Author: Bridie Gill

Getting To Know You: Week 1 Semester 2 Video Project

https://youtu.be/f73TK6-7GOE

Our first set project back for summer term 2021 was a two minute video in response to the theme ‘Where Are You’/’I Am Here’.

For most of the week I was rather stuck on my very first idea of short clips placed within a clip of me walking up the stairs to my flat, with the perpetually faulty fire alarm sound of my building and my footsteps setting the pace. However, after trying this idea out with a couple clips, I found I was bored, uninspired and left feeling shut in with the film.

My final idea was born from a new interest I have in my corridor. It is a large, airy and strangely shaped room, but one I hardly use, avoiding lingering there as much as possible due to the lack of sunlight and arctic temperatures. Nevertheless it is one of only five spaces I am now able to inhabit (due to the January lockdown) and part of the rent I pay to live here. The cold, impersonal walls intrigue me, as the rest of the flat is full of our clutter, it struck me that in this world of familiarity and routine, the corridor was an element of the unknown, something I am craving. I began to think about my relationship to the corridor, it being a space I passed through but had never before given a second look. Could I foster a tighter bond with this space?

My first idea along this line was to do an endurance piece, living in the corridor for a set amount of time, 24 or 48 hours, and seeing what that impact would be on a) my mind, productivity and creativity, and b) my relationship with the corridor. However, the brief for this project was a 2 minute video, and I was also running low on time. I still plan to carry out this idea at some point however.

Now that I was in the mindset of my relationship with the space being exciting, I began to think about the intimacy and romanticism I am no longer receiving from the outside world, and how I could pursue this with the corridor. Craig David’s ‘7 Days’ was stuck in my head while I was thinking about this project, and led me to consider the stages of a relationship, and how this could relate to my overall experience the past year, under various Covid lockdowns and now back in national lockdown once again. When I honestly reflected on my emotional response to these events; stages of initial excitement at the unknown, settling down into a new banal reality (while confined within my home), then the encroaching fears, panic and depression as I began to think negatively about the future and my situation, seemed to correlate strongly with the phases of romantic relationships. I decided therefore that the container of the corridor would be both sad and ironically funny enough to act, in a short film, as my new partner.

I was pretty methodical about most of my scenes for the film, visualising and bullet pointing exactly what I wanted the shots to portray. I did, however, include one section of madness, an unplanned makeup/dance segment where I would aim to completely let loose, the act of filming this part and therefore ideally the footage of it being a form of catharsis following the (metaphorical and literal) weeks of steadily declining routine. This segment would reflect my real life, in which an expressive video project with my mother towards the end of the summer lockdown pulled me out of a state of mental and physical stagnation.

Filming the piece was incredibly fun, more so than I had expected. Planning all my shots in advance was a brilliant move as it meant I was organised when it came to getting everything done in the right order, and not forgetting shots. I received help for the start and end of the film, where the camera needs to be handheld to follow me, and my friends also joined in for some of the mad blue section, but ultimately this was a project I made alone, with two cardboard boxes for a tripod and the most minimal set I could create, as I felt this played to the spaces strengths.

 

Editing the piece was by far the worst part. I started at 5pm on Sunday (having woken up late) and eventually finished at half past 6 Monday morning, although I was up for another hour with export issues. It was a slog, and wading through the material was difficult, but thanks to my organisation earlier in the project everything came together relatively smoothly. The biggest thing for me was getting the colour correction in, which I think I got pretty spot on to my vision, if I do say so myself. This really tied it together as a narrative and made it look 10x more professional. The sound was also a tricky part, particularly as I left this til last. I had the backing track of the broken fire alarm, but I didn’t know what I wanted to do with it, and I had also planned on recording a voice-over so that I wouldn’t have to record any dialogue, but had begun to realise the potential of that to sound horrendously cringey. In the end, a premiere pro tutorial inspired me to increase the speed of the alarm in steps, which I think worked okay, but in future I must dedicate more time to audio. I’m glad I went with the captions, rather than a voice over, as I think they add visual interest and simplify the piece. They also distance it from me, which I like.

