Slightly changing how this blogs going to work for me. Because i’m not happy with alot of my work before I publish it on here, i’m just gona make this more of a written escape. Mainly for reviews but obviously still the odd image if it supports what i’m writing about. Not sure where this will end up. 

flickr & twitter

A review of my time in the Whitworth Art Gallery.

I’m writing this a few days after my experience of the Whitworth. Not sure whether this is a good idea or a bad one. The plus side to this is that i’ve slept on my initial thoughts and they’ve progressed into a maturer and more refined larger artistic outlook on what i saw on the day. The downside is that my initial thoughts would probably have been more honest. 

 The exhibition I was recommended to view was the ‘dark matters’ showing. I’ve never been to this art gallery before but its amazing. A distinguished red brick building that put me in mind of 1940s war times. Inside however, your met by this really vast open space thats clearly habitable to even the largest of exhibitions. The contrast of the two instantly caught my attention. The first piece we saw was a projection of a moving woman I think it was? A projection that fell onto a moving piece of material suspended from the ceiling. I didn’t appreciate its beauty in the slightest, it had no meaning, no possible signs of photographic skill or appeal to me.

 As I progressed through into another sector of the gallery I began to notice a pattern unfolding. A lot the the work behind this topic of dark matters all had a very physical and abstract feel to it. The more frustrated I became with this lack of talent and thought behind anything the more I began to notice my dads way of thinking. Isn’t it strange how you pick up a lot of your parents patterns of dealing with things subconsciously. My dad, in this situation, would have probably suggested these artists were “robbing a living” at the lack of skill and effort that it appeared these artists had put in. But then I began to understand how different we are, he’s a working class man whose had to graft everyday in order to provide so the idea of someone earning money from exhibiting such simplicity, I don’t think he’d appreciate. 

 But then I began to think of the lifestyle I lead and the way I want to be. The art of appreciating something you don’t initially perceive as credible and looking beyond the exterior to the meaning behind is something I need to be striving for. This brings me onto the exhibition of “air pressure”. Initially what attracted me to the set up was the loud plane noises coming from inside however, once entering the dark small cinema space I was greeted by a clip of a runway contrasted with a presumably a small Chinese bakery. I sat down and began to take in the next few clips that appeared. Both continued to contrast in the most un-obvious ways and proved to be supported exceptionally well by the sounding that came from all around you. 

This may read tiresome, but my reaction to this was that of the rest of the exhibition. The video was meaningless and from the description on the outside as we came in that would have taken me hours to read, seem’d quite dull. Its only as my mind began to wander and began to relax in the setting of the small box room that my senses began to interpret something that I believe to be the artists intentions. The work was created by Angus Carlyle and Rupert Cox was inspired by a piece of writing by Kurt Vonnegut. He describes the sound to be like the sky being torn which I think is the most beautiful way of referencing it. From what I can gather after looking more at the creation behind it, it looks at “the adverse health effects of long term exposure to aircraft noise” which makes a lot of more sense.

 When you think about it in such terms everything becomes exciting and theres a greater understanding. The underlying purpose combined with the feeling of peacefulness I felt forms this wonderful contrast in right and wrong. The way the peoples lives witnessed are just so normally interrupted by these large planes overhead and then with how relaxed I felt watching it. So quiet and almost stood still within time. I’ve learnt I need to spend more time just open to new things and that I may surprise myself. I’m not fully transformed, some of the work in that exhibition was just “robbing a living” as Les would say, but i’ve gained a stronger appreciation of film on the whole which can surely only be a good thing with my interest in visual communication. 

university briefs are just far to broad. I don’t want to take somehing from my last project because now its at a conclusion. So now, i need to think up a subject matter that i can explore and research and develop and it can be anything in the world. After two and half weeks of rest i’m without any creativity in my thinking and my ideas are Zero. Does this mean i’m not an “artist” because i’m not constantly engulfed within thinking, sleeping, eating, breathing art. Maybe i just want to take pictures. YES, pictures. A walk is needed i think

i’m so stressed out and behind and busy. i need to stop time for a week

Set this up to document my artwork/ photographs for university.