Changes made to large scale image

I decide to change my idea for the final large scale image as I felt it wasn't communicating the right message. The linocut of the mother was the wrong medium to use. It was too bold and harsh, also it was really hard to blend this into the background. This similarly to the print was too bold and needed toning down , it was all too crowded as well and composition wasn't clear. Instead of creating new images, I thought it would make much more sense to just use the images already made in my sketchbook. The ink sketches all work together because they are in the same medium. This also contains that spontaneity and shows through the process that fed into them. They also help to show the subject in a sensitive light. The people, for example, are painted so you cannot see their faces but each still has individuality. They are very figurative and with the absence of faces keeps the individual's identity hidden. It keeps aswell the anthropological and reportage approach. Using small motifs and sections of drawings makes it for me to build a larger image. Also if any new parts need to be added they will be quick to create. The plan is for the image to still be A2 size but still thinking about how to present this. 

Digital Rough of large image and peer reveiw

I decided to speed things up I would rent out a Wacom tablet and this is a tool I have been scared to use but really helped. It made thinking and composting easier and allows me to jot down any quick thoughts. I was struggling to think of how to draw the mother so I decided to lino cut it. This does create a bit of a rift between that and the background colour. Finding a way to blend them together is hard but reshaping the colour should work. By doing this it should also get rid of the boxed-in feel. It is too restrictive, I need to use more space. Not sure about the colours. From the crit, people liked them but I think if they where controlled more then it would look better and it would allow for space. Digitally printing also means that I am able to make these changes easily.
The peer review went well. There is a clear link between research and practical work. Reasurch has been carryout in depth and a large amount of practical work. But things to think about are where would the final work sit? exhibition ?

Summary evaluation of work so far.

The essay is in a good position, it really needs narrowing down as it is 3,000 words over the word count. The reason for this is that I have incorporated the descriptions of the conversations I have had with certain people. Moving these into the appendix would be the best way of reducing the word count but still gives the reader the option to read them as they are still significant to the research. Now the main body of research is complete I need to start tying the practical together. For the practical, I am going to make a large scale image, composed of the stories draw from the workshops and the children aspirations that they drew based on their ambitions. Running alongside this will be serval mini prints composed of separate elements of the image in a simple format. So far I have finished the memory research book and have draw motifs from this and created new ones that I have screen printed on calico, which is a thick canvas fabric. I really like these experiments because the simple ink drawings translate well into print. The fabric also has an off-white and textural finish. I am not sure how to compose the different elements together yet. They could just be single motifs like there are now, or it could be a large scale image involving all the different elements. Another idea is that the single motifs could be used for the smaller prints.  I also need to think about where the final outcomes could sit? are they for exhibition, product, publishing. If I use fabric for the final thing, exhibition and product would be the areas it could work in. And if the image is going to be large scale then using digital print instead of screen printing onto fabric, will save time and it will be finished efficiently and neatly.  Publishing could still be an option. Whether I just produce a series of prints based on the stories/ ideas and compose these into a book. This would give the final outcomes context but wouldn't be challenging my practice and push how illustration can be used to show social issues.

Method rethink

Using ink and collaging/ mixing it with different layers and mono print texutres is a quicker method than Lino cutting everything. It saves a lot of time and replicates the style of Lino well. It also allows me to play around with line work and experiment more. The mono print textures are key to achieving the print aesthetic and they are also very quick to make and one made can be scanned in and cut out.

Joey Yu

 Joey Yu is a recent graduate of Kingston University and is one of Varoom magazines graduates of 2017.  This project surrounds the topic of anti-assimilation. The project investigated the restrictions, hidden culture and identity. The outcomes consisted os a banner and items of clothing. I really like how simple and spontaneous they are. She uses just one colour and simple tools to draw the images. It looks like she has used ink and this has allowed her to incorporate textures and different quality of lines easily into the image. The addition of writing is an interesting idea. It helps explain the images and creates a clear narrative. Incorporating different scales works, it helps the design has depth and larger block shapes allow for breaks between t the more detailed part of the images. Wall hagging is a strong way of displaying work on fabric.  It is hard with base materials such as fabric to display them well but wall hangings allow for the whole design to be seen and it can be adapted to any scale. I need to consider the way she has approached working with fabric and how her designs are not complicated and still communicate a strong message.

