Tuesday 27 February 2018

f i c t i o n a l w o r l d b u i l d i n g


It’s been a fun week in terms of progressing towards the degree show works. With regards to the mascot(s), we’ve decided on the final versions. We’re going to have one main mascot which will only exist as an image and then four which we will make into actual mascot costumes. The designer we’ve hired is excellent! He got back to us with so many great designs and it was near impossible to choose between them all. Eventually we managed to settle on 5 designs that one can see the connections between but aren’t necessarily totally the same. The ones we’re going to make into mascots are more like characters from a TV show or designs for a cuddly toy whereas the one which is only going to be a drawing is much more business-y and does resemble a chameleon/human crossover which is what we were interested in from the beginning; an animal that is adaptable to multiple situations and therefore is a generic business logo – doesn’t mean anything specific and therefore be attached to anything. We’ve printed them out small and stuck them onto cardboard to get a sense of what it might be like to have a giant cut out and it looks pretty exciting! 



We’ve done a bit more research into what we’re trying to explore with the information stand. Since we spent all this time doing our dissertation and researching how films tell stories and how artist use those techniques to tell their own stories, we thought it may be useful to employ this knowledge in making this piece. Obviously, it’s slightly different due to the fact that we’re not making a film but there are still aspects which feel appropriate to consider. The idea of props is still very present as one could describe this work as a prop and could very easily function as one. Language is also something which needs to be explored with this work as there’s going to be plenty of writing in the leaflets. How well we take on that language, both visual and written, of an information stand will dictate the success of the work. 


In terms of physical, fictional world building, we’ve been looking into Gregor Schneider, in particular his Art Angel commission, Die Familie Schneider which consisted of two neighbouring, identical houses in a very ordinary street in Whitechapel. This occurred in 2004 so obviously we we’re able to visit ourselves but from the numerous account we’ve read and heard we’ve come to the conclusion that this work is difficult to think about as an illusion, even a theatrical illusion. It existed on an equal level with reality, so much so that it became a reality in itself. Adrien Searl even writing that he had to keep reminding himself that that it was an artwork. This is more of a horror film sort of vibe; in many horror films the truly unsettling sequences come near the beginning. Before the axe murderers start chopping, the cannibal zombies start munching and the malevolent forces of cheap special effects are unleashed on the world, the unknown, unexpected and unpredictable form the advance party of fear. You have a sense of what’s to come but it hasn’t revealed itself yet. It’s that potential that we want to harness. 


The same goes for the work of Mike Nelson; encouraging visitors to spend time inhabiting worlds that, while foreign on the surface, reveal intrinsic truths and modes of thought that affect even the most basic cultural activities. 


Finally, with regards to the physical world building we have Ryan Gander, more specifically his own Art Angel commission Locked Room Scenario, this immersive group show of fictional artists in a Hoxton warehouse, which invited the viewer to adopt a detective’s mentality. 


Oh we nearly forgot Ilya and Emilia Kabakov! A new favourite in our artist reference arsenal. They also produce these large-scale installations use fictional personas. Even though their stuff is clearly very political we’re more excited by their universal ideas of utopia and fantasy; hope and fear. 


That idea of fantasy brought us to a whole new range of thoughts. We went down a slightly strange path for us, drawing. Even though we know this isn’t going to feature in an obvious way but notions of fantasy seem highly applicable. The drawn fantasies of Paul Noble, Charles Avery, and Mathew Ritchie give them all variety of titles from architect and town planner, archaeologist and cartographer, social historian and activist, creator and destroyer. These works aren’t just vividly realised fictions but they’re also a petri dish in which they’re testing ideas from their areas of interest. The similarities between all these are that they’re teeming with sights both strange and strangely familiar. 


However, this continues to build a physical world, and we’re most intrigued by allowing the viewers/visitors to create their own world. To quote Inception, (they) are the dreamer, (we) are the subject. (Their) subconscious populates (our) world. This is where we get more into the language aspect of the work, which we were discussing earlier, we’ve looking to more fictional books since we tend not to exclusively read non-fiction unless we’re on holiday. We realised that what we’ve been describing is highly related to magical realism; what happens when a highly detailed, realistic setting is invaded by something too strange to believe. We’ve started reading Julio Cortázar’s All Fires the Fire and Other Stories and are loving working our way through it; the stories in All Fires The Fire are warm and the characters are treated with real tenderness. We’ll report back once we have more information. 


