Emma Spain

1st year LSAD - B.Ed in Visual Art and Design Project: Movement Through Time (Time Travel) Painting, Printing, and Animation

[k00265221]

Movement Through Time Project - Display (27/02/23)

My movement project display is in the corridor across from studio 5 and studio 6. I attached an info card so that it is obvious what my project is based on. I included a variety of my artworks from all three of my disciplines (painting, printing and, animation and motion design).

[k00265221]

Movement Through Time Project Week 6 - AMD (27/02/23)

My finished stop motion animation - 'Timequake' featuring Mr.Mush.

[k00265221]

Movement Project Statement

My movement project focused on movement through time (time travel). My three disciplines are Painting, Animation and Motion Design, and Printing. I explored many streams of expressing this abstract concept.

Firstly I looked at the process of collageing and how by collageing items from different eras in one image the viewer can travel through the eras. Then I began to look at clocks and how they show the passage of time. Finally I made an animation that depicts a "Timequake".

Processes and Materials I used during this project:

Painting on canvas

Collageing (Image making/composition)

Stencil Printing (layer and colour separation)

Stamp making / relief Printing

Intaglio Printing

Storyboarding

Designing and making a set and characters for Animation

Claymation / Stop Motion Animation

Post production editing (working with greenscreen and adding in audio)

Artist research:

David Ambarzumjan

Walton Ford

Mary Mc Sweeny

John Stezaker

Animation : Disney Pixar, Aardman Animation Studios, Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio, Back to the Future

Kara Walker

Christian Marclay

Sean Hillen

What I found most difficult in this project was making an interdisciplinary link. I didn't want my three disciplines to be like three different projects so I connected them. I used the painting I made of Bunratty in my animation and then I made a stencil print based off of my animation.

What I enjoyed the most in this project was making my stop motion animation and learning about all of the pre- production and post- production work that goes on behind the scenes

[k00265221]

Movement Through Time Project Sketchbook (24/02/23)

Here's a quick video displaying the pages from my sketchbook/ideas develoupment book for this project.

[k00265221]

Movement Through Time Project Week 5 : Painting - Still Life (20/02/23)

On Monday I did Sylvia's ( @paintingyear1lsad ) Still Life Painting workshop. This was my second time doing this workshop and I wanted to take the opportunity to try to work on the mistakes that I made the previous time, and also to compare the two paintings.

As I did last time I mixed the three primary colours and made three tones (light, middle and dark). To change things up this time I added yellow paint to the darkest tone to create the lighter tones instead of adding white like I did the last time. This resulted in a more green-tone compared to the warm brown tone in my last painting.

One of the main differences between last time and this time was that I extended the size of the page beyond the usual A3 size.

We were also encouraged to use one type of stroke (either vertical or horizontal) for the wall and the other type for the floor. This was a new approach for me and I find it very beneficial for distinguishing the floor from the wall.

This is my still life painting:

I still feel as though I should have used deeper tones especially since the paints lose their poignancy once they dry I am still proud of this painting, the main reason being that I didn't overwork it as much as the last one. I tried to keep what Sylvia said in mind "Less is more". My second painting is far less mucky and cluttered.

Round 2: Round 1:

[k00265221]

Movement Through Time Week 5 : Painting - Collages inspired by Seán Hillen (10/02/23)

Today, I made some collages inspired by a recent artist i researched, Sean Hillen. I did this as part of my painting and printing electives that both involve image making, layering, and composition. All of my images are primary source

This I of a dinosaur I saw in a museum layered on top of an image of a house in limerick. The t-rex has time travelled to modern day limerick 😱.

This is an image consisting of an extinct mouse like animal that i saw stuffed in the Ulster Museum. It is infront of a black and white image of bunratty. The photo of bunratty folk Park is in black and white to give the illusion that the mouse has travelled from pre historic times to the 1940's Bunratty

This collage is a combination of an ancient town that I saw on a holiday to China a few years ago, along with a modern day cruise ship infront of an image of a Greek cathedral that I saw in Santorini. They are all from different time zones but the collage has made them into a singularity.

This image is of a classical building I saw in Italy. Standing infront of the building are a classical roman statue, along with myself and my sister Cara when we were younger. I have also included the top of a 1930's lighthouse that I saw in Bangor on top of the Ancient style Italian building. As well as that I have included a late 20th century Irish phone box. All of these images from different eras are combined in this one image that allows the viewer to travel through time

The final surrealistic collage I made is of a dinosaur that I saw in the Ulster Museum standing outside the graveyard in my village Kilcolmen when it was snowing a few weeks ago. I have also included a letterbox that is painted red as all Irish letterboxes would have been before ireland gained its independence in the 1920's. I have also used a medieval venician mask as a sun like light source in the image. I saw the mask in a shop window in Italy.

[k00265221]

Movement Project : Artists Research - Sean Hillen (09/02/23)

A few weeks ago I did some collage work inspired by John Stezaker, as part of my painting discipline.

My previous movement through time collages:

As I will be doing painting again next week I want to return to making more collages but this time with the added influence of Sean Hillen.

