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St Paul's Cathedral
28/11/16
I visited the saint pauls cathedral to experience what a holy place was like and was captivated by the details within the building and in its structure. There was a hypnotising staircase that circled around and leads to the dome which lets you look down on the people below. That experience was exhausting and limited the view to only the centre. On the ground floor, there was so much more to see, the artwork on the ceilings and the expressions of the people walking around which I drew some of them, took note of their expressions and body language within this house of god.
Th st.pauls cathedral is in the very centre of London and is dedication to Paul the Apostle, a noticeable and famous building that is well known for the dome which stands out and making it more noticable within the city of London.
"world-class centre for design," said Pawson during
I went to the design museum and it was rather interactive with allowing visitors to try and think up design mathored and take part in games while looking at design through the histories ranging from technology to design of shoes and propaganda: Overall collection of designs.
I rather enjoyed it here and I learnt about the journey throughout technology which would be useful to my project, there was a piece that captured my attention which was the human hair coat. It was very simple and stood out. there were examples which allowed visitors to touch the hair which was a rather strange interaction.
Here are my two favirote works within the Design Museum as the first one on the left is iconic logo's from companies or websites/ programs made with acrylic plastic hanging up reflecting light which cought my attention .
Here is a display of typewriters which seem to come from the 1960's. How this caught my attention is the minimalistic layout of the designs and behind it is posters which appear to be either about the type writers or about pop culture at the time. The display was aesthetically pleasing with the symmetry layout and colour organisation
The science museum was the best of the trip as the interaction section on the second floor took up mostly everyone's time. There was also a test where it involved visitors playing games to see if they can recognise facial expressions more than landscapes. The idea was to see if they could cure depression and other mental illness through the media of games as it's now a form of interactive art that is largely popular around the work. I took part of the test and it took me a while as I had landscapes as it was harder to match the images.
I was fully intended to find anything on nuclear or atom's to deepen my research onto then context of my project. I did find collection of objects that belonged to certain era's and a construction of the DNA.
Reflection of lessons/ time during work
14th November 2016
I had to write a proposal for this project and going into it I had no idea what to work on. My first idea was to do something along crime and law as that is a personal interest of mine but it would have been harder to match up to the needs of MARS during this project. My next idea was to do something along the lines of nature something that would make my portfolio look good and stand out but then the perspective of I wouldn't be very attached to it was an issue and thinking up the links to MARS was also an issue. I came to the conclusion of doing something that was more fun and something that matched all the needs for the project and something that would involve a lot of research I would enjoy. The idea I picked was to do the world that has been taken away by a nuclear war which could have heavily linked to society, psychology, mathematics with the theory of the butterfly effect, religion, science, art, and history. I believe if I could do all these I would make a successful high-level project.
I mentioned in my proposal that I wanted to do an installation piece but soon learning that space is very limited and wouldn't cater to what I had planned going into this project I began working ideas.
I began on observational drawings on what I could fins that would link to the theme of this project. My brother owns a Gas mask and I thought that would be useful as it could be used to protect a subject's internal organs from radiation exposure. I did two drawings of this with detail shading in pencil. Along with this I also began on researching on the cold war and the butterfly effect. Writing up all the information I knew and what I could get my hands on was honestly exciting and was something I enjoyed doing this. I was able to think about how would this all link up by explaining past events and what would happen if a key moment changed and how it would affect a lot of people.
21h November 2016
I continued to complete the research of the cold war and the butterfly effect feeling rather impressed with myself I then thought about what else would be important to research. I began doing close up experimentation of the gas mask while thinking about the research for the project and thought about the effects of a nuclear war on the people/ nuclear exposure as well as start researching atomic as a whole to deepen the research and this lead to real life usage of an atomic bomb that was used on japan in world war two. This week was a slow progress as it was also gathering inspiration. I made a collage in mixed media of old photographs if war, churches, advertisement all around either world war 2 or the time of a nuclear disaster would have accused (the 1960's.)
