CONTEMPORARY ARTS 2 | INITIAL WORKINGS
CONTEMPORARY ARTS 2 | SYNOPSIS
This semester, my work was focused on materiality and process and the exploration of how I could creatively and uniquely portray the more formal concerns that I dealt with last semester, this work being a somewhat continuation of the pieces I had completed before. This semester, I decided to focus more on the aesthetic and the making of things, rather than drawing a straight line from the context and meaning that I had situated the last works within, i.e a very clear feminine craft, feminine message context. Although I strayed from this rigidity of context, I always end up somehow arriving back at that point in some way or another, and that is what happened here. At this point in my practice, I have come to understand the female process and the systematic creation of pieces matters to me more contextually that the outcome. Because of this factor, installation and materiality are the main objectives within my mind when creating works. I like to create a lot of pieces that explore a certain area (maybe 20 pieces that have the exact same idea with only slight tweaks) in depth to get comfortable with materials and media and understand how the exploration can benefit a final installation of pieces.
This semester, as most go, my work took quite a left turn at around the half-way point in the semester. I wasn’t sure what I was doing with my work and I was creating pieces that I thought would be more successful rather than works that I actually wanted to make. During this process, I rediscovered an old bag of plaster from last year, and decided to play with manipulating this substance, of which I know next to nothing about the properties of, into forms that reflect my work, soft, muted yet colourful and almost textile-like. By the end of this process, I had created an array of plaster sculptures that almost look melted, stacked on top of one another and suspended on acrylic platforms, creating a sort of elevated Willy Wonka scene. By trying to move away from the work that I was making, rather than towards it at full force, I was creating pieces that didn’t make sense to me. I wasn’t able to create in the manner that has been successful for me in the past, therefore, the work struggled to be successful. By making a complete 180, I may have sacrificed time, but not inspiration, outcome or process.
The ideas within the work are much the same as they always have been in my previous works, that female process is something that comes naturally to me as a woman, to create forms and structures that subvert masculine predeterminations. Although, a lot of my process just includes play, the blind understanding of materials and forms that I have never explored, not wanting to stay within a field that I have experience in, as, to be honest, I get bored and uninspired relatively easily. I have thoroughly enjoyed exploring the ideas of artists working in similar contextual realms in hopes of gaining some of their thoughts around the execution of concepts within a contemporary arts space. I also took some time to explore the modern-woman’s craft and how the conditioning of the art world has affected how women create their work. I looked at people like the Guerrilla Girls who, although somewhat dated at this point, embraced ideas of femininity and challenged the lack of women artists in general media and art-culture.
In a broader sense, my work has come to align itself in a somewhat niche space in modern art: women creating feminine works within a material exploration execution. Some artist’s that I have looked at extensively while creating this semester have been women like Karla Black and Angela de la Cruz and who work with textiles and various other media to create works that explore materiality and the use of it in a female space. By looking into what these women were creating, I was able to understand more where my work sat in alignment to the current art-space outside the walls of Unitec and it’s confinements.
All in all, this work has morphed and changed into something I would have never seen at the beginning of the semester, and I think that is what I will continue to employ going forward in my works, A sense of reckless abandon, if you will. In creating these pieces, by not knowing where they will go and focussing only on the process and how it feels to touch the material, to manipulate it and to make it beautiful, I am able to become passionate and eloquent in my workings and create pieces that reflect the many facets of myself and the women around me. By being messy yet meticulous and working with materials that are new to me, I can create with endless possibilities within the realm of understanding I have surrounding the context of feminine process.
