Final piece evaluation-

 The final piece is over and this project, Memories was undoubtedly the most enjoyable and adventurous art project that I have ever underwent. When we started initially my first interests that were emerging was the idea of summer coming to an end, and autumn creeping in. At the start of the project we explored Warhol and Hodgkin, Warhols memory boxes helped form the basis of our work as we collected stuff over summer to use as inspiration for our return to school in September. Hodgkins abstract approach to colour theory also influenced a vast amount of the earlier work I produced as Hodgkin marked the start of real artistic-conceptual thinking which allowed me to generate ideas with much more meaning and message behind them which therefore saw my work drastically develop. Once I had confirmed that the end of summer was to be my sub theme I started thinking of symbols or messages that could convey that feeling visually. I discovered the Danish artist Peter Callesen who explores life/death as well as other complete opposites (love/hate, summer/winter), I loved my responses,I generated a few very successful ones, including a sunset made out of travelcards (the date of the travelcard was the last day of summer/31.08.13) the TFL logo on the travelcard also looked like a sunset with a large horizon line,a tree cut in half, one side blossoming and one side weltering and a tree made out of a photocopied train ticket that had leaves blowing off it. I wanted to run with the idea of a sunset/summer ending as its a very powerful use of symbolism, so I decided to think of a memory that I had documented in my summer which involved a sunset, I arrived at a concert that I attended where I saw the Rolling Stones. By this point I was using powerful metaphor and concept in my work. I then researched Kandinsky and realised that music and Synesthesia (the neurological condition which creates cross-sensory reactions) were a huge influence on him, I don't have Synesthesia but knew that I wanted to include the idea of music and having a multi-sensory experience when viewing my work, audial , visual, conceptual and so on. This pursuit was seconded by my discovery of Ebon Heath, who uses words and letters on a 3D scale to challenge and alter our perceptions of words once we see them on a grander, 3D scale, he also incorporates appropriate music/sound in his work. I then explored the artist/cartographer Stephen Walter who creates maps that geographically are completely accurate but places personal labels on the contents of the maps, based on his memories, I was very taken by his work as I did a lot of commuting and travelling in the summer and I very much enjoyed responding to him, his way of working was also another way to experience my memory, adding to the senses upon viewing. In terms of reference material I think I gathered enough to create a balanced and versatile final outcome. Materials and in this project were used to a full extent and very wide use- this includes but is not limited to, ink, watercolour, felt tip, fineliner, paper/card construction, oil, acrylic, spray paint, train tickets,masking tape, tooth brushes and pallet knives. Tools were also used but no as widely, scalpels, glue guns and a guillotine. My practical skills have been the thing ironically that have developed the most during this project, although this project was very conceptualised, my skills with acrylic and sketching have improved massively and I can feel my approach towards painting completely evolving as we speak. My conceptual skills have also been put to the test, I find using these skills very stringent and exhausting so it was a refreshing experience to have the chance to improve them. My ability to analyse artists thoroughly and extract as much creative information from an artist have also greatly improved. My only regret is not doing more experimentation, this regret however was pre-destined as I don't personally feel you can ever experiment and explore too much. 

 My final piece was one with huge emphasis on colour, and shape. The use of vivid oranges and yellows sat almost directly next to hazy greens and light blues created a really painterly effect I was looking to achieve, with reference to the sunset and the colours I used I feel it was very successful. The use of line was also abundantly clear in the painting, in some parts, particularly the logo, I used very small, flat strokes to create intricate details, in contrast for the sunset background I used large, expressive strokes to achieve a very desirable effect which I am very happy with, I painted in an elliptical pattern which also gave the piece a sense of depth. I used acrylic on board as acrylic can be very buttery and spreadable especially on board where the brush marks look even nicer in my opinion. I feel if I primed the board it would have been much easier to paint and would have looked nicer when it dried. The underlying meaning of my piece was me using relevant symbols of my summer to capture the essence of the ever imposing autumn, while presenting one of my most vivid memories in the process- combining symbols with physical time and space to create something that says,' autumn is pretty much here, but look at the summer I had', the use of music and visuals was to add clarity and a holistic feel to the piece. Mounting the wires behind the board and painting around it was very difficult, I should have done that last but in my hast I did it about halfway through the making process. I also found it difficult mounting the music symbols to the wires, I actually had to glue gun small wire to the back then coil that around the larger wires, time consuming! I am very happy with my final piece, this is not a sensation I am familiar with either which makes it even better, there is however always room for improvement and the 'improvement' section is very apparent in this piece, in  terms of the logos I wanted them to be more graphic and consistent in their colours, they're pretty much the same colour but I wanted one flat shade of red for each logo, not lots of varying shades. I analyses Steven Walter heavily in the hopes of using him I couldn't however find a way of including him, so I decided against it.
I would not change this piece even if I had the option, I have shown it to people who don't know the message behind it and they derived a similar feeling to what I was trying to capture and show in my final piece. 

