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Next Steps

From this point onwards I’ve begun to think more about how to use the many photographs that have begun to pile into by inbox, the response has been great and even this huge quantity and variety of images helps to give a sense of the span and wealth of projects funded by FS. I really like the idea of giving small snippets of imagery related to the different groups and somehow binding these together into one piece. 

I’ve also been thinking of ways to enable staff members both to get insight into my design process and also to influence the choices that I make about the piece, whether colour and composition or the processes that I decide to use. 

This could be done in a digital / interactive way ( If I can find a way to) but I’m also thinking of beggining to fill my space at Foundation Scotland with the different variations in design to allow people to add notes & to spur discussion in people’s own time. 

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While in the catch up meeting I discussed using plywood, perspex or direct painting for the installation, Looking more at the conferance room, I’ve have become more concerned about overloading the space. The room already has many different features, from the slats in the roof, to the various alcoves, screens and furniture dotted about. 

I wonder weather to have even the small 3D relief of wooden tiles might be too much, on the other hand I aggree that the repeatability of the tiles and the crisp printed quality of them would be good to keep. 

Looking into other possibilities I wonder whether using a technique that I have previously used for installations would allow for the printed feel of the work and repeatability of it to be kept, but the flat texture and spatially considerate aesthetic to be had at the same time. 

This process involves linocut printing onto very thin yet strong Japanese paper, which can be printed in tiles in similar scales to those suggested for the plywood pieces, and pasted directly onto the wall. These tiles are very long lasting, yet can also be moved or replaced if needs be. 

The end result is something that lies smooth against the wall and can bend around a space, yet that is graphic and repeatable. 

Below is are a few details of a previous work where I have used this technique, as you can see there is very little relief from the wall:

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Which way forwards?

03 / 08 / 17 - A meeting with Foundation Scotland and Arts and Business to talk over the projects so far and to present ideas for different design strands.

We begin the session with a meeting between Louise and Carl to talk about how things have been going so far. Even though they go over a few questions and explain that these are for their own records - - Why were you interested in the project? Had it been as expected so far? It is in fact really useful to be drawn back to my starting points, reminding me of my intentions and what I had hoped to and still hope to achieve through the project.

Thinking about the research so far, we discuss the process of learning about something (in this case Foundation Scotland ) through meetings. While At first I found the meetings with staff a time to absorb as much information as possible and to gain an overall sense of how things worked, after a certain point I was able to feed into and direct the questions a bit more in relation to the design of the artwork and to learn more about people’s approaches to and thoughts about the work that they do. While my records and ‘work’ so far have been very wordy, pages and pages of notes and in some points in preparing for the presentation I’ve felt a ( self induced )pressure to be making visual things, in a way this process of learning and gathering as much information as possible has allowed me to see the patterns and crossovers between different people’s thoughts about the Foundation and the potential artwork, giving me a better sense of where to focus, what to incorporate and overall, how to portray the Foundation.

With a larger group of staff from Foundation Scotland, I present a couple of design sketches that have grown from these meetings and from the parralels drawn between ideas raised in them and different visual formations. 

Firstly, a design drawn from the structure of murmurations and the collective movement of animals / people; something that I had researched earlier on to help to think about the way that communities work. 

 While this could be abstract, just using gathered dots to give the sense of dynamic movement and collective action, the idea is to draw each small ‘dot’ into imagery to tell a snippet of one of the many stories from the foundation. Painted directly onto the wall these would be spread appart or densely drawn to give a sense of dynamic movement as individual shapes build into whole formations on a large scale. 

These large ‘murmurs’ could be built and connected to loosely represent different actions key to the Foundation, for instance Bridging, Supporting, exchange. 

The Second idea is to created individual wood block tiles. Each tile shape would be designed so that in repetition it would give a sense of a particular process, e.g rippling, growing or connecting. 

Each tile would hold a print telling stories of different processes or imagery related to different projects or organisations involved in the foundation. Based on research into ‘still’ animations, or visualisations of different time based processes, I like the idea of forming this imagery in a way that gives a sense of something happening through a hub of interactions and revealing the process from start to finish.

-- Here’s an example of this kind of ‘still animation’, a composite photograph made by Muybridge. 

- These Tiles could be lino cut printed or screen printed onto cut wood sheeting in a way to allow the grain of the wood to come through, allowing a warmth and texture whilst also keeping a graphic quality to the images.  

^^ A visualistaion of lino cut printed tiles, printed onto stained wood.  

These processes could be very specific to individual projects, or more abstract and general, however hopefully even for those without a knowledge of the exact project the sense of progression, growth and community would be clear. 

An example of this kind of process could be sees, growing to plants, and re-seeding. Or Ideas, growing to speach and discussion & leading to action. 

^^ A few sketched examples of tiles filled with different processes. 

