My exposures

I love the pinhole camera! I have got some great images from using them and want to continue with the experimentation to see what other effects I can create.  It did take quite a lot of trial and error at first to actual get any detail in the images, I found that my first diameter was much too large and kept coming out with black circles.  With some perfection and a new way to make a hole in the tin cans it did get some fascinating results.  I found it best to first drill a hole in the tin can (1-2cm) and then get a piece of a coke can, sand the centre so that it was as thin as possible, and then pierce it with a needle.  This allowed me to get some very small apertures, and it is these small apertures which enabled me to get such definition in my images.  In the future I could maybe experiment with lenses to adjust the focus, but this will do for my first set of pinhole cameras.  The image here is one of the first I did where I got some sort of definition, even tho the centre of the image is still black and been exposed too much, I think it creates a nice effect as the viewer is blocked off from some areas, and presented with foggy fragments from the site.

My sites in Manchester

I think I have explained this earlier but I will explain again to clarify; for my current project I have a map of Manchester and thrown darts at it, I will then go to these random sites and preserve them in all different ways.  Anyway here is the map with the sites which have been selected, I threw the dart at the map randomly, but there does seem to be quite a few darts which have landed rather centrally on the map.  I didn't know my dart throwing could be so precise, maybe I should have worn a blind fold?  I had selected ten sites, but for my exhibition I am just going to preserve the five sites selected in the circle at the bottom.  I am going to continue with the project and collate a full archive of the sites in Manchester. 

Medieval 21st

My cousin had her 21st birthday recently and didn't want the usual disco party celebrations and decided that she wanted to have a Medieval party, with a band and dancing with a caller and the lovely dresses!  I wasn't sure what to expect but it was a great night, everyone joined in with the dancing.  This reminded me of maypole dancing at primary school. 

Lost and found Cadburys tin can

I found this Cadburys tin can in my dads garage and thought I would rescue it.  It used to hold Cadburys cocoa powder I think.  I love all the old adverts around the outside, my favorite is the advert with the cyclists. I have given it a safe home and it is now my ribbon box. 

My pinhole camera

I have finished my pinhole camera and have been taking some exposures around the city of Manchester.  The camera is made of tin cans and cardboard (so it is falling apart a little bit, maybe I will try and make a camera from a more substantial material), and it has four apertures all of various diameters.  I placed the tripod over the site which had been picked by the dart on the map and photographed various scenes in the area.  I love the effects of the pinhole camera, the detail is delicate and discrete.  I also like how no one will ever be able to reproduce that same image again, like you could with a negative or a digital camera. 

Lets go fly a kite...

Our interactive arts class went on a trip to Glossop recently to fly kites.  I took a kite I had brought, because I had been making miniature kites to be flown indoors, so it wasn't possible to fly them on the windy hills of Glossop.  Even though my brought kite was un-flyable, quite a few of us tried but it keep crashing to the ground.  However, lots of other students kites were successful, my favourite was one made by an erasmus student; where a line of 5 kites were strung together.  A simple carrier bag kite form Genette was really effective.  Steph and Julia's parachute worked well (with some muscle power from Cen) and they managed to get it too glide down the hill side.  I thought the best thing was Jon's idea of letting a reel of red and white tape go, it caught the wind and floated delicately across the valley.  It was like a drawing across the landscape, it was great how such a simple technique created such a beautiful effect. 

What can you send without an envelope?

This is another mail art project I have become involved with.  For this project you had to send something without using an envelope.  I sent a ballet shoe because in my spare time I dance, and the other day my ballet shoe ripped in my dance class so I therefore can't wear it anymore.  I decided I would try and send it and see if it gets there, hopefully this will happen. 

Pinhole Litter Project

1.
2.

3.

Hazel let me know about a mail art site, where there was a current project on pinhole cameras. This is a collaborative pinhole project to clean up and re-engage with our surroundings, and learn about the art of pinhole photography.  You have to collect a can and photograph in its environment and then send the can off to be turned into a pinhole camera which you will then be sent back to take a photograph of the site using the can.  The aim is to replace litter with a creative vision, and the cans are later recycled.  I found this project extremely interesting as I am currently exploring the pinhole camera, so thought it would be great to get involved.  The images show the sites I found the site.  I am still waiting to receive them back, but hopefully it wont be too long. 

1. found under a bench outside my door at Briarfields accommodation, Manchester

2. found on the floor outside the Salutation, Manchester

3. found on the wall outside the Salutation, Manchester

Journal Exhibition

I was surprised to see my work up in the Holden Gallery as I walked through one day; I had entered for the exhibition but had never heard anything back, so I was unsure as to whether my work would be displayed or not.  I was pleased as a walked through the exhibition as saw my work there, I have only ever been part of exhibitions put on for final shows at High School and on my Foundation year.  Anyway, the exhibition displayed a range of sketch book pages from entries.  I displayed a few pages from my foundation degree final project sketch book; my project focussed on the subject of restriction of movement and how this would effect you.  Below is an image of the pages from my sketch book (mine are the pages on the second row).

