The rest of my figures

 Figure 3- I went back to using paper mache as I found clay may start crumbling and so doesn't make a solid reliable material. However I waited for the paper mache to dry this time before I covered the model with the bin bag, which created a much more solid outcome.
As the open mouthed expression was fairly successful before I decided to explore using it again, in more of a vague expression, similar to Gormley's emotionless figures in 'Another Place'.

 Figure 4- Emotionless, looking up towards the sky slightly. Also paper mache as this was very successful on the last figure. I aimed to create a feminine figure this time, and feel I achieved this through the narrow feminine face and features, with proportionate shoulders.

 Figure 5- Looking down slightly in anger, paper mache

Photoshop figure scenes

 

Once I had created a few figures I decided to experiment with placing them into scenes to explore the effect this would have. I started by photographing the figures and choosing the most successful photos to use. I then placed these photos into Photoshop, and used the magic want tool to cut them away from their background so I would be left with only the figure. Next I selected photos of scenes from the internet that I felt would make effective backgrounds. I could then copy and paste my figures onto these to multiply them, and use the transform tool to apply the correct scale in relation to the vanishing point(s). 

 

Once I was happy with the composition I then had to consider the lighting and sense of reality within the imagery. There were many tools available on Photoshop to aid me in achieving a realistic image, such as the blur, burn, sponge, and dodge tools. 

The burn tool allowed me to add tone to the figures, and shadows to the scenery in which the figures were placed. The dodge tool enabled me to highlight the figures where natural light would be hitting them, and the blur tool allowed me to blur the figures into the water/ground to make it appear as if they are submerged. Another tool that I found very useful was the flip tool, which allowed me to flip the figures vertically so that I was left with 6 individual looking figures instead of just the 3 that I started with.

 

I chose this background as I felt it would achieve the eerie aesthetic that I was aiming for. A park is usually a place of fun and happiness, yet placing these sinister figures into the scene paired with the flood water that is ruining the function and atmosphere of the park creates a thought provoking image that makes you question where these things have come from, what they are doing, and why? To me they appear to me wondering, some just aimlessly, whilst others possibly in search of something or someone. I really like how the figures appear to be coming towards the viewer, as I feel this could create a sense of fear through its intimidating, daunting, enigmatic appearance.

I feel the composition of this piece has been successful however the editing needs more work. Grouping the figures has appeared successful here as they now look like a small community portraying a range of thoughts, feelings and emotions in relation to the floods.
With more time I would edit the image further ensuring I got the right lighting effect on the figures, which would lead to a more realistic image overall. As you can see there is a lot more shadow in the foreground of the image compared to the background, which I didn't take into consideration when adding tone and highlights to the figures. This is something I would need to consider if I were to do this again.

I next moved onto the city, inspired by a news story on the Thames flooding. I also drew a lot of inspiration from Antony Gormley for this particular image, setting up a similar composition to the one he used in 'Another Place'. His composition was very successful and thought provoking and so I wanted to achieve the same effect. I placed the figures quite spread apart, appearing to be in a random composition to ensure the scene would look natural. I feel I have achieved a similar effect to that of Gormley's as my figures can be interpreted differently depending on the perspective of the viewer. Like Gormley's figures, they could be perceived to be standing frozen to the spot in the water, wading through it, drowning into it, emerging up from it, etc.
I feel this image could also make a statement on mass production and consumerism, as this is a very big subject within the city. This proves how the scenery is a very important aspect of the piece as a whole, affecting how the figures are viewed and perceived, the denotations and connotations they hold, the atmosphere they create, and the questions they raise.

