this was my Grandads work desk which influenced my choice of display as it has an interesting relevance!!

ive been thinking a lot about how the audience will not only read into the camera components but also what its displayed on. i initially thought about a clean white plinth but this is to clinical and although in a gallery i didnt want it to look like it had been presented for this. i wanted it to have a feel of someone investigating this camera remembering a time gone by and there memories, for there own interest. this is why i completely dismissed the idea of having it in a glass cabinet, far to museum like.

thought about a work bench but think that may give the impression of a less valued object and wanted it to look like the parts were being examined/investigated not pulled apart. this led me on to decide on a work desk as someone sits down and studies in an environment of 'think' which has more of a sense of contemplation and calm then a workshop.

i think the old desk that i chose works really well with the camera as its in keeping with the idea of history and the past. also my choice of text (my grandads) relates because of the handwriting, as handwriting of young people today looks completely different to that of my grandads generation. i think all of these factors contribute to the overall feeling of remembering and that an individual has examined each component in order to visualise a time past

The Bowery

This evening we went to the opening of the new exhibition at the gallery of the bowery

the gallery exhibited the work of Clare Lane titled 'Urban Fabric' a textile artist.

the audience seemed sparse with everyone in the downstairs cafe drinking and listening to the live music. i thought this was a nice touch which grouped people together to talk about the work previously seem upstairs.

the first room had six paintings spread accross three of the walls and had three plinths with these fabric sculpture/ forms. the gallery is small with two rooms and feels more like a house than professional space.

i thought this was an unusual choice for display and wasnt sure why that one was on the floor? 

llya kabakov "The man who never threw anything away"
   

i like the display of this piece, everything looks meticulously laid out and labelled. these ordinary things have almost been made into artifacts, giving it an emphasis of value. because of the scale it becomes quite an intimate piece, it involves the viewer really looking closely, analysing each object/document. this is something that i would like to bring into my work. during the crit. were i had the camera laid out on a plinth everyone crouched down to get a closer look, so i think it has that same intimate feeling due to the size of the parts.

ive decided to take the investigation of the camera further than taking it appart. really looking deeply at the materials and working into them to see what i can find.how far do i go though? is this enough?

for the crit. to easily explain my idea i laid it out how i had taken it appart on a plinth. everyone responded well to how i'd presented it, as if someone had taken it appart to see whats inside it and its waiting to be put back together, knowing full well it will never happen.

however, i dont feel comfortable displaying as it is at the moment. i feel that i havnt had any intervention with it and simply leaving it at that doesnt excite me. or get across what im trying to say! but im not really sure what i do want to say anymore!!

ok so everythings changed since my last blog. my tutorial with steven and rory made me realise that suspending the camera isnt helping my concept but rather becomes more about the strings themselves. i think this would be further exagerated in my piece as the parts of the camera are so small and each piece will need at least two threads coming from it. a perfect example is Cornelia Parkers work.

when i saw this at the exhibition at leeds Metropolitan i found myself really interested at the perfect lines that the threads were organised into which i do think took away from the overall piece.

thinking about this has definitely made me reconsider the suspension because her work to a certain extent is about the thread whereas i saw it as a means of looking like it was suspended in mid-air which doesnt work at all. so now got to think about my display and how best to portray my idea to the viewer. 

ive been thinking about the exhibition at the hospital, i thought that i was going to make a work using my cameras but then felt it was going in a direction that i didnt like as it was purely for st. james'. so i think ive gone back to my original feeling of wanting to put the shirt up, but not suspended in the ceiling. rather, mounting it on the wall. i think this could be an interesting way of looking at it from a completely different view. i would like to know peoples thoughts on what they think it will look like and whether it would work?

ive been thinking about what my box cameras mean. i think i started confusing myself by the introduction of photographs because they are all so individual (with different people, situations, places etc.) the only one thing connecting them is the camera itself. so thinking about this, the idea of dissecting the camera (that i felt would be a good development) has created a meaning in itself. 

with the photographs i was struggling to specify what i was looking at. i dont want to look at individual memories, so maybe its about the idea of "memory". the camera is present at every photograph making it the witness of each situation/ memory. by dissecting it, its as though im trying to extract the memory from within the camera rather than the memory from the photographs.

am thinking about gallery spaces! were could my work be displayed to intensify the meaning? or change it?

been thinking about how the space could alter or enhance the meaning of a piece. the atrium has a clinical open feeling and i could imagine my suspended shirt placed overhead. this would allow the viewers in the gallery to look up and the light shining through the gaps. it also permits another view from the windows above the gallery space for the viewers to look down on it which could present an interesting image. 

in terms of my piece i think its contemplative and calming feeling would fit in well with the hospitals environment, as it can often be a place of thinking about the future and remembering the past.  

atrium gallery at st. james' hospital

today i went with the rest of the logistics committee to visit the atrium gallery. it is an extremely light area with a lot of people constantly passing through. although its a clean crisp area it doesnt feel like a reflective gallery space, due to the hustle and bustle of the patients and visitors. we first entered the space from the back entrance which felt like we were walking into a large corridor rather than a gallery. it was strange how different the feeling is when you walk into the space through the reception entrance, this is because initially your in a shaded area and your eyes are drawn to the bright area of the gallery (due to the natural light from open plan area above). so i think this is something to consider when putting together our exhibition.