Overall, I’m pretty happy with this film. It is a project that I have actually finished and have something substantial to show for, which is nice. I am also quite proud of some of the cinematography, which surprised me as I didn’t think I was very good with the camera – although it is certainly far from accomplished. The idea I stand by as interesting and actually reflective of where I have been and thus where I am, although I do think I lost the relationship narrative somewhere along the way.

Comments in my tutorial were net positive, while I’m not sure they fully got everything I was putting down, the main themes were communicated, and I was very happy when one of the girls thought she had accidentally set her own fire alarm off when my film started playing out of her laptop speakers. A good start.

Beyond Realism – Dada and Surrealism: Modern 1 Visit 11/12/20

Collection of DADA print material

Sheer and unrestrained, innocent joy at seeing these pieces displayed in the gallery. I found them after having walked round one wall of the exhibition, not recognising nor being impressed by much of the collection, I went to look over this glass cabinet, and wow! DADA! Spent a while looking at the contents, couldn’t translate any of it of course but felt very happy and affirming to have seen these legendary objects not only in person but in a major gallery. – did think about the display of such pieces – the glass case is a bit underwhelming in a way that you can walk right past without realising what’s inside. Very emotionally stirring for me to see – but gallery setting flat and boring – not like the environment DADA was created in. Feels like DADA has been archived, put away with care in dustless but unstirring and tepid museum cabinets – wonder what Tzara would think of this conservation.

‘La Representation’, Rene Magritte, 1937

Fleshy. Thought the frame was cool and unusual. Flesh as object- frame packaging. Makes it somewhat more confrontational.

‘Lobster Telephone’, Salvador Dali and Edward James, 1938

‘Tableau Vivant’, Dorothea Tanning, 1954

Massive painting! Loved it, kinda weird – female artist done a big piece which is cool. Cool backstory.

Dorothea Tanning display case

Loved the recipe letter. This woman seems very interesting – must research further.

Max Ernst display case

Cool prints!

Misc Works: Modern 1 Visit 11/12/20

‘List of Names (Random)’ Douglas Gordon, 1990 – present.

Tickled me – on first glance appeared to be a memorial, actually a personal list of people the artist had met and remembered. Depiction of a lifespan/ social life/ human connections – surprised by scale of piece, didn’t realise just how many people the average person will meet and remember. Feels DADA-esque.

Henri Matisse, Jeannette II

‘Jeannette II’ Henri Matisse, 1910.

New Acquisition: La Prose du Transsibérien et de la Petite Jehanne de France  | Unframed

‘La Prose du transsibérien et de la petite Jehanne de France [Trans-Siberian Prose]’ Blaise Cendrars and Sonia Delaunay, 1913.

Part of the cubism exhibition, liked the form/shape of a long folded up collage, strange to see in an exhibition. Liked combination of text and colours.

Alan and Barbara Rawsthorne | National Galleries of Scotland

‘Alan and Barbara Rawsthorne’ Isabel Rawsthorne, 1966.

Female artist! Liked this better than the Damien Hirst next door.

‘Between Kilburn and Willesden Green, Winter Evening’ Leon Kossoff, 1992.

Industrial Belt | Art UK

‘Industrial Belt’ Carol Rhodes, 2006.

Reminded me of the ‘Boring Postcards’ book I read at LAU. ‘just far enough away to deny the viewer insight into the land below’ is an interesting dynamic. Voyeuristic in a strange way, like an alien lifeform spying on human development, what have the worker bees been up to kinda thing. Why would someone choose to paint this landscape?

‘Crucifixion II’ Craigie Aitchison, 1987-89.

Huge scale and bright colours makes it impressive. Don’t know what its about, feels wistful and surreal, like the crucifixion could be a desert mirage. Asymmetry makes it mysterious.

NOW Exhibition: Modern 1 Visit 11/12/20

‘Fullmoon@Bujuku’ Darren Almond, 2009.

A series of framed prints of long exposure photographs taken at night, by the light of a full moon. All photos seem to be daylight at first glance. Interesting idea – didn’t know was technologically possible. Photos mostly boring/run of the mill without context of process.

