title.
featuring
dale huntley martin eccles oliver doe sorcha mccole emily garvey charles dearnley bradley hails lydia london alice craigie and more....
issue 001
title. issue 001 a digest of newcastle university’s fine art department Welcome to the first issue of title. - Newcastle’s new digest of the university’s fine art department. This issue compiles some of the best work from the stage one students, from drawing and painting to video and sound installation, showing off a wide variety of styles, themes and concerns.
All work is copyright of the respective artist unless otherwise noted. Please direct any queries to the contact email listed. Cover image by Charles Dearnley
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contact
oliversdoe@gmail.com
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where the art can be solely based upon a good idea, is to view shite with rose tinted spectacles stapled into your dogmatic workings. Let the visuals inspire the feeling, not the feeling inspire what it life, and element of transcendence. Let the evidence laid out before you, allow you to make an informed decision. which overwhelms you of it
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dale huntley
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ale’s current work has been focused on exploring the impact bruising and skin trauma has on the human body. Dale has been particularly interested in the, almost alien, life cycle of bruises; from first impact to the final healing stage, and the abstract colour and pattern that occurs along side it. Using a combination of expressive brush marks and intense palettette knife layering Dale has aimed to portray the violence and impact associated with skin trauma through the body of the paint itself and almost recreating skin through the layer of canvas and oil paint.
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katy ball
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martin eccles
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artin Eccles’ main interests are in creating work in, or influenced by, natural habitats and materials. Using a variety of methods he creates visual, sound, three dimensional or textual works. Of the work displayed the three dimensional pieces in a range of different woods (and the one in plaster) explore the effects of replication, proximity and the impact on the viewer of the perceived relationships between the pieces. The book (from Northumberland) and the beach sculpture (from north Norfolk) are different ways of describing the experience of walks. The book uses drawing - at pre-specified, timed intervals - and text to reflect the walk whilst the beach sculpture utilizes the materials experienced during the walk.
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oliver doe
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liver’s practice explores the possibilities of painting as a medium whilst concerned primarily with aspects of the representation of religion in the modern world, as well as in contemporary art in general. Throughout the first half of 2013 he has created a series of paintings retelling the martyrdoms of several Christian figures in a manner more visceral and real than the transcendence of the Baroque images from which they are sourced. He has also created a number of ‘three-dimensional paintings’ relating back to the more conventional canvas images. These proto-sculptures could be seen as graphically similar to the cloaked figures of Catholicism or Islam, yet in a much more sinister manner. The gloss paint finish of both these and the martyrs seems to reflect the image of the viewer as if to draw them in to the pieces’ internal monologues. Doe’s work will be on display at the Sutcliffe’s Gallery, Westminster from late August. To see more please visit http://oliverdoe.tumblr.com
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art from a seemingly artless point of sensationalism
A
by bradley hails
rt is good for many things.
The previous statement was, in its entirety, farcical. Art serves but one purpose, visual philosophy compressed into an, often, easily accessible package for those who are reluctant to read books instead. Art allows us to think about the whys, hows and whos which make the essence of any media sing into our natural defences and make nonsense write poetry. Art is a mechanism to allow the unsuspecting, and often over or undereducated in the manner, run of the mill pedestrian attach meanings to strokes which represent objects and objects that represent strokes. It is a term with too many meanings, too much pretence and too many opportunists. Opportunists who jump on the metaphorical band-wagon of bullshit and call a carrot a penis (for example) and make a fortune through the nature of the audiences, who attach a painstaking description of the artworks through the need of trying to figure them out. Before you know it, Penis Carrot becomes an exploration into a tormented childhood. Or a playful jest towards erectile dysfunction. Or an actual Penis. Or a dig at the nature of Democracy. All of this, though, is getting somewhat out of hand. Desperation to untangle the cogs makes it easier for the artist. The Artist wakes up, around noon, does not shave, has a cheap breakfast, and skips to the studios
