sophiejoedwards

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Peter Brown

https://messumslondon.com/exhibitions/online-peter-brown-the-new-york-series/

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Articles

Fehr, М. (2006) 'Constructing history with the museum: a proposal for an East Art Museum', in IRWIN (ed.) East Art Map: Contemporary Art and Eastern Europe. London:Afterall, pp.466-471. -  The goal of museumification is hence to make objects available for beholding, transform them into “semiophores,”1 objects that signify something, that store a specific form of knowledge.

Contemporary art, the archive and curatorship - artists who use archives or other written material.

In recent years, a growing number of artists have been drawn to working with the documents and testimonies in archive collections to produce work that dialogs with historical events and the history of art itself. 

Museumification of perception -  “This procedure tended to treat a photograph as an object that had been collected in an excavation, as a fragment of objective reality, and not as the vision of an individual.”1 The fact that a photograph captured an image as a reflection of reality allowed for all the photographs in the collection to be put on an equal footing and given a limited meaning. The simple fact of incorporating them into the photographic archives of an anthropology museum converted them into documents useful for analytical purposes and for the dissemination of knowledge.  

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Rosângela Rennó

https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/rosangela-renno-8376

She appropriates and transforms archival photographic material into larger compositions, often in the form of installations or photographic books. Her work is a systematic investigation of time, forgetting, as well as the social and psychological changes that transform reminiscence 

  ~Brazillian artist, Rennó aims to generate interest in what she calls “the little stories of the downtrodden and the vanquished” (Rennó, 2004)

Very much interested in the premise of her practice as she too is fascinated by images found in flea markets. Her work consists of photographic images from public and private archives that question the nature of an image and its symbolic value. With the use of photographs, installations and objects, she appropriates and sheds new light on an anonymous body of photographs and negatives found mostly in flea markets, family albums, newspapers and archives. Rennó's interest in discarded images and habit of collecting were decisive in establishing her work strategies.

Her piece   

# rioutópico [under construction], 2017 is particularly interesting to me. This collaborative socially engaged piece involved the photos of  young photographers which she invited through social media. The pictues, were printed, assembled and installed on the walls of the exhibition room in three stages. The exhibition featured 1009 photos, in addition to 38 aerial views of the city and 50 signs with texts on the 50 chosen places with special names. Few places in Rio remained unphotographed at the end of the exhibition. The result was the transformation of the exhibition room walls into a huge photographic / human / affective map of Rio de Janeiro. A map of the city, drawn on the gallery floor "climbing" the glass door, led viewers to visualize the scale of the city and recognize the differences between the well-known "Iconic River" and the rest, almost invisible and sometimes forgotten Rio de Janeiro. January.

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Grayson’s Art Club

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/apr/23/grayson-perry-launches-channel-4-art-club-to-battle-the-boredom-of-lockdown

GRAYSON PERRY’S ART CLUB  

: INTERACTIVE ARTISTIC RESPONSE TO THE LOCKDOWN 

Weekly channel 4 documentary  - 7 part show

Art can help get us through lockdown  

Using themes- encourages British public to create their own work 

Involvement and collaboration of other artists and celebrities in the show  e.g mark wallinger, Noel Fielding (painter and comedian) 

Not only this, the programme is informative and interesting - Grayson talks us through his processes, influences, and stages of practice. 

Grayson will be putting on an exhibition after lockdown of selected works once the crisis is over. 

The art club exhibition - will act as an artistic record of the strange times we’ve all been through together. - this idea of documenting time through art is comparable to what I am aiming to do in my current project.  

Contextualises my own practice through the idea of social engagement- bringing people together through creativity and art, providing a sense of purpose during lockdown, interactive, participatory, socially engaging, I find the idea and notion that art can very much be a symbol and association of a specific time and be representative of a historical period or moment in time - like now.  In participatory work like this, it’s interesting to see how different personalities and the public approach and create in response to the same theme that is set - as with my own project - it’s the bringing together of a group of people in a creative process with a multitude of personal interpretations and artistic outcomes. Grayson is celebrating this through exhibiting his own work as well as selecting public pieces to exhibit alongside his own. This directly relates to my own practice where I too will draw direct comparisons with the 3D outcomes.   

https://www.instagram.com/isolationartschool/ - Similarly isolation art school on instagram is a creative interactice platform to celebrate this notion of bringing people together and providing a sense of purpose during lockdown.

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Curation - Next steps

My stories will start to come back soon. I need to think about curation for this piece. I came to the idea of bringing the stories together as one. Each story could be a chapter or something. I have never bound a book before, but I love the idea of using a traditional ‘short story book’ kind of style, big and important and heavy.  I have some old leather off cuts which I could use for a traditional old story book cover and stamps which I could engrave into the leather.   I would also like to find a way of contacting all those involved, perhaps involving them in the final piece. 

