Friday, February 25, 2011

Core tutorial with Ann Hulland

I had my first core tutorial for this semester yesterday and it really made an impact on me.

Ann pointed out to me that doing everything at once keeps me from going deeper into anything. I know it sounds like such an obvious thing, but when you're as easily distracted, whimsical and restless as me doing everything at once does superficially seem like the perfect solution. It's just that, it keeps it superficial.

But shaving it down to just doing one thing, does sort of terrify me. I feel like protesting as I did. "It's not my way!" Oh so childish, I know. the truth is, I'm not at uni to play around and amuse myself, I'm here to do a job, a job I'm paying for myself. And it is a job that I'd ideally would like to see pay it self off after I'm done. And jobs are strenuous and challenging and sometimes boring and repetitive. It's through standing these things and persevering that great things happen. It's through those things that art become something of substance and not just something any whimsical kid could have played out on the paper one afternoon.

So maybe it is time to get serious.

And yeah, I really want to play with the router bits and the drill, hell yeah.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Stezaker at Whitchapel Gallery

I caught one more exhibition yesterday. Me and my art group at uni went checking out potensial gallery space for ourselves in the anarcists bookshop and afterwards we walked past Whitechapel gallery and decided to go in. I'm glad we did.

The weirdness of the altered photographs instantly wow'd me, I like things that are pleasing to look at, but at the same time hard to look at I guess.

In retrospect I have come to question how much actual work Sezaker put into this, the initial photos are found and not taken by himself and I tend to be quite sceptical of that kind of thing. On the other hand it is clear to me that he has a good eye for composition and an affinity for the sureal. I thought of Dali, and I overheard other people saying the same. Maybe there are sureal painters that would be better examples, but I don't know about them yet.

Sadly it had been a long day and I was a bit distracted. I think I shall very much like to go back there and have a closer look, maybe on friday.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Orozco at Tate




I missed the class trip to see Gabriel Orozco last Monday, so I figured since I was going into London today anyway I might as well go get it done.

As usual when I can I refrained from reading up on the artist before going. I must admit I even thought he was a woman :) because of the name :) My first impression as I came there was one of indifference, I saw some strange stuff, some weird stuff and then there was some interesting tires and some neat photography. Maybe I was just too distracted today, but the clay stuff seemed so simple and the pieces with th circles, half circles and eclipses just reminded me of discarded christmaspaper after the presents has been opened. I did like the skull though, never could resist primmed up human remains.

But I know I can be overly sceptical and difficult sometimes, so I went for a cup of tea, read the leaflet and had a little think about it before I went back again.

On second glance I was able to appreciate it more and I ended up quite enjoying myself. One of my favourite things was the car and the elevator both cut in three and resealed without the middle piece, the elevator rezised to the same height as Gabriel.
I allso relly enjoyed the phoothographs in the innermost room, and especially among them the watermelons with the cat food tins on them and the roof with the water. I think Orozco shows a playfullness here that I can understand and identify with. He's making beautiful compositions with objects that seem to have been found at the scene or maybe close by. And he allso seems to have an eye for seeing beauty in the mundane, poetry in the impermanent.

But as far as the circle, half circle, ... and so and on and on I still don't connect with it in a way that it makes sense to me. It is playfull though, but it seems too polished and too unaproachable.

And yeah, the lint, I did like it and I immediatly knew what it was when I saw it, I've been facinated with the stuff ever since I was a child :)

oh the shame

From where I'm sitting now the whole video blogging idea seems horrible and embarrasing. I might give it another go, but then I'll have a script and cut away the pauses if they get too long... ahrg X(