In terms of physicality, we’ve produced a couple of maquettes and SketchUp drawings to make sure what we’ve been drawing actually makes sense in the real world and it’s looking great! Hopefully the actual production will go just as smoothly…

Tuesday 20 February 2018

c o s t u m e s c o m e i n m a n y s h a p e s a n d s i z e s



We’re continuing our research into all things mascot. Charles Fréger is a photographer who has some amazing images of people in a variety of costumes. His Wilder Mann and Mardi Gras Indians series are beautiful in the way they’re shot but mostly due to what’s in the photos themselves. The Mardi Gras Indians are slightly more abstract than what we’re planning on making and the others are little more beastly but still good reference points. We’ve also been tipped off about something called the mascot diaries which is a podcast where the hosts speak to a different mascot every week about all sorts of stuff like scheduling, skits, down time, advantages of being tall, messing with the other team and whatever else comes up in the interview. It’s a great way to think about the person inside the costume because it’s so easy to see the giant smile and forget that there’s a real person inside. Another hive of information with regards to mascots is the national mascot association website and twitter page. We’re in the process of hiring someone to design the cartoon of the mascot. We decided that if we’re going to be acting like a fictional company then this is what that fictional company would do; hire a freelance designer. 

Research for the other piece for the degree show is also ongoing. We’re thinking about CSM being a new space to many of the people who are coming through the degree show and therefore this work is about the potential of the space that they’re inhabiting. An art school is only an art school because of its contents which relies on the people and intention, the same as a readymade is just an object until it has meaning applied to it. The point of all this is to instil wonder/imagination and to enable people to see that same potential that we all see in art. We’ll get to designing the frontage after the performance lecture next week.


The preparation for the foley pit lecture is complete! The frame is built and all the contents has been secured – pasta, cornflakes, floorboards, plastic sheeting (IKEA bag material), rubble, and either tiles for the final hole. And it’s taken us nearly 5 full days to figure out the sound but it’s finally done!!! We tried shotgun mics, a variety of mixers, different amps and speakers. The script is done as well as the presentation and we’ve got an actor to perform it. The script is based around the Wilhelm Scream which is this stock sound effect of a man screaming that has been used in 372 movies and countless television series, beginning in 1951 for the film Distant Drums. It’s another reference to this background becoming foreground which we’re attempting to highlight. 


In terms of art viewing we went to the Approach gallery to see a new exhibition by John Stezaker. As you can imagine it’s just what one would expect when going in to one of his exhibitions. This is not necessarily a bad thing since his work is always beautiful but we don’t go in with any expectation of being surprised. The title of the show is Love and on display is a variety of different photographs of couples combined with other imagery, sometimes landscapes, sometimes other people. If this was someone else’s exhibition it would feel cheesy and false but we’ve been to a talk of his and we know his process so it has a sense of authenticity. 

Auto Italia is just around the corner and had a great solo show by Martin Kohout featuring a single video called Night Shifts. Shown on one of the biggest TVs we’ve ever seen, it was about people who work at night in this hyperconnected world, obsessed with screens and photographs, talking to Siri and wearing these very sci-fi looking light up glasses. Very lovely film, not necessarily making a judgement on the lives that it was documenting, but analysing them nonetheless. 

The show at Cell projects is titled No, No, No, No. It’s a fairly inoffensive exhibition but by no means exciting. However, something that did catch our eye was Nancy Holt’s bio; while every one of the other artists’ began with ‘(insert artist name) lives and works in (insert city)’. Nancy Holt’s on the other hand is much more abstract, not something we would usually warm to, but its ambiguity made it pretty compelling. It read like this – Nancy Holt lives and works in fiction. A product of culture like war. Onelife is not enough; two is too many. Nancy Halt. Lives in the epoch of the trailer, in mobile home and in film. Far away from the city. Home is where the sunshines.


