Any new updates on re-shaping bricks?
Yeah… there has been quite a bit of cutting and re-shaping for the second time last Friday and I would say this again… It is not the cleanest practical work to work with… It is funny how I use all of the essential protective face and body covering and I still get the dust constantly going in my nose and mouth no matter what part I cover up so this was most annoying for me.
What did I feel about the work I done?
But… at least I cannot complain too much as I have all of the essential tools and everything else that I needed to make this happen. I felt as though I have definitely nailed the method of cutting these bricks and was only my second day on my own in doing this plus I have been using other tools to chip away at any remains left behind after the cutting process. I felt very good about myself in being able to properly sculpt out of stone like this and felt good that I achieved a new skill that I can always fall back on….
This has vastly improved the symmetrical idea of organising the bricks because now they do not look out of place and too well aligned with other bricks. This was a good idea to what Jane Watts ‘my tutor’ gave to me and it seems to be working better this time because how the bricks look like they are in this continuous cycle. This is also was a way of saying that I was in this continuous cycle of my illness for over 3 – 4 months with the same thing happening over and over so I was quite pleased with this result in my whole sculpture.
Next part of the process?
Now that I have done most of the most difficult process it won’t be long now until I have finally refined the layout for the bricks and toilet. The next part for me now is to basically still try to refine the shaping of the bricks just to make sure nothing sticks out and continue trying to make the hole at the bottom of the toilet.
This will act as a void and this dark path where the idea of my illness goes into nothingness and continues. So I will try to refine the hole area by cutting the bigger bricks next Monday to make a hole that goes through the big bricks.
Any latest updates for the Chinese & English Illness sculpture?
Today I have had a very good practical day cutting some bricks to re-shape my Chinese & English illness sculpture. I feel that reflecting back to what I have said about the group crit session and what people thought of my work had urged myself to cut these bricks to look much more symmetrical. I have managed to succeed in this by gaining full access to the metal workshop today so that I can use the machinery that will aid me to cut my bricks.
How did I do it and what was my thoughts about this?
Before that, I marked out the right measurements in where to cut them so that it is even all the way around the bricks to get a smooth good finish. I was quite afraid of this handheld circular saw device to cut the bricks because I guess I never used one of these before since the induction yesterday and the noise of it was quite intimidating. In the end I got use to it cutting the first normal house style bricks and then when it came to cutting the larger foundation style bricks they were like concrete style so I was not sure if this circular saw would cut through it.
This paranoid me a lot into deciding should I attempt this? or not? so anyway I gave it ago cutting through this concrete style brick with stones in it and it managed to successfully cut through it. So in the end this was quite a relief for me. After this I then used the hammer to knock off the cutout piece as could not cut all the way through it so just used the hammer to chisel the remains off.
Any problems during this process?
Mmm I would not say that there was any problems to be honest but there was one severe situation from the dust of the bricks that were traveling in the air as I was cutting them… Even though the extraction fan was on and close enough to my cutting, it wasn’t enough extraction to take away that dust so it meant me pausing and pausing throughout my cutting process. I was not inducted in using a breathing mask but I was only inducted to use the plastic head guard to just stop flying debris going in my eyes.
This problem with the brick dust did infact get into my mouth and my nose and had to keep spitting it out until it looked clear and blowing my nose to make sure the grey colour was clear. It was the only but one of my worst problems that I suffer from as I have asthma so was a little worried about that situation so with any luck the dust has not effected my lungs.
What is the next part of the process?
Now the next part of the process is to try finish the cutting process by late morning time and use the whole afternoon upto tea time to try re-organise my bricks to make sure they all fit nicely together around my Chinese squatting toilet. Hopefully I can remember where all the bricks go as I have now made this sculpture more symmetrical which was the main reason to why I cut these bricks in the first place and should look a lot neater around the edges.
What outcome have I achieved today?
- Cutting Bricks for Chinese & English Illness
Yes thats right! today has been very successful day indeed… A long hard think over the weekend with a list of to do stuff and it all pays off today… First up was the re-organisement of my bricks for the Chinese and English Illness Sculpture called ‘The Possibility Inner Mechanisms Of Inside A Foreign Person’ This has been carefully thought out over the weekend by possibly using a handheld brick cutter machine with brick cutter blade and what do you know?
It works very well as I have tried it out to day with the help of Danielle ‘the technician’ giving me a tutorial in how to use it and thought about this as an experiment to see if it cuts through the bricks successfully… So now that I know this method works successfully I went to mark up exactly where I want to cut on the bricks and will proceed with the next process of cutting them all tomorrow. Should be fun
- Preparing my 4 chosen prints for pretty’s exhibition
Today I have manage to get Glen ‘the technician’ to print me out my 4 chosen prints to be prepared to transfer to silkscreen and will try to prepare these in very good time. Not only he has managed to print me out my 4 chosen prints but he has also managed to print me out the new improved fourth layer for my chairman mao which I was happy about. Although… I feel sorry for Glen as he has had a sickness this afternoon and not sure when he is likely to be returning. With only 14 days remaining before I can hand them in ‘If I get selected for the exhibition’.
