Paint experiment

Here I was influenced by Holton Rower and Will Kendrick and their work which involves poring paint over object.

For this technique of poring paint I used PVA paints mixed with water. I decided to stick with 3 bright colours of blue green and yellow , mainly because I was experimenting and didn't want to complicate the piece to much. As you will see later on when I used more colours some colours mixed together and didn't look as good.

So firstly I grabbed the first squared object I could fine which just so happened to be a piece of polystyrene, in retrospect this wasn't the best as it was rudged and consequently the paint ran off unevenly.

So to do this i literally just pored the paint from a beaker onto the polystyrene, trying to make sure they were even amounts each time and they were central. Though as I quickly learnt that it was going to go evenly (it lent more towards back) I then just randomly pored the paint on to the polystyrene to try and cover the entirety of it.

Overall , though it didn't go as it imagined it to , this was an preliminary experiment therefore I'm gonna go with that I think the colours worked great together , they were bright and complementary towards each other. Though it didn't pore evening to give the initial look I was going for instead it's got more of a psychedelic look to it which I quite like! 

Okay this experiment was a very 'spur of the moment thing' in that I found a balloon and thought what could I do with this so I put quick dry plaster into it and it was whilst it was drying that I did my paint poring , so once it was dry I thought it would be interesting to see what kind of effect I would get if I paint pored onto it. As you can see u added red to the mix as well as my original colours to see how that played out.

Even though the red mixed with the other colours to make not so nice colours and the shape meant the colours didn't go within each other and expand rather they just dribbled randomly , I think it looks pretty cool. I like the way the white plaster underneath is still visible and has the same dripping effect as the paint. 

So this was my last experiment on this particular day ,I decided to do a more purposeful piece. For this I glued back together a small cardboard box I found , hoping it would give an even spread of colour. As you can see I wasn't that fortunate and it decided to go off to one side. Nevertheless still a really cool effect and hopefully I will be able to do more experimenting to see if I get it right.

Some things I would do if I could would be to test out different paints as the brand of PVA paint college had was a bit naft, so it will be good to see if other types worked better or worse.

Another thing would be to see if I can get it right firstly on a small scale like I have been then to eventually increase that.

Also different shapes for example if liked to try it either on a person or a cast of one to see the effect the fluidity and curves of the body has on the way the paint moves.

Overall though I think I got some interesting photos of the poring paint effect.The outcome was bright and colourful, I like the way the colours mixed together as they dripped down the side and collected together, it has that random psychedelic effect which I actually really like.

WILL KENDRICK

About Will Kendrick 

Through an ongoing investigation into colour and materials the work aims to occupy the space between disciplines by investigating the boundaries and perceptions of painting by creating forms and surfaces which demonstrate both the materials luxurious nature and aesthetic qualities. The work aims to explore ideas of order and chaos, painting and sculpture, avant-garde and kitsch and how these precarious pairings can exist together, through subtle formal arrangement and colourful sensory overloads. Often bringing paint away from the canvas to force it to exist as substance alone, these kaleidoscopic works celebrate the brilliance of colour, through a clear interest in the medium of paint. Will was born in 1983 in Blackpool, England, he is an emerging artist and recent graduate of Bath School of Art and Design. Influenced primarily by the fifties and sixties New York painting of Mark Rothko, Barnett Neumann, Frank Stella and Jackson Pollock; the work follows this line through to contemporary altermodernism and the neo pop aesthetic of today's digitally connected world. Will grew up in the North West of England in the seaside town of Blackpool where his infatuation with colour and light was born. The amusements and illuminations that line Blackpool's Golden Mile have had a clear impact on both his use of colour and his interest in gaudy, kitsch and often seemingly overindulgent aesthetics. He has been in several group shows including, Constructing Current Painting at The Octagon Bath, 97 Miles West at Free Range London, Rising Stars at the Coombe Gallery in Dartmouth and most recently has shown under the name Light/Space Collaborative with Alex Cotterell as part of the Illuminate Bath Festival. He was also selected for the Tate Modern project which was organised by Bath, Norwich and Winchester art schools and hosted by Tate Modern. Will currently lives and works in Bristol. 