Step-by-step final piece summary.

Having finally finished my final piece, which for me was undeniably my most successful piece of work ever created- I am in the comfortable position of being able to evaluate it. Before evaluation however I wanted to document just how I constructed my piece, with the use of photos to assist me.

 Firstly, I drew out the design I had decided on using pencil, achieving a perfect circle of equidistant sides wasn't easy as I had difficulty finding circular objects of similar sizes. I then blocked out the background in blue, I thought this was a good colour to make a first layer of paint out of. 

 After that dried I added in the white bits;

 Then, using masking tape for a sharp edge, added in the darker red sections.

 It was starting to come together, I then added the black-

  I then added the darker blue;

I then added the lighter, more vivid red to the TFL logo.

I then fed wire through the back, bending it outward to stop if falling through and made wooden blocks to channel the wire for a longer period of time. After that cut out my musical symbols, sprayed them and attached them to the wires.

 I then added my sunset to the background, things were really starting to form together and become interesting. 

 I needed to paint in the horizon lines to give a greater impression of the sun setting and to deviate from the logo feel as much as possible. 

 After the success of the painting, I used the cut out sections of my travel card to cover the top half of my TFL logo/sunset. 

 I then transferred the piece to the window, which surprisingly wasn't a challenge, it was in the window I realised I needed a dynamic base for the piece, so I added the fallen notes to appear like the few early signs of autumn leaves.

 So concludes one of the most enjoyable and abstract art topics I've ever had.

Final piece proposal-

 This project memories has taken me on a creative rollercoaster, forcing me into artistic realms which I would have normally declined or not find myself fascinated by. The final piece I have devised is a physical embodiment of everything that I have explored, learnt from and experimented with, every detail, both elaborate and minuscule is linked in some way, this project has taught me more than simply linking sections to different artists, but being able to pull it all together, creating my own piece, with its own depth and meaning, it's taught me to critically evaluate each decision I make and take control of my outcomes, it's taught me to be an artist, not an imitator.

 The piece I want to create is centred around, arguably, the most enjoyable day of my entire year, which also fell in the summer. Initially my interest was going to be to try and visually express the gradual passing of the summer and it getting increasingly darker, I realised however this was also the first day that it got dark before nine- so this day despite all it's enjoyment remains a symbol of that aswell. 

 DESIGN;

 The physical design of the piece is very dynamic and uses the three-dimensional space I have been given to its full abilities. At the back of the window I want to have a super enlarged child travelcadd and design it according to how a sunset shoud look, this links with Callesens paper techniques, also his contrasting themes he explores, his being life and death, mine being the ecstacy of the day and the eventual sunset at the end, this is why I think the background is the most appropriate place to put it. Ontop of this nailed to the back is a hardboard, acrylic painting of the TFL logo and The Rolling Stones logo, combined into one, a design I have already come up with. This links with Kandinsky in relation to his pieces having musical connections, as well as Heath, who likes to work with symbols and music to create pieces which evoke different emotions and senses when viewed. I then want a cascading spiral of the sheet music to the song, 'Satisfaction', this also links to both Kandisnky and Heath, I want to paint it with a lot of emphasis placed on how I paint it and the colours I use, incorporating Hodgkins techniques of memory and abstraction, I want to sculpt the sheet music in reverse, the start at the bottom, as I was on the ground when I first heard it, and in a tree when it ended, this is to reflect the metaphor of me rising as the sun sets, more practical metaphor practise. On the base, I want to have a Walter style design, based on my illustrious travels of the day, if this goes according to plan, the viewer will have not only the ultimate visual experience, but a narrative cartography experience and a musical one. Similar to my reponse to Walter, I want to use colour in Hodgkin style to further emphasise the feelings and thoughts I had in these specific places I had throughout the day. 