Luke Best

Luke Best, like Laura Carlin reduces objects to their simplest form. Textures however are used heavily throughout. For example in both images, the background features such as the hills, textures are used to add tone and depth to the image. Best's work also uses collage as a main tool for composition. I like the contrast of pattern right next to block colour and the experimental side this brings to the images. Again like Carlin's work is nieve in feel but interesting and strong in the message. The smaller details such as the people, boats and trees add charm as well, but also being key additions to communication. Colour is daring. Bright blues alongside pink, greens and oranges. This contributes to the playful aesthetic of the images. Taking on the approach of experimental lead making could be an option to use for my own practical outcomes.

Laura Carlin

Laura Carlin's illustration can be described as naive in there approach but are still sophisticated, detailed and human. It is clear that her work is entirely had made. Ink is a material that Carlin uses a lot in her work. The medium can be made to alter tone and shade easily and quickly but can be used to create textures as seen in the image below in the sea. In Carlin's images, the viewer has an emotional response to her images.  They observe and record, she makes the viewer of the image the observer. The tiny details of features like the windows, cars, people, buildings, they feel fragile and small. It's humble but does have a slightly dark side. Drawing these elements so small and delicately make the image intriguing and this fits really well for where the work sometimes sits in editorial. The images also hold a strong sense of narrative. With one image, composed in a certain way, she has been able to achieve multiple narratives held within one image. Drawing the objects in their simplest form, not over embellishing, allows the key features to be shown clearly but also for simple patterns using the objects. This adds to the quality of the aesthetic.

Roughs for large piece

 I initially has the idea of using the motifs I printed on the calico,  one aim of the final outcomes being based on the aspirations of the participants in the workshop .Sectioning off different parts of the image almost like islands was interesting and with the final thing potentially being printed on fabric, pattern can be incorporated. I also like the contrast between city and rural. This was an ambition of one of the children in the self lead workshop, she wanted to live in a house surrounded by trees and birds. So living where she currently in contrast to where is wants to live. The most influential people I worked with was the family from Somalia. The connection between the mother and her children was very strong and this is a key feature that I want to show. Below roughs of the mother  with children in her arms surrounded but the city and rural is an idea I want to develop further.

Sue Coe's AIDS Portfolio.

Sue Coe is a illustrator who's practise involves political issues and the arts. She often explores social injustice and the capitalism , particularly affecting the working class. The project started off in 1994  by Coe being asked by Dr. Eric Avery at a hospital in Galveston , Texas to record the reality of the AIDS ward within the hospital. During the earlier 90's AIDS had become the leading cause of death for people aged 25 to 44. Through drawings and etchings based on the conversations and observation Coe made with the patients in the different stages of AIDS. The final packaging holding the final images was embossed with the red toxic symbol. ' Five individual portraits and five hospital scenes humanised those suffering in the midst of a frightening epidemic.' Images where also supported by a small amount of text containing a personal story. This was instead of facts and the overall social impact. Image and quotes for link. -https://www.visualaids.org/events/detail/allied-against-aidssue-coes-aids-portfolio

Claire Bishop - art historian. Key quotes

• ' There can be no failed, unsuccessful, unresolved pr boring work of collaboration art because all are equally essential to the task of strengthening the social bond. '
• 'But with most projects that have grown out of a design background ' social engagement' is not the final outcome or the focus if the project,...' 
• 'Other illustrators taking on social or political themes in their practice have responded by depicting the issue with which they have aligned themselves. The goal is to shock and raise awareness.' 
• 'In the fine art practice discussed earlier this article the 'work' is situated in the exchange that takes place - not in any final object. The dialogue to the interaction constitutes the work.' 

Impact art

Impact arts are a art community based project that runs throughout Scotland in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Ayrshire. Their aim is to help the lives of people and communities through creative activity and the arts. Their overall ambition is to be recognized as Scotlands leading charity in community arts. With the participants they work with there aim is to build confidence , learn new skills, 'get back into work or education' , 'source work in the creative arts' and 'enjoy better health or simple improve quality of life.'  One project in particular The Craft Cafe based in Edinburgh and offers elderly people and residents in care homes to come down and join in and learn creative activities. The participants are given freedom of choice to do anything they wish and the staff at the cafe will help and support them in doing this. The aim of the project is to encourage socialisation an creativity and run very much on a person-centered approach. Particularly with the residents in the care homes it gives them and their families chance to spend time together in a setting that is supported and safe. Impact arts as a organisation like other similar to it does not get  much publicity. They have all to social media and digital platforms and they are being used well  but they are not getting large numbers of support.

