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A Mammoth Day Out...

Written by Laurel Berry

I'm ashamed to say it but yesterday was the first time I stepped inside Ipswich Museum...

It was also the first time I've ever seen a wooly mammoth! In the museum there is a huge array of taxidermy animals frozen still in their habitats. Here are some badgers...But that is just the beginning!

Fascinating to see and I’m sure it would be a good way to get to know the anatomy of animal if you were a wildlife artist! 

For Oliver and I though, the main attraction was the world cultural display. We journeyed through from China right round to Africa. It is a collection of beautiful artefacts and clothing, all made with such precision and artistry.

Looking at an embroidered head dresses and inlayed platform shoes, I think this would be a perfect place for an artist of any description to create a response. A poet or writer would undoubtedly find beautiful narratives in these objects. For a Music Producer this could be a stimulus to try mixing the sounds of steal drums with ghostly chimes, and for any visual artist a collection like this is a real haven!

There is something beautiful in absorbing other cultures and also about history. The combination of the two becomes a very humbling experience and incredibly inspiring. We definitely recommend a visit!

Do you have cultural influences in your work? Would you like the opportunity to develop new fusions in your music, dance, writing, film-making or visual art?

Want to get inspired? www.popmymind.com

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Temples and Tuk Tuks

Written by Laurel Berry

Without sounding smug, (never a good start to a sentence), this time last week I was in Thailand. I haven't been to this country since I was very small and seeing Thailand through adult eyes was a completley incredible experience.

On my travels, I of course kept my eyes open for any local galleries or interesting artworks...

The most obvious presence of art within the Thai culture is the depiction of scenes taken from Buddhist religion - carved, engraved or painted in an ornate style on grand Temples and Sanctuaries. What struck me immediately, was the skill and craftsmanship which goes into creating these Temples and Sanctuaries.

One Sanctuary in particular we visited was the Sanctuary of Truth in Pattaya. A structure created entirely of wood which has been in the making for over thirty years!

It's still a work in progress – chalk drawings mapping out future carvings on pillars and panels. 

The unfinished quality of these preliminary drawings hold my attention just as much as the finished carvings. This is something I've often found with the work uploaded to Pop My Mind. It is often the unfinished or more open ended work which provokes the most interesting responses.

The smell of hot wood fills the air, you look ahead to see dust rising into beams of light whilst the hum of machinery fills your ears...When visiting places like this it is easy to forget we live in the digital age.

What is the purpose of these decorative carvings and paintings – to depict? To pay homage ? To show grandeur ? To show off the workmanship of the artists?

In the digital age what is the purpose of our drawings and depictions? Has our motives for creating changed or is it much of the same?

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Relive ‘Sonification Live’

Written by Roseanne Ganley

Pop My Mind’s biggest event to date – that’s right! On Thursday 25th February 2016 the foyer of the Waterfront Building is alive with the sound of music.

There is a good turnover and dozens of artists, students, parents and friends enter the building intrigued with what’s going on... 

Opera Singer Mary, and Trumpeter Paul collaborate together to create something rather extraordinary. 

Liam Taylor, has been inspired by Pop My Mind and has animated a piece of work on the platform – creating visual sounds. Liam is the driving force for the Sonifiation Live Event,grabbing Laurel and Oliver’s attention with the work that he produces both online, and offline. 

I feel it appropriate to talk about this event in the present tense because, to this day, I can still picture in my mind clearly the extraordinary events of that evening.

The night begins with the opportunity to grab a bag of sweet cinnamon popcorn, and a glass of white (or red) wine of your fancy. The room is bursting with excitement – people gather to watch in awe the performance of a lifetime. 

The sound of music begins at around 6:30pm, kicking off with Liam Taylor’sproduction of sound waves on screen. At around 7pm, Mary and Paul begin their improvisational performance. They invited the audience to feel the music. –And we do! 

Mary begins to sing in a high pitched tone and it is almost as if she is crying out to the audience. It is a visual performance – My impression of the performance is one of entrapment, bringing about feelings of danger, of isolation.

How does Mary do this? She captures our attention with contemporary dance movements across the corner of the room as if she is riding through the motions of sound that is being produced by Liam and Paul. 

It is more than just a making of sounds; it is a visual representation of the creative arts and the effect that it can have on all of us when it is experimented with using different mediums.

Well done to the team of Pop My Mind! And a special congratulations to Mary, Liam and Paul who gave us all an evening of spectacle.

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Interview with Matthew Tate, winner of the Invention Award!

Written by Oliver Squirrell

If you had the chance to visualize your favourite piece of poetry, what do you think it might look like?  

