Grubinger, Eva and Jörg Heiser, Sculpture unlimited II: Materiality in Times of Immateriality (Berlin: Sternberg Press, 2015) pp. 1- 200
Key Points & Reflections:
The introduction explains something of sculptures expansion - in terms of its definition, and more so in recent years, "The idea of sculpture "unlimited comes into its own: after "external" expansions into other materials, processes, and fields, and the "internal" re examination of sculptures own history, we now look to the horizon ahead" p7.
"under the conditions of advanced capitalism - immateriality comes at a price. Globally, one persons profit, achieved thanks to complicated financial market algorithms, may mean that a lot of other people lose their jobs; "liberation" toward immaterial labour implies another person's enslavement with even more debased forms of material labour (the fancy smartphone that makes us "flexible" is being produced under terribly "inflexible" sweatshop factory conditions." p8.
"How can we make productive use of new technologies while not getting entrapped in their aesthetic limitations and often dire eco-economical consequences?"p8
"One explanation may be that a lot of people do feel they are being treated more and more like objects, while objects have become more and more sentient".p9. ... maybe like art in art market... artists are objects to galleries?
"[Timotheus] Vermeulen's essay looks at the social and political conditions under which sculpture is made in the first place, assuming that these conditions are not an empty container where artistic practice happens to be situated, but that obviously these conditions sculpt the space in which sculpture is made. This leads him to French philosopher Henri Lefebvre, who was one of the first thinkers to inquire into space as a social construct, and to a historical reconstruction of how out of postmodernism and the neo-liberal paradigm our current "meta-modern" condition has arisen. Are we living in a global allegorical shopping mall, inaugurated by the likes of Tony Blair or Gerhard Schroder, that, as run down as it may be now, defines our environment?". p10.
"Sculpture to me [Mark Leckey] is about the experience, the encounter with an object in space. And how this encounter affects you in a physical and psychic way." p15
"If sculpture is becoming unbound, unlimited, then one thing I believe happens is that it returns to an older form of how we respond to thing, to objects that take the form of fetishism or totemism. One of the reasons I am interested in sculpture is that objects to me are essentially fetishistic - on a pathological level. Through objects I am trying to understand why I am attracted to them, what makes them so alluring."p.15
"I [Timotheus Vermeulen] accepted the kind invitation to contribute , are the changing conditions of and for sculpture. To an extent I am thinking here of conditions in the narrower sense, the stuff of the studio. This includes matter be it actual or virtual; craft, be it physical, intellectual, spiritual or otherwise; time, be it the time one invests, and can invest in the practice of sculpture; and above all, space, the creation in and especially of space: the concretization of air, the transformation of fluid atoms into solid ones, the actualization, permanent or fleeting, of the virtual" p25.
From page 27 there is a good essay about space."The space that is sculpted - that is, the space that is materalized through sculpture... is always already occupied by any number of realities: rules of gravity, moisture or dust, but also discourses about art, social relations, money problems..."p25.
But on page 30, there is an essay on 'metamodernism' which includes information on current society, Marx references, postmodernism, politics and society:
It talks about how in the 90s there was a belief that 'the development of mankind had come to an end' p30, as reiterated by Jamesons quote "the last few years have been marked by an inverted millenniarism, in which premonitions of the future... have been replaced by the end of this or that..." however "What awaited us there was not, ... as Marx had hoped, a dictatorship of the proletariat." instead were "tanned white men in brouges and jeans who called themselves liberal democrats. Leading us into the shopping mall, buying us coffee and chocolates imported from far away counties and prepared on the spot by their former inhabitants... Strollng through the mall, we had to hand it to them: it did seem peaceful, and it certainly was luxurious". p.31
Petra Lange-Berndt, Materiality, (London: Whitechapel Gallery, 2015).
