IA2 A r t as Knowle dge –Phase 2
Body o f Work
Unstretched canvas, chalk and oil pastel, binder, sharpie, mirror, fabric, thread, acrylic paint, canvas 1 x 1.3 m
A r t i s t Statements
Summary Annotation In In Denial, the words represent the close-minded stance taken by the Australian pr i me minister and the damaged layers obstructing s ome of those words represent attempts to minimise the threat of global warming. I was inspired by Philip Hanson’s use of words to create shape, line and pattern to create focal point and movement. I utilised techniques that Jacqueline Scotcher used to abstract a tree trunk, such as rotating the painting every so often, layering with chalk pastels and white acrylic paint with water to create semi-transparent layers. In Unravelling, I was also inspired by Philip Hanson’s use of words to create pattern, shape and line, but I was also inspired by Kasper Sonne’s use of fabric and burning to depict objects mid-transformation. I did this to depict what was currently occurring concerning pollution and global warming, as h e also explores world issues related meanings. I originally was going to do a mixture of cubism, normal tone and curvy shapes to create contrast as inspired by Madeline Kelly, but I decided doing this mixture of styles with the subject matter I chose made my artwork not cohesive. T he suit and damaged aesthetic I chose as inspired by Kasper Sonne represented the “unravelling” of companies’ attempts at deflection of blame regarding pollution.
Unstretched canvas, chalk and oil pastel, binder and sharpie 40 x 29 cm
In Denial abstractly represents societal causes of environmental damage. The words written all over the artwork are words said by Scott Morrison, the Australian prime minister, regarding global warming and the damaged pieces of unstretched canvases semi-obstructing the view of some of these words represent the Australian government’s attempts to minimise the threat of global warming.
Mirror, sharpie, fabric, thread, acrylic paint, canvas 53 x 51cm Unravelling explores companies’ deflection of blame onto individual cons umer s regarding global warming and pollution, despite statistics, which have been written all over the mirror, showing the opposite. T he damaged, ragged suit and thread sewn over the mi r r or represents the demise and unravelling of this position companies take as mo r e people are becoming aware of companies’ significant contribution to pollution.
In Denial
In Denial
Supporting Evidence:
Supporting Evidence:
Planning and Sketching:
Planning and Sketching: Jacqueline Scotcher: (Scotcher.J, n.d) Explores ideas of self, place and belonging, what bodily presence feels like•moving ar ound a particular environment Depicts landscapes using colour, texture, shifting perspectives and movement • Recent works centre ar ound "walking-painting" practices ar ound wet tropics • of far North Queensland and sub-tropical climate ar ound Brisbane Interested in pedestrian movement, place-making, embodied perception, ecological aesthetics • and conveying lived experience in the landscape through abstract painting
Depicts landscapes of Cairns and Port Douglas and places in between Layers of stones, travel, experiences, weather, photos and time are represented in the process of painting Paintings suggest a sense of place and how relationships can be built in natural environment Purpose is to provide a new perspective of landscapes At a Jacqueline Scotcher workshop, we had to use h e r technique of choosing an image of nature to abstract using oil and chalk pastels and binder o n unstretched canvas Chose this picture of a tree tr unk because it had many organic lines and shapes, including a focal point which created asymmetrical balance Also, all the lines were vertical to one another and centred ar ound the one point, which created movement To abstract it, I used different bright contrasting colours but kept the organic curvy lines and circular focal point as it already appeared abstract. I was inspired by Scotcher's use of bright colours that are unnatural to the subject matter in or der to abstract it Created tone by using binder and water and brushing the dry oil pastel outwards To ens ur e it was abstract, I used Scotcher's technique of rotating the canvas every so often and adding mo r e shapes and layers that wer e semitransparent by using the duller chalk pastels, binder and water Used white acrylic paint and water to ma ke transparent rectangular shapes to create contrast shape-wise
Series: Timescapes •