This is exactly the process that print maker Matthew Tate undertook with his vivid creation entitled The Creation of Adam.

Pop My Mind recently met up with Matthew in order to find out more about his Invention Award winning piece of work!

To set the scene for you, Matthew chose to create a response to the poem Who Knows which grapples with the in-between state of being awake and being asleep.  

Taking this a step further, Matthew set about creating a print that centres around the in-between state of life and death. The outcome of this process, entitled “The Creation of Adam”, is really quite stunning.

Our conversation with Matthew exposed us to a number of different interesting topics of conversation, which we share with you now.

The Significance of Colour (02:15 in the video)

One of the immediately striking elements of Matthew's print is his vibrant use of colour.

Matthew explains that his colour choice for this piece originally stemmed from the emotion that “Who Knows” was written in response to, that of Surprise.

This was somewhat of a 'surprise' to Matthew, who had previously associated the poem with fear. However, embracing the original emotion, Matthew chose a colour palette that would make an immediate impact, much like how the emotion of surprise does.

In addition, Matthew went on to explain that the decision to use such striking colour was also influenced by the nature of the environment of popmymind.com, that within an online platform it is important to do what you can to stand out, grab people's attention and cut through the noise of all the other content on a webpage. The 'thumbnail image' plays a particularly important role in this, a small square image from which to lure audiences into opening and engaging with your piece of work. With the rise in popularity of black and white imagery, using vibrant colour could serve to give you an important edge in standing out from the crowd, particularily online.

Pining for Sound... (11:40 in the video)

During the interview we asked Matthew to describe how he would like “The Creation of Adam” to be re-imagined into a new piece of work.

Interestingly, Matthew talked about his desire to see his work transformed into a piece of audio, a soundtrack that captivates the themes and aesthetic of his print.

So if you're a sound designer, composer or musician why not take up the challenge! This would be the first text -> image -> audio sequence on Pop My Mind, be part of a landmark creative progression!  

Keep going! (13:08 in the video)

As highlighted by Matthew, one of the core benefits of engaging with Pop My Mind is that it provides participants with an enjoyable outlet from which to continually progress their practice.

In addition to his thoughts in the above video, Matthew later described to us how the call-and-response mechanism of Pop My Mind makes the process of creating new work less daunting in comparison to conceiving new pieces entirely from scratch.

It is so important for any creative mind to keep on making and to enjoy making new pieces, and so we were thrilled to hear Matthew describe how Pop My Mind has helped him with this pursuit.  

Roll on the Future! (14:42 in the video)

In addition to receiving a digital badge and blog exposure, each winner of the Pop My Mind Invention Award receives a £50 bursary to spend on new materials and/or equipment.

Asking Matthew what he would like to spend the award on, he describes to us how he would like to acquire some more rollers in order to quicken the process of his printmaking and explore new possibilities.

We can't wait to see how this will inform his practice!

It was a pleasure spending the afternoon with Matthew and we look forward to seeing this how this exciting artist will flourish in the future.

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Traces and memory within the Pop My Mind content...Part 2

Written by Laurel Berry

In our previous blog post we left you at Lauren Carter's 'Untitled, 3rd February 2016'. I'ld like to move on now to Edem T / Harsh Musik's piece, 'Sadness: When Angels Weep'.

I think this piece beautifully builds emotion and I get immersed in the moment of listening to it.

“Inspired by the sad girl 3D print by Jordan Connor, this piece is emotionally charged! I could not seem to get out of my head the thought of what it's like or it would be or sound like when angels weep.” - Edem T

I enjoy looking at 'Untitled, 3rd February' whilst listening to this piece. The experience of looking at the piece with and with out music are too completley difference things. With the addition of the music my piecing together of the traces changes. I begin to think about things lost...

What does the combination of these two pieces evoke in you?

Here I would like to move onto Eve's 'Passing'. An image which plays with the idea of time passing and transition. It is visually reminiscent of something in flux or in an in-between state. A memory? The paused moment?

“...this is an experimental digital print of a moment in time between two people and represents the difference between the actual and what is remembered.” - Eve.

Following on from the idea of an in between space or something being in flux we have Julika.ha's 'Fleeing/Fled'. Visually there is a divided in the form of this black column. Is the left side the past? The right side the future? 

This piece is a natural progression from 'Passing'

 “My response to Eve's "Passing" picks up on the idea of 'the actual and what is remembered' and explores further the fragility and irreversible change of memories as time passes.” - Julika.ha

Finally I would like to finish looking at traces and memory in the Pop My Mind content with James Todino’s ‘Nostaglia’... 

