Experimentation – The Collection Of…

Another angle..

Samantha Mckenzie / May 11, 2013 / Concealed Illusions, Experimentation, Research, Uncategorized

After some group evaluation of our process so far, we started to discuss the first things we think the audience will pick up on when they enter the space. We wondered whether we needed to add anything else. Is our piece too static? Too silent? We asked. We began to think of all the different perspectives of our piece. One thing we have discussed as part of the process has been the links we can make between our piece and Sexism. As Tom is drawing us while we apply the makeup, aesthetically you could say it appears as though the application of make up is for him, or for all men in fact. Perhaps we should question why any girl puts on makeup and ‘improves’ her usual look. Is it for men? Or Is it for everyone in society as a general? There are so many pressures coming from a variety of different places to be this idea of perfect, The ‘ideal’. Something idealistic is in my opinion something which does not exist, it is a false expectation.

Further discussion led us to wonder whether we should have any audio playing during our piece. The idea was to play something which would encourage the audience to question all of the things we have been questioning through the whole process. However, we did not want to tell them exactly what we wanted them to think, we wanted there to be some freedom for them. It was a last minute desicion for us to do some voice recordings of ourselves reading out passages from fashion magasines which contain makeup advice and instructions on how to apply make up.

‘If you want a dewy, fresh-faced finish then a light, liquid formula is best. Look for words such as sheer and illuminating and you’re set for a glowing complexion. I find these liquid bases give a wonderfully moist, glowing look to the skin which immediately revs up a tired, dry looking complexion.’

We felt this would emphasise how many women place such importance on makeup and looking their best. We were also fascninated with the similiarty between instructions on how to apply makeup and instructions on how to paint. By recording and playing instructions for both we thought how fitting to reiterate the ever growing links between art and the human form.

After more exploration into how we wanted to place ourselves when applying the makeup, we decided on a gradual change of position throughout the piece. As we wanted to show how this is something which is false but also a routine. Each time after removing our makeup we were to sit in another position, each time something less formal and more comfortable. By the end we aimed to either be laying on the floor or across the benches, expressing boredom. We would also be making a little less effort during each application so that by the end we were simply smearing foundation on our bodies aimlessly. We hoped this would communicate the message of how it is not something enjoyable but a chore; something we feel we need to do. Also, we thought how lovely to have this abstract image of bodies smeared in foundation whilst playing out is precise instructions on how to get the perfect cheek bones or skin tone.

Online source

http://www.cosmopolitan.co.uk/beauty-hair/news/trends/how-to-find-the-right-foundation_for_flawless_skin

“And finally – putting pencil to paper…”

Tom Baines / May 10, 2013 / Concealed Illusions, Development, Evaluation, Experimentation, Research

My role in the performance was to draw the live art in front of me. I was using different shades of pencils and ordinary paper. In an extreme case it is possible that to say that I am drawing a ‘life drawing’. “The representation of a life-model – and the particular choice of a female model – generates socially and culturally specific associations” (Roberts 2012, p70). In this instant Amanda Roberts suggests that having a female model has significance in society. It certainly does in our piece. As I have said before I am the only male in my group and I am drawing a group of girls. Does this have some sort of patriarchal view on society? Or is it men’s eyes that I represent observing beauty and drawing it – similarly to what the artist did when he drew the Venus de Milo.

Here are the selection of drawings from past rehearsals and the final performance:

It is clear that as the performance progressed the drawings became more erratic. These drawings are shown at the bottom of the photo. This happened as the girls became more frantic with their make-up. This could show men’s dominance over women or a power in art through live drawings or It could show elements of females able to exploit men’s need for a woman. But of course literally similarly to the artist who drew the Venus de Milo they are copies of beauty. Whether my drawings are accurate is irrelevant because it is quite possible the artist’s drawings at as accurate to the Venus de Milo statue; and of course the statue itself it a copy of the Ancient Greek goddess Aphrodite. How did the creator of the statue, Alexandros of Antioch, know that was what she looked like? The drawings themselves were they drawings of ‘true beauty’? Or were they drawings of what was there? This of course leaves our project open as said before what is idealisation, the romantic era of paintings where it was painting for aesthetic sake, and what is true nowadays?…

Works Cited

Roberts, Amanda and Howard Riley (2012) ‘The social semiotic potential of gestural drawing’, Journal of Visual Art Practice, 11 (1) 63-73

“Late additions…”

Tom Baines / May 10, 2013 / Concealed Illusions, Development, Experimentation, Research

Sound was a late addition into our piece and we believed it would help with the ambience of the room and the piece overall. It was a sound collage consisting of statements written by ‘experts’ on the application of make-up as well as experts on painting. It was interesting how the two were very similar in how they were spoken and the techniques being used.

