Six Week Module
This year I wanted to try something completely different to what i had undertaken before, so I moved downstairs to the basement to work in the 3D arts, something I had not done since first year. We were given a Project to help kick start our ideas after the long summer break, we had to come up with Six Artworks and exhibit them within the space of five weeks, a challenge but a good way to warm back into the Degree.
I have always had an interest in Mechanical Art- the idea of creating figurative objects from many smaller objects like cogs, nuts, bolts and pins; I wanted to try this to see what I could come up with. In my quest to find disused objects I put a post on a Hi-Fi forum and I was sent two Valve Tubes and I realised that these were all I wanted to focus on, so that's when the obsession began.
My First Valve Tube
So I decided I would focus on these objects, as all I could do was look at them, I appreciated their design, how their tube was smooth, and everything was packed perfectly in place, so I decided to use the idea of display to lay out my Tubes and created these Artworks for the Module:
Touch Me, Feel Me.... (2010)
While on my exploration of the vacuum tubes I found that the boxes that they came in were just as fascinating as the tubes themselves, it was brilliant to look at these boxes and get a real sense of social history, some of these boxes are over 50 years old, giving them real character and presence.
For me, the boxes are just as important as the tubes, because without the boxes, the tubes seem quite singular and almost lose their purpose and context, I want people to be able to view them inside their boxes, be able to pick them up, touch them, peer at them inside their wrappings in the box and see that the packaging is just as artful as the vacuum tubes themselves.
A Trio of Three (2010)
By creating enlarged photographs of the vacuum tubes I have tried to exaggerated and accentuate the detail inside them, I feel this way I can give the viewer a much more intense viewing, to try and help them see and admire what I see inside these objects, try and appreciate their beauty.
Whereas I like to touch and heavily handle my tubes, looking at them really close to my face, a lot of viewer see my work as a hazard rather than a tactile exhibition, they are wary to touch my tubes in case they get broken, here I have made it so if they don’t feel comfortable touching them then they can at least look at much larger, more stable representations of them, I feel this gives my work all round accessibility and makes sure that my tubes are viewed by everybody.
Box of Curiosities (2010)
Here I have tried to revert viewers back to their childhood by creating a box that most curious people cannot help but look into. I want to reawaken this child-like fascination as this is what overtakes me every time I handle one of these tubes myself.
I have lined the box with mirrors to try and exaggerate and magnify all angles of the tubes, to try and make sure that they are almost overwhelmed by all the glass and wiring on show, to create an awe that most children have when they gaze at something delicate and artful.
I have placed the box just above my eye level to encourage people to lean up and look into the box, helping them reconnect with their childhood curiosity by feeling child sized again.
Go On......Sneak a Peek (2010)
This box I have chosen simply because it is very plain and ordinary looking, no one would suspect its hidden packages inside.
By opening its drawers the viewer is confronted with mirrors, endlessly magnifying the shining contents of the vacuum tubes inside, creating what seems like a never ending space, sparking the childlike imagination that this seemingly standard object could be hiding a much more fantastical and amazing ‘world’.
I have deliberately left 3 drawers open on my box because this will help with the feeling of overwhelming curiosity, the childlike fascination that the viewer cannot help but sneak a peek as they walk past.
Mirrors Mirrors Everywhere (2010)
With this work I am reminded of the hall of mirrors in the funfair from when I was a child. I always loved this because it twisted and distorted your view of the world around you as what you are viewing is not always what is actually there.
I wanted to create an almost overwhelming experience for the viewer by placing lots of valves in one location. I have placed the piece lower down so people have to bend down to view it, with their head almost inside the work, making them have an almost physical reversion to childhood as well as a mental reversion.
Does My Eye Deceive Me?? (2010)
I am still quite interested in the ideas of illusion and how this sends us back to a time in our childhood where we were enthralled by magicians and clowns who would trick us and bamboozle us with the simplest of illusions. I wanted to try and represent this in this box here.
By creating a box from mirror I have been able to create an object where the view of my valve is bounced around and appears to show the valve in a different place to its actual location. It allows the viewer to be tricked and amused.
I have once again decided to place the box high up to accentuate the childlike feeling and fascination and also covered the box in white foam to almost help it blend into its background, this way the viewer is drawn to the contents of the box rather than the box itself.
Final Display for Assessment