‘Nostalgia’ plays on the idea of Memory – The mundane bliss as in ‘Untitled, 3rd February 2016′.

“A visual journal nostalgically viewing the past, and the fear of losing what you once had.” - James Todino.

Once the moment is gone we are just left with the memories and any traces left by the event. You could say, memories are realities traces on the brain. 

This films gives the feeling of stopping and pausing on certain moments, often the mundane. That moment of contemplation feels similar to the moment when we stop to consider the traces or marks left on a surface. There is that moment of contemplation – pausing and reflecting on the moment. A rare thing to do in busy contemporary life.

Do you see any common threads and themes in the Pop My Mind content? Let us know!

www.popmymind.com

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Interview with Liam Taylor - Winner of the Invention Award!

Written by Oliver Squirrell

Have you ever wondered what a painting sounds like? 

That exact thought first crossed the mind of Liam Taylor whilst engaging with Pop My Mind a few months ago. 

Using software, Liam set about imaginatively transforming a painting into sound with brilliant effect! 

Whilst interviewing Liam about his creation (which you can listen to in full above) we learnt many new things about the wonders of sonificaiton, such as what a sonification actually is, what the technical process is and what scope Liam has as an artist to manipulate the raw sounds that derive from an original painting. 

To provide some context on this inventive piece of work, whilst browsing Pop My Mind Liam was immediately drawn to the detail of the below painting by Sarah Tappenden entitled Waves. 

Using a piece of software called Photosounder, Liam then set about transforming individual pieces of detail of the painting into sound. 

Typically, the sounds produced by this process are quite abrasive in nature. This process therefore presented Liam with an array of challenging questions such as how far to manipulate the sounds so that they still remained raw, yet not so raw that the experience becomes uncomfortable. 

After striking a balance he was happy with, Liam then set about animating the original image so that the viewer can see the specific parts of the painting that have generated each specific sound. Check it out below!

During the interview I asked Liam to describe what he feel would make an interesting response to his sonificaiton. 

His desire was to see a digitally generated image of his sonification so that he could see what his sonification looks like. 

Amazingly, Liam then realised he himself had the software to undertake such a process! So here it is, a digital representation of Liam’s sonification of the painting... 

Somewhat hauntingly, you can clearly see some of the original detail from Sarah’s painting within this image despite the fact the image has gone through two stages of digital conversation across two different mediums, which we just think is ace! 

Congratulations again to Liam for winning the Invention Award on Pop My Mind. It is truly well deserved and serves as a vivid example of the strides that the Pop My Mind community are making in progressing contemporary creative expression. 

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Traces and Memory within the Pop My Mind content...Part 1

One of the most interesting things for me about Pop My Mind are the stories and themes that run throughout the platform and the work.

This afternoon I've taken the time to sit back and look at some of these stories and progressions and have pieced together my own thread of content. I've picked out Traces and Memory as the theme, as its something I could see occurring often within a lot of the Pop My Mind content.

Let me walk you through the first half of Traces and Memory...

We begin at Emily Godden's 'Medis Informacija'. An etching print which has been made “with data from the surface of a tree from Nida, Lithuania” - Emily Godden.

I see traces and memory coming into play in two ways here. The first being in the physical sense, where the etching plate and ink has left it's trace on the paper. There is something really raw about these marks; and in the sense that the data from the tree is a trace of information. It is not the tree itself but it is representative of it.

I started to think about traces which highlight the materiality of a medium, the physical cutting or scratching into surface.

A natural 'Pop' on the platform to evolve from 'Medis Informacija' was Sophie Meakin's response, 'Beneath the Surface'. This poem flips at several points and takes it's reader on a journey of perspectives. First we empathise with the tree and then we are empathising with a mature lady.

This poem really pulled on my heart strings and to me this poem is all about traces. The traces and memories of how the woman used to be made me think of how traces can turn into a narrative.

It is here I want to introduce Lauren Carter's photograph, 'Untitled, 3rd February 2016'. Originally popped in response to the theme of 'love', I see this as a continuation of the narrative in 'Beneath the Surface' and highlight this notion of traces or memories are acting like clues for piecing together a story.

Indexical Traces is the term given to represent the marks or objects or impressions which act to signify the presence of people or an event, without them being there or happening at that moment. For this reason 'Untitled' is a perfect example.

 When I look at this image I start to think about not only the thing which has left the traces - the people who were once there - and not only the traces which are left - the teacups and saucers - but also the in between spaces. What were they talking about? How long ago did this encounter go on for? Breakfast or Earl Grey tea? I find it so interesting how an image which doesn't contain the physically presence of any people can still say so much about human relationships.