 Materials; 

Hardboard 

A2 Paper Photocopy

Foam Board 

Fine-liner pen

Acrylic paint

Primer 

Fishing wire (to hang the sheet music) 

Nails/Drill

 Maintence;

 Anything attatched to a wall or hanging will be supported by a strong and long lasting material of either fishing wire or nails. 

 Budget;

 Although I can't envision this being an overly expensive project. I may need to buy the paper for the photocopying as it is an unusual size. Estimated spend; £5

 Conclusion; 

 This piece should successfully epitomise the greatest day of the summer! Combing as many different elements as possible while retaining an integral feeling of togetherness. 

Stephen Walter

 Stephen Walter is an English visual artist who works by creating maps of specific areas, which when labelled, become very personal and form the piece itself. Walter will often put memories on a specific place where he has obviously had those memories.

 This artist reminded me of Ebon Heath, another artist who uses text, however the artist doesn't create three-dimensional pieces with text but does also appreciate the immense value of writing as a whole. 

 The artwork I have chosen to analyse is called, 'The Island - London', the work was called this as the way it Walter has drawn it with London in the middle and nothing else makes London appear as an island- geographically. The work took a year and a half to make. It is a very meticulous process. 

               The piece in its entirety;

                 A magnified view;

 If I was to describe this work in 5 words I would use: particular, intricate, personal, enduring and precise. This work would actually be relatively easy to describe to someone, despite the immense detail. If I was explaining this to someone who could not see it I would say its a detailed map of London, with each point in the map having a personal label from the artist. The work reminds me of A-Z's that you read when you're in a car. The monotone gives a very refined feel to the piece, colour would somehow detract from the difficulty of the piece, using one colour and displaying such emotion in a piece is no easy task. The lines used at the side as a key give it the ultimate map- like feeling. The flat texture also adds to that feeling. The piece was created using a graphite pencil. The obscene level of detail and accuracy without tracing is simply mind-blowing, I'd certaint struggle to do something on this scale. 

 I think Walter is trying to summarise and communicate what each section of London means to him. I came to this conclusion by simply looking- every section has something depicted which wouldn't be in a map, he uses the formal structure of a map with the informality of personal feelings towards particular places. If I was able to ask the artist a single question I would ask if they would encounter much greater difficulty if they tried to do something on this scale in a city where they didnt grow up in? This work relates to my project as he has based what he has written not simply around geography, but memories and feelings, linking perfectly with my project memories, I was also based in London over the summer, and his work is typically about London, so a lot of his work I'm able to understand. 

 If I was to name this artwork, I would call it, 'My London', due to how personal it is, yet clearly about London.  Walter reminds me Alighiero Boetti, who used maps also, on a much larger scale, global scale to be precise.

 Boetti was much more interested in the visual side of the maps however- Walters seems to me to be far more interested in the physical contents and what is actually written, I can tell this by his lack of colour,  texture, space etc. 

 I think the work is very successful in illustrating the personal feelings he has for certain places, some previously studied artists who's work is based around memories becomes overly personal and particularly difficult to decipher, Hogkin to mention one, Walter however has personal touches while having it readable and accessible, like a map. One person said,' The excessive detail is offputting' I have to disagree, I would normally be overwhelmed with something like this but all the personal memories in it extinguish the fear and misunderstanding from it. The time it took to create this piece I think is worth considering. 

 I want to create an exciting response to Walter, I don't like the idea of geography and accurate placement however places, text and memories I am onboard! I want to incorporate the use of colour in this aswell- effectively ofcourse, I didn't do all that colour theory work for nothing! I want to create a mind-map style response, where I recite one night in the summer, and those points lead me off to side points, which lead me into other points, particularly vivid points should have the colours that they are resembled by in my memory's. Although this is similar to Walter I am not using geographical placement in this. It relates to my project as I am using my memories to accurately choose what colours to use, and text to include.