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Improve by: Adding words that Scott Morrison has said regarding global warming • Use sharpies as it is black and will contrast, making it visible to the audience • Layer words, vary orientation, vary thickness, vary neatness so s ome words • are mo r e jagged: inspired by Philip Hanson use of words to create movement, line, variation and emphasis Cut u p one of the paintings and layer it o n top of the other one with tears and • ma ke pieces mo r e sculptural and 3D
Switch blade to ma ke cuts and also tear pieces
Words Scott Morrison has said in regards to global warming: Ridiculous • Coal won't hur t • Disappointing • Use glue or sticky Deny • tape to stick the Refu sing • extra layer o n top Reject • Dismiss • (Mazengarb. M,2020) Meaning: Unnatural bright colours represent the unnatural process we implement which negatively impact the environment T he environment is abstractly represented by the abstract tree trunk, organic lines and shapes: shapes and lines are mo r e similar to what exists in nature Jaggedly written words s poken by Scott Morrison regarding global warming represent the har s h impacts o n the environment that are caused d u e to his stance Ripped, damaged pieces of canvas with holes obscuring s ome of Scott Morrison's words against • climate change represent attempts to hide that view and minimise its effects Philip Hanson: (Cohan. J, n.d) (Artsy.net, n.d) Draws o n surrealism Artworks feature bold colours and language, quoting poets e.g Emily Dickinson, Shakespeare and William Carolos Williams Moulds words into shapes and architectural forms Explores the combination of text and image in paintings with layers of dense, richly coloured patterns Uses tone and constantly changes from light to dar k within one painting: separates spaces and connects t hem with interwoven, elongated and curved words Utilises structure of letters, alters their shape and visually changes the tone and meaning of the words My observations: • Utilises letters to create interesting variations of line, shape and pattern which result in movement and har mony T urns square canvases o n an angle to help create movement vertically and draw the viewers’ eyes to the centre wher e the focal point is positioned using the four corners Uses repetition of words to create symmetrical balance and emphasise meaning Reflection: Had to use double-sided sticky tape to ensur e the extra layers stayed o n and could maintain their 3D shape Printed out the words I was using to place o n top of the painting before writing t hem in per manent mar ker to ens ur e the words were aesthetically positioned and I knew wher e the focal point word was Considered burning holes in the painting after sticking the extra layer o n top but decided against it because it would be too mu c h and overwhelming . T her e was n o white or blank space • This links to my contemporary and formal contexts as I explore the contemporary meaning of environmental issues and contemporary techniques, such as tearing and ripping unstretched canvas, writing words in sharpie and abstracting imagery, to communicate meaning. Therefore, it also directly links to my inquiry question about using contemporary techniques to convey meaning.
(Cohan. J, n.d)
Unravelling
Unravelling
Supporting Evidence:
Supporting Evidence: Planning and Sketching: Shirt and suit jacket normal tone to break u p triangles: inspired by Madeline Kelly’stechnique
Natural tone
Triangles of different colours: cubist
Change so suit in its entirety is in cubist style and fire is normal tone to represent government being rigid and not open to change
Urgency represented by bright colours Suit represents government’s lackof action towards bushfires
Fire to represent bushfires and damage Improve by: • Cut u p s ome triangles and spread t hem out or ma ke an abstract collage • O r glue onto a different piece of media e.gfabric • Tear, b u r n fabric and paint messy, rough br us h strokes o n fabric and ma ke it the background behind the painting • Make the painting appear to be in a window: suit behind the window to represent how the government are detached and are safe from the effects • Make the window out of plastic panes: ma ke window panel frame out of words in regard to climate change i.e deny, refuse etc.
White fabr ic?
Represents chaos and destr u ction
Dark colours in contrast to bright colours to show complacent attitude and immoral actions towards an urgent issue: actions do not match urgency Play o n words “blanket statem en t”?