As the last image proved successful I decided to develop the city theme and explore it further, however this time on solid ground. With this image I aimed to create something bold and eye catching that would immediately grab peoples attention and make them question what was going on.
I feel by using a street scene and placing the figures onto solid ground I have achieved this. When in water they appear submerged and a lot more clear as flood victims, however there is no water in sight here and so the obvious pointer to the identity of these strange beings has been removed. They now appear lost and unfamiliar, in an environment that is far from their natural home. This could be suggesting emigration and the issues that surround this, as London (The pictured city) is a very multi cultural place now. However the bin bag has retained it's function within my project, which is to protect the lives of the people they encase.
These figures appear to be wandering in search of something yet again, with this black bin bag mask covering their bodies and their lives, protecting them from materialistic things but also judgement, prejudice, and discrimination. This could suggest how people build up walls and put on a mask when they move to a new and unfamiliar place.
Although the figures are grouped together, I feel the composition, their expressions, and their stance makes them appear as individuals, no matter how many of them there are. This all relates to how a foreigner may feel when they suddenly find themselves alone in the city, despite being surrounded by many other foreigners.
This crowd could also suggest protesters or rioters which have become a common sight in the city, especially with the formal looking buildings in the background.

All of these identities are debatable and there are many more to be explored,  so I feel it is best to view these figures as ghosts, souls, memories, or entities that exist on another plane or time frame. They represent the vast amounts of diverse people that have walked upon this place since its beginning, holding the memories and stories of all of these people. The lack of acknowledgement from the real living people within the scene accentuates this view point on the work.

Wrapping experiment

 

This experiment was inspired by Christo and his technique of wrapping objects (research on this can be found in my research folder). However the motive behind my attempt at this is very different to Christo's. Information on Christo can be found here-

http://www.christojeanneclaude.net/projects/wrapped-objects-statues-and-women?view=info

As I have previously mentioned, I have found it intriguing how flood victims are forced to pack their lives into bin bags as a form of security and protection. Therefore I decided to explore this idea further and in a more literal sense, wrapping pieces of every day life in a bin bag.

 

 

With this experiment I aimed to portray the limits the flood victims now face, connoting how they are prohibited from living life as normal whilst in this situation. They are having to protect everything they have with an often overlooked material, which has become a cheap, easy and reliable form of protection from flood water damage.
This slightly animates the objects in a strange and intriguing way, much like the peculiar way in which Joshua Allen Harris uses gusts of air to animate bin bag characters. It also has the dark, mysterious, eerie edge that Mark James's work harbours. Although the work is very simple I feel it draws the viewer in encouraging them to figure out the connotations or message behind the piece. It has a very still, dead feeling to it, maybe illustrating what the victims could be feeling.

I feel I have achieved my aim effectively through my use of common every day objects and their bin bag wrapping, however I feel this could have been more successful if I had spent more time on the experiment and wrapped a bigger and more interesting scene in bin bags, as this may have been more eye catching and thought provoking.

Wire person second experiment

For this experiment I learnt from my previous mistakes and printed some photos of peoples faces at different angles and also had a mirror at hand, in the hope that this would enable me to create a more accurate face.


 I once again started by creating a wire model, ensuring the head and shoulders were slightly smaller than needed to allow me to layer the clay on.

 I then concentrated on the facial features, adding a little more detail than before to show increased emotion. This time I chose to experiment with the mouth in particular, shaping it into a different position that I felt could portray more emotion.
I also focused on getting the facial features proportionate and accurate from a range of angles, which is where the mirror was very useful as I could explore these angles on my own face.

Due to the sufficated look being successful in my previous experiment I decided to keep this aspect the same, and so once again coated the model in PVA glue.
At this stage I encountered a slight problem. As the clay began to dry it started to crack slightly, and so I thickly applied the glue hoping this would keep it all together.

 

Once I had covered the model with the bin bag I hoped that this would also hold the clay together once it dries out. I feel this turned out to be a positive problem, as it now represents how these victims are having to put on a front and hold themselves together inside, and on a more literal level, they are having to rely on materials such as bin bags to hold their lives together. 