 I am really happy with my decision to use colour, I think it worked out! It also helped me practise my abstract practical skills which is something I have struggled in since the beginning! The work might be better with some relief style letters! More physical embodiments, my idea has been communicated successfully- if you look at this you can accurately picture how I feel about the places included based on colour and text. 

The New Situation - Art in London in the 60's

 In the summer I visited an exhibition called, 'The new situation - art in London in the sixties', initially I visited simply because I'm very interested in 60's social and political movements and thought that the art on display would be an interesting reflection of that, however as I was browsing I encountered a few works by an artist whom I had researched before we broke up for summer.

 Two of Howard Hodgkins works were on sale there, I obviously couldn't afford either however I didn't need money to

appreciate the sheer beauty of the pieces. It made me feel quite bad for Hodgkin as the images on the internet do not do his work the slightest bit of justice, whenever I viewed these pieces online I was always frightened of the level of abstraction and not overly interested, but upon seeing them in real life, and trying some actual paintings in response to my own memories, I am able to appreciate the conceptual and practical difficulty of Hodgkins work. Upon seeing them in real life the message became instantly more clear, and although it was very early stages, I knew that I wanted Hodgkin and his style to be a significant element of my work.

 The shapes in this are slightly less of a mystery than in his other work- I can see what appears to be someone standing, leaning back, this helps in giving some information back to the viewer- his use of colour is great in giving a feeling of mood in the piece as well 

 My response to a festival I attended incorporating his techniques. 

Narrowing our ideas and interests-

 We went through a number of exercises and activities which would assist us in narrowing our ideas and interests. Having  a general idea of the direction I'd like to go in helped, however the piece had some specific criteria that had to he met; it had to be linked to artists which I've previously analysed, it had to have our own meaning which we have developed and the materials and techniques also had to be based on artists who we've previously researched. The first thing we did was explore themes we have expressed interest in, mine was the end of the summer, this started after we explored the contrasts that Callesen explores, his being life and death, mine being summer and...no summer? To assist with our own ideas we expanded our research to our piers, we wrote our interests on a large piece of paper, passing the paper around in turns, everyone making suggestions for each others, this was the result.

 This was such a productive exercise as it really broadened my own set of ideas, it was also fascinating to see how different people interpreted what the end of summer meant to them, some suggestions were very symbolic, I.e. a tree shedding its leafs, others slightly more obvious.

 We then went and saw where our work will be exhibited, we took down measurements, and took note of the dimensions we're going to have to work within. This helped us visualise our work, seeing the space where it will be placed was actually very inspiring!

 After that activity, we created a massive mind map of our interests; artists, techniques, potential outcomes, techniques and meanings. Things were really starting to become apparent now, and now due to seeing the space, I felt familiar and comfortable with the idea of generating a final piece, some ideas came to the forefront! 

 This summary of everything I've explored and covered made me realise the seemingly endless direction and possibilities my final piece has! However I started developing some real ideas and generating some thorough planning involving crucial details! With this vision of the final piece in place, we sketched our the window (the place where our piece will be placed) and then projected our vision onto the paper, photocopied it and labelled why and how these forms find themselves there. 

 This was the beginning of my idea, I knew I wanted to incorporate the TFL logo in my piece, aswell as the rolling stone mouth, this was my mos profound memory of the summer and ironically the first time I noticed it getting dark before nine, coming to a summery end.

 Having a few more things decided- it was time to get experimenting, I had decided upon the fundamental elements of my piece which I definitely wanted to have and justified them being there, however this one design wasn't going to be enough, I had to explore now the same forms and objects but from different angles and approaches. The more I had, the more I had to chose from. 

 I also experimented with different way of painting the TFL logo, seeing whichever one is the most exciting...and relevant. 

 I decided to make a brief maquette of the TFL logo using board also, to get more familiar with it sculpturally- it was rushed- I wasn't looking for perfection just an experiment. 