“This polaroid was taken after my nan and I chatted in the dining room with tea and cake: mundane bliss.”

I believe it is human nature for us to try and piece together all of these traces and snippets of information. We are always trying to fill in the gaps and for me this is really where the magic happens.

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Sonification Live - 18/02/16

6PM - 8PM, The Foyer of the UCS Waterfront Building, Ipswich.

With just under TWO WEEKS to go until Pop My Mind presents its first live collaboration event you are all probably wondering what to expect, so let me shed a little light on the situation...

The Line Up...

Mary Benefiel

We are really pleased to announce that Mary Benefiel will be performing at Sonification Live!

Mary Benefiel, singer and improviser, has thrown away the songbook and remains open to the music of the moment.

In a kind of No-Word Poetry, out of the silence comes the singing. The music arises from and returns to silence. Who knows what will it will be? You have to be there to find out (just like she does).

Flying a bit under the conventional music radar, you can hear Mary is a pop-up artist singing at different events and creating performance events around East Anglia. Or catch her centre stage with Anam Cora doing sung meditation. You can find out more at Mary’s website: 

http://www.marybenefiel.com/performance-artist/

Paul Fisk

Performing alongside Mary Benefiel will be Ipswich based artist and poet Paul Fisk. On the 18/02/16 Paul will be picking up his trumpet and collaborating with Mary to respond to the raw sci-fi sonification sounds! Mary and Paul have performed together in the past many times before and feed off of each other and the energy they feel in the room.

http://www.thousandartworks.co.uk/

Emily Godden

Emily is a UCS Final Year Fine Art BA student who specialises in printmaking and using data to create intriguing and highly accomplished work. Emily will be responding on the 18th February with a brand new projection piece. Emily is also collaborating with Pop My Mind on her project Data Dependance – a project which will be running throughout 2016 and is supported by O2 Think Big. 

http://www.popmymind.com/artist/c01fa3d84f90e5175ac347a00530e372

Liam Taylor (Sonification Wizard)

The man behind the magic, our Cambridge based Sonification Wizard Liam has been working gallantly over the last month to turn the images our Pop My Mind users submitted into sound. Liam will be playing these back to us at Sonification Live as well as giving the audience an opportunity to take control! If you’re curious, you better come along!

http://www.popmymind.com/artist/61e77ad72f6e561ec6ffa38dd38ebbbf

Jason Haye

Artist and Digital Assistant at the Pacitti Company Jason Haye (or you may also know him as Flux Without Pause) will be filming at the event. http://fluxwithoutpause.com/ Jason’s work will be revealed after the event!

Last but not least...

The Pop My Mind members who created and uploaded brand new images to be turned into sound...

Mark Aaron - http://www.popmymind.com/content/323

Katie Borkin - http://www.popmymind.com/content/295

Larain Briggs - http://www.popmymind.com/content/292

Liberty Brusaferro - http://www.popmymind.com/content/289

Lloyd Evans - http://www.popmymind.com/content/300

Zoe Ford - http://www.popmymind.com/content/297

Oliver Squirrell - http://www.popmymind.com/content/273

Louise Todd - http://www.popmymind.com/content/293

Anthony Wooding - http://www.popmymind.com/content/266

Still got questions? You better come on the 18th to get your answers ;)

Proudly sponsored by Kersey’s Solicitors (who will be giving out a special offer on the day!). UCS have also kindly given us space to host the event and Propercorn has donated us with POPCORN for the evening!

Please RSVP via the Facebook event page. 

We look forward to seeing you there!

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My time here at Pop My Mind!

What a mind-popping experience I’ve had here at Pop My Mind! (Pardon the cheesy pun!) I have had such an amazing time taking on projects with Oliver and Laurel in order to support the Pop My Mind platform!

I have found the whole experience immensely rewarding in so many ways! Both Oliver and Laurel have taught me so much and I can’t thank them enough. I have loved meeting such interesting people during the two weeks such as Liam Taylor, who produces amazing sounds through Sonification, (something I’d never even heard of), Lynette Denny, a talented professional writer, and the incredible Robert Pacitti, Artist Director of Pacitti Company!

Sonification meeting with Liam!

The entire two weeks have broadened my mind in so many ways. Oliver’s inspiring story on his creative journey producing Pop My Mind from scratch, along with the dedication both Oliver and Laurel put in to evolving and broadening the platform is incredible. They have both pushed me to take on challenges I would usually hesitate to do. They have taught me to be less critical of my work and embrace my creativeness, leading me to create blog posts for the platform and uploading my own content. I have participated within meetings, which have been incredibly beneficial and I have learnt so much about how a new up and coming business works!