‘Progressive’ Shona MacNaughton, 2017. Photograph of performance.

“I was nine months pregnant, there was no getting away from that fact. The performance  had to incorporate this physical reality. As I looked at the the language used in local regeneration schemes their themes of new life at the sake of destruction of the old, seemed to echo the progress of my body at the time. The Baby Box, another state sanctioned scheme, which held items which seemed like a basic list to keep this new life alive, neatly doubled as a podium to (barely) keep my pregnant weight aloft, and allowed my self-turned political speech to be heard over the crowd.” https://www.shonamacnaughton.com/progressive/

Performance/relational art/poetry thing. Interesting to see exhibited in a major gallery. Nice photos of event – captured energy. Liked that the scripts were displayed – scripts interesting – wonder if they were written before or after event. Should have spent more time looking at in gallery but was pressed.

‘Progressive’ Shona MacNaughton, 2017.

Not a huge fan of the curation of this piece. Think the photos should have been larger, lighting more dramatic. Cardboard pieces look a bit crap, although admire that they’re not behind barriers.

‘The Deccan Trap’ Lucy Raven, 2015. Photographic animation, colour, sound, 4:19 min.
Sound by Paul Corley.
Really liked this film, felt hypnotic as it was so short and repetitive, like continuously digging further and further down through layers of repeating matter – think Minecraft. Makes collage exciting. Only thing I didn’t like was the title text which was difficult to read and ineffective in the gallery setting.
Katie Paterson, Light bulb to Simulate Moonlight
‘Light bulb to Simulate Moonlight’ Katie Paterson, 2008 [exhibition view]
Light bulb to Simulate Moonlight was produced in conjunction with the lighting company OSRAM. It contains a sufficient quantity of light bulbs to provide a person with a lifetime supply of simulated moonlight. Each bulb burns for 2000 hours, and a ‘lifetime’ contains 289 bulbs, a calculation based on the average life-span for a human being alive in 2008 (when the artist produced the work). The viewer enters the darkened room and encounters a light bulb suspended on a long cable from the ceiling. The rest of the bulbs are lined up on shelves, awaiting their turn.” https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/123512/light-bulb-simulate-moonlight
Cool concept, was affected when I first saw it by how interesting the idea was. To me, looks a lot like moonlight, but Molly disagreed and seemed rather unimpressed. Inclusion of notebook sketches in exhibition a nice touch. An alternative measure of human life span? Artificial naturality – thinking about SAD, lights effect on mood, technology in future worlds. Sustainability and human impact on the planet. Not very interactive – in gallery doesn’t give much but the idea.
Exhibitions – Katie Paterson
‘Earth-Moon-Earth’ Katie Paterson, 2007.

“Earth-Moon-Earth (E.M.E.) radio is a form of transmission whereby messages are sent in Morse code from Earth, reflected off the surface of the Moon, and then received back on Earth. The Moon reflects only part of the information back: some is absorbed in its shadows or lost in its craters.

For this work, Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata was translated into Morse code and sent to the Moon. Returning to Earth fragmented by the Moon’s surface, this historical composition was then re-translated into a new score, the gaps and absences becoming intervals and rests. The “Moon-altered” piece is played on an automated grand piano.” http://katiepaterson.org/portfolio/earth-moon-earth/

Nice piece, grand piano fills gallery space well, the automated playing fits the eerie tone of the idea- feels cold and empty and haunting like a trip to the moon. Liked the display of both scores, visual representation helps non-musicians to understand the piece, and it also looks rather pretty. Overall a nice independent piece but lacks heft. Cool way to make use of technology, blending the inaccessible code with widely enjoyed music.

Exhibitions – Katie Paterson
‘Totality’ Katie Paterson, 2016. [exhibition view]
“Nearly every solar eclipse documented by humankind has been brought together in a mirror ball. The images span drawings dating from hundreds of years ago through nineteenth-century photography and up to the most advanced telescopic technologies. Over 10,000 images reflect the progression of a solar eclipse across the room – from partial to total – mirroring the sequence of the Sun eclipsed by the Moon.” http://katiepaterson.org/portfolio/totality/
Very cool idea, looks good in gallery, well pulled off – room could’ve been darker. Disco ball as an object is pretty, as well as a scientific collection of images. Physical way of experiencing manmade photographs – although also a manmade technology imitating a real natural occurrence. Mans answer to the solar eclipse? Fun experience in the gallery; interactive, emotive, affecting.
Overall, a great exhibition. Interesting, not too pretentious, good mix of objects and ideas. Good mix of mediums and strong individual artists.

