Final outcome - Idea 2

Developing my final outcome idea,  I have decided that I want to change the shape of its structure to make the large piece interactive. I feel that it needs to be interactive due to its size and also how my theme revolves around an isolated individual and how others see them. Therefore, I want the viewers to be able to connect with how the individual is feeling when they see my artwork. To do this, I want to make my final outcome cylindrical to create a cocoon that the individual lives in. Whilst still keeping the back and sides textural and dark, I will take a section out the front so that I can put my acetate responses at the front in representation of the façade. To make the cylinder I have purchased two large weighted hula hoops that have to be fitted together so that it is strong enough to hold the fabric that I will fix to it. I have bought two so that one will go at the top and one at the bottom so that a cylindrical shape is maintained all the way down. As the hula hoops come in pieces, it means that I can leave some pieces missing so that there is an opening at the front. I am going to use fabric to connect the hoops together and this is what I will work onto. I have experimented using cotton drill, but am yet to experiment using Tyvek. I will fold top and bottom of the fabric and stitch it together so that a hole is formed at each end so that I can thread the hula hoops through to cover them. Furthermore, I did think about joining the sides of the cylinder together by attaching the acetate to each side and creating a flat surface to create a screen for the viewer to look through. I decided against this as I think that doing so would make the composition look too complex in terms of flat and curved sides. So, my next idea was to bend the acetate so that it curved to the same degree that the cylinder did, but I also didn't like this idea as it would've meant that the room lighting would reflect off it at angles that I wouldn't want. Plus, as I am going to work on a large scale, I wouldn't be able to use acetate as it comes in sheets that aren't big enough and so I would need to find a transparent medium that is easily malleable to work on. 

Then I came back to the drawing board and focussed on the word I mentioned earlier 'interactive', and thought, what if I make the viewer become the individual that is experiencing a Kafkaesque state - this was what sparked my final idea. So, taking advantage of the cylindrical shape that I have decided to use, I want to plant the viewer of my artwork right in the centre of the structure so that they can immerse themselves within the individual's emotions. This means that I will have to open up the front section so that people can walk in and out of the centre. I will also make the cylinder just big enough to fit one person in so that they experience it by themselves without influence from others. I think that if it was wise enough to fit a group in then it could be interpreted that my theme is based on wider societal issues rather than about an individual. To incorporate the aspect of there being a façade, I will suspend pieces of acetate from the ceiling so that this element is still present. Hanging the acetate with watered-down acrylic paint on in sections allows the fragility of a façade to be more obvious rather than using just one screen. I will position these pieces so they hang symmetrically as I believe this will give the composition balance and also this will make it easier for people to walk into the centre. In regards to the shape of the pieces, I haven't decided what shape I am going to cut the acetate yet. This is because I am stuck between two ideas: 1) having them curved to accentuate the fluidity and the longevity of the upkeep of a façade or 2) having them square to represent how a façade can become fragmented. As the acetate will be able to be moved, this demonstrates how outside factors can cause a shift or a hole in someone's façade to catch a glimpse of what is really going on inside someone's life.

This way I can capture all the aspects of a façade that I have been exploring throughout my sketchbooks; escapism, fragility and maintenance. 

Diagram of my final outcome idea

In terms of size, as this is all to do with what is going on in the mind, I thought that I could make it face length so that only the head is inside the composition to emphasise the concept of depression being internal. However, people are different heights and if so for this to work, the height of the composition would have to be able to be adjusted. Now, I could attach the whole thing to rope that is on a hook and stand there and adjust it manually, but I don't want to interfere with their experience with my work and sway their outlook on my chosen concept. Adjusting the height would take too much attention away from what is at hand and give a chaotic feel to the experience as a whole. As I want the viewer to have a raw experience that is personal to them, I am going to make the composition long enough so that the majority of people would be able to stand inside and be immersed within the piece. This means that I can incorporate all people and portray how everyone is susceptible to a Kafkaesque state and can experience times like this. 

