Street Art at Herbert Gallery

As I was visiting the Herbert Gallery in Coventry, I found out about "Street Art", a free exhibition, and knew I should have a look round. Street art and graffiti are one my main focuses in my practice and I am trying to develop my own style so I was happy to find out more about different graffiti artists and the styles they have branched out into, especially as each is ladened with personal styles and effects.

video diary

These are a few examples of individual pieces or artists that I liked from the exhibition:

Swoon 

Swoon's technical graffiti is amazing, with the sheer effort it must take. Each image is extremely detailed and worked into, with multiple subjects within the image. It is almost like the images are built up over time. Either way it is obvious that they aren't painted with spray paint. With further research I found out that Swoon uses painted paper cut outs that she then plasters to walls. It's a technique completely different to anything else I've come across before and I love the detailed effect it has. I'd like to research the techniques further that Swoon uses to see how simple it really is, and if it would be something I'd try myself.

 Lucy McLaughlan

Lucy McLaughlan uses black and white palettes, similar to my own work, yet she also uses imagery that appears to be animal symbolism. All of the figures in her work are drawn in an exaggerated way so the faces are distorted. They are also all combined together to make a sort of pattern, added to by the wavy lines and small designs woven into the figures. I like how adventurous her designs her, how they manifest into different shapes that I wouldn't expect, yet I wouldn't pick this style to research into further.

Deadbeat Donny

I love Deadbeat Donny's punk, rough, edgy cartoon-like style; everything looks like it took little effort and as though the artist was scribbling over something important. The punk style appears to be aggressive and hasty, but its a style I like and appreciate. It seemed like the type of artwork that could be found on a schoolbook when a student is messing around, but I like that aspect of it; it doesn't look like "typical" graffiti in the contemporary sense but it's interesting and fun for that very reason.

Pure Evil

Pure Evil's work takes existing iconic images, and distorts or changes them for their own agenda. In "666" which I saw at the exhibition, the famous Beatle's album cover for "Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club" has been transformed into a who's who of the most evil figures from history (or in Pure Evil's mind at least). What I liked most about this piece is the blatant cut and paste job used to make this seminal album cover an evil "parade". It looked like something I can do, and the simple way it was done made it look like a joke at your expense, but it still made you smile.

Sally O'Reilly

O'Reilly's lecture was actually a screening of her film "A Rolling Stone: The dynamics of cliche", which was a welcome change from the traditional lecture structure. The documentary-style art film provoked thought about the ideas of cliche by using cliche itself. Imagery such as trees as a symbol for rebirth and life were repeated throughout the film. Overall I didn't make many notes on the film, watching it instead and letting it wash over me. I have to admit that I didn't connect to the work much, it wasn't bad but it didn't inspire me either. I liked the ideas behind the work; the use of cliches can work for or against a piece. It's well known that obvious cliches can really put the viewer off, unless using a cliche to become an icon, which will then unite the viewer with other members of the audience.

Thomas Thwaites

Thomas Thwaites was very shy when speaking about his art practice, it felt as though he wanted to justify each and every action, which was endearing, as an art student I know how it feels to be critiqued. In his own words he described him as "a designer... of speculative sorts". His medium of practice is technology, something I don't come across often as I don't find it that interesting. He decided to present to us his "Toaster Project" which started with the quote "Left to his own devices, he couldn't build a toaster. He could just about make a sandwich and that was it" from The Beginner's Guide To The Galaxy (a book turned film). He decided at that point that seeing as he didn't know how to make a toaster either,  he'd learn how to. He looked up on wikipedia "how to make a toaster" articles and wrote down the websites description. Thwaites then bought the cheapest toaster he could, so he could take it apart and look at the individual bits that made it up.
The 5 main materials were steel, mica, plastic, copper and nickel so Thwaites had to research where to find these materials. He asked whoever he could from mines and factories how to mine and make key materials. He ended up making everything from scratch and even moulded and built up the circuits to make up the toaster.

As you can see, the resulting toaster (above) looks bloody terrible, but the whole point of the piece was to investigate the processes into making a toaster rather than slavishly reconstructing one. Although I'm glad the toaster I have at home doesn't look like that.
Thwaites also had the cheeky idea of trying to sell his toaster at John Lewis on their shop floor. Funnily enough no one wanted to buy it, especially as he put the price as around £1000 due to the cost of the raw materials and work put it.
There ended up being quite a bit of publicity due to this project from both sides of the environmental debate, but Thwaites has said that the art piece is open to interpretation rather than taking a stance. He was more interested in the knowledge, time and effort that go into mass production of goods.