28th November 2016
This week was mainly thinking up ideas for more research and went along with propaganda as that would play a large role in a nuclear war and it also played a huge role in the cold war making everyone pick sides between capitalism and Communism. This could possibly come out as a final piece for the project or one of two which could be an interesting outcome. I will research propaganda artists or artists who made iconic works of art that have been used to sell an object or an idea. This will also be a fun progress to work on as for this I may do observational figure drawings to add to the posters.
5th December 2016
I added sewing details to one of the observational drawings to try and experiment with texture and it turned out really well honestly but I tried doing embroidering and I have half way done, this will take a while along with time but either way I would like to bring this into the final outcome, the sewing/ fabrics. I also began working on the trip pages and pages in my sketchbook. The a1 sheet didn't have a lot of pictures on it due to the limit I have to print images but I made use of the space and made it best presentation as I could.
For the pages within my sketchbook I added in leaflets I got from the places we visited and where I went I did a lot of observational drawings of people walking around and capturing their body language and I kept that in my sketchbook along with observational drawings of buildings and architecture through pencil sketches and acyclic paint which I did later at home as I didn't bring them along with me to London.
12th December 2016
This was the week I collected secondary images to work with and stuck the images in my sketchbook and redrew them as for how I saw them and planned on bringing them into experimentation. I thought about the audience and heir reaction towards the experiments to record if I was going and working to the right direction. Turned out I was in a way of disturbing and making the audience feel uncomfortable but the major issue was it was eye strain which was far from what I was aiming for as the work was overlapped too much the image merged into something else. This could actually work thinking more about it as this is what happens when DNA comes into contact with nuclear radiation and it mutates the DNA and can cause cancer and other unfortunate long-term illnesses.
This was also processed week so I handed in my work so far and got feedback. My sketchbook was strong and showed my journey and my wix research was doing well but it needed to be finished as some aspects were missing as well as the rest of the artist's research.
26th December 2016
This was Christmas break, during this time I did try experimenting with digital media's to push the work more and also try and experiment with what I could do for my poster that would be used. I tried repetitive designs of the gas mask to see how would that effect anything as well as try and experiment with figure work with it, the figure work was impressive and I thought they came out pretty well but it didn't seem to make me think about conflict and war and I want an audience member to look at the final piece or a poster and instantly be reminded of war, conflict, and radiation. To try and make it more effective I will try and experiment with hazard/ radiation signs.
2nd January 2017
I start placing everything onto the WIX pages and start thinking up ideas for the final piece of the project coming to a close in a month. I have rough ideas of a propaganda poster since that would have been effective to the setting I am basing this workaround, 1960's America during a nuclear war.
9th January 2017
This week I started on figure observational drawings I am hoping to bring into a final outcome. As I have no access to any live models I used a handy website: http://reference.sketchdaily.net/en/ which I used for ref and timing. With this, I managed to draw a hand full of figure drawings I could use for more experimentation or for poster ideas or for the final outcome.
16th January 2017
I started planning on Ideas for the poster and the main idea was to make the audiance and I wanted it to seem like an actual propaganda piece of work that makes the audience think and also at the same time corner them into thinking a certain way. I want the poster that I will produce for the exhibit to make the audience want to come to see the work, I will be mainly inspired by Shepard Fairey for the overall outcome and for the poster. Since the time I am setting this project off of the whole outcomes will be timeless. I will start with a rough idea of what the outcome will come out as and preferably something that would be linked to gas masks as that's a recurring theme within this project.
23rd - 30th January 2017
This week I completed 3 A1 sheets: one for research, one for the school trip and the other is ideas and conclusion for the final outcome and I tried my best to make them as informative as possible along with demonstrating the journey for this project to put into my portfolio for university interviews. I also completed my final outcome and my poster for the exhibition. For the final outcome it was a journey itself from thin
Final Outcome:
For this outcome, I believe I used formal elements such as tone, colour, and shape. Colour is seen throughout the work using a colour palette that is to draw attention to it using primary colours as a key component. Tone and gradation are limited to the skin and the shirt leaving contrast within the work and draws the audience's attention to those areas. Shape is mostly around the facial area with the overlay and repeat of the gas mask. I don't believe there is any movement within the work or harmony with the golden ratio or the rule of thirds which I could improve on in the next project. There is a lot of emphasis within this with the face and the contrast and I believe it has made the work successful by the contrast highlighting key areas within the work I want the audience to look at and It makes the work look like a propaganda piece that would pass in the 1960's when a nuclear war is taking place.