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whistling, a fresh new scandal upon the mind. Being inevitably hung-over, the Artist isn’t much in the mood to carve David out of marble nor splash out some dough on some fancy oil based paints. Luckily for the Artist, he needs not go to such lengths. He needs not push the world forwards by scurrying around on a hamster wheel of toil driven effort-ness. He needs not draw out plans, envision dimension, whack at some stone; now, he needs only to think. Now, this thinking malarkey is all well and good, and I personally (as a completely unqualified, unrecognised, temperamental arsehole) implore all of those who proclaim themselves to be “Artists” to do whatever you do with calculated reason, or not at all, if that is your thing. But do you really use this as a means to progress, or do you use it as a cop out of hard work? You will find that one of the first things you are asked as an “Artist” these days is “What does it mean?” and it may very well mean a whole lot, but that should really be excluded from the initial response from the beholder. If beauty is in their eyes, then why taint that beauty with guidelines and restrictions? Why prompt them to feel like you do, when the complexity of the raw experience from your work could reproduce with familiarities in said beholder’s life? To explain this philosophy to the masses is not only to sever the po-
tential of your imagery (conceivably doing so is through a distinct lack of faith in the ability of oneself) but also to submit to an existing convention in the world of art, in modifying your design in response to the needs of the masses. I would ask what does it mean to be an Artist? So, back to our fictional Artist. He’s kicking back on a chair that spins around and slides upon the floor when he has a eureka moment. He has a carrot for lunch, but no longer! The Carrot is titled and given a property it never had before. Genius. The Artist has done some pretty exhausting work there, and left himself plenty of time left in the day to think about more mundane things. The Artist could not create this piece with only himself, though. The main populace that gives this humble Carrot function as an Artistic pursuit are those who view it. The Carrot remains a carrot. But through the group swirl and twirl of conditioned ideas the object becomes the work. Asking why someone did this is to draw correlations to the object and the person who you knew made it. Asking how they did it, is to paint a picture in your head (see. Irony) of a painstaking process (they tend to take the form of a montage in my own think-box) where a troubled eccentric has spent many restless nights battling with demons and searching for sincere enlightenment, in the form of productivity. Asking who; is the problem. Asking yourself at all; is a problem. Looking for justification of a representation through the exploration of associations regarding
someone who you have fabricated a false mythology around, all in the aid of objective thinking towards an object with no objections, is like having to write the end to the novel that you have been reading. Thought must not become the Art. Art should simply embody the thought. It should return to its function of being an instant experience with a potential for deeper exploration. However, it should never be a necessity or requirement to figure out the things that the artist neglected to embody. Hell, if it makes you understand yourself a bit better, then all is the merrier, but restricting yourself to a world where the art can be solely based upon a good idea, is to view shite with rose tinted spectacles stapled into your dogmatic workings. Let the visuals inspire the feeling, not the feeling inspire what it wants to feel. Let what is there in physical form astound you, give you a breath of life, and element of transcendence. Let the evidence laid out before you, allow you to make an informed decision. Do not go lapping up the superstition of what is not there as a greater beauty, whilst ignoring that which overwhelms you of its own accord. By no means do I promote a return to Classicism, but I do want for a step in a new direction, one that is not governed by dreamers without substance. A progression into tackling the world; through the Art of putting your consciousness into an existence of farcical driven action. Make that change, don’t just imagine it with vegetables. ...25
george greenhill
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ince the beginning of this year, George’s practice has been focused on portraying the figure and the instinctive way we interpret body language and expressions. His attention particularly lies with the subtlety of facial expressions, as these, though ambiguous, tell a greater story about the persons character. George has tried to reveal these expressions and movements of the face by using thick paint to accentuate the lines and wrinkles that indicate emotion. By situating the figure slumped onto a frail stool, in the corner of a room, with his hands together, creates a character alienated from those socializing around him. His detachment is mirrored by the ghostly shadow by his side, which reflects his feelings of being ignored and disconnected. georgegreenhill.tumblr.com
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sorcha mccole
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orcha’s project focuses upon the idea of Dystopia; an unideal world and in particular looks at how as technology progresses human identity digresses. The typography has been created in a similar way that dadaists created their poems by the use of chance. However, instead of using written words from extracted from physical forms such as articles and newspapers, these have instead been created by technology. She began by writing one line each of her own poetry and typing it into the online website ‘cleverbot’ which is supposedly a computer that answers your questions. The responses she got reflected the abstract nature of the original poem so she then typed its own response back into the website so that it effectively created it’s own abstract poetry. She then wanted to display this in an aesthetic way that was also relevant to the theme of Dystopia. Therefore she decided to use the classic tradition of typewriting overlaying print tester pages to juxtapose old technology with new technology. She also created the plug sculptures to highlight the commercial aspect of technology and how a new generation are so reliant on technology to get by. And so she presented everyday objects in a new way and made them no longer useful.