Key Points & reflections:
Re-reading the book 'Materiality' for further analysis on the subject, as this thread is becoming increasingly important to my practice:
"Material makes more than one language possible. I'm interested in an excess of material, an excess of interpretation." Quoted by Cildo Meireles, 'places for digressions', interview with Nuria Enguita, Cildo Meireles, 1994, p 6. of Materiality book. This quote applies directly to me, as this is also what Im interested in so Cildo Meireles could be a good point for further research. This quote speaks to me as with my reflective material of stainless steel, it can either reflect everything or nothing, depending on its setting. The viewer could interpret something to do with themselves and their consumption of art or commodity if the viewer is left alone with their reflection; but if the cube is in a busy gallery setting - it will literally reflect this commodification.
"What does it mean to give agency to the material, to follow the material and to act with the material?" p13.
"Discussions of 'material' as an aesthetic category are recent. In its day-to-day applications, material belongs to a lowly sphere" p.26, suggesting that contemporary art is helping to ameliorate material as an aesthetic and not just a lower class item.
"material - like matter - is part of a reciprocal relationship with form and idea, the bywords for creative invention." p26.
"In an idealist tradition within aesthetic theory that referenced Plato and Aristotle, material was constantly regarded as the base and counterpart to artistic creativity, which, even in its most previous forms, had to be transcended or transformed by art as activity." p27.
I think the first essay titled "Introduction// How to Be Complicit with Materials" by Petra Lange-Berndt is the most useful from this book.
This book provides a context for what materiality is: “In this context, rather than material production leading to the fabrication of consumer goods, the possibilities of materials should be set free without turning them into commodities.”p. 15. Suggesting that material should be a separate thing from the 'fabrication' of commodities, emphasising a connection with material and process - something we can see within Lynda Benglis' and Tony Cragg's works.
It's important to state that some of the essays within this book comment about the materiality in the digital age and how computer coding is another material. Though, this is not relevant to my field of study, it's interesting to consider the depths of materiality and how it is adapting to contemporary culture.
Reflections:
I think my practice is becoming more connected with materiality and process of sculpture and context of painting, than the critique aspect that I engaged with last term. I feel like I am making the material my medium. At the start of the year this book didn't inspire me as much as it does now.
This has reminded me of a previous tutorial last term where Andrew said , if one side of my practice had to go, which would I choose to take on - which is more important to me, and it is becoming the sculpture that is important rather than the obvious critique about consumer culture. However, I feel my practice still bares a strong connection with capitalism through the forms of sculpture and painting - being the two most consumable art mediums as stated in the stuffed shark book by Don Thompson.
Although these themes of capitalism and consumer culture do intrigue me, they have defiantly become less important to my engagement with the process and artwork I make, and I feel this is a necessary evolution for my practice throughout this course, and my works concern now is this argument between forms and process of painting and sculpture, and labour involving metals.
Further Research
Cildo Meireles "is a Brazilian conceptual artist, installation artist and sculptor. He is noted especially for his installations, many of which express resistance to political oppression in Brazil. These works, often large and dense, encourage a phenomenological experience via the viewer's interaction." (http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/cildo-meireles-6633)
"I am interested in this relationship between the work of art and the viewer. Of course art can exist without a viewer, but it wouldn’t be so useful." - Meireles, interview with David Baker, Financial Times, 2014 http://www.tate.org.uk/context-comment/articles/who-is-cildo-meireles
1.the art of carving, modelling, welding, or otherwise producing figurative or abstract works of art in three dimensions, as in relief, intaglio, or in the round. 2. such works of art collectively. 3. an individual piece of such work. verb (used with object), sculptured, sculpturing. 4. to carve, model, weld, or otherwise produce (a piece of sculpture). 5. to produce a portrait or image of in this way; represent in sculpture. 6. Physical Geography. to change the form of (the land surface) byerosion. verb (used without object), sculptured, sculpturing. 7. to work as a sculptor. (Source: http://www.dictionary.com/browse/sculpture)
Painting
noun 1. a picture or design executed in paints. 2. the act, art, or work of a person who paints. 3. the works of art painted in a particular manner, place, or period: a book on Flemish painting.