Finally there was the Cob Gallery where one of our friends was showing some new works. We’ve always really enjoyed Realf’s work and have previously worked with him on a couple of different projects, so if was great to see him doing well and to see more of his work in the flesh. But the rest of the exhibition was fairly weak; a lot of stuff that looks like art. We can imagine that a lot of people might describe it was ‘organic’ or ‘figurative’ and to top is all off, the exhibition was titled ‘Form’…


With regards to a series of still images that give the illusion of movement, we’ve been getting back into watching Friends, since it has finally appeared on Netflix. It’s been a great experience revisiting those characters that we spent so much time with as children. We now understand more of the jokes or they affect us differently. It’s also made us think about how it tells a story of the romance of friendship. Throughout the show we see what we interpret as familiar romantic behaviour planted on to platonic relations and this make for very funny content! It’s a cliché but it makes you laugh one minute and cry the next; their love for each other replaces the missing love that their family is apparently unable to give them. This then makes their stories highly relatable – a lot of us feel much more comfortable and open with our friends than our families even if this is a slight exaggeration of that. However, towards the end of the show, and as they get older, family begins to take precedent over their friendship with one and other. Monica and Chandler moving away shows this as the group will no longer be able to see each other every day. This cycle will then continue, their children’s friends will then become more important in their lives and so on and so on. (had to re-watch the final episode to refresh my memory and felt a fairly large golf ball in the throat, they really manage to get to you). 


On the film front we had Ingrid Goes West, a fairly curious premise of a social media obsessed woman (Ingrid) following an Instagram crush to California with money from her recently deceased mother. However, we quickly learn that she has obvious mental health issues and the film, instead of making us feel sympathetic towards her, pokes fun at it by making jokes and making her look immensely shallow. The other woman she has followed across the country turns out be also as shallow as Ingrid and we’re unsure as to whether the message is INSTAGRAM BAD or MENTAL INSTABILITY FUNNY. It seems confused about the story it’s trying to say. 5/10


Now onto two excellent films! The first being Call Me by Your Name, a stunning love story which takes the form of a gorgeous crystal vase teetering on the edge of a similarly gorgeous table. The entire films we know that it’s going to be knocked and smashed into a thousand and one pieces but look on, helpless to its fate.


The second excellent film was The Meyerowitz Stories. Two of the most frustrating hours ever but we couldn’t take our eye and ears off the screen. the dialogue in the film is written in such a way that none of the characters are ever talking to each other properly; they’re talking alright, but they’re all having conversations with themselves but in close proximity to others. Harold (the dad) is the most insufferable character who is constantly and exclusively talking about himself without a care in the world for anyone else. This may sound somewhat unrealistic but in actuality it’s much closer to an authentic conversation than we’ve ever seen in cinema previously. For us, that’s something film can do really well, better than any other medium, is capture the reality of conversations. In a book, no matter how you lay it out, one piece of dialogue always has to follow another. You can’t simulate people talking over each other, which is something we all do all the time, and also you can’t capture the rhythm, speed, or tone that the conversation has. Even radio or theatre miss some of the nuances that film is perfectly suited for film to reproduce. Noah Baumbach has nailed realistic dialogue in this film. That’s not to say it’s only enjoyable writing if it’s realistic, Aaron Sorkin and Quentin Tarantino have done a great job writing dialogue as it could be as opposed to what is it, finding music in language the same way Shakespeare did centuries ago. Baumbach is committed to a different principal and we’re looking forward to seeing much more of it.


Wednesday 14 February 2018

s e e i n g e q u a l s d o i n g



Seen a few exhibitions last week which we haven’t spoken about yet. The first of which was mother's tankstation project. We enjoyed the tiny sculptures of people riding donkeys but the other objects didn’t really seem to make sense in this journey narrative. The display of the sculptures seemed a little off too; one was on a little coffee table style structure and another had an indistinguishable projection on it. 


Hollybush Gardens was next and isn’t a space we’ve visited before. An exhibition by Sven Augustijnen which seemed really interesting, but we didn’t get to spend as much time there as we would have liked. It consisted of a series of (maybe?) false letters addressed to a prominent curator from 2012, discussing all the issues you’d think would be discussed; war, trump, capitalism, everything and nothing. Clever and considered. Upstairs was less good, a show by Andrea Buttner, black and white photos of painted stones…need we say more?


Project Native Informant had an amazing three channel film by Shen Xin. It’s documentation of a performance where there’s three actors performing a script of an intimate conversation between a teacher and a student of Buddhism. It explores inclusiveness and exclusiveness in the understandings of origin through a collaboration of art, science and performance.