I took my first steps inside an art gallery (which was fab) and created my very first poem for the website. The Pop My Mind website has opened my mind to all of the amazing artistic creators out there, who produce such amazing work! The whole platform is such a brilliant idea and I look forward to watching it develop.

Fabiana Di Mascio’s amazing work in The Freudian Sheep Gallery ‘In Profondit’, Wax.

Overall the experience has been incredible and I have gained some amazing experience and two dear friends! I look forward keeping up with Pop My Mind’s evolution and will definitely be keeping in touch!

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Lunch with Albeiro Tomedes

Written by Sophie Meakin

We recently interviewed the first winner of the Pop My Mind Invention Award, Albeiro Tomedes, following his innovative submission entitled ‘Self Portrait’.

‘Self Portrait’ is easily one of my most favourite submissions to date, particularly for its individuality. As seen on the platform, Albeiro takes his inspiration for the piece from the theme of ‘anger’. He describes how after being disappointed with his attempt at a self-portrait on a gloss paper skin, he screws up the piece in irritation. This emotion subsequently transformed the piece into his striking, inimitable piece, ‘Self Portrait’.

Below are a few questions, answers and photos we derived from our valuable interview with Albeiro.

What is ‘paint skin’?  

Paint skin is a material created from the process of drying paint. Albeiro describes how he leaves an abundance of paint on trays and allows them to dry for an extensive amount of time, depending on how thick he wants the paint. He mentions how he will check the paint after 1-2 months, (that’s a long time to sit and watch paint dry!).

Eventually, the top of the paint dries however the underneath remains wet. He experiments by using different parts of the material in order to create a unique piece of work.

We noticed how Albeiro’s creation, ‘Self Portrait’ represented a cross between a painting and a sculpture. Albeiro commented on this stating, ‘I try to take paintings and find the lineal space in between the two practices [paintings and sculptures].’ He also commented on how his work correlates with his own personal life of moving between cultures, races and countries and his struggle of trying to find a medium in between. 

We were also interested to find out how Pop My Mind had changed and developed Albeiro’s creative process.

He describes Pop My Mind as a project that spurred his imagination. He mentions how he had never previously thought of developing a piece, or making a piece in response to somebody else’s work. He also mentions how (like a lot of us) he would usually start with an idea, or from a response to his feelings, so Pop My Mind challenged him to work in a new innovative way. He says, ‘After developing my first piece I was very happy to pay attention to Pop My Mind because otherwise I wouldn’t have something that great… I never thought of responding to music/sounds, how I can paint music…I think it’s a challenge and I think it’s great to work your mind.’

Finally, we were interested to find out what he was going to spend his £50 bursary on for winning the Invention Award, I find this a really stimulating part within the interview. 

Albeiro describes how he is going to donate his winnings to those in his home town Inírida, Guainía, the Caño Vitania community. He describes how the indigenous people are losing their identity as their culture is being taken over by the Western Civilisation. So, they came up with an idea to develop a museum in the Columbian Rainforest so that future generations are able to learn about their heritage. Alberio was keen to make sure he was able to help with this project and describes how he is going to give more and work harder in order to make sure the project will happen.

Listen to the full interview below to find out more information such as Alberio’s future project intentions and how he came about discovering paint skins!

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Our top five most inspirational profiles to date

by Sophie Meakin

We recently launched our artist profiles on Pop My Mind, which enables our community to express themselves as an artist. Take a look at our top 5 favourite profiles to date:

- Mark Aaron 

Mark Aaron holds over 30 years experience as a Commercial designer, and his artistic talent is clearly reflected within his submissions on the Pop My Mind platform. Mark works in television, games and music but also holds a passion for the arts. His creative works are generated through computer driven modelling, code and sound. However, his current artistic work explores the narrative of surfaces and how we read the tension between states of form, decay and chance. 

One example of his captivating pieces is his submission, ‘Slow Burn’, which he describes as an ‘extruded topographic data taken from a photograph of a punch into plaster.’ (Shown below)

- Emily Godden

Emily Godden is currently based in Ipswich and studying BA (Hons) Fine Art at UCS. She has Tate Britain, Spike Island, Firstsite, The Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts and was recently shortlisted for the Batsford Prize for Fine Art. Her work is currently focused around printmaking stretched into its broadest sense of existence to explore, document and translate both physically and naturally occurring traces through the medium of print.

In recent work she has used sound as a mechanism to transmit data and communicate traces to exploit the essence of print in a post-digital landscape.