StoryWorlds | Timeline Assignment Part 3 – ART
TIMELINE ASSIGNMENT
STORYWORLDS
3 CONTEXTS
- HERITAGE (CROATIAN HISTORY)
- SOCIAL CULTURE (HISTORY OF FILM)
- INSPIRATION (RENAISSANCE, FEMINIST ART)
INSPIRATION
ITALIAN RENAISSANCE / FEMINIST ART
Referenced in Visual
- ‘La Primavera’ Sandro Botticelli 1470
- ‘Madonna and Child with Six Angels’ Sandro Botticelli 1500
- ‘Untitled (Not Stupid Enough)’ Barbara Kruger 1997
- ‘Lipstick Bathroom’ Camille Grey 1973 (Part of WomanHouse Exhibition)
HISTORY OF ITALIAN RENAISSANCE ART (1300-1600)
14th Century – Trecento
1267 Birth of Giotto
1348 Black Death spreads through Europe, 25-50% of the population are infected
1386 Birth of Donatello
1389 Birth of Cosimo de Medici, the first of the Medici political dynasty in Florence
15th Century – Quattrocento
1401 Birth of Massacio
1420-36 Brunelleschi creates the Dome of Florence Cathedral
1428 Death of Massacio
1431 Birth of Mantegna and Bellini
1446 Birth of Botticelli
1449 Birth of Lorenzo de Medici, Cosimo’s son and later, a sponsor of Botticelli and Michaelangelo
1450 Donatello creates his sculpture David
1452 Birth of Leonardo da Vinci
1466 Death of Donatello
1469 Lorenzo de Medici takes power in Florence
1475 Birth of Michaelangelo
1483 The opening of the Sistine Chapel
1488 Death of Verocchio, Botticelli paints The Birth of Venus
1490 Birth of Titian
1488 Michaelangelo is apprenticed to Ghirlandaio
1495 Leonardo paints The Last Supper
16th Century – Cinquecento
1505 Leonardo paints the Mona Lisa
1506 Death of Mantegna
1508 Michaelangelo begins working on the Sistine Chapel
1510 Death of Botticelli, Raphael paints School of Athens, Michaelangelo paints Creation of Adam
1518 Leonardo paints his portrait of Leo X
1519 Death of Leonardo da Vinci
1520 Death of Raphael
1564 Death of Michaelangelo
1576 Death of Titian
HISTORY OF THE FEMINIST ART MOVEMENT (1960-1990)
1960 Feminist Art Movement begins
1964 Yoko Ono’s Cut Piece challenges violence against and the sexualisation of women
1970 Prominent feminist artists Judy Chicago begins her education of women in the art industry with the opening of her art school
1971 Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists? an essay by Linda Nochlin, was published in ARTnews, a publication formerly showcasing essays from only a male POV
1972 The A.I.R studio is founded, the first of its kind to showcase solely art made by women, Judy Chicago’s Womanhouse exhibition is debuted to the public, combining works from over 20 female artists, each inhabiting a room of a house with their art. 10’000 visitors arrive to see the exhibition
1973 Feminist Studio Workshop is created by Judy Chicago, Arlene Raven and Sheila Levrant de Bretteville in LA
1979 Judy Chicago debuts Dinner Party, widely known as the first ‘epic’ feminist art, she aimed to give women ‘a seat at the table’ by creating a table showcasing 999 prominent female figures of history
1985 The Guerrilla Girls are formed, a group of anonymous woman artists who performed out-of-box exhibitions and demonstrations to protest the patriarchy within the art world
1989 The Advantages of Being a Woman Artist was posted by the Guerrilla girls, a sarcastic and satirical list of all the ‘good’ reasons to be a female artist, challenging the idea that a far larger percentage of works in galleries are made by men
BIBLIOGRAPHY
HISTORY OF RENAISSANCE ART
Art History Timeline. (n.d.). Retrieved November 18, 2017, from http://www.dummies.com/education/art-appreciation/art-history-timeline/
Early Italian Renaissance the history of artistic achievement. (n.d.). Retrieved November 18, 2017, from https://www.italian-renaissance-art.com/Italian-renaissance.html
Early Renaissance Art (Italy) (1400-1490). (n.d.). Retrieved November 18, 2017, from http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/history-of-art/early-renaissance.htm
Early Renaissance Art (Italy) (1400-1490). (n.d.). Retrieved November 18, 2017, from http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/history-of-art/early-renaissance.htm
History.com Staff. (2010). Renaissance Art. Retrieved November 18, 2017, from http://www.history.com/topics/renaissance-art
Renaissance Timeline. (n.d.). Retrieved November 18, 2017, from https://www.italian-renaissance-art.com/Renaissance-Timeline.html
Italian Renaissance Art (1400–1600). (2016, January 16). Retrieved November 18, 2017, from http://arthistoryteachingresources.org/lessons/italian-renaissance-art-1400-1600/
HISTORY OF FEMINIST ART
The Feminist Art Movement timeline. (n.d.). Retrieved November 18, 2017, from https://www.timetoast.com/timelines/the-feminist-art-movement
Feminism & Art. (2016, December 22). Retrieved November 18, 2017, from http://arthistoryteachingresources.org/lessons/feminism-art/
Feminism & Feminist Art. (n.d.). Retrieved November 18, 2017, from http://www.arthistoryarchive.com/arthistory/feminist/
