Evaluation of Component 1

For my personal investigation I intended on unravelling the mind of a Kafkaesque individual - an example of this type of person would be where someone gets consumed so much by becoming wealthy, that they end up not being able to enjoy their success and have no time to relax. This term evolves from Franz Kafka's writings in which he explores many characters that are similar to this example. A Kafkaesque mind upholds connotations of hopelessness and being oppressed, thus leading me to delve into the common disorder of depression. I wanted to portray the emotion and feelings surrounding these two ideas which find themselves intertwining due to their meaning. I have explored abstract expressionism to do this as this genre is soaked in emotive artwork. I began by experimenting with making marks after being inspired by Mark Tobey's work to reflect my response to this supressed mind set. I quickly learnt that using charcoal best exposes a dark mood as it is very malleable - being smudged, rubbed out and used on different edges to provide an array of different marks. As this medium is tonal, it rids of any joyous mood that could be present, as if there was to be colour and instead it smothers the surface in an enigmatic mood. The copious amounts on tonal representation within these developments allowed for a deep, aphotic mood of the individual to be divulged. To thicken this mood, I sought inspiration from Chila Burman - an artist that uses to collage - and began to use a multitude of surfaces like newspaper, Tyvek and photographs, whilst examining ways in which best to convey my concept. I discovered that newspaper condenses my theme of portraying a depressed mind as it adds more tonal variation, due to it being monochrome in nature. Newspaper also assists in adding context to my work as it parades how depression stems from events that have happened in an individual's life. Additionally, I discovered that when Tyvek is heated that it condenses into small bubbly textures which stiffen and contrive an overall rigid texture. This intense texture allows for a locked, negative mind set to be exhibited, as well as portraying the rough experiences had whilst suffering with Kafkaesque/depression.
I hit a rut in analysing a depressive mind in this way and so looked at taking an opposite approach and perspective. I stumbled across Helen Frankenthaler's artwork which flourishes with lucid, transparent colours, inspired my nature. The nature of these colours lead me to look at how a depressed individual uses techniques to escape their disorder. Frankenthaler introduced me to a new technique called soak-stain in which watered-down acrylic is poured onto a surface and manipulated with any sufficient item - in my case, string. After experimenting in my sketchbook, I worked onto acetate and learnt that this accentuates the lucid, free nature of the colour. This transparent appearance led me to explore how people uphold facades as a coping mechanism of dealing with depression and so I have used these developments to portray this idea.
For my final piece I wanted to create an environment in which the viewer finds themselves trapped within a depressed mind and so I researched installation artists that would help represent this idea. Creating an installation means that the viewer can place themselves inside my final outcome and experience the emotion that the disorder entails. Throughout planning and construction of my mock final piece I hit many obstacles, for example, my outcome not reflecting a finalised conclusion of my body of work. In my final piece I formed a triangular structure in which I attached Tyvek that I had worked into with charcoal and newspaper on the inside, and black acrylic paint on the outside. Following this, I heated the Tyvek with the heat gun and also burnt holes into it so that I could place my colourful acetate refinements behind them which represent façade. After applying the acetate I heated them from the outside so that the outer part of the installation looks distressed. Furthermore, I glued black thread on the outside to emphasise the erratic, irrational thought pattern of the individual. The structure of the installation is narrow and so encloses the viewer within the mind set of the individual, only allowing them to see through the façade. I believe that my final outcome is successful in reflecting my concept, however if I was to do this again I would change aspects of it. For example, I would make an installation piece that is a lot larger so that the impact of the artwork is more dramatic, perhaps using a structure of a building to enclose the viewer rather than forming a structure myself. I would do this so that the scale of the installation portrays how overwhelming depression is, as I don't think that my outcome quite captures this due to its small size.

Photographs of my final outcome:

Continuing final piece

To make the structure of my final piece, I needed to make a frame for the Tyvek to attach to. I have made this using 0.6mm wood pieces. I cut blocks of wood that would fit into the corners of the triangle shape so that the structure was strong. I screwed the planks of wood to the blocks to ensure that they weren't going to come apart. This was quite time consuming as the blocks of wood were difficult to saw.
I then went onto nailing the Tyvek around the top of the frame. As the triangle structure is more narrow than the circular one in my mock final piece, I have made sure that there is a small opening at the back so it is easier for people to step into the installation.
For health and safety reasons, I then had to hand my final piece outside so that I could use the heat gun on the Tyvek. I first tried to hang the piece using fishing wire as it is clear and so has a professional finish. However, the fishing wire wasn't strong enough to hold the weight of the frame and the Tyvek and so I have instead used a thin metal wire to hold the installation. I have found that this is a lot more secure and also is definitely strong enough to uphold its weight.
Taking the heat gun, I used the highest heat setting to heat the Tyvek. This caused the Tyvek to condense into small bubbles and also form holes in some areas. Whilst I was doing this, I noticed the difference between how the Tyvek has shrivelled up this time, compared to in my mock final. The Tyvek has had a lot more room to manoeuvre this time, thus creating more of an interesting and dense texture. This texture provides a distressed, uncomfortable mood which is what I want to portray through my final piece as I have been exploring Kafkaesque and depression.

