Thursday 14th February 

My initial idea for my unit 3 project was to explore spatial perspective: distortion of scale; however, the theme of spatial perspective is rooted at the core of the discipline of sculpture itself and is therefore too board of a theme to explore for the Park project.

After talking to Karen about my project proposal, she helped narrow it down to a more focused themed that I can navigate through successfully. Narrowing my project proposal to spatial perspective:distorted realities would allow me to cover a vast range of ideas and materials without getting lost and overwhelmed by too many options. I spent the rest of the day brainstorming and noting down all my current ideas. 

Thought of the day: "We tell ourselves to accept reality but do we even know what the is"

Distorted realities:

- reality is a personal perception (subject to you)

- viewing the same thing as someone else but ion a completely different way 

-eye sight is different for everyone, no one will never know exactly how someones else sees something (literally and metaphorically)

- viewing something from someone else perspective/eyes would recreate/reinvent whats being looked at; making the familiar unfamiliar. whether the dictation is ht interpretation, the clarity of viewing it, scale, colour, material or texture. 

How can reality change:

• evolution, modernisation
• thoughts, self growth 
• mental health 
• science, new discoverires 
• visual illusion 

Sunday 17th February 

I began to think about the idea of reality and the initial imagery that comes with it, the idea of how everyone views the world differently and its impossible to ever really know how someone else sees something. This intrigue has men generating ideas of creating new perspective, for example the world upside down. 

I'm really interested in how everyone views the same thing differently an shoe other species/animals has different colour spectrums- imagine a world were we cant see colour. there are so many thing that aren't visible by the human eye that other species can see. This thought sparked a massive interest in investigating things under a microscope, for example- a giant grain of sand representing something familiar in a totally different way, like a brand new insight making you view the world differently. A single grain of sand under a microscope looks nothing like I thought it would, int looks like a gem with rough sides. Theres so much more underneath the surface, cutting something open and exposing the interior- something not typically seen of a common object. 

Monday 18th February

Site visit: While visiting the park today, I allowed me to refresh my knowledge of the space, being one of my local parks, I am pretty familiar with it and its history. Thinking about the spaces available to me and I can utilise the space to create ambitious work. The opportunity of using the park is really exciting, it creating work for a brand new audience, not just my peers; this presents me with a number of new responsibilities to create work appropriate and safe for the park and its users. 

Blowing something up in the park, in the sense of magnifying it to seem like a new experience of something familiar. For example putting mirrors on the steps to reflect the sky which would create an immersive experience of the world being the wrong way up. Or a giant blade of grass. Or a giant bench and how the perspective of something else, a smaller animal and how it would be towering over them. Or the fountain and instead of water coming out something else does, perhaps sand. As Waterlow Park is one of my local parks, theres never really anything new that I see so it be interesting to present something new to look at that already exists in the park. 

Tuesday 19th February 

My initial idea surrounding. my PPP was centred on this idea of how you cant see how someone views the same exact thing as you. I'm fascinated with how eyes work and the intricate and multitude of layers, the way the eye focus like a camera, the idea of looking through something and viewing as new reality in the sense of a new perspective. 

For example, through different focal point and strengths of sense, you in threat see how another does. Or in terms of colour blindness, creating a pair of glasses or something one looks through in order to view as another would- imagine seeing the world in black and white, it would present a brand new world, a new reality. This idea through of constructing a giant pair of glasses would be interesting in the landscape of the park and would definitely create a strong/ bold presence; however the idea is very literal and for the glasses to truly have an effect and be able to stand alone in an open space it would have to be extremely big in size, proving to be very expense. It would be a conversational and interactive piece where you can peers through different parts of the sense to view there same view of the park in multiple ways. I'm still intrigued by eye sight na dhow we all see things slightly differently whiter thats todo with the scale, clarity, colour, sharpness e.c.t. I plan to explore these ideas and concepts late run my PPP after park where I have a chance to explore more ideas.  

Thursday 20th February 

Creating a bunch of sketches/initial ideas.   

Friday 22th February 

White Cube Mason's Yard: Miroslaw Balka 'Random Access Memory'

On entering the gallery space, Balka is cleverly playing with the ideas of negative space, invisible space even, suggesting an equal importance to having a sense of absence within a space. when I was first looking at the piece, I was the only one in the room and wondered what to do, after looking, hearing and smelling the only senses left were taste and touch. I purposefully didn't read the sheet you pick up when entering the space, instead I wanted to read it after t investigate my ability to read the piece itself. The installation creates a physical reaction as the walls are hot the touching it, you cant hold you hand there for too long. Balka is treating the physical interaction as dialogue 

The ability to use and involve the senses into a piece particularly intrigued me and the way the installation draw me in and provided me with instructions was impressive. Making me more aware of space and the lack of,  had me thinking back to my own project; spatial perspective is at the root of sculpture, the discipline itself it centred around it, and Balka incorporation of sensory language allows the viewer to understand the space, feel it. I particularly loved the layout of the exhibition, as it allowed space for thought- the viewers thoughts  

It's extremely appropriate and well thought out that Balka invites interaction as a common theme in his work is recognising human presence. The physical experience requiring no instructions, seems quite pure, even though everyone ends up doing the same thing and having the same interaction, it seems personal in the sense of memories and the way memories are personal and unique. this exhibit reminded me how a smell of a feeling of something can bring back a memory from years ago- something you thought you'd for gotten- and bring it to life again. 

White Cube Bermondsey: Tracey Emin 'A Fortnight of Tears'

This was such a diverse range of works from one artist, her work comments on the human existence and the physical traumas that come with it. "‘A Fortnight of Tears’ centres around Emin’s own pain, including her mother’s death, with works shown in The Ashes Room evoking states of bereavement, mourning and enduring love..As she described it: ‘the essence of creativity, that moment of conception… the whole being of everything... it had to be about where it was really coming from’." (https://whitecube.com/exhibitions/exhibition/tracey_emin_bermondsey_2019)

In particular, the abnormally large body sculptures lay boldly on the gallery floor, the vulnerable and curled up position of the bodies were interesting to walk around, the viewer sympathises with the body. The concealment of the body draws you in as a viewer, peering and getting close to the sculpture, the way Emin was able this made me want to achieve a similar atmosphere in y own work, additionally creating work that involves audience interaction of walking around something with an interesting scale. The impressive awe of walking around these giant sculptures has always been seething live wanted to explore/achieve, relating back to my PPP and how something as simple a the distortion of scale can completely change the viewers experience. 

