other photo processes/manipulation- ideas for Post grad forum 19th June

ok- i don't have any time to think and need to get on and do for the forum on thursday- (many blog posts on hold) deadlines with the draft dissertation deadline- which i changed the focus of end of last week- arrgh! so here it goes...

I aim to be testing out ideas for shedseason idea for shed load of laughs or shed your tears- stories from flowers (jordan liked this idea the best, simplest,the pinhole idea might be too complicated? and overlooked might just not work at WCA now not got chosen space- very sadly- save for the shed-and-a-half gallery later in the year?).....

so have this idea to run the story i used for stand up of my nan's funeral and the cat wreath- experimenting with doing this live using 2 photographic methods;

• lay flower on floor on photographic paper in sunlight before i start story, and finish story by taking if off the paper and sitting and watching it in silence

• photo of cat wreath coming out of family album, then bleaching it out to nothing and throwing it away

Questions:
1. what happens when its in daylight- change in intimacy in this situation, group of people- change in reception by the spectator.
2. response to story in relation to new photographic methods
3. difference in the duration of the image development/extinction
4. now working in colour- away from monochrome photogram- how's this production and material change affect the reception by the spectator?


TECHNIQUES:


Wrack: From the "Bertoloni Album," 1839
William Henry Fox Talbot (British, 1800–1877)
Photogenic drawing; 8 11/16 x 6 7/8 in. (22 x 17.5 cm)

adapted from ideas about the sunprint (photogenic drawing)- Fox talbot- early photography pioneer- the 'pencil of nature'- using the photo paper ( my intervention could be-WITHOUT chemicals) in DAYLIGHT- non-darkroom- light can come through the window of the shed and allows for projections onto possibly 'tracing paper' windows or curtains

storytelling matched to some experimental techniques to eradicate an image or part of; bleaching out parts of the image- like this creative collage blog shows you, a technique of my ole fave dave mckean. different times to bleach out depending on whether normal photo printed or inkjet. also to think about dilution- as bleach smells- HEALTH AND SAFTETY!- and prolongs erosion time. this is building on corrosion ideas also in decasia film (se previous blog post)

Round two- stand up comedy

i pulled out of the stand up competition recently- didn't feel a good time to be trying to be funny and possibility of dealing with hecklers freaked me.....so thought it better to try to generate more anecdotal material, ideas about recreating spontaneity for use in my work...am doing the rescheduled course at CSM plus also on practical skills front, one on Isadora

Reflections on recent events part two- Assessment

in an attempt to try to achieve clarity of vision to take me forward into the new and final MA term, i need to reflect more fully on the assessment and not get racing away into the world of sheds without a solid structure set for me to follow. in the assessment i overall did much better for my studio practice this term than the research paper- which i am not too worried about as my practice last term was of most importance to me in defining myself- laying foundations, experimenting, asking questions, revising methods, re-lauching them in new ways.

whilst i am still reading around my subject, i will need to come back more fully to the critical studies, shape up my central research question more clearly through tutorials and presentations this week.i have studied examples of structure, style, research question to gain a sense of more fully how the debate can be laid out and argued over 5000 words. i know i need to move my writing beyond the survey into the critical and work out whats the most important of temporality, photography, intimacy, participation- do i need to be selective or can i continue as i started in the diploma research paper across these 4 areas but cement them more critically or think back to the certificate stage research paper which was focused purely on photography? anyway, more to come on this.

studio practice- the feedback was very positive for the level of experimentation, progression of ideas, reflective understanding of historical and contemporary framework, presentation of work and planning, and the lower area was critical self-reflection (includes ambition.) have realised in writing this i need to establish what is meant here by ambition in terms of my work or whether this is more about the need for self-reflection as i feel i am very ambitious- possible too so! the comments centred on the need for me to now tease out the areas of high importance, why i make the choices i do, and their relationship to the spectator- through analysing the body of work i have now created.

so....in looking back at my blog posts i have realised that the pace of my projects has meant i haven't really analysed them enough myself before swiftly moving on (partly due to event dates not set by myself, there was only 4 weeks and an assessment between the space-in-between and the EEC i might add, but also my constant thirst for the where next? ) and need to do this to consolidate my thinking and identify key areas of interest. that being said, i like layering my work with many facets of temporality but need to address this in terms of the participatory experience- what's in it for others- why bother taking part?

so...now need to take stock more of each of the 3 projects- nunnery, space-in-between and EEC....

useful shed information

some initial research into sheds themselves- what kind of shed, size, windows or not, to buy or make, or freecycle?

all photos from b&q online
this sort of shed, lad's shed can reinforce the den like nature of my work. this photoshop image is quite funny!