One of my favourite pieces of Emily’s artistic submissions is her skilful etching print, ‘Medis Informacija’ (shown below), which she describes as working with ‘data from the surface of a tree from Nida, Lithuania.’

- Katie Borkin

Katie is based in Norfolk and Studied Animation At NUA In Norwich. Now a Freelancer currently working on multiple projects in animation, Katie’s talent is clearly reflected through her thought-provoking submissions on Pop My Mind. She aspires to become a concept designer in film and animation and is a keen lover of fantasy, sci-fi and surrealism.

One of Katie’s submissions which really caught my eye was her dream-like creation, ‘In Depth’ (shown below). She describes this piece as an ‘experiment with colour texture and Light for Signification’ and ‘an image that came to mind while listening to the sounds created in the video’. The video she describes is the ‘Sonification Live’ video which her creation was ultimatlely inspired by.

- Nick Harvey

Nick Harvey is an electric music producer diving into a range of genres, but focusing mainly on drum and bass music. Nick combines feelings and events with inspiration from the Pop My Mind platform in order to create his music. His works ‘Black Hole’ and ‘Skyway Meadows’ are getting released on an EP with Allowance Records on Jan 19th 2016. Below are thumbnails from both Black Hole and Skyway Meadows and clicking the hyperlinks will take you to both videos.

Skyway Meadows

Black Hole

- Zoe Ford

Zoe Ford is originally from Berkshire, and graduated from Norwich University of the Arts in 2012 with a BA Honours degree in Fine Art. Zoe has completed a series of internships with galleries, working at art fairs and festivals such as The Other Art Fair and London Festival of Photography. Her work encompasses a range of concepts within various disciplines including painting, drawing and sculpture. She has an appreciation for an eclectic range of art and passionate about all forms of artistic expression as seen in her submissions on Pop My Mind.

One of my favourite posts is her submission ‘A Moment in Time’ (shown below),  the power of the image managed to inspire two other submissions in response to the photo. Zoe describes the piece as an ‘abstract visualisation which skews and transforms a monotonous, repetitive moment in time.’

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The Impact of Colour

Written by Sophie Meakin

“A color is as strong as the impression it creates.” - Ivan Albright

I find it really interesting to see how different individuals connect to different types of art. For me personally, it depends on the image, however I normally find myself being drawn to pictures bursting with colour. While working with Pop My Mind it was really thought-provoking to explore the popularity of different mediums, which colours were being used and the artworks that they ultimately inspired. While analysing the creations, it was clear how, recently, more and more people were submitting works which were fundamentally black and white or grey. Interestingly, Gerhard Richter comments, “Gray is the color… the most important of all… absent of opinion, nothing, neither/nor.” He suggests that the colour grey provokes the feeling of ‘nothingness’, implying that it is unable to harm or affect you. 

When applying this to Pop My Mind, it is clear how Emily Godden’s etching print upload, ‘Media Informacija’ (shown above), which takes on mainly black and white tones, was among one of the highest ‘popped’ submissions. Does it inspire people’s artistic creation due to its “absent of opinion”? Or, does it evoke a certain emotion in people which leads to a beam of inspiration? Is it the picture itself, or is it the colour? Mary Ellen Mark gives her opinion on colour, stating “I work in colour sometimes, but I guess the images I most connect to, historically speaking, are in black and white. I see more in black and white – I like the abstraction of it.” People are naturally drawn to images due to a number of reasons, but I do believe that a lot of the time colour plays an important part in the role in creating a certain connection with the viewer.

However, it is interesting to notice how, so far, the submissions with the most ‘pops’ are those produced in colour. More specifically 9/10 of the ‘most popped’ uploads are in colour. It is widely known that certain colours are branded for inducing certain emotions within people, for example bright colours such as yellow and pink are known to create a sense of happiness and joy, whereas turquoise and green are known to create tranquility. 

Submissions such as Sarah Tappenden’s ‘Waves’ (shown above), and Marcin’s ‘Traces of violence’ are among those produced in colour which have generated the most ‘pops’ within the Pop My Mind platform. Georgia O’Keefe says “I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way – things I had no words for”. O’Keefe’s statement could be one take on the fact that more and more people are producing colourful works on the website, compared to those in black and white, and also why there are more visual submissions than literature pieces. It is commonly known that the seasons can play a significant role in our attitude and mentality. This could be one explanation for the recent inundation of black and white images being uploaded. Does the dark, cold weather make people feel a certain way which is accordingly reflected through their work? It will be interesting to track the fluctuation of submissions and see if there is a growing trend related to the weather, or just inspiration taken from previous strong uploads on the website.