Tuesday 26th February Tate Modern: 

It was amazing to see the Franz West exhibition at Tate Modern, particularly his large scale sculptures absurd both for galleries and public spaces. It was really interesting to interact and handle  replicas of his Passstücke (Adaptives) – papier-mâché pieces and provide a performance space for the viewer; therefore breaking the barrier between the art and the audience. Every persons interactions with the pieces were completely different, depending on the sculptures shape, scale, proportions, it seemed playful but not comical. Its important to realises that the sculptures aren't props as such, they introduce social experience as they ask the viewer to interact as a physical extension of themselves- going beyond inital functions.   

chat-media-video-47E797AF-0728-4532-81A8-350263F54871.MOV.1 [0.72MB] 

Monday 4th March 

After looking at Jeppe Hein curved mirrors, it sparked an interest in creating an abstract hall of mirrors in the park, something that would alter the environment/ present it in a new way. The beauty of reflections is that they constantly change throughput the day with the lighting and with the movement of the viewer. The hall of mirrors would function as an interactive installation for the viewers to walk through and around with different shaped, curved and sized mirrors to create more interesting/ odd reflections. However thinking about this idea realistically for the park, it would be expensive to construct and the seer mass of individual mirrored pieces would create more risk assessment problems. Mirrors prompt dialogue and by having these reflections in the park, it might encourage conversations between strangers looking into the mirrors. 

Tuesday 5th March 

Thinking of new mirrored construction in terms of the layout, size, amount and arrangement of mirrors, I sketched out these mirrored discs. Anish Kapoor's Mirrored Outdoor Sculptures in Kensington Gardens almost turn the world upside down, the angled reflections reflect the sky and the floor and the floor and the sky, this is a concept that I was keen to investigate and present in the park.  Additionally, I'm striving to create something bold enough and with enough presence in the park to challenge the traditional notion of the passive viewer. The beauty of site-specific works like this is that they are conceptual, interactive, and activated by their viewers. 

I made these mini models to help visualise my idea so when I had a conversation with Karen or Adrian, I could communicates my proposal clearly. Still debating on the layout of the disc but what I know for certain is that there will be three, one standing relatively straight and the other two and different angles. The reason why three world so well as an arrangement is that odd numbers create balance and visual depth- the installation would look to busy or not busy enough.  

Thursday 7th March 

After handing in my visitation and PPP earlier on in the week, I began making little models and maquette's to visualise my ideas and plan. After having a conversation with a past MA student - who came in our class to give advice on risk assessments- my proposal for park was a well fleshed out idea now with a plan on how to construct and assemble it. 

Thinking in terms of sturdiness and public safety, the mirrored disc have to be relatively light weight to transform to and from the park but almost not fall over.  I initially had the idea of sandwiching spikes into the disc and then into the ground as we can't not dig up or alter the park. The MA student was a big help in recognising every single possible risk and solutions to them, he suggested brackets to secure the discs would may ruin the aesthetic. 

After talking to Adrian, we set a real plan in action, discussion materials, dimensions and safety. The plan is to sandwich two 12mm disc of MDF with a plywood ring in the centre to create a rigid structure- and then use filler in the middles gaps so extra precaution. Additionally with the brackets, as well as them supporting the discs but could almost peg to the floor for an added layer of sturdiness. The idea of slotting the mirrored discs would produce a self supporting structure and then the brackets would only function as an under layer just in case the weather conditions prove challenging. In terms of materials, I've ordered a bunch of mirrored vinyl instead of actual mirror, this will reduce the time and risk apposed to using real mirror, also it won't add to the weight overall. In my sketch book, I've mapped out the dimensions and have started to calculate some sort of cost, mirrors vinyl isn't too expensive and the biggest sheets of MDF at B&Q are around £22 each and I could cut them out in the work shops with a jigsaw to save the money of someone else doing it. 

Monday 11th March 

After reading "Way of seeing" by John Berger got me thinking about "traditionally art". and the idea of what is reality. The investigation of how sight comes before dialogue- this make me think about Jacques Lacan's cognitive theories of human development, for example the mirror stage (something is intent to go into later). The book raises the questions of how do we see? How are we seen? What do we see? How might we see different?

Berger invites the reader to open their minds and view the familiar in a new light, however this is just starching the surface as the 1972 book is more concerned with “The relation between what we see and what we know is never settled,” he wrote.

Berger primarily focuses on paintings, exploring their "value" and their ever changing nature regardless of the time. The mentioned cameras and how they have completely changed the world of perception as painting can now be duplicated/recreated/copied and sent all over the world- he comments how that from this invention of capturing of digital reality, paintings have lost something about them (a sense of awe perhaps). The idea that a camera copies what it sees to get a perfect image slightly confuses me as how do we know that the camera is seeing correctly- this then raises the question of what is the correct way of seeing? The answer to most being that there is no right way which is one of the core beauties of art, everyones views things differently. 

"An example of a painting that the camera and the possibility of recreating and copying the image made very popular is Van Gogh's starry night. It is debatably one of the world's most widely-known painting- even though only a select people have been to the museum in New York to see the original. This painting has become so popular that people try to recreate it, add their own touches to it, and even do things like design clothes with the painting on it.

In this case, the camera and remediation of the painting, made the painting extrememly popular, as well as the original. The original piece, because it is so widely known, loses some of that "mysteriousness" that Berger talked about- but the market value of the painting, because it is so popular, is extremely high."

(https://wam.fandom.com/wiki/John_Berger_%22Ways_of_Seeing%22,_Episode_1)

Some quotes I particularly liked from the BBC episodes: 

• “Images can be used like words, we can talk with them”. It sums up visual language in an accessible way.