Feminist Art Movement, Artists and Major Works. (n.d.). Retrieved November 18, 2017, from http://www.theartstory.org/movement-feminist-art.htm
T. (n.d.). Feminist art – Art Term. Retrieved November 18, 2017, from http://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/f/feminist-art
StoryWorlds | Timeline Assignment Part 2 – SOCIAL CULTURE
TIMELINE ASSIGNMENT
STORYWORLDS
3 CONTEXTS
- HERITAGE (CROATIAN HISTORY)
- SOCIAL CULTURE (HISTORY OF FILM)
- INSPIRATION (RENAISSANCE, FEMINIST ART)
SOCIAL CULTURE
MOVIES/MUSIC/BOOKS
Referenced in Visual:
- ‘My Own Private Idaho’ Gus Van Sant 1991
- ‘Trixie Belden’ Kathryn Kenny 1948-1986
- ‘Romeo + Juliet’ Baz Luhrmann 1996
- Stevie Knicks photographed by Unknown 1976
- ‘The Wild Thornberrys’ 1998-2004
- ‘The Great Gatsby’ F. Scott Fitzgerald 1925
- ‘Lord of the Flies’ William Golding 1954
- ‘Stand By Me’ Rob Reiner 1986
- ‘The Folk of the Faraway Tree’ Enid Blyton 1946
HISTORY OF FILM
1824 Invention of Thaumatrope (Introduces ‘persistence of vision’ concept)
1832 Invention of Fantascope
1839 Introduction of Celluloid Film
1861 Invention of Kinematoscope
1888 Introduction of the first portable Kodak film camera (using film on wooden rollers)
1895 Auguste and Louis Lumière invent the Cinèmatograph (combination camera and projector) and host the first private screening
1899 Movie theatre in Philadelphia is the first of it’s kind
1900 Production companies begin to create feature films for widespread audiences
1903 The first Western ‘The Great Train Robbery’ by Edwin S. Porter debuts
1910 Thomas Edison invents the Kinetophone, allowing audio in film
1911 D. W. Griffith’s ‘Enoch Arden’ becomes the first ever feature length film
1915 D. W. Griffith’s ‘The Birth of a Nation’ introduces several narrative devices, such as the flashback and the close-up
1924 Walt Disney creates his first cartoon ‘Alice’s Wonderland’
1925 ‘Ben Hur’ becomes the most expensive film made with a budget of $3.95 million USD
1928 Walt Disney’s Galloping Gaucho and Steamboat Willie become the first cartoons with sound, also the inaugural Academy Awards are held at the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood
1934 ‘It Happened One Night’ starring Claudette Colbert and Clark Gable wins 3 Academy Awards
1935 Technicolour film is introduced
1937 Walt Disney’s first feature length film ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarves’ debuts to box office success
1939 ‘Gone With the Wind’ premieres, going on to become one of the most profitable films of all time at $192 million USD
1946 The inaugural Cannes Film Festival is held in France
1952 Premiere of the first feature length 3d film ‘Bwana Devil’
1953 Wide-Screen techniques such as CinemaScope are developed to counteract the popularity of television seen first in ‘The Robe’
1960 The premiere of Alfred Hitchcocks ‘Psycho’ cements it as one of the most famous psychological thrillers ever made
1961 ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ starring Audrey Hepburn debuts, winning multiple Oscars and becoming an instant classic
1965 ‘Sound of Music’ premieres and continues to be one of the most popular movie musicals of all time
1968 Motion picture rating systems are implemented to police the viewing of certain films
1976 The first use of Steadicam is seen in ‘Rocky’
1977 The first instalment of the ‘Star Wars’ franchise is released
1994 Steven Spielberg wins the Academy Award for best director with ‘Schindler’s List’
1997 ‘Titanic’ Starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet premieres, and, for 12 years, remained the highest grossing film ever made with $1.843 billion USD made internationally
1998 ‘Titanic’ wins a record 11 Academy Awards
2001 The category of Best Animated Feature is introduced to the Academy Awards. ‘Shrek’ directed by New Zealander Andrew Adamson, takes it home
2006 The Walt Disney co. acquires Pixar Animations
2007 Home video giant ‘Netflix’ launches an online presence, creating the first site where customers can legally stream movies straight to their personal devices, in only 3 years, the company would garner 20 million subscribers
2009 ‘Avatar’ directed by James Cameron premieres, quickly becoming the highest grossing movie of all time grossing $2.7 billion USD worldwide
2014 Netflix releases their first feature length, original film ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: The Green Legend’ on the platform, prompting a great change in the film industry in regards to format and projection
BIBLIOGRAPHY
HISTORY OF FILM
In Film | September 20th, 2011 8 Comments. (n.d.). The Birth of Film: 11
Firsts in Cinema. Retrieved November 16, 2017, from http://www.openculture.com/2011/09/the_birth_of_film_11_firsts_in_cinema.html
Dixon, W. W. (2008). A short history of film. London: I. B. Tauris.