Suzanne Lacy - ' The Crystal Blanket.'

Suzanna Lacy is a visual artist who works include performance, photography and installations. Lacy is known for inventing the term ' new genre public art.'  Using practice ' as a healing process, not only for the artist themselves but also for the members of the audience. ' Lacy 2012. Lacy's practise involved working and interacting with groups on tackling social questions. It is said that her practice 'blurs the boundaries between activism, art, pedagogical practise and curation. ' 

The Crystal Quilt (1985-1987) was a performance piece involving a group of 430 women aged over 60 and it exploring ageing and the experience of it. The project, in addition, investigated how ageing women are depicted in media platforms and in public. In the centre of a shopping complex, the layout was set up in a geometric format using tables draped in black cloths. The women they came on dressing in black and turned the cloths over to reveal colour. Throughout the performance, a mix of sounds with personal observations and memories from the women was played over the top. At the end of the performance, 300 people filled the space holding hand-painted scarves. Lacy described this approach as a 'social strategy '  lacy 1987.  After the project ended 15 of the women involved attended organised leadership training for older women. From this, it is evident that the project had a positive lasting impact on the people involved. The project and Lacy's practise are two examples of how a practice that incorporates diversity and contextualises, making for an outcome that highlights concerning issues successfully and positively impacts the participants. 

Rob Lowe community project - Mural - Great Ormonds street hospital.

Rob Lowe artist who come originally from a design commercial background but was approached by Great Ormond Street Hospital community arts program (GOSH) to collaborate and create a mural that sits within the activities area for the children’s cancer ward. Lowe worked alongside the children of the ward in workshops where they created collages out of simple shapes. These collages were then used for inspiration by Lowe to create the final mural. 

Lowe instead of letting the participants have free choice over the images they make is restricting them but selecting the materials they use and then taking inspiration from their work and creating the final thing themselves.

Dialectics - Development of the theory. Marxism

•  Hegel's originally present the idea to Marx, but he was the one to notice the oppression of the working class. The oppression but the higher archery caused capitalism. From this Marx created the theory of Dialectical Materialism. 
• Page 78 - Alienation 'means to distract; seize possession of something to extort from other what belongs to them.'
• Marxism 3 basic sources - German philosophy, English political economy and French socialism.   
• Saint - Simon and Fourier where the utopian socialists. 
• Business takes 200% of profit - LINK to the Occupy movement and the 1% creation of unions.
• Capital needs workers but workers don't need capital.
• Marx's states that capitalism is incapable of resolving the problems of humanity. American dream.  
• Marx's 5 systems: Primitive community, a slave state, feudal state, capitalist system and socialist society.
•  Only a politicized working class can move onto the next stage.
• Political journalism came to life with Marx. Use of the spread ideas.
• Documentary reporting too.
• Marx's ideas go so radical he was expelled from several different countries.
• Secret society ' the communist league.'
• LOOK AT MATISSE IN RELATION TO MARXISM.
• Basic questions asked by philosophers.
• How can man discover the truth?
• what are the origins of the universe?
•  What is the purpose of human life?
• Aristotle- realised social conflict arises from inequality but said slavery was okay.
•  ' I think therefore I am.' - Materialistic part idealist. 
• Kant 17th Century - materialist '  Critique of pure reason ' Questions ideas and suggest the idea that there cannot be morality without some belief, be that god or immorality.
• Marx asked the questions- and man? what is mans role? how is it possible that nothing changes? 

Grenfell tower community art project

http://www.grasart.com/blog/category/community

• Constantine Gras - Community artist in residence - the project of focus he spent 4 months at Lancaster West Estate.
• The project - To design a new mural for the Grenfell Tower. 
• Gras started the project by running a series of workshops in which he asked the children who lived in the estate to draw on a large wall covered in paper.
• He notes that the children are '...clearly a defining pattern of imagery taking shape...' The tower structure and surrounding buildings, themselves sometimes with family and cultural identity.   
• Animals were a big feature. A video on Gras's blog shows the children drawing of elephants the size of the tower block and giraffes who reach the sky. Recordings of the conversations he had with the children about these plays over a showreel of the images. 
• In March 2016 Gras started directly responding to the issues facing the Lancaster west estate in light of the new housing and planning bill. His response was another large scale drawing.
•  He also started the research for this in December 2015, where he recorded a senior residence Christmas meal through photography and conversation, some of whom mentioned that they had lived there all their lives. He also documented through drawings council meeting between the residences and the elected council members.  
• These records that Gras made have been made all the more significant by the fire that happened at Grenfell, recently reported that 71 people died. He worked with individuals directly affected by the tragedy, but his work has drawn attention. I heard about his project through channel 4 news the week of the fire when they mentioned that some of the children involved died or lost family. The drawing gave wider society a perspective of the sense of pride, unity and the people. And highlighted the fact that society still has a class system in which the poor are struggling and neglected. Images below http://www.grasart.com/blog/category/community  Gras.C , (2015-2016), Constantine Gras,http://www.grasart.com/blog/category/community 