• ” A lot more is possible, but only is art is stripped of the false mystery and the false religiosity which surrounds it.”

• “The images come to you. You do not go to them. The days of pilgrimage are over. It is the image of the painting which travels now.”

• “The meaning of a painting no longer resides on it’s unique painted surface, which it is only possible to see in one place at one time. It’s meaning ,or a large part of it has become transmittable. It comes to you, this meaning, like the news of an event. It has become information of a sort.”

• "Perspective centres everything on the eye of the beholder – makes the eye the centre of the visible world"
• "Premise is that men watch women, but ‘women watch themselves being looked at’ –’ constantly use the glances of others as mirrors, reminding themselves of how they look’"

Berger book has left me aware of the manipulation and so called ‘false mystification’ of art in the modern world and has almost encouraged me to adopt how open for interpretation and meaning children are when they view something. The perspective of children has always intrigued me as they think of things/interpretations/interactions that adults are blind to. 

Tuesday 12th March 

Gallery visit: Kader Attia: The Museum of Emotion

"“Kader Attia is one of the most interesting and cogent artists practising today. Attia expands the boundaries of what it means to be an artist working today by acting as a savvy historian, an archaeologist, an anthropologist, ethnologist and sociopolitical commentator. Exploring timely subjects such as migration, gender, border politics and the lingering legacies of Western colonialism, Attia is making an invaluable contribution at a time when many societies are increasing polarised. Moving and challenging, his art illuminates the possibilities of a new idea of repair.”"

(https://fadmagazine.com/2019/02/12/kader-attia-the-museum-of-emotion/)

Thursday 14th March 

Still uncertain with my final design I created cardboard models to help envision the dimensions, how the pieces would slot, the balance and so forth. In particular, the second and last design incorporates a ring instead of a full circle or oval which I found to be an interesting contrast and element where you can look through it to the mirror on the other side. When coming it with designs, one of the most important factors was how and where the mirrors would intersect, because that interaction between the different mirrors would really heighten the sculptures involvement with the surroundings. Model making like this allows me to look at all the angles of the sculpture, seeing if each viewpoint is interesting and stimulating to the viewer.

Sunday 17th March

Creating the mirrored disc out of paper allowed me to visualise and see the relationship between all the pieces. I was struggling to decide what arrangement and composition of shapes would be most successful and attractive for the view and from the surroundings, therefore I used scrap pieces of paper stuck together to get a feel of the scale and the relationship between the discs. I really didn't want to buy the wood and cut the shapes to not be happy with the way they relate or the scale comparison so I wanted to be doubly sure and confident in my design before executing it. The paper models I made seemed very big looking at them lying on the floor but I had to take into account that they wouldn't be flat on the floor and that they would be angled which makes them look less wide- but by no means less impressive. I think its really important to map out the scale of when I'm producing larger sculpture or installations, espeacially to be resourceful and sick to my budget.  

Questions I'm always thinking about:

• What were the challenges and successes of working with the space that you chose, and with developing a three-dimensional model of your sculpture? 
• What was the deciding point for your choice of one particular space?
• How were the designs of your models inspired or influenced by the space you picked?
• How do you think the space would change if your sculpture was completed and installed in that location? 
• How would the affect of scale hinder or heighten the viewers experience. 

Monday 18th March

Physically translating my proposal, I spent the whole day in the wood workshop creating and constructing my mirrors discs. The initial idea of sandwiching two sheets to MDF together seemed practical in the beginning, however in practice, 12mm was heavy and sturdy enough to avoid affecting the material surface on top. After cutting out the desired shapes and size- sizes that took full advantage of a full sheet of MDF- I was able to play around with where I wanted to create the slots and in the long run, where the mirrored surface would intersect. While cutting out the discs, it created a couple bumps and dents in the MDF, this will later effect the application of the mirrored vinyl so I will have to apply filler to even out the surface to avoid any ripples in the reflection. Additionally, after cutting out all my planned proposals I started thinking about adding one or two more shapes for supportive reasons. 

Throughout the process, I made adjustments and tweaked measurements and details to best suit the over all effect; I find a lot of the time when creating outcomes that no matter how much one plans every little detail, its important to be open minded and flexible. For example, while jigsawing out the slots in the discs, it came to my attention that I need to take into account that adding the layers of vinyl later will add thickness to the MDF; therefore, I needed to make the slots slightly larger so when the pieces are together, it won't be too tight and there will be a bit of give and won't rip or wrinkle the vinyl. 

Before I apply the vinyl on top, I will have to drill a couple holes at the approbate angles to then later fix in the ground the in the park; after drilling a small hole for the wired rope, I will gently create a grove for the rope to run to the floor- and again apply some filler onto of the rope, grove and hole to maintain an even surface for the vinyl. 

In terms of sturdiness and support, after having the wired rope pegged to the floor, the use of brackets will be vital to achieve the desired angles of the discs slotting. Slotting makes the sculpture self supportive but pegging and brackets ensure public safety, especially as the weather conditions are unknown of that week. Furthermore, the central disc (the ellipse) that is intersecting the biggest circle, would benefit having a post that adda extra support on the part of the sculpture taking the most strain. 

Tuesday 19th March 

After day in the wood workshops finishing up cutting out and sanding my three discs. Today was mostly focused on the balance of the sculpture and how the three separate pieces would come together; therefore, creating the slots and the groove for a loop of wire to go through would allow the wire to sit neatly in the wood and under the vinyl and not cause any bumps of uneven surfaces. I decided only to create these slots on the biggest discs as is the pieces that takes the heaviest strain due to the 45-degree angle it sits.

Particularly like Anish Kapoor- who places the majority of his mirrored outdoor sculpture at an angle- the various slant would reflect unnaturally, and I’m really interested to see the reflection where the disc intercept. My sculpture won't quite be a crystal clear reflection but will transforms the space around it, creating unnatural angles of reflection, the sculptures size is interesting too it not big its not small, encouraging the viewer to maybe crouch down walk around it, allow the sculpture to change with their movement.  

