Artists who using walking within their work



Vito Acconci

 

Vito Acconci's 'Following Piece' consisted of him following passers-by around NYC until they entered private property. This ranged from 2-3 minutes while they walked to their car and he didn't have chance to find a taxi to follow it, up to 7-8 hours where they went to watch a film or to a restaurant. This piece was created in 1969 so was one of the first pieces of performance art. It was the start of the change in art, in the late 60s, where artwork moved from being just pieces in galleries to outside, exploring real issues in the world - this is what makes this piece significant to me. Because I prefer looking at conceptual artwork which has an interesting meaning or story behind it, I think this piece is important as it helped start such a big area of what is considered art today by using a quite simple idea, it has had a big impact.

 

 

Stanley Brouwn

 

This piece - 'Steps of pedestrians on paper' - was created by Stanley Brouwn. He left blank pieces of paper on the streets of Amsterdam, waited for people to leave footprints on them before collecting them. I particularly like this piece because not only is it nice to look at with the subtle patterns from the soles of shoes and the unsymmetrical composition, but I think it's an interesting and unusual way of collecting information about who's been where. It reminds me of footprints in the sand however they are lost when the tide comes in but because these footprints have been recorded on paper, they can stay forever.

 

 

Tehching Hsieh

 

Tehching Hsieh conducted a one year performance piece where he lived for the entire year without entering any the interior of anything - building or vehicle. This meant he must always walk and live outside starting from September 26, 1981 at 2 pm until September 26, 1982 at 2 pm. He allowed himself a sleeping bag and that was all. This was one of a few one year projects he completed, all of which were equally extreme. I think he was making a point, similar to Vito Acconci, about how art can be more than just a painting. He was making people aware of different issues whilst still creating art.

Photos beginning with 'L'

After being given the letter 'L', I had 5 minutes to take 3 photographs, using my phone, of objects beginning with this letter. I particularly like the way the photograph of the light came out as it was just a plain white light yet when it is was photographed, some much more colourful elements appeared. The black background helps to keep it really simple too. I also think the composition of the photograph of the lead is successful because I like the way it leads you in from the top of the frame to where the photograph is in focus, near the bottom. Because I took the photograph from above the lead, it makes the perspective more interesting than if it was just taken flat on.



 

Photographers - Lewis Hine, Ansel Adams and William Klein

Lewis Hine

I particularly like this photograph by Lewis Hine because of the emotion shown through the boy's eyes. It is a really honest, genuine photo showing the feelings of just one of the many children who were working in the cotton mills. Having his eyes right in the centre of the frame means they are the first thing you notice and because he is looking directly into the camera, it feels as if he is looking right at you and explaining his life in one still shot. The connection you feel with this little boy who you know nothing about is what I think makes this photograph so significant.

 

Ansel Adams

The sense of the atmosphere is very successful in this image of Ansel Adams'. The mist covering the background with only the sunset visible creates a spooky and slightly dull feel which is exaggerated by the fact that no-one is around. The mist also makes the silhouette of the tree stronger as there is nothing to detract from it. Having the image in black and white helps make this photo more memorable and effective too because again it adds to the calm but eerie atmosphere which is what I like so much about the photograph.

 

William Klein

I especially like the composition in William Klein's photograph. It is unusual because the top of the child's head on the swing is chopped off and the other child in the bottom right corner is only just in the frame. I think this makes the photograph much more interesting to look at because it isn't how I'd expect a photograph to be composed yet it is still successful. I also like the way that because the child on the swing's eyes aren't in the photograph, you can't quite tell if they're enjoying it or not meaning the other child's face could then have various meanings too. This is a very natural snapshot of these children's lives and although we haven't got the exact story behind it, I like the way that everyone could take it in slightly different ways.



Fine Artists - Cornelia Parker, Annette Messager and Hew Locke

Cornelia Parker

 

In this piece 'Thirty Pieces of Silver', Cornelia Parker has flattened silver objects such as plates, cutlery and candlesticks then arranged them into disc shaped compositions and hung them slightly off the ground. Cornelia flattened these objects in order to transform their meaning and worth. I think this is a particularly successful way to do this because to me, I know what the objects are but because they are no longer usable it changes how I look at them. I see the shapes that create them and what they're made of rather than just an average object. This makes me realise how they're worth more than I would initially expect because of the materials in them and how they're made. Having so many pieces displayed in the room like that makes me think about how many valuable things there are in the world. Although this piece makes it look like Cornelia has collected a lot in relation to the room, actually in relation to the world she has only collected a tiny fragment. This leads me to think about the amount of valuable items some people own and take for granted yet there are still so many people with nothing.

