Degree Project: Digital Sketchbook

Lockdown and Light is a virtual exhibition that took place during the first lockdown of 2020 in the summer. It’s an Instagram based gallery which showcases a range of artists and their different temporary light installations which are made in the comfort of their own homes. See Instagram page below.

Last year I watched many people take part but was quite nervous to put my work out there for a new audience to see. But this year, I entered and used my imagery of Pink and Up Close which is a series of images/projections I started prior to The Art Station group exhibition, see my previous blogs in January this year. I hadn’t taken them forward yet as my main focus has been the exhibition, however I the vibrancy in the image was impossible not to post and use! Since this exhibition was about light a projection, I projected the image into the bath and ran water. I have wanted to experiment with this idea for a while now and it appeared to be very successful, see my first submission for Friday 29th January below. I first worked with photography for this day and ripped the water so it would disrupt the pink image of the form.

• I wanted to showcase the ways water distorts the female figure the same way the cinema does.

I really liked this Instagram connection and you post it on your page and then they share it onto their own for a new audience to see and like. It was a new experience to enter an exhibition virtually, even though I am currently helping create one it’s a completely different experience. All you had to do was #LockdownandLight and tagged them in your post.

On the Saturday 30/01/21 I submitted a film of this still, see image and link below, I filmed the tap running, moving into the water disrupting the image further and disfiguring it even more so. I edited the film to slow motion which created some kind of slow skin like ripple on the image of the figure, allowing you to see where the water is hitting the skin. I felt so excited to create these due to the unexpected result, and it made me realise I wanted to work further with water and projection after The Art Station exhibition.

Film submission for Lockdown and Light.

A really exciting and new experience to be part of.

From my group crit 29/01/21, following the feedback I got back into filming details, close ups and photographing areas to include in editing the final cut for the exhibition. See few  examples below. I tried to take these images in a similar position to where the filming is so I create a relatively clean transition from film to still, it gives the viewers a better and clearer image of the space/work that isn’t physically moving. I used key burns to allow the perceptive of the image to slowly move as the film progresses. I think will worked well in transition, see final film further down.

Reflection 03/02/21: I had a chat with Jane today and we discussed the blur tool between images doesn’t work – too distracting for the viewer, instead I will edit the images as a cross fade.

Reflection 03/02/21: A comment was made that there’s a confusion between what is film and what is stills. I liked this – I tried to film as steady as I could, ‘it works well with the use of transition from space to image’.

I wanted to focus on the islands display of breasts to explore this stained glass window approach/burst of colour that covers the breasts. I wanted the audience to question what the objects are at this point of the film. I hovered over the area with a steady hand and used a mixture of images, key burns tool on iMovie (where I will be creating the film – very easy to use) and film to create a mixture of perceptions of that one space/work as a taster of what is to come.

I titled the film Are You Watching? I wanted to promote this idea of cinematic/theatre relations to the work and women’s representation within the kitchen space. This was a comment made from my peers in my group crit 29/01/21 of this film, the recognition of the placement of a cinema follows through to my dissertation research: Metz, Mulvey and Lacan, there’s this sense of watching a film of women watching themselves, similarly to Sherman’s Untitled Film Still #2. The play on words of the work being a film plays to the audience watching on their own screens too. See the edited film below for the exhibition. The variety of angles, in-depths of focus and overall view of both the projection, colour and the clay breasts, helps show the exhibition, what it is/how it could be viewed if it was done in a different time before COVID.

Reflection 04/02/21: Jane brought to my attention the projection, where it had become pixelated on the wall. She questioned if this is something I like or not and we agreed that it works well with separating the projection and the sculptures apart, showing the viewers close that it is a projection – almost like the ‘behind the scenes image’.

Reflection 16/04/21: Having this experience has helped prepare for the exhibition proposal documentation/exploration, creating a space and capturing a space that viewers won’t be able to physically see.

I used the front image of the kitchen lights on, see screenshot below from film, showing the projection in a lighter setting with the clay breasts, it gives the viewer an idea as to what the space is prior to seeing the walkway of the film in the dark. In a 1-1 on the 03/02/21: Jane and I spoke about how this shows the viewer where they are about to enter/what they will see. As the image isn’t in the dark, it leaves the vibrancy and actual visual as a surprise for the rest of the film.

The opening name and titled was liked by my peers, (will be used for all) it helps separate our works from one another but still continues the similar path so there is fluidity within our group house exhibition. Everyone was really happy with this piecing of the film, it’s exciting as it’s finally all coming together! In response to my feedback from Jane on the 03/02/21, see notes below, I reedited the film with smoother transition to play around with different transitions for the film as explained earlier.

The blur I used was too distracting for the viewer. Instead I have used a ‘cross dissolve’ which graduates the film and images less drastically together so each cross over will sink into one another. I have also edited the last few stills so they don’t move so quickly with key burns so it slows down the film before it comes to a halt. There will be a playing around with the opening scene for the film but that will come together once I piece everyones films together – this is a whole new experience for me as I feel as though I have taken charge for the film editing of this exhibition.

