my videoblogging friend Rupert Howe recorded some 360 degree video http://twittervlog.tv/2016/02/14/360-vlog-singing-under-a-railway-arch I haven't seen/used 360 cam before. it was weird to watch too-to be able to change the view and the video kept going. hard to tell what was me choosing or orig view. but it's actually both. original view is just the starting reference point I guess? am wondering how this changes 'image as a point in time' idea. when you *can* see whole scene. different way of process memories?
yes, will think more on this: how does the 360 degree camera footage change future memories - when you *can* see the whole scene
with all the talk of data retention and vintage (clothes) stores & work stuff this week, I had a great dream about an encryption dress this morning. I couldn't find anything in the store that I liked, then finally chose a dress & said this'll do. turns out it had an encryption chip in it. we couldn't find the pricelist card for it — flat, vertical cards covered in plastic frames — sort of like house listings in the window of the real estate offices. had to scan through heaps of them - layers and layers. & seems to be waterproof also as the dress becomes swimwear/togs too (changes). lots of dream spent on adventure looking for it. turns out it cost $100K due to software licence. but they waived it & I got to keep the dress & encrypted all communications from then on. I was trying to work out how it worked without a keyboard to enter passphrase. but it was new tech. touch was all that was needed. I was also worried about the chip being so close to my heart (physical location) but it was proven to be safe to wear. good dream. chip was like a square button, sewn into the fabric. gather & press to activate. the encryption dress and chip were waterproof too because at some points in the dream it turned into togs/swimmers and I was in the water, I think when I was looking for the pricecards.
maybe it means I should get back to working on the flora gps test - flora's working, & gps arrived recently
#dream
I'm reading "Drawing Projects - an exploration of the language of drawing" by Mick Maslen and Jack Southern as recommended by Sandra Flower, one of the OCA Textiles tutors. it looks like a very thorough book with some theory as well as many practical examples and exercises and analysis of artists' work. at the start of the book is as section "What we know and what we see". whilst this might seem to be a basic, easy concept, it's one that I have forgotten so am including a couple of quotes here.
prior to this, the authors talk about how children draw what they see - "the drawing incorporates the child's knowledge and experience [of the pond] as a whole body experience perceived through all of their senses, and not just through their eyes, or from a single point of view. In some ways, this is children's drawings at its best, and perhaps it exemplifies something of what Picasso was searching for when he is reputed to have said that he had spent 80 years learning to draw like a child." (page 10).
I've been trying out my new artgraf water soluable graphite tonight with another drawing of a bee for my theme. I think it's sometimes called watercolour graphite. I put water in the lid and found my paintbrush and tried it out. I haven't got the bee shapes right yet but I love the variations in lightness and darkness of the graphite. there's even a slight shimmer and sparkle to it in this dim light. will see if it's still there in the morning daylight.
I shouldn't have tried the background wash though.. :( don't like it atm
another in (hotel room) biro practicing hatching (with wonky bee shape still)
folding. like origami paper folds memory
memory of clothes and sheets and other home linen as you grow up with it
the article about newborn baby cloth wrapping
memories of clothes, the feel of fabric. comfort. protection
- make a mind map & taxonomy of craft vs art (fine art?) & map textiles into this
-- applied function, purpose
-- containers, coverings, adornment, tools (hand), machines
- plato's forms
- machines - sadie plant article
- craft objects found all around the world from archaeological digs. in the future will they find all of our landfill, rubbish and think it was our art/ craft? how much will dissolve/break down?
- early. biomimicry by humans let us survive and evolve. look at bee flower petal nest
i think I've been improving with some of my sketching.. or rather seeing. I think i'm starting to see things differently - the shapes and lines rather than only the overall shape and outline. still a lot of practice to do, and there's still plenty of fails, but when i concentrate more on looking and seeing and not the drawing, I end up being happier with the drawings. something to remember going forwards..
testing the conductive thread. it's conductive, hurrah
I left the hoop on to stabilise it a bit whilst I had it connected to the computer. it's the tutorial on adafruit site, though I modified their circuit pattern into the circles & didn't have the clips to test it. checked it with my multimetre instead after stitching. one thing to remember is once the usb cable's connected it tends to flip the fabric. I need to play more & see if it really is now 'programmed' (I think so) ie will it run without the computer if I power it by battery/something else. but yeah, no soldering, only stitching. have to think of something else besides leds now - they seem to be the "hello world" of wearable tech
it's an adafruit flora processor + neo pixel v2 led & conductive thread. I bought some other things like a light/colour detector & flexible solar panel & more leds. will think of something to try them out
When I was in my early 20s I used to read many books about Andy Warhol. One is "Warhol" by David Bourdon. I picked it up again today and started reading / flipping through it again. I love Warhol's early commercial work — he developed a technique called "blottled line" printing. so, wanting to know more about it, I searched the net and found the following links:
I've started doing an online stitching class called whispering hearts with Jude Hill. it's a really great class — I've read through all the posts from when the class was run live in 2011, and will listen to the audio "whisperings" and watch the videos in the next few weeks when I have a better internet connection. the theme is hearts. it's great to see Jude go through the process of doodling ideas in a sketchbook, make some small stitched fabric samplers and then stitch the final selections into a larger piece. this is what I'll have to do for my theme work for class (I think).
