Emma Dettre

COFA 1002

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extended form 

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Another format idea..

Gabby was interested in the idea of collages, she showed us her pinterest (which is rich in ideas!).

https://www.pinterest.com/floulamiell/collage/

1. The Bouffet- Eugenia Loli

2. Eruption Hotter than Fire, Burning with Lustful Desire by Eugenia Loli

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INITIAL IDEAS: INSPIRATION COLLAGE 

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“Ono’s 1970 edition of Grapefruit was the first edition widely available to a mass audience…. it speaks to [this] broad audience through a sense  of dialogical circulation. Each section contains instructions for completing the works scored by Ono, more than one hundred in all. Providing various levels of experiencing performative and participatory works, Grapefruit  allows for the work to be re-enacted through instruction, providing a model for re-creation, re-experience, and ongoing re-interpretations. “

“As a precedent, Yoko Ono’s  Grapefruit provides a model for experience through instruction. Ono’s proposition, “Isn’t a construction a beginning of a thing like a seed? Isn’t it a segment of a larger totality, like an elephant’s tail?” points toward the necessary materials used as vehicles to foster a larger totality in these works.”

From:

Like an elephant’s tail: Process and instruction in the work of Michael Rakowitz, Rirkrit Tiravanija and Yoko Ono Sallabedra, Megan Moss, Karen (advisor) ; Steiner, Rochelle (committee member) ; Kraus, Chris (committee member) ProQuest Dissertations and Theses ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2012

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INITIAL INSPIRATION: YOKO ONO

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Quotes advocating ‘Laziness’.

“To do nothing at all is the most difficult thing in the world, the most difficult and the most intellectual. Oscar Wilde (1854-1900), “The Critic as Artist”

The only way to avoid being miserable is not to have enough leisure to wonder whether you are happy or not. George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)

Our life, it’s an assassination by work. We dangle from a noose for sixty years. Now we’re about to cut it… Georg Büchner (1813-1837), Danton’s Death

I don’t think necessity is the mother of invention—invention, in my opinion, arises directly from idleness, possibly also from laziness. To save oneself trouble. Agatha Christie (1890-1976), An Autobiography

Why is work so exalted, enthroned and glorified, while laziness is in the doghouse, why are most lazy souls smeared with shame, branded with the stamp of infamy, the stamp of mother-laziness, when the most menial of workers is destined for glory, honors, and rewards?

I have always believed that it should be the exact opposite: work should be cursed, as legends about paradise teach us, while laziness should be man’s essential goal. Kazimir Malevich (1878-1935), “Laziness: The Real Truth of Mankind”

From: Issue 11 Flight Summer 2003 For or Against Laziness? Compiled by Marina van Zuylen, Sasha Archibald, and Christine Potts

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Screenshot of final outcome:

Using the pianola as a symbol, it embodies the cyclical nature of routine, both through its ability to play automatically, and its fixed score and round shape. Repeatedly taking an image of an image, manipualted the initial photo of the Pianola. New colours were introduced, notes were blurred, text was sucked up by black shading  and the uniform straight image of the beginning was by the end tilted and almost invisible. The future we created was a small one but we wanted to challenge routine, entertain the idea that change is important, maybe even better, and in our experimentation and final product its hues and shaped supported this goal. 

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Process of photographing the initial/original/first image:

1. Found a black surface for the pianola

2. Photos were taken later in the day, had to chase light only to be found on the side of the road

3. Securing the pianola with a handle (it was windy)

4. Realised the sunlight picked up on all of the creases in the scroll so opted for shady spot, and smoother finish

5. Beginning to degrade this image…set up podium of books for the camera to sit on (had to be level with the table and the computer) would photograph the image on the screen, drag the photo to desktop, open and photograph again. repeated for 12 takes. 

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Initial ideas for the Group assessment

I posted this in the group chat. I was feeling really inspired by this dream. I pictured glowing fruits, making them look completely inorganic, unnatural. A commodity, a product. I began researching these ideas so i could show the group the kind of aesthetic I was thinking of.

GMO: Genetically Modified Organism.

Following text from: http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/consumer/gmfood/gmoverview/Pages/default.aspx

“People have been manipulating the genetic make-up of plants and animals for countless generations using traditional cross breeding. This involves selecting plants and animals with the most desirable characteristics (e.g. disease resistance, high yield, good meat quality) for breeding the next generation. These desirable characteristics arose from naturally occurring variations in the genetic composition of individual plants or animals.