Thursday 21st March

Debating with the finishing touches, primarily the colour of the discs edge/rim. The finish, colour and texture of the edge could completely change the sculpture and create new representations beyond my focused theme. The initial idea was to cover the edges in mirror like the rest of the sculpture, however it was awkward to grid to the circumference of the discs and produced a messy sort of look- not as crisp and neat as I wanted; therefore, painting the edge seemed like the best idea that would create a seamless finish. At first I was thinking the white would have a clean edge but I've been reading 'The Secret Life of Colour' by Kassia St Clair which lead me to question if the colour should compliment or contrast against the environment. Thinking of the location of my sculpture and how that should affect the sculpture itself, siting on a patch of grass, perhaps matching the edge to the shade of grass would look seamless and neat- allowing the sculpture to almost sinking into the environment. A more neon directions perhaps pink or yellow or both would be a completely different contrast, one that changes the whole mood of the sculpture. I feel like the colour of the edge can transform and reinvent what the sculpture creates for the viewer. Choosing black or white would create a more contrast with a modern aesthetic, a contrast that is both subtle and bold which compliments the presence of the sculpture. 

Important to paint the sculptures edge before applying the vinyl to achieve a neat edge where the mirror remains untouched. I created these little mock up plans on my phone to get an idea of how it might turn out which was the right approach in helping me be confident in my choice. The neon isn't the mood I'm trying to set as I want my mirrors to fit in with the environment and the neon colours would make it appear slightly artificial. The white would seem washed out and is bound to get dirty, therefore black was most fitting as it wouldn't distract you from the mirror but would make the sculpture look finished. 

Monday 25th March

I've spent the whole of the project leading up to this week researching different methods, materials and techniques of what type of mirror to use and how to apply it. It is the most crucial element of the structure and undoubtedly the biggest cost factor therefore I’d have to get it right the first time. I debated using actual mirror, mirror chrome, mirror vinyl and even different coloured acrylic.

1- Actual mirror would achieve results similar to Anish Kapoor, Shirin Abedinirad and Jeppe Hein, a crystal clear reflection of the environment around it, not alternating the surrounding sit reflects, just presenting them the the viewer in a new unexpected way. However, when researching mirror and thunking of buying it, the expense was way beyond my budget especially getting the mirror professionally cut to a certain shape, such as my discs, proved even more pricey. Additionally, work with actual mirror would present more risk assessment problem, if the edges are sharp, it be heavier and more easy to fall over and hurt someone, therefore this material was ruled out. 

2- Mirror chrome is an interesting material, used on car mirrors, car exterior and pretty much any smooth surface, however, mirror chrome is a more distorted reflection, mainly to create a metallic appearance particularly on cars. It was an affordable material so I ordered a couple sampled but unfortunately the reflection just wasn't there. I not trying to achieve a crystal clear refection, but enough to identify the shapes and figures you see moving across the sculpture. 

3- The different coloured acrylic would produce a very bold presence where the colours could even lap over. Colour fascinates me and the science behind it confuses me, its something id like to look into further into unit 7- perhaps the colour wheel, the invention of colour and the idea of a world with out colour.  

4- I ended up going for mirrored vinyl, a self adhesive material that produced a very decent reflection. I had to look at a variety of company and brands before actually ordering one as many claimed to look a certain way but reviews said other wise. But finally I found a website https://www.vinylwarehouse.co.uk that could cater for what I was striving to achieve. On of the most important factors before ordering my 8 meters of mirror was if it could be adhesive on MDF,I even considered using sheets of allunimum instead of MDF or acrylic but the weight and surface was problematic. I had a lot of trouble finding one that could as most mirror vinyls are put on windows for privacy reasons- this made me consider if I should switch from using MDF to clear acrylic as that seemed to produce a more mirrored affect as most mirrored vinyls require light to pass through in order to get the mirrored effect. However, the cost was out of my budget especially with the size of the discs and the thickness in depth needed to make the sculpture sturdy enough, therefore a vinyl adhesive to MDF was essential. 

Tuesday 26th March

Applying the vinyl was accurate task, it required my work space to be dust free and clear as my roll was over 7 metres long and once the backing of the vinyl was removed, I had to work quickly and precisely so not to bend/tear/alter the mirrored affect. I covered the two smaller discs with the help of a peer and the vinyl could earlier stretch across the whole disc; however, the larger disc - with a 1193mm diameter- was too large for the vinyls width. I knew this would be the case before even buying the vinyl and cutting the wood, it was hard to find anywhere that stocked this sort of quality of vinyl with a decent width to the roll, a 90cm width was the largest I could find and therefore had to make it work for me. I found a way to avoid an obvious seem by lining up the end of the vinyl with the slot in the MDF where the other discs fit into- by lining the vinyl up with the longest slot, it minimised the seem looking to present. 

To make sure the discs would be secure, I had a make a couple holes with groves running to the edge of the largest disc where I would thread through a cable tie. The cable tie lay flat in the grove but to produce a neat and smooth finishes surface, I applied resin wood filler over the holes and groves to set the cable tie in place- there was no shrinkage or cracking in the wood. The high performance of this product should weather any rain that might occur in the park and keep the cable ties securely pegged to the ground.  

As the applying the vinyl was the penultimate stage of this project, and seeing that is was the biggest cost in my budget, I wanted to do it properly and without rushing. The whole process took a few days as I am covering both sides of the discs and wanted to ensure theres no air bubbles and that the edges are cut with care. 

Essentially finished park, only a few final touches to address like retouching the painted edges and to neaten up a few spots with the vinyl. Today I turned my attention to unit 7 and how I was going to approach it. 

Thursday 28th March 

Applying the vinyl was a three day process- a day for each discs- as I was applied the vinyl to both sides o each disc. The process was long as I took my time to smoothly pallid the film, making sure to have a dust free surface and clean tools to reduce any disruptions and bumps under the surface. With the two smaller discs, it was a relatively simple task as the width of the vinyl could stretch across the disc's width so there was no shortage of vinyl or any need to create any seems. However, the biggest 

I knew that this disc would be a problem from the beginning as the width couldn't fit any vinyl roll I found- however I had to sacrifice this issues for scale as I desperately wanted one disc to be drastically larger than the others for compositional and engineering reasons. All the pieces are self supporting and rely on each other to be in the right position to remain standing. 