Scottish National Gallery 29/10/2020

Sir Henry Raeburn, Major William Clunes, died 1830

Found it humorous that the first painting that greeted me/caught my eye upon entering the gallery was this huge horse’s rump. Funny to me that this was ever commissioned. Something weirdly provocative/domineering about it – big MASCULINE I AM A MAN energy. Animals in oil paintings represent wealth & status – Major William Clunes had a phatty? Poor horse.

John Singleton Copley, The Surrender of the Dutch Admiral de Winter to Admiral Duncan at the Battle of Camperdown (The Victory of Lord Duncan)

This painting represents the majority of pieces shown in this gallery/the old tradition of oil painting to me. All male, heroic poses and some duke dressed in his finest spotless uniform illuminated from the background workers. Boats and disasters – wins and losses and war and losses. In the gallery this painting is huge – takes up an entire wall, (and the walls are very big) – intended to be impressive but from modern eyes just screams of male narcissism and privilege. Not a fan.

Sir David Wilkie, General Sir David Baird Discovering the Body of Sultan Tippoo Sahib after having Captured Seringapatam, on the 4th May, 1799

A sign about reviewing gallery collections after recent events (BLM implied) accompanies this work in the gallery. It talks about colonialism and there’s some attempt at acknowledging British involvement/crimes. Not much of an effort tbh. I liked this painting much more in the gallery than online as it’s so big it takes up an entire wall, and as such the body of the sultan lays at eye level with the viewer, while the general is hidden by light reflections. I thought the lower part of the painting was quite beautiful, feeling very soft and intimate, almost romantic. I like that the display of the piece in such a way, intentional or not, changed the narrative and meaning of it, for me at least.

Thomas Gainsborough, The Honourable Mrs Graham (1757 - 1792)

I liked her dress, the fabric and trim detail looks absolutely beautiful, and she has gorgeous diamond shoes. I need a dress with that neckline and bust shape, and the pearls and central red jewel are beautiful. Noted in the gallery how pale this woman is painted – white like porcelain. Also thought that the display caption was rather romantic and mysterious.

Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, The Meeting of Anthony and Cleopatra

Funny pose – Cleopatra gives no fucks, I wish more women in these paintings had the attitude of staring over men’s heads like they pay them no second thoughts other than as servants.

Rembrandt (Rembrandt van Rijn), A Woman in Bed

Caught my eye because of the nude /naked debate (John Berger, Ways of Seeing) at first I thought it might be a genuine (semi)naked piece, the lady seems off guard and the posing is somewhat natural, however after having thought about it a bit more I’ve concluded that this is indeed more of the (semi) nude, as the women is clearly posed. The piece is also linked to a story from the Old Testament, of Sarah and Tobias, therefore making it a posed, staged, fake scene. The golden jewellery worn in the hair also points to this conclusion – what woman willingly sleeps in jewellery of her own accord.

Jan Lievens, Portrait of a Young Man

Probably my favourite piece seen today. Love it. Beautiful painting, light/colour/darkness/contrast is compelling, inviting, mysterious, antiquated, seductive, secretive. Robes painted to create a fine and supple texture. Compelling, intriguing and handsome face. The caption only adds to the intrigue “Once thought to be a self-portrait, the pose and costume of the sitter were probably significant in some way that is now unclear.” Lovely stuff.

Sir Henry Raeburn, Reverend Robert Walker (1755 - 1808) Skating on Duddingston Loch

This painting stands out from its surroundings because it looks almost surrealist in comparison to its neighbours. I think its a combination of subject, pose and background – but most notably the pose. Kinda weird and I think I liked it.

