City In Flux Katy Robinson
Research
What is Flux?
Flux & The City
My Response ToThe City In Flux
The dictionary definition states that flux is a constant or frequent change, or alternatively
a fluctuation. Fluctuation meaning that there is an irregular rise and fall in number or amount.
Cities are a big concept. Always finding or needing a way to evolve and adapt to new ways, new features and new life. The brief I have been
given therefore gives me the perfect opportunity to explore this theory in my own creative way of how I feel the city around me changes.
In response to the brief I shall be looking into the towns and cities that surround me in and around Yorkshire. Places such as Huddersfield, Sheffield, Leeds and Bradford as they have all dealt with a major change throughout their time. I will be looking into how they have changed, in some cases the reasons why and also the impact that the change has had overtime. I will then be creating a visual response to the brief about my chosen town or city.
I will also be looking into my hometown of Weymouth in Dorset as overtime there has been many changes to its history and scenery in the way of the harbour and beaches. Because it is such a contrast to the towns and cities in Yorkshire that I have chosen to look at, with Weymouth being a small seaside town, I feel that it will be nice to look at something a bit different without a change in just trade.
City In Flux Towns and Cities
Sheffield Sheffield is located in South Yorkshire, obtaining its name from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Throughout time Sheffield has grown from large industrial roots to allow for a wider economic structure.
During the 19th century, the city gained a global status for the production of steel. This caused many local advances such as stainless steel. This caused many local advances such as stainless steel, therefore throughout the
time of the Industrial Revolution, Sheffield saw a rapid increase in the population.
as Market Place or The Shambles, this then led Sheffield to grow into a small market town.
By 1926 a local market had been founded, at what is known now as Castle Square, but previously known
By the time of the 14th century, the production of knives was well underway, and in the early 1600s
Sheffield had become the main hub of cutlery production outside of London. Now however only a little amount of skilled automation engineers succeed in this trade in Sheffield.
Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire. And in 2011 it was declared the third largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 757700 people. Leeds’ history can be tracked back to around about the 5th century when the Kingdom of Elmet was concealed by the forest of Loidis, which was the
original name of Leeds.
iron, engineering and printing.
During the 17th and 18th century, Leeds became a major centre for the production and selling of wool, then developed into a mill town in which wool was still the main industry, however other industries such as
As part of a local farming economy in the middle ages, Leeds developed as a market town. Before the industrial revolution Leeds was a management centre for large-scale manufacture of items such as wool
and cloth. In 1770 Leeds controlled one sixth of England’s export trade. The building of the Aire and Calder Navigation in 1699 helped with the advances in textiles, as well as the development of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal in 1816.
Construction of the railway benefited communication and links with national markets, especially in big cities such as Manchester and also with connection to ports in Liverpool and Hull.
Dewsbury
Now known as a church town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, Dewsbury historically underwent a period of growth in the 19th century as a mill town, went through a sudden decline. Redevelopment has seen the original neglected mills turn into flats.
Primarily for local clothiers, in the 14th century Dewsbury market was founded, however outbreaks of the plague in 1593 and 1603 suddenly got the market closed, until it reopened in 1741. When the Industrial Revolution came
around Dewsbury was an area for the shoddy and mung industries, in which it recycled woollen items and mixed it with newer wool to produce blankets and uniforms. The town was located in the heart of the heavy woollen district and its economy had big benefits from the canal, as
well as being in close vicinity to coal mines. The mills of Dewsbury were mainly family businesses and the quick increase and commitment to industry meant that there was a big social instability. In the 19th century
Dewsbury was a place of protesting opposition to modernisation and machinery, therefore workers reacted to this and smashed the machines, however this loomed on their way of life.
Bradford
Bradford is located in West Yorkshire, positioned at the foot of the Pennines. In 1897, it was acknowledged as a city.
During the 19th century Bradford was renowned for its manufacture of
textiles, especially wool. During the Industrial Revolution it was a town in bloom and was also one of the promptest industrialised settlement areas, soon becoming ‘wool capital of the world’.
The growth of Bradford’s industrialisation was helped by the easy access to coal supplies, iron ore and soft water. This also meant there was a population boom.
town and this was where the wool spinning took place. Most commonly in farms or local cottages, however in the mid 20th century practice of textiles slowly saw a decline.