Final outcome - Idea 1

For my final outcome I have been thinking about ways that I can combine all three of my artist influences, along with my theme of Kafkaesque and depression vs. escapism and façade. I want to portray the juxtaposition between these concepts using my artwork to display the issues that a person has and how they deal with it.
I had an idea to build a large scale piece so that it is the height of a person - as this is what my theme revolves around, the individual. Focussing on trying to emphasise the juxtaposition between my concepts, I thought that I could take influence from the work that I have been doing based on layering, and layer my bright, escapist work over the dark, depressed textural compositions that I had been completing. However, I want to make my final outcome more interactive, so I thought about making a large square structure so that it appears more interesting as it is 3D, rather than opting to work on 2D like a canvas. The two sides and the back of the structure would be include my gloomy responses on a larger scale on the inside. I would restrict my work to being on the inside of the structure to reflect how these are emotions that are going on inside someone's head and to reflect that they are personal to that individual. I have chosen to make the majority of the composition include the darker work that I had been doing to present that these negative thoughts are consuming most of the individual's time and to portray how this is a big aspect of that person's life. I want to show to my viewer that you don't always know what is going on inside someone's head and that you shouldn't be quick to jump to conclusions. As I am working in the genre of abstract expressionism, I think that this will allow the viewer to stand back and think about what my final outcome is representing as it isn't entirely obvious due to it not being figurative.
So after having thought about representing Kafkaesque and depression, I moved onto how I could represent the theme of escapism and façade. To do this, I would focus the front section of the square structure around these two concepts. By making this side the front section, I am trying to convey that others only see what that individual wants them to see when it comes to their emotions surrounding personal issues. I want to use the work I have been doing using watered-down acrylic paint as this portrays how someone tries to escape negativity with exploration and discovering new hobbies. As the product of the soak-stain technique is fluid and interlocking, the colours mixing together reflect how a façade is built in different sections as that person learns what is easy enough to do for them to be able to sustain their bright persona to the outside world. After working onto acetate, this allows me to accentuate the presence of a façade as when watered-down acrylic paint is poured onto it, they appear translucent. However, if I was to work on a large scale I would need to work onto a material that was thick enough to stand up without collapsing, so I could use Perspex as this is more sturdy that acetate. Using this would allow the other three parts of the structure that are beyond the front section to be seen, but only with limited effect due to it being translucent and not transparent.

I then made a small-scale model version of what I wanted my final outcome to look like:

This is a photograph of the finished product of the model of my final outcome. As I have explained above, the sides and the back are covered in the textural work that I had been doing in my sketchbook. These a mixed media pieces which create a busy, confused and dark emotion when used together. I have layered newspaper, textured wallpaper, magazine and my own photographs which I have torn to create a rough texture along with a disjointed feel to represent fragmented thoughts. 

 Furthermore, I have added vast amounts of charcoal to build dark tone on each side to reflect the internal mood of an individual. As charcoal is a soft medium, I have been able to blend it easily to create specific areas of dark tone. As well as this, as I made this model out of corrugated cardboard, the charcoal has picked up on the texture of it and therefore created horizontal lines across each side. I did not intend this to happen, however I had been using textured wallpaper in my sketchbook to rub charcoal onto and so the idea of horizontal lines representing depression never ending is still being conveyed through this model even if I did not intend it to. On the side at the back I have stuck a colour copy of one of my photographs, although this includes context in terms of my experiences, I think that I should've used a copy that was in black and white. This is because this would create more of a contrast between the Kafkaesque state and the façade and so would make the juxtaposition easier to be seen by the viewer. Keeping the photograph in colour makes the back section have a hint of happiness, whereas if I used a black and white copy it would emphasise the dull mood and add more tone.

When looking at the model for my final outcome, I noticed that, because of the acrylic paint being watered-down, the bright colours weren't attracting enough attention like they normally would if the paint was used in its usual consistency. However, after experimenting with thick acrylic paint onto acetate (in my sketchbook), I knew that doing this wouldn't create the fluid effect that I wanted. So instead, to combat my issue with the vibrancy of the paint, I started putting light (with a torch) behind the front section to see if this made the colours more noticeable. This did make the colour and the marks of the paint more prominent and focusses the attention onto the façade. This focus is important as an individual who is experiencing this Kafkaesque state wants others to only see the façade that they have built and to keep their inside emotions private. Using a light source accentuates this concept and makes it more difficult to see the darker inside without completely stopping the viewer from doing so.

