They are here

I had the opportunity to see a piece of work made by They are here recently at CCA. it was a really interesting and enjoyable exercise to witness, as the screening that i attended was the first that the participants had seen of the film, so there was a sort of nervous tension in the air. Seeing the changes that where made through each stage of filming was so interesting and really very funny at times, and on reflection I know there where pieces missing or being lost from start to finish but even my own immediate memory of it was so scrambled I couldn't pin point exactly what was wrong. In the introduction to the film the artists described the process as something a little "like Chinese whispers, but with film" and I can't think of a better way to describe it myself.

Martin Creed

Marina Abramovic

Francis Alys

I've been watching a lot of artist interviews on Youtube, which is a nice way to spend time.

untested bounderies

For my self directed project I decided to follow an idea i have had on and off since the beginning of term one. I liked the notion of testing myself physically in order to learn something about myself, my own boundaries and also my understanding of them. 

It was recommended that I take a look at the work of Smith/Stewart. I found mouth to mouth and breathing space particularly interesting, for the way they approached their subject, they way they deal with each other and also the aesthetic composition of the images.

Mouth to Mouth

Breathing Space

cool hunting

Cool Hunting

I was introduced to this website a few weeks ago and have become a little bit addicted. Their site is made up of collections of videos on topics that the makers have decided are quite interesting, The subjects are very varied but all are shot in a similar style which gives a nice line of continuity.

This was one of my favourites.

100 photographs, 1 taken every 5 seconds for 8 minutes and 20seconds

Gina Pane

Gina Pane is another of the artists I found in the library, I really knew nothing about her work but her name came up relating to what I was researching. This was a good few weeks ago, then just the other day... now that I've planned what I want to do and am in the final stages of doing it... I was flicking through her book and found this piece of work. It's called (extending a wooden path (for going from one place to another for the purpose of communication)) 1970 and she is doing almost exactly what I am doing. The only thing that I can see different is the location and the material.
Part of me thinks it's really exciting and that maybe that means my ideas not so bad and the other part is a bit sad that it is practically identical and also everything I'm interested in has already been done in the 70's.

Marina Abramovic

I found a list of artists who have made work which I can relate to what I'm interested in at the moment and one of them was Marina Abramovic. I know of all the usual pieces of her work from projects that other people have done but I've never looked at it in relation to mine and now I've found it's really really exciting.
There are a few works in particular that I can relate to what I'm interested in with this project. They focus on endurance and pushing your body to its limits. I also really liked the way the performances where documented, it was very simple, Just one photo from what she felt was the most powerful or relevant and a short description of what happened.

Freeing the voice.

'I lie on the floor with my head tilted backwards."

Performance:
"I scream until I lose my voice."
Duration 3 hours.

And also...

Freeing the body.

"I wrap my head in a black scarf."

Performance:
"I move to the rhythm of the black african drummer.
I move until I am completely exhausted.
I fall."

Duration: 8 hours.

Public Art Project Term 2

click here to see photos from my public art project so far.... although theres no real information about it there and they are in no order?
i'll get on it later.

As Long As It Takes

I've just heard about John Cages piece of music "as long as it takes". There was a BBC news article about it because in 2001 a church in Germany, Sankt-Burchardi-Church in Halberstadt, began playing the piece on their organ and this week the note changed. An average playing of this piece of music has taken between 20 to 70 minutes but this church is attempting to play for 639 year. So a note change is a pretty big deal, as it will be months or perhaps years before another happens.

Schedule of note changes:

February 5, 2009
July 5, 2010
February 5, 2011
August 5, 2011
July 5, 2012
October 5, 2013
September 5, 2020

They keep the continuous note by weighing the peddles down with sandbags.

Circles