Today’s techniques of genetic modification – called gene technology – provide new ways of identifying particular characteristics and transferring them between living organisms. For example, it is now possible to make a copy of a particular gene from the cells of a plant, animal or microbe, and insert the copy into the cells of another organism to give a desired characteristic. Because the resulting plants, animals or microbes have had their genetic material altered in some way, they are commonly referred to as ‘genetically modified’ or ‘GM’ organisms. Foods derived from genetically modified organisms are called ‘GM foods’. Most of the GM foods produced so far have been obtained from GM plants. Some examples of GM foods are corn plants with a gene that makes them resistant to insect attack, or soybeans with a modified fatty acid content that makes the oil better suited for frying. Developments are also underway to produce plants that use less water to grow, and so make them more suitable for changing climatic conditions, that is, drought-tolerant crops.”

Following article and images from: http://petapixel.com/2015/01/25/photographer-makes-fruits-vegetables-glow-sticking-lights-inside/

“Romanian photographer Radu Zaciu has been experimenting recently with photographing fruits and vegetables using internal lighting. He places bulbs inside and uses that as the main light source for his series of glowing images. The project is called “The Light Inside.”

He starts by drilling or carving holes into the fruits and veggies. The holes need to be big enough to fit a light bulb, but not so big that it completely removes the flesh of the “subject” (which helps give a glow color that unique to the fruit).

“It all started with a game of words,” Zaciu tells us. “The German word for light bulb is ‘gluehbirne’, what literally means ‘glowing pear’.” His first attempt was literally with a pear, which he photographed as a light bulb:”

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Absurdism

“The idea of the absurd is a common theme in many existentialist works, particularly in Camus. Absurdity is the notion of contrast between two things. As Camus explains it in The Myth of Sisyphus:The absurd is born out of this confrontation between the human need and the unreasonable silence of the world.” 

“The philosophy that encompasses the absurd is referred to as absurdism. While absurdism may be considered a branch of existentialism, it is a specific idea that is not necessary to an existentialist view.It’s easy to highlight the absurdity of the human quest for purpose.” 

Found on: http://www.philosophy-index.com/existentialism/absurd.php

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Experimenting with found objects 

- 80s blue ball bangle 

- vegetable cutter 

- necklace clasp

- recording machine plastic cap

- body powder puff

- fishing line 

- plastic 

- Recorder body 

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Find it helpful to make brainstorms and make connections between thoughts and ideas. Above shows our lecture on “GLITCH” and its possiblities in relation to our project. Had idea of coding, symbols, spots, lines that would communicate routines and actions, reducing our routines to something abstract, physical tactile movements now encoded in symbols…possibly?? tried to hone in on specific routines and material hoping this might help. At the end of class we decided to set a task of manipulating objects of routine, changing their function or simply drawing attention to them. Inspired by Glitch slideshow… “draws attention to, and diverts ideas away from, the specificity of a medium and its material-conceptual objectality.” AL 

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Looking specifically at the theme: All the Worlds Futures 

Went onto websites that discussed the theme, screenshotting sections that were helpful or interesting. Pulling out key words which related to our trajectory of ‘routine, work, cycles, habits, laziness’ we made a brainstorm using those words as well as the ones from our own discussions gaining a greater understanding of out concept, with the hope of sparking some ideas. 

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Initial Research and Investigation: Second Idea…

Exploring notions of routine, cycles and habits. Laziness and work. Spoke about our own routines, gaining a better understanding of where we might be heading and what interested everyone within this concept. 

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Initial Research and Investigation: First Idea…

Group started with the idea of GMO fruits. Above shows thought process and trying to deconstruct and stretch idea. Possibly looking at objects rather than fruit? Glowing, energised, oozing, textural…

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PDFs, Artist Books and Art & Design Collaboratives

Here are some links to research and surf!!

http://www.gauss-pdf.com/

http://post-inter.net/

http://www.mottodistribution.com/site/

http://dismagazine.com/

http://www.centreforstyle.org/program.html

http://www.worldfoodbooks.com/

http://www.rainoff.info/

http://mariantubbs.com/SAME

http://minervasydney.com/media/EDDIE_HOPELY_NATURAL_MOOD_2014.pdf

http://arcadiamissa.tictail.com/products/ebooks

http://metahaven.net/Site/Metahaven.html

http://www.mmparis.com/noghost.html

http://cc.yaleunion.org/

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Final Work: 

How can we collaborate when we can’t connect? 2015

My work comments on the emotions and stories behind the refugee crisis in 2015. Throughout my research and experiments for the artwork this organically became the focal point for my work. I have investigated works of artists whose practice inspires me and materials interest me. My work although referring to this political crisis does not make a political statement, rather pose a humane question.