Emalin had a series of bizarrely sexual drawings by David Weiss before Fishli and Weiss was conceived. They’re very funny and remind us of a comic strip without any text. There was also a dog bowl which is another fun idea for a work. “You can tell a lot about a dog by their bowl”…definitely not a phrase but you get the idea. 


Then we had Greengrassi and Corvi-Mora, two galleries that share the same building. Delicate paintings and drawings of science-fiction-y shapes and colours. Not massively appealing.


Rob Tufnell wasn’t too much to our liking either. Smashed up keyboards on the wall which appeared to be saying ‘ooo look old computer keyboards they’re nice aren’t they?’. Ruth Ewan’s feminist jukebox was more fun but we weren’t sure as to why it was a jukebox and not just a playlist…lots of fetishising of objects.


Finally we went to The Sunday Painter who were also hosting some work by Arcadia Missa. Sunday Painter was showing a 10-years-in-the-making work by Leo Fitzmaurice where he had folded old cigarette packets into tiny football shirts; very perceptive and insightful. Arcadia Missa were showing a series of small paintings by Cheyenne Julien about environmental racism and how black people are seen in society. A particularly favourite depicted a black person painting another black person white, very fragile childlike depictions of figures with incredibly large eyes.


Sunday 11 February 2018

l e a r n i n g t h r o u g h m o v i n g i m a g e




Mark Ariel Waller gave a really great talk about video editing in which he mentioned several of the key points of our dissertation. He was approaching editing with reference to the ways that we make sense of discontinuous images in film. Unpicking a range of approaches and technical processes to consider rhythm, sound and transitions, which build up a semantic pallet. He also posed a couple of very thoughtful questions that we’re definitely going to consider while making new works around this subject matter. How is the edit a simulation of thought? How does the cut connect association, desire and experience to the present of being in front of a screen? 


We had another group tutorial last week too which, unfortunately, didn’t go quite so well. We hadn’t had a particularly good morning and so we approached the explanation of the work in completely the wrong way and in turn received quite a negative response. This was also due to not nearly being prepared enough, usually we plan this sort of thing but we negated to do so this time. it made us think about Captain America Civil War when The Avengers are asked sign the Sokovia Accords – also known as the global superhero legislation. By signing they will no longer be officially sanctioned to try and stop global terror without the consent of a panel made up of various individuals from the United Nations. Iron man feels that the Avengers need to take more responsibility for the consequences of their actions, as he did when he discovered his company was secretly shipping weapons to terrorists and we agree. Not that our situations are in anyway the same but the point is that it’s necessary to be kept in check. 


This week’s films began with Murder on the Orient Express, a fun but slightly dull variety show style film, full to the brim with stars from Johnny Depp to Judy Dench. It’s not that the acting was badly done or that the script didn’t give the actors lines which created a believable character, it was just not that gripping. We didn’t care for the character who had been killed, he seemed like he wasn’t so favourable and then everything is thrown away at the end anyway! So, any stake a viewer had in the film felt pointless. 


As a total contrast, Lady Bird was absolutely amazing! We hate this phrase but it truly was an “emotional rollercoaster”. The script was written so that one minute you’re on the side of a character and the next you think they’re the devil. It’s about love, loss, mother/daughter relationships and how people interact with one and other in close proximity. Could not recommend more highly.


Next was The Post, a film about The Washington Post exposing a massive cover-up of government secrets that spanned three decades and four U.S. Presidents. The thing which made this film thought-provoking to us was considering it in reference to the current climate of Donald Trump calling fake news at any and all news organisation. Spielberg has definitely done this on purpose, choosing the perfect time to tell a story is a skill in and of itself.


In preparation for the sequel we watched the first instalment of Paddington. It was a charming film, making us laugh the entire way through as well as having a heartfelt message about family and belonging. On a separate point, the CGI was so good that we completely forgot that Paddington wasn’t real!


On completely the other end of the spectrum is Mother! which is not something to be watched unless in the right mindset. Potentially one of the most amazing films of 2017 but the actual viewing experience was almost torturous. We didn’t sleep the night after watching it and struggled to talk about it for a few days after. That being said, Jenifer Lawrence’s performance is exceptional, you feel all her pain and frustration, so much so that half way through we checked how long we had left of the film because we weren’t sure if we would take anymore. Definitely watch this film but approach with caution.