simple, no fuss, like the peering out form the front, kiosk or look-out like

basic style shed like one in the shed-and-a-half gallery


how to erect a shed top tips from shed experts b&q

and also info on other shed manufacturer, buyshedsdirect

Reflections on recent events

ok, so have been a little away from things here as i let myself have some restorative time post assessment, post EEC and post the recent passing of my blood father. this has meant i have finally finished gum thief by douglas coupland, and managed to hold concentration for once, not leaping off on a wild tangent whilst trying to hold a book still. the time recently has been one of pigeon holing thoughts pushing to the forefront things which excite and inspire me and to the back things more difficult to handle or absorb.the latter being things that i hope to work through to help me grow and strengthen in my self and my work.

the most revealing thing which has been whilst digesting my EEC performance,being with my family together sharing emotions, was that last weekend, whilst visiting family down that way, i went to see jordan mckenzies performance for rules and regs in southampton medieval vaults that lie under the city. we chatted before the performance started, and jordan told me the title of his piece, Dead Dad Club. when he told me the subject of the piece i was worried how i would react to experiencing it (and had i known before unsure whether i would have come along, a very private thing made public made me feel uneasy.) But, to actually be sharing this amongst strangers was a strangely comforting experience- there's only so much talking to your family and friends you can do at some points, and to be in a completely new situation in experiencing the bereavement process and impact through performance,and the aftermath discussion, gave me a new way to process things. from smelling the water and whiskey which my father also used to drink to the spotlight sensation when people look at their feet when you tell them. the wierdest bit was pinning on the Dead Dad Club badges we were asked to wear above ground before we went in- the non-club people i think became more awkward than the club people- and yes, looking at the floor. the experience was very odd, engaging and warming- and afterwards down the pub i found a different kind of chit chat where things could be out of the open in the club.

the connection here is how interested i am in the idea of collective, shared experiences, the commonality of human existance. from the contents of our pockets to the contents of shed, loved ones we grieve for, i like sharing in new ways the personal, heartfelt, perhaps usually unsaid, seemingly insignificant, or not yet tapped into.

there is something really macabre and odd about all this generating intimacy, and mortality of the image business i have got myself into but i think its true, as jordan has explored that life does feed your work, you ask questions in a collective environment. i have many people i wished to be closer to or have known better, my father for one- he was an artist, photographer but we very sadly didn't share this very much for many reasons. this is not that i see my work as therapy but i'm thinking about how it parallels for my life- i like having discovered being hyper harry in my performances as a contrast to the temporal image. i don't think this post is over yet but will leave it there for today, its all to help me in the next stage as i review where next in my practice...

decasia- film exploiting the decay, manipulation of film

Decasia is a film (2002) by Bill Morrison, featuring an original score by Michael Gordon.

interview posted above here from youtube

...both decay of life and rebirth....new from old...exchange..

more here in BFI review

have ordered the film and think it will be very relevant in seeking alternative ways to push the temporality of photography. how about using the acid techniques explored in the film for people to destroy photographs they no longer want? or here, the video recording of the change in the image as it disappears/corrodes- possibilities for projection?

sonic illuminations proposal- King's Cross lighthouse

here's the outline of the idea for the proposal;

Kerry Andrew and Harriet Poole Joint Application to Sonic Illuminations

overlooked
a helter-skelter history of the King’s Cross lighthouse

Most people, heads down as they fight their way across Gray’s Inn Road and Pentonville Road in the jostling heart of King’s Cross, won’t notice it: on top of a thin curved building sits a derelict lighthouse. Bizarrely out of place, it is a genuine mystery; there is no record of who put it there, when and why. Suggestions have included that it was erected by 19-century teahouse or oysterhouse owners who once plied their trade beneath, or that it was a clocktower, a camera obscura, or even a helter-skelter salvaged from a local funfair.

We propose to produce a 5-minute film/sound/performance event that explores both fictive and real histories of the lighthouse and its immediate area, using a mixture of historic and contemporary film and photography techniques, live and recorded vocal music and sound design. The piece would begin by introducing the lighthouse with interweaving stories, both from real suggestions and fantastical, invented ones. A middle section would turn to today: we would go to the site and interact with the transient community there, filming them, showing them the lighthouse and recording their thoughts on its purpose. We would also use traditional and digital pinhole images of contemporary King’s Cross in response to the camera obscura idea. Finally, we would film the development of the pinhole photographs, and as they swim in liquid, the contemporary ideas and stories would overlap, disperse, and transform into an sonic evocation of the sea. This project would be a development of our collective interests in storytelling and myth, social engagement and site-responsive work, combining vocal (spoken and sung, live and recorded) looping, playing on the musical qualities of speech, and potentially including a live art aspect. We would be keen to work with the Camden Historical Society in investigating the area and lighthouse further.