On my return to my studio space on Thursday 24th February ’11, I did a quick repair job on my large circular broken brick concentric circle Perspex piece. In the meantime I had come up with a few more Perspex ideas but on a smaller scale. I went to the DIY shop on Thursday morning (before going to my studio) to buy 12 pieces of Perspex all 3inches x 3inches & 4mm deep. When in my studio I got my mastic gun and began sticking bits of broken bricks to my small pieces of Perspex to create my new ideas.
These pieces are experiments with geometrical shapes on a smaller scale than before; I’m just experimenting with possible two-dimension ideas at the moment. My second version of the small Perspex pieces was to create a tower / stack for the viewer to view at many different angles. They are currently not attached, but they will be once the glue is dry.
Last week I was working in my 'brick sketch book' when I thought about creating a two dimensional piece made up of broken bricks in a geometric shape, whilst trapped between two pieces of perspex.
I began this morning by going to my local DIY shop to buy 2 pieces of square perspex and an oblong offcut piece of perspex for experimenting with adhesives.
I concluded from my adhesive experiments that the silicone was the best result for attaching the bricks to the perspex. (Granted I got more silicone on me than I did on the bricks!! Hence the gloves that I began to start using!!)
To get the perfect circle for my piece I cheated (well why not!) I kept the plastic sheeting on one side of the perspex so I could draw on it (to be removed when completed of course). I drew around the base of a round bin, an empty paint can and a sellotape roll to get the three different sized circles. I began with the outer ring first to see if I wanted the other two circles ... turns out I did, so I contined with the piece.
When I return to this piece (on Thursday 24th Feb 2011) I will look into ways of attaching the piece of perspex which will sit on top of this one. I may use coach bolts, but I havn't decided just yet ...
Also today I began to create a cube from the broken bricks .... it didn't go too well, but I'll work on it through the week.
On Tueday 8th February 2011 I attended a volunteering training day at the WorldMuseum, Liverpool. During the half term I will be assisting on the invigilation of an installation titled ‘A table from the sea’s edge’ by Silas Birtwistle. The installation was in the Liverpool Echo and the Liverpool Daily Post last week;
Liverpool Daily Post, Wednesday 9th February 2011
Liverpool Echo (Main Extra), Thursday 10th February 2011
Artist Silas Birtwistle with his conference table made from driftwood which is on
display at the World Museum, pictured together with staff and volunteers
A table from the sea's edge
I will be doing 3 shifts at the Museum on the 2nd floor, all 4 hours long, where I will be informing visitors about the art work whilst keeping an eye on it. Im looking forward to telling children the story of Silas's work via a pirate story (that be Captain Silas to you me hearty!! Arrrrrrrrr!!!) Roll on tomorrow morning for my 1st shift!
Yesterday I demolished my brick corner stair sculpture in order to create a corner tower of bricks.
My next idea was to create a cylinder tower around myself, so I would be trapped inside the tower. However, after doing the corner tower I have deemed it as being unsafe as the bricks aren't 100% stable. I won't be pursuing with this idea as the tower could collapse inwards and hurt me.
I began today by researching into Minimalist sculptor Carl Andre, famous for writing poetry, making drawings and some abstract sculptures in perspex and wood, with geometric forms.
Carl Andre's Equivalent VIII, 1966
Carl Andre's 144 Magnesium Square, 1969
I then went on to create a brick sculpture in response to this research. However, as my sculpture is created from junk/recycled bricks I have purposely left gaps where the brick should be. My brick square isn't uniform like Carl Andre's as I am attempting to achieve a rugged, recycled piece of work.
Since these photographs have been taken I have made the square straighter, which now gives a better illusion of where the gaps are.
Working in this manner has made me realise a link between this brick sculpture and mosaics, especially where bits are missing in mosaics, also known as 'lacuna'.
Last Tuesday (25th January 2011) I took a visit to Formby Point with the intention of doing a mini 1 hour project. I was armed with only my wellies, a waterproof coat and my camera. The brief I had set myself was;
'I am going to visit a forest, where I will strictly spend 1 hour photographing anything which captures my eye i.e. objects, textures, nature etc…Within this hour I will also construct sculptures within the forest using anything I find. Once the hour is up I will stop and reflect upon my findings.'
I began the morning by taking various photographs of;
Natural trails/paths through the forest
Textures from trees, twigs etc…
The destruction of trees, i.e. tree stumps
As I got deeper into the forest, away from the paths I began noticing trees which had been cut down and abandoned which seemed to show a trail weaving across the ground.
I began creating my own trails through the forest by shuffling my feet to gather up the loose debris on the floor.
This gave me inspiration for my own versions on tree trunk trails through the forest. With time running out my quick ideas included a tree trunk see saw, a tree trunk arrow pointing to a path & an extended version of an arrow with a trail through the forest.
I finally made a video showing the length of the trail/arrow … don’t forget I was alone with only my own strength to pull these logs to this location. It wasn’t easy.
