Group Meeting

In our third meeting (28th Jan)  we wanted to show each other our designs for the advertisement. As we agreed the person who would be allocated the role of documentation design would be the person who showed the best designs in this meeting. Therefore a few of the girls in the group, including myself brought designs in to show the rest of the group.

Personally i will admit that my digital designs were not the best. However Rhian's designs were so interesting. Her picture of hair was unusual, almost like they were 'other worldly'. Therefore i suggested tot he group that Rhian's designs reflect our theme the best as they are not obvious like my designs being an eye. Her designs also don't give to much away of what is in the exhibition so people stay interesting in going.

Now the designs role is given to Rhian, her and suzi can focus on the advertisement documents, which are Posters, flyers and Invitations. Rhian will create the imagery designs and suzie will put the information on them.

John Moore's painting prize

John Moore's Painting Prize

(Walker Art Gallery- 5th July - 30th November 2014) 

As part of the Liverpool Biennial, John Moore's painting prize was an interesting exhibition of which i visited.There were many diverse styles of paintings all united by the manipulation of paint, which consisted of landscapes, portraits, abstract and sculptural works. I wouldn't argue that the way the exhibition had been curated was interesting, however it displayed the typical white cube. In contemporary art we expect to see white walls and a piece of art on it, which was distributed by this exhibition. It couldn't help but notice the spacing between each painting, as the majority were on the wall, but each piece was not over crowed by another. Although i did not take much inspiration from the layout of the John Moore's exhibition it was helpful to see the heights and spacing of which each piece had.

Rose Wylie - 2014 winner
PV windows and Floorboards

Exhibition title

Choosing the title
The group and I had decided on the theme from exploring the pieces we wanted in the exhibition, however the title was not apparent. We want something which plan on the minds of the audience, rather then a predictable title that they would forget. We feel the title is extremely important to exhibition as it invites the viewer inn.

1. Avoidance
2. Disturbia
3. Uncomfortable
4. Are you  trying to avoid me?
5. Do i make you feel uncomfortable? 
6. Everyday disturbance
7. Everyday avoidance
8. Don't look
9. Are you looking?
10. Made you look

Finally after we played around with many titles Made you look seemed to connect with us. It brought back memories of being a child 'Made you look, made you stare, made you loose your underwear'. These playful words are simple but imply so much. The audience would be able to recognize through the title that they will be looking at something which they dont normally have to see, as why else would you be 'made' to look. We didn't want to imply that the exhibition is something you shouldn't be looking at, but more so what you feel uncomfortable with looking at or talking about. Although even though you feel as though you shouldn't be looking, your natural human curiosity makes you look. Therefore the title isn't us as the curators making the audience look at things they feel uncomfortable with, but it is there curiosity which makes them interested in looking at things they think they dont want to see.

Group meeting

After our first meeting we discussed the theme of our exhibition, which is the topic of uncomfortableness, however we were unsure of the title. The problem of being set back with our title is that it delays us being able to get the documentation (advertisement) finished. therefore we decided to have another meeting on the 22nd Jan to discuss a title for the exhibition.

We wanted something really catchy, like a phrase. We definitely did not want something obvious like 'uncomfortable' as we feel that exhibitions are supposed to be creative and that title would not reflect the creativity within our group.

We discussed so many names, but it was Russell who said 'our themes sort of like when your kids and you say made you look , made yous stare' . Then the title just clicked. MADE YOU LOOK!

We felt as though this title summed up the theme and the work were presenting in the exhibition. For example the rape piece we chose by Yasmin Khatun as within our exhibition we are forcing people to look at, listen to etc thing which the avoid in the everyday.  Therefore Made you look implies your being forced to look at something you did not intend too.

