate ideas, materials and processes and to communicate connections between people, objects and the environment.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

[cofa1001-astrahoward]

Developing instructions to direct a 'user' through a story/experience (course/subject matter) proves challenging, requiring further refinement, testing and experimentation.