Film History Milestones. (n.d.). Retrieved November 16, 2017, from http://www.filmsite.org/milestones.html
Film History Timeline. (n.d.). Retrieved November 16, 2017, from http://www.softschools.com/timelines/film_history_timeline/436/
Movie Timeline. (n.d.). Retrieved November 16, 2017, from https://www.infoplease.com/arts-entertainment/movies-and-videos/movie-timeline
StoryWorlds | Timeline Assignment Part 1 – HERITAGE
TIMELINE ASSIGNMENT
STORYWORLDS
3 CONTEXTS
- HERITAGE (CROATIAN HISTORY)
- SOCIAL CULTURE (HISTORY OF FILM)
- INSPIRATION (RENAISSANCE, FEMINIST ART)
HERITAGE
CROATIA AND MY FAMILY
Referenced in Visual
- Maté Vučić (My Great-Granddad) photographed in Croatia Date Unknown
- Photographed in Whangarei 1950
- Building in Dubrovnik (where my family are from)
HISTORY OF CROATIA
Family History
400BC Greek colonies founded on the islands of the Adriatic Sea
925 King Tomislav crowned first King of Croatia, establishing the Croatian Kingdom
1102 Croatia enters union with Hungary after the death of the last King Peter Svavic
1382 Dubrovnik buys it’s independence from the Hungarian King
1526 Ottoman’s win the battle of Mohacs, beginning their rise to power in Croatia
1847 Croatian becomes an official language, replacing the prior-used Latin
1895 My Granddad Maté Vučić is born in Dubrovnik in December
1918 The Austro-Hungarian empire is abolished after the end of WW1 and the Kingdom of Serbs is established (later named Yugoslavia) with Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia
1941 Nazi Germany invades and attacks Serbs and Jews, Croatia takes in Bosnia and western Serbia to become a ‘Greater Croatia’
1942/47 My Great-Grandfather migrates to New Zealand, marries my Great-Grandmother Alvaretta and gives birth to Neville and Petar Vucich (my Grandfather and Great-Uncle)
1945 Croatia becomes a republic of the Yugoslav socialist federation, going against the rule of communist Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito
1965 Maté Vučić dies when my Grandfather is 19 years old
1980 Tito dies, beginning the collapse of the Yugoslav federation as republics begin to claim their independence
1989 Collapse of communism in Eastern Europe
1990 First free election in Croatia in 50 years. Communists lose to the Nationalist Conservatives
1991 Croatia declares independence to contempt within Serbia, by December, one third is under Serbian power
1992 Croatia becomes involved in the Bosnia-Herzegovina war, supporting the Bosnian Croats against the Bosnian Serbs, then against the Bosniaks (Muslims)
1995 The Bosnia-Herzegovina war ends and Croatia begins to claim back it’s land occupied by the Serbians
1996 Croatia restores its relationship with Yugoslavia
1998 Croatia claims back control in the last area occupied by the Serbians
2000 The liberal Croatian People’s Party, headed by Stjepan Mesic enters government
2009 Croatia joins NATO
2010 President Josipovic visits Belgrade, suggesting a thawing of the relationship between Croatia and Serbia
2011 Croatia signs EU accession treaty
2013 Croatia becomes the 28th member of the EU
2015 Kolinda Grabar-Kiratovic is elected Croatia’s first female president
2016 Andrej Plenkovic becomes the president
BIBLIOGRAPHY
HISTORY OF CROATIA
A SHORT HISTORY OF CROATIA. (n.d.). Retrieved November 18, 2017, from http://www.localhistories.org/croatia.html
A TIMELINE OF CROATIA. (n.d.). Retrieved November 18, 2017, from http://www.localhistories.org/croatiatime.html
Croatia profile – Timeline. (2017, March 17). Retrieved November 18, 2017, from http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-17217954
Maxwell, C. (2013, February 28). Crash Course in Croatia’s History. Retrieved November 18, 2017, from http://www.travelchannel.com/destinations/croatia/articles/crash-course-in-croatias-history
Planet, L. (n.d.). Lonely Planet. Retrieved November 18, 2017, from https://www.lonelyplanet.com/croatia/history
Specialist Technologies | Shape of Things Reflection