Close up of the light shining behind the acetate.

Using watered-down acrylic onto acetate

After doing a selotape transfer of an image in my sketchbook responding to Chila Burman, I found that I wanted to extend this idea of creating a translucent façade that a person has. As I am looking at the theme of escapism in regards to an individual withdrawing themselves from a Kafkaesque state, I wanted to incorporate Helen Frankenthaler's soak-stain technique that I had previously been using to accentuate the concept of upholding a façade. Looking at escapism allows the viewer to see how an individual does want to break free from a Kaftkaesque state. I chose to work onto acetate as this is transparent and would allow me to create a translucent piece of artwork to represent the fragility of a façade and how difficult it is to maintain one. This would allow me to juxtapose my two themes; Kafkaesque and escapism, perhaps by overlapping the different styles I have been working in to create a juxtaposition between concepts.

I began experimenting using this technique onto acetate at home, but when I added the watered-down acrylic, I thought that due to its thin consistency, it wouldn't soak into the acetate because it has a plastic finish. I completed two experiments like this and then moved onto applying acrylic paint in its usual thickness to the acetate. I manipulated the paint with a piece of corrugated cardboard which formed many marks on the acetate which were thin and close together, creating a rough texture which portrays how upholding a façade can be a difficulty at times. As I made these marks using long strokes, it represents the extensive length of a journey from a Kafkaesque state to a positive mindset. These marks are curved and sometimes go in different directions to show how an individual makes quick, rash decisions when they feel overwhelmed by outside pressure, for example, work deadlines. As I have used acrylic in its normal consistency, the paint hasn't been allowed to mix, even when I was overlapping the colours, this is because the paint itself would dry before being able to soak into the acetate itself before merging with other colours on the sheet. This has given the compositions a disjointed feel and so reflects indecisive thoughts that are dealt with in a Kafkaesque state. Although the blue and the purple are harmonious colours, they don't give a fluid vibe to the composition and so they emphasise this rocky journey further.

However, my aim was to create a largely juxtaposing composition to my textural responses to Mark Tobey and Chila Burman and I didn't think that I had accomplished this because I was still creating a rough texture but instead with bright colours. After going back to my first two experiments (watered-down acrylic paint), they had in fact dried but just took significantly longer to than the ones where I used acrylic paint at its usual thickness. I then completed some more experiments using watered-down acrylic onto acetate and allowed them to dry overnight. Doing this allowed a more fluid vibe to be emitted from the composition. They also appear to be smoky due to their translucent nature which reminding me of the term 'smoke and mirrors', which is often used to define when someone is obscuring the truth, and in essence this is what a Kafkaesque individual does to hide what is really going on. However, as I am thinning the paint, the pigment in the paint also thins and so I have lost the stark, vivid colour that I had in the previous experiments. I am going to need to experiment with paint to water ratios so that I can still get a strong enough colour to represent a content feeling that an individual is trying to emit, whilst still being able to see through it to capture the concept of a façade.

Installation artist influence

' The term installation art is used to describe large-scale, mixed-media constructions, often designed for a specific place or for a temporary period of time.'

Cornelia Parker

Cold Dark Matter: an Exploded View

Medium - Wood, metal, plastic, ceramic, paper, textile and wire

Dimensions - Unconfirmed: 4000 x 5000 x 5000 mm

This composition uses objects to symbolise transience and fragility, it is made of familiar domestic items that are created from the explosion. The whole space is turned into a sculptural environment due to the shadows that have been made by the presence of the damaged objects. This artist take influence from war, specifically from the British Army, as this is an exploded garden shed.