Pieter Jansz. Saenredam, The Interior of St Bavo's Church, Haarlem (the 'Grote Kerk')

Gorgeous, detailed, sense of place just from looking at it. My only critique is that while the artist has clearly tried to accentuate and dramatize the architecture to the utmost degree, in a manner that is mostly convincing, the figures on the left side of the piece don’t quite match the scale of the piece at all. They look like dwarves or mythical creatures because they are the same height as the pews. When I noticed this it distracted me from the grandeur and beauty of the painting, but also adds some charm and interest to the piece. The chandelier is particularly beautiful.

Not sure if meant to be an artwork or not – probably as it is cordoned off but I could not find a plaque for it. Would love to touch/lay on it. Inviting & seductive.

Cariani (Giovanni Busi), Portrait of a Young Woman as Saint Agatha

One of my favourite pieces at the gallery. Firstly I was caught by the face of the girl depicted, which seemed to me somewhat different from the typical oil-painted female face – she has more character and is therefore more realistic, I feel as though I’d like to get to know this woman. Secondly, the story behind the piece (and why she has a pair of breasts on a plate), a woman who was punished for refusing the advances of a man, but her expression in this piece is unbothered, she doesn’t look like someone to be pitied – a bad bitch from ancient times. Poss lesbian??

Paolo Caliari, Venus, Cupid and Mars

Kinda cool painting. Very big in the gallery, definitely a nude for the enjoyment of rich men, but I like that the man in this image is shrouded in shadow, a second thought as the artist didn’t include him in drawings or prepare his spot with white paint. Free the nipple. Also look at his weird ass FOOT. WHAT THE FUCK MAN HE WS DEFFO AN AFTERTHOUGHT HAHAHA

https://www.nationalgalleries.org/search?location%5B36063%5D=36063&sort=title&page=0

Night Walk For Edinburgh

‘Art Walk For Edinburgh’, Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller. Participated in/viewed 28/10/2020 at 8pm with mum and mums boyfriend.

Night Walk for Edinburgh; 2019; Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller - YouTube

“Following Janet Cardiff’s voice and walking in her footsteps, as you participate in Night Walk for Edinburgh you will be led through the backstreets of Edinburgh’s Old Town, unravelling a disjointed tale – part game-playing, part surrealistic poetry, perhaps even a murder mystery – layered with history, invention and memories. One of the biggest hits of last year’s Edinburgh International Festival, Cardiff and Miller’s Night Walk for Edinburgh is now a permanent part of The Fruitmarket Gallery’s collection. Commissioned for the city of Edinburgh by The Fruitmarket Gallery.

Night Walk for Edinburgh is a 50 minute walk through the Old Town of Edinburgh after dark. Following a film on your tablet or smart phone and a soundtrack on your headphones, you will walk up Advocate’s Close and along a route that weaves around the Royal Mile before returning to where you started. The route involves c.120 steps up and 30 down, and uneven ground, and is entirely in public, un-invigilated space. It is intended to be a solo experience, but as the walk is at night we suggest that you may want to enjoy it in pairs or small groups with a maximum of 6 allowed per slot. Although it is important that everyone has their own screen and headphones.”

^From the Fruitmarket Gallery website https://www.fruitmarket.co.uk/exhibitions/night-walk-for-edinburgh/#:~:text=The%20Fruitmarket%20Gallery.-,INFORMATION,returning%20to%20where%20you%20started.

“‘Walking is like the flow of history. One footstep after another,
one event after another. Every time we choose an action or
direction we change everything that might have been.’
Night Walk for Edinburgh
Janet Cardiff (b.1957, Brussels, Ontario, Canada) and George Bures
Miller (b.1960, Vegreville, Alberta, Canada) last showed their work in
Edinburgh in 2008, with their Fruitmarket Gallery exhibition The House
of Books Has No Windows. They return to Edinburgh to explore its
streets in a new video walk. Cardiff and Miller have been making audio
walks since 1991, and began making video walks in 2001, for locations
across the world including San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
(2001), dOCUMENTA (13) in Kassel, Germany (2012), and the
13th Sydney Biennale (2014). The only other walk they have made for
the UK is The Missing Voice (Case Study B) (1999), an audio walk that
takes you through the streets of the East End of London from the
Whitechapel Gallery.”