The largest disc had a radius of  610mm which was the most I could get out a full sheet of MDF and I had to make the mirrored vinyl work around that. When starting to apply the vinyl to one side of the large disc, I originally was going to line up the vinyl to meet at the centre of the circle; however, now actually have the vinyl in person to play around with, I came up with the idea to line up the seem where the two pieces of pinky will meet with the longest slot in the disc where another disc slots in. by doing this, it minimises the visualness of the seem and makes the mirror effect look like one sheet of mirror- however I wouldn't know this until I took the protective film off the in the sculpture is in the park as I didn't want to scratch up the mirror before the event. Therefore, this technique was very much a gable as I could actually see the result until installing the piece I the park. 

I came across a mathematical problem when applying the pinky to the other side of the large disc. The first image below on the left shows the second side partly covered due to the remaining vinyl being and inch too short

I believe the error occurred when vinyling the other discs and perhaps being too generous with some of the excess pieces of vinyl. I really didn't want to create another seem at the bottom- even though this could be the side that isn't facing the public- I wanted the whole thing to be done properly which a really highly affect finish. Therefore I ordered another roll of mirror (only a 1.5m roll as I only need a small amount), by doing this however, it did put my work on hold for about five working days, but I was happy to sacrifice time for quality. 

Sunday 29th March

Bill Viola / Michelangelo: Life Death Rebirth:

"Viola’s screens invariably involve a challenge to the viewer. You may flock to see images of annunciations and resurrections from five centuries ago, they declare, and find yourselves awed by those profound mysteries painted large on walls and ceilings, so why not in our present moment? That challenge seems somehow a distinctly American question. It begs for the kind of heightened emotions that might be expected when, for example, you ascend to the no-expense-spared heights of the Getty Museum in Los Angeles and discover there is no small-scale irony to orient yourself by.

The most spectacular, and representative, of Viola’s films here, Tristan’s Ascension (The Sound of a Mountain Under a Waterfall), gives you a sense of what you are in for. It starts, typically, with a man in a white gown on a marble slab under a shower, which becomes a cataract as he slowly ascends, counterintuitively and presumably triumphantly, through water and darkness. If you are not sufficiently awed by the vision, be prepared to be nudged into the appropriate mood by signs on the RA walls that attest to the artist’s “deep preoccupations with the nature of the human soul”.

[...]

Set side by side with Michelangelo, Viola’s work seems to want to reduce it to the broadest of “life lessons”. It’s a treat to be able to see the wall of drawings of mythological scenes by Michelangelo in the subsequent room, each mark on paper detailing the kind of divine muscular energy that Blake so envied in his take on those drawings; it is not quite clear, though, what is achieved by having them opposite Viola’s pair of films of a naked older man and woman exploring their crevices and sags with handheld flashlights. It would be nice to imagine you were being invited to smile at the contrast, but you can’t help feeling that something graver is required. The comparison seems designed to diminish both artists’ preoccupations, but particularly the Italian’s. Michelangelo may, like Viola, have been preoccupied with mortality, but only because he treasured all the infinite possibility of bodies alive."

(https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/feb/03/bill-viola-michelangelo-life-death-rebirth-review-royal-academy)

bill viola .mov (video of exhibition)

Tuesday 2nd April

The last roll of mirror arrived in the morning so the I planned to get the whole thing finished today. I finished mirroring the last disc and got them all packed and ready to be transported. I spent the rest of the day experimenting with mirror- bending, overlapping. Thinking about future projects and how I could improve the one I've just done, thinking about new ways to play with mirror or even use another material besides mirror or reflective surfaces. I  spent the majority of my Easter holiday catching my on my reading list and visiting exhibitions, for example, Artist Rooms: Jenny Holzer at the Tate, Diane Arbus: In the beginning at the Hayward Gallery, Kader Attia: The Museum of Emotion at the Hayward Gallery and Christian Marclay at White Cube Mason's Yard. 

Monday 8th April 

IMG_1022.mov- mirror experimentation 

I spent most of the day creating mini experiments and outcomes to further manipulate the surface of mirror. Different techniques of playing around with different reflective surfaces produced interesting results, for example- crumbling up, folding, layering, bending or position to create an infinity. Some of the results reminded me of the 'Castle Downs Park Pavilion' by gh*3, echoing a similar mirrored effect- almost like looking from the perspective of being under water. The ability to create sensory experiences is always a interest to me, perhaps by introducing another sense to the experiments like the smell of salt water to emphasise its intention and maximise the affect on. the audience. 

Tuesday 9th April 

Thinking about the idea of a hall of mirrors or a maze of confusing reflections. A mirror installation could make the audience feel a loss of gravity and perhaps invoke the satin off falling/feeling unsteady. This idea reminds me of the Scent-infused mirror maze by Es Devlin fills south London warehouse. 

"I wanted to slightly turn the tables, my work normally has the audience outside, the performer elevated and broadcasting and I wanted the visitor or the guest to be welcomed into the art piece.

What the maze represents is the complex structures that all of us create around ourselves to just function and I wonder how easy it is to allow oneself access to these ancient instinctive connections the more complex our day-to-day structures become."

Devlin told Dezeen at a preview of the installation.

(https://www.dezeen.com/2016/09/21/scent-infused-mirror-maze-es-devlin-south-london-warehouse-uk/)

Thursday 11th April 

Christian Marclay: White Cube Mason's Yard

"‘Instead of paying attention to the faces of people passing by, I watched their feet, and all these busy types were reduced to hurrying steps − toward what? And it was clear to me that our mission was to graze the dust in search of a mystery stripped of anything serious.’ 

[...]