OAP on A27

I found this image when I was searching around on the internet.  I found it funny when i first saw it and it still does make you smile.  But, at the same time it is quite worrying, how does an OAP come to think that his wheel chair is road worthy? And even if he did think it is, shouldn't he wear a helmet lol!  To add to this I showed it to a friend and she said that she heard on the news once that an elderly woman had managed to travel all over England in her electric wheel chair, o to be an OAP and have no worries!  

pin hole cameras

I have recently started to make some pinhole cameras, I have never made any before but they are quite simple.  I have done quite a few samples and had little success, however today I have managed to get to grip with long the exposures should be in certain conditions; for example depending how large the aperture is, how sunny it is and where the camera is pointing.  The results are quite ghostly but I like this. There is one I especially like where there is little detail given but u can see the shape of the buildings and landscape.  Eventually, I want to make a pinhole camera which has 6 different apertures.  All facing in different directions; up, down, north, east, south and west.  This will allow me to preserve all areas of my site at once.   

Antony Gormley

I saw Antony Gormley's piece 'Filter' at Manchester Art Gallery, it hung from the ceiling as if it was floating.  The piece was the casting of the human body made from washers, the juxtaposition of the metal and the fragile sculpture worked well.  I may experiment with this medium as a way of casting the roof on my third site. 

Trip to Liverpool

I visited the Bluecoat in Liverpool this weekend when I went to see my friend.  There is a new exhibition on at the moment 'Next Up' showing Liverpool's new working artists.  I loved a piece by Gina Czarnecki, there is a delicate mash of human dancers creating a sensitive texture on the page.  The composition was curious and unexpected and made me want to see deeper into the mash of limbs.  I was influenced by James Loftus, who deploys his functional sculptures to survey the city's dark matter.  The core of his project is the pinhole camera, which he used to capture 6 images of the city at one time, this is a technique I may use to preserve the area around my site.  His photographs were misty and delicate, and gave beautiful scenes. 

Review of Slumdog Millionaire

A visual wonder from start to finish, this family film of shocking brutality, a romance haunted by sexual abuse and a fantasy of wealth fueled by crashing poverty is worth a watch.  It has been reviewed by many as a modern fairy tale and with its gaudy rush of colour and kinetic editing, it pulled on all my heart-strings.  The way Danny Boyle giddily bounces between past and present captivated deep emotions.

Half Year Review

I found this an extremely useful way of collating my ideas and my work, and even without doing the presentation it was a useful exercise.  I felt that I had a bit distant from my work and needed to become encapsulated by it again.  I feel this has happened again since the review and I am confident this attitude will continue. 

Although, I found the presentation rather daunting I felt more confidant as I went on, and think this is a great stepping stone towards me becoming more confident talking in groups and also about explaining my work.  I now have to continue with my preservation of my sites in Manchester, and I will become more forward thinking about the sites I did not earlier think I would be able to preserve - there is a way to do everything if you try!!

Preserving Manchester...

I have cast some pavements and my technique worked so all is good,  although I did have some perfecting along the way and a few queries from some security men about what I was doing.  I realised that I need to put some sort of lubricant on the surface first, vaseline worked great and I also had to apply modrock to the top of the alginate so that I could press down on it to mould to the pavement.  

Now that I have this technique of preserving under my belt it is on to other things I can preserve at the site.  For example, the wind, cloud formations and the people at the site at that particular time.  I am also going to broaden my range of Manchester and will use the full map, instead of a small section which I used for tests. 

resin cast

I took my resin cast from its mold this morning however, the results didn't come out as I had desired.  The surface wasn't as smooth as I thought it would be.  But, I think this may be because I used a plaster-seen type material to make the mold instead of alginate rubber, which I usually use.  Therefore next I am going to try a cats with resin but use an alginate rubber mold instead to see if this gives a better result.

"Today's burst of planetary fire is just what you need to counteract the more somber influences.  Unlike some other signs you can afford to forge ahead.  If an idea looks like a winner then it probably is.  Try and remember the old saying: nothing ventured; nothing gained!" It seems like a day for experimenting! 

Resin

"Earth signs are not usually known for their pensive, dreamy qualities, but people around you will be pleasantly surprised when today's influences emphasize the warm and affectionate side to your nature.  There may well be an additional advantage in the form of an unexpected invitation" - Currently I can not see any way in which this relates to me at present, maybe others have seen a change due to earths signs?? 

I have used resin for the first time today, although I think I may need to use it in a more vented area next time. The cast is still drying so we will see how that turns out tomorrow, but I am aiming to try and encapsulate a plaster cast in resin in the next few days.  Even though I am not quite sure what process I will use yet. I will update results once I know how I will go ahead with it. 

Horoscopes

My Dad has always had a bit of an obsession with horoscopes, well maybe not an obsession but it would be one of the first things he would turn to in the paper or mums Hello magazine.  So, I thought I would look at mine everyday or as often as I can and see how they relate to my day.  Here I am looking for my horoscope for today and to my surprise it actually does show some resemblance to my day.  "You might hear a piece of news that you don't like, but you'll have the intelligence to deal with it effectively", I have just read a personal piece of news which I don't like and to be honest I wasn't quite sure how to react to it, but maybe I should deal with it and stay calm.  Whether this will help I don't now but we will see.

idea from hazel

I was talking to Hazel about my idea to cast and preserve random areas of Manchester, to make the selection of areas a random process I am going to throw darts at a map of the city and then use these areas.  However, Hazel did point out that I would have to come up with a set of rules before hand as what would happen if the dart landed on a buildings roof or in the canal.  Therefore, I am going to have to look into the idea and finalise it before I start the process of picking the random areas.