Reflection
Tates definition of sculpture 'basic processes' indicate that perhaps it is a more intrinsic level of making that is more involved with a more ancient understanding of the world and how we express ourselves.
Dictionary.com’s definition of sculpture adds more context to the meaning by suggesting it can be abstract or figurative, or anything in between. The same website's definition of painting is described as an 'act', or an art painted in a particular manner, implying that there is a wide variety of styles.
Can painting and sculpture be the same thing? I feel like both of the mediums essentially could be. Perhaps it's 'abstraction' that I'm looking at.
My definition of sculpture (for my practice) is, the process of making a material three dimensional and transforming a material from its original state, to expose the details within, for aesthetic effect.
I feel that I am always painting when I create sculpture, and this mixture of painting and sculpture is something that I am highly intrigued by now.
A quote from the book "The $12 Million Stuffed Shark" by Don Thompson stands out to me still: "I only discuss two-dimensional works on canvas or paper, and sculpture [excluding all other art forms apart from the photography of Cindy Sherman]... because major auction houses do not sell them under the heading of contemporary art" p.10.
I want to mix these mediums and forms between painting and sculpture as they are both forms that I am highly engaged with. This stems from the fact that they are both the most highly commercial pieces of art, and in a way this is a subtle critique still, yet I enjoy the processes of both.
All the paintings/ sculptures I produce now reference metal or have metal in them, and work with the processes of sculpture, through 'painting'. For example the mild steel welded piece, I am painting with the welding, yet it is a process of sculpture.
The plinth painting idea literally takes the context of sculpture (the plinth being the thing that you place an object upon) and turns it into this commercial object itself, elevated through this fact that it is the 'elevation' object and comments on this object and base argument.
Source: Nicholas Serota and Mark Godfrey, Gerhard Richter: Panorama (London Tate Publishing, 2011).
Key Points & Reflections:
"NS: Are you always thinking about how to make a timeless object? GR: It's not that I'm always thinking about how to make something timeless, it's more of a desire to maintain a certain artistic quality that moves us, that goes beyond what we are, and that is, in that sense, timeless." p15.
This quote gives insight into Richter's thinking and connects with his process of making. This desire to maintain an artistic quality that 'moves us' and the words 'beyond what we are' indicate art being this connection with a higher power - something I touched on last term in my critical report, and ultimately argued how this process connection enables artwork to gain a higher spiritual value.
Gerard Richter talks about how art 'speaks to us', for example he describes art not as a skill or a craft, but 'quality' that is just there with art, and all art endures this quality - p.15.
"NS: So, is painting a balance between finding the right form, always fighting against the possibility of failure? GR: It's an attempt to find a form for inability and distress, to visualise them. If I'm lucky its true and clear, good and constructive, so that the form has nothing to do with irony and cynicism. The latter has no place in art anyway." p.15.
Richter on how his abstract paintings are made: "In the case of the abstractions, I get vague notions of pictures that are just asking to be painted. That's how it starts, but nearly always the result is not at all what I imagined." p.16.
This reminds me of the process of my own welding technique, that I feel the same way about. It's an abstract painting in this same way, and I know how I want it to look, but I don't really know how it will turn out, and that's the beauty of the process led, material led works.
"NS: So, are you saying that even pictures that appear to be of nothing are of something because everything is rooted in the world, everything relates in some way to the world and experience and everyone is looking for something, searching for - ? GR: Yes, automatically, for something recognisable - you have to be able to deal with that." p.19.
Richter, Elbe, 1957
Gerard Richter goes onto state how his first abstractions were made in a print making seminar, where he explains he 'played' with the ink roller and black ink, and he felt they looked good: "I started trying things out with the roller, and they all looked good. So that's what I did instead. And then I thought, but it can't be that simple. That's nothing to do with art, that's just playing." p.19.
The process of my own artwork is very similar to this that Richter describes, and I did not know that Richter used an ink roller before I tried my own experimentation.
The series of paintings that Richter is talking about here is called Elbe, and is displayed in the image above.