Again these tiles would then be composed to spread over the walls and into different corners of the room-- This sketch shows that really, the tiles need to be smaller to give a sense of movement ( these are a bit static )  and also the shape of them needs to be carefully thought out to help to keep it dynamic too. 

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For Both Designs

The colours used ( although not necessarily in this pallet ) could be faded or intensified throughout the design, to create very vibrant areas that can only be seen when the projector screen is lifted - allowing a more subtle environment whilst presentations are being given ( so as not to distract the eye from the screen.)

Multiple people have mentioned making something vibrant and bold, however other have mentioned something that feel natural or softer. 

I thought that perhaps basing the pallete on Scottish landscapes, which contain some surprisingly vibrant yet also interesting and warm colour combinations could be an interesting way to balance the approach. 

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As a group we talked over all of these ideas, the two possible approaches and ways to create more cross over between them. While people liked to way that the murmers spread over the room, we reached a decision that if hand painted, they may be too delicate. 

Talking about the tiles, we discussed how making them smaller would add to a sense of movement more similar to that found in the murmur design. We also discussed using tiles in a range of scaled to add to this movement. 

I brought up the possibility of using more geometric shapes, however on discussions we realised that it seems more fitting to the Foundation to have something less rigid. 

Talking about choices between using a linocut, or screen printed technique we came to the conclusion that while screen print would allow more flexibility in changing the composition of each tile, the graphic marks made through the cutting would lend a bluntness that would help to cut through the otherwise decorative nature of the artwork. 

I will still make tests with each, testing looser / bolder drawing methods to use with screen printing too. 

-- And so in the end, we’ve decided to go more towards to tile technique but to alter it to keep the aspects of the ‘Murmur’ design that people liked - the fact that it can slink into unusual corners of the room and also create an overarching sense of movement. 

-- As at the begging of the residency I’ll still look to develop something that from affar can seem like a pattern, but up close reveal layers of stories related to the foundation. 

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Who makes the Artwork? Philanthropy and the artwork as two way exchange & learning process.

We talk about artwork being given explanations and particularly about her view that the space should be decorated with artwork created through different projects funded by The Foundation, rather than an artwork made by one artist.

 She suggests putting out a call for submissions from groups. What groups or individuals might be able to submit artworks? Would this make things too specific to art orientated projects?

This is new view on the space and outlook for the project and has caused me to overhaul current strands of thought - - should I be doing something that is more actively Participatory or acting more as a curator?

 This should be another option to propose for the meeting on Thursday where I will be going over thoughts and plans so far.

 Another option that is a mid-way point between these stances could perhaps be to co-ordinate an exhibition of works that have been made through different projects funded by Foundation Scotland (artworks, writing, craft, architecture) that could be shown at the launch of the conference room installation thereby showing both artworks made through Foundation Scotland funding and an artwork made to reflect the charity as a whole. My only concern with this would be the time constraints, but I shall definitely ask more about whether this could work.

Sarah also mentions a switchboard as an analogy for the Foundation, another curious image to think about.

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After talking with Sarah I have a meeting with Nick from the William Grant Foundation. its interesting to hear the perspective of somebody who has worked within Foundation Scotland as well as as a client – Again thoughts about Creating relationships, instilling a sense of community and connecting people are highlighted.

 Also thoughts on philanthropy as a reflective two way exchange system, where both the trustee and grantee feed and learn from one another in a practical / supportive way.

This links into previous ideas of visualising dynamic exchange and interellations – As with the dynamic movement of the murmur’s of birds. Perhaps there’s a way to create multiple ‘murmurs’ that interact with one another.

 I come away from the meetings thinking about how to engage with the projects, yet also remembering that its impossible to engage or run full workshops with everybody and that the artwork shouldn’t be TOO literal or specific to certain group - - how do I get the balance right? Is there a way to ask a tiny amount from every group, for instance a photograph of caption, to try and some way collate all of this? Or is the answer to more broadly encapsulate the ethos of the Charity and everyone involved?

A few examples of Mutual Symbiotic relationships ( Mutualism ):  exchange / reflective learning & nourishment: 

Bryoliths document a mutualistic symbiosis between a hermit crab and encrusting bryozoans; Banc d'Arguin, Mauritania (wiki)

Hummingbird hawkmoth drinking from Dianthus. Pollination is a classic example of mutualism. (wiki)

Ocellaris clownfish and Ritter's sea anemones is a mutual service-service symbiosis, the fish driving off butterfly fish and the anemone's tentacles protecting the fish from predators.

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Movement, Growth, Change.

key notes from a meeting with Ella Simpson ( 26 / 07 / 17 ) 

Ella is the Chief Executive of EVOC ( Edinburgh Voluntary Organisations Council) as well as a board member for Foundation and Resilient. 