Zarah Hussain

Zarah Hussain Exhibition

Symmetry in sculpture

(Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery- 24th May 2014- 25th January 2015)

Hussain's exhibition was mainly sculptural. Her thoughts behind the work was to transfer Islamic art into 3D objects. However, the exhibition was a major aspect towards her work as the white cube complimented certain areas of her work.In the gallery the pieces reflected from the light and cast shadows of the form. Hussain believes that seeing her series of work in the exhibition space created a new outlook on how her work could be viewed. 'Bringing traditional geometry into a new way of looking and seeing the patterns in a new light'. Again it can be recognized that the way in which the artists works are presented in the exhibition can have a massive impact on how it is viewed.

Concept Statement

Concept Statement 

The title of our exhibition is Made you look. We chose this as we want to focus on the idea of being made to feel uncomfortable. The work we have chosen has specific subjects matters relating to phobia's, abuse, body parts and the abnormal. The artist we have chosen for our exhibition produce work with hair, text, ready mades etc. The reason for choosing these works for our theme is because they all are produced in a way which make people feel on edge. Such things like hair is what makes people feel uncomfortable and we want to emphasize that in the way we create the exhibition. By this i mean creating the exhibition is an unusual way itself. For example we plan on commissioning Bianca (our hair artist) to create an entrance to the exhibition piece, where the audience have to walk through dangling hair in order to get in. We feel that creating the exhibition in a way people are not used to will elaborate on the idea of our theme and create the mood of awkwardness so we can take our audience out of their comfort zone for the rest of the exhibition.

New Contemporaries

New Contemporaries- 2014

(World Museum, Liverpool- 20th September - 26 October 2014) 

 The New Contemporaries exhibition, in my opinion, was one of the most interesting exhibitions involved with the biennial. Again it was displayed in the typical white cube surroundings, but the white walls was used by my a few of the artists sufficiently. The pieces were not just hung flat on the walls, but were leaning against the walls, next to the walls, and one artist even drew his piece on the wall. The new Contemporaries exhibition was a refreshing outlook on how to distribute to the audience and one piece stood out to me the most, which was a sound installation.

Wolf - sound piece

The artist drew a funny looking wolf on the wall, which firstly i had never seen a piece of art which had actually been drawn onto the exhibition space, but secondly a drawing that was complimented by sound. Through using the actually exhibition space as a ground for your art, shows it originality. An artist cant move the white cube walls out of the space and therefore the audience knows they wont see the exact piece anywhere else, which immediately makes the work more interesting. Although this piece wasn't the nicest to look at it became the only one of which i remembered in relation to the New Contemporaries exhibition.

Chosen pieces

Chosen Pieces

After identifying the theme theme of '......' we chose the piece's of which we want in our exhibition . Each piece we've chosen has something uncomfortable about it whether it is a phobia, awkwardness, taboo subjects, body parts or something which you're not familiar with seeing.

The group and i feel as though this theme will communicate with the audience as it consists of many subjects which people try to avoid touching, seeing, discussing etc. We want to create an exhibition which will make people come face to face with things we don't necessarily want to bring up into conversations.

Within the theme we wanted specific subjects which are a common disturbance for people, so that the exhibition does not get lost with too many ideas.

Subjects within the theme;

• Hair
• Rape/Abuse
• Body parts
• Eye Contact

The next step after we have got replies from the artist is to finalize which pieces we are involving and plan the process of moving them to see if it they will be practical or not.

Location of Exhibition

Location of Exhibition 

The space we're using for our exhibition is fairly big although in order for the space not to be overcrowded it is important to limit the amount of pieces involved in the exhibition. Also we need to make sure that people can walk around the exhibition space easily, for pleasure and health and safety reasons. Therefore we can not have to may sculptural pieces in the center.

 There are 4 walls in the space so there is plenty of room for work to be hung on the walls. Although i would not want to put more then 3 pieces on each wall so the space does not look cluttered. When creating our exhibition plan (room plan) we will need to consider minor details such as where refreshments will be so nothing distracts from the work.

