Sewing, Santiago Calatrava and me

Santiago Calatrava is one hell of a crazy guy. His buildings are amazing. They are spectacular works of art, that take up vast amounts of space and dominate any skyline. They are big and bold, which is what I love about his work but what I like the most is that he gets his ideas from organic things like a bird or a torso and he turns it into architectural gem, using bold straight lines and unnatural repetition.

           

 

    

So I toke the same approach to my 3D piece, only I toke inspiration from my cat

Cat Yawning

Cat Stretching

A cat has something very pointy about it, so I found it an easy subject for 'Calatrava' inspired construction. I simplified imaged and played around with shapes and line. The final product of my project was this.

It was a pain in the ass to sew and because the cardboard was not strong enough so I could not get the string as tight as possible. Although you cannot see it in this picture if you at it from the side the lines of string makes this curve, which was meant to represent the arc of the cat's back. I am quite please with it and I feel that it is in the style of Calatrava.

3 Photographers of note

I love photography. I especially love photography of people, because it is always so unique. People move and change all the time and a photograph captures that moment perfectly.

Children are always a great subject because they are full of life and energy. They do not yet hide their emotions. They are an open book. That is why out of the 50 photographers that we could choose from I chose this photograph by Vivian Maier. She took pictures of various people from all walks of life. This particular photograph appealed to me because the way these two girls interact with one another. They are clearly the best of friends and are probably having a great time. The way Maier has composed this photograph is interesting. It is not a full body shot and neither is it a portrait, because we more that just their heads. The girls faces are central so it is the first thing we looked at, but by having more of the girls than just their heads, we can see their body language, this adds a lot to the photograph. Although facial expressions show our emotions, our body language shows more about how we interact with the people around us.

Photographs of people really up close I sometimes could like at for hours. Because they are so close up you can often see all the detail in the subject's face: their emotions, wrinkles around their eyes, the curve of their mouth and in the case of this photograph the freckles on their face. This photograph was taken by Sally Mann, who did a whole series of faces, but I chose this one because of the expression that the subject has. It is an expression of complete peace. The subject is calm, but it is still quite intense. The some of other pictures in the series are erotic, and I find that this one has it too, but at the same time it is innocent because of the freckles. The nose and the mouth are in focus but the rest is not. The nose covered in freckles is innocent but the half open mouth is very erotic, and having only these two features in focus dictates the mood of the photograph.

Another reason I love photography is because the subjects far weirder than when it is a painting. The internet is full of funny pictures but only some which are put in the right context or are taken by the right people can be called art. This photograph by Tony Ray Jones I personally found very amusing. But I guess that it captures a bit of history too. This couple is clearly enjoying a luxurious picnic with good wine and a book and the smell of cow poo/the great outdoors. This photograph tells us a story more than the other photos did. We clearly see here a couple, who probably been together for some time and decided to go for a picnic today, but it could not just be a normal picnic, they are a respectable couple and they will not sit on the ground in order to enjoy their lunch and the good weather, they brought a table and chairs to sit on. It looks a bit like a dining room has been set up in the middle of a field, I find that pretty hilarious. 

Why life drawing made Titanic even worse.

We have been having life drawing lessons every week for over a month. Which is why yesterday we had to draw one pose for over two hours. We were told by the teacher that even though we all love drawing with big, curvy line we were not aloud to do that anymore. until we got better at drawing. 

We had to use straight line to mark out the figure and then use hatching to create darker shapes. This method is not very me, I love splashing paint about and making a huge expressive mess when drawing, but I did what I was told and drew with straight line. At first I was still a bit too expressive, making the lines too thick and heavy, but I have improved. 

The other day I was flicking channels and I came across Titanic. Now I am not a big Titanic fan. I cry at the end because Leonardo DiCaprio dies and at the time he was quite a hottie, but it pisses me off when they spend 2 hours going in and out of the water like it is not that cold. So I got to the bit where Leo is drawing Kate 'like one of his french girls', in the first place Leo is not really drawing her and who ever is drawing her does not map her out like we are supposed to do in life drawing class. He or she, just starts at Kate's head and draws it perfectly all the way down, with shading and everything. That is just completely crazy! No one would ever do that. No one who has ever drawn a person would do that. 

So that is how life drawing has made Titanic even worse, because in the famous 'draw me like one of your french girls' scene they do not actually draw like a normal person. The whole thing is just so fake.

Photography - R 'n' B

We were given a letter and we had to photograph objects or actions that started with that letter. I got the letter R and later I got the letter B.

Running

Red Berries

Rowan Berries (I think, there was quite a debate on what they were)

Red Rabbit ears

Bars 

Bricks

Walking Artists

We walk everyday. Learning to walk is one of the first things we do in our life. Some artists use this in their art. For example:

Touch

Janine Antoni 
She practice tightrope walking until she could walk across the horizon. She has touch the horizon. She walked across water just like Jesus. It us a beautiful photograph and the set up is great. It is a very simple idea walking along things you cannot normally walk on. Something as normal as walking she has turned into something spectacular. 

Tehching Hsieh
He is a performing artist and he does year long projects. This particular one was not entering a building for a year, being outside for a whole year. All he could do was walk around New York City. When you cannot go inside all you can really do is walk, because it keeps you warm. I believe that on top of the fact that walking keeps you warm, it also keeps you sane. Hsieh made walking into a life saving thing.

The Lovers

Marina Abramović & Ulay

I am already a huge fan of Marina Abramović. Her work is impressive and emotional and this performance which she did with her long standing partner Ulay is no exception. They both walk from opposite ends of the Great Wall and met in the middle. It took 90 days and they both had to walk 1200 miles. The original plan was for them to get married when they met in the middle, but their relationship had not been going well, so it changed to them meeting and then never seeing each other again (until 2011). The idea of these two people, who emotional connection was great, walking all that distance towards each other and then when they finally meet they are never to see each other again - it is heart breaking. It nearly drivers me to tears. It is so beautiful. The dedication of walking all that way only to meet someone, who means so much to you, for the last time is incredible. The meaning of walking is changed in that situation. Every step you take brings you closer to the person you love but at the same time it brings you closer to seeing them for the last time. 

All these artists have change the meaning of walking in their art. Antoni made the impossible possible and Hsieh had to walk in order to survive and Abramović and Ulay walk to their doom. They all made something so normal into something incredibly powerful.