A confidence 'wobble'...

After sheets and sheets of planning, weeks and weeks of drilling and the threading finally began this weekend...however, after a few strands had been completed, a moment of doubt crept in and I found the need the need of a practice run...hence:

1 boat, 2 trains, 4 tubes = 2 galleries & 1 museum visit (part 2!)

After visiting Tate Modern, we popped along to Tate Britain (by way of the Tate to Tate boat service - you get a discount if you have a travel card). While my fellow travellers visited the Henry Moore exhibition, I selected to see what Chris Ofili had to offer. The first few rooms show his early works and I was struck by how intricate this works actually are...so much detail is lost when the images are reproduced for books or t.v, but each painting is created using the same materials (paint, glitter, resin), the same process (painting, collage) and suggest traditional ethnic themes which are depicted using highly contemporary (and sometimes provocative) imagery. By room 2 I discovered I was walking 'backwards', against the curators guidance! (Each painting's information card was to the left of the painting...encouraging the viewer to walk round in a clockwise direction)...I had been going anti-clockwise (never one to take the simple or obvious route!!).
His more well know piece, 'The Upper Room', I very nearly missed...and was only when I reached the end of the exhibition that I thought it odd that this piece would have been 'left out' and decided to re-trace my steps! This remarkable work is reached by walking along a dark wooden corridor (only a few gaps in the wall at foot level provide some kind of guidance), turning right into a remarkable scene. With its heady mixture of multiple faiths and the dark, enclosed spiritual space, one views the 12 individual 'monkeys' (all composed identically - a monkey in profile holding a chalice, yet separately coloured: red, blue, black, white, grey, green, yellow etc etc) and realise that each one is facing the 'Golden' monkey, at the head of the alter/table/room. This was probably my favourite room of this exhibition both in content and context. However, I also found his works on paper a real treat to look at! As with his paintings, his pencil drawings are both intricate and highly detailed, and I found that they helped me to understand some of the formal elements in his early paintings - at dot is not just a dot...but you'd have to see the drawings to understand!
As with most Fine Art curation, this was also laid out chronologically, and so the final room contained Ofili's most recent work. Although still using the bright colours seen in all his previous works, this pieces are much more 'natural', both in the subject matter and the materials used, no glitter, no collage...but bizarrely, this room left me feeling that this current work is 'transitional' and dare I say 'unresolved'?? but still a very enjoyable exhibition that I'm glad I was able to see.

1 boat, 2 trains, 4 tubes = 2 galleries & 1 museum visit

due to engineering works on both the railway and underground lines, and road and water works on the bus routes, what should have been a reasonably straight forward visit to the Capital to make notes and see a variety of art for our Curation essay, turned into a mini military exercise!

Visited the Van Doesburg and the Avant-garde exhibition at the Tate Modern (going on a Sunday Morning is a much more pleasant experience..much less crowded). Discovered a new fascination of De Stijl (not too sure about their manifesto but appreciate the work itself), and the similarities between this art movement and my current work was clear. However, the main point of this visit was to observe the curation of the exhibition more closely.

Laid out chronologically, we see Van Doesburg's work span from his early work, through influences of Dada and Constructivism, into rooms containing other De Stijl artists (Mondrian, Huszar...), through influences of Dada and Constructivism, and rooms showing interdisciplinary aspects of the movement and artists, including moving images and sound. It was in these rooms (called New Visions) that the curation worked very well. Each room had a central 'sculptural' element, constructed of the same materials used in the design and architecture pieces, and painted in the same primary colours used predominantly in the images that surrounded it. By using these materials, the colours, the method of construction and the same layout in a selection of rooms, echo's the repetition, order and mathematical control of the work on display. An enjoyable exhibition which I'm glad I saw (those of you who haven't yet been only have a few more days to get there to see it.

Whilst at Tate Modern, we popped down to see Michael Rakowitz's 'Strike the Empire Back', and interestingly small exhibition which highlighted some bizarre links to the Western blockbuster 'Star Wars' film series and Saddam Hussein's regime. The most bizarre elements being the samurai, WWI helmet and gas mask, Darth Vader mask and Fedayeen helmet display...all eerily similar!! the largest room contained a replica of the Baghdad crossed swords 'Victory Arch', constructed to resemble 'light -sabres' (the Empire Strikes Back poster is hung behind this, suggesting the continued influence the film may have had on the regime), with a video installation of iraqi troops marching through the arch to the films iconic theme tune!...a truely bizarre exhibition in which one leaves feeling slightly unsettled and not fully knowing what is true, what is fantasy or what is propaganda - or maybe thats the point!?!

work in progress...(cont)

this image shows the initial layout for my proposed final piece for the end of year degree show...called Full Circle...these are the small test tubes I have now been drilling - ready to suspend - for over a week now!...

work in progress...

I have spent the last week drilling tiny holes into the bottom of tiny test-tubes...450 down, 550 to go! all for what will hopefully be the final piece for our End of Year Degree show! Can't quite believe that my Uni years are almost over, I've had such fun over the last three years and think I've come so far, both personally and artistically!