In the ground floor gallery, a new stop-motion animation combines strategies of street photography, conceptual art and serial production to create a kinetic portrait of the urban environment. Constructed in the same manner as earlier videos by the artist that featured found urban detritus like cigarette butts or bottle caps, it presents thousands of photographs of the ‘Look’ sign, painted at crossings and intersections on London streets. Like the experiments of early cinema or the stuttering movement of a flip book, Marclay's collection of images captures this blunt, textual command in a surprising array of states: precise, erratic, superimposed or virtually erased by traffic or weather. Through isolation and repetition of his subject, Marclay accesses the strange within the familiar, allowing the viewer to look again at this everyday instruction.

The relationship of text to image continues in a large-scale, silent video installation presented in the lower-ground floor gallery. In this work, thousands of cinematic cutouts, cropped from the bottom of the frame where subtitles typically feature, are collated and presented as a floor-to-ceiling column of 22 horizontal strips. Conceived as a ‘vertical poem’, fleeting extracts of English subtitles resembling lines of concrete poetry are overlaid on disparate, cinematic fragments that conjoin and flow in a dense, painterly tapestry of word and image. An overall structural logic allows the viewer to make subjective connections across numerous themes, peripheral actions, obscured scenes, frenetic camera movements and kaleidoscopic colours. Toying with our impulse to read images, the work serves to expose how the interpretation of cinematic tropes are both collective and personal. Various forms connect across different clips, echoing the artist’s works with paper fragments and his ‘Body Mix’ series in which figures from different record covers come together to make new composites.

Marclay has said that his use of collage – which relates to a Duchampian notion of the readymade as well as to the experimental approach of Fluxus – combines visual recognition with the shock of contextual transformation. In these two new video works, his use of the collaged fragment allows for a shift in focus, redirecting the eye from centre to edge, downward to the dirty corner of a street seen from above or the very bottom section of a film frame, and relocating it as the site of chance encounter and potential narrative."

(https://whitecube.com/exhibitions/exhibition/christian_marclay_masons_yard_2019) 

Sarah Morris: White Cube Bermondsey

"White Cube Bermondsey presents Sarah Morris’s first solo show in the UK in six years. Featuring paintings, films, a site-specific wall painting as well as the artist’s first sculptural work, the exhibition reflects Morris’s interest in networks, typologies, architecture, language and the city.

Employing an architecture of colourful and abstract forms, Morris’s paintings play on the viewer’s sense of visual recognition. She incorporates a wide range of references, from the graphic identity of multinational corporations and the structure of urban transport systems to the iconography of maps, GPS technology, as well as the movement of people within urban areas. Morris sees her paintings as being part of a larger self-generating system, always remaining open and allowing for interpretation, motion and change. Within her practice, each canvas and each film can be considered as part of an index, offering a set of coordinates which point to a vast and constantly evolving network of visual, social and political connections. Morris has said ‘I start the films with coordinates and it is not dissimilar with the paintings. There is a certain set of points, a certain set of coordinates: the places, situations, and rooms I want to be in, and the people I want to meet. It is literally that specific. It’s creating an open system and letting it run.’

[...]

While they are derived from fragments of conversations, Morris’s forms also reference concrete elements: digital files, the lights on audio equipment, the encoded information on bar charts and flow diagrams or the structures of mapping. Highlighting how language is a construct, particularly important in relation to art in our ‘post-truth’ age, they connect with the history of modernist abstraction while remaining conceptual in their process of production. Here language becomes image, attesting to the impossibility of a painting ever truly being abstract.  

[...]

Also presented for the first time is a new, large-scale site-specific wall painting titled after Ataraxia (2019),a philosophical concept meaning an end state of ‘imperturbable calm’ or, conversely, a means to an end; the ideal mental state for soldiers preparing for battle. For Morris the state of ataraxia is an impossibility, yet perhaps something that the paintings offer. The work references the visual iconography of the urban environment, allowing the viewer to reflect on the relationships between the space of the gallery, the surrounding city, the abstract space of the work, and speech and vision itself. Like her paintings on canvas, Morris’s wall painting maintains an endless series of global connections, using the grid as a constantly expanding form beyond the viewer’s immediate field of vision."

(https://whitecube.com/exhibitions/exhibition/sarah_morris_bermondsey_2019)

Tuesday 16th April  

First day back from Easter, having a quick conversation with Adrain about my piece and confirming theres nothing more to do with it- safety wise for the public. Today was mostly a catch up day, reassessing what needs to be done and ticking things off the list like reflections and research.  Turning my focus to research and continuing to read the the 'Philosophy and the mMirror of Nature' by Richard Rorty. 

"Rorty argued that, beginning in the seventeenth century, philosophers developed an unhealthy obsession with the notion of representation. They compared the mind to a mirror that reflects reality. In their view, knowledge is concerned with the accuracy of these reflections, and the strategy employed to obtain this knowledge--that of inspecting, repairing, and polishing the mirror--belongs to philosophy. Rorty's book was a powerful critique of this imagery and the tradition of thought that it spawned. He argued that the questions about truth posed by Descartes, Kant, Hegel, and modern epistemologists and philosophers of language simply couldn't be answered and were, in any case, irrelevant to serious social and cultural inquiry. This stance provoked a barrage of criticism, but whatever the strengths of Rorty's specific claims, the book had a therapeutic effect on philosophy. It reenergized pragmatism as an intellectual force, steered philosophy back to its roots in the humanities, and helped to make alternatives to analytic philosophy a serious choice for young graduate students. Twenty-five years later, the book remains a must-read for anyone seriously concerned about the nature of philosophical inquiry and what philosophers can and cannot do to help us understand and improve the world."

(https://www.amazon.co.uk/Philosophy-Mirror-Nature-Richard-Rorty/dp/0691020167)

This book got me thinking of and being aware of the alternatives and alternative ways of thinking, causing me to think about and question my experiments and their effectiveness and how to correspond with reality. 

