FIRST FORTNIGHT AT GOLDSMITHS (BA DESIGN)

I am in the first day of the third week of the Design BA course at Goldsmiths University. For the past two weeks I've been entertained by the variety of Technical Studies Workshops that have been made available to us. The workshops were as follows:

-Creative/Physical Computing

-Metal

-Digital Fabrication

-Plastic Fabrication

-Graphics

-Textiles

-Wood

-Photography

I thoroughly enjoyed all of them and regret that there will be a time where I have to choose three of them to learn about more thoroughly and leave the rest behind (for the time being, at least).

In Creative Computing we learned about basic coding, and our outcome existed on an 8x8 LED panel, where we could code for any specific LED and colour it based on the pantone colour system.

This was all within reason of course, as LEDs are fabulously luminous and somewhere the yellows blurred into the greens and pinks burned into reds... but we worked it out relatively well.

 Metal was like stepping into the unknown. I had no experience of how this material behaved or what it 'liked' or 'disliked' in terms of manipulation and adjustment. I spent most of the morning concerned that I would hurt myself on such a 'harsh' material and was pleasantly surprised when I created some seemingly 'soft' outcomes.

Plastic Fabrication was like working backwards... It took us ages to create any form of outcome and I'm not even sure it was worth it. I feel like these objects would have benefited from further refinement, as their final form did not do the process as much justice as it perhaps could have.

On the bright side, now that I am aware of the process I can most certainly plan in more detail my next encounter with a vacuum former and make my end product a more purposeful and successful one.

BRUTALISM

THE UGLIEST BUILDINGS IN THE WORLD.
-1960s BRUTALISM.

Apparently there are two types of responses to Architectural demands:

1. Utilitarian structures built to fit traditional aesthetics.

or

2. Modernist structures which seek to change the criteria or definition of beauty so the building works to fit the demands of technology.

The resultant of #2 is that we have buildings and Architecture of service, utility and function- "lean" buildings, as Simon Thurley, a visiting Lecturer at Gresham College stated. 

These facts help me understand what I want to know;

- What Brutalism is, and how we can define it.

- Why Brutalism was born, and what the circumstances were.

- What the varying opinions on the style are.

- How and why some Brutalist buildings have been destroyed, whilst others have been listed.

Now, research tells me that Brutalism begins with a term "Beton Brute"- meaning raw concrete, and a man called Le Corbusier.

The movement came after the Middle Ages Classicism and the Eclecticism of the Industrial Revolution, and can be dubbed the "Modernism of the Welfare state". Post WW2, Britain required housing; cheaply, effectively, using materials

Shortly after came Peter and Alison Smithson, and their Hunstanton school, where every piece of steel used had to be justified.

BEAUTY NEGLECT AND DECAY.

NEGLECT AND DECAY 

-Neglect and Decay was the original title for my project, as I was intrigued by the book "Beauty in Neglect and Decay", where old, abandoned houses and buildings over the world are documented in a photography diary. As something my parents would label 'ugly' or 'disgusting', I wondered how these Photographers were warping the 'parental truth' in order to find the 'beauty' in neglect and decay. I decided that it was their own, personal outlook on the situation, and decided to try and find beauty in otherwise 'ugly' or 'neglected' things.* 

As Human Beings, we have basic requirements and needs, as described in Maslow's Heirarchy Of Needs: 

1. Biological and Physiological needs - air, food, drink, shelter, warmth, sex, sleep, etc. 

2. Safety needs - protection from elements, security, order, law, stability, etc. 

3. Love and belongingness needs - friendship, intimacy, affection and love, - from work group, family, friends, romantic relationships. 

4. Esteem needs - self-esteem, achievement, mastery, independence, status, dominance, prestige, managerial responsibility, etc. 

5. Cognitive needs - knowledge, meaning, etc. 

6. Aesthetic needs - appreciation and search for beauty, balance, form, etc. 

7. Self-Actualization needs - realizing personal potential, self-fulfillment, seeking personal growth and peak experiences. 

8. Transcendence needs - helping others to achieve self actualization.  [1] 

But, as we have evolved, and seemingly in the western world, the ease at which we can acquire these has increased, and the needs for different levels of the system can be combined. For example, one could combine 2 and 5, by studying Law at University.  