I tried to make this piece reach out the audience strongly inspired by Edward Bernays, James Rosenquist, Shepard Fairey and Andy Warhol. James and Andy used their work to experiment with advertisement and they use it to communicate to the audience and I wanted to recreate something like that but through Edward's method and try something simple as a colour palette to make me as the artists think for the audience. Shepard using his art for questioning everything and making a statement, I wanted to bring this idea in with the usage of propaganda and overall question what if there was a nuclear war with the butterfly effect. I want the audience to gain interest within this work and really think about the effects and how easily a nuclear disaster could have happened during the cold war.
The materials I used was acrylic paint, fabric and cotton wool. I felt that acrylic paint would be perfect for the overall appeal and it turned out pretty successful. I also used the fabric and cotton wool to create celebrational banners which are a success during an experimentation within my project to make it better I could have added more and do as I planned and branch out from the final piece.
As I have mentioned before the main inspiration I had for this outcome was the following artists: James Rosenquist, Shepard Fairey and Andy Warhol. James. I was also inspired by Edward Bernays with him being the father of public relations. I have always gained interests of the cold war since studying it for my GCSE's back in 2015 and wanted to involve the history within a heavy research project.
The meaning behind this image can be optional really. I had an audience member say is this work related to mental illness and the mental damage war has caused and that was an interesting feedback I gained but I wanted the message to be that it's easy for a nuclear war to happen and from that point, everyone would be damaged in a way.
I am happy with my outcome and the elements I like the most is the repeated mask that contrasts with the overall image that is casual but the face outs it off balance with also draws attention to it. I am really proud of this work and I would change the banner really only to mkae it extend out from the canvas and make more of the triangle hazard signs.
Evaluating my project
The theme for this project was M.A.R.S The Big Bang. The Idea was to cater to all audiences through maths, arts, religion and science. This work needed heavy research and I was excited about that as I enjoyed research and learning something new and I choice to do the cold war as the main basis. My ideas developed from a singular observational drawing of a gas mask. I wanted the material to be subtle but also something small and simple it would grab the attention of the audience so I experimented with how the audience sees things.
At the very beginning of the project, I really had no clue where I was going to end. I went in with really a rough journey planned and for the next project I want to fix that by making a stable plan that will help me make the overall project strong.
I researched six artists and went to one art gallery but I also went to a science museum and the st pauls cathedral where I mostly observed the visitor's body language and reactions to the exhibit or the place that they are in, like for example inside the st pauls cathedral mostly everyone was quiet and was in awe of the structure and being in a holy place.
I think I should have done more for the experimentation and maybe tried researching artists who use unique methods to try and get out of my comfort zone.
For my next project, I plan to move from this one with its dark political tones towards a light-hearted family friend one as this project is more for scholars and those interested in politics. I want to move from 2D experimentation and try 3D sculptures using different materials as well as start researching artists outside of the theme I am researching to strengthen the work and widen the protentional of the outcome.
Personal Progress
My strengths were research as I researched everything that I thought would play a large role in the work that makes the project strong and secure with the direction I was taking but the weakness was the amount of experimentation as I believe I could have done more to produce either a better outcome or multiple outcomes. Through the progress, I was able to understand better how to create a better development and I learned to try more research as more is better and that is what I enjoyed the most within this project.
What do you intend to specialize in?:
I am rather optimistic about specializing Illustration as I really enjoy how limitless it is.
Are you going to University or Industry?:
I am hoping to go to University hopefully Brighton University.
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