Some artists of interest were Maria Anwander, Nanna Hänninen and Lilibeth Cuenca. Anwander and Cuenca both play with the idea of humans leaving a trace behind. I was interested in this concept; as humans we all contribute to this world, we collaborate with hundreds of thousands of people to keep the world going. So what do we leave behind after we are gone? And what does that look like?

Hänninen plays with the concept of identity in her work People (2012). She has photographs of people with smeared paint over their faces, as to hide their identity. The series is poignant and left me with many questions. Who are those people? What are they doing? What is their story?

This made me reflect upon a current social issue, the Syrian Refugee Crisis. I wanted to create a work that was an ode to the identities of the people suffering, representing the struggles and hardships they are facing.

I used my previous work as a natural progression. The symbolism of the red string used to parallel another issue.

In traditional Chinese culture it is called: The red string of fate (originating from Chinese legend and is also used in Japanese legend).

According to this myth, the gods tie an invisible red cord around the ankles of those that are destined to meet one another in a certain situation or help each other in a certain way.

The two people connected by the red thread are destined lovers, regardless of place, time, or circumstances. This magical cord may stretch or tangle, but never break. This myth is similar to the Western concept of soul mate or a destined flame.

In this artwork the red string also represents barriers, walls, borders. I had played with identity and what is a part of our own identity; finger prints, hair, teeth, skin. I experimented with fingerprints, which also comments on the procedure of fingerprinting the refugees have to go through when they reach another country.

The evocative placement of the fingerprints, which represents individuals symbolises the force and need to escape and find peace.

I also used two sourced photos that have been taken on the Syrian border of refuges trying to escape and cross into Turkey. Similar to Nanna Hänninen, I covered their eyes in paint. I wanted to remove their identity, not to take away from their experience but to suggest to the audience ideas of humanity. The connections and closeness you get from eye contact is extreme and when you remove that do you remove emotions? You can still see the woman struggling and crying but do you care if you don’t know who she is? Did you care before when you could see the pain in her eyes? By taking away their identities I hope that audiences might be able to imagine if this was them or someone they knew. Would they want their story shared or hidden and overlooked?

The fragility of the human experience and condition is something I wanted to experiment with and focus on. If we are all meant to contribute to this world how can we collaborate when we can’t connect?

To see all posts on one page:

http://emmadettre.tumblr.com/archive

 Experiments & Artist research on Tumblr: pages 1-3

Bibliography:

Maria Anwander: http://www.maria-anwander.net/work.php?id=20

Nanna Hanninen: http://www.nannahanninen.com/pages/works.php

Monika Grzymala artwork: https://drawingroom.org.uk/exhibitions/monika-grzymala

Images of Syrian Crisis:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/06/150618-pictures-refugee-displaced-people-violence-persecution-United-Nations/?rptregcta=reg_free_np&rptregcampaign=2015012_invitation_ro_all#/1_refugeegallery_nationalgeographic_1607914.ngsversion.1434726008903.jpg

Syrian Crisis: http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/photography/2015/09/migrant_crisis_devastating_photos_of_refugees_in_europe.html

http://qz.com/494068/these-photos-will-change-how-the-west-sees-the-syrian-refugee-crisis/

Wood scultpures: http://twistedsifter.com/2013/05/tom-eckert-wood-sculptures/

Red String of Fate: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RedStringOfFate

Lilibeth Cuenca: http://lilibethcuenca.com

Inbetweeness of Lilibeth Cuenca: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxGUXt_F07c

A Void Lilibeth Cuenca: http://popwuping.com/art-design/lilibeth_cuenca_rasmussen_-_a_void/

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Original images I used for my final work

Credits:

Figure 1. 

Hoping for Entry: Thousands of Syrians gather at the border near Dikmetas, Turkey last year. Over the next three days, 200,000 refugees entered Turkey. Photograph by John Stanmeyer, National Geographic.

Figure 2. 

Crossing the Border: Syrian Refugees enter Akcakale, Turkey, this month through a broken border fence. Since the start of the Syrian civil war, 1.8 million refugees have fled to Turkey. Photograph by Bulent Kilic, AFP/GETTY.

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A collage I made