Seán hillen is an Irish artist born in Newry 1961. He creates collages of magazine images from different eras to show the change of the landscape society with the passage of time. His collages, like mine, allow the viewer to move through time with the different era specific icons. They are slightly comedic and sometimes the images look rough and come off of the page, however he does this with intention to emphasis the meaning of the work

'The Colosseum of Cork' - 1994

Left: 'Jesus Appears in the City' (1991)

Right: 'The Professionals' #3 (1989)

His most famous art collection 'IRLANTIS' consists of collages that produce a gentle portrayal of his post apocalyptic vision of Ireland. It is although he is travelling through time to see the future of Ireland.

'The Great Pyramids of Carlingford Lough' 1994

This one gives me the impression that Hillen travelled back to ancient Eygpt and brought the Pyramids from Eygpt and plonked them in an Irish river.

[k00265221]

Movement Through Time Project - Week 4 - Intaglio Printing (09/02/23)

Today I did the intaglio workshop with Cormac. I chose to follow on from the clock images I did in the previous print workshops inspired by Christian Marclay's 'Clock' (2010).

First I chose a material that I felt best suited my theme of movement through time. I chose this antique (from the past) looking pattern. I then cut out the clock arrows and printed the Silhouette print using acetate and ink mixed with extender to decrease the pigment intensity.

I chose the colour purple as it gave time travel 'portal vibes'. Purple is such a mystic colour.

I then used the inked up cut outs and made another print with them to show the texture of the material

Ghost print :

Finally, I combined the two types of prints and added the textured clock arrows to the Silhouette print

[k00265221]

Movement Through Time Project: AMD Task 5 - Hero Shot (09/02/23)

This is the hero shot for my short animation 'Time-Quake. It is still before the post-production phase, where I will add in the greenscreen background.

This shot (frame 190/218) best represents my animation as it is the key moment where Mr. Mush and his dad see each other for the first time in years, and Mr. Mush begins to get up before the next time-quake sends his father back to 1999.

Storyboard of shot :

[k00265221]

Movement Through Time Project: Artists Research - Christian Marclay (09/02/23)

Christian Marclay is an American Swiss visual artist and composer.

For my Clock image based prints that I made last week and am making this week I looked to Christian Marclay's art installation called 'The Clock' 2010, first shown in the White Cube Gallery, London.

My clock based prints inspired by Marclay :

Marclay developed the idea for this video art piece in 2005 whilst working on another of his video works 'Screen Play'.

His supercut video is 24 hours long and is constructed our of moments from cinema films that focus on time and our interaction with it. This fits perfectly into my theme of time travel.

I find it interesting the 24 hour looped video itself acts as a clock as it shows the real time throughout the video so that you are both in reality and a cinematic world. It makes the viewer more aware of the present and that time is constantly moving. It effectively shows time travel like I try to do with my layered prints showing multiple clocks all displaying different times.

[k00265221]

Movement Through Time Project: Week 4 Printing Stamps (07/02/23)

Today I made stamps in Suzannahs workshop using wooden blocks and easy cut foam. I did a pattern of clocks (inspired by Christian Marclay's video of 'The Clocks' -2010) , clock arrows and time compasses. The clock arrows also show the direction of the time travel (past, present, future)

Here was my planning and designs:

I was originally going to do a map showing the path taken by a time traveller with their footprints changing from cave men feet to modern shoes to show evolution as time passes but I chose to go with a simpler layered design for today.

Here is my stamp making process and finished stamp. We used bostik to stick the foam to the wood. I used 4/6 of the sides to make the most of my stamp

Here's some of my designs. I chose the colour brown as I often associate it with Antiques (objects that have moved through time with preservation)

Design 1 :

Design 2 - adding another layer in a different colour (red). The chaos in this image represents the unsettling feeling people experience when travelling through time as often seen in films such as Back to the Future

Design 3 : my personal favourite. I love how the faint ones appear as though they are in the distant (past).

[k00265221]

Movement Through Time Project - Week 3 - Stencil Printing (03/02/23)

Today I did another two layered stencil print but on coloured card this time. This was more of a pattern piece unlike my other pieces that were more focused on producing a single image.

I chose brown as I was going for an old fashioned look. The layers consist of different clocks that I found around my house. Some of them look modern and others look antique therefore showing the movement through time. Often in films and shows (e.g. the twilight zone) that depict time travel multiple clocks are shown to indicate the passing of time

Here was my first layer : I did my prints on brown and gre card to see which colour suited best.

Then I added my second layer

Afterwards I experimented with adding in typewritter text on the page with the words associated with my concept. I wasn't very happy with this but I was glad that I gave the idea a try especially since I had multiple prints so I might as well try to develoup them further.

An example of my primary resource for this piece (my kitchen clock) :

I really enjoyed the stencil printing this week and I am going to miss it so much. It was so therapeutic and once you got the hang of the steps and had an idea in mind the rest was a piece of cake.