Are you more inspired by colourful works, or those in black and white? Drop us an email and let us know your thoughts!   Oliver[at]popmymind[dot]com

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My experience here at Pop My Mind

By Roseanne Ganley, final year English Student at UCS. 

September 2015, our Professional Writing Practice lecturer had asked us to begin our search for a ten day placement as part of our module specification. At first, I struggled to find somewhere. I had contacts to hand, but they were either busy, unable to reply or could not offer up a place to me as a student. My luck changed however, early December time when Pop My Mind turned up at one of our lecturers for a talk. I was immediately taken aback by their ideas, commitment and enthusiasm.  

Nine days into my placement and I am very grateful for the opportunity to be working alongside Oliver, Laurel and Alan, a devoted team of individuals in the Atrium Studios. What I have enjoyed most about these past nine days? That each day has brought about something new. I have been involved with writing blog posts (such as this one), taking down minutes for meetings, copy editing documents, and responding to creative art content on the platform. There has not been a day that I have become tiresome of repeating daily tasks, or shadowing another. I have been left to my own devices, and treated like a member of the team.

On Tuesday 5th January, we ventured out to London for a meeting with a music accountancy agency. I was excited by future prospects and the potential to do anything if you put your mind to it. I was also inspired by Oliver and Laurel’s enthusiastic ways and willing to do anything to see Pop My Mind’s growth plummet sky high. I have been welcomed by the team and taking in as one of their own. I could not have picked a better place to complete my placement. I have learned so much over the past couple of weeks, such as the definitive use of emoticons and how they are incorporated into our daily language systems, the endless possible ways to respond to a piece of content, and the influence that social media has on exposing a business, corporation or individual(s) alike.  

 All in all, I have enjoyed my time here in the Atrium Studios with Oliver and Laurel at Pop My Mind and I hope to be involved in future events, blogging and copy editing for them.

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A Tribute to David Bowie

By Roseanne Ganley, English Student at UCS.

In loving memory of a true legend in music, Pop My Mind has decided to write a blog post that highlights his successes as an artist. David Bowie sadly passed away on 10th January, 2016 in Manhattan, New York City after a long term battle with cancer.

Many artists were quick to respond to his death and pay tribute to him as an inspirational figure in pop culture. It is interesting to see how artists responded to his death, vouching for his creative, innovative side as both a musician and human being. Those paying tribute to him however, do not just vouch for him, but also for his alter ego, Ziggy Stardust who often became present on stage. She became just as important to us, as did Bowie. She presented to us, character and soul. Work created by artists online also gives this impression of character, presenting Bowie not just as a human being, but as a character in motion, who had drive, skill, and the courage to be something other than the norm.

Bowie’s famous quote “I don’t know where I am going from here, but I promise it won’t be boring” will forever be implanted in our minds, for centuries to come. He left an imprint on our hearts, with songs such as ‘Heroes’, ‘Let’s Dance’ and ‘Space Oddity’.

His death was exposed on social media sites such as Twitter, leaking a total of 4.3 million tweets, giving many the opportunities to pay tribute to him. Responses to his death was worldwide, both online and offline.

 He was best known for looking at everything he did as art from the way he dressed to the image he portrayed off stage with the music he produced. R.I.P David Bowie from the team at Pop My Mind, you shall never be forgotten.

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The narrative stance of Paul Ablett’s art work; Freudian Sheep Exhibition

By Roseanne Ganley, English Student at UCS. 

Most novels take us on a journey through the narrative style that is used.

Who would have thought that an art exhibition could have the same effect as a novel?

Saturday 9th January saw the team at Pop My Mind visit the The Freudian Sheep exhibition on St Helen’s Street in Ipswich. The exhibition showcased the work of a well-respected artist Paul Ablett. The event featured 50 or more of Paul’s surreal paintings and a showcasing of 80 of his illustrated journals, documenting the personal journey of his life and works as an artist. It featured music from Roger Eno who collaborated with Paul Ablett before his tragic death in 2010. The Jonah’s Ark collaboration with Roger Eno was at the centerpiece of the exhibition.

So now I shall move on to the journey that Paul’s work takes the viewer/observer on. The exhibition is divided into three parts.

The first part documents Jonah’s desire to build a brick ark. All those on the ark attended the ceremony of sacrificial rites apart from Walter the Zebra, who considered these rites wrong. The brick of the ark then turned into a board game and Walter was challenged to play by Keith, a gambling man. Keith began to feel insecure after having the upper hand over Walter, and distrusted the birds that flew over, observing the game.