I feel this experiment was a lot more successful as it portrays more emotion through its increased accuracy, and now appears a lot more life like. I don't think this removes any of the mystery compared to the previous experiment, and maybe even illustrates a heightened sense of mystery due to the changed expression. I like how the opened mouth makes viewers question what is going on- is the figure screaming? Maybe for help, or maybe through fear? Are they gasping? In shock or maybe for air? The decision will be down to the viewer and their perspective. The piece is whatever they want it to be, which makes it a lot more personal to them and creates a connection between the viewer and the work. This is the effect that I aimed to achieve, which was inspired by Antony Gormley's Another Place, where his work takes on a different appearance and meaning to each individual.

If I were to do this experiment again I wouldn't have placed the clay straight onto the wire, and I would have allowed it to dry before covering it to explore what would happen. With more time, I would have collected first hand photos of people with my desired expression on their face, and then spent more time striving to achieving this expression (using the photos). I also would have been more careful with the scale of the head as I feel it has turned out slightly too big on some parts.

Antony Gormley Analysis

Antony Gormley is a British sculptor best known for his work the Angel of the North, and Another Place. In the majority of his work he uses his own body as the basis for metal casts. Gormley describes his work as ' an attempt to materialise the place at the other side of appearance where we all live'. He aims to treat the body as a place, not an object, and so his work is not symbolic but indexical- a trace of a real event of a real body in time.

I am particularly interested in Gormley's 'Another place' work, made up of cast iron sculptures of the artists own body facing towards the sea. This has been displayed in Germany, Norway, Belgium, and finally at Crosby Beach in Liverpool.


I like how the work is very ambiguous, which has caused a lot of controversy. Some people feel it is pornographic, whilst others argue it is a hazard , however it has become a great tourist attraction with a real beauty for anyone to enjoy and explore.
I particularly like the colonisation of the statues by sea life such as barnacles. I find it intriguing how Gormley's body (which could be thought of as his home- the home of his mind/soul etc.) has now become the home of these organisms.

The sculptures were created from 17 body casts taken from Gormley's body, which was protected by a thin layer of cling film. Each sculpture is standing in a very similar way with the lungs inflated to different degrees and their postures carrying varying amounts of tension or relaxation


I find it very interesting how the sculptures are forced to engage with the daily life of the beach, experiencing the varying weather and tides throughout the day and night, whilst looking out upon the busy estuary filled with up to 500 ships a day. According to Gormley, another place harnesses the ebb and flow of the tide to explore man's relationship with nature. Architecture is tested by the elements and 'the prevalence of the sky seems to question the earths substance'. The work is made all the more interesting by the fact that the body is no stereotype or ideal, just an industrially reproduced body of a regular middle aged man attempting to remain standing and breathing, whilst being tested against planetary time. In his struggle he is faced with a horizon busy with ships moving materials and manufactured goods around the planet, perhaps suggesting the world that is still moving on around him.
Despite Gormley's aims and motives, the figures are very open to interpretation, however to me they appear to be staring out towards the horizon in silent expectation, perhaps pondering their life and their dreams.



Gormley-




“Each person is making it again… for some it might be about human evolution, for others it will be about death and where we go, where our bodies finally belong, do they belong to the earth and the elements? And I think that’s what’s amazing about in a way the work of now - contemporary art, it’s no longer representing the ideology of a dominant class it’s actually an open space that people can make their own.”


This quote sparked me to think about how the figures could be looking out to sea reflecting on our evolution, due to the theory of us evolving from fish. However the link with death that Gormley has suggested then turns this into a cycle. Maybe the sea connotes the cycle of our lives, and these figures are looking out to where they came from, and will one day return to.
Leading on from this thought, I like how the figures appear almost ghostly, especially at night. When darkness falls they are lit only by the moon, creating eerie and perhaps slightly sinister silhouettes. They appear like lost ghosts looking out to sea, maybe looking back on their lives in reflection, struggling to move on.

