James was really helpful for my feedback, and assured me that I didn’t need to do anything more for my professional development as it’s on the very top end of excellent, except to perhaps look into the inc space, and to just get on with my artwork, which is definitely underway. I described everything I had already done since the assessment, including my booked plinth workshop on Thursday, the projectors and speakers I’ve booked, and what I had left to look for. James seemed happy with this progression, and advised me to play around with the curating of my pieces, and to also document every decision I make and the process behind it. James also advised me to think carefully about the positioning of the speakers to ensure they won’t clutter the space up at all, which I’ll definitely bare in mind when I start setting up.
Month: March 2019
Updated Exhibition SketchUp Plans
The curating of my exhibition has now changed, as I’ve seen the space I have, which will be three faces of wall, and a corner piece wouldn’t necessarily look great, and might just leave my piece looking cramped.
Therefore I’ve decided to use the back wall of the dark space I have. This sketchup design will help me process how I want my piece to look like, and even added the detail of the projector slit in the plinth to see how that would look. I didn’t add the speakers because I think I’ll need to play with them more while I’m setting up to make sure they won’t clutter the space at all.
The space plan I’m working with for the exhibition;
Diffusion Internship – Day 8
Today will consist of a busy removal and packing day from Turner House, Penarth, to a storage space in Cardiff. I’ll be helping the removal company pack the van with the items, then start on the rest of the filling, sanding, and painting of the two gallery spaces. I’ll also be busy in the meantime ordering the portaloos I was searching for last week, ready to be delivered early next week.
Most of the reception room is now ready to be used, as I was busy painting the high ceilings and walls all afternoon with another intern, Alex, who will be based at Turner House. I also cleaned the floors and dusted the skirting boards so that it looks great before I leave to start on the space at Shift. Turner House has been great practice for Shift, as I know specifically how Ffotogallery likes their spaces and aesthetic.
I’ve also ordered the chairs for the Maker’s Fair event, which was important on the to-do list.
Marzipan – Performance Piece
The performance went really well today, and I managed to get the filming I required outside before it started to rain. I was also really pleased with the marzipan – it was really sticky and created a strange, fleshy look when I added red paint, which was brilliant for my creations.
The first scene consists of me in my garden filming a baking tutorial-themed video with a nervous/passive aggressive tone to what I’m narrating, stating things like “I wish I was as easy to manipulate” as I’m describing the marzipan. I also made it about making treats for my husband’s business party, which definitely sets a “trapped woman” theme.
The second scene is me decorating the red MDF board I had previously prepped with the marzipan “treats” I had modelled on my body previously, which looked similar to cherries/apples (each have their sexual/female connotations of breasts and temptation). I then finish by modelling the piece in front of the mirror, which has been a running theme throughout my films.
The film link is below;
I’m really happy with how it turned out, especially considering this is my first over 5 minutes piece, which I underestimated the editing time for. It was valuable to know for the future, and I believe that my planning and scripting is getting much more efficient with every film I make, and should be great for when I start picking which ones to display onto the boards.
Stills from the film that have been posted on social media;
And here are a few images of the board from the performance, which has now been varnished;
Planning my performance piece
I’m planning on doing my performance piece this weekend, preferably outside, thus will have to plan ahead with the weather, as we’re currently experiencing storm Gareth. Saturday will be fairly windy, and is promised rain in the afternoon, therefore I could get some work done in the morning if the wind isn’t too bad. However, Sunday looks much drier and less windy, thus would be much more ideal, despite the cooler temperatures.
My plan is to use the marzipan I’ve recently bought after researching into other materials that might make more sense to what I’m trying to do. I found that Bedwyr Williams used marzipan as skin in a performance piece a few years ago, and I’m really excited to try it out.
This performance, like the previous once, will be filmed and edited to use in my final piece. I’ll have to see how long the marzipan lasts out of packaging making this too, and see if I will actually be able to use it for the show, therefore this will be a great practice run. I’ll also be putting paint and PVA glue on top to see how well that preserves the marzipan.
Research indicates it should be okay for about a month, but will dry out, so I’ll have to look out for that too, in case it starts to crack and fall to pieces;
“Q Once I have opened a packet of shop bought marzipan how long can I keep it ?