As someone who often attends events the board room its really interesting to hear insight into it’s use by people external to FS. Firstly, in that she assumed that the artwork would be for the long wall of the room. Thinking about the way that external users of the space enter it (on the opposite side to the entrance for Foundation Staff) it does make sense that this could be the focal wall; it is the largest, the first that you see and can be seen from the street. As such, I think that it would make a lot of sense to continue with the idea of having a main wall, but also elements of the artwork spread around the room, or perhaps curving around the corner to spread onto the second wall. 

She mentioned that it is currently a Neutral space and so I questioned whether it would be good for it to remain neutral - in contrast Ella suggested that the artwork could be bold and remind people of the principles of social organisations - Justice, people and community first, Integrity, working together. 

We talked about other meeting spaces that command attention, work well or are memorable - Ella mentioned the City Chambers, contrasting more corporate/ bland rooms to the Mandela room ( with quotes around the wall )  and Historically rich rooms - both of which always enhance the environment and leave a strong impact.  

Each of these very different to what I will end up making but interesting to consider the impact of different conference rooms on people’s experiences.

I mentioned I have been looking at collective movements, such as murmurs of birds, which sparks Ella to talk about the way that these movements mirror the uncontrollabole nature of people centred activity - even if strict structures are put in place there is always an element of movement, variation and chaos. In addition, here, in the third sector, there is no statutory power over these human actions and relationships are build on trust and mutual respect. 

She also mentioned that people who work in this sector most often do through a choice to not compromise personal views and to align these professional and personal values. Finding a way to reflect the drive, commitment and energy involved in much of this work would be good - showing a sense of dynamic movement through the patterns? 

Talking of specific projects we discussed different initiatives in Girvan (some of which I’d like to visit), reflecting on how it doesn’t require much funding to spark a resurgence of community activity which again works in a ripple effect to spur on more work. 

Single Focussed ripple vs. Interlocking ripples - - crossovers in funding/ projects / places.

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Inanimate collective patterns

As well as researching the patterns and collective forms and movements made by living things I’ve also been collecting imagery of inanimate objects built from many composite pieces to form a whole, some inspired directly from groups mentioned by the Foundation Scotland Team and some linked to wording used to describe the processes within the organisation: 

Microscopic Nylon: stiching, Knitting together, weaving, linking and joining - both making and maintaining connections ( a way to show the process of connecting in action?) Textile orientated projects such as Miss Miss Misses, or Rags, tag and textile. 

Germinating Seeds: Unlocking Potential - nurturing - stages of growth from the idea stage to a mature self sufficient project. 

Bridging - Bricks, building, strength - balancing - carrying, weight and responsibility- ( Scottish building Federation? ) 

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Forming Questions & Flocks and Murmurations.

Week of 17 / 07 / 17

After the stamp workshops and more experiments with pattern I’ve started to think more about ways to use flocking formations, from Murmurations of birds, to heards of cows, to groups of runners or a audience full of people.

This has grown out of both out of visualisations of pattern and gathering pattern related imagery from groups that I’m hearing more about, making more research into ideas of community, grass roots and social enterprise and gathering a list of words that keep coming up in conversation; connecting, empowerment, ripple effects. 

Animal collective formations.

Human crowd activities and the power of crowds. 

Individual lives / things that appear like colourful pattern from affar. 

Pattern / other things that look like people / crowds / community - - Like this Rug! 

Here’s a link to some more amazing photos of crowds, all making great graphic patterns with thousands of small stories:  https://www.elitereaders.com/stunning-photos-huge-crowds/

I’m interested in finding ways to draw from these flocks of many small objects, which come together to form a dynamic whole form, full of a sense of movement,  to develop graphic patterns to build into prints or tiles that could repeat and spread around the room - different ‘crowd like’ components that intertwine. 

Perhaps different tiles could loosely represent different aspects of the organisation, each tile being made up of hundreds of small elements, all slightly different, that can only be seen when you look at the artwork from close-up. 

Here’s a link to Collective nouns... Are they all real?!  I feel like these could be the basis of a new workshop or pairing game: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_terms_of_venery,_by_animal

--- At the same time as processing meetings with staff into ideas I’ve also been thinking about how to focus visits to different projects that Foundation Scotland Work with. There’s such a variety it seems best to stay flexible and offer anything from a quick chat to a full workshop, anything that can help me gain insight into the breadth of projects involved and the people, things or places needed to make them work.---

-- I’m also beggining to think about practical ways to print and install the work, checking the quality of the walls and considering ways to attach things. I’m err-ing more towards using lino cut, which is more time consuming but can be printing in a very light fast and varnishable ink - - Although I will also test ways of making very permanent and washable screen prints as an option. 

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Presentations and Stamp Workshops: 

Thursday 06/07/2017

Today I gave a quick presentation and workshop with staff and Trustees to describe my approach to work in general and in relation to this project. 