This is the clip: site voice complete (1)

“immersive audio techniques that are often used in artistic sound disciplines offer complex multichannel solutions to enhance the listening environment for an audience” (Lauke 2010, pg1). This point by Lauke beautifully sums up why we added sound to our piece. It gives a depth to the performance space. As the piece progresses and the make-up application becomes less ‘perfect’ it is an interesting contrast between that and the sound clip of the ‘correct’ application of make-up. It also breaks the silence within the room and allows for the contemporary to be brought into the old fashioned art gallery. It also a nice addition to the contemporary room opposite which is also using an interesting sound collage and our clip, I think, adds to the sound of the upstairs gallery as a whole. It also adds to the video as of course the primary image of it is a painting and it is interesting how indistinguishable both make-up and paint application is.

Works Cited

Lauke, Karen (2010) ‘The placement of sound in artistic contexts’ Body, Space & Technology, 9(1) 1-10

Progression

Francesca Maria Izzo / May 3, 2013May 13, 2013 / Experimentation, People, Research

This week our group met at the cafe and discussed and experimented with some ideas developing from our main aim of putting on an exhibition outside the cafe. One of our ideas was to portray the quotes we have heard from the visitors of the cafe on the steps outside the cafe with chalk. However, from trying this out we realised it didn’t look as clear or effective as we imagined and as a result, developed this idea of using the text on a cafe menu whilst Jennie and Gabriel recite the quotes they have heard which contrasts the subtle with the obvious.

Another idea was for me to stand or sit in a glass box drinking tea to symbolise the people in the cafe are shut off from everyone else and unobservant of the other people in the cafe. It would also make the visitors of our exhibition observe the visitor in the cafe just as we have been doing on a weekly basis. However, we were unable to get permission to use one of the glass cases which the Collection gallery owns as they are too expensive and are already used for displaying artefacts in the museum. Therefore we decided to use a black wooded platform instead and represent the staff in the cafe as the staff are just as important as the customers in the observation of the cafe. As a result, it made me think whilst we were occupied observing and focusing on the customers we didn’t pay attention to the staff and therefore having me dressed as a staff member on a platform quoting things we’ve heard them saying, it makes the visitors of our exhibition notice them too.

As we are exhibiting things from the cafe, such as a cake stand holding cupcakes and a tea set in a glass plinth, we also tried to think of other things we could represent from the cafe. The main one we realised was the menu which is written on massive chalkboard inside the cafe. Therefore we have created our own chalkboard to write our own specials on for our performance. For example, it may read ‘Today’s specials are: Gabriel talking to himself as the reader, Jennie talking to herself as the working man, Francesca stood on a platform’. This therefore uses the same device of the cafe but has our own twist on it.

Another initial idea we had was to put lettering on the windows of the cafe and the education room to show ‘the observation’ and ‘the mimic’. As materials for this were hard to find for example plastic window lettering, we decided to make our own out of A4 coloured card and laminate it to make it look professional. The coloured card reflects the colours of the education room and makes the words stand out from the tinted windows, especially as the actions in the education window will need to be made aware of and obvious to the visitors who may not notice Shellie and Holly otherwise. The bright, large colours will also contrast with the subtle actions from me Gabriel and Jennie.

Throughout our rehearsals and planning process, trying to access ladders to put up string to connect the cafe and education room buildings to mirror the image in the painting, ‘Bound By Love’ had proved difficult. Unfortunately, even though the painting was one of our first inspirations for our piece, we decided it would be too much of a risk to attempt to do it on the day of our performance without any trial runs and we actually realised the string would not be necessary anymore as it no longer connected with the rest of our piece.

“The perfect application?…”

Kirsty Taylor / May 2, 2013May 2, 2013 / Concealed Illusions, Development, Experimentation

In our last rehearsal we put all our elements together and tried out our idea in full. Dressed in white and with our makeup and drawing pad ready we started a trial hour long performance. As we had discussed in our last rehearsal, our application of the makeup changed over time as Tom’s drawings became more and more frantic. At the start our makeup is reflective of our usual make up routine.

However, as the drawings become more frantic, so do our movements. The application becomes messier and quicker until eventually we apply without even looking at a mirror. This is turn creates a more grotesque image as the lipstick becomes smudged and our eyes are covered with messy eyeliner and mascara. This process in addition to the scattering of used makeup wipes will hopefully reinforce the concept of our piece; that masking is not necessarily perfection whether in art or society. The connections between the paintings and society (or indeed women) as art, is something we really want to express through this process and hope it will be received and understood by the audience. To add to this performance we also tried our new idea which was discussed last week. After each application and removal of makeup we would write a word describing ourselves with and without make up and stick it on each other. Words included:

-filter -no filter

-concealed -revealed

-fake -real

-beauty -different

-illusion -truth

This progressive element will mean that by the end of the performance, we will be covered with words expressing the views of objects and women with and without a mask. The fact that the drawing of Venus de Milo has been incorporated into our performance gives our actions stronger meaning for we are strongly questioning what beauty is, whether that be in art or in women.