"NS: So why did you want to make abstract paintings?... GR: Perhaps because I'm a bit uncertain, a bit volatile. And I'd always been fascinated by abstraction. It's so mysterious, like an unknown land." p.20.
"A painting should never be interesting... Interesting paintings are no good." : p.22
Richter talks about art and meaning, or reasons behind art:
When asked what art gave him, Richter states: "certainly something you can hold on to... it has the measure of all the infathomable, senseless things, the incessant ruthlessness of our world." Richter states that Art gives structure to the world... "comfort, hope" ... "Art shows us how to see things that are constructive and good, and to be an active part of that."p.24
Richter talking about his methods of making art, with a squeegee, and control of his art, and chance:
Nicholas Serota implies that "With a brush you have control... With the squeegee you lose control". Richter states "Not all control, but some control."
"NS: So do you like the possibility of having control, but also some things not under control?" GR: Yes, that's our job. Chance is given, unpredictable, chaotic, the basis. And we try to control that by intervening, giving form to chance, putting it to use."p.27.
"I have nothing to say and I'm saying it" was quoted by Cage - musician, who Richter admires the way he handles chance. p.27
"The way he [Cage] handles chance, whether in his I Ching pieces, or other everyday noises. Even if it does at first sound like a provocative nonsense, random tinklings and squeaks. But then you come to understand better and better how wonderfully clever and sensitive it is, how carefully constructed." p.27
This connection with chance is very interesting as it is definitely how I am approaching my own work now, from my canvas paintings to my welding work on metal, there is a lack of control and a lot of chance involved.
Reflection
Overall, this interview has reminded me that Gerhard Richter is an artist that shares many themes and concerns about art, with me. From methods of process like loss of control, chance, to thoughts on art and abstraction, these are all points I can agree on.
The key points of the tutorial were talking about final pieces for the exhibition, and Gerard suggested that I could have a variety of pieces (they are all different 'painting's)', as all my work is different yet they share this language of sculpture/ painting. My work conforms to the physical dimensions of a painting, but uses the processes of sculpture.
The context and how the work is displayed is important. I want my work to be perceived in a white wall gallery space, but playing with this aspect of painting and sculpture merging together, so what if my steel frame piece was viewed on the floor rather than on the wall? This could display this sculptural context as the mild steel 'painting' becomes a small plinth. Staged as sculpture.
Development:
The mild steel piece uses the process of labour to fill in the surface itself. It's a manipulation of the surface. There is an element of this out of control process with all of my work, which is good, but when it comes to my mild steel piece the welding of the patterns could be considered more rather than simply being random, so where I choose to make the marks could be only in specific zones of the image. This could work to look more pictorial, or though the image is saying something. I think using the concept of the labour process to fill in a surface works well for my practice, and connects back to Marx's labour theory.
Also with the mild steel frame piece, the exposed painting behind the frame works to reveal a hidden layer almost. But is this needed behind the steel? I'm not sure anymore whether the steel image needs to reveal another painting. However, the painting itself could work on a larger scale on its own. A development idea would be to use only the blue tones (or tones produced from the heating labour of mild steel) and create a large acrylic painting with the ink roller. This could also be a painting on a plinth, to mix the conversation of sculpture and painting. So the painting taking the format of the plinth, and the steel sculputral-process-piece taking the format of a painting. (swapping contexts)
Using real silver leaf rather than metal leaf on silver leaf canvas painting.
Pouring a layer of resin over the top of the mild steel piece after it's been finished - this could act as a varnish and a slick reflective polished surface?
Consistent landscape format for all final pieces? mimicking the 'landscape painting'
Further Research:
Stefan Sehler - works on the back of plexiglass to create intricate imagery.
Glenn Brown - paintings of paint ( I saw him at Nottingham Castle museum).
Jackson Pollock - paintings that were made on the floor.
Mark Francis - behaviour of paint , references to the micro.
Stefan Sehler
Untitled, 2008 Oil behind plexiglass. 185x185cm
Intricate details - abstract patterns created by marbling process, and covered with plexiglass to be a shiny surface.