I will Type out a list of all the authors involved. It might also be interesting, like in books with worlds there are maps often at the start and end of books, I could perhaps make my own map (could use google maps), and using a string, make a ‘trail’ pinpointing where the story has travelled.  Each of the stories will have a different outcome, I might try and do some illustrations of each outcome for the end of each of the books. (If I have time). 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDzLY2ITs9w

https://www.ibookbinding.com/bookbinding-styles/japanese-binding/top-10-japanese-stab-binding-tutorials-on-the-internet/

This is an informative website ^^^

Illustration : 

Charlie Mackesy 

A friend recommended a book called ‘The Boy the Fox the Horse and the Mole’. I bought it as a treat for myself and a copy for my grandma for Christmas. This book has become so special to me. It’s illustrated and hand written in italic fountain pen. The words become part of the art, the beautiful pictures are a joy to study.  He says at the beginning of the book that he likes picture books, the illustrations act as ‘islands in a sea of words’. 

It’s a book of metaphors for life, and I treasured each page as I read it slowly.  He’s a brilliant artist to demonstrate how simplicity in illustration can be perfect for telling a story. https://www.charliemackesy.com/  and should I come to think about illustrating I will use him as inspiration.  Since discovering his book, I’ve started following his Instagram which is also a joy. His work is currently focused on depicting the NHS and teachers and the world we are living in currently. I hope he brings out another book soon, but it seems at the moment that he is mainly using Instagram as a platform for showing his work. 

Modern Map Idea- 

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Make Something Friday  See It On Saturday

http://www.glovesandglass.com/make-something-friday-001/

Sharing positivity and creativity during lockdown. 

This blog is a shared art blog called "Make something Friday, see it on Saturday" that I have been taking part in. It's been a lovely thing to do myself and share with friends and family by word of mouth. It’s an intimate platform encouraging creativity in those who aren’t necessarily creative, as well as providing a purposeful direction to those who are creative. 

As well as being a pleasure to utilise Fridays for making, it's also quite a treat to sit down with a cup of tea and read/view the entries. Many of which relate to my own 3D project. (Ismar’s letter) I think this sort of thing also helps in giving a direction and focus on making and being creative.  It's really great to see what other like minded people have been making/writing/performing/filming and how others are influenced and inspired along the way. My post influenced someone the following week. I guess it’s a bit like exhibiting your work on an online platform. 

I made an oak spoon 

VIDEO PIECE - 

ECSTASY OF SCRATCH - I wrote a poem and filmed myself reading it 

This project, like my own is a lovely way of involving others and creating an artwork through socially engaging with the public, bringing people together with creativity. 

What I also think is interesting and brilliant about this sort of work, is that we are all set the same brief- make something on a  Friday, yet everyone approaches this so differently, there is such an array and variety of craft/art/making going on yet no two works are the same. Bringing them all together and exhibiting them on one platform suddenly links up all these pieces and connects people through their works. It’s just lovely and positive and expresses the true essence of art and creativity. 

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C O M P O S I T I O N

Clear lines and compositional detail is the main visual draw to this work. It’s a display of elegance and simplicity, the distinctive style is creating a satisfying placement and arrangement of the visual elements, figures and shapes in the work.  It shows that through using basic materials, when used and displayed in a certain way becomes a strong piece of art and visual design.  It shows that simplicity and basic materials, when used and displayed in a certain way can work to form a strong piece of visual design through the relationship between balance, shape, focal points and symmetry

https://www.mrsciccoricco.com/artauction/2926888e-7951-4707-b1f5-23b80aad4941-3

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CAPTURE - DOCUMENT - LEAVE YOUR TRACE

You are invited to 

Capture

Document

Leave your trace

Pass the parcel on - to someone you like 

These photographs may be used for art purposes or in an exhibition

Return to Nantgwynfaen, Croeslan, Llandysul SA44 4SR by May 15th

P.S Postage is £3, if you would like a refund please contact sje_@hotmail.co.uk 

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New plan  -  LOCKDOWN

(Enclosed Letter - to be typed out on my typewriter)

Dear participant, I invite you to become part of a collaborative artistic exchange. My project aims to encourage imaginative expression; connecting people together in an intriguing webb of creativity. 

As social beings, isolation and social distancing has been very difficult for many of us, yet creativity is still within us all. I’m excited by the prospect of indulging and feeding other people's imagination through documenting and capturing moments in time. This parcel also provides the opportunity to share something positive with the people who inspire and mean the most to us. 

Leave your trace.  

Take a photo. Add anything you’d like to the parcel; 

A photograph, a letter to someone a drawing, a song recommendation, a favorite recipe, a freshly baked treat, a joke, a story, a book. Please label anything you add- feel free to  be as random, unconventional and free as you wish.  

When you are ready, re-seal and send this parcel on its way to someone you know. 