In 1801 it was a rustic market
In 1847 when Bradford was
developed, it had a total of 46 coalmines in the borderlines. In 1868 Bradford contributed to one quarter of coal production in Yorkshire.
Weymouth Weymouth is a seaside town, located in Dorset, South England. It is a town mainly reliant for the economy on tourism in summer, and thus relying on the old and new harbour and the attractions located in and nearby the town, therefore it is ever changing to suit these needs. The town is located along the Jurassic Coast, which is important for its different geology and
landforms.
Connected to Weymouth is an island called Portland, which together form the borough of Weymouth and Portland. The history of the town dates back to the 12th century. This includes spreading of the Black Death, development of Georgian architecture in which some still
remains and also preparations for World War Two, however it was not distinguished until the 13th century. By 1252 Weymouth was established as a harbour and became a commissioned constituency. In early history, the borough of Weymouth and the borough of Melcombe Regis were in competition
when it came to trade and industry however became united in 1571. Both boroughs are now known solely as Weymouth, despite Melcombe Regis being the main centre. The local villages on the outskirts of Weymouth town consisting of Upwey, Broadwey, Preston, Wyke Regis, Littlemoor, Chickerell, Radipole and Southill have become part of the
built-up area. The isle of Portland is home to the famous Portland Stone, taken from the quarries, and it has been used to build many famous landmarks, such as St Pauls Cathedral. This stone is still being used in trade today.
City In Flux Artist Research
Eric Ravilious
Eric Ravilious rapidly established himself in the wood engraving trade, helping to revive the craft before World War Two broke out. As well as wood engraving Ravilious was also a keen designer and illustrator, creating illustrations for many books and magazines. His first major commission for wood engraving was for Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. This was published by
Golden Cockerel Press whom Ravilious worked closely with, as well as doing works for Radio Times, Curwen Press and London Transport. Not only did Ravilious excel in his wood engravings and illustrations, as an all round designer he designed furniture, glass, textiles, and wallpapers. He also worked with a company called Wedgewood from the mid 1930s producing ceramic
ware designs. A lot of Ravilious’ work is seen as capturing the Englishness that happened between both the two World Wars, and in 1940 Ravilious was given the role of official war artist, in which he was to depict aspects of war in his art. Some of the pieces he created were described as dreamlike, due to the nature of the media he had used in his work.
Jean Dubbufet
Jean Dubuffet was a French painter, sculptor, lithographer and also a writer. Once he had finished his studies in art, Dubuffet briefly stopped this career and instead spent the next twenty years of his life in different careers such as a factory worker, soldier and
working as a wine merchant for his father. None of these ended well.
however this became a very distinctive style of artwork that got him recognised worldwide.
At the age of 41 Dubuffet returned to painting and he worked in a very much avantgarde style, using a range of different materials in his art,
He was captivated by children’s art and he gave the term art brut (raw art). In his own style of definitive work he mimicked this style.
Jean Michael Basquiat
Basquiat was primarily a graffiti artist, however did also explore into the world of music and poetry. Due to the nature of his upbringing and his family being a very creative, art loving family, Basquiat got started as an artist in his teenage years and was known around the world by the age of 23.
Because of his early start in his career Basquiat was seen by many as a unique creative with a lot of talent, thus becoming a ‘cultural hero’ to many younger artists. By the time Basquiat reached 11, he was fluent in French, English and Spanish. In 1977 along with friend Al
Diaz ‘SAMO’ was created, standing for Same Old Shit. This was a graffiti tag used on New York City streets. Much of Basquiat’s work was focussed on dividing things into two halves such as wealth and poverty and integration and segregation.
Robert Rauschenberg
Robert Rauschenberg was an American painter and graphic artist, whilst also having an interest in photography and performance art.
approach was also labeled as Neo-Dadaist, sharing this label with Jasper Johns.
Starting in the mid 1950s to the early 1960s, Rauschenberg created a series of art works which he titled ‘ComHe once quoted that he “want- bines’. These works were ed to work in the gap between made up of rubbish items and His early work reflected pop art and life”. found objects that interested art, however, on occasions his him on the New York Streets.