HOLTON ROWER

FXXK AIR POLLUTION

Fashion Designer Chi Zhang has used his designs has a creative way to respond to Beijing's dangerous levels of air pollution. Zhang said that the Chinese capital/s air pollution is on of his prime inspirations. Embellished gas masks and the phrase "Fxxk Air Pollution' are trademarks in his creations.

















Artist Kong Ning has designed a wedding dress decorated with 999 face masks for her performance art work at Marry The Blue Sky and has created a series of painting titled Smog Baby.
She wore the 10m long wedding dress as part of her performance to signify her frustration with air pollution.

SMOG ART

For part of my research for my mock FMP.

Residents in China have been speaking out against Air Pollution in the form of 'Smog Art'.

People have been sorting creative ways to get the message about air pollution out into the public eye. Some ways they have done this includes making smog-versions of popular songs and placing masks on statues in Beijing.

The people who are doing all these things are not professional artist rather these brave and clever acts put smog, a taboo subject, onto the public agenda  by everyday people who  have been driven to act and speak out because of the PM10 and PM2.5 pollution.      

Scary Beautiful.

Scary Beautiful is part of Leanie Van Der Vyver's Thesis 'Playing God'.

The Introduction ,  available on her website 'http://cargocollective.com/Leanie'

Just being human is not good enough anymore nor has it ever been. What is very clear is that people are not satisfied with what they were naturally born with. Neither the prehistoric cave dweller nor modern man has ever considered the human body aesthetically satisfactory. It is human nature to want to be more than what we are, and from the beginning of time we have gone to extreme measures to express on the outside how we desire to be perceived. On the surface, we are physically turning into ideal dream versions of ourselves. Being born a certain way is no longer a life sentence. We can choose exactly who we want to be. What are the possibilities of this new God-like control we have over our bodies?

Right now you can truly become more than just yourself, more than human. It’s almost as if we have shifted from reality into fantasy. The sky is the limit when it comes to controlling our own image. Being online is considered a trusted version of yourself. We are behaving as if we have robotic extensions and we can now generate body parts and also have access to the technology to obtain super powers. We now have complete power over our own image and abilities. What is currently being done and where might these God-like powers potentially lead?

Leanie looked to challenge the modern day beauty ideals by inflicting an unexpected beauty standard. The way heels are made means the wearer becomes immobile, having to walk slower and in smaller strides/ more steps. The posture has to changed so the heels are the 'easy' to walk in, the way this is done is by keeping the shoulders back and chin up, the back is arched making the backside stick out and the hips swing more when walking. Physically the legs appear longer which is deemed as attractive in modern western society.She has really exaggerated the way the body looks and changes whilst wearing ordinary heels so much so that it looks unnatural and distorted, which begs the question , is this how other cultures think when they see people in western society wearing this type of fashion? Or Historically how would people from past centuries view the modern day take on footwear? High heels have been in and out of fashion since the Second World War however they were never predominant till the 1980/90's more so high heels date back to Medieval Europeons who wore wooden sole pattern shoes over their normal shoes, their purpose was to elevate the wearer above mud and dirt ( as well as human and animal waste) in the street. They all were used by Persian horse riders in the Near East who wore them because they helped the rider's foot hold in the stirrups better. So the practicality of the high heel shoe has lost all its intents and purpose and are now all but necessary in modern day purely for aesthetical value. So here's to assuming that someone not from this century ( or even last century ) react the same way that I did to watching 'scary beautiful'?  for its eye-twitching display of watching the model awkwardly walk across the room in very painfully looking footwear and wondering just why would you ever wear them to women in modern day society wearing high heels? 

Side note: high-fashion  websites see a low heel as a shoe less than 2.5 inches , a mid-heel between 2.5 and 3.5 inches and a high heel as anything over 3.5 inches. Whilst the high street see a high heel as ranging from 2-5 inches or more.