Log Book: I look forward to seeing the journey this parcel is set upon - to help me with this, please use the log book to keep a record of :

Date received:  Your Name

Your D.O.B: Your Address:

Items you added to the box:  

If you’d like to stay anonymous, simply write the date you received this parcel.

Please ensure this parcel is returned to Nantgwynfaen, Croeslan, Llandysul, Ceredigion SA44 4SR by 

May 20th 2020

Post offices are open, the parcel will cost £3 (2kg) to post. Wear a mask if you have one.  If you would like me to refund your postage, send me your bank details sje_@hotmail.co.uk. 

Enclose this letter before you send the parcel on its next journey. Best Wishes

Pete’s feedback : Hi Sophie

Good to chat today. I feel the sentiment of the project is great i.e socially engaged, analog not digital, however for me its way to open ended and I feel if you either split it into several mini projects i.e an isolation story, joke etc. Another thought might be to send letters and it is in 2D form (this could include a photograph of 3D outcome or web link to see 3D object) might yield a faster exchange and keep costs down. People's  handwriting or even another typewriter would be lovely to see.As we discussed I would invest time in research and using the typewriter to craft ideas making this part of the process maybe include in your letter an image of you at the typewriter working would be evocative of you and the process.

My response: I fully agree- things need to be kept more simple. I don’t want to overwhelm anyone by giving such open ended instructions, especially keeping in mind that some people find it difficult to come up with ideas without a little guide or direction. 

I think a series of mini project ideas would be really interesting. Especially as it  would reach more people, creating more of a trail- all starting from the same location.  - It would be interesting to have a map at the end a pin where exactly these parcels and letters have travelled. 

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Original plan - pre COVID 19

The typewriter played an important part of our time this Christmas/New year. It was the first time in years where all the family and our closest friends gathered together. We had started playing a game where one person would start writing a story on the type writer, the next person would continue this story and write a paragraph then  on to the next person and so on. We slowly introduced a funny old fashioned bell to signify when the next person should come and take over. It was such a lovely lovely thing. 

The stories would come out humorous, unconventional and interesting -despite not reading the previous paragraphs, strangely many of the stories followed the same themes! Afterwards we would all gather together ceremoniously to listen to the story being read aloud. The characters and personalities of our family members would appear through the writing, we’d try and work out who wrote which parts. The experience was not only playful but also touching and memorable. The beauty and tangibility of the typewriter was a new experience for many of our younger family members, whereas for the older generation they felt nostalgia for using a type writer again. Seeing everyone's reactions as they sat down to start typing, the click click sound and the effect it had on them was wonderful to watch. Embracing the imperfections, there was a pen there to scrub out and change the inevitable mistakes.  The exchange, the process, the concentration it all inspired me to try this piece of work. During the NYE party, mid party my friend decided to write a love letter to his partner who was away in France. He spent hours click clicking away. It had to be perfect. On his drive back to England he picked up a typewriter for himself. Since then he has filmed his partner tap tapping away in the corner, writing letters to family and friends. And so the chain continues and grows. My sister and I write each other letters on our type writers. Her partner also writes to her like this, and has always written his poems on a type writer. There is something exceptionally special about the effect it has on a me ( and so many other’s I know!)   it was quite a fashionable statement a few years ago I believe, but for many people the attachment runs far deeper.  My original idea: 

Taking inspiration from this I had planned to set up my type writer at university (to begin with) then invite people to take part in an artistic exchange..I’d leave typed instructions, keeping them simple and basic. - treat it as a social experiment....see what happens, let the outcomes decide my 3D artwork. 

Reasons for wanting to try this:  - open call for creative input 

-interactive

-potential to encourage random, unconventional thoughts to surface

-freedom of expression 

-participatory

-collaborative

-open ended- multiple interpretations and outcomes to effect my 3D outcomes.

-anonymity 

-power in people, sharing of creativity 

-personal reflections

-potential for humour + playful (art has gotten really serious)

-a  group of people directly engaged in a creative process 

inspiration

-sensory appeal to installation based works

-sound, touch - physicality 

-potential to record sound in correspondence

-value changes, as with film cameras etc - process becomes more involved, personal and significant 

-Ding of the bell sound ? 

-location based : could try different locations - different audience

POSSIBLE IDEAS 

Finish the sentence / Add to this story : (give story title and first sentence.)  Tell me a story

Add three lines to this poem 

Leave your trace

Write a confession

Gratitude for the day 

Best and worst part of your day 

Write a childhood memory 

Your most embarrassing moment

Write a letter to someone 

I wanted to find these stories that were created over Christmas to reference - but it turns out my MUM HAS THROWN THEM AWAY!! This is sad news. All the more reason for me to develop this project into something more. 

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MR BINGO

Brilliant guy- came in to do a talk at the uni before all the corona business (such a brilliant talk!).