O r attempt to minimize damage/ to “cover up” damage
Cohesion: fire should spread to fabric to connect fabric background and painting T he plastic window will not go over the fire to represent disconnect from the effects
Planning and Sketching: • Paint the fire/flames o n the fabric and cover/layer o n canvas so its mo r e connected and cohesive • Burn the canvas to have a hole in the shape of flames • Cut u p and rip pieces of fabric to create the suit instead of painting, but still use the cubist style • Could still use the words but paint t hem randomly o n the fabric: too Suit made similar to unstretched canvas experiment? of fabric • Could add mi r r or behind the canvas to fill in the flame shape: represents facing the consequences caused by lack of action triangles regarding global warming and represents reflecting o n actions • Could write words of denial o n mi r r or instead Hole • Mirror represents large companies and corporations deflecting the burnt in blame o n individual consumers instead of themselves canvas • Write statistics of pollution caused by companies o n mi r r or instead • Sew thread in vertical stripes across mi r r or to represent the unravelling of the truth and increase in awareness of companies’ contribution to pollution
Statistics: • 100 companies are responsible for 71% of global emissions • 1.2 trillion gallons of untreated sewage and industrial waste are d u mp e d into US water alone • More than 14 billion pounds of garbage have been d u mp e d into the ocean by cargo ships and cruise liners alone (DoSomething.org, 2016) (Sonne. K,n.d) Kasper Sonne: • Investigates how we interpret o u r surroundings to ma ke sense of the world • “Through a continuous construction and deconstruction of meaning, I wish to explore how individual and cultural references influence the way we read the nymous d u e to degraded surfaces and destruction of materials • Wor k still demonstrates a poetic and fragile meaning: artworks represent the transformation of an object (not origin or end) (Paddle8, n.d) (Artsy.net, 2018) My Observations: Burnt Canvases: • Utilises negative space to emphasise organic shape and burnt tonal outline of to create focal point • Creates asymmetrical balance and contrast Fabric artworks: • Use of contrasting coloured and black fabric • Draping of the fabric creates organic, abstract shapes, line and smooth texture, therefore creates movement • Is a resolved wor k but has an incomplete aesthetic as h e explores the transformation of objects mid-transformation Reflection: • I painted the edges of the flame silhouette to ensure that the cream colour of the canvas was not visible after I glued the black fabric on it. • I originally planned to use fabric and paint to illustrate the suit, however, it did not look aesthetically pleasing or cohesive, so I decided to use only fabric to depict the suit by using black fabric, an old tie and business shirt. I also painted an old tie red with acrylic paint, tied it around the shirt and cut it to look ragged and burnt the edges of the business shirt to achieve a similar damaged effect, inspired by Kasper Sonne's use of burnt edges and damaged aesthetic. • I decided to no longer use Madeline Kelly's mix of cubism, normal tone and curvy shapes to create contrast as I thought using fabric made a more cohesive artwork. I was mostly inspired by Kasper Sonne's use of fabric on canvas and burning to create a semi-realistic depiction of a suit with surrealistic qualities. • I cut up the black fabric with ragged edges to enhance the damaged and "falling apart" aesthetic to reinforce the message of companies finally being held somewhat accountable for their environmentally harmful actions. This was also conveyed by the vertical, lines of black thread as it represented the "unravelling" of their misleading attempts to cover up their actions. • I used a black sharpie to write statistics about how much companies have contributed to waste and pollution, similar to how I did in my In Denial experiment. I tried layering, changing their orientation and thickness to create contrast, emphasis, pattern and asymmetrical balance. • Similarly to Sonne, I focused the meaning on real world issues and depicted a suit mid-transformation in being destroyed to reflect what is currently occurring with the realisation of companies' contributions to pollution. • This links to my contemporary and formal context as I utilised contemporary materials and used them in contemporary ways, such as writing words in sharpie on mirror, threading thread through canvas, cutting canvas, using clothes and burning. I used techniques inspired by Philip Hanson, a contemporary artist, who uses fabric and burning to create meaning in a contemporary context.
Bibliography Artsy.net, 2018, Kasper Sonne, Artsy.net, https://www.artsy.net/artist/kasper-sonne, Accessed: 4 March 2020 Cohan. J,n.d, Biography, James Cohan, https://www.jamescohan.com/artists/philip- hanson?view=slider#3, Accessed: 6 March 2020 DoSomething.org, 2016, 11Facts about Pollution, DoSomething.org, https://www.dosomething.org/us/facts/11-facts-about-pollution , Accessed: 5 March 2020 Mazengarb. M, 2020, Morrison questions importance of global climate treaties, to treat symptoms of climate change, Renew Economy, https://reneweconomy.com.au/morrison-questions-importance-ofglobal-climate- treaties-to-treat-symptoms-of-climate-change-36305/ , Accessed: 6 March 2020 Madeline. K, n.d, Biography, Madeline Kelly, https://www.madeleinekelly.com.au/biography/ , Accessed: 5 March 2020 Madeline. K, 2019, What the Centre Cannot Hold Ipswich Gallery 2019, MadelineKelly.com, https://www.madeleinekelly.com.au/works/what-the-centre- cannot-hold-ipswich-gallery-2019/ , Accessed: 5 March 2020 Paddle8, n.d, Kasper Sonne, Paddle8, https://paddle8.com/artist/kasper-sonne , Accessed: 4 March 2020 Scotcher. J,n.d, Jacqueline Scotcher, Jacqueline Scotcher, http://jacquelinescotcher.com/#about , Accessed: 6 March 2020 Scotcher. J,n.d, Jacqueline Scotcher, Jacqueline Scotcher, http://jacquelinescotcher.com/galleries/timescapes-2/ , Accessed: 6 March 2020