               

key Images and write ups form conversations in workshops.

 workshop 1.- Claire.

 workshop 2- Bee

workshop 6- Self lead

Key sketchbook pages.

Ink techs of refugee camps.

Ink is a really useful material for documenting objects and landscapes quickly and in there simplest form. It also translated memory and the sense of that. Drawing in this way also makes it easier to see how the images/objects could be translated into different mediums.
They translate atmosphere that would be good to carry on exploring and if apropriate bring across to final outcomes.

I swear I saw this - Michael Taussig

- Imaginative logic of discovery.
- Page 3 of book - ' The word 'cattle' is the root of capital as in capitalism.'
- He makes reference to peasants and plaumetirians.
- Makes references to Barthes - Page 6. The idea of ' The third meaning.'
- Quote page 7 - Genet -'Put all the images in language in a place of safety and make use of them , for they are in the desert, and it's in the desert we must go and look for them.'
- Walter Benjamin - Surrealism- page 22.

-‘Drawing is thus depicting, a hauling, an unravelling, and
being impelled towards something or somebody.’ (Taussig, 2011) Michael Taussig,
an Australian Anthropologist, produced a book in 2011 I swear I saw this. Within the
book Taussig describes his own account of a trip to Colombia where he was being
driven, in a taxi, and saw a scene out of the window. He describes seeing a
homeless woman and her husband in the side of the road, she is stitching herself
into a sleeping bag. This was a fleeting observation and so Taussig decided to
sketch the scene down from memory with notes alongside. (image below)The drawings are not
particularly strong but they met the purpose of recording and analysing the
observation he made.

Case Study 3 - Workshop 6

The workshop is based on aspirations for the future. The aim was to enhance their community and help them to think about how they would like to achieve but through a creative process. Materials selected where of a wider verity them previous workshops. They include paper and paints but also screen printing. Before the workshop, stencils were cut of objects and animals for them to use so they just had to lay them on blank screens and the ink pulled through. There was a high chance at the start that no one was going to come. Reasons being that it was the first workshop where it is not run within a building that the participants know and trust. This then exposes the difficulties of having the confidence to attend. Compared to the others, this workshop had been advertised for a number of weeks through the council, and interested was shown by 3 to 4 large families. The task like the others was simple, to create images based on the aims. Initially, the idea was to take the project further but having been told that the age range of children attending was from a year old to nine, it was easier to keep the task simple in order to fit all abilities. There was no one arriving at the start of the workshop but about an hour and a half in some participants arrive. They where a family of 7 from Somali. The children who took part sat approximately in the age ranges that were mentioned earlier and were very keen to start. Walking up to the studio, through the university was something the children found very exciting. They were running a peering through windows, asking questions and were really curious about the windows along the side of a corridor wall where you couldn't see what was on the other side. Despite previous worries, this was a very confident family. Both Mother and Father attend too. Once they had been given the brief on what to do they children went straight to the paints and started making. The mother oversaw the children but the father got a piece of paper, a couple of pens and sat at a desk by himself and drew an image that perfectly illustrated his aspirations ( see figure ...). This was interesting. He was a very quiet, shy person, spoke some English but his wife translated anything he was unsure about. The image he created had a was very humble. He had aspirations to be a farmer of vegetables and animals, he also wanted a cool skateboard as he put it with which to do all this with. The drawing was good and especially with the animals held a strong narrative. His wife then came over and wrote on the page ' Idea man.' They joked about this said it was because he has all the ideas. The connection they have as a family when you meet them is a very strong one. The mother was a patient women who was stern yet comforting towards her children. She herself was very confident and this played a key part in putting all the family at ease.

