Critical Appraisal of Work

To write a critical appraisal of ones art is a difficult task to accomplish for many reasons. This is due to the fact that Art is subjective, depending on many factors such as the artist value and subject matter, and the fact that I am bias towards my own creation. I feel that for a piece to be considered successful it has to dig deep with the artist and tug at raw uncomfortable nerves. The artist should suffer for their work; it shouldn’t be something that comes so easy. It should be debated and argued with ones self through each step of the way. The audience will not know the pain and suffering that has gone into the piece, and nor should they ever know. But the end result will become a bi-product of the experimentation that has been carried out.

The only real worry I had in relation to my art piece was the measurements of items within the box in particular the glass that is used for the reflection of the monitor. I had problems with the type of web-cam that I used to hook up to the Quartz Composer patch, as the program is only apple mac based then I had to use the same brand of web-cam. Which was unknown to me at the beginning of this journey. Time management is not my fort, however I feel that his journey has helped me to try and overcome my laziness.

Looking back at the technical aspect of the piece, I feel I could have experimented more with the Quartz composer patch. However I never like the technology to become over bearing towards the concept. I agree that the technology should visually enhance the concept and the audiences interaction and over all experience of the piece. But it should never ultimately become all what the artist is has to say.

The knowledge that I will take away from this experience over the past 14 weeks is that, as an artist I don’t need to dictate to my audience what it is I am trying to convey, but my art can become a conversation between myself and my thoughts.

As art is subjective and each person reads into art in a different, unique way it is hard to tell what people will take away from my art piece experience. I would sum it up as looking into some else’s past as the quick time movie runs, but also looking into the future as the viewer’s faces in reflected into the box over the aging quick time movie. They can see how they will look in years to come. I would like to think that this gives my art another dimension. The journey I have taken has opened my eyes to the possibilities of becoming a full time artist and creating conceptual, technology based pieces for many years to come.

Week 13

I have found my motivation back this week, which I needed to do as I only have two weeks left this I have to hand everything in. Then I can concentrate on the exhibition and organize everything for it. I am starting to write up a critical appraisal in relation to my art piece, however I feel that this unnecessary and that I should be the one to judge or evaluate my own work, I can write about what worked well and what didn’t, but i can’t critique my piece and I fell that as an artist I shouldn’t. I had to write a 1500 word artist statement for another lesson, and I did this but through gritted teeth. Any artist statement you see in an art gallery is a maximum 300 words long. We were asked not to go into detail about our backgrounds and history, but had to write over a thousand words on what drives us. I deemed it very unnecessary and now I’m thinking the same in relation to the critical evaluation.

week 12

This week I have been struggling with completing my to do list of what needs to be done. I’m finding that my brain doesn’t want to think about anything University related and all I can think about is “what am I going to do when my course is finished?” I wrote a short ill formed poem just to help me get on with the job at hand.

For fucks sake!!!
Why do I lack motivation?
For my own education
Sat on my arse, changing the station
With no motivation
For my own Fucking creation

I want to remove the darken veil from across my eyes and around my neck

No oxygen to think
No knowledge to drink
This destructive path cannot be sustained
My body is numb
Emotions are drained

I feel as though if I do nothing then the time will still come for the end of my degree. Nothing is going to stop time, but it’s just what I do with the time that is remaining. I don’t understand why I am feeling this way. I may be having withdrawal symptoms from coming out of education. However I have had a full time job before for two years before I came to University and I didn’t mind it. But I was relieved when I found out I was accepted for University.

Week 11

This week I went back to Manchester to look at the box. Nothing regarding the box needed changing, so my dad and myself made the box into flat pack, wrapped the box in bubble wrap and placed each piece in a box ready for shipping. My Uncle is working in London this week so he will be transporting the box in the back of his truck, then I will be traveling to Earls court to pick it up.

Week 10

My box has finally been created and is ready for me to look at and see if anything need to be changed. If anything does need to be changed then now is the time to do so. My dad has been working on the box for the past few days. I have requested a shelf inside to place the monitor onto, I will get the glass cut afterwards then I can judge then size needed.