We indulged in the new saw film, the 8th in the franchise. Jigsaw is definitely a film for the fans which means it’s enjoyable but not something we’re massively involved with. We’re always torn between relishing in the mass of exposition at the end where the plan is revealed in all its glory and being annoyed by it. But there was certainly a thought process behind it and we haven’t seen a saw film for some time so it was fairly fun to revisit that world of crazy torture devices. 


Finally, we had Phantom Thread, a fresh Paul Thomas Anderson film which has such pure delicious pleasure in it. This comes from its strangeness, its vehemence, its flourishes of absurdity and it’s carried off with superb elegance. Woodcock’s sartorial creations have a surreal quality, decadent, like dishes at a Roman banquet. It’s sad to think that it might actually be Daniel Day-Lewis’s final performance. It’s a wonderful high note for him to end on. It adds to the films mixture of euphoria and desperate sadness.


This week also marked the beginning and end of The End of the Fucking World and we loved it. It’s a show that cares about those who aren’t cared for and presents them in a considerate way. We really feel something when their distrust of adults – ranging from their parents to an empathetic cop – leads to their undoing. Unlike other films and TV shows in the same vein, this is by no means a celebration of criminal behaviour. It’s more of a wake-up call about how quickly things can get scary, and how quickly you can lose your sense of self when you act purely on impulse. The title tells us pretty clearly that this show won’t have a happy ending. But even in its tragic moments, there are still glimmers of loveliness in it. You just have to be patient, and watch closely, to fully see them.


Thursday 8 February 2018

d e g r e e s h o w m a d n e s s



We attended at lecture by Matthew David Smith which was wholly disappointing. We’re always a little apprehensive when artists describe their practice as “intuitive” and this talk definitely confirmed our trepidation. He also said he had some issues with writing an artist statement, something we are also unsure about due to it being slightly reductive but his point was slightly different. He said he felt like it was is counter intuitive and that his work is too complex which felt quite arrogant. Other frustrating points were that he was ‘turned off’ when art makes sense or when it’s demystified. He also expressed an interest in not wanting to be totally in control of work. This was even more annoying when we said it was ‘hard to remember what I was thinking’. PROBABLY BECAUSE THERE WASN’T ANY THOUGHT PROCESS AT ALL DUE TO THE “INTUITIVE” NATURE OF IT. Everything he was saying was just a continual stream of evidence of thoughtlessness and to top it all off he finished with saying he wants people to not get anything out of his work. Achieved.


We had a truly uplifting discussion with regards to the degree show. Unfortunately, we had become sceptical with how it was going to happen. We’ll spare the details but in order to counter our cynicism we had decided to act as if it was just another exhibition as opposed to something more major. However, our tutors hosted a discussion about the idea of ‘anti-shows’ and how we might like to respond to the notion of the degree show, something which we realised was very relative to the way we work. We really enjoy working in a site-specific nature, creating work for a precise location by considering the features and theme of the place in question. This was highly inspiring and gave us so much more faith in the process. 


After that we’ve decided to have a proper think about what we’re going to construct for the show! Since we’re two people we’re going to be submitting two ideas, both of which were born out of a considering our dissertation subjects and the pre-existing elements of the degree show and university in general. These included a variety of subjects from booze to welcome desk to sponsored awards. We then put all 22 of these into 4 categories; gallery archetypes, sponsorship, event and institutional bubble. The biggest crossovers were between sponsorship and event and then gallery archetypes and institutional bubble so we concluded that we would consider one work to each of these topics. However, these would be secondary to our initial thoughts about how a narrative might be constructed and then read by an audience, we just thought it was appropriate to consider the environment…just something to keep in mind. 


We want to expand our notions of storytelling into objects and props, thinking back to implied narrative and the potential of objects to create presence out of absence. Therefore, our first idea was to consider how to communicate the effects of corporate patronage on the arts in a way that related back to storytelling. We decided that we wanted to make a work that deals with the expectations and realities that are by products of the interdependence between the arts and private philanthropy; an interdependence that’s catalysed by austerity politics and puts the critical freedom of art institutions in jeopardy. The work itself centres on a fictional cartoon character that has been created for the promotion of the degree show. Similar to the manner in which Olympic mascots are used to promote a form of global unity over/via sport, we hope to use depictions of this character over the next few months to promote the degree show, hopefully as part of the official promo. 