 

 

Annette Messager

 

Annette Messager has created stuffed fabric pieces in the shape of different body parts and displayed them by hanging them down. This whole piece seems to me very childish because of the soft pieces made like stuffed toys and the bright unrealistic colours often used on children's toys or in books but also because of the way she has separated out the pieces like she is trying to teach children the different body parts. Having the space between all the pieces makes me want to go into this room and explore all around the body parts looking at them from all the available angles and taking in the finer details. I also feel that going into that room would be exciting for a child because of all the pieces dangling so high above their heads and some coming down low so they could weave in and out of them and get lost in amongst these internal body parts. However, I do think that even though it is very bright and childish, Annette has tried to hide a more serious point about the body behind the initial excitement of seeing all the pieces.

 





Hew Locke

 

After creating an initial piece of art that the public didn't particularly understand or take the way that Hew Locke expected them to take it, I find it interesting that he then decided to respond to these comments by developing and changing the piece. I like the way he isn't afraid to completely re-work his piece to challenge the thoughts of the people viewing it. Looking at this piece alone, without having seen the previous pieces, I think it is immediately very intriguing. This is because it's obvious it's a package but the unusual shape and the way it's wrapped with string make it something different to a normal package. As you look more closely at it and see the sections of colour inside and the words cut into the package I think it becomes more clear that the piece is about foreign cultures and their traditions being sent over to us to buy and try to experience. I think the way Hew Locke has designed the piece is successful because the unnatural angles and way it's placed and set up make it inviting for me to go and look closely at it. The small glimpses you get of the colour inside are clever as they allow you to see enough to understand the piece yet it isn't glaringly obvious and remains fairly subtle.

Evaluation of introduction to 2D design

After having a 2 week introduction to 2D design, I am certainly more aware of 2D design in my everyday environment - from wall paper patterns to road signs, they all must be designed by a 2D designer of some sort. I think my ideas of what 2D design can involve has definitely broadened.

The one particular discipline I was most interested by was typography. This was because I found it really interesting looking at typography artists and how typography can be made in such a large variety of ways. Posters and pieces of art could be purely typography and still be just as successful if not more successful than pieces including images.



Isidro Ferrer

Solene LeBlanc

These two artists above especially inspired me as they created their typography in such an unusual way. It really emphasised to me the fact that typography is so important and can be much more versatile than just digital ready made fonts.


'A Concrete Identity' Article from Creative Review August 2013

Whilst reading Creative Review, I found an article called 'A Concrete Identity' about the Barbican in London and how its identity has changed and developed over the years through working with various artists.

I found this article particularly interesting as it explained why certain design decisions were made and it shows the progression from how it looked in 1982 up until now. For example, the current font used in the Barbican logo is Futura. The designers were looking at geometric fonts, especially ones with single-storey 'a's and chose Futura because of the circular letterforms which naturally fitted with the building's architecture and half-roundel logo. This article also explains problems which were encountered such as the designers being worried the new font would cause too many comparisons with a previous museum also using Futura. This interested me as it highlighted the factors the designers must consider when re-creating a logo. It isn't enough for the logo to just look appealing, it must also not be too similar to any others to ensure it's original and not confused with other companies. The final part of the article describes the latest change to Barbican's identity which was to remove the name from the carrier and place it vertically. This change was made to allow the name to be much larger on the poster/promotional material however the headline would still be read first. This specifically made me realise how much thought is put into the placing of all text and logos on different venue's identity - everything is put somewhere for a reason and the more thought which is put into it will usually create the more successful results.



Timorous Beasties

Timorous Beasties work, often used for wallpaper or fabric covers, is usually a repeated pattern. These two examples are two of my favourites as I think the composition of the example on the left is particularly successful. The small white areas around each of the illustrations means there is a good balance between pink and white so the piece remains quite light but with sections of strong colour. I also like the colours in the piece on the right as I think the green is quite an unusual shade which is complimented by the white. Because there are just two main colours, it means it would be effective in the home because if there were too many colours, it would be harder to match with other furniture. In addition, I like the way from further away it looks like an abstract pattern and although you can tell it's a repeated pattern it doesn't look too regimented or harsh and when you come closer, you see all the details in the illustrations and different shades in the background.

Noma Bar

I find these pieces by Noma Bar particularly successful because of their simplicity but complexity at the same time. Using a few shapes he has managed to create an image which when looked at one way can portray one object but when looked at in a different way can also been seen as another. He has managed to make complex designs appear effortless, clean and crisp which I think has been achieved mainly through the colour palette. The limited colours he has used gives the shapes a bold outline which is also emphasised by the lack of detail. Personally, I find it exciting to look at his work and discover what different objects he has managed to combine together. It makes me want to spend more time looking at his work to see what is hidden inside each piece. Because it is so subtle, you must look at his work in a way you may not look at other artists' work, considering how the positive and negative shapes could be different objects. Overall, I think his work has been well thought out to engage the viewer into his pieces.