Thwaites also discussed future visions of business and environment and how they may work with or against each other.
Thwaites was asked "are humans becoming obsolete against technology?", a question we all wanted to hear his opinion on, to which he replied that he didn't think humans would ever become completely obsolete but by wanting change that "tearing down the system won't help: evolution, not revolution"

Polytechnic

The Polytechnic exhibition was an example of artists work from the late 1970's to the early 1980's, but what connects the artists is the way that they experimented with their practice with a focus on narrative. 

Many of the works were video pieces, such as "Lenny's Documentary" by Ian Bourn, one of my favourite film pieces at the exhibition. It was based on the grainy black and white films from the 60's, but with a documentary twist. "Lenny" uses the camera as some sort of confessional, discussing his background and life, particularly focusing on class differences, in a frank and candid way.

I chose to photograph this piece of artwork due to the interesting way the photographs were laid out in the room. I felt like the walls were unstable and that I was walking through something temporary, making me want to take in the art work before it vanished. Yet they also became part of the furniture of the room. The photographs themselves are of sets of rooms, recording the intersections and spaces. The pieces create a dialogue with the question of space.

This piece of art work really struck a chord with me; I found it haunting yet fascinating at the same time. I was confused about exactly what I should feel as opposed to what I felt. All I wanted to do was read every minute detail and find out the stories of what appeared to be the gravestones of heroes. By that I mean someone who saved another, unfortunately perishing themselves.

The plaques are arranged into the shape of a diamond, implying that the monuments could continue on around  the shape, even covering the wall. The piece constructs questions about identity and heroism; what makes a hero? Will we be remembered as hero's after we're gone?

Rene Daniels at Camden Arts Centre

The Rene Daniels exhibition was split into three main groups, dependent on the aesthetic, and the context, of the works. Unfortunately I lost all the photographs I took at the time (thank you Lumix), so once again Google has saved the day.

The first "section" of the exhibition was very intense; the paintings all contained heavy but bright colour schemes. The room felt quite gaudy and intoxicating as red was the main colour in the room.  

This piece "Cocoanuts" grabbed my attention with it's incredibly bright colours and the crazy upside down beard. The subject matter could be painted for humour or simply non-sensical imagery. Another painting "Untitled" was a scene of a farm, covered in smoke and creating a picture of destruction.

The second "section" of works were identified by images of repitition, usually with bright colours and broad strokes aesthetically. Much of the subject matter appeared to me to be about the idea of what it is to be human; whether creating a dialogue about society or exploring the process of thought. The namesake of the exhibition, "Painting on Unknown Languages" featured what appeared to be many panels of glass on a plain blue background. The pattern of the panels tapered each side (like a slideshow sequence on Mac Pro). I interpreted the painting as a dialogue between the conscious and the unconscious, with the glass panels representing frames of thought.

This painting (above) was the most interesting to me, as I interpreted the aggression and a certain cannibalistic connotation, as the fish appear to be eating each other, and become some sick scene of human nature, where mankind seems to destroy each other. Many of the paintings appear to be friendly but menacing, with bright coloured acrylic paints and a dream like way of painting.

The third "section" was a lot more childlike, but looked like cartoons, as the black and white sketches were quite rough but with splashes of colour they were refreshingly simple. The white temporary walls were in diagonal angles and images were painted onto them; figures, trees and words were painted in quite a childish style as the words became another (or made up) language. I liked how different this part of the exhibition was, a complete contrast to the first section. 

Nina Beier at Laura Bartlett Gallery

The Nina Beier exhibition was quite disappointing, as the gallery itself was incredibly small. In fact, the group I went with couldn't all fit in the room at once. The art works were definitely affected by this as I didn't feel I could view and then connect with the pieces properly.

The exhibition itself included a number of covered canvas', by which I mean box shapes were fastened to the walls in the shape of what could have been canvas' and were covered in black fabric, which meant you were unable to see through it. We were told by the curator that underneath the fabric were Pop art posters and illustrations. I have to admit that I didn't appreciate this exhibition as much as others. Whether that was to do with me not connecting to the exhibition by not understanding it, or because of how claustrophobic I felt, the point missed me completely and I ended up feeling frustrated because of that.

