Every Student Desk in Grays School of Art

Well almost, two people did not want to be included.. which is fine, and very interesting! It was great to see how different each desk was, especially the first year hall desks, which apart from one or two were completely empty. This is probably partly due to the fact that you have to share desks, i remember it being pretty cramped when I was in first year, also the desks are only temporary as everyone moves around every few weeks when they start a new brief. But I can’t help but think, being such a large classroom, some may not feel comfortable leaving their personal belongings out for others they might not know very well to see or even steal.

To be honest, if I had taken the photos at a decent time of day instead of night time, when most people have gone home, probably a few more people would have been pretty unhappy about me taking snaps of their desks. However, they weren’t there so I suppose what they don’t know won’t hurt them! I guess choosing to take the photos when i know most people won’t be there says a lot about my own personal boundaries, I did after all feel a little creepy going around doing this.. and didn’t want to cause any controversy.

You may have also noticed that these are digital photos, usually I’m pretty against the throwaway digital image, but Grays just got some awesome new Canon 550D’s and thought this was a good enough excuse to test ’em out. I think I’m in love with this new camera, in fact if I was a camera, I’d probably marry it and have it’s beautiful camera babies…

So, now I have collected these photos, what am I going to do with them?
First of all, I was thinking of making a Blurb book of all of these images. Almost as a mock-yearbook.
I would also like to project a looped video of these images onto an empty desk, (the above video is just a quick little thing, I shall be doing another..) this is a very crude drawing of how I would like it to turn out..

Tune In is back!

In an attempt to get ‘Tune In’ up and running again, i’ve decided to take things into my own hands and hold a film screening at my house Wednesday 23rd February, things kick off at 6pm. Hopefully if the weather isn’t too horrible, this will be an open air event.. if the weather starts to go tits up then it’ll be moved indoors!

All are welcome!

Right now i’m thinking a few shorts to start off with:
Dog Altogether
I’m Here
The Black Tower (technically not a short, good all the same..)

And then for the biggie, I might put on ‘Kes’, a fantastic Ken Loach film. Either that or ‘Sweet Sixteen’, also by Ken Loach. These are subject to change if anyone has something they are dying to share!

We might even have a BBQ if I get organised enough..

Justin Bieber slowed down 800%

Justin Bieber

You may be experiencing initial hate and anger when you read the first two words of this post. You may be screaming ‘WHY! OH GOD WHY!’ at your computer screen, you may want to hunt me down and burn me…

BUT!…listen, you will understand why I posted this.
Actually can’t beleive my ears, if only the little nerd sounded like this all the time..

Flickr

Here’s a link to my Flickr account, which gets updated from time to time…

Lynn Bremner’s Flickr

Bruce Nauman is Awesome

Yes, I used the dreaded ‘A’ word, but there really is no other way to describe the way I feel about the work of Bruce Nauman. I love his use of repetiton, a tool used (repeated? huh huh huh…) in many of his video works. Please forgive me for the terrible quality of the following YouTube videos…

On a loop, just one sound ‘mmmm’. The way the man sounds the ‘mmmm’ changes in pitch and volume, both pitch and volume rise towards the end of the loop, this adds intensity. Watching and listening to it makes me feel as though the man may explode at any second, his spinning actions and increased emotion reminds me of the dread and slight fear of a pan on the brink of boiling over. It’s creshendo as it rumbles and spits, growing angrier and louder, and then calming down when we take the lid off. Visually it is also very intense, the man, stuck in a never ending loop of spinning round is displayed on a projection which covers a large wall (I’ve seen it in person, It’s quite intimidating!). As is covers most of your view-space as you watch, you feel as though you are being pulled in, spinning around the room with the video, it can be quite nauseating… There are also televisions which show the same loop, although one has been flipped vertically.

Bruce Nauman – ‘Feed Me’
Another INTENSE video peice from the man himself. Again, sorry about the quality of this video.. but you get the idea. If something is reapeated as many times does it become routine/ritual? Could i apply this to my own studio work?.. we shall see.. Experiments to follow.

Also check out ‘Good Boy, Bad Boy’ if you can find a decent video, here’s a little about it here:

http://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/ViewWork?workid=20960

Turrell Brothers ‘Borderland III’

 



Very poignant short film portraying the life of a widower. This film captures the man’s distress and unease while he experiences life without his parter, finding it difficult to get back into a routine and finding himself spending days alone.

The monologue is very interesting, it gives the feel of a diary entry as he spills his innermost feelings to us. It is quite obvious he is not having a conversation with another as the monologue is voiced-over and seems to ramble out thoughts rather than answer questions.

This shows that his day-to-day routine has been disrupted, almost turned on its head, he wanders around his home aimlessly searching for the energy and the will to ‘do things’ to fill his day. The actions that we do see him doing, ie smoking, seem like he is crying out for help to find him, but just can’t gather the will to get out there and find it for himself. He fills his day with these monotonous exercises, the only interesting thing we see is him playing the violin, which presumably is not a new venture. He mentions introducing himself to the neighbors as something ‘to look forward to’, this shows how alone and detached the man has found himself, and how unhappy he is with being this way of being stuck in a non-routine without his partner.

Great film.

Check out ‘Turrell Brothers’ other stuff here…


http://www.turrellbrothers.com

Testing Stuff Out..

So here are a few digital test shots of the desk photos. Actually intended to shoot them in black and white in order to lend structure and uniformity to chaos.. however being a bit slow today made me completely forgot to do so! However, i’m not unconvinced about using colour, it may add to the way these people connect with their personal space.

Probably one of the most interesting of this set is the empty desk, with only a few coffee stains decorating the table. Who is this person? Are they so very private about their work that they make an effort to not leave anything on or personalise their desk? It’s quite interesting to see the different levels of personal boundaries here, some are completely happy to leave works out in public, others shy away/are strangely tidy!

more thoughts on this later…

Where I am just now..

Starting a new semester i have decided that i need to set myself structures and need routine. In doing this i have become very interested in other peoples routines and quirks. But mostly the way that people connect with their own personal space, for example how everyones desks at art school are a visual representation of themselves. Each one is different, some chaotic with no order, some completely empty with only a few pencil shavings on. They are almost like portraits..

Here is a link to a clip of John Smith’s ‘Home Suite’

Home Suite

This is a very honest portrayal of his home of which he is being evicted. The space almost paints a portrait of Smith’s personality, as he brings everyday objects to life by telling their stories. I find it very interesting that he seems to have no boundaries or shame about the state of his home and is quite happy to be viewed in this light.

Nothing To See Hear

This was my first experience of a group exhibition. There were many things that had to be taken into consideration like budgeting, venue, promoting etc that many of us hadn’t fully anticipated, however somehow as if by a miracle everything eventually fell into place.

The Venue had a lot to do with the success of the exhibition. Not only due to the sheer size of the place, but also because of it’s fantastic location. It was great to see that not only people who knew about the event came but we also intruiged many a passer by!

It was a huge learning curve for me, and a very valuable experience. If i have taken away anything with me from this is that planning is key to success in these situations, I need structure, and to stick with it.