I began to experiment for the group film which was much harder than originally anticipated. Jane mentioned I should explore a multiple range of areas in the kitchen to position the clay breasts/projector to find the better angles/positions for the camera/viewers. It was also then difficult to include a tracking walk from door to space to work with the environment, see below.
Reflection 29/01/21: I realised that I focused more on the film than the sculptures. Instead I am using a still image and currently trying to find that balance while I walk/film.
Reflection 27/02/21: The editing of the film played to our advantaged, we filmed/photographed different angles of the work and editing it together as one ruling piece – this helped with capturing details to help have a better view of the installation (this played to capturing the sculptures/projection equally just as well).
Experimental images below of space and in situ – very helpful to do as it allows me to see I definitely want to use the oven space within the installation, but slightly more of it than was shown previously. NOTE: While I was documenting I thought some of the images would work for the slide show of the Art Station’s website. e.g. details/close ups – gives viewers more of an insight.
Fridge – unsuccessful, I miss the colour from the projection, it felt flat/unexciting. But there is the visual of women’s breasts being trapped in this space as a desirable object. I liked the act of opening the fridge, see below.
Island worked really well, I decided to interpret/develop this further. Almost displayed the breasts out to this desirable quality – A comment made in group crit 24/11/20, Only Touch With CLEAN Hands, “the environment (kitchen) where the breasts are displayed with the sculptural ‘pretty’ clay breasts, continues this idea of them being desirable foods for society/men.” I aimed to involve more of the kitchen in these frames below, capturing from another angle, shows off more of the space. NOTE: The walking suggests this intense watching – the gaze’s presence of the audience watching the film. !!!! Almost like they’re doing the watching?
Reflection 30/04/21: I have begun to reintroduce this moving elements to my documentation and possible final edit films. You get a better understanding for the work in situ, where the audience cannot view.
Stretched projection – works well, it stretches across the island half on the breasts, oven, fridge and back wall. There’s this broken perception of the imagery as well as the act of the film handling the breasts.
A comment made by these images/films was that the breasts look as if they’re sat watching a screen!! Suggests Mulvey’s cinematic theory of the sexual objectification of women, especially in relation to the imagery of the hand carelessly handling the breasts, like objects. Does the play of the display of this film on a big scale suggests a cinema screen?
Reflection 04/02/21: I had decided to work towards this; continued this perception of cinematic lay out (which I couldn’t unseen after this comment). 29/01/21 group crit comment was made about the placement of the breasts suggesting a theatre/cinema – this excited me as I have heard this comment a few times about this film and is good to hear that my work is being perceived as I hoped. – I am glad I didn’t use this video for my exhibition, feels flat/unappealing you can’t see what is happening.
Reflection 06/04/21: From this I am still now exploring the sexual objectification of women presentation in the cinema through Sweet Tooth B&W.
See the film of the space below. This was an important piece of feedback, made me want to continue this idea and use the kitchen to my advantage as the place where women are objectified. ‘The breasts sit like they are an audience, watching themselves’ – the gaze of the self gaze, a moment of which Half Foster picked up in Cindy Sherman’s work Untitled Film Still #2.
I tried to film the projection from a side angle, see below, but in some peer feedback, they said it wasn’t as exciting as you couldn’t see much of the space as it’s a straight walk.
I tried Baking, which I hadn’t projected before until now – it wasn’t as successful, the film is too long and it isn’t as clear as to what is actually happening in the film, see below, but this exploration made me realise film may not be right for this exhibition.
Reflection 29/01/21: Reflecting here, I now can see that the busyness of the kitchen utensils plays as a distraction for viewers, the film and the sculptures. Also the use of film – I realised film wasn’t beneficial for this piece and moved to projection of still images – it gave focus to the space, the sculptures/projection.
I really enjoyed using the space as part of the film, showing that it is being filmed in a home suggesting the struggle us art students have to be creative in our home – a bit like a ‘behind the scenes’. The film below is the base to work from for the group video and haven’t settle on the title.
See plan below – how to approach the video, I aim to film the front door of my house, walk in through the hallway and into the kitchen, go around the island taking in the room at the same time, place the phone down to continue watching the rest of the film. I’ll need to experiment in the next few days with this plan and with how to cut the film etc, to cancel out jitters.