Walter Swennen

Swennen's main medium is by using "objets trouvee", or found objects, to produce works that borrow iconography or become almost 3D due to his use of thick grained paint that he mixes himself. What is apparent is that Swennen makes his work personal by divesting much of his time recycling objects or substances to become something new. What Swennen does is make old useless objects functional again.

 As I discussed in the video above, the use of bold primary colours and cartoon-like style within this piece connote a childish and naive aesthetic, that draws the viewer in by appealing to their inner child. I did find that this type of piece that Swennen produced mirrors the basic techniques of Pop Art; recognisable but grossly coloured shapes, thick dark lines and of course a simiplicity that keeps the viewer interested. I noticed that the majority of those who were in the exhibition smiled when they saw this style of piece, showing how approachable the Pop Art style is.

One theme that reoccurs in Swennen's work is the use of text and image, particularly in the extremely pastel-coloured works such as this piece above. The thick paint is used to create a loose texture, giving up a narrative to become a formal painting. There is something quite sobering due to the quiet pale paint neighbouring the flamboyant pieces from before. This particular piece is an example of "archeological" art; where the dust, coffee etc is mixed in with the paint to give it a thick grainy texture that builds up with the layers. Not only that but the use of a found object to paint on also gives 

As you can see, the use of language in the painting adds to the connotation of layers, with some letters appearing to be covered up or "white washed". However what you can see seem to be painted in reverse, lending a childish quality to this otherwise quite mature painting. It looks like the words covered up are made up, gobbledegook basically. It reminded me of young children making up a language to confuse their parents, which made me grin quite abit. Overall there was something incredibly "likeable" with Swennen's work, whichever level you decided to view it on.

Something that impressed me was the curators passion for this exhibition; the juxtaposition of the pale and the coloured mixed together made the gallery space look cluttered in a homely way, it wasn't too intense but the overall effect was still attractive. Also the curator herself was able to answer any questions we had about the work or Swennen himself, something I haven't ever felt able to do in a gallery before. 

Freud Museum, London

The Freud Museum is one of the most famous tourist attractions in London; a surprisingly humble and small home in a residential area (I walked past it five times before seeing the museum sign). Due to Sigmund Freud's notoriety as a psychoanalyst, I was expecting the usual type of warehouse or gallery converted into an homage to Freud. Instead I was faced with what was somebody's home, covered in rugs, framed photographs and trinkets. 

Of course, the main focus of the house was the famous couch, where patients were seen and analysed. All over the house, extracts from Freud's essays, journals and letters were printed out and put next to photographs of his family and colleagues. 

Hew Locke at Hales Gallery

The Hew Locke exhibition was definitely one of my favourites, much to the disappointment of one of my tutors. I loved the effect that the beads gave, they looked like lines and drips of ink and also created a shadow on the wall behind them, making the entire room appear to come alive. Clearly the use of materials was a major choice in the installation; the beads can't have been easy to attach to the wall, let alone manipulate into the intricate detail of the images. The entire room was covered in the beads, that form a procession. The figures in the procession draw upon a lot of historical and contemporary references, such as Medieval frescos, Venetian architecture and Egyptian tomb paintings. They might appear to be cliches of the "Last Procession" but the idea of the endless parade of frightening figures transforms the old reproduced image.

The examples of the exhibition that I've shown here are some of my favourite images from the gallery. I loved the terrifying winged man the most; it has been beautifully created but it's also kind of creepy - my favourite style. The bead "drips" appear to be like chains, holding the winged man in some kind of void.

Banksy at DocFest '10

I've followed Banksy's work for a while now, and like his graffiti as well as his more recent ventures into installation pieces. His first film piece "Exit Through the Gift Shop" has had mixed reviews, which is like Banksy's work anyway; you either love it or hate it.

Here's the trailer to "Exit Through the Gift Shop"

The film itself is meant to be a documentary, although with Banksy's sense of humour I'd call it a "mockumentary" instead. The film features a man called Thierry whose interest in street artists has led him all around the world, filming their underground spray painting and avoiding the police. The documentary style seems to romanticise graffitiing, and the fact that it's against the law. But the way the artists are portrayed as quiet and removed from Thierry, no matter how much he described them as being like "family". When the film maker meets Banksy, who, as usual, is masked or pixelled out so he won't be identified, it seems as though Banksy was looking after the film maker, as he sets him tasks that Banksy later describes as "getting out of control". You get the feeling as though the narrative is meant to pull similarities from the story of Frankenstein's monster.