Sound – I have carried the noise of the projector through the film as that is the sound you would hear being in the space. Helps viewers imagine they’re seeing it. See the final film below, this is my final film one that will be for the exhibition with The Art Station. I wanted to finish mine early so I can edit everyone else’s with a clear/continuous path in mind so the group film has a repetition and flow.

After my meeting and group crit with my class on the 29/01/21, I decided to use new content in for the projection as said previously the film wasn’t working due to the change in colour, lighting when I walk – unclear visual. I tried the projection in the day time too as this was a comment made by Jane to how it would look with regards to most peers work possibly being in day light. It looked very flat and dull it wasn’t what I wanted to work with. See below, natural light made it much harder to work with than the darkness, light would bounce off the breasts making it impossible to film.

I reverted back to my original pink imagery to use in the projection. I filmed sticking to the actions that worked well from the groups opinion, outside lamp off, hallway lights on, kitchen lights on when you approach, and kitchen lights off when you enter, a slow walk round to the top of the projector and then capture the rest of the work, see below. I really enjoy the beginning of this film, it allows you to see what’s underneath the darkness of the projection.

I had a group crit 29/01/21 on the newest film getting feedback on the filming of the film, as well as the content/meaning etc as they haven’t been discussed as a group. See images below of my notes from this crit. This really helped as I learnt that my work is being perceived as I hoped to make it. One peer mentioned it looks as though it’s a cinema/theatre stage which is what I had in when creating.

The colours in the still are much more impactful, bright and captivating. A peer said the colours look feminine and soft, Reflection: 01/02/21: This comment reminds me of Rachel Maclean’s Make Me Up, she displays women as pretty and ideal figures to begin with, but further into the film, it becomes dark and disturbing when exploring to the audience, the way women feel and what they go through. There’s this correlation with my projection, being bright and colour yet contrasted situ of a dark room. Another peer highlighted that the projection stretched across the island reminded them of a stain glass window, see still below. There’s something beautiful about this and the bursts colour into the kitchen, contrasted with the darkness that surrounds.

Entering the space was very successful, the house felt ‘homey’ and ‘familiar’, the lights on in the kitchen works well, when the lights were off all together, there was a lot to take in/figure out in e.g. projection and what is on the island. Yet when the lights go off you are drawn to the projection/space more with close up filming/photography it will show a real perception of the breasts. The walkway into the house was a good speed. Reflection 01/02/21: This is what I included further in the editing of the film. Showing a better view of the clay breasts as at first you cannot see what they are as Jane pointed out to me, those seeing this film wouldn’t have seen my work before, therefore not knowing what it is I make/work with – something I have to remember.

Reflection 18/04/21: This is something I have to work with now, as Gary said in my 1-1 on 15/04/21, there can be a point where playing with the projection of Sweet Tooth B&W, where it can lead to confusion as to what it is.

The display of the breasts scattered and look like ‘cast aside marbles’, they work well with the imagery of women being put to one side e.g. with no importance and/or appearing like objects which can be handled and sexually objectified by male. I think this works so well with the display of my work, it makes you feel you cannot look away. This is what I want to include in the editing of my film. There’s the comment of the breasts appear like they’re ‘climbing/growing up the walls’ this immediately reminded me of Eggs to Breasts. Reflection 01/02/21: I originally wanted to stick the breasts to the cabinets and walls as though they are growing over the kitchen, like Eggs to Breasts. I like that with the projection, there is already this acknowledgment, it was something I did without realising. See below, it looks as though they could actually be on the walls.

There seems to be this circling back to physical desirable objects e.g. icing. In my crit it was mentioned that the breasts appeared as ‘icing cake toppers’ due to the bite size of the breasts. Consuming 2 in L5 was a very successful film for me as the breast was physically being eaten by a male, suggesting how women are consumed by society and men. I like that without the film, there is still this correlation to this meaning and that the breasts themselves carry the imagery of treat like objects even though they’re made out of clay, like how women and their bodies/breasts are seen. Reflection 06/04/21: It was this comment that has made me want to revisit Consuming but recreate it in Sweet Tooth B&W, to highlight that I have acknowledged this repetition of women as consumption and it’s proving most effective in my practice.

The connotations of the kitchen space/theatre stage/clay breasts, see below, suggests women watching themselves in this continual loop of patriarchy, as I am inviting the audience to acknowledge this, similarly to the way Kruger works with her collages and her communication with the audience/viewer.

In this crit, we discussed the way I had filmed the film, like everyone else, I assumed it must be filmed with one take, as an actual walkway. It was described as ‘harmonious’. Reflection 01/02/21: I took this forward when filming more of the work as I liked the harmonious element.

Reflection 18/04/21: Interesting to note that there is no sign of harmonious-ness within my current practice now while working with Sweet Tooth B&W, it’s aggressive and violent as matt suggested in my 1-1.

Instead, we are going to split up the film and include short takes, long takes of movement, images etc and piece them together to give a more in-depth overview – makes much more sense/works much better allowing you to focus in on details and the placement of the environment, while including images that may appear better than the film.

Reflection 12/02/21: The breaking up of film and images appear more attractive. It makes you want to watch as to what could come up next, instead of watching a flow moving camera go across the projection could’ve become tedious. It’s been very fun to edit and is working well as a group as it all follows similar film cutting techniques.