 I was very fond of the attachment to the wall, I don't think it would look as successful if it was hanging (yes I deem this a success). After my approval I continued with my idea, to a stage of complete refinement and clarity about what exactly I want to create, this refers to; who were my main influences, why I'm using certain materials/processes/techniques and what exactly I am creating. Here is the diagram for my piece, the little sketches at the side were me deciding upon a final idea for how to incorporate, both the rolling stone mouth and the TFL logo, without division, I really want my piece, despite my many influences and techniques to come together as something brilliant. 

 A flat version of my piece;

 3-D sketch of how I will bring it together

 Final devised idea with measurements and 3-D view. 

 I wanted to have everything clear (visually) before I created my brief! This is my idea, every detail justified and linked to something I have explored. 

Ebon Heath

 Ebon Heath is an American visual artist who is famous for his typographic installations, he explores the relationship we have between writing, letters in particular and the change in interpretation and impact they have on the viewer when they're created in a three-dimensional format. 

 He works in many different ways bringing letters to life, including performance art, sculpture, graphic design and jewellery.

 "In order to visually solve my questions I created countless drawings, mobiles, renderings, animations, and researched structures throughout design to find shapes and forms to provide the underlying skeleton for this new language of physical type"

 The entirety of his research lead him

to four basic geometric forms or grids as he refers to them as, the cone, the circle, the line and the stripe, these shapes form the basis of all of his work, as previously mentioned; though his shapes are geometrically basic, his approach and mediums are versatile. 

 Heath aims to create a multi-sensory experience with his pieces, often including music amongst his work, even his website http://www.listeningwithmyeyes.com/ expresses his interest in creating a multi-sensory experience, I find this element of him very interesting as I am fascinated with the the condition synathecia, a condition where sufferers experience sensory overlaps within their brain which causes them (it varies between sufferer) see sounds or hear colours. 

Visual Metaphor

 Callesen explores metaphor in his work, visually a metaphor is two things, which when brought together imply one thing, one example of this is a heart and trainers, together they imply health, the heart due to it being a vital muscle and the trainers due to exercise. Another popular artist who uses metaphor is the street artist Banksy- famous for his political pieces and his illusive, anonymous nature in the public eye, he uses metaphor in the most effective way, by combining opposites, similar to Callesens interest in life-death.

 A militant is patted-down by a little girl in a dress- the contrast and role-reversal of this make the piece very striking.

 Commenting on consumerism and blind patriotism, the Tesco bag is the perfect twist to what would normally be a very typical picture.

 A dove, symbol of purity, peace and innocence being targeted with a bullet, symbolic of violence, unrest and hostility. The huge difference once again allows Banksy to create a really vivid piece.

 We created some of our own metaphors that we could try and present visually, the challenge was that we couldn't include what the actual object or person was in the drawing, this restriction helped us not only have a more lateral approach, but aid us in creating experiments with more deeper layers and meanings due to us not being able to literally draw them. 

 I liked the idea of head-phones and vacuum-cleaner. I felt these could be extended very far and could really be adapted and experimented with. I got sketching right away, I wanted to focus more on the development of a couple of ideas instead of creating reams of various unconnected ideas. 

 My brainstorm of Vaccum Cleaner and headphones, both of them had been remotely developed. I then picked my most successful one and took it further! 

 My most successful experiment for Vacuum  cleaner, from here I created some even more extended responses. 

 I was proud of one of my more refined experiments. An actual cleaner cleaning a vacuum, I had created a response using physical things however I felt there was room to create a socio-political response using vacuum? I thought about what it meant to be a vacuum, or a vacuous human being, aswell as a cleaner, something that leaves things dry and bare. These ideas led me onto people and political groups who have tried to,'cleanse' the world, but only to murder many and have a detrimental impact on the world, the nazis, in particular, Hitler.

 I created a conceptual vacuum, one where people are being sucked in, and, 'cleansed', people at the end of the vacuum all look the same, I then thought about the idea of a vacuum even further and experimented with sketching Hitler, and his mouth to symbolise a vacuum. 

