Set design

Set design has been an interest of mine since a college project in 2007. I currently have a hard time painting as I have not picked up techniques like dry brushing so i feel this lets me down. My model making is generally good however I have a peer from my college course who is very skilled at both modelling and painting. I have been discussing meeting up with Liam and getting some techniques or possibly collaborating on a piece.

This is an unfinished attempt at some scenic set design. The reason it is unfinished is because I have no idea how to paint it. 

Transformation project

I set myself the task of transforming a broken toy helicopter into something different. I wanted to see if I could deconstruct and reconstruct using only the original items. It was never my intention to make a shark; I simply tested out different shapes with my deconstructed helicopter pieces and the shark became the most prominent shape. I like to have an extra element in my models such as movement, sound or light so for this piece I rewired the small LEDs situated in the bottom of the helicopter giving my shark light up eyes.

Latex head attempt

This in an attempt I have made at creating a latex head for animating using the build up method. This method takes a very long time. First I mounded a head and jaw shape from wire aluminium wire. Next I used air-drying clay to smooth out the shape of the head. The final and longest stage involved painting on liquid latex and slowly building up layers using tiny pieces of sponge and latex. I added a small amount of flesh tint to my latex. I am happy with the result although it does look messy. This is a good method for making single characters, however if you wanted to produce more than one of the same character it could be very tricky to make them look similar.

Latex

This is a video I found on creating model heads from latex. The heads can be made with moving components by building up around malleable wire. This can be used to animate the eyebrows and the jaw. I think the created models are quirky and each one looks original however they can look a little messy.

Site Project

The site project was about creating an art piece outside the gallery space. We were told to consider our chosen site and through the work, make a comment on the space. The aim of this project was not to produce any piece of artwork and put it in an alternate environment; It was to consider the environment and why you have chosen it and to reflect this chosen space with in the work. Both the site and art should compliment each other.

The first thing to consider is the parks natural and wild component, I believe this is why we as humans enjoy recreational parks, it’s out of the city, off the concrete away from the constructive nature of man. In contrast to this another aspect of the park is one that I believe goes generally unnoticed. What I am referring to is the human enforced structure that dictates nature, the conscious decisions such as where a tree is planted, where a flowerbed is dug, where straight and geometrical pathways will segregate islands of green and the constant shaping, cutting and pruning of grass, shrubs, trees and bushes.

I transcribed this idea through a series 3D models and found objects. I displayed a fake plastic branch, a birds nest made from twigletts, fake moss, fake bird excrement and a plastic crow decoy. I was happy with the result of my work as I feel the idea was well constructed and as I intended my work went unnoticed to the point where the group were looking at another peers work in a tree where one of my pieces sat overlooked. Something that didn’t work particularly well was my attempt to create bird droppings. I first tried a latex and paint mixture but this did not look very convincing so before the tour of work I used a yogurt and water mixture however this didn’t look very convincing ether. On the whole my work got a great response and by far the most successful piece was my twiglett bird nest perhaps because of its sarcastic comment.

Sleep 9th - 14th Nov

Sleep is the final instalment for "Art Camel's" vote collecting for this brief we all produced a response to the word sleep. It was a very open brief and we could respond in any media. I responded with a bed made from wood that I then smashed. This was to portray how a feel about sleep, that i find it to be a waste of time and would like to smash up my bed and never sleep again.

Again with this brief James Ackerley decided he would name all the work and what media it had been made in, he stated my work to be "Morning Wood" "found wood" this again was not discussed with me and I only found this out when I looked at my work and found its label. I don't think I would have had an issue with this at all if I had been told about it and it had been explained to me why he was producing such labels for all our work. It seems that certain decisions are made by James Ackerley or by James and a few group members, why these items are not discussed I do not know.

Human form 7th - 9th Nov

Human form was a mixed media response. We would all be responding in a different media to see if this would give us some insight to a "successful media". I would be responding in wood and had formulated to plan to display a wooden armature I had been working on for my personal practice. My reason for this was to see if I could collect the most votes as I had spent many many hours producing the armature and I felt this was apparent in the pieces aesthetics. However when I saw Hannah's man carved from potato's I had a strong feeling I would not be collecting the most votes!