So, it turns out that Thierry Guetta, presented as Mr Brainwash eventually within the film, really is a graffiti artist, putting my previous theory pretty much in the bin.

Is Banksy’s ‘Exit Through the Giftshop’ a hoax too far? - The Times Online

No, it's not. It may be a hoax, but it's still funny. The fact that we all think that the film is a complete hoax only serves to show us how cynical we really are. Although the facts, timelines or events might have been set up to be more theatrical or comical than they really were, surely we watch films to be entertained? I may have been wrong about Mr Brainwash being a made up character, but I still loved watching the film. The rough handheld quality to the camera work FELT real, whether it was or not. I liked feeling like I could sneak peek at graffiti artists because I'm envious of them. I liked the character of Thierry because he was a loveable fool, which is exactly how Banksy wanted to portray him. He may make him look like a sneak for creating a media hub and attracting publicity to sell paintings, but then Banksy does the same thing. I still like the Frankenstein's monster metaphor: Banksy created the character of Mr Brainwash through this film, and then set him loose, seeming to regret it instantly, but it was too late. 

Mark McGowan

One thing I have to admit is, Mark McGowans lecture was by far the most interesting Transmission I've been to over the last two years. I'd heard of his work before in the news, but I hadn't remembered the name, just the controversial art itself. It was only the second time I'd heard of the artist before the lecture.

As you can see from the clips above, Mark McGowan's practice uses the media and controversy to make a statement, whether about British summer towns, the Royal family, war or vandalism. His work wouldn't exist without a reaction so he effectively manipulates the press to get attention and to get that reaction that he needs. Some of his performance pieces include; eating swan meat, running a tap constantly for two weeks, pulling a bus with his big toe, key scratching on cars and posing as a dead soldier on the street. He describes his work as "heartless art"and he knows if it's a good piece of art if it gets on the TV, just because he knows it's provoked a reaction.

One thing that surprised me was when McGowan said the the majority of the artists he knows hate his work, and that they feel he goes too far with some of his performances, such as the reconstruction of the 7/7 bombings in London. It was quite impressive that he didn't let negative critiques affect him or his practice but carried on being controversial.

McGowan uses the internet for his own gain, as well as the media, by using sites such as Facebook and Youtube to interact with the public as well as producing a huge amount of work that is always provocative. I was very surprised at how many performances he'd done in such a short time.

In something of a twist, McGowan also paints, although these are relatively unseen due to his performance work dominating his practice. The paintings were shown to us with a slight hesitation (whether for effect or genuine I'm not sure) and because of that, there was a ripple of laughter as his pieces were very naively "fun", there bright poster colours hit you to hide the quite disturbing content. For example, one showed a man on fire, stood in a street. The painting wasn't very technical, it looked like an child's attempt to draw a dream. But I quite liked the whimsical style, it was "cute" and endearing, quite a contrast to his angry performance style.

Sara Newman - The Independent (Interview)

A common misperception of me is ...

That I'm an idiot. Within the art world they definitely think I'm an idiot. I'm not sure if it's a misconception. I am interested in the idea of shame. A teacher told me at school, "you're an idiot. You're stupid". I wasn't very good at exams. Part of my art is to be portrayed as an idiot and to be seen as a fool. One of the things about shame is that when you do it in public it has a certain amount of power attached to it and you can use that power.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/the-5minute-interview-mark-mcgowan-artist-449867.html

 The above interview shows McGowan's "character" that he projects into the media. He is clearly not an idiot, but he plays up to the role of the fool, using humour and over-the-top reactions and statements to again gage a reaction and give a lasting impression with the public, which, despite many artists criticising his methods, works.

After the Transmission lecture, I added Mark McGowan on Facebook as he had mentioned he used his profile to upload video pieces. On his profile there was also a link to his new blog website so I was able to look at his video diary blogs from his job as a taxi driver, where he rants about anything and everything that annoys him. I quite liked the raw quality that a video diary captures; it is a piece that is completely in the moment it's made. As McGowan says "The power of performance lies in it not really being there".