Once the children were underway with the task it became apparent that some were too young to be able to follow the concept. However, this didn't stop them playing with the materials and trying new skills such as screen printing with assistance. The elder two like the father follow the aim well. The eldest wanted to be a billionaire whilst the second eldest want to own a house in the forest with lots of birds. Within the conversation, they said that they are in school and proceed to say what their favourite subjects were, one of them being maths said by the eldest. The younger children struggled to understand English so the elder two children translated in conversations. The workshop lasted an hour and a half. Having a good amount of people attending was a positive thing. It meant that they were able to fulfil one of the aims but not enhancing there community and getting to know other families. If attendance had been higher then this concept would have worked. The processes they used in the workshop was highly enjoyed. Especially the screen printing. they younger members enjoyed pulling the ink through and creating the print. Also, the youngest had a fascination with the shade the ink was of blue. Her mother commented that she obsessed with blue as her hand was reaching up to the top of the table to grab the spoon cover in blue ink, nearly bringing the container with it. Towards the end of the workshop, they were given a free sketchbook and pencil. The eldest who had got slightly bored by this point was writing in the book, his father later joined in with him. The father was then very keen to show me what his son had done. He had written the numbers up to ... in roman numerals and written a fact about the earth and sun, with a small illustration by the side of it. His father commented that he is very clever. Even though not many attend the family still benefited hugely from the workshop. Learning new skills and just spending time having fun and playing as a family is valuable.

Case study 2 - workshop 3 , 4 and 5

These workshops took place with an organization separate from the refugee council. The organization is called' Getaway Girls'. The charity supports young women and girls who are from a range of backgrounds and need help in a verity of difficulties for example from living in poverty, mental health and refugees asylum seekers. The next set of workshops where working with a group of young Syrian refugee girls from this charity. They took place at the charity building, which is only small, is made up of two terrace houses knocked through. The room did not have much inside, two sofas, a whiteboard, and 3 small tables. The charity did have funding in the past form Red Nose Day appeal and Children In Need but they are currently undergoing a massive crowdfunding campaign in order to raise money to keep the organization going. The final aim of the workshops was to create cards which could be used to send off to the donators, but in the first and last workshop, was a chance for the girls to experiment and play with new skills and work. The first workshop was well attended. For watching the girls greet each other by shaking hands and kissing each other on each cheek, it was clear that they have formed a really close friendship because of the group. The atmosphere was lively and joyful. The languages were mixed, some spoke English and others Arabic but this was a great mix. Through conversations with the girls, new words, and phrases were learned by all involved and they were a very talkative group. Conservation soon when into school subjects, moving from Syria to the UK and to more lighter subjects such as films, tv programs, and food. In this session, the girls cut stencils and screen printed onto tote bags. The was a technique that not many of them had tried before and so it was an opportunity to try something new, but also create something that will last. The final session would include stitching and decorating the bags. The second session was using the same process of stencil screen printing, making the cards to send out to donators. They each made 2 or 3 cards each and using a set colour of inks which were mixed beforehand but they had a free choice of the idea they wanted for their stencils.

 In conversation with one of the girls and her mother said that they had only recently moved from Damascus. They loved their city and held great pride in it. but commented how the UK is very different. A comment the mother made was about the UK's drinking culture, how there are no safe alcohol-free places for families or people to go and enjoy a conversation. She described a fountain in the city centre of Damascus where people use to go on an evening and sit and talk. Enjoy conversation whilst music was played.  She has been trying to work with Leeds City Council and proposed this idea of getting more places where people can socialize in a relaxed, alcohol- free, family-friendly environment. This comment stuck as on that same day getting the train home with a large group of drunken men coming back from a game of football at 1:30 in the afternoon, finding it an unpleasant experience,  realizing she is right. In the friendship groups within the workshop were divided. The girls who spoke English sat on one table while the girls who struggled and spoke Arabic sat on the other. this divide was most prominent in the first session. Not sure as to why unintentional divide occurred, could be to do with language barriers or that they felt more comfortable sitting with others who can understand them automatically. But particually when speaking to the girls who spoke their first language some of them do attend school together. The group like the others offers familiarity, to meet people who may have had similar experiences, speak the same language and develop friendships that the individuals heavily rely on. In the last session, this was clear that the girls worked as a unit as none of them turned up. It was the week after half term and reminders were sent out but the girls often message each other the see who is going.

Examples of work :

Screen print stencils.