I have been influenced by this artist in terms of the way that her installation piece is displayed as it is suspended from the ceiling. I think this makes the composition look incredibly interesting and it also emphasises the sheer scale of her work. Furthermore, this explosion revolving around the British
Army could reflect how there is a fragmentation within their mind due to common illnesses associated with the Armed Forces; PTSD. As this structure is rigid, it represents how there is a harsh structure to the environment that the soldier/individual finds themselves in and so this can seem very uniform and overwhelming if this routine is too busy.I like the idea of using rigid materials to present a rigid routine and so I want to see if I can find a material that is rigid that I could work onto. I have already experimented working onto board, perhaps I could work onto plywood or plastics. I could use this idea of there being many parts to portray how many factors can contribute to depression. I like how this composition casts shadows around the room and therefore it spans more than just the physical aspect of it. This creates an eery mood which seems controlling due to the large size of the shadows. In my final piece, I could use light to create shadows to represent an encompassing darkness that the individual finds themselves in.

http://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/i/installation-art


Cerith Wyn Evans  
Forms in space ... by light
This collection is made from almost 2km of neon lighting, which has been configured into straight lines, sweeping curves and spiralling forms, and hung from the ceiling. He has expanded his practice to incorporate sculpture, photography, film and text to communicate his influences from language and perception. He uses a wide range of illumination in his compositions which display theatrical atmospheres.

Like the composition above, this is also suspended from the ceiling and I think this is something that I am going to do in my final piece as it makes the composition more interesting in terms of space. As the piece is elevated, it almost has a lost connection with the ground and so I could use this to show how an individual can lose touch with reality. I also like how the lighting has sweeping curves and this relates to the work in the style of Helen Frankenthaler that I have been doing with the soak-stain technique. I have been inspired by this artist to incorporate the fluid work that I have been doing in my sketchbooks. I want to be able to bring both of my style of works together to create a juxtaposition between my concepts - depression and escapism. I could take influence from Evans in terms of the strokes that I make and the movement this then creates. In this photograph, there is a lady standing underneath and this had led me to think about how I am going to get the viewer involved with my final piece. I want to create an interaction between the viewer and my artwork, so I am going to think about how to do this. I think I could either have the final piece completely above head-height like this composition, or allow the viewer to step inside my final piece. At the moment, I think that having my final piece above head-height would mean that not much of my artwork would be seen if I worked onto 2D. Therefore, I think I will allow the viewer the chance to step inside my final composition as this links with my theme better as I could create a mind frame of a depressed individual.

http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/tour/tate-britain-commission-2017/audio-description-illumination

Experimenting with layers using Chila Burman as an influence

Since I have been combining several techniques, I thought that it would be beneficial for me to experiment using layers, for example with newspaper. As my holiday in Barcelona was such big milestone for me - my first abroad holiday without my parents - I wanted to bring this into my work. I have done this by collaging photographs from this holiday with newspaper and a magazine that I got from the trip to London. These three media forms all link to my experiences, having collected them on the way. I have tried to use these in a way that portrays my theme of 'Kafkaesque' and the idea of escapism. I have taken influence from one of my artists, Chila Burman, as much of her work is based around collage and her own experiences. Throughout Burman’s work, the effect of her experience is clear and I want to try and replicate this striking idea,

Here I have collaged the materials I have mentioned above. I began with tearing sections of newspaper and sticking them in the background, these pieces offer some tonal representation to the composition due to the black text. I have layered pieces of magazine over this which have a smoother texture than the newspaper as the paper is glossier. This means that the tonal representation seems looks raw in terms of an earthy material and so creates a rough texture. Whereas the magazine looks modern, current and manufactured to produce perfection. These two mediums provide a contrast between someone’s rough thoughts versus their cleaner finished routes of escapism, for example a hobby. In the centre, I have collaged a photograph of a company filming in the evening, where they had bright white screens to illuminate the setting. There is a vivid contrast between the dark night and the white screens which reflect the two personas of a person that is battling with depression and attempting to portray a bright self. I have added hazy white chalk marks over the top of this to show the fragility and temporary nature of someone's outer fascade.

I have printed my photographs of a landscape on Barcelona in black and white and also enlarged them to slightly distort their realistic nature. The one I have used in this composition is of a tree which appears quite eary when you can only see the tone. This juxtaposes the reality of the blue sky and green leaves and suggests how different people see the world- situations may be Kafkaesque to some and not others. I have tried to capture the contrast between this and an individual's route of escapism by transferring in image of a piece of graffiti over the top - art being a way that helps people to divert their thoughts. I didn't add any pieces of magazine to this composition as I wanted the transfer to be the only glossy texture in it to truly capture the contrast between a person's dull interior and sugar-coated exterior.