"Over the past few years, Mark Francis has shifted the focus of his painting to microcosmic and biological imagery. References to spores, cells, sperm, ovae and skin tissue dominate his paintings. This picture belongs to a recent group of works which relate more specifically to genetics and the processes of creation. The photographic origins of the image are evident in the way blurring around the edges of the sperm motif suggest objects moving in and out of focus. However, a counterbalance to the apparent naturalism of the subject is in the controlled patterning across the entire canvas. This inhibits the viewer from reading the image literally, as a view through a microscope." http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/francis-source-t06663
Focuses on details, the 'micro' which is something I'm intrigued by and the details inside the materials, why we are visually attracted to them/ what makes them appealing.
The criss-cross pattern that Francis installs here is also something I am working with.
Further Designs for Final Pieces
Plinth / blue painting design:
Mild Steel Frame Design Development:
Feedback/ idea: Having a light shine behind the cut outs rather than a hidden painting behind the canvas. This could give the work itself more definition, and perhaps this would focus on the void aspect even more, light and shadow, or a different colour light underneath the frame to show the space between the 'painting' and the wall/ floor.
Silver leaf piece & Installation view idea for exhibition:
Here my design shows 3 final pieces, exploring the walls and the floor to create an argument between painting and sculpture. The plinth being put on the wall to disrupt the context of sculpture and painting, merging the two together, and the mild steel frame piece being placed on the floor for the same effect.
FINAL NOTE/ reflection: USING THE PROCESSES OF SCULPTURE TO PAINT.
I have become fascinated with working with 2D and 3D, and mixing the mediums of sculpture and painting, and metals.
Currently, using metal / mild steel as my 'canvas' for imagery I feel is quite unique and no one else seems to be doing it right now. I decided to research some artists to see how they use metal in their paintings, or if anyone is working in ways similar to me.
Saatchi Art Online:
Purple Rain Painting by Cindy Avroch, silver leaf, Painting: Acrylic and Metal on Aluminium, Canvas and Other.
Here Avroch uses Silver Metal Leaf and Acrylic on Canvas. It creates a metallic glistening approach and creates intricate details within the canvas.
Reflections:
These are obviously quite commercial pieces of artworks, rather than conceptual, which is also something interesting to consider. I am still sitting on the fence of this critique - to make work for a market and critique it at the same time, but I feel I have moved forwards with my work to fully focus on the making aspect of work, rather than concerns about an art's price or how it's perceived in a market.
I love the idea of combining metal and painting as metal is a very sculptural medium.
Youtube Research: "Painting with Fire, Artist Mike Schneider
In the video above, artist Mike Schneider created 3D metal art using heating and grinding techniques.
He states: "Any time that you cut or heat metal, there is a heat signature left along side it. And that heat signature is the colours that I try to produce in my art work. I try to use those colours like a canvas painter uses paint."
This reminds me of my recent work with the mild steel and how I have been using heating and welding techniques to create intricate patterns and imagery.
Mike Schneider was exactly the type of artist that I hoped I'd find through this research. This was really interesting to find someone who was equally as inspired by the discolouration left over by heating metal.
I really like his statements about what he calls the 'heat signature'.
Perhaps I could have a go at creating something more figurative as the welding heating technique I have adapted allows room for this, but I think I prefer the abstract patterns that connect more with the process.
Further Artist Research from Youtube, Artist Jon Allen:
Jon Allen is another artist who works with metal, using the metal itself as the canvas.
In the video he is seen using the hand grinder tool to put abstract marks in the sheet metal.
This has opened my eyes to new ways of working with sheet metal, and I could even try using the hand grinder tool (if Rob let's me use it as it's dangerous!).
Allen also makes his metal art into jewellery and describes this as the money making factor in his art which allowed him to make money to keep doing his other artworks. This is interesting as Jewellery is a commodity that seems to be sold easier and make more money.