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emily garvey
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charli hardcastle-foster
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harli’s practice, although broken up into two separate entities, employ the same interests in research and experimentation, to better understand the subject area. Throughout the first half of 2013, Charli concerned herself with the notion of ‘Time’. Being neither a tangible object, nor a recognisable entity, time has often provided an appealing challenge for artistic expression. Thus, in an attempt to rationalise the irrational, it has been given numerous identities. Vanitas philosophy seeks to remind us of our own mortality; of the vulnerability of life in the hands of time, whilst the Futurists employ fragmentation to their artwork, producing a sense of speed and dynamism to the otherwise static paintings. These experimentations breed a great many childish fears and insecurities, which are the focus of Charli’s study. The second half of the year brought forward a new topic for concern; the utter futility of animal testing in the cosmetic industry. Her project aims to employ shock tactics in order to visually describe the pitiful treatment of these test animals. She wishes to evoke some form of reaction from the viewer, ultimately culminating in the knowledge that the cosmetic industry thrives as a result of the wholesale torture and death of animals so that the products are literally paid for in animal blood.
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chelsea munro
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charles dearnley
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bradley hails
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radley Hails is not much of an Artist. In fact, his work is nothing more than a cobbled together farce or random imagery plucked from a non-cohesive and ill advised palette of minor thought. He attempts, quite poorly, to execute meaningless drivel as somewhat of a “statement” towards the current untouchable art world. Since he tries to portray a message without the meaning, his work is disjointed, amateurish and entirely emotionless on a level of experience. Hails does nothing that others haven’t before him and is not the revolutionary he would like to believe that he is. The work takes influence from fact and science and has no place in imagination fuelled by the spiritual experience of one’s own practice. Judge for yourself how pathetically desperate these works are, and conclude that turning the page to another set would be a much better course of action. Click on the black box below to listen to the sound piece.
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cloe sparrow
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martha buttress
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lydia london
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ydia London’s series of portraits explore the relationship between the observer and the observed. Through the use of facial expression the portraits seem aware and responsive to the gaze of their audience. The expressions of these faces are almost aggressive suggesting an irritated or questioning response to being objects of our scrutiny. These portraits are further made confrontational by the fact they are heads, detached from their bodies, painted on a large scale. This allows nothing to detract from the inescapable watchfulness of these faces and we see in them, reflected back at us, the very act of looking. Perhaps then, Lydia is attempting to recreate the discomfort and uneasiness one may feel at being watched or looked upon with such intensity. These faces do not gaze passively out from the canvas. They are imbued with a dominating influence, which aims to provoke a stronger and more immediate reaction in the viewer.
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holly wheeler
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ragments are a series of self portraits that undergo a
process of removal and concealment. The exhibited pieces are products of performances where the audience is absent. Without an audience the work questions the value of spectators as participants and witnesses of the act. Each tear and incision is the evidence left behind that something has taken place. In some cases the artist completely dismantles what she has created as a direct sign of removal. On other occasions she executes this subtlety by covering up the portrait. Holly presents an unusual relationship with her work; she is willing to destroy and conceal her work but is reluctant to discard what is removed. Whilst this destructive quality suggests a lack of attachment to what is displayed, it reveals the protection and cherishing of what is kept hidden. Holly’s work examines the importance of self image and the changes made in order to construct ideal beauty. Orlan, the performance artist is an important influence for her work. The surgical procedures to her body, cut, remove and cosmetically reshape. For Holly the canvas is a flesh where the process is echoed to achieve something desirable.
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alice craigie
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lice has been interested in a collection of early 20thCentury family postcards, and has been captured by the unique aspects of each. For some it was the physical object themselves and others it was the image or the handwritten message on the back. One phrase in particular caught her interest “This space may now be Used for Communication� which features on the left of one of the paintings. She chose to paint that particular postcard because of its circular composition which had been placed curiously off centre. She was also interested conceptually with the notion of reproduction; and intended to paint the postcards, alongside text in a way that was visually similar to that of a gallery postcard. She has used oils with a limited grey scale palate and with the second painting she worked directly onto a collage of enlarged sections of the photographs. She was interested in the relationship between reproduction, aura and the piece of artwork.