“In both the audio and video walks, Cardiff ’s voice leads the listener’s
footsteps, gently nudging you along the route, whilst also offering
disjointed observations and reflections that as a whole weave a
nonlinear, and often unsettling, narrative. Filmed and edited by Miller
using a Steadicam and binaural sound recording, the video walks
– called ‘physical cinema’ by the artists – add a second layer to the
sensation of moving through the city. Created using multidirectional
microphones in place of ears, binaural recording results in a sound
environment that is spatially logical, and can often be difficult to
distinguish from its real world equivalent. The effect can be uncanny,
as sounds and images double up, merging fiction and reality, in turn
intensified by the dreamlike quality of Cardiff ’s voice.”

“Through such well-trodden streets, this is neither history walk nor
ghost walk, though it evokes both. Staged at twilight, it not only sits on
the threshold of day and night, but also slips between the gaps of the
usual tourist trails and guided walks, as you navigate the city obliquely,
as if on another plane of reality. At one point Cardiff says: ‘Sometimes
I don’t know if my imagination is leaking into my reality, or if I’m
remembering something.’ Repetitions of signs and figures accentuate
this feeling, flitting between the incidental and the significant, like
clues in a detective novel. Edinburgh emerges as a city of doubles, of
Jekyll and Hyde, of the old and the new, of parallel realities, mingled
with uncanny sightings of Cardiff ’s red-coated doppelgangers. This
atmosphere is redoubled when the screen glitches and jump cuts to
another reality, in which a forensic team appears to be investigating a
crime that took place on the streets through which you move. Who has
been killed? And when did this take place? Like Cardiff ’s unfinished
book, that she tells us she left on the plane, the walk does not offer
answers, creating unease – what have these streets seen?”

^From official guide for NWFE  https://www.fruitmarket.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/CM_GUIDE_APP20_FINAL.pdf

^Some screenshots taken from about halfway through the video. Unfortunately I didn’t twig that I could screenshot the video earlier, otherwise I would have very much liked to have recorded a few of my favourite moments, such as the scene in the window near the very beginning, the horse statue and creepy men in glasses coming towards you, as well as Kathryn Joseph and Adam Clifford’s performances.

A very enjoyable experience. I loved the medium and the idea, blending reality and experience with film and fiction – a treat for the senses. I particularly enjoyed the audio, as mentioned above audio was recorded using multidirectional mics, so with headphones on the sounds are so eerily realistic that I found myself constantly unable to tell if they were coming from the film or not. There was one particular moment around the second-to-last screenshot I’ve included, where there are a group of menacing looking dark figures above you on the path, and the audio captures their speaking and the heavy breathing of a ventilation system to your right, and the vent is also really loud in real life, so the effect is really disconcerting and overwhelming and makes you feel incredibly paranoid – the narration also reaches a critical point here as she talks about the plot of a book which seems to match the films events and you really question the reality/narrative of the piece.

Takeaways:

  • Guided walks as a medium to experiment/work with myself
  • Look into other Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller works and other walking tour works
  •  Love love love Kathryn Joseph’s performance – very unsettling and strange – been listening to her other songs https://kathrynjoseph.co.uk/#UB7Q_R4iwKQ 
  • Look into other performers
  • Wasn’t a fan of the more cliché fantastical elements – the poem notes and murder mystery/forensic team were a bit cheesy. Maybe I like less literal narratives for video work
  • Liked narrators passion for unusual vents – small details in the city that show craftsmanship
  • Would really like to do the tour again by myself but not sure I would feel safe
  • Like that you have to book tickets & turn up at a certain timeslot to allow the video to play – feels like more of an event/performance than if you could just do it whenever and view it on YouTube – more like an art piece? –does art to me have to have some element of exclusivity/removal??
  • Love relationship between film and viewer-entangling the viewer as participant – like the point where you go under the bridge where the violinist plays and you think a man may come up behind you because you’ve already seen it happen once – but you hadn’t seen the outcome
  • Liked that some of it almost felt like trespassing as it took me to places I didn’t know existed and didn’t know I was allowed to go – new places and details pointed out, new appreciation for the city but not in a too historical way
  • Audio audio audio audio

Afternoon Tea – Used Objects

I thought it was important to record the objects in their used state, after the Afternoon Tea event.