I feel the amount of detail included on the figures is perfect, as it is just enough to give them a sense of life and power, without giving them too much of an individual identity which could make it hard for viewers to connect and relate to them. The figures have a sense of thoughtfulness, serenity, and tranquillity, which is quickly diminished by the crashing waves of high tide.
When viewing the figures in a photo like this-

...the scene appears like an ancient ritual in which they are fully immersed in. This eerie atmosphere is accentuated when viewer's stand next to the figures, perhaps searching for whatever the figures are staring towards, expecting to discover what they're looking for.

There are also theories that the work is a response to sentiments associated with emigration. The figures portray the sadness of leaving, but the hope of a new future in another place. I feel the enigmatic forms portray these deep feelings well through their posture and positioning.

A particular aspect of the composition of this work that interests me is how each viewer will see a different piece of art. Depending on the time of day/month/year the piece is visited, the figures will be immersed in different levels of sand and water, completely changing the aesthetic and atmosphere of the work.

I feel the flood victim figure that I made is similar to Gormley's Another Place figures. I am going to make another figure where I focus on the level of detail and emotion shown through the figure, trying to reach an effective balance like Gormley has. I am unable to make a cast like Gormley has, however I could achieve my aim by using clay onto wire instead of paper mache as this may be an easier way of moulding a face to how I want it.

Wire person experiment

After my previous experiment of creating a miniature flood victim using a bin bag, paired with my research on Khalil Chishtee, I was inspired to create a life size model of a flood victim using a bin bag.
I decided to use wire as my base as this is a strong yet flexible material that would allow me to build up layers and shape them into the form of a person.

Once i had formed a basic head and shoulders shape with the wire, I began coating it with paper mache. I also explored using different fabrics, however it was difficult to give the form shape with them. I wanted to include enough detail for the face to be seen through the plastic bag and look life like, but not enough to give the form too much of an identity. 
Once happy with the piece I coated it in PVA glue, and then slid it inside a bin bag. I experimented with how tightly I pulled the bag around the piece, and decided that sticking it down tightly to the form was most effective. I really like how this gives it a suffocated, sinister aesthetic that I feel will catch people attention and draw them in.

I like how the creases of the bag are very dynamic and give a sense of life to the form, particularly around the neck where it appears very constricting. This suggests the struggle the flood victims may face when trying to trek through deep water; they may struggle to breathe; become lost and disorientated; feel very constricted or maybe panic stricken. I feel the use of the bin bag takes a hint of life out of the suggested person, as if they have become a very basic, plastic, emotionless robot having to push on through the hard times they face. It also connoted how the plastic bag is a form of protection in this situation, as I mentioned in a previous post.
If I were to do this experiment again I would use an image of a persons head or a mirror to ensure the proportions and composition of the head, shoulders and features were more accurate, as I feel this is a downfall of the finished product. I would also have waited for the paper mache to dry before placing the bag over it, as it is now taking a very long time to dry out and so is still squidgy and beginning to loose some of its form.

When placed onto the floor the piece had a lot of presence and proved very eye catching, which led me onto wondering if I could create a small group of these models to heighten the enigmatic, eerie, thought provoking aesthetic and atmosphere the model creates.


The work was inspired by all of the artists I have so far looked at, but particularly Khalil Chishtee. His work influenced me to create a captivating human form, which I chose to be a flood victim as this links to my theme of floods. I aimed to capture the victimhood and struggles of the people affected by the floods by my use of the bin bag and the form of the body. I feel I have successfully done this, but in a slightly different way to Chishtee. Instead of using ripped withering bags to cover my sculpture, I have put my own twist on Chishtee's idea by using the bag in a restricting and suffocating way, as this more closely links with my theme of floods and the struggles these victims may face.

