Tim Silver

Many of my photographs so far have recorded the aftermath of an event, and their narrative comes from hinting at what would have lead up to the photograph (and egg shell smashed on a doorstep, for example). Tim Silver records (through photography) the actual process of deterioration, which might be something for me to look at. Maybe I will photograph an egg shell or a fortune cookie at different points of being broken/pulverized. As in this series, the object will become more abstract and less recognizable throughout the 'sequence'.

Suspended Sculpture

I really don't feel these are working, which is disappointing. I'm finding that I'm coming up with ideas without trying them out in a practical way - obviously once you actually make a sculpture like this and photograph it, the process will lead in an unexpected direction. In this case I don't think it was a good direction... The domestic background is especially difficult for me to work in because I'm finding that it seems irrelevant and skews the meaning of the image. The work is no longer about form, it is about the uncanny, which is not just a deviation but a major change of track. I'm not going to persue this sculpture idea just yet, but Bernhard Blume's action shots are intriguing and create a similar abstraction through movement rather than this staged, deliberate stillness which I find quite stagnant and suffocating.

Gel Medium

Is, hopefully, going to help me transfer photographic prints onto the surface of egg shells!

I'm planning to photograph at close range a variety of building/house materials like brickwork, weatherboard, stone, windowpanes, fencing etc. and then print these images (via a temporary tattoo style method) onto egg shells, which I'll then break and sculpt into whatever takes my fancy... perhaps the suspended sculpture I've been planning, or a giant broken egg shape, or just simple miniature mounds of broken shells. This sculpture might form a final piece in its own right, or might become a still life subject in a studio/real-world photograph. I'll discuss the ideological ins and outs of this big plan later - my head is going to explode with excitement!

 

Helmick and Stuart Schechter

"Fata Morgana: an optical phenomenon that creates the illusion of water, often with inverted reflections of distant objects, and results from distortion of light by alternate layers of hot and cool air. Also called mirage."

Pae White

Pae White's suspended sculptures are simple and hold a humble elegance which I'm drawn to in terms of presentation and concept. A white space seems to be typical of most suspended installations - though I was pleased with my work last year in a dark studio, photographing minimally lit objects so they popped out from a blackness and created an more ominous and stylized mood to White's sculptures. I think it's important to consider this idea from the point of view of a photomedia artist - there will be different things to consider if my final artworks are to be photos of the sculpture, rather than the installation itself. Also to note - the strings in these installations are visible, though not obvious, and still they do not detract from the magic of seemingly floating objects.

Gerda Steiner & Jorg Lenzlinger

Brainforest - a booklet documentation of Steiner and Lenzlinger's sculptural installations including The Falling Garden (below), installed at the 50th Venice Bienalle (2003).

 

I'd kill to see this installation in the flesh, the scale is breathtaking and I imagine walking through the 'Falling Garden' would be magical. I'm ambitiously considering creating a similar suspended sculpture made of everyday, mundane objects or perhaps eggshells and other fragile materials, hoping to create a sentimental, nostalgic mood while also commenting on the inadequacy of keepsakes as a gateway to memory and experience: what we own does not necessarily compare to who we are and I believe objects and heirlooms should play a less important role in our idea of self than they do in today's age. Also a self-reflective observation on the ability of a photograph to capture truth - a photographic print is, after all, only a record of the exterior surface of someone or something. It gives limited insight into anything below the surface, just as memorabilia can only bring back so much of a person who has died, or a memory which has faded.

Cornelia Parker

"There are only a few images that are not forced to provide meaning, or have to go through the filter of a specific idea"

The shadows!! similar effect to a mirror - a self referent within the artwork, places the artist and the viewer within the artwork itself.

I would love to make a return to the sculpture this year and perhaps lean away from the sequence and work on a single, large sized and ambitious artwork. Parker's suspended sculptures are beautiful and also quite cold and unsentimental, which is topical in terms of my interest in nostalgia and the projected meaning of objects. I'd like to create a similar artwork using smashed up second-hand homewares, commenting on the fragility of our material safety nets and the impossibility of a mere object, whether it be a house, an heirloom or a piece of furniture, being a source of emotional comfort. It would also be interesting to include people within the sculpture, and dissect our human reactions to the violent treatment of keepsakes we almost consider sacred.

Christien Meindertsma

Checked Baggage 2003

Thomas Demand

Makes all these photographed installations out of coloured card and paper. Most are life sized and exact replicas of photographed spaces which actually existed at some point in time. Almost like sets to an audience, these paper sculptures appear to be real to the camera. This draws attention to photography's inadequacies in dealing with texture, space and reality. It also reveals the assumptions we make about the authority of the photograph, or in fact any for of representation.

I love the theatricality of these artworks, but also their simplicity - which is often lost in such detailed and intricate installations. Demand saves his extravagence for behind-the-scenes, and the final photograph is actually quite humble and believable.

Hans Bellmer

Totally creepy, intriguing, and in a way really beautiful in form and composition. The black and white is really effective - and the dolls themselves of course are sculpturally magnificent - Though subject matter is quite confronting, there's a lovely level of abstracted form in these images, and I understand why Bellmer chose to photograph his dolls rather than just present them as sculpture - the flattening and earie stillness is really what drives these shots for me.

Wrapping up Kate

In the filming studio for my first ever short film - which involved way more mess than had been anticipated but which was also a lot of fun! Pictured is Kate Haysom, my lovely, mess-friendly performer, who's tolerance was outstanding as we wrapped her up in layer upon layer of glue, glitter, paint, paper, fluorescent netting, gutter guard, cellophane and the like.

Chunky Move 'Connected'

 

Another video documentation of a performance/installation, but with stand-alone artistic power. Would have loved to have seen Chunky Move's latest show 'Connected' but missed it - luckily I think this video and many others do the brilliant performance justice! I'm interested in working with film, the body and sculpture in a multi-media/video piece for DIS2601. Perhaps using elastic and extreme close ups on skin.

Miranda July

Me and You and Everyone We Know

I still haven't managed to get my hands on the entire film but the clips available on youtube are wonderful, this intro sequence especially sets a great mood and I love the way Miranda July tells a simple story of ordinary people with such basic film techniques, and manages to make it seem so special.

Ronic Baranga

 Fascinating, and a little irksome...

Kathy Temin

I saw this exhibition at Heidi Gallery in Melbourne a few years ago, and will never forget it! temin's wonderful installations and sculptures are quite Seussical in their cute idiosyncracies - the white Felt Habitat (above) was absolutely magical to walk through. Her 'Problems' had so much character I wanted to take them home as pets!

Black Problem

 

The Duck-Rabbit Problem

Portia Munson

This borderline-fanatic certainly has a smidge of OCD about her, but the very best kind! Here are some shots from her pink collections, though more in green can be found at her website.

Tim MacPherson

So clever and simple, and beautifully sculpted as well. 

Dirkon: The Paper Camera

This camera, made out of paper, actually loads real film and takes real photos. incredible!

Paper Art

100 examples of paper art

Bovee Lee

Ingrid siliakus

Brian Dettmer

Peter Callesen

Stencils

This cute little image plays around with stencils beautifully, and I love the idea of working a detailed landscape image into the simple cut out forms of a silhouette