Comedic, illustrative artworks, socially engaged practice, led him to fame and Instagram success (practice now relies on his social following), reaches, communicates and  captures the public- helped by his strong social media presence -  his artworks are relate-able, quirky, fun. He emphasised that he really didn’t want to work on commission.

Began a work he called ‘hate mail’ where he realised that people would actually pay money to be insulted. ‘Public love being involved in a project’ I think this began on twitter then developed into a physical work where he charged £5 for an offensive postcard to be sent in the post to someone.   

(He also collects postcards from everywhere he goes. - this forms an artwork in itself.)

Admittedly not “business minded”, he found the fact supply was outweighing demand for the product to be an issue. To date, he has created 1093 hate mails but has stopped the project... for now.The sheer volume of requests prompted him to create some of his best work for the project. He admits “some of your best work will come out when you really challenge yourself. Some of my best hate mail work came from setting myself a weird personal challenge. There are only a certain number of ways you can insult someone – so towards the end especially I had to constantly challenge myself to creative new hate mail”.

https://ogilvy.co.uk/news/mr-bingo-illustrator-experimental-artist

‘people bought into the ridiculousness’ 

Postcards inspired his crowd funding project - world’s most successful. - Pledge video, Kickstart. 

https://mr.bingo/dirty-queen/

From art project to social experiment - Getting shitfaced on a train - invited strangers to get shitfaced on a train with him - awkward and shy to begin with,- by the end they were different creatures  -- created a visual diary - the photos of this ended up becoming a piece of artwork. 

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2015/jul/19/mr-bingo-troll-social-media-postcards Nude advent calendar - social call for photography shoot in the nude. used rub removable ink, screen printing to create a calendar where you scratch off the surface to remove their clothings for each number of the advent calendar. - “people just wanted to try something new”.  - such a positive engagement from people ( all different backgrounds, ages, fields. - found it invigorating, final outcome is funny, artistic, original, unique

https://www.instagram.com/mr_bingstagram/?hl=en

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“Art is where the home is”

https://www.artsy.net/news/artsy-editorial-antony-gormley-grayson-perry-uk-artists-created-downloadable-art-making-activity-pack

Will Darbyshire - This modern love 

15000 submissions, from nearly 100 countries, This Modern Love is a crowdsourced book that gets to the heart of modern relationships- tender, funny and cathartic, these letters, tweets and photos were sent to the author Will which he turned into a book. 

Again this demonstrates the huge beneficial uses of social media in collaborative work as it is far reaching. 

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Joseph Grigely

https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/joseph-grigely-8155

167 White Conversations

2004

- Gives an idea of presentation and how I could potentially curate the final piece. 

Also :  Olafur Eliasson 

- 

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Up in the air

http://www.urbanwords.org.uk/aplaceforwords/case-study-furtherupintheair.php

What made it work?

Very open-ended briefs. All artists were given the use of a flat and completely free reign to respond in whatever way they saw fit. There was no emphasis on a finished end product.

Real community engagement. A lot of work was done to involve and communicate with residents. Residents were involved in one third of the artist appointments.

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Between art and quarantine : Recreate historical photographs

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2352312438404452&type=3?sfnsn=scwspmo&extid=3Sh2yrOUDWj88aWC

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VICE : CALL FOR PHOTOGRAPHS

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/bn5jp8/call-for-photographs-0000253-v21n3

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WRITE SOMETHING TO SOMEONE

I went to Bristol to visit the Arnol Fini as well as Spike Island for an exhibition and research day. As I walked out the cafe , I spotted a sign 

‘WRITE SOMETHING TO SOMEONE’ collecting anonymous letters. May be used for an art exhibit.  

It was firstly positive to see the number of responses and engagement from people. Physically leaving their trace and getting involved in the project. I think these instructions are perfect as they are simple and uncomplicated,  encouraging people to freely and creatively write. When I sat down to write a response, it occurred to me that part of the pleasure of taking part in this process was taking the time to acknowledge and publish inner private thoughts yet sitting in such a public place.  Allowing for anonymity could also encourage further freedom of expression from participants, almost like writing their diary. Sometimes we feel better when we write things down. There were many common themes running throughout peoples letters,  love letters probably the most common. Some people had drawn pictures, someone had played the fold over game and put it in.I think the people who joined in liked and appreciated the idea that they are leaving their trace. I think it’s interesting and intriguing how you can write something personal and anonymous, and physically leave a part of you there - the intriguing factor is the unknown, who knows where it will end up, who will read it, and what it will be used for. 

This was a serendipitous find for me given it’s closely related to my own interest and project ideas. I felt very touched reading the letters - they give a little taste of someone’s inner monologue and personality which I find quite fascinating.  

My response : 

“Like you I want the thoughts and souls of others to inspire and form my artwork. People and their words are honest and powerful.  With encouragement and intrigue, 

From Sophie Jo”