Leaving various materials outside capturing the traces left behind by nature meant that the next step for me was to capture the traces we leave behind in nature. I went to a local meadows in Sudbury, Friars Meadow, and took photos of discernible patterns left in the from footprints, animals etc.
What I am hoping to come from this are a series of prints that highlight the indexical traces left in the mud. Another idea of mine is to pour plaster onto the mud and so creating a three dimensional representation of the traces in the ground. Not sure if this will work and will have to wait for the right time and temperature so the plaster doesn’t mix too much with the mud but another idea I am excited to try.
Last week I finally brought in the steel sheet I had left outside and I am very pleased with the outcome. It has produced some amazing patterns and a vivid orange colour. I am not sure how some of the patterns happen, and there seems to be a line running through it but this makes it more interesting. I am so pleased with the outcome that I want to explore ways in which I can focus on the patterns and create pieces of art from close ups of the steel.
I have now ordered more steel and hope that it too creates interesting patterns, but it will not have as long outside as the first one.
With my work I predominetly let nature take a lead and change and leave traces on various materials and now I have found an artist who works on the same lines as I do.
Daro Montag
Montag is an artist that is in interested in processes that occur in the natural world. In his work he uses plants, insects, toads and other creatures but he also uses wind, fire and rain to contribute to his art. Just like my work, he is interested in the indexical trace that is left behind by these natural sources.
With ‘This Earth’ (picture on the right) five bits of film strips was placed in the soil near is home in Cornwall and it was left for the soil microbes to eat into the gelatin and absorb the dye, creating and leaving patterns of colour behind. The image shows a section of a film strip. It’s very beautiful and shows that nature can do interesting things and create interesting pieces of art. The colours and patterns are something that could not be created again in the same way.
Taking a close up of the film strip is similar to something I was thinking about doing with my copper, as up close there could be more going on with the patterns that you cannot see normally.
Studying Montag’s work and his ideas has helped me stay excited for my work and realising there is so much potential to it that I just need to keep exploring.
Information and pictures from: https://www.falmouth.ac.uk/content/dr-daro-montag
https://www.tumblr.com/search/daro%20montag
The other day was another beautiful sunny day so I took my pen and sketch book and went down to the meadows to do some drawings ( and to be stalked by a duck). The weather stayed nice for only five minutes so I only achieved one drawing but this is something I plan to do more as the weather gets warmer.
I have a plan to turn these sketches into mud paintings.
We are now on our last week of the copper being left outside and the circular patterns from the plant pots are still visible, so now I am very excited to see what will be left. I have bought a frame to place these pieces in and will need to paint it black ready for next week.
This update is a bit late, but I had moved the flower pots on Wednesday, on time. Very happy with the way it is changing and look forward to seeing the end product.
I am now thinking about how to present these. I want them to be in one art piece and the other bits of copper I have, will be as one as well.
Presentation ideas..
- I like the copper being on a black background, I think it makes the colours of the copper really stand out.
- In a shop I saw two frames that used to be full length mirrors but the mirror had broken so there was the frame and backing left, I thought this might be quite a good way to present the copper. It’s long enough to fit all copper in and with spaces between them, which could be painted black.
- I had also had the idea to paint a wall black and attach the copper straight onto it. I do think this would need a large quantity of copper to cover it. I have decided to go against this as I want to have a variety of work and for it not to be repetitive.
I think I do prefer the idea of placing the copper in frames. I’m taking something that has been changed and destroyed by nature so placing it in a frame gives it a new context. It can be seen as art.