Using a bin bag as a canvas

 

My research on the designer Mark James inspired me to create a piece of work using a bin bag as a canvas, much like he does (however he does it digitally). I used images of the floods found on the internet as I was unable to collect images of this nature first hand, and then imported them onto Photoshop. From there I used the posterize, threshold, and Gaussian blur tools to create a stencil that I could print and cut out with a craft knife. With this photo I aimed to capture the expression on the woman's face, as this would be a focal point of the outcome. Once placed onto the bin bag I used acrylic paint. A quick experiment onto a scrap of bin bag revealed that this was the most effective paint to use on this material as it sat well and dried normally.
I scumbled blues and greens onto the bag as these colours are often associated with water. To do this I used a scrunched up piece of bin bag, which created an effective rough dynamic look. This use of the bin bag represents how these victims have to make the most of what they have now, and how many of them will be relying on bin bags as a form of safety and protection (as said in the bin bag experiment post). I also felt that painting onto a bin bag using a bin bag added a sense of irony to an otherwise very serious piece of work.

Once I had removed the stencil I experimented with dripping PVA glue down the piece. I hung it up on a wall allowing the glue to run down the image like water. Once dried this created a dented look replicating the path left by a line of water. I feel this has successfully added a hint of the floods to the image, which could otherwise be interpreted as something else depending on the viewers perspective. The lines also add a sense of anguish and stress and they are reminiscent of forehead lines, communicating how these victims must be feeling in their current situation. This makes the piece all the more interesting and intriguing, drawing the viewer in on an aesthetic as well as emotional level.

This is another experiment that I feel is very powerful and therefore successful. I first found a relevant newspaper headline which I cut out and stuck onto a piece of paper covered with a bin bag. I created an inverted stencil this time, coating the bag around the cut out letters with white acrylic paint. The idea I had was to cover the bin bag so it can no longer be see or recognised as a bin bag, and have only the letters showing what is behind the white mask. This reflects how the government try to cover things up or sugar coat them, like they have done with the floods. They ignored the need for dredging and other essential measures needed to prevent flooding, instead opting to ignore and then sugar coat the problem. The letters where the bag shows through reflect how these stories in the news are revealing the short fallings of the government and the truth that they are always trying to hide. The news reports reveal the reality of the floods, not what the government want us to think (which is that they are trying to help, have tried to prevent this, will pay out money to victims, etc.).
The contrast between black and white has also proved very powerful. Not only does it catch people's attention, but it also reflects the very black and white statement that is being made- 'Why the hold up?'. It is a simple question yet when put to an MP the answer is avoided and instead an irrelevant answer full of useless information, statements, and accusations is produced, further proving my point of their 'sugar coating' technique (evidence of this can be found in my research folder).
I once again used the method of scumbling acrylic paint onto the bag using a scrunched up bag as this proved effective in the previous experiment.
If I were to create another piece similar to this I would do it on a larger scale to explore the impact it would then have.

For this piece I painted acrylic paint onto a bin bag with a paintbrush, which didn't produce the same successful effect as the scumbling. I like this experiment as the identity of the image isn't clear at a quick glance and so it encourages people to take a closer look. They are then met with the humbling image of a member of the services wading through flood water tin an attempt to help victims.

Using the bin bag to scumble in my previous experiments lead onto me wanting to explore using the bag as the material. Therefore I used this stencil made on Photoshop using a photo from the news as my base, as I like the simple black and white nature of these stencils. I then shredded up a bin bag into thin strips, which I dipped into a solution of PVA glue and water (much like paper mache). I then stuck them to the focal point of the image, similar to a collage.

This was quite a difficult technique as the image was very small and so it was hard to get the small details in, and so if i were to do this again i would use a much larger image.
I like the ripped up texture of the piece, and feel the bag reflects my previous points on how the bin bag is used as a form of protection and security for these victims.
The texture makes it eye catching and intriguing as viewers want to explore the material used.