Notes on themes and artists

Group meeting

In this meeting we discussed themes which we would be interested in for our exhibition. As the exhibition is only just over a month away, we feel as though we need to decided on a theme. In order to do this the group and I went around the art school and looked at different Level 5 and 6 work. Fortunately we all seemed to like the same sort of work. I come up the idea of structures as everything as a structure. Although we all agreed that we wanted a more specific theme.

The work we all liked seem to have quite a disturbing theme, such as rape and gross body part, so we thought about the theme disturbia. However we thought this was too limited. We had to find the line between limited and too wide. 

We decided the best thing to do was for all of us to go home and think about about a link between all of the works and if any did not fit in then we would just have to take them out of the options. 

Identifying the Theme and artists work

Identifying the theme and artists work

The Group and I visited the Level 5 and 6 spaces to view their work. We was please with what saw and certain themes started to become apparent to us. The themes we identified were; Grotesque, portraiture, materiality, layers, architecture etc. So we considered having a versatile theme such as 'Structures'. This theme would allow us to have a large range of pieces as everything has a structure. Although we thought this open theme would become lost later in the process and unidentified to the audience. We want a theme that will be apparent throughout, so that the viewers do not think the pieces were chose at random. Fortunately the group as a whole liked the same pieces.

We then started to notice that the pieces we thought were most effective had a common factor. They were all quite disturbing to look at and related to the body. So we began to consider the theme of provoking things which we see everyday on our body's for example hair, clothes ect which disturb us. We believe choosing this theme will be interesting to our viewer, as obviously the viewer will be human and can relate to these disturbing things.

However, we believe the idea of structures can still be relevant, not a theme idea but more so the creation of the exhibition. We thought about laying out the exhibition in a way which we confront the audience will these disturbing features. We want the exhibition to communicate with audience, like Lee Bul's.

Project Brief (over view)

Project Brief 

• For my professional Practice i will, alongside my tutor group, create an exhibition.
• The date of our exhibition is on the 25th February (pm) 
• The exhibition will then be De-installed on the 27th of February
• The artists to be involved with our exhibition will be the work off Level 5 and 6 students. 
• After viewing the Level 5 and 6 work we will then decide on a theme/concept for the exhibition.
• The exhibition must be titled in consideration of the theme. 
• Supporting documents will need to be made for our audience, such as a press release, invitations, Exhibitions guides.
• A risk assessment must be completed prior to the exhibition, so it can go ahead. 
• The exhibition should either be private (invitation only) or an Open show (anyone can attend) 

Basic Ladder Training (Health and Safety)

Basic Ladder training 

The Art school allows;

Podium steps

1. podium/platform steps
2. Step Ladders

When using the ladders

• Step ladders should only be used for a short space of time
• 3 points of the body should be in direct contact with the ladder. 
• The ladder should be at the right height for the right task.
• Make sure the people beneath the ladders are safe.
• Don't ever have bear feet when using the ladder (Or in the building at all- working boots) 

ALWAYS consider space, practicability and safety when putting an exhibition together, not just the aesthetics. 

The 3 stage test (Health and Safety)

The 3 stage test

1. Harm which could occur must be reasonably foreseeable of which the defendants can conduct.
2. A sufficient relationship of proximity or neighborhood exists between the alleged wrongdoer and the person who has suffered damage.
3. It is fair, just and reasonable to impose liability. 

There are 3 tests to apply to risks which are reasonably foreseeable.

• Common Knowledge 
• Industry Knowledge 
• Expert Knowledge

Risk = Likelihood x consequence (To work out practicability)

Health and Safety Requirments

Health and Safety Rules

Before creating my own Exhibition it is important to understand the Health and Safety rules, so i get the best practice of what i can do and can not (legal requirements). As a curator of an Exhibition i will have to consider the civil law, duty of care and neighbor principle, to avoid any injuries to my neighbor (neighbor being anyone who could be armed in the space e.g audience).

Risk Assessments

Required when:

• Process or activity is hazardous.
• When activity is occurring in public areas of a building- Galleries or corridor spaces.
• When there is exhibition within or outside of a building. 