Jon Allen
He does individual sculptural pieces such as these twisted pieces of metal which look like they have been powder coated, and bolted onto a small plinth.
Jon Allen, Aluminum
A painting on metal spread over multiple metal sheets (or one that has been cut). This image has been given a pattern using the angle grinder machine, and then coated in some sort of colouring.
Allen's work is made from aluminium, which is a softer metal that cannot be welded, and no heat distortion shows up if you were to heat it (as I have experimented with aluminium before). Aluminium would be good for creating these surface patterns with the angle grinder, and then applying paint to in this way which could be a good experimentation point for the future.
"What interests me is the creation, the invention, the conception rather than the process. The process is a benefit of the creative conceptual process that leads you to that." - Allen
Allen describes his process as 'in the moment' and not really thought out that much before hand, so to me it does seem very process led, and then in the video he says he's more conceptual than anything else and doesn't stick to once process too long.
I think Jon Allen is the type of artist that doesn't really have any training in the arts and he doesn't seem to really know what he's talking about, but nevertheless his paintings sell.
Tate's Definition of Metal:
"Metals can be hammered without breaking or cracking them in order to shape them, they can also be melted and used in moulds or made into wire and modelled – this makes them ideal media for sculptors to work with.
The use of bronze for making cast sculpture is very ancient, and bronze is perhaps the metal most traditionally thought of as a sculptural medium. From the early twentieth century, however, artists such as Pablo Picasso and the Russian constructivists began to explore the use of other metals, and Julio González introduced welded metal sculpture. The use of a range of metals and of industrial making techniques became widespread in minimal art and new generation sculpture for example." - Tate 2017.
This page from Tate explains the use of metals for sculptors, and it seems that I have also adapted my use of metals for this reason. I use metal for its properties and the fact it can be made into a form. With stainless steel, it was too much about the surface that there was no form. I believe stainless steel is chosen purely for aesthetic and surface affect, but isn't something I can work with at this stage of my practice, so getting the form right using mild steel works a lot better.
Compared to Mike Schneider's art and this heat signature
Further Research:
Julio González, for welded metal. Gonzalez creates welded together sculptural forms which resemble actual objects for example the human figure. He does not use the welding process for heat distortion or creating patterns in the way that I do - just simply to weld the metals together.
Try angle grinder on aluminium and then paint it in the style of Jon Allen.
Further Studio Development: Adding silver leaf to my canvas:
Reflections:
To complete this, I applied gilding glue into the 'voids' of the canvas - so the areas that you could still see the bare canvas underneath. I pressed the silver leaf into these voids using my fingers and concentrated the leaf accordingly to amount of canvas showing beneath.
I think the silver leaf works aesthetically with the painting, and the idea to place the leaf into the 'voids' makes the painting appear abstract still, as the placement of the leaf wasn't planned, rather it happened.
Upon reflection, looking at this image it has almost formed a visually balanced image now, with the areas of light and dark, and it looks quite even in tone.
The silver leaf also adds a perceived monetary value to the piece, and comments on consumerism. Applying this has also made me realise that the themes of capitalism and consumerism are still relevant to my practice, and rather show through these more subtle threads in my work.
The positioning with the aluminium really works underneath this image now, the colours compliment each other and draw attention to one another.
Overall, I enjoy this image as a work of art on its own, and I'm not sure if it would work being the image underneath my other mild steel cut out piece.
Peer Feedback: - "it works, and it needs more silver leaf".
Social Media, Short Video, Instagram posts, Facebook page
Business Cards?
Catalog:
Catalog - not too text heavy, more space, simplicity, ... images of sketches, studios, details of work. I think I would want my final piece to be in the catalog though (or a detail of it)
Interview in Catalog: .. q's what's next?
Contact details in catalog.. I think they should be underneath the statement.
Mock up on paper.
Each person has a colour?
Small amount of text.
Online 'Issu' catalog with images of show, as well.
Key Points:
This text is uplifting towards British culture and the arts.
"Culture educates, entertains and it enriches." p.1.