 I used the rainbow colours to symbolise diversity and difference, the very things that was being targeted as part of the Nazis regime- this exercise proved particularly helpful in extending our conceptual abilities, it also taught me how such a famous artist like Banksy could get his ideas from- Banksy's style of spray paint, with his metaphorical roots, combined with Callesens, nimble, fiddly, yet equally deep pieces is the direction I want to go in. 

More thorough responses to Callesen.

 Having already analysed Callesens work, in relation to the formal elements and how he uses them to convey his ideas and feelings through his work, how his work and techniques could help us practically and conceptually advance our own work and techniques and finally create some quick responses of our own incorporating his method and style, without attention payed to what we were creating, or how we could relate this to the contents of our box based on more than physical appearance.

 I wanted to explore what fascinated me in my box, and if any of it could connect to a deeper, more meaningful them or concept. I chose my all-day child travel card from the last day of August, the idea of the last day of summer and the passage of time was already becoming something of interest for me and Callesens work proved an ideal medium for exploring this topic. I photocopied my travelcard into various different sizes and experimented with how I could apply paper with this print on to create something really powerful. 

 I spent some time thinking of symbols and slightly more obvious ways to show summer ending, I had a few ideas from the beginning that I wanted to practically test to gauge the effectiveness of them when made. My first idea was a sunset, that's all great but I wanted to extend it and use something within my item to make it, the TFL symbol looks a lot like a sunset, a horizon line and a reflection does it not? I created two experiments out of travel card paper one with a more obvious sunset and an extended one incorporating the TFL logo- 

 Although this is a visual success it wasn't entirely related to Callesen in the sense that it doesn't have anything coming up off the paper.

 The second had elevated sections and was connected symbolically (sunset--TFL logo) 

 I felt this one was slightly more successful in its relation to Callesen as it had cut-outs and elevation.

 I tried to remember the last day of summer and what I felt and what I observed- I had noticed a change in the trees by this time, although it wasn't as abundant as it is now. I liked the idea of two sides, which Callesen also explores, the happy, green and lush side of a tree for the summer and the frail, balding tree for the autumn, this idea was very refreshing to explore as I haven't ever really done something of this nature (no pun) 

 Cutting out the tree of two sides and trying to get it to stand, by which point the idea was clear. I wanted to use colour to give extra impact to what I was creating. This made me revert to my studies of colour theory and think carefully about what colours would be appropriate for each side of the tree, I decided on a pale green and a vivid orange.

 

 The coloured flat section of my tree.

The part that stands, ironically even without colour I felt this one was more vivid and visual!

 The second one I created was a single tree (not divided into two) with its leaves falling off, I was very specific about which areas of my massive travelcard print I should use.

 Choosing the last day of August as the tree gave the perfect physical embodiment to the theme of, 'End of Summer' the colours worked quite conveientiently aswell.

 Finally my last one I created was again about the last day of summer, dodging the rain! This is something everyone has to get familiar to as the colder seasons draw closer, shouldn't have taken the sun for granted! 

 The cutout is literally running from the imminent rain!

 This activity helped me to really narrow my ideas and helped my critical and conceptual thinking skills. I want to continue exploring ways that I can convey the end of summer using the object I collected over the summer! 

Peter Callesen

 Peter Callesen, born in Copenhagen in 1967 is a Danish artist and author. Callesen is most well known for his talent in creating paper-cut artworks. His work is renowned for combining simple and accessible mediums, (most frequently paper) with intricate designs of high technical difficulty and deep messages with particular focus on life and death and the relationship they have.

 His work focuses on all aspects and properties of paper in terms of cutting, some works are completely cut out, some are cut in certain sections and placed on coloured paper for a more vivid effect and finally, typically the most artistically successful, is where he cuts out specific sections and allows the cutout to hang, where both the paper and the outline can be seen together. These cutouts challenge Callesen further to carefully and thoughtfully place his cutout in an area that will most successfully convey his message in his work.     

 This piece is named, 'The core of Everything', five words I would use to describe this piece are; dynamic, fresh, simple, powerful and meaningful. This work reminds me of life, with nothing lasting forever and everything eventually decaying. I think this due to the sharp contrast in form between the same thing, one form of the apple is rotting and small, the other form is a quintessential apple shape and looks very pleasing. 