Eduardo Paolozzi
Paolozzi worked in many different trades as he was a sculptor, printmaker, collagist, filmmaker and writer. His main inspiration for his work was a combination of surrealism after travelling to france and seeing the
works of people such as Jean Dubuffet and Alberto Giacometti. Not only did Paolozzi just use surrealism in his work, he also added elements of his interst of pop culture and modern technology into his
collage. In the 1960s Paolozzi did a range of industrial art, combining machinery into his work. Within the industrial art he made a statement about the role of men in the age of technology.
Mimmo Rotella
Mimmo Rotella was an Italian artist and poet, best known for his dĂŠcollage work, which were mainly made up of ripped movie posters. From this he made collages on canvas, which were colourful and amusing. Despite being known for his
dĂŠcollage, Rotella started out with much a more figurative beginning to his work, however later developed the abstract and geometric form, which he uses in his dĂŠcollages. Not only did Rotella produce many works on collage, he
was also into poetry and created phonetic poetry as a different way to express his methods. He titled it epistaltic poetry. This was made up of a combination of words, sounds and some onomatopoeic repetition.
Kurt Schwitters
German painter, sculptor, writer and typograpehr, Schwitters was hugely influenced by Expressionism and Cubism in 1917 through to 1918. In 1918 however Schwitters developed his own form of Dada by using rubbish and various materials that he had
found on the streets and in the parks of Hannover, as well as bus tickets and bits of broken wood. He called this Merz. From this he created a wide variety of collages and constructions. In these pieces of work he
saw the old becoming the new again out of the German culture ruins. As well as his art work Schwitters wrote a vast amount of expressionist poetry for Der Sturm magazine.
Edward Hopper
Edward Hopper was born into a middle class working family, and this highly influenced and encouraged him in the style of artwork and career path that he wanted to follow. From this he became a realist painter and printmaker. After a brief encounter as an illustrator, Hopper travelled to Paris, France. It was here
where the cities architecture, light and art tradition affected the development of his work.
impact on me.”
After this he then returned to America with very little He quoted “Whom did I meet? intention of leaving. Many Nobody. I’d heard of Gertrude people had said that Stein, but I don’t remember Hoppers work was focussed having heard of Picasso at all. around alienation in the city, I used to go to the cafés at especially if you look closely night and sit and watch. I went at his work, in some images to the theatre a little. Paris there is alot to suggest this. had no great or immediate
Jasper James
Jasper James is a photographer who is currently based in China working in Shanghai and Beijing, shooting for adverts, editorial documents and also doing commercial work. James’ work varies between portrait photography, interiors, his own idea projects and also travel.
York, London and is currently in Beijing.
He has done commissions for some of the worlds biggest magazines including Vanity Fair and has also worked with many advertising clients. James’ has a very extensive client list including the likes of Ferrari, British Airways, Marks and Spencer, the Ritz, Over the past 10 years he has Wrigleys and Volvo to name a lived in places such as New few.
The way that he creates such eye-catching photos isn’t as complex as it would seem. Clearly those are caught on camera, however he says that ‘there is a small, basic adjustment to the contrast and colours, with no retouching of the imagery’. He also states ‘I’m currently planning exhibitions of the images and looking for an interested publisher.’
Jamie Harkins
As I have chosen to base my work around a seaside town, I felt it was only right to start looking at other artists who use the seaside and beaches as an influence in there work, or contrasting to that use the beach as their canvas.
the sand to create 3D beach art. Currently living in Mt Maunganui, New Zealand, Harkins works from home creating all kinds of art work from paintings to music and film.
The first person I came across was Jamie Harkins who uses Before he was known for his
3D works, it was the surreal landscape paintings that made Harkins a prominent artist in the area. Some of his works include more detail that other pieces however, each piece works in its on way and its own context.
Amy Genser
To explore her passion for texture and pattern, Amy Genser uses paint and paper in her work. To create the really nice, outstanding, eye catching effect that she does, she layers, rolls, cuts and
combines various bits of paper together. Suggestive of natural forms and organic themes, Genser says that her work is simultaneously ordered and irregular, this is what really caught my eye when looking
at her pieces, as well as the bold colours in her work. The work that she produces replicate and bring to mind aerial views and satellite imagery.