Week 9

This week I was considering going to a few art galleries, I haven’t been to any as yet as i have started a new job and am finding it hard to find time to wash clothes and make food let alone going to a gallery. I have decided that while i am working and unable to work on my art piece that I will be keeping a small booklet of thoughts, so that even when I’m not working on my piece I can still be thinking about it. I am finding it very frustrating as I haven’t had a job for a while and I done want it to impact on my studies, however I have found myself with out any monies. So now I will have money but no time, however I need the money more than anything otherwise I won’t be able to exhibit in the art exhibition. I would love to exhibit my art and have people question and think about what I have created. However as an artist I feel the least people know about me the better. I am even considering calling my piece Untitled 1, and creating a new name for myself. If I start it now then if I become popular then thats what I will be referred as.

Digital Painting

I was experimenting in photoshop to recreate a tutorial I found on the internet at the below web address.

http://www.exguides.org/photoshop-tutorials/age-progression.html

original-gem

finished-aged-gem

As you can see I have followed the laws of gravity and pulled the face downwards to creative the jowls.

The Self Named Artist Orlan

During a brief meeting with Richard regarding my single project, he advised me to take a look at the self named French artist Orlan. Orlan uses her body as the canvas in which she sculpts and molds to an idealized notion of the perfect face. Her concepts are deep and multi-dimensional. She takes a look back into the past when sculptors would pick and choose the models individual body parts to create what they felt to be the perfect image. She looked at other artists as inspiration to create what is thought to be the perfect face, and built up a whole image from fragmented pieces. By the aid of a plastic surgeon she has set out to sculpt and mold her own face in this face of the ultimate image of perfection. The surgery by no means improves the look of the artist, but by trying to set out to achieve the unobtainable she hopes to raise awareness of the grotesque obsession and importance society has placed on womens appearance. Orlan is the ultimate feminist, considering the length she is prepared to suffer to get the feminist message across. At the same time she is mutilating herself in the process to achieve an ideology. This transgressive artist creates a performance art piece out of the operations she undergoes to create the desired face. While the operations are being carried out under local anesthetic, she documents the procedure and also employs other performance artist to accompany her throughout her metamorphosis. She brings up many issues by creating such elaborate art such as identity, public dissection, self mutilation.

There are similarities that I can draw upon my own work in comparison to that of Orlan. The issue of aging and identity can be compared. It is important to everyone to have their own identity and to feel that they are the only ones who may assume that identity, but as we age our physical identities are ever changing. Sometimes for the better, but inevitably for the worse. How can you feel constantly comfortable with in your own skin when your skin is always changing. With the framework of aging there is always and ideology when you are younger you want to be older and vice versa. You can even go as far to say that it is a type of natural body mutilation. To mutilate is to injure, disfigure, or make imperfect by removing or irreparably damaging parts. This happens against the persons wishes and can not be naturally reversed. The only way to reverse the effects of aging is to undergo further mutilation by having plastic surgery.

I want my installation to be a physical representation of a conversation of my own thoughts within the concept of aging. I will be invading peoples thought processes by engaging the audience on a personal level, they will participate in their own instant look into the future. The installation is not interactive in the sense that you are able to participate in the art but not directly affect it. I want this piece to bring aging to peoples attention and think about themselves, love ones and even deceased loved ones. decided early on that my art would not be interactive. I think as an artist I am generally against interactive art. An artist once said that, “as an artist job to have a go at the world and tell them off!” To some degree I believe this to be true, if you can provoke somebody into having a reaction and an opinion then you have succeeded.

Digital Morphing

I downloaded a free version of “Morph Age 4″ from the internet, to help me to merge the images which i will be using to create the aging effect. I took two pictures if my cousin Diane as a child and morphed the younger picture with that of an older one. I will be using this method to create my quick-time movie that will be embedded into the Quartz composer patch.

week 8

Adding sound to my installation may add or take away the experience to my audience. If it is done correctly then it will enhance the images I am showing to my audience. If it doesn’t have a strong relationship with the images, then it definitely make my whole piece look poor and weak. The sound that would be possible to include, would be a poem I written for my cousins funeral, when I was around 15 years old. It was about a rose, which symbolic for my cousin Dianne. This could be a softly spoken person, speaking the words from the poem. The fact that the words would be spoken softly would coincide with the images, as they would be slowly morphing. So the whole piece will be an unrushed, gradual process. Much like the aging process itself.