"Our culture is our hallmark"
A lot of funding for the arts and culture. p.2
Gavin Wade Text/ Response
"Economics is meaningless without culture" p.1
"Culture is marketable because it is successful on cultural terms."
"Culture is primary. Marketing is secondary"p.1
"Culture should not be presented as commodity. Culture should never be presented as 'compelling product' to sell anywhere. This will destroy culture." p.1
This conflict of culture /money... one cant exist without the other.
If you go through culture/ art as something that can be seen as monetary value, then maybe this isn't what culture is, or shouldn't be seen as this...
Reminds me of the book Sweet Dreams Art and Complicity by Johanna Drucker - last term.
Winston Churchill asked to cut budget for arts during the ww2 - response - what are we fighting for?
Some schools have entirely cut out the art department because of the budgets!!
No room for creative teaching... its getting neglected in education.
A way to make art.
Statistics -
Everything is measured by economics.. even this course, can you measure economics - no. But Miller is arguing you can't get the economics to get the budgets.
The future of culture will be for the future - measurable by economics. Is this needed to make things happen?
Spend more money on arms/ war.. killing people, than they do educating them.
Art is free in this country (in most cases apart from some V&A exhibitions) but other art forms like plays you have to pay for.
Since 2008 one of the markets that consistently rose is the art market, it is constantly growing.
We live in a capitalist society.
Social aspect of culture - in times like this, culture brings people together, maybe the budgets have been cut to separate people in times of austerity... A tool to create instability. Culture has an impact on togetherness.
Today Rob taught me how to weld, and I figured out how to create unique patterns, which, on the reverse side, shows up as colour distortion.
Photo of back of frame:
Photos of the front side of frame/ welding outcome:
After applying the Owatorol Oil:
Reflections:
This test was very successful, and worked even better than I had hoped. The patterns I managed to achieve through this process, were abstract, and caused by me moving the welder in the moment - trying to cover all the areas on the metal.
The intricate details are captivating for the viewer, and are the outcome of the process itself.
I feel more involved with the process with this method, and I have more control over how the details will look.
In certain areas the steel looks bluer, and that is through applying the welds for longer amounts of time. I enjoy the variation of the patterns.
Applying the oil to it seemed to dull the colours slightly, so I will see what it is like when it dries, but I may decide to use a spray paint varnish instead, and will need to test the varnish too.
Further development:
I have decided that this will be what I choose to do for my final piece - this welding technique to apply the detail pattern to the mild steel.
On my final piece I will focus on a variation of patterns, and keep going back and forth until I am happy with the coverage of colours, aiming towards the bluer tones as this is what appeals to me the most.
I want to create the details so that they look to be the most visually appealing that they can - and consume the viewer the most, so I will work on paying attention to detail within the welding process.
It will be a 'conversation' with the material, and a manipulation of the material to its fullest.
I intend to make the viewer aware of the materials properties and captivate them through the use of these patterns, as it's a property of the material that isn't widely known, or used in art works.
Final Designs:
I want to create a large scale piece, so I'm thinking about 2 meters wide and 1 meter tall.
Studio Update: Oil Update/ Reflection
After a few days, the oil has dried nicely, but it has kept a darker tone to the metal. This means the discolouration that I love isn't as vibrant, and looks more orange than blue. It also gives a shine which I don't mind that much.
I will not be continuing with using this oil on the final piece, as it is too dull, therefore, I will test using a clear spray paint varnish.
Scrolling through Instagram, I saw a piece by an artist Ivan Galuzin which featured the concept of the void, and it inspired me to push this void concept even further with my own work.
With my aluminium sculptural piece, I could find the cut-outs and place them in the spaces that there was a shadow underneath.
Further research into Ivan Galuzin
Ivan Galuzin, (from left to right: Sick Skin, Anthracite Skin and Hubba Bubba Skin).