I like the hearts theme too — I'm not really into pink and girly colours and hearts but after seeing some that Jude made and some of the ideas around them I think it's good to try something out of my comfort zone of technology-based topics.
I recall earlier this year there was a large discussion about "International Art English" (IAE) on some of the mail lists - on empyre-l, nettime-l, and articles on triple canopy and hyperallergic & the guardian newspaper site.
there was a conference held this year on the topic also — "Critical Language — A forum on International Art English". I've posted the blurb below for reference. I've asked them if there was a recording of the sessions to listen to. will add links if they reply.
Critical Language
A forum on International Art English
155 Freeman Street, Brooklyn, NY
Saturday, April 6, 2013, 4:00–6:00 p.m.
$5 suggested donation http://canopycanopycanopy.com/programs/84
I had a listen to the first lecture of Grayson Perry - The Reith Lectures 2013 a couple of weeks ago. I loved his comments and disregard (?) of the artworld and his analysis of International Art English language.
since coming across this, I heard also that Grayson Perry and Brian Eno are working together. I can't wait to see/hear what comes of this collaboration!
the BBC blurb: "The award-winning artist Grayson Perry presents the 2013 BBC Reith Lectures, titled Playing to the Gallery. Across four programmes he discusses what makes him an artist, the limits of contemporary art, how to gauge the quality of new artworks and the future of the avant-garde."
well, I was trying a knit-a-year project but since I don't have much yarn here (on overseas trips) and have been more interested in stitching and embroidery lately, I've decided to shift to a stitch-a-day project instead. I might use my other blog for another project so will relocate the articles here (or add to the previous post).
my first attempt - I've been totally inspired by the work of Junko Oki and since attempting to stitch circles in a modified blanket stitch, I can see more clearly just how fine and free her beautiful stitching is. mine feels large and clumsy in comparison, so I will need to practice more to create smaller stitches. also, I need to bring more fabric to use as a background as on this trip I only have some calico, and a couple of coloured threads.
there's lots of circles & other textures in the hotel room. the carpet has concentric circles - a bit like the Maori koru shape. I like the red crushed velvet lounge chair in the room too - it has some nice lines and shapes in the shadows
06/10 update:
I stitched some more circles and other shapes this weekend
tonight I've been taking a look at embroidery by Junko Oki - she has some beautiful pieces. I love her use of circles and lines.
I emailed her to order a copy of her new book, "Culte a la Carte" (I think her first book has sold out), and mentioned I was doing a textiles course and had been enjoying embroidery. I asked if hers was all stitched by hand or mixed with machine embroidery too. she responded,
"I'm glad to you interested in my work.
My work is stitched by hand all.
I do not have that you have to study about embroidery .
I have the feeling produced in like writing a picture."
the circles are intricate rows of fine blanket stitch, with lines in running stitch and some feather stitch. lots of "sun" themes. I'm really loving it. the imperfections and textures created by the stitching mixed with the choice of textures and colours of the fabrics as the backgrounds. I'm looking forward to the book arriving so I can see more of her work.
I love some of the backside stitches, ie via February 2012:
from Dee's Hall from October 2012 - a lovely portrait of a woman's profile.
I've been away from my class materials since working on this new work project. which means I haven't had as much fabric, paints, threads, the sewing machine etc to work with. I found an app called art set on the itunes app store and tried it out on the flight home last week. it's pretty good. it has a large range of colours, and background "paper" with different textures and colours and weights - actually more than I have at home. plus multiple pens, pencils, felt pens, paints, crayons, sponges, erasers, water for smudging edges, and the app is really easy to use. it's not the same as using the materials by hand of course, but I think it does replicate the styles / effects the materials have quite well. and it was only 99cents. wish I'd known about this prior to spending a couple of hundred dollars on a much smaller range of pens and paints! I tried a few simple mark making exercises, then I took a photo from the front airplane camera (was my first time on an A380 & it has camera views on the tv/entertainment system - a view from the front of the plane, below near the wings, and looking towards the tail of the plane) and made a drawing of the view.