Thursday 18th April 

Today was the finishing touches on Park- fixing up and scratch bits of paint, giving the vinyl one last smooth over and packing up the discs up in bubble wrap ready for transportation. Thinking abut where to position the piece in the park was tricky as I wanted to have a patch of grass that was exposed to anything and everything. I wanted to take into account the weather- interested to see how the piece would change through the day due to the weather and therefore I wanted and area exposed to sun, rain, wind and whatever conditions that it was going to endure in the park. Also, a position that would compliment the environment- the wonderful thing with mirrors is that they don't interrupt where they are placed but more likely add and enhanced it; having a relatively large patch of grass would allow optimum reflections to blend in with the environment

After many site visits, I eventually decided upon this spot that was quite isolated from anyone else work so there was enough space to play around with the surroundings but always was positioned so passers-by could sit on the benches from the path and look down on it. It was important when placing the mirror to have the biggest disc facing the sun to achieve the largest effect on the largest surface area.  

Tuesday 23rd April 

Today was the big instal day for Park, spent the whole day packing and transporting sculptures in the van and starting to set up at Waterlow Park. When assembling the discs together I kept the mirror film on to kept the mirror untouched until the event. When choosing a spot to lay my sculpture I had to take into consideration the weather and the week of rain that had been scheduled, therefore I picked a patch of grass quiet high up on the waterlogged area to reduced the wood/moist soil affecting the wood. As the biggest disc had pre-existing holes and hooks, that I installed last week, it was a simple process to peg it down and then slot in the other two discs which are self supporting. I quickly cleaned up any bits of paint that got scrape off while the discs were being transported and made sure the discs firmly slowed into each other and sat flat on the ground. Just as an extra precaution, I wanted to instal a couple pegs on the two self supporting disc, o only need smaller silver ones as I don't want them to be noticeable- I intent to do that tomorrow as I need to buy screw eyes 40 x 8mm ZP as the MDF id 12mm. 

To preserve the sculpture and make sure it looked the best for the grande opening on Friday, I kept the mirror film on to prevent it getting scratched or tarnished before the event. I had a sneak peak at the mirrored affect and I was really pleased with how it turned out (see middle photo). Additionally, I rewrapped the discs in the bubble wrap to project the wood until Friday and due to the unfortunate weather, I purchased a 3 meter squared of waterproof tarpal to cover and sheet the wood and vinyl from the rain.    

I was really happy with the spot I've chosen not only of the surrounding and the exposure on sunlight it will get but also because I've positioned it on the 'waterlogged' grounds on the park and because mine is slightly up from the middle of the slope, the rainwater should run right pass it and reduce the amount of water damage. 

Wednesday 24th April 

Went back to check on my mirror sculpture in Park and to add a couple extra hooks to be pegged into ground to be doubly to safe and sturdy. It seemed to be holing fine and Ive kept it wrapped up, the wood and mirror look the same as when I left them. I've spent most on this week in the park checking on my work or talking to passing by. Looking at the forecast, rain and strong winds were predicted so, for extra measure I added a couple screw hooks to peg to the floor to the smaller discs even though they proved stable. Reflecting on my instal, I was quite a laborious task and required the help of a friend to hold the larger disc while I slotted in the other two. Throughout the install, I had people stopping and coming up to me, they were interesting conversations about my work and the show as a whole. Because I've never exhibited in an outdoor space before, it was a new experience being talked to by the viewer before the piece is even up. However, because I wasn't unveiling my piece and taking all the protective film off until the official opening on Friday it left an element of mystery to my work, so the public won't be seeing it properly for the first time on Friday. 

Reflecting on Bill Viola and Michelangelo

After seeing the exhibition, I was interested to working with water, the manipulation of form under water is almost like creating a new language as you try as the viewer to understand the distorted and wavering shapes. The translation of this in the video work can alter meaning producing new representation.

Perhaps there will be rain during the week of our show at Waterlow Park- the rain would further disrupt the mirrors reflection. I have a feeling that the water on the mirror would almost heighten the effect of the mirror- almost showing a snap shot the rain reflected in the environment as the water droplets would hover on the surface (the rain almost pausing from falling).

Friday 26th April 

Saturday 27th April 

Working at Park as a Waterlow Park Event Assistance, I spent a portion of the day stationed at the entrance, being the first point of call for the public and be representing the course. I gave out information on hand, answer questions, offer maps, explained the show to the public and gave mini tours of the show. Throughout the day, I had a clicker on hand to count guests arriving for the show and invite them to fill in a questionnaire.

Despite the weather not being the best, there was a good turn for the show and its was a great experience to understand how a show runs. Have the perspective of creating the work, then installing it and the working the event was a great opportunity to gain insight into understanding the ins and outs and reality of putting together a show

Being there today -and most of the week- was a great insight to discover how a show is set up then runs but it was also interesting to be around and introduce myself to the public. By having the young artists and creators around their pieces it added another element to the show. 

Throughout my time in the park, I made notes on the interactions people had with my sculpture. it was a pattern that most adults would circle round the whole thing, acknowledging the environment behind them and how the sky and the floor intercept in the mirrors. It was also noticeable that a lot of selfies were taken in the mirrors. Children on the other hadn't seemed to come up with really interesting interactions- things that adults wouldn't have even thought to do, for example a couple children viewed the mirrors as a seating area (see photo below). It was quite impressive that the discs could withstand the weight to two small children at a time. Depending on the age of the child it was debatable if they were able to recognise themselves in the reflection as a representation of self. The behavioural technique to distinguish your reflection demonstrates self awareness. 

After researching into Lacan's mirror stage theory made me very interested to stick around in the park and observe all the reactions, particularly with children and dogs the most innocent, untainted interactions. 

Dog reaction: recorded-70052044708.MP4

I received a lot of amazing feedback from members of the public about the show as a whole, the positioning of work and how one person piece feed nicely into the next persons near by. Many people mentioned how they normally just walk straight through the park not even noticing their surroundings but bumping into these pieces of art would make them pause and encouraged them to walk around the park.  

It was lovely to know that our foundation show made people more aware and enjoy their day even more After working in the park, and being there everyday for the last week almost reengerised me, in the sense I wasn't rushing around ignoring what I'm passing, my awareness levels were upped.  