The second part of the exhibition showcases Keith as taking on the ruler supreme role. The animals are forced to man the factories and work the railways. Walter is observant of this and is in search of some inspiration.

The final part of the exhibition reveals a journey. Walters intuition kicks in and he sails on to an unknown destination. Along the way, he is advised that grave danger lies ahead, that he must stick to the path, and escape the Panther Police. He then parachutes to safety to the Crown Jewel which he steals, is caught and ends up in prison. He then comes across a fifth symbol, which is a flag on the tower of death, and he releases the prisoners and is set free. He then discovers a sixth symbol; a key that will release the birds. Evil powers are destroyed.

The moral of Walter’s story is to always stick to the path .

,

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The arrival of narratives, feelings and imaginations evoked by art based content on Pop My Mind

By Roseanne Ganley, English Student at UCS.

“Stimulate imagination, evoke emotion, bring pleasure or do nothing.” - Alexander Sandro Girard, American architect and textile designer.

Content that has been uploaded onto the Pop My Mind platform appears to work very closely with this concept. It stimulates imagination from depictions of the war, to the documentation of fear and how it is portrayed in art form.

People enjoy looking at art, listening to a piece of music or reading a written piece of content that makes them feel uneasy. It makes us feel uneasy because most of the work created on the platform has been based on personal experience. It causes us to feel. The content uploaded on Pop My Mind does exactly this.

It is interesting also to look at the concept of ‘emotional design’ and how people are drawn towards work that evokes emotion. This concept is designed to intentionally trigger a conscious or unconscious emotional response. People respond to content that is representative of feelings of nostalgia, fear and sadness.

Each and every upload or response tells a story of its own. If a visual, sound or written upload creates a narrative then it is more than likely to be viewed by another who can relate to it. We become characters in the narrative in a setting or place we could never have imagined to be in. From the depths of the forest, to the forbidden land of darkness, there is no escape from the places that our imagination takes us. Photo graphical content captures the beauty of nature, music takes us to another world and written responses take us to the places we fear the most.

Most responses such as the ‘Dance of Death’ are also responses that are based on a collective. They are depictions of how countries, or collectives, or groups feel about a particular subject such as the war. Natural elements such as water, fire and earth create responses that bring about feelings of nostalgia of a past place of beauty.

Leslie Wright’s ‘Dance of Death’ 

Available at: http://www.popmymind.com/content/237

There is no beginning and no end to the extent at which we are invited to feel when looking art on Pop My Mind’s platform base.

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The Evolution of Computer Design at Whitechapel Art Gallery in London

By Roseanne Ganley, English Student at UCS.

Could you test the theory behind the evolving role of computer games software from Utopian worlds to virtual realities? Get involved by creating your own artistic or written response to Farocki’s work. 

The Pop My Mind team went for a tour around London’s famous Whitechapel art gallery on 6th January 2016 and sprung upon Farocki’s work Parallel I-IV. This exhibition led us to think about how the graphics and content of video games from the 1900′s to the present day has evolved over time. 

Where would you place yourself in the age of computer games design technology?

The current exhibition being held at Whitechapel Art Gallery takes you back a few decades to the dawn of computer design. The Gallery founded in 1901 is internationally acclaimed for its exhibitions for modern and contemporary art.

It is without question that the Electronic Superhighway exhibition stole away my attention. Gallery 2 documents the Harun Farocki’s Parallel I-IV (2012-14). This phenomenal display of arts charts the evolution of computer game graphics.

Two parallel screens approach you as you enter the doors of Gallery 2. The screen to your right documents computer design in its most simple, symbolic form. The screen to your left depicts the change through thirty years of rapid technological progression. It looks at the dawn of realism of the present day.

One begins to realise that it is hard to be sure of what is real and what is not real. Blazing fires, rapid waterfalls, and pink clouds merge through the screen. What is visualised on screen is expressive of the form that computer video games have now taken. The viewer is encouraged to enter a virtual reality and to take on the form of an avatar in Grand Theft Auto (GTA) with tattoos, a beard, puffing on a cigarette. Feelings of nostalgia pass through the individual looking back on childhood games such as Mario, Tetris and Pacman that seem to have become extinct.

The very moment that realism exists behind the screen has dawned upon us. Its ‘out with the old and in with the new’ in the dawn of computer games design technology at the Whitechapel Art Gallery in London.

Image cited at Grant, M. (2013) ‘Whitechapel Gallery’. Available at: http://www.timeout.com/london/art/galleries/whitechapel-gallery. Accessed: 6 January 2016.