In my studies, I have chosen to look at a form of art that fulfills multiple levels in the Hierarchy. It provides Shelter, Safety, (in protection from elements), and fulfills some Aesthetic needs. But apparently only for some people, due to varying opinions as to whether Brutalist Architecture actually provides Beauty and fulfils the Aesthetic requirement. 

Brutalism is the government response to a Second World War ravaged country. "Communities sought inexpensive construction and design methods for low-cost housing, shopping centers, and government buildings"[2], and Architects responded with raw, uncompromising structures that utilised the scarce amount of materials available at the time. 

*For example a piece of black mount board with a clay-dust induced footprint on it could be made pleasing to my own eye with the careful use of a paint pen. 

I then started looking at how these patterns could be used to my advantage in creating pieces that looked good. I carefully considered my use of materials to parallel with the subject matter concerned. I began working with and onto wood. The first examples of this are where I used some MDF board, recycled from office/warehouse interior, onto which I painted a derelict, unused, commercial building (which has now been demolished). Although focusing heavily on the detail and precision associated with the work, I didn't behave too carefully around the wood, as I wanted to hold onto the 'neglect and decay' starting point I had found.  

In a similar way to which the original patterns had been produced- accidentally- I had left the water pot for my paint resting on the wood. It produced a fuzzy, predictable yet undefined and fuzzy watermark on the work- Just as an office worker would leave their tea cup on a desk. I dabbed away the excess water with a paper towel, and quickly traced the outline of the new-found 'pattern' with my paint pen. Of course, after the first few watermarks, these were no longer accidental, but instead I was embracing the pattern that evolved on the work. 

*picture of long board* 

In wanting to explore this further, I began searching for patterns that accumulated accidentally in my environment. I came across some cracked plastic on a bin label, and decided to combine this with a drawing of some houses on one of the pieces of board I had 

*picture of bin pattern* *picture of houses in Gosport* *picture of black mount board blue/white* 

I then began working on more of these little pieces, concerning myself with how to increase the skill level associated with them, which eventually resulted in me looking at artists that create deliberate patterns. I found Japanese Artist, Yayoi Kusama, who embraces pattern in the environment, covering objects, herself, and the surrounding area (in this case a room) in captivating patterns. This is a simple idea that creates a lasting impact on a viewer, and I continued to look through Kusama's work until I found her 'infinity net', a concept where a shape tessellates continuously over a page. Although a two-dimensional drawing, on mass they culminate to give a sense of depth, and as the name suggests, a sense of infinity. 

To the artist, these nets were and still are "visualisations of hallucinations that have recurred since her childhood" [3] However, I read that she would sit, and relentlessly paint them until they were finished. Hence, to me, the patterns became very much about the process and the construction of them.  

 

I began drawing my own nets, and decided that I liked the triangle ones best, as they connected in the easiest way, and like the brutalist buildings, were the most economically sensible to continue with. I found an artist that calls herself Marenbruin, and she draws these triangles onto pages in a carefully considered manner, making the viewer question what they are looking at. To me, the works look delicate, yet futuristic- a complete contrast to the heavily metallic dystopian futures we are all subject to. 

 

 I began drawing my own versions of this, and discovered the varying of the size of the triangles could result in an interesting piece. However, these are highly time consuming, and require little skill, and so I set about painting a silk screen with the tessellating pattern on, in order that it was reproducible. 

While the prints were drying, I began to work on the initial ideas around buildings again, producing a pencil study of The National Theatre building, photographing some Brutalist tower blocks close to my home, and visiting the Barbican for further photographs. I learned that cheap Graphite pencils are perfect to draw the concrete structures, as they are arguably the rawest material an artist can use to produce images. 

Whilst at the Barbican, I found a postcard designed by Margaux Soland that resembled my own work, and when researching further found Holly Would, who produces some similarly- orientated collages. The nature of these buildings seems to lend itself to collage, and I experimented with my own ones. 

My own collages were done on painted acrylic backgrounds, always with intentions of being able to draw patterns onto them too, but this wouldn't always work.