The same display set up as I had photographed before the pieces had been used.

The cutlery came out fairly unaffected. You can clearly see the knives were the most useful/used pieces. The forks went virtually unused, as they simply weren’t strong enough and therefore not fit for purpose. The spoons had mixed results. Here they have had time to dry off, however once dipped in hot tea two of them had completely collapsed, possibly releasing glue into the drinks (oops) and losing all use for the remainder of the meal. The cutlery isn’t really able to be used again as it stays greasy and dirty and has been in peoples mouths. I also don’t think they are able to be recycled due to the grease.

Plates held up well and performed just like a plate. They could have been smaller, daintier and prettier.

Good news! Three out of four cups remained water-proof to the end, and even the one which leaked was still useable. I think therefore I may be able to remove the plastic and Sellotape, putting that in the bin and recycling most of the cardboard, as it was protected from food. Most of the placemats are also unblemished.

These jars were possibly the cutest part of the whole set in practice. The waterproofing worked very well, the size was great, both cute and practical, and I think if I remove the plastic the cardboard should be able to be recycled.

https://youtu.be/6c-Q-d1RwKY

Ah, the teapot. I still think she’s cute, even in this compromised state. I linked the video to the teapot failing in my last post, but I have included it here too so you can see the disaster unfold in front of your own eyes. To be fair, I enjoyed making her, she was a cute addition to the table before I tried to use her, and even now I like these photos which show how impractical my design was. I think the spout was either on the wrong angle or just too high up to be used properly. The freezer bag I used to waterproof the inside is intact, I think, so the fault was probably that the Sellotape I used to secure everything just wasn’t strong enough when liquid was added to the equation. The handle was also ridiculously weak for the weight of the liquid, making it unusable in practice, and it eventually came unstuck when the leaked orange juice got to the Sellotape. A failure, but a fun one.

 https://youtu.be/2gh3St3QtgA

Finally, the ever-dramatic cake stand. After toppling under the weight of a few scones and having to be propped up with tiles (despite me already adding a support to the feet), when it came to photographing the cake stand she was in a bit of a state. All three tiers were covered in grease and crumbs, and the structural integrity of the piece was rapidly deteriorating. I stood the stand upright to begin with, and caught the gradual falling of it onto one side on video (linked above). I actually really liked the new form it took when in its most natural and comfortable state, toppled to one side.

Overall, the Cardboard Afternoon Tea project and event was a lot of fun, but I will not be making large amounts of finicky objects from cardboard again for a while.

Afternoon Tea Event

13/10/20.

Preparations for the meal took all day. I wanted to make all of the food myself, putting the maximum amount of effort in (within one day) to make two savouries, scones and two cakes. The baking was fun, I had to whizz around the kitchen under the time pressure of the ‘Afternoon’ part of Afternoon Tea, and I served up at least an hour later than what I had originally estimated, but it was good.

^A fully set table – very cute.

Disaster Strikes! It soon became apparent that my cake stand lacked the structural stability needed to perform the task of supporting all of my creations. The scones took a tumble, but luckily the effects weren’t too devastating. The cake stand had to be propped up with tiles.

The gang gathered. They look pretty awkward in these pictures, and I guess it was pretty weird at the start, its not everyday your flatmate makes you afternoon tea and asks you to dress fancily on a Tuesday afternoon.

The finished set up. Quite pretty if I do say so myself. I couldn’t fit both cakes on the stand without it toppling over, so they had to be added after the scones had been eaten – if I do this again I would need to revise my cake stand design.

The food was delicious!! Proud of the posh beans on toast and the scones in particular. Natalia said I ‘had the scone genes’ (from grandma). Cups also held up for the most part, 3/4 of them were effectively waterproof.