Throughout the Shape of Things class, I have learnt about iteratively creating through visual ideas and mediums. We created many of the same thing, in different ways, creating a diverse portfolio of concepts and test pieces. By creating in wood, plaster, ice etc. We were able to explore the properties of materials, how they perform in different contexts and how we can utilise these techniques over the entire course. Also, learning how to document and build on these ideas was a good way to continue to unfold this idea of iterative creation we have been exploring this entire year within the BCE. This idea of iterative creation is one that I have taken into almost all of my other projects, striving to create the best work I can by continuing to push it to its limits every time I think of something new to create. This process also taught me about how shapes and forms change and can be manipulated in new an interesting ways that I would never have though of before. These ideas will continue to come into play within the BCE and even further into my artistic career as they are ideas that will help to create better and more developed work in the future.
The skills that I gathered during the Shape of Things class transferred into the majority of my other courses, through the ideas of iterative creation and development. In the integrated project for Creativity & Design, I created a series of pieces that utilised organic shape and texture, layering colour and transparency over to create interesting compositions. I think that by studying shape and movement so clearly within Shape of Things, I was able to further understand how different shapes (not just square, circle etc.) perform alongside each other, how their forms interact and how different textures and materials can make a huge difference in the overall feeling of the piece in the end. The iterative idea came in to this when I wanted to take my work to the next level, it didn’t always look like the end product throughout the process. Because I have been opened to the idea of the iterative process, I now fully understand the implications of keeping your work the same, never changing it. You don’t get that full, vibrant work you get with development and careful thought within the process. I think that by utilising these ideas and by considering the treatment of my shapes more, I was able to create a more interesting and unique sequence of works.
The idea of getting stuck in and just making is one that, over time, I have become more familiar with. I have always been almost stuck in the middle of artistically reckless and meticulously worrisome. By exposing myself to this idea of making before thinking, I am able to just make, not worry about the end product and often, create work that is much richer and more interesting than a planned out, mapped and posed idea that never turns out the way I envisioned. By creating without reason for the first few weeks, I was able to explore the nature of the material, rather than getting too into what it meant and how it would turn out in the end. I didn’t know the end goal, and that was a nice change for me. I took this in to the integrated project when I got stuck in the middle. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to create, my idea had strayed from my initial proposal and I didn’t think that I could pull off what I had promised. I just began to make, I took photos and I gathered materials and I just started, not thinking too hard about how it would turn out or putting pressure on myself to make it perfect. It was then when I stumbled upon my final idea.
I think that by integrating the things that I’ve learnt in this class into my future projects, I will be able to create more vigorously and freely. I will strive to understand form and shape, how it moves and performs, and I will take the physical skills I learnt (plaster casting, soldering etc.) into my future endeavours to create better works that really embody the ideas and concepts I create in my head.
Creativity & Design | ?Scape Project
FINAL WORK SELECTION (DIGITAL)
FINAL WORK (IN STUDIO)
SOME ITERATIONS
STUDIO (OTHER ARTEFACTS)
RESEARCH
Pinterest/Artist Research
I found most inspiration in these select artists:
Malin Gabriella Nordin
Rebecca Morris
Bruce Ingram
Mood-Board
ANABELLE 