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joshua raz
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sophie bates
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hese images are from a project the subject of which is art as therapy in the relief of depression, grief and mental illness. Research involved a group of individuals including the artist. The clay sculptures are made by the research participants. They were blindfolded and instructed to mould the clay in their hands for five minutes while listening to a relaxing piece of piano music. The results were intriguing and led to making a series of prints from the photographs of the clay models. The other work is a painting/video installation which was made by filming a human form on a large white sheet while listening to another piece of hypnotic, therapeutic music.
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Katharine Starczewski
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tarczewski distorts and deconstructs illusionary images to reconstruct new forms which are intentionally illogical, ambiguous and complicated to read. By layering or dismantling the illusions within images and implementing controlled processes onto them, she aims to make us think more widely about the lack of control we often have over our environment, both physical and digital. In this series she worked with renderings of proposed buildings which will never be built, largely due to the financial crisis. The buildings will stay in a permanent non-reality; a state emphasised by the idealised, utopian-like atmosphere of the original images.
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katie wiseman
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he intention of these paintings is foremost aesthetic, a process of working and reworking the surface until the elements of the composition hang together as one whole. Idea and execution are of equal importance to the creation of the work, which addresses the expression of emotion and explores the properties and possibilities of oil paint. Although initially conceived as an abstract experiment in the representation of emotion through colour, the paintings are ultimately a record of the artist’s subjective affinities and associations toward specific colours and imagery. Formally, representational elements act as a framework upon which to hang aesthetic interests in shape, colour and texture although they are also of personal significance to the artist. The paintings occupy a space between private and public which is sometimes problematic, in which a discussion of the purpose and place of art as both an outlet for the artist and an exhibited object becomes relevant. Whilst their significance to the artist will differ from the understanding of a viewer according to the personal experience of each, hopefully viewers will engage in some way with the aesthetics of the paintings and the underpinning universal emotions.
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phoebe mcelhatton
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t began with stories and narrative, ‘tender is the night’ and ‘On Chesil beach’ Looking at well known narrative and unknown narrativeeveryday narrative The simplification of story telling and use of imagery This led to distorting the imagery created by the writer Using water, ink and drawing Moving from recognisable images to unrecognisable ones Kara walkers work led to looking at silhouettes as a means of creating stores Using natural uncontrollable mediums such as marbling to create figures The importance of monochrome- keeping it about the forms created The discovery of Tree Grass/moss; still not sure what it is Finding recognisable shapes within everyday views The importance of familiarity in figures What we want to see and what we actually see Looking at surrealist photography as an imprint of reality Using the photo to take the object out of context so it is unfamiliar Creating ambiguity This moved towards shadows as another imprint of reality and silhouettes
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jon cornbill
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n 2006, RTMS, a two way radio company, left number 16 and 18 Dene road for new premises. Since then the building has stood empty whilst being in a slow moving state of renovation. This project began in 2011 when number 16 was occupied once again as number 18 was left uninhabited. This is an exhibition that investigates the entire buildings purpose and history while experimenting with use of materials and process. By exploring the buildings past through the objects found there, its present using those more related to art practice, and it’s future using materials used in its renovation, construction and artistic process meet. ‘Stumbled’ is a question on how we value these spaces, how they are used and what journeys they go through.
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phil corns
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hil’s work revolves around the current court case of Dale Cregan and nine others, now convicted of four murders, two of which being murders of policewomen. This has been taking place where he lives and the artists and his community have been greatly affected by it. Corns has tried to summarise the case and highlight different aspects of it through different media. He has displayed two sound pieces, one of a ticking sound which should be played on repeat and one of news reports on the case being merged together. It was difficult to have them installed as he would ideally like, but in an ideal world he would have the ticking piece played in a very small dark room, and the other would be alongside the studio space installation. Phil’s work aims to get across the strong opinions he has on the case in the simplest of forms as he doesn’t see the point in overcomplicating something that is such an important thing to the artist personally and his community. Click on the boxes below to listen to the sound pieces.t
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