"Ivan Galuzin’s artistic practice takes shape through media such as painting, sculpture, installation and video. The canvases had been covered with a layer of industrial two-component paint that created plastic-like and monochrome surfaces in pink, yellow and black. The intense stink of chemicals from the two-component paint triggered strong somatic reactions amongst viewers, plus a sense of decay that soon manifested itself in the paintings’ surfaces: they slowly but surely fractured and started flaking off like dead skin, like a painterly equivalent to the body’s inevitable decay. The extreme process unfolding in these paintings can be situated in both a historical and a contemporary conceptualization of ‘abstraction as destruction’." Information source: http://www.nna-stavanger.no/en/ivan-galuzin/
The three paintings above titled Sick Skin, Anthracite Skin and Hubba Bubba Skin, are positioned in order of 'void'. On the farthest left we see many more cracks and voids in the canvas, and the process of this decay is clear due to curatorial choice. The paintings exude textural detail, and their individual monochrome representation is a great choice to allow the viewer to clearly see the details within.
This kind of work is very inspiring for me as I love the connection with materiality here - the viewer can physically see the paint peeling off the canvas to reveal what's hidden behind it. The void it leaves is almost as interesting as the cracks and the process.
Further work after Inspiration:
First I tried the cut outs underneath the aluminium:
This looked a bit forced, or crunched up, too close together
Reflections:
Details within the materials, or the voids??
I love the way this looks, with the aluminium as though it has fallen off into fragments.
This could be further worked on by hanging the individual fragments and suspending them in the air - like Cornelia Parker's piece.
Since I am happy with the look of the raw steel after applying heat to the back from heating/ welding, and I will not be powder coating it over the top as it will be a too large piece of metal to easily transport to a powder-coating company, I started researching how to keep the mild steel from rusting.
Penetrol. This is an additive for oil paint it's supposed to remove brush marks and increase the working time of the paint. It also works well to set metal to stop it from rusting.
Clear acrylic spray paint is much weaker and chips too easily, which is why I'd rather not use any spray paints.
Video of applying Penetrol
polish steel / rub off dirt before applying
24 hours touch dry, a week to fully set.
Penetrol not available in Uk but after further research I found Owatrol oil which is the exact same thing.
I will order a sample and see how it works with the welded/ distorted sheet of mild steel.
Testing Polish on Metal:
I coated the left half of the sample sheet of mild steel using autosol polish. This didn't do much apart from remove the colourful tones. Instead polishing it would bring it back to its raw grey state if I kept going. This is not what I wanted.
Testing Oil Varnish on Metal
Testing two patches with the 'Owatrol oil' sample that I ordered. I will have to wait until this dries and then reapply. This should stop any further corrosion to the finished look of the steel and may even add a gloss.
I had a go at designing some logos for Matter exhibition: to be used on the Catalogue or fonts consistent with the exhibition.
We chose a summer grey, and we liked the idea of using gold, or a metallic colour for the fonts. We also wanted the MA part of MAtter to stand out somehow, I thought this was best done as making the MA part slightly bolder than the rest of the word.
The group will decide together which designs we want to take forward.
Upstairs in the makers lab, I heated a piece of mild steel for minutes, until it turned to yellow, then purple, then dark blue, and then light blue.
Video of heating process:
Photos of outcome:
Reflections:
Heating up the steel was relatively easy, and created more of an even tone rather than intricate details, though this was still good as I could go back in on certain areas and re-heat them, causing them to develop a rippled detail effect.
I had to cool it with water and quickly dry it, but this may still rust the metal as mild steel is very prone to rust.
Further Development:
This could be done on a larger scale, if I rearranged Ann's workshop to make the area bigger, and if I leave it to cool naturally rather than cooling it with water.
I need to research ways to set and polish the metal after working with it.
I would also polish the metal beforehand somehow to get rid of the marks left on it from fingerprints and so on, as the metal is very oily in its raw form.
I still want to try welding on the reverse side of a piece of mild steel to see how it differs in terms of pattern.
Further Research:
This video above shows how if you heat the metal at 300 degrees for 60 minutes, it will turn out an iridescent blue/ purple colour, which is essentially what I have done here today.
