The underground p.2

Metallic honeycomb protects coloured wires from exposure. Red and blue line aluminium, shooting throughout the ceiling, which is constructed from yellow musk tiles. There are four visible, arranged as hopscotch, littered with drill holes. Twin, thin wire is trapped between the chicken wire and tiles, as if lacing the metal work together, a small line sewing the ceiling. In addition to this, three black plastic ties are used, two in the centre and one on the right-hand side, seemingly not strong enough to hold an important structure. To the right there is also more metal, the grid is stopped with rough edges, disappearing in front of steel, curved to follow the shape of the wall. Extending from this edge there is more plastic, creating a horizontal curve to the left, once again framed by hard metal, two pieces that create a step, building the plastic away from the ceiling, crossing the thin wire, which holds another black tie, this time horizontal. Further towards the centre there is a piece of re, possibly a reflection of light, trapped between the honeycomb and base. There are two steel hinges, attaching a vertical metal bar to the ceiling. This is also secured to the plastic, crossing with a bolt, one of four, all screwed in at equal intervals throughout the plastic. A blue vertical wire pierces the yellow, slicing through the exposed area. This is framed by more thin wire, leading throughout the frame. There is a red wire too, of the same thickness and brightness, once again shooting through the area, alongside eight more slices of metal, the edges lit by an unknown source. 

The Underground

 A collage of diagonal lines is mirrored through sharp steel shapes, converging towards a silhouette of a human figure. The female can be seen wearing a coat down to her knees, although it is unclear of her identity. She has long light coloured hair, tied into a pony tail. The coated figure is stood in front of a grid, tiles which are reminiscent of a swimming pool, however not under water. This semblance of water is repeated through advertisements which are reflected by the metal. Corrugated teeth form horizontal steps, which get closer towards the woman, interrupting the pattern of line. Twenty-five can be seen, before they are merged by light. This light stems from seven white holes, overhead and once again converging to the centre, but cut short by an arch, separating the ceiling from the moving ground. Disappearing into the reflection, the steps give a gradient affect, suggesting an ongoing illusion of foreverness, as if you will never reach the top. Combined with the isolation and cold metal, the escalator appears eerie, as though you are lost within the geometric lines and forms of the underground. 

Phootshoot 2

From London to Worcester 

When 2 become 1

Further experimentation with sound

If in doubt throw everything together and see what happens...

Critical Writing Task

Critical Writing Task

Coloured thread embroiders greyscale photos. These photographs depict family life, twelve real stories, told through black and white. The nature of them, for example, a family meal and a living room, invites the viewer into the narrative of their lives, making them apart of the story, whilst the physicality of stitching juxtaposes ideas of togetherness with invasion. Embroidery, although judged as peaceful and relaxing, is more intrusive and physically destructive than overlaying with pen or paint, as it requires penetrating the image with a needle. This intrusion of surface adds another layer to the story, twisting context and giving the viewer more information to infer into the narrative of the families lives.

It is important to mention the embroidery is a human figure, an anonymous but naked female, who is faceless in every image- thus investigating themes of identity, as families are usually seen to involve feelings of belonging, whereas the addition of the character disregards this, and appears almost alien to the situation, only identifiable by breasts, hips, and long hair. The simplicity of the woman also contrasts against the complexity of real family life, once again highlighting the incongruous nature of the figures appearance in the work.

 In addition to this, the naked body seems out of place or inappropriate once combined with a mundane situation. These contrasting themes of innocence versus nudity encourages the audience to consider the relationship between the stories told by the photographs and the nude body. Much like storytelling, the needle and thread act as a pen, writing characters into the tale.

The motion of pushing the needle through, up and down, alters the space between the audience and the work, as if the viewer is being sewn in too. This proximity changes the intimacy of the photographs, reflecting the naked body. This element of space almost makes the audience identify with the woman, feeling sympathy for her (as naked figures are often associated with vulnerability) and wanting to understand why or what she is doing in these people’s home; Is she a family member? Is she a real person or could she be symbolic? Is the same person stitched throughout each photo of the series? What is her significance? Could the work be a political or societal statement? Is the whole series one story, or twelve separate ones? These questions invite the audience to create their own story and interpretation.

The work asks the question of the connection between the original photograph and the woman. The use of black and white images is significant in relation to ideas of time, which adds context to the narrative. The outmoded, greyscale images highly contrast against the blue, green, red, and yellow threads. As well as making the figure stand out, demanding the viewers’ attention- she is in no way hidden, this implies that time has changed. She is a recent addition, once again channelling the intrusive nature of her presence. This can be seen through the bold colours used, which seem to bare no resemblance to real life, therefore indicating she is a fictional character, or a personified metaphor, adding to the fiction.

You can check out more of Zoe's work here: 

A post shared by Zoe Boswell Art💫 (@somethinglikeartmaybe) on Feb 23, 2017 at 10:40am PST

Critical Writing Task brief

Let's get critical, critical, I want to get critical

Why be critical: Without being critical of our own work and others, it will just stand still, and you won't move forwards. 

What does it mean: Looking; teaching yourself to look. 

Your subjective encounter is your initial reaction to a work. You should challenge this as it could be more to do with how you're feeling than the work- are you hungry? Also should consider whether or not pre held ideas are helpful- you're not always right, A level's not always right.

Your objective encounter is how you pull apart your subjective response.

Toolkit:

• Critical tools- Aspect lectures on space, surface, time, fiction
• Help- Footnotes task, grey description task; what is actually there?
• Subject-Object grid, crit questions
• Be specific

Text to Speech

After writing up a grey description of one of my photos, I asked my fellow arty type best friend Leah to record herself reading it, in one take. I chose to ask her as I wanted someone who hasn't seen the image, to look at how successful (or not) I was in communicating visual information through words.

With the idea of presenting the photo as a sound work, rather than image, I edited the sound clip and added a white space, with the intention of it blending into the white walls of the gallery space.

This was the result:

I then experimented with how tone of voice and emotion affects the communication. To do this I used google translate TTS, to create a flat, monotonous and continuous voice.