I hope I can be able to get these finished in good time especially for this week because in the next week, it is crucial that I get them framed and then that will make it the 14th by the end of next week. So… getting these four prints done is more *mandatory* than anything else that I have to do so fingers crossed I can proceed with the next process by tomorrow…
- More research for research methods
Yeah…… I have literally spent the whole morning for 2-3 hours searching on books based on Political Art such as poster prints, capitalists philosophers about Fetishism and Memory Traces about my own personal feeling within my art. I felt quite exhausted after the session of trying to find books and even some that I could not get which was ‘Contemporary Capitalism in China’ I mean what kind of library is this? when China is one of the biggest capitalist countries in the world…
So I could not get much to relate to my Chairman Mao print but will keep looking. My Chairman Mao print kind of relates to Fetishism and political art and memory trace of my experience in China seeing the country grow. I wanted to look into these different theories of books where I did not really find much at all but I got something about political Art made by printing so I will have a look at this book some time this week.
Task 1 – Organise my 4 chosen stencil prints ready for Pretty’s Exhibition *(Mandatory)*
Yes… this is my task of the week to try and get all 4 of my chosen prints ready for the upcoming pretty’s exhibition for 14th December. I will have to probably put the sixth and seventh layers on hold for my Chairman Mao print in order to complete this deadline task in good time. With any luck after printing them out onto acetate I hope they will successfully show out nicely on the silk screen and then should be printed perfectly onto paper. Hopefully will work out for me well and hope I can be selected for the latest exhibition…
Task 2 – Re-shape bricks and organise more materials for Chinese and English illness sculpture
Yes… this task is partially mandatory too because it has been a week since I have last touched it but in that time I have managed to think of new ideas for this sculpture. New ways include reshaping the bricks so that I can make them more symmetrical looking and also reshaping the larger foundation bricks for a more even finish to the lower part of my sculpture. With any luck I can be successful in cutting them using the university’s machine and be able to finish my task in good time. If it don’t work then I will have to think of better ways to present this sculpture but I am confident that this will work.
Task 3 – Fourth and fifth layer to be completed of Chairman Mao print
Reflecting back at my disaster on last Fridays post, I have now had to wait to finish doing my fourth and fifth layers of my Mao image. Of course there has been so many delays and errors which has left me thinking will there be anymore? I certainly hope not as I would really want to get this image finished preferably before Christmas time at the very latest! I do not want to have to go through any other delay again with this image as I have already worked hard in organising the layers. And this time I should have my fourth layer more prepared which should not be over alignment.
Task 4 – More research for research methods
Yes… this is also partially mandatory to me as I should think about more in terms of research that contextualises my work and should give my work a bigger outlook. I will try to read some more books, take some notes and highlight any relevant information that will aid me in my project proposal and final presentation. With any luck I can find all the information I need to succeed even further as this is one of my weak areas within the artistic line.
Task 5 – Sketchbook work to be updated with more research and ideas etc…
I should be filling in my sketchbook with more ideas and information as I go along but has been a week since I last looked at it as I have had other issues to deal with such as my sculpture and Mao print. In future I will try to write down any ideas, information and sketches as I go along every week. Hopefully I won’t get any other distractions that will prevent me from updating my sketchbook…… Well hopefully I can complete all of these tasks this week so… good luck to myself. :-0
What has happened with my recent fourth Mao layer?
Well… It seems that last Friday gone I was attempting to try print out my fourth layer of Mao but something came up with this layer in particular… The size was out by 0.5 centimeters in width which seemed very strange to me as this was quite a considerable amount to be misaligned from the other layers already printed.
What seemed the strangest to me, was the fact that when I was cutting my layers out in Photoshop from my Mao image; I wanted to make sure that all the layers fitted together nicely making sure that when it comes to printing them out, they will all be well aligned with each other. I had even played around with different colours too to also make sure that the colours that I will be printing with will look good when ‘ALIGNED’. So not only this was all too strange to me but a wee bit frustrating as I did make sure my layers corresponded well together.
What will I do next as the best resort?
Well as this was all too strange knowing everything I done was in fact right, I will now have to re-analyse this layer carefully in photoshop to see what is going on. With any luck this will give me any answers that I need to know in Photoshop into why it seems 0.5 centimeters over the alignment. I can compare this fourth layer with the other layers recently printed and if it was my own error then I can accept that at the time and may have been tired and misjudged it. If however this error wasn’t my own doing, then it must be the technician’s instead so I will see what happens and will keep you updated in what I have found out.