Refinements regarding mock final piece and how to overcome the flaws

Looking at my mock final piece I found that it wasn't emitting the dramatic impact that I had predicted. I thought that the installation would feel distressing and out of control to reflect a depressive mind, however it lacked the sheer intensity of these emotions. The use of marks on the Tyvek is beginning to build this idea of desperation and of a frantic mind set of the individual, but the effect of this isn't being portrayed as successfully as I thought it would have been.
As this didn't go as planned, I have looked back through my sketchbooks to see what is different between my refinements and the work that I did on my mock final piece. I came to realise that what was lacking was the amount of texture that the Tyvek was providing. When heated, Tyvek condenses into small bubbles and also stretches to form holes which the stiffen to create a rough, jagged texture. This is what my mock final piece was missing and this has happened because I have stuck newspaper to the entire surface area of the back. This has meant that the Tyvek has been weighted down by the newspaper, so the heat hasn't manipulated it fully and so only small textures have been drawn out.
To combat this I am going to look at ways in which I can add minimal newspaper so that the Tyvek has space to condense, without being restricted by another surface. To align with my concept of depression more concisely, I am going to select pieces of newspaper which include words that link to my theme, for example, hurt, desperate etc. So that I can create more contrast between the medium that I use (charcoal) and the surface (Tyvek), I am going to smudge some of the short, frantic marks that I make so that this soft texture contrasts the rigid Tyvek. Also I want there to be contrast in terms of tone and so as well as adding marks to the Tyvek using charcoal, I am also going to remove some of this tone using a rubber, in the same way that I could use charcoal. Additionally, I am going to vary the lines in terms if thickness to make the inside of the installation appear more interesting.
Additionally, I have evaluated the shape of the installation and I think that it is too open to represent a trapped, depressed individual. Therefore, I am going to make the structure narrower and have it in the shape of a triangle so that a more dramatic isolation occurs when the viewer interacts with it.

Update:
Planned refinements carried out onto Tyvek

Mock final composition continued

I have added the charcoal marks which I was inspired by Mark Tobey to make to convey emotion through the genre, abstract expressionism. Using charcoal means that I can create dark and dense marks to reflect a distressed mood. I have varied the thickness of the marks and so the lines are representing different levels of distress. For example, a large, wide mark is more prominent and so represents an extreme emotion of anguish. Furthermore, I have layered fine marks onto the Tyvek using continuos line to show that these emotions are ongoing and that overthinking situations is constantly happening.

After this I heated the Tyvek using the heat gun to reveal the media that I had stuck behind it. I chose to use newspaper and my own black and white photographs to add context to the final piece. They represent events that have happened in the individual’s life which have impacted their mental state, whether that be related to Kafkaesque or depression. I have also added splatters of black acrylic paint over the top to emphasise a confused mood, I did this by flinging the paint onto the Tyvek. This fast motion that I used means that a stressed mood is easily conveyed.

To refine my final piece further, I want to make use of the rigid textures that heating Tyvek provides. I have experimented with this in my sketchbooks and I think adding it to the installation would allow the rough textures to be prominent in portraying a negative mood. I am going to attach several pieces of Tyvek onto the final piece to make it 3D and more textural to really accentuate the distressed mood of a Kafkaesque/depressed individual. 

Next session of my mock final piece

In the session so far I have formed a channel for the hoop to feed through the Tyvek. This game together quicker than I planned as I thought it would take longer to do. I had planned to have a hoop at the top and the bottom of the installation, however I have decided against this now. This is because the main curvature of the structure can be achieved by using one hoop at the top. Doing this also means there is a free edge along the bottom that I will be able to use the heat gun on. When I was using the heat gun in my experiments, the edges of the Tyvek would create interesting shapes and folds. Therefore I am not going to use a hoop at the bottom so that I can form these shapes.

I have also used a thick needle to pierce through the Tyvek at the top an threaded fishing wire through so that when it comes to hanging, the installation is prepared to be hung. At the moment my final piece looks like this:

I am yet to add the charcoal marks to the inside and use the heat gun to create a rigid structure. I plan to do this in the next two hours, along with looking at hanging the entire installation itself.

I have chosen a corner to hang my final piece in as it adds to the idea of isolation and enclosement. Also the walls behind are bare and so there will be no distraction from the installation that is hanging. I am going to hang my final piece at head height so that when a person stands inside, the artwork is surrounding their head. I am going to do this so that it is clearer that the Kafkaesque/depression theme revolves around emotions.

Next stages of mock final piece

The next stage in making my final piece was to measure out the Tyvek and stick down the multimedia to it. I have used 2 metres of Tyvek to ensure that it will reach round the circumference of the hula hoops that I have bought to act as a frame. To create the desired effect, I have collaged newspaper and black and white photographs onto the back of the Tyvek, face down so that when I use the heat gun, the chosen parts show through. I anticipated that this would take up two 2 hour sessions, which in fact it did and so I am on track to reaching the deadline. During the first 2 hour session I thought that this process was taking quite long and may take longer than expected but I found that, once I took a step back at the end and looked, that I had filled half of the Tyvek. I then made sure that I filled the other half in the next session as I knew that it would be possible. As I am working on a larger scale, I have enlarged the scale of media that I was using. I have done this by tearing larger sections of newspaper and black and white photographs to collage.


 Moving forward, the next steps are to attach the Tyvek to the hula hoop by sewing a passage for it to be thread through. Then I need to make sure that I will be able to hang the structure from the ceiling, hopefully using fishing wire if it is strong enough. Following this, I will then need to add the charcoal marks onto the front and use the heat gun to bubble the Tyvek and burn holes into it. However, assembling the structure will take a long time and so I am planning that it will take 2 hours to just do that part, this is because, although I have planned to overcome any obstacles, getting it to hang from a high place will be time consuming./