Term 2 Field: Gorilla in the Roses – iPad Collages

Posted: March 26, 2014 | Author: | Filed under: Field | Leave a comment

Our last workshop was with James Green, and we got to experiment using ProCreate on the iPad. We shared iPads one between two, and I was partnered with Osian. First of all, we had a basic tutorial on how to use the programme and what different effects and tools we could use.
Collaboratively, Osian and I created what I’ve started calling ‘Nohell Edmonds’.

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After the tutorial, we went to our spaces and took photographs with the iPad of a few pieces of both of our various art works, and some textural and background photos. Using these photos, we then imported them in to ProCreate, and set about collaging them together; both our photos, and internet images.


I quite enjoyed using the iPads, which I didn’t think I would. I would consider using ProCreate again in future projects.

Term 2 Field: Gorilla in the Roses – Making a Sketchbook

Posted: March 26, 2014 | Author: | Filed under: Field | Leave a comment

During the project, we had a workshop from Tom on how to make your own sketchbook from a large piece of thick paper. After a lot of marking, measuring, cutting and folding, I ended up with a really quaint hand-made sketchbook.
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Sections folded out for extra space for vertical drawings or panoramic views, there’s a little pocket for small drawings or little found objects, and the same with the envelope at the back. Unfortunately, we ran out of time before being able to sew in extra pages.
I really enjoyed measuring and cutting precisely, and turning a plain piece of paper into a functioning sketchbook. I would love to create larger sketchbooks, and learn how to sew pages together.

Term 2 Field: Gorilla in the Roses – Collage Booklet

Posted: March 26, 2014 | Author: | Filed under: Field | Leave a comment

Whilst carrying on with collage, we were encouraged to explore ‘narrative’ within our work. Narrative can be apparent with just one image, but we were also told to think about constructing a narrative between a couple or selection of images.

We had previously learned with Tom how to create little booklets using paper. I used to do this as a child to make little story books, so I employed this method very quickly and roughly using two A4 German magazine pages which I glued together.
I liked the rough, torn, quite mangled look to the book and also the upside-down random German writing in the background. As it seemed messy and made no sense so far, I thought the inside narrative of the book should also make very little sense and remain messy.
I found a ‘moments to love’ coffee advert, and decided to work with this as a title for my book, creating farcical ‘moments’ that we are encouraged to enjoy.

Term 2 Field: Gorilla in the Roses – Collage

Posted: March 26, 2014 | Author: | Filed under: Field | Leave a comment

I chose ‘Gorilla in the Roses’ as my second Field option. This choice is inspired by Joe Orton and Kenneth Halliwell, and their defamation of library books in the 1960s. We also looked at forms of farcical comedy – Carry On films, the Viz comic book, Monty Python, Spike Milligan, The League of Gentlemen etc.
After the lecture, I got together with Buffy and we had a little go at adding extra information into a chosen image to change its meaning. I chose an image for myself, and Buffy chose an image for me.

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Our first workshop was a collage workshop. We were given a book at random and a selection of newspapers and magazines to cut up and create collages.

We weren’t given any sort of theme, which I feel I really responded to. Not feeling like there was any sort of boundaries or restrictions, I could pair strange combinations of things together without it needing to have any meaning and this allowed for some of the best collages I think I have created. I felt a particular connection to the man with a bird’s feather for his hair, and I am considering taking this idea further and producing a collection of bird-feather hairstyles.
I also particularly liked the religious themed images, as there was something very ‘Monty Python-esque’ about them, and it has really made me want to create stop motion videos with them.

Term 2 Field: Beyond Fiction – Stop Motion Audio

Posted: February 11, 2014 | Author: | Filed under: Field | Leave a comment

After many an annoyance, I finally managed to work out how to include audio with my stop motion videos. I still need to experiment with specific audio for speicific frames of the video, but I’m getting there. This time, I created the video, then recorded a small snippet hoping it would fit in time with the video. I know there is a more precise way of matching audio to specific frames, and I really want to experiment more using these techniques and refining the videos.