We want to use the images of these characters at the front entrance, as a face that greets people alongside the welcome desk. These images will be in the form of character cut-outs with face holes for a photo opportunity (similar to the ones you may find on a pier), as well as digitally printed vinyl characters stuck on the glass on the library lifts, facing outwards. If there are welcome packs/maps handed out at the entrance we would like to include key rings featuring the mascot characters with these. All of these components will be made to look as slick and professional as possible, as if the characters are actual patrons for the degree show.


Inside the degree show, versions of the mascot will be wandering around, distributed throughout the building. They will not be exact copies of the mascot at the entrance, but slightly differing versions, prototypes of the final character. (eg. A version of the mascot with ears, a version with different colour skin, a larger version, etc.) The performers inside the mascot outfits will be asked to perform certain tasks, while wearing and carrying certain parts of their outfit. (eg. Mascot 1 may be asked to walk around and look at the art wearing the comically large shoes, Mascot 2 may be asked to sit on a bench and eat their lunch while wearing their full outfit without the head, Mascot 3 may be asked to appear to be waiting for a friend wearing their regular clothes but with the mascot head on, and the rest of the outfit hung over their shoulder, etc.) A rota will be drawn up for the performers, detailing how they should be acting and where they should be at a certain time, this can be communicated to organisers if needed, the work will be active every-day and the performers will rotate in shifts, with plenty of time off (not in the outfit performing).


The next idea was about levels of fiction within the institution; the various methods of constructing a narrative and how it’s consequently conveyed to an audience. This comes in the form of creating experiences that have an uncanny impression; common activities such as watching a YouTube video or being exposed to an advert are reconstructed using a similar visual language but with some unfamiliar additions. When on display, the geographical location of the work partially dictates the content to add an element of site specificity, which in turn contributes to the overall building of the story.


The piece itself is a series of information stands (2 main stands in the street positioned near the north lifts and south entrance, and then 6 secondary stands on each subsequent floor). The purpose of the stands will be to distribute information and additional content about fictional events and artworks situated on the 4th floor of the Granary Building, the sculpture garden and the basement. It would also be ideal to gain permission to replace the building map panel inside the lifts, to add a basement and 4th floor, however none of the existing information would be edited, the only additions/alterations would be with regards to the fictional floors. This would assist with the narrative being woven into the fabric of the University; expanding the potential of the University walls and encouraging the activation of the audience’s imaginations. 


The main stands would be backlit and made using a MDF and timber to construct the frame, with an acrylic front and back with vinyl prints attached to both sides. The print would be made up of a map (the graphics and information of which would be consistent to the existing Granary Building map but with the additions of a 4th floor and basement, all other details would remain exactly the same), pamphlets that would be changed each day to reflect the events occurring that day (which fold out to show the same map on the stand), and a free-standing mesh bucket on a stand full of fake key fobs which people are encouraged to take for free. The pamphlets will contain bios of fictional artists/art professionals, their previous works/projects and interviews. There would also events listed on Eventbrite which people could find online and access more information about these talks, discussions and artworks. The secondary stands wouldn’t be backlit and would only feature the map and would be smaller but would direct visitors to the ground floor stand if they desired the additional items. 


We went to Bob Bicknell-Knight’s show at Anka Kutleys as part of Cacotopia 02 which was great! Such a professional looking show with some excellent work that we hadn’t seen previous to this. All the work contributed to the underlying theme of artificial intelligence, consumer capitalist culture and other internet based activities. 


We also went to the private view of Eddie Peake's show at White Cube which was absolutely packed! Almost impossible to get in but the environment was actually quite enjoyable; the idea that you would have DJs in another specially constructed room, visible behind a window, broadcasting an online radio show during the exhibition seemed quite exciting. However, the rest of the work in the show was, as usual with his work, not quite to our taste. It seemed very egotistical, especially when we’re told that the artist ‘plays’ himself, both offering up and dismantling the narrative of artistic self-worth, fictional protagonist and ‘real’ self…