old work new

So Ive started something new, and I quite like it! A tutor pointed out to me that these images look almost like film stills. Sort of as if there is a narrative there that isn't being given to the audience; It makes them kind of intriguing! Anyway, I began to agree and liked where it was going so the new plan is to take more and more pictures like this. The way Ive been thinking about it is the more ambiguous the better, without becoming just plain strange. As I take more and more pictures hopefully I will begin to understand what Im looking for better. Ive made a few attempts already, but Im not sure how I feel about them yet, so Ill post them at a later date!

chocolate

Guess what...Don't know what im doing...AGAIN!
Been looking through my research and my work trying to decide where to focus my attentions, and the same things do reoccur regularly- self and portraiture, barriers or concealment, photography and mirros. However I feel like these ar eall such Ideas. That sounds stupid but what I mean is I don't want to be a conceptual artist. Sure I want ideas in my work, but I don't want it to be about an idea/ideas. I want it to be more writerly than readerly. (sorry, I've begun reading Barthes!). Yet when it comes to making art and thinking about making art all I can do is think about what ideas to out into a piece and how to put them in to best effect. Annoying! So what do you do to avoid oing that? Usual story, just MAKE! stop thinking! and how do I do that?well if I knew!
Chocolate. Thats the answer to every question. Check ya later!

My essay on reality and fiction!

Im just sitting here thinking about whether or not a film I watched can be considered part of my past, almost like something that happened to me? for instance, if Ive seen it does that mean that it has become part of my reality because I have experienced it?? I may learn a lesson from it, or its themes or ideas may reoccur in my head frequently as witha piece of art. I may even use it to explain things to other people. Does it not therefore bcome more and more real to me?? If I learn a lesson or find a new thought does it really matter if it came from a 'real' experience or from a movie?? I still have the lesson. obviously it can be srgued that its not as valuabnle a lesson if its not 'real', but theres also the argument that even though it's fiction it came frm someone elses mind, so it's like being thought a lesson by a teacher, only difference being you havent met the teacher. I guess that means your own perception of the lesson and the tutor would be less biased, and perhaps more honest, or perhaps more naive.
So if i watch a movie and take something from it does that not make the memory of the movie the same as any other memory? does it really matter that I was REALLY there for one experience, and only WATCHED the other?? I only watched documentaries and have still believed them to be real (although I am no longer so naive as to believe them to be the whole truth, the truest truth!). The stories they told became part of reality for me, something that happened, something that I know about, but most importantly they become a situation I have THOUGHT about. For me, this means that film as memories can be just as important, or even more important than real memories, because their affect on my thoughs and therefore actions can be just as powerful! Maybe thats just me though!
This is a really interesting line of thought for me but I cant write the essays without sources and the ideas and thoughts of other more qualified people. This is the hard part. Where to start??!!

Head in a Sink

Here's a picture I took this morning for Professional Practice!

SpiritStore

I am now Co-Locations Manager for the SpiritStore in Limerick.
The spiritstore is running a cultural dig on Catherine Street this May 7th-9th. We plan to bring together creative practioners and the businesses on the street to create a cultural festival on the street. There will be visual art, performances, theatre, dance, talks, workshops, architects, puppeteers and everything else you can imagine! Check it out or get involved at www.spiritstorelimerick.blogspot.com or www.spiritstorelimerick.weebly.com
It's going to be great!!

Reality and perception

In the meantime Im trying to work on my essay for CCS (critical and contextual studies), and try and get some studio work done. Im findign the essay terribly interesting because it's completely self-directed so I can write about anything I like. I'm thinking a lot about reality and in particular the place of fiction in reality. Basically for me fiction is as real as reality itself. That's not to say that the things that happened in a fictional story happened to reallife living people, but once you've seen/heard/read a story it is as much a part of your experience as real life experiences. I started this theory after seeing Charles Kauffman's movie Synecdoche NY. Even though the story is very fantastical and 'impossible', the film comments so directly on reality. I was most interested in the development of the ain character and began thinking about how his story refers to my life aswell. Thus I am thinking that my essay will concentrate on the blurry lines between reality and fiction, with reference mostly to some of my favourite films.
In my studio work I am disappointed because I haven't been making anythign and my thoughts have been going around in circles. Thus I have come up with a plan. I have acquired a book called 'readymades', it is basically a make and do book for adults. I am going to use the book as a sort-of brief. I will really quickly start making some of the things in the book and acquiring things to make into other things. And then I will see where it leads me. I have had many worries and doubts about this project but I realise I just have to do it. We'll see what happens!

Head in a Hole

Recently as part of professional practice me and some of my class have been working with our tutor, Amanda Dunsmore, on her own practice. Amanda's work at the moment is usually photographs or video pieces of her with her head in a hole! So to get started we've all been going around sticking our heads in holes. Here's how I got on at the weekend...

I can't explain it as Amanda would (www.headinahole.blogspot.com) but I guess it's about hiding on life's frustrations. Those moments when you just want to scream or run away or play dead! And this is a little video version, taken on the beach in Ballybunion.

So now it's time to go back to my own work! I've decided I'm finished or bascially finished with the nakedness stuff. In some ways I think thats was more just something I had to so to prove to myself that I could, than something that was actually goingt o produce good work for me. Im still interested in issues of identity and perception though. I really dont know what I want to make or do. recently I've been looking at the work of Gillian Wearing and I really like it! Also I'm taking a seminar called Mirror of Enigmas that is really amazing, and it deals with issues of identity and representation.

The Public House project

Ok...its been a whil! Its been a strange few weeks so Im deligthed to be back writing on this! Since I last posted I spent ages putting together a video of my work for assessmentI probably wont post it up here, but having spent ages on it I think I was finally happy with it. Since then my class has spent the month of february working on a collaborative project with the 3rd year architecture students from the University of Limerick! It's all over now but it was a great experience! We were all working in the Shannon Boat Club house here in Limerick. It's a fantastic building and we were so lucky to get access to it. For our project we became very interested in the members bar and the members themselves. We became interested in the identity we projected onto them, never having met them, and were interested in unsettling their sense of comfort both within their space and with regards to their identity. The building is built on an island and we imagine the island to be a sanctuary for the members, a place thats safe because it's physically removed from the city, because they have control over it and a place that where they are comfortable socially. We came up with an idea that we hoped would strengthen there sense of ownership and seperation, while unsettling their comfort with each other. However it was pointed out to us that this particular plan maybe ofensive to the members, and so was dropped. Instead we decided to make the public more aware of the members. On regular occassions the public are allowed access to the fromt bar, but still kept seperate from the members. We set up a periscope like contraption so the public would be able to view a small amount of the members bar, therefore becoming more aware of it, and their seperation from the members. Perhaps by becoming aware of this secret space they may also become aware of the control the members have over their access to the space, and their movement within the space.

These are some images of it in the space. Thanks Una!!!

Reflections

As part of my college work i had to make a video. Follow the link below to see it!
http://www.vimeo.com/8736271