Photo blog from the MA Fine Art Digital Low Residency at Central Saint Martins...
Friday 14th March: The Annual Bonkers Alex Schady Workshop
After being instructed to cut holes in cardboard sheets (obviously I put gold stars around mine), we then invaded Waitrose as part of a "performance", which several staff members filmed (I suspect in order to report us to management).
Once we returned to the classroom, I tried to improve on the EU hole design, by cutting out the stars and making the hole a more accurate circle shape by drawing around Alex's turn-table.
I happened to bring my water colour paint set with me, so I added some brush-strokes.
Before attaching wire as immitation guitar strings - me and Jonathan tried to make some sound with them - but it was only capable of very dull based notes.
Folding (and impromptu linocut) workshop with Christian Zolan
I struggled to engage with the folding part of this workshop - perhaps because I missed the first part and the explanation after being harassed by a man in the street. But when I joined later, I found it especially difficult to fold photographs of myself printed on paper - in the end, I just shredded the paper into pieces.
However, I was really happy when Christian brought out the linocut printing materials. I really enjoyed the Low Res etching workshop last year, but my lungs couldn't cope with the chemicals in the printing studio. So, I was delighted to have the opportunity to do some printing with non-toxic materials.
I decided to work from a linework sketch I created of one of my research participants, Adam Heron. I copied the drawing onto the lino with pencil and then tried to carve the lines with a thin tool - however, Christian advised that the lines ai had carved were to fine and I needed to use a different tool. It took a little while to get the knack of how to control the tool, but I was happy with what I managed to create in the end. I decided to add a blank stave around Adam's form and then attempted to carve a reverse treble-clef (so, it would appear the correct way on the prints).
I decided to print exclusively in white and then black ink, since Adam is a classical pianist and sheet music, as well as piano keys are monochrome. I happened to print my pad of brown and black paper with me, which was great for use with the white ink.
The ink hadn't dried by the time we left the room, and Christian advised me to wrap the prints between sheets of paper - however, I think I left it too long before unwrapping them and some of the paper stuck to the prints. I decided to turn a mistake into an opportunity for further experimentation, and added some watercolour paint (in Adam's chosen colours) to the bits of paper which had stuck to the prints - which created an interestig effect.
Exhibitions
I saw far too many exhibitions and museums this week, to write about all the artworks I saw, so instead I will just include the photos and titles of my favourite artworks.
New Contemporaries
Tate Modern
British Museum
I was supposed to be participating in one of the workshops on Monday, but after arriving at CSM in the morning, I found out from my Dad that the council want to dig up our the tree where we buried our dog's ashes - and after calling him, and having my second crying session of the week, I decided I didn't feel up to the workshop. So, I went back to my accommodation to chill for a bit, before heading out with my boyfriend to wander around the British museum, which I have never visited before.
Open-Top Bus Tour & Karen's Diner
I promised my boyriend I would skip one day of the low res, so that we could do something in London together (since this is only the second time he has been to London, and the first time we only stayed one night). The only two things my boyfriend really wanted to do were; an open-top bus and visiting Karen's Diner (their USP is the waiting staff being rude to you). I enjoyed the bus tour, despite the chilly wind - it was interesting to see familiar locations in London from a different elevation - I also provided my own running commentary (which I'm not sure Johann appreciated) on memories of campaign activities in London, including the pub where one of the older, male activists assaulted me. Karen's Diner was an interesting experience but a bit of an ordeal, which I would not like to repeat. We were both incredibly uncomfortable with the rudeness of the waitress, although it was amusing at times - the most interesting aspect was how people responded to the experience; I decided to play along with the rudeness whereas Johann was excessively polite in response.
Design Museum
Talk on Speculative Interpretation with a Tate Curator
Tate Britain
Museum of Transology
Talk on Tacit Agency with Professor Paul Haywood
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