 The artist has used paper to create this piece, I feel he has done this to emphasize just how delicate life is, and how small the gap is between life and death. The elements of this that I most enjoy are how graphic and sharp all the cuts are. The top apple looks very powerful.


 I think the work is relevant to my project as I am becoming increasingly interested in the sub-theme, 'end-of-summer' as a number of things that I have collected in my box and documented in my journal are centered around the summer ending, this transition from summer to autumn is also embodied in this work, as the passage of time eventually results in the rotting of the apple from its former, ripe and alive state. The work is less relevant in the sense that I'm not entirely interested in the them of life and death. 

 Having researched what others had to say about this work I found an interesting post commenting on Callesen and his work, it said,'On top of a story that include various symbols that we recognise from fairy tales and other archetypical storytelling, and thus integrating all those narratives that we know from reading books and watching films about castles and princesses and monsters and darkness and a lot of other things, he also brings in the story of the work itself. This is not just an apple, it is an apple that tells you how it was made. All laid bare, the start, the process, and the final result. In that sense, the work is narrative, but also performative'. This research has definitely changed my view of Callesens work, I used to think it was simply about one thing, in two seperate forms, but this comment has made me realise the narrative nature of his work, by leaving the cut out there he not only creates an interesting shape but shows the origin of the other form, where it came from and how it became this, transitional journey.

 I would like to ask the artist, where he gets his inspiration from, is it from everyday life, or has it sprung from philosophy or some other scholarly activity?

 I think the artwork is about exploring the relationship that life and death have. I know this not only due to the content of the actual work of itself but Callesen has himself stated that he explores aforementioned themes in his work. 

 If I was to name this work, I would call it, 'Organic Evolution' organic as its related to life, and evolution due to the natural transition from life and prime to death and welter.I would compare this work to some of the work by Damien Hirst, Hirst explores the relationship that life and death have in a more elaborate way, by placing dead organisms in special chemicals to preserve them.





 Hirst uses actual organism where as Callesen creates them, typically Callesen doesn't use actual mammals either as his inspiration, but more symbols of life and death, like a tree or a flower, or in my example, an apple. While these two works explore similar themes they're very different as pieces. Hirst has simply the dead form in his work, and no alive one as a comparison, Callesen will almost always create something for both an alive and dead form. 

 The elements that I think are successful in Callesens work above are the clear distinction he makes between life and death. The simplicity of the paper and the lack of colour-diversity ironically help him to illustrate his point in a more, bold and concise manner. I feel the image would be more powerful with a black background instead of a red, it would be easier to make the association of life and death with that colour scheme. Callesens technique of cutting something out and using the cut-out as part of the structure of the other object is something I'd like to incorporate in my work, I want to improve my practical skills with delicate and fiddly mediums like paper and glue. One person said,'I admire the simplicity of his work, riddled with technical difficulty yet message is clear', I agree, what Callesen creates is beautiful and precise, with many obvious hours of work having been put in, but its not over the top, so the message he is trying to convey and themes he is exploring is always very clear as the viewer isn't distracted. 

 I would like to create a response to communicate my ideas from Callesen, I am not overly excited by the theme of life and death however as mentioned previously the narrative and transitional nature of his work is something of great interest to me. I want my work to be about one change to another, a number of items in my box have a connection with the passing the joys of  summer; end of summer festivals, travelcard from the last day of August, sketches from when I walked home and there were these moving sunsets, I would like to create something that is about the seasonal symbolism of Summer and explore the symbolic possibilities of how to present it. 

 I think the idea connects to the project in quite a frank way, as shockingly brilliant as summer 2013 was, it is just a memory now, and through this project I can try and project my memories through as many exciting mediums and techniques as I possibly can. I think this idea uses things I have taken from Callesen, and my other research for a number of reasons; Not only was I planning on using paper for my medium when doing this response

but I have also incorporated the idea of using the remains of the cut out as part of my work. 