Signing Exhibition as safe

• Firstly the H&S coordinator signs the Exhibition off as safe.
• If appropriate the H&S director will then sign it off. 
• Finally, John Butler signs the Exhibition work in school of as safe. 

(As this is a long process the Exhibition must be planned out before hand with consideration of Health and Safety)

The White Cube

The White Cube 

• The white cube is one of the most important features for a contemporary art exhibition space. 
• Brian O'Deherty wrote a book named Inside the White Cube. 
• The book offer an artistic theoretic perception on such things as plane walls into space and from pieces of work into context.

  

  White Cube space

• O'Deherty discusses the development of modern art as well as the white cube. - Although modern art and the white cube also developed more modern art together.  
• Yan Serandour created a piece of art named Inside the White Cube. Recognizably the same name as O'Deherty's book. This is due to the fact that his book is almost as iconic as the white cube itself. It became extremely inspiration for many artists.

  

  Yan Serandour - Inside the White Cube

• His book is an understanding of how important the white cube has become to art. 
• The white cube frames art as art. Without the white space the work is completely taken out of context. 
• For example if Marcel Duchamp's Fountain was put in a toilet then it would just be a urinal, it would not be a work of art. 
• This is why the white cube becomes so important to modern art, as such modernist movements like Dadaism's, Ready made's would not be the work of arts they are today, as the context behind the work would be irrelevant without the white space to claim.

Lee Bul Exhibition

Lee Bul's Exhibition

(Ikon Gallery- 10th September - 9th November 2014) 

Lee Bul, a Korean artist, exhibited her work for the first time  solo in the UK at Ikon Gallery. The exhibition involves early drawing, studies, sculptural pieces and ambitious installations. Her work is visually compelling, making her one of the most important artists of Bul's generation. Bul was funded by Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery and New Art Gallery Walsall, to create new piece which would be unveiled at the Ikon Gallery.

• Bul is interested in her own mind and on a larger scale, she is therefore interested in the mind of humanity. 
• Her thoughts for her exhibition developed through the idea of human self awareness and their way of thinking.  

  

  staging

• Bul included the idea of self awareness, not only through her work but through the layout of her exhibition. 
• She enforced stage like figures for people to walk upon, in order to judge the way they want to see the work- there is no set idea of which she wanted her work to be viewed, as its entirely up to the viewer. 
• Bul did not want her work to be viewed in the typical way of a person standing on the floor looking straight on at a piece, as she feels the viewer cant make a personal connection with her work.

  

  Via Negativa

   
• Bul also used materials such as mirrors within her work for the exhibition, such as her piece Via Negative (specifically created for the show) of which the audience could walk through, like a maze.  The mirrors were also on the floor so the the audience was completely self aware of themselves.
• It becomes clear that the way Lee Bul wants her work to be exhibited is just as important as the work itself. 
• They way she composes her exhibitions compliments the way the audience understands and views her work. 

Visited Exhibition's

Over the past few weeks i have visited several exhibitions, including; Lee Bul (Ikon gallery), New Contemporaries 2014, John Moore's painting prize 2014 and several more involved with the Tate Liverpool Biennial, Zarah Hussain.
   
Each Exhibition distributed interesting and original ways of which we view and communicate with the work. Some exhibitions involved the viewer more then others, such as Lee Bul's in comparison to John Moore's painting prize. Although, i believe this is due to a competitive exhibition compared to an exhibition created for pleasure. It's also easy to notice throughout the exhibitions that the 'white cube' is a common factor for contemporary art.

New Contemporaries- 2014

Living room - Tate Liverpool Biennial 2014

Lee Bul exhibition

Group Facebook Page

I decided to set up a group Facebook page, in order for the group to ask each other any questions about the exhibition, or to show each other the work which we will create in this module. Also rather then going to meetings with each other all the time to discuss something minor i though it would be easier to just post something on the page and then anyone in our group can answer straight away.