 

In this experiment I created and cut out a stencil based on the headline I had picked from a newspaper. I wanted the paint to drip from the letters, bringing the theme of the floods to life. I added PVA glue into the paint this time hoping it would give the paint a more water like aesthetic. However this was slightly unsuccessful as the design dried translucent and so doesn't have the presence that I intended. However I feel the dripping has been successful, and the blue adds to the water like effect. I also like how the form of the letters has started to diminish and drip down into the paths below, as it creates an eery and slightly sinister aesthetic, reflecting the seriousness of the floods.

 I brought together a few of the stencils above and some new ones I had edited on Photoshop to create this piece. By bringing these stencils together it is as if I am bringing the story told by each individual stencil together to represent the whole communities of people affected by the floods. The bin bag's role has now become to hold the group of stencils (communities) together and protect them as a whole. Inside I stuffed the bag with newspaper so it is containing the stories of the people portrayed on the outside of the bag. The plastic bag is protecting these stories and lives, holding in the deeper side to the situation whilst we only see what is on the outside- the photos from the news. This encourages the viewer to look further than what they see on the news and actually think about and consider what these victims are going through, and how much more there is to the simple news stories we read on the subject.
Once again I used acrylic paint as this proved successful in my above experiments. I chose to use white paint to create a large contrast, hoping this would achieve the same effective result as in some of the previous experiments, and red paint to add a sinister, serious aesthetic to the piece. I feel the combination of typography and imagery has been effective as it makes the piece eye catching and more engaging. Some of the images aren't very clear, and so without text the subject of this experiment may have been less clear. The text clearly provokes the viewer to question the subject if the imagery hasn't already achieved this.

Khalil Chishtee

'Chishtee's trash bag creations resemble a mix of a Giacometti sculpture, a form from Body Worlds and, perhaps, a mythical swamp creature. Ranging from playful to haunting, Chishtee's plastic bag army make us excited to recycle, reuse and renew.'

(http://hifructose.com/2013/01/10/khalil-chishtees-beautifully-fragile-plastic-bag-sculptures/)

“Collector,” black and white trash bags

“The Unbearable Lightness of Being,”

“We live in the age of plastic, and plastic bags are the most ordinary form of this material. It goes back to the Sufi approach of my upbringing where worth does not depend on what you inherit, it depends on who you are. Anything made out of bronze, wood, stone or painted on a canvas carries the appearance of being worth looking at, because of its history, but if one can change the impact of that history, one is an artist."  

Chishtee, a Pakistani artist, takes an overlooked and unwanted material (the plastic shopping bag) and creates sinister, expressive, life sized human figure sculptures that illustrate feelings of sorrow, dejection and victimhood. Some of these figures are quite life like whilst others appear very vague or supernatural, with angels wings or altered limbs.
I particularly like the rough torn up edges of the bags, which add a sense of fragility to the forms, magnifying their captivating beauty. An aspect that I feel adds to this beauty is the flowing forms of the sculptures, which create a dynamic fluid scene before our eyes (particularly in 'the unbearable lightness of being') which provokes me to compare the form to a ballet dancer.

I feel that the use of plastic bags in this work, supported by the quote above and my research (found in my research folder) could make a statement on how we recycle our personalities. Chishtee mentions how worth depends on who you are, suggesting he believes we should all be ourselves and be good people to be worth something, not following the crowd and copying everyone else. A plastic bag is a mass produced product, and so maybe he is suggesting that us humans are becoming mass produced, we have become merely plastic copies of other people, losing our own unique features and identities. This metaphor on life makes the piece all the more engaging.
Chishtee regards a plastic bag in the same way that Mark James and Joshua Allen Harris do. They all consider this material overlooked and unwanted, and so strive to explore what the material can do and make use of the emotions it can provoke.

Another aspect of Chishtees work that appeals to me is the sense of sadness the pieces can instill on the viewers. The shredded withering figures appear to have given up hope, as if they're struggling through life.
This is an effect that I would like to try and create by making a model of a flood victim. I will explore how I can use plastic bags and perhaps other relevant overlooked and unwanted materials to create a serious yet enigmatic aesthetic that portrays the sorrow and victimhood of these people.