From this, I could try and combine my interest in Brutalism with the patterns onto the black mount board.  

somewhere along the line came buildings 

then brutalism 

then combining patterns and buildings to compliment each other 

[1]http://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html 

[2] http://www.essential-architecture.com/STYLE/STY-M11A.htm 

[3] http://www.victoria-miro.com/exhibitions/444/ 

GIACOMETTI: PURE PRESENCE (The point of man in a pointless universe)

It felt like a very dark place in that gallery space. Spotlights were used to draw attention to the sculptures that are made from clay and then cast in a deep-brown bronze. A video played with accompanying music that sounded like it was from a horror film. Especially when paired with portraits like the one below. Giacometti refused to clear the dust from the windows in his studio, resulting in these horrifically coloured portraits, where the subject looks absent and haunting.

All of the sculptures had really harsh features, and I could relate to the notion of the sitter's features being ingrained into the artist's mind. "Repetition. Repetition. Repetition." It's what happens when you sit and look at something for long enough and draw or sculpt it. You can feel the lines and curves with your own hands and mimic them with a crazy kind of likeness. Yet, at the same time, you can't mimic them at all. Giacometti spoke of this saying something like the face looks incredibly flat from a straight-on perspective, then from the sides it's wonderfully rounded. He explained that it's somewhat impossible to capture this perfectly in sculpture. Maybe his frustration explains why his method is so repetitive and frantic.

The men in his sculptures are always acting, moving, working although in their still form while the women stand still. To me, this says that the Giacometti can connect with men; can see their purpose, and accepts that they are designed to work. He feels detached from women, like they are delicate, fragile, there to be observed and touched. I didn't want to interact with any of the 'moving' sculptures, yet felt myself wanting to touch and admire the still figures.



Existentialism was a theme that existed in the exhibition. What is the point of man in a seemingly pointless universe? Samuel Beckett had a similar problem to tackle in his plays Waiting For Godot, and Endgame. He creates a satire around man waiting for something that never arrives. Maybe this idea provides ground for why Giacometti applied himself to sculpture as well as painting. This way his work is tangible as well as completely viewable; if you create substance you have served your purpose to the world and your existence. By changing your surroundings you have left a mark for the people that follow and this is the most exciting thing man can do: evolve.

SHOW UP TO THINGS

A lot of people didn't show up. A lot of people don't show up. A lot of people will never show up.


I want to be the person that shows up, I want to be the person that's reliable, and I haven't been able to be that lately. I think it's because I've been putting other people first for far too long. I've been being what everyone else wants to be instead of what I am and what I want to be.

I want to be a creative genius, unmatchable on all levels. I want to be able to see things that other people can't, because the creative space is an extension to my body, and I know it better than anyone else.

I used to be in a position where I could have an (out of body experience) in relation to my work. I used to be able to view it bird's-eye style and know how well it functioned as a piece, or would hold up in exhibition without having to guess, or worry about it. Perhaps I have gained experience or knowledge that allows me to see the flaws in my work. Perhaps I've adapted a negative insight into things that means I cannot appreciate them as much as I used to. However, I cannot explore as freely or as diligently as I was once able to; I've hit a wall and need to find a way to climb over it. Perhaps I need to go back a few steps to pick up the ladder I left behind somewhere.

The internet was only invented about fifteen years ago. It was an idea pioneered to allow scientists to transmit data instantaneously across the world; experiments were not duplicated but added to and improved on. Results could be shared and checked across continents. It was revolutionary.

Now the internet is used for the likes of social media and pointlessness. People spend more time online than the do in reality. (she says, writing a blog post).

People are so concerned with how to work within the system(relatable to the number of followers, for example) that they forget what exists outside of the system(making themselves valuable on physical and intellectual merits rather than media merits).

I've never known what I wanted and I don't think I will for a long time. However I need to stop making the people around me happy and focus on myself.

In the physical world, I can't keep up with current affairs. I've never left the country by myself. I can't manage my money. I know exactly how and what I should consume, but I never seem to be able to bring myself to consume it.

Writing this has made me realise that I don't know a lot. I don't know why I live the way I live.

I'm far too comfortable in my house, In my room, surrounded by my things.

So comfortable in fact, that I'm a little restless and stir crazy and ready to run out of the country as soon as I can and begin a life where I don't have to wake up in the same bed every day bar the two week holiday I get in the summer...







This post was written in December 2016 and never published... Looking back at it I'm glad I didn't, but it's a great reflection piece in hindsight.