Monday 29th April 

Taking down the work at Park today was took up most of the morning, the rest of the day allowed me to reflection on the success of the show. Looking back at my work and how week in the park went it was more affective than I initially thought it could me- I think because I hadn't taken off the mirror protective film until I got to the park, I had no expectation for how the over affect would be. if anything, the anticipation made me question how good it would turn out and I was pleasantly surprised the today it was all unveiled. I knew the piece would work as id made mini models which demonstrated how it should look in theory but I guess there was an overwhelmingness seeing it actually in the place looking how it did. 

Planning this project and show for some many weeks to then see it there is quite surreal seeing it in the flesh in the spot I picked out. The immersive experience my piece offers was successful accord to the vernal public and the Instagram DM's I received from ordinary people and other local artists.

The way the mirrors acted as a further extension of the environment, almost like a continuous of reality- this was definitely the case for young children and dogs; many dogs would run into the mirror, confused as to why the world stop. Again linking back to Lacan's mirror stage theory of animals and children and the ability or lack there off to recognise themselves was quite essential to witness and observe ion person. It was so interesting and insightful to see the public projected into the environment with all there reflections overlapping as they gathered around. Due to the interceptions of mirror, a reflection of your leg could be at the other side of the piece and someone else's arm could be where your leg should me.  

The effect of the mirrors were beyond a simple reflection, I had numerous people mentioned the mirrors making them feel like they lost their gravity when standing at particular angles. For example, because the largest disc was positioned at a 45 degree angle, if you stood right up against it, the sky would be unsettling in the reflection and you feel as though you falling. Additionally, the affect of the weather- the moving clouds making them feel ungrounded and other people behind you looking like they aren't walking on the ground all heighten the disorientation. This is one of many observations that the public really enjoyed out my piece- it was noticeable that all adults and young adults would walk around the mirror and come up close at different angles but never touch however, all the children I saw interacted and explored the sculpture differently; thus supporting Lacan's Rouge test: human child exploring his reflection.  

The sensory experience around my work allows the viewer moves throughout the space freely whichever direction or way they want to- there are no rules to the interaction or engagement. Being a public park, the space was unlimited and depending on how one wanted to interact and observe they would stand at different distances. What I particularly liked a lot is that people would get excited by piece and spent time moving through the space and almost playing with the surrounds (by jumping, crouching down low, by running towards it, circling it) and then read my caption. I slightly have an issue if someone just reads the caption or bio by a piece of work before the themselves view it and makes up their minds of what their interpretation is before just agreeing with whats written. I love not reading the bio/caption as I can view the art with such an open mind, my judgement isn't clouded to only view something in a certain light and this is an aspect of what my project brief is commenting on. Perception is a power thing and the initial thought that pop up when immediately looking at something with fresh eyes are sometimes the best interpretations. 

Staring at something long enough increases your awareness, I found that through my time in the park over the course of the week I noticed more things within the park. Looking at the reflection would make you notice something behind you that you've never given the time of day to. What I shall take away from this experience is that the space you place your work in can really make or break the overall affect- it took me so long to decide on the spot I ended up with but I don't regret taking so long an deciding on the instal day where to put it- once the piece is there (especially in a public outdoor space) you have to be aware with how it will interact with its surroundings and therefore deciding where to place it on the days the best choice to actually see the relationship between the piece and the environment.  

The commitment of an accurate sculpture like mine didn't leave room for last minute improvements or tweaks so there was pressure for me to have planned, measured and executed the sculpture to be exactly as it was meant to be for it to work. It was a great learning experience to create the work in the studios then see it in the Park- it completely transforms the piece and achieved everything I hoped and more.

Tuesday 30th April 

To do list:

1. finish sketchbook, annotations and attachment mirrored development   
2. finish up workflow (research and reflections)
3. finish up reading list
4. upload final outcome
5. edit the bio in project proposal (add websites/books/films)
6. evaluation 

Setting up for Assessment- reconstruction of my Park piece

1. Clearing up the studio

2. Taking home all work other than my Park sculpture

3. Reconstructing Park

Saturday 4th May

Post Waterlow park:

After park was over, I began thinking more conceptual about perspective and visual illusion and there idea of "truth", almost creating an extension of this project to carry on in my personal time. Having the opportunity of Park within my project proposal was a great process to go through, but now after having done Park I've discovered things treat work and things that don't and it brought a few ideas to mind for the future- for example, creating more disrupted reflections and emphasis the effect of weather; during my time in the park, the rain was a "happy accident" that produced a really beautiful effect as the light and landscape changed my sculpture throughout the day. 

I began experimenting with mirror again and this time using more interesting and abstract ways of manipulation like water and light. I started by simply using the mirror to turn the world upside down, but in a more extreme way than I did in Park. thinking about how my sculpture in Park really compliment and absorbed the environment, I was interested to explore that further- making something almost indivisible; there was one particular angle when looking at my sculpture in Park that made to invisible looking and I wanted to translate this again. I went out to my garden and staring thinking about what I could mimic in mirror, I spotted the long blades of grass so I made these long blades of mirror and slotted them in the soil next to the actually blades of grass (theres a video on a USB attached in my sketchbook). This was a successful illusion and would be so much more on a grander scale, but for the sake of experimenting I kept the extent on the small side. 

The piece is ever changing due to weather, but the different audiences also change it. The sensory experience around my work allowed the viewer moves throughout the space freely whichever direction or way they want to- there are no rules to the interaction or engagement which encourages Individualism. Being a public park, the space was unlimited and depending on how one wanted to interact and observe they would stand at different distances. 

What I shall take away from this experience is that the space you place your work in can really make or break the overall affect- it took me so long to decide on the spot I ended up with but I don't regret taking so long an deciding on the install day where to put it- once the piece is there (especially in a public outdoor space) you have to be aware with how it will interact with its surroundings and therefore deciding where to place it on the days the best choice to actually see the relationship between the piece and the environment.  

The next material I'm interesting (that I've not used in a while) is perspex, bound to have similar affects like the mirror; however, a solid material like perspex could be layered in a more solid way and thinking about using materials like light through something transparent intrigues me- could lead to exploration of shadows and film installation work. Interested to work with light and see how I can translate that sculpturally.