Tony White

Tony White appeared to me to be an artist whose method of practice was completely alien to my own. Language based, his art work is in the form of books, which I must admit, I haven't come across often before.
He read aloud an extract from his book "Foxy T", where the language he uses is stereotypically "chav"-like, with swearing and phrases such as "innit" and "whatever", you could tell the language was modern young colloquialism that was written like dialogue. There were definite themes of tagging and graffiti that you tend to find more of in urban areas. The characters of Foxy T and Rougey Babe were both likeable and repulsive, as I tend to avoid characters like them in real life. When discussing his short story, White divulged that the catalyst for his book was a mini cab office closing down on the street where he lived. White felt that he couldn't tell what the office would become; he guessed a modern convenience point, such as an Internet cafe. Across from the office he spotted two girls hanging out, smoking and tagging, and he wondered: what would they become? He made a point and it made me start to think about my own upbringing, and who I am now, and who I could possibly become. It was a frightening prospect and White had definitely provoked more than one day dream. Especially in today's climate, Britain is in a state of confusion and rupture; where many can't or won't find a job, more and more shops close down everyday and life long dreams seem like a joke.
White also described his process of writing another book "Road Rage". He had three rules to stick by; 1) no research, 2) some act of sex or violence in each chapter and 3) write one chapter a day. This book focused on the subculture of "crusties", a fusion of punk and grebo, and was finished in two weeks.
On discussing his practice, White said he was looking for "rupture. My short fiction is my way of practicing visual arts" and also stated he wants to make his work free for all when possible, which is something I loved about his practice as I feel art should be available to everyone.

Juneau Project

Introduced by Allie Carr, the Juneau Project kicked off the beginning of this years Transmission lecture series "Provocation", a theme that promises a certain level of controversy and excitement, or at the very least inspiration. The Juneau Project are duo artists collaboration Phil Duckworth and Ben Sadler, working together since 2001. They choose a combination of sound, music, video, projection and installation as mediums for their pieces.


One of their first collaborations was the short film "Born in '82", commissioned in 2002 to mark the Queen's Jubilee. Instead of deciding on a conventional approach, "JP" picked a commemoration of the Queen's Silver Jubilee in 1977, when the Sex Pistols released their infamous punk single "God Save The Queen". This in itself is quite a provocative moment in history, where the furious backlash of the government ensured a hasty boycott of the single, despite it's number 1 spot in the music chart.
 The film itself comprised of a record playing on an outdoor patio table, with the camera focusing in and out as the record plays "God Save The Queen". The use of the camera roving around makes the film aesthetically beautiful - something I will come back to later. Dripped fuel on the record enforces the idea of aesthetic, particularly when the fuel is set on fire. As the record burns, a combination of image and sound (music distortion and crackling roar of the fire) becomes the epitome of destruction. The aesthetic of the flames, the distorted screeching song and the record player itself become intense and almost too much, saved only by the use of the handheld camera to ensure the film retains raw energy. As the record buckles from the fire it spins suddenly and the player begins to fall apart as the fire takes over. The artists step in at this point and blast the player with a fire extinguisher, which blows the record completely apart with a gunshot-like sound. This marks the end of the act of rebellion. I quite like how rough and unprofessional the video is, it makes the process of destruction aesthetically beautiful without being too cliche. Don't get me wrong, the music on the record player makes it appear like a music video, but I oddly like how naive the video seems, whilst carrying the message of aggression.

The link between music and art is continued in their work as "JP" themselves say they relate to artists as bands, which is best shown in their exhibition "Moving Average" at Flowers Gallery, a one day exhibition using performance art to imitate a band, blurring the lines between installation art and performance. The instruments are all invented and customised, giving them an industrial yet folksy aesthetic that adds to the theatricality of the performance.

The above video is a clip from the installation and film piece that consisted of squirrels being manipulated on film to look like they're playing intruments. JP made tiny squirrel sized instruments and put peanut butter inside them in locations that meant when filmed, the squirrels appeared to be playing them. They then scaled up the instruments to human size so that when someone plays the human size ones, a motion sensor played the film of the corresponding squirrel. This interactive art piece is not only hilarious to watch, but also discusses the power relationships between animals and people.

Another exhibition that plays with the idea of interaction between art and the public is"Cardboard Wars", a concept JP came up with where they ask members of the public to fashion themselves a costume and a weapon made out of cardboard, then to meet up and do battle. What intrigued me about the work more than the battle was how well JP documented the process and also the imagination of the public as the cardboard costumes were random and crazy but brilliant because of that. 

The Juneau Project use the style of folk art within their work, whether it's installation or sculpture, which i do appreciate as I like art work having a style that links it to the artist. However I'm not sure folk art is really my thing, the installation pieces by JP connect to me more.