[k00265221]

Movement Through Time Project - Week 3 - Stencil Printing (02/02/23)

Today I did another stencil print. This print is of Mr.Mush as he just came out of a time portal. It is based off of the animation that I made last week. I am really enjoying working with shapes, simplifying my images for the stencil process.

I chose the colour red as the background as it is often used to signal danger and as scientists consider time travel (moving through time) to be dangerous I thought it might suit well.

Background layer (layer 1) :

The print reminds me of an image from a comic book. It's striking and eye catching.

This is my second layered stencil print this week and I am finding that with practice my registering skills are getting better. There not quite there yet but practice makes perfect !

[k00265221]

Movement Through Time Project : Week 3 : Printing - Artists Research - Kara Walker (31/01/23)

Today I made a screen print with a Silhouette element inspired by an artist called Kara Walker. Here is my screen print so that you can see how she influenced my work :

Kara Walker does Silhouette installations that express her views on histories flaws such as inequality and violence. As my project (moving through time) is strongly history based I felt that Walker would be a perfect inspiration for me to base my Silhouette works on this week.

Kara is an American contemporary print maker, painter, filmmaker, silhouettes and professor. Her silhouettes include 'Gone, An Historical Romance of a Civil War as it Occurred Between the Dusky Thighs of One Young Negress and her Heart ' (1994) (first image below) , and 'Slavery! Slavery!'(1997)( second image below) .

I watched a Documentary on Art21 to see the installation process of her room size tableaux black cut-paper silhouettes.

I also watched this documentary by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art ,in which Walker talks about the subject of her works and why she does them

Personally her work reminds me of Banksys works, another contemporary stencil artist whose works reflects our modern societal issues as well as exposing our history's mistakes

Banksy 'Girl with Balloon' (2002)

Notes I took on her while watching the documentaries :

[k00265221]

Movement Project - Week 3: Stencil Printing (31/01/23)

Today I finished my first screen print.

I started off by adding on my second layer, which was the green part of the swirl. I used a sheet of acetate as a register guide.

Then I did the intricate detail of my third layer which was going to feature all of the artefacts moving out from the spiral. The older artefacts are smaller and closer to the centre, and as you go out the artefacts get bigger and are from recent to current times.

This is my final print : I made a few copies in the even of some smudging or other mistakes

I referred to the the work of Kara Walker as guidance for my stencil work . See my artists Research post on her and her works for more detail and notes on how her work has influenced my screen print above.

[k00265221]

Movement Project : Week 3: Stencil Printing (30/01/23)

Today I did some stencil printing with Fiona Quill. She showed us how to use the screen and the other materials effectively before we did our first trial print of some random shapes. This was just so that we could get used to the process of drawing the ink back and forth across the screen.

For my own print ,I am making a print of a spiral with historic artefacts moving out from the spiral. The idea is that it is time spiralling out of control like there has been a rip in time (movement through/of time). The spiral will be coloured green and red as together they will create an illusion like effect. The artefacts will be black silhouettes to make them really pop against the colourful background. The spiral will be contained within the shape of a clock / stopwatch.

For some secondary research I plan to look at some OP artists as this is a time based optical illusion image, as well as some print artist like Esher perhaps. I also plan on looking at Kara Walker ( her work is in the image below) as she does Silhouettes based on historic events of the past thus I think that she might be a good influence for my Surrealistic historic print .

Some of my Silhouette artefacts to be coming out of the time spiral: these were all from primary source images that I took in museums and vintage shoes I visited, or they are well know historic symbols like the Greek Key pattern (ancient Greece) or the Wi-Fi Symbol ( modern day) - moving through time with images and symbols

I originally did my spiral really detailed but this was going to be too flimsy to print so I opted for a more blocky and stronger look. This will also make it easier for the viewer to focus on the detailed artefacts in the foreground if the background is less complicated

Original idea: New Spiral idea :

As one part of the spiral will be green and the other red I had to make two layers. I made one and then I used a lightbox to make the second one fit.

This was my first layer : (it looks like a peppermint 😂)

I can't wait to do the next two layers tomorrow ! This is an amazingly therapeutic process. I absolutely love the fact that it is an analogue medium and that it is very eco-friendly.

[k00265221]

Movement Project - Week 2 - AMD - Production of Timequake Stop Motion (26/01/23)

Today ,Paul Tarpey helped me set up my animation set. i used a greenscreen, a tripod, and led lights to limit any unwanted camera or light movements.

However, before i started filming, i watched a few behind the scene videos on how Aardman studios set up their stop motion sets and how they film.

The most challenging shot was the one POV shot where the camera was looking at the photo in Mr. Mushs hand from his point of view. I could not get the camera at an angle that looked like the audience was viewing the photo from his eyes so i made two large arms and a larger sheet of card to act as the photo for now until i edit in the photograph image and the background images during the post production week.

I made sure that the larger card was in the same ratio scale as the smaller one so that the photo doesnt change shape during the video. I am using green for the backgrounds and pink for the photo so that the background image doesnt get reproduced onto the photograph.

The animation is shot at 24fps (standard film speed) and is nine seconds long ( within the brief).