Term 2 Field: Beyond Fiction – Skeletal Stop Motion

Posted: February 10, 2014 | Author: | Filed under: Field | Leave a comment

I started exploring stop motion with more relevant subject matter after the tutorial; beginning with skulls I had lying around the house, one of which being a skull from the previous project that was a found object from a charity shop.


I have not yet discovered how to add sound to the stop motion video using this particular piece of software, and so I have been narrating the video just with my own writing. The vintage black and white 1920s ‘silent film’ style subtitles would lend themselves well to a morbid humour video. I shall explore this.


Using a scanned image of a skeleton from the Victorian era anatomical drawings book, I created a quick stop motion of a rather happy waving skeleton. The next step will be to try and add sound into my videos, and also create more complex videos, perhaps using a mixture of layered collage with real objects.

Term 2 Field: Beyond Fiction – Tutorial and Artist Influence

Posted: February 10, 2014 | Author: | Filed under: Field | Leave a comment

Going in to my tutorial, I felt very under-pared, as I had been unwell for quite a while, and felt that I had no direction in my project; much like the last project, it seemed to have turned into exploring lots of little ideas rather than one focused developing idea.

Post-tutorial, however, I felt much better. Amelia liked my ideas, and suggested looking at Jan Svankmajer, The Quay Brothers, and Terry Gilliam. She said she felt that collage and stop-motion worked well together, and I could explore this further possibly using the keywords ‘humour and horror’ as well as ‘cut and paste’.


Term 2 Field: Beyond Fiction – Stop Motion

Posted: February 10, 2014 | Author: | Filed under: Field | Leave a comment

I decided to try my hand at stop-motion animation. It has always been one of my favourite forms of animation; modern CGI doesn’t hold a candle to the skill, effort and character of stop motion animation in my opinion.

Simply to experiment, I turned back to my trusty Russian doll.

I really enjoyed creating the animation, despite its fiddliness and my impatience with technology. I tried creating other stop motion videos just to experiment with the software.



I am considering exploring facial movements using stop-motion. In the second video for example, I sang along to a song, but only captured certain movements and motions. It was interesting to see the expressions your face pulls when you aren’t even aware. In the third video, I simply shut one eye and captured the frame, then the other, and kept alternating. This had a slightly ‘creepy’ vibe to it, I think because of the unnatural lack of time between the movement of each eye. Exploring time manipulation could be interesting here; slowing sections of film down, speeding others up, or removing time periods altogether.

Term 2 Field: Beyond Fiction – Collage

Posted: February 10, 2014 | Author: | Filed under: Field | Leave a comment

As well as exploring the Russian doll and bone landscapes, I tried to create some more collages. James Green’s workshop on collage was quite inspiring, and I do think it is a quick but visually exciting method of capturing ideas.

I love old anatomical drawings and the strange, creative machinery and inventions of the Victorian era. I found an Anatomical book of permission-free Victorian era engravings and drawings of medical equipment, anatomical drawings and various other strange and wonderful implements. These related quite effectively to my ‘skull’ project from last term, and I liked the idea of juxtaposing old images with new photographs.

Equally, I am interested in the mordbid and macabre, yet also humour. I am trying to think of ways to ecorporate all of these elements together into a piece of dark humour. I think this may be achieved most effectively with a theme of ‘advertising’ as I have attempted with the ‘Ear Trumpet’ piece.

Term 2 Field: Beyond Fiction – Bone

Posted: February 10, 2014 | Author: | Filed under: Field | Leave a comment

Having not been too inspired by the Russian doll, I started looking at other objects which related back to my Subject work. I still had two pieces of bone from the previous project which I hadn’t used, so I decided to photograph the bone from various angles and see if I could use these to create some form of narrative.

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As the bones had a variety of interesting textures, I tried using them as landscapes for stick figures. I liked the simplicity of these pieces; how just a few black silhouettes added into a photo can imply something entirely different to the original photograph. I may explore these further, but I’m not sure they have that much scope for development or adding new dimensions in mediums.

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