Installation Ideas

Each student should work on a large scale A1 drawing as a proposal for how the final sculpture may look/ how it could be installed. We will be proposing that as part of the exhibition, a selection of these drawings will form a backdrop to the piece itself. Above is a rough Photoshopped idea of how it may look..............

Working Drawings

Now that the collaborative work is taking shape, it is important for each student to make some 'working drawings' that investigate possibilities for the over-all piece. Only one can be used for the final piece, but each of you should be using drawing now as a way of giving shape to your ideas. Above is a very basic idea of support and base for the sculpture- how else might this be fabricated?

In Response to Klimt.....

There are a lot of great visuals coming up now in terms of contextual research, try translating some of this into drawing as well....draw, draw again, good idea, bad idea, then try it out in 3-D....

Birch Forest

I’m a major fan of Gustav Klimt and ‘Tress from Wood’ immediately reminded me of the ‘Birch Forest’ series and a few others such as The Apple Tree, The Park, Bauerngarten mit Kruzifix and so on.

The textures he creates merges the different aspects of the painting into one greater whole which captures the observer who picks through the painting trying to absorb each little bit. I feel like I’m trying to find hidden images and get caught up in the small details so that I have to concentrate to understand the bigger picture as per the idiom “can’t see the wood from the trees” which will form the basis of my research. I’m hoping to explore hidden meanings, blindness and fear of the unknown and oneself.

I also love the linear nature of the Birch Forest paintings, the trees stand like soldiers in the forest hidden within the myriad of surrounding detail. I’d like to feed something like this into my research as well – to find ‘the trees from the wood’ i.e. individuality as opposed to mass conformity.

Into the Woods......

Anyone working with fairy tales/ Brothers Grimm? Heard on the radio this morning that Stephen Sondheim's production of Into the Woods is being done again to celebrate his 80th birthday. Check it out on Google Images for some great visuals and graphics which you can use as contextual research in your sketchbooks. Click on the Into the Woods... title at the top for more information.....

Trees return from Dublin....

Our first course study visit, to Dublin's galleries and museums, had plenty of exhibits to spark off associations with the forest theme....from the contemporary such as Norbert Schwontkowski at the Kerlin, to an old historical guy like Corot at the Hugh Lane. Also, at the Museum of Modern Art the Cuban artist Carlos Garaicoa took things into a firmly 3-dimensional way of making art......and a good example of how even flat images can be brought into a more 3-D format....try to check him out more online if you missed the Dublin trip, as the Painting classes will be using his work as a starting point.