A Like sugarpaste, once it is out of its packet marzipan will begin to dry out and harden so keep any unused marzipan double wrapped in small polythene food bags. Shop bought marzipan does not need to be kept in the fridge. The marzipan should be okay for about a month but check the manufacturer’s dates and instructions on the packet.”
Meeting with Neil Pedder – Projector set-up for exhibition
Neil was incredibly helpful and offered me a lot of advice for my exhibition set-up. He first let me know that a short-throw projector wouldn’t work for me, as my boards would be too small and the large scale projection couldn’t be sized down. Therefore, I’ve booked out 4 standard digital projectors which fit perfectly on my boards, which was certainly a relief. Neil also showed me the speakers I could use, and I decided that the white smaller ones would fit the aesthetic of the plinths much better.
We then went on to discuss the requirements of keeping the projector on, which was to not let it overheat. Neil spoke about how I could put the projector in the plinth instead of on top, which would lesser the fan’s noise, and to also put a hole/few holes on the side of the plinth where the fan would be to ensure plenty of air was inside.
This was all very helpful for my final decisions on what I’ll be preparing in the next few weeks, and ticked a lot of boxes. All I have left to do on the technical side is to look for 1-4 media players, as they are on the low at university. They are a bit to expensive for my budget, so I’ll be asking around places like G39 to see if I could borrow any. I’ve also ordered extension cables for the devices, and looking into ordering new USBs type 3.0 to use for the exhibition.
Woodwork – Plinth Making for exhibition
Before meeting with Nigel, I measured the plinth I already had which measured;Length – 123cm (without lid 122cm), Width – 35cm; and Length of cable hole – 3.5cm, Width – 5cm
This was to ensure I had enough wood delivered next week to start building. I organised with Nigel to go to his office at Thursday 2pm to have a quick workshop on plinth making, since I only need a reminder. I also met up with Neil Pedder who gave me a better idea of how I should build my plinths to look slicker – the first drawing was quickly made by him, and the second is my plan ready to take with me Thursday.
My plan is to instead have the projectors placed on top of each plinth, instead have them inside on top of shelves; these shelves will be for the projector (that will sit on the top shelf), the Media Player Box (which will be the middle shelf) and a bottom area for the extension cable lead and wires to be hidden away. The wires will exit the plinth through a side hole at the very bottom, leaving a much tidier look, which is certainly something I aim for. I want the plinths to be near perfect, resembling the gallery plinths that hold traditionally ideal women made of stone, and will also echo my Pygmalion references.
Meeting L4 – Helping with exhibition set-up
My Level 4 helper is Sadie Mansfield, who I met this morning to discuss what I’ll need her to help me with. I arranged the dates we were both usually free during the week, which seemed fine on both ends. I’ll probably need help with plinth making, such as the painting and moving, and also perhaps the hanging of the MDF boards I’ll be using, which would be really good since it would be really difficult to do by myself.
Sadie seemed really happy to help, which was great, and we’ve exchanged contact details and have each other on social media for quick access to each other. I’m beginning my plinth build next Thursday afternoon, after I meet with Nigel to go through it with me again, therefore won’t need her help until then.
We also discussed each other’s artworks, which are different, but Sadie’s currently busy doing abstract art at the moment with Field, which definitely correlates with my work!
Diffusion Internship – Day 7
Today was filled with admin stuff as the time is approaching to start the Shift prep. I was asking Beca from Creative Cardiff final ideas for what she wanted for the Show and Tell event, which is seen in a screenshot below;
I’ve also been assigned the reception area prep, which I’d already began by researching into furniture for the design of it, as well as collecting information for the tools audit.
I was also spending hours trying to get quotes by Portaloo companies around Cardiff, and emailed my Findings to my manager, Ayu. All of this was put onto my work log spreadsheet, which will help my other intern half, Naomi, understand where I’m at for when she takes over tomorrow.
Diffusion Internship – Day 6
We finished packing everything up today, and even put down the glass shelf, which was difficult due to its strange design. While everything was packed up, we thought it would be easier to box everything up for the Ffotomatig machine before putting them away too, just to save time when we begin set-up. We also cleaned up and had a tidy from painting and filling. This took all day, which meant it went quickly!
saratrouble 