 

 
 I created a cutout which is very similar to an image of the flyer of the festival I attended I used my colour theory knowledge and used red to convey as sense of danger an unknowing, combined with excitement and exhilaration, as it was my first festival, I was experiencing all these emotions.

 I am particularly happy with the concise and thoughtful colour choices I have made, I feel Callesens work really suits a lack of colour however the red in this gave it the vivid edge that it needed.

 The areas of improvement are two obvious areas within the work: to have a cleaner cut out (develop scalpel skills further), want to be able to create that same crispness that Callesens apple had. Secondly I want my work to have more of deep connection, maybe explore a sub-theme within summer time symbolism. I need to explore the contents of my box further to establish where I could develop my ideas. I do feel the idea of a festival was conveyed successfully though,  perhaps one more colour would have looked more festival-like instead of the English flag. I will explore what my memory box has to offer and narrow my ideas further still embracing Callesens techniques and approach. 
 

Painting our memories in an abstract style with emphasis on colour.

 Having explored a more realistic practical response to our physical objects  we then created some more conceptual responses to our work, placing some particular emphasis on colour and the symbolic impact on colour, based on what we have learnt. 

 The first object I used for my inspiration was a flyer for a small festival that I attended in Kent over the summer, I had been before and found the small size and friendly atmosphere very refreshing in comparison to London however this time in the summer some questionable characters were going that I was convinced weren't going to appreciate the ethos of the festival and not get 'into it'. To my surprise, they really embraced it and everyone thought they were really nice, including me! The shades of blue and red either side represent the two completely different sides of the spectrum that came together, the white line that's flying out represents the neutral relationship we had and the lack of hostility towards one another. 

 The next painting I did was one based on a French comin my friend brought back for me, the object itself isn't that vivid in terms of memory however the day that I got it is. It was a clear day and the sky was every shade of blue, with one cloud, only one visible in the entire sky. It was such a chilled day that I can recall very easily. The use of blue is not only to represent the physical sky but to emphasise the tranquility and magnitude of the sky, being of an outstanding size (volume if you want to be scientific)

 The next painting I did was based on my most powerful urban exploration, not only being my most ambitious and elaborate exploration to date, but also the one where I got in the most trouble, the physical object of my inspiration being a note from my mum detailing my punishment when I got in at 4AM. 

I used dark green with spots of light red and light green, the dark green was the areas of parks that were barely illuminated, the red was the sense of danger as my mum was sending me texts explaining just how much trouble I'm in! 

 My next creation was based on my swim in Tooting Bec Lido, I got the brush and bent it back then released to create splash marks, to symbolise the water, the green is to represent the natural feeling after going swimming in the lido- outdoor pool, sun is out, warm and cold, I felt great. The blue next to the pink was used as a contrast tool to represent how powerful the colours felt, particularly when I was swimming. Everything was so bright, but naturally bright.

 My final piece was based on a leaflet for Spitafields market that I went to in the summer- the converging lines are to try and simulate the experience of looking down the market stalls, rows and rows of show keepers, the variety of colours on one side is for the bric-a-brac which I personally found more interesting, the purple side was a section dedicated to flowers and decorative ornaments. 

 These paintings gave me a unique opportunity as an artist to develop my ideas about colour and conceptual understanding of colour at the same time. By doing these paintings and forcing myself to not depict what I remember accurately, every inch of colour theory I had learnt was tested and stretched. Abstraction was a process that I was, and continue to be very unfimilar with, it is however refreshingly uncomfortable and challenging - it is only by doing this and making very discriminative choices about the colours I used, the size of my piece, the material of the piece, ( a lot of these were created on Saunders paper, others cartrdige paper for specific reasons) and the mediums I worked with,was I able to create five meaningful and creative pieces which were a physical embodiment of everything I have learnt about colour theory. This task also proved to be particularly helpful in narrowing my focus and discovering my artistic interest, through this activity I have learnt to appreciate the work of Hodgkin even more and the raw difficulty of producing work related to memories just using colours and basic forms, I very much enjoyed this expressive approach and want to continue to explore Hodgkins techniques in my future work, refining them to an extent that I'd be able to use Hogkin in some way in my final window installation.