The saga of Anna trying her cucumber sandwich.

 https://youtu.be/6c-Q-d1RwKY

The teapot was a bit of an L, the spout didn’t really pour, and as soon as I tried it began to leak from the bottom. Live action video of the attempt linked above.

Molly using her cup with water. Hers was actually the only one to leak in the end, despite Anna managing to put hot tea in hers!

A fork in use. They were so blunt they could only pierce the softest cake (the carrot cake).

In the end, it was fun, a little silly, but we all came together which was the goal. We were there for around an hour and a half, and it was a nice break from the monotony of lockdown, where we had mostly been working separately in our rooms.

A list of the topics we discussed, that I could remember. Discussion and togetherness was what I wanted, and it’s what I got 🙂 Felt closer as a group afterwards.

The aftermath to be tidied up.

A pretty shot of the aftermath – cardboard and crumbs.

https://youtu.be/5vNptQAZ72o

Public opinion of my piece – two opposing reactions to video linked above. ‘That is soo sickkk I love it’ – Lucia Sheppard, ‘You good bro’ – Amaia Johnson.

My finished plate.

Aftermath evidence 🙂 used objects and space. Thinking about making these into prints themselves. Would be good as postcards?  Evidence of a good time.

Packing away, I liked how most of the pieces fit into the one big piece.

‘Room With a View’ – Google Arts & Culture

Films exhibited in Googles ‘Room With a View’, a collection of student work created during the coronavirus lockdown, curated by Amira Gad. https://artsandculture.google.com/project/room-with-a-view 

‘Comprovate necessità’, Saladin Faroudi. Accademia di Belle Arti di Bologna. ‘It’s a personal response to crisis, uncertainty, and altered states of being.’ Sense of unease, pretty Spanish landscape eerily deserted + inclining noise, repetitive thuds. Liked use of audio.

‘Virus’, Sara Guerinoni. Accademia di Belle Arti di Bologna. Again lol ‘It’s a personal response to crisis, uncertainty, and altered states of being.’ Felt very accurate to young persons experience in covid times. Liked simple animation style – not too gaudy. Use of sound very effective – news reports closing in, v accurate. SpongeBob/fantasy is our break.

‘Viola’, Daniele Fugarese. Accademia di Belle Arti di Bologna. ‘The work wants to showcase the importance of personal priorities’. Pretty colours and set. Narrative of co-dependence/romantic relations/love/living in a bubble. Very nice, my favourite. Feels wistful for older romantic times, nostalgic. Echoes of history. Time. Time spent together, collecting, nesting, comfort. Idealist. Youth and old age.

‘Indoors’, Lorenzo Natuzzi. Accademia di Belle Arti di Bologna. ‘Indoor is a short video about a feeling, I always thought that my house was a safe place, but the quarantine took the safeness to another place, far from that walls, leaving the rooms empty like the streets during that time.’ Pretty shots, must’ve used a nice camera. Like that the scenes feel genuinely lived in. Nice clock editing to show time – sound v nice. Feels ghostly.

‘Memes’/Untitled, Sizuo Chen. Central Saint Martens. Deliberately weirdly animated fashion illustrations. Video as whole meh but liked the facial animation and combination with speech – really disconcerting, creepy, cool way of exhibiting otherwise average/boring drawings.

‘Bathroom’, Leonardo Lomurno. Accademia di Belle Arti di Bologna. Again ‘It’s a personal response to crisis, uncertainty, and altered states of being.’ Like this guys chin/lower lip piercing. Transitions between locations/moods/people v nice, emotive, confusing and agitated feel suited to corona experience. Like vaguely cyclical structure, house feels claustrophobic, maze-like or piled on top of each other. Some acting pretty cringe – reminder to myself to never grab my knees and contemplate life on a toilet (on film).

‘Karma’, Daphne Jiyeon Jang. The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh College of Art. ‘Jang’s ‘moving sculptures’, are designed to unravel the frozen time of antiquity and hint at hidden narrative meanings in the past, that still reverberates in the present.’ Like the idea of using a sites architecture in video projection – fucking with the fabric of a place. Chatter funny and makes you curious about the lives of the sculpture women – humanises them. Patterned overlay on dresses also humanises. Audio and filming could be better.