In this quick stamp workshop (the neatest thing I could think of!) attendees were encouraged to print with stamps that I had carved, based on different interlinking mechanisms. I was curious to see how my idea of modular shapes interlinking to present active networks and structures was interperated by different people. It was very interesting to see how individuals’ preceptions of Foundation Scotland could be expressed through different stamping combinations, from John’s Running Mountains, to twisting cogs and spreading ripples, and how these combinations spurred further conversations about the working of the organisation and individuals’ part in it.

I would be interested in continuing to develop this set of stamps, perhaps creating a full dictionary of visual stamp fragments that pieced together to tell different stories. 

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A visit to Broomhouse Health Strategy, funded by the Woman’s fund for Scotland, learning about the wealth of projects that they run to promote physical and mental health in Social ways. First we have a sneak peak at an exercise class followed by a nutrition and cooking class. 

Imagery and points that strike me & to consider in the artwork: 

-- making a panel that focusses on the Womens Fund and ties stories of different projects within it? 

--- Interesting to reflect the way that the groups interact with their surroundings, using what is available - the canal or local parks, and that they will go out rain or shine. 

--- All ages/vs. Niche ages, spreading knowledge, mental and physical strength, social. The groups shift and are flexible to needs at different times. 

--- Abundance, growth, life cycles, physical activity --- 

--- Flowers? Flower like cogs? 

We also visit the Community Fruit and Veg shop that is also part of the Health Strategy and are treated to lunch! 

Its very interesting to heat about the wide variety of projects that they run and how they are developing, yet at the same time to hear how important sustainable funding is. 

--- Harvest and abundance/ nourishment physical and mental. --- nourishment leading to growth. 

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I’ve spent the first couple of weeks filling many pages with busy notes like these ones! Meeting with everybody from the Foundation Scotland offices to hear about their role, how they see the organisation and to talk about plans for the artwork. 

Slowly the many elements in the Foundation begin to link together: the organisation works with such a wide variety of groups and individuals to support all sorts of activities that at first it takes time to see how to begin to structure a narrative for the project, although the challenge to translate this is interesting. 

I’ve been continuing to build upon the idea of the foundation and the processes and thought needed to make sure that everything works well, as a kind of organism or mechanical structure; Nutrients/ energy enters the structure (from the trustees), a web of mechanisms process, filter and distribute the nutrients, sending it to a whole range of outputs and actions (the work of the foundation) and The actions of these end points, the various grantees, have ongoing effect, rippleing outwards as they interact with their surrounding environments.    

Through these conversations with staff I’ve been drawing parallels between different processes and focusses of different trustees, grantees and staff and different structures or processes found in organic or Mechanical systems. Through doing so I’d like to create a visual translation both of the hub of activity and diversity accross the foundation, but also the sense of many modular components linking working together to greater effect.

Here are a few links that have come up so far...I’m looking for more and shall add to this list! Some are connected with specific groups linked to FS. I hope to create links between general imagery related to different processes, community action and empowerment and different specific activities of groups involved e.g. running, mothers and babies, distilling, baking. 

I’d like to be able to find some way to categorise groups into different structures e.g. food orientated, kinetic,  

Community (cellular structure - cell, tissue, organ co-operation, crowds of people)

Ripple effects (repeating scales & ripples patterns )

Catalysts (enzymes, industrial chemical catalysts),

Potential (seeds, germination),

Sustained growth ( growth cycles, learning, flowering, buildings, bread rising, cooking, )

Strong Foundations (building foundation, skeletal structure) 

Connectors (bridges, mechanical connectors e.g. in wind turbines, distilling equipment, pipes, cogs, stems, roots,  

Encouraging sustainability

safeguarding, investment, caring for (pots, bottles, hands, leaves, batteries, seedpods, )

Action/ movement / energy outputs ,  kinetic activity (running(Caledonian Challenge), theatrical (Strangetown), teadancing (glow arts) vocal, games),  

Balancing ( scales, sports)

Fluid and reactionary vs. Process driven. ( colanders, streams, neurological pathways, control systems. 

---- While these are a few initial processes and images to look at I still need to find a good way to structure the artwork as a whole, the more I understand about the foundation the less of a linear structure it has. I’ll look for ways to reflect the cyclical and sustained nature of it. 

-- I’d like to use printmaking both to create multiple modular elements that link together, revealing community and collaboratively orientated processes. However I also hope to use the multiple nature of print produce copies of prints both for the final installation and for the different groups involved in the Foundation. I hope to find a way of working with different people in the organisation to make prints related to them and their groups, however one print may relate to several groups e.g. a print reflecting various forms of sport related activity  - - I haven’t quite worked out how to categorise this yet. 

My next steps are to find ways to structure these very varied elements and to spend time visit groups to understand and record the nuances of their individual activities.