Museum Research

When I visited the museum in Lancaster there were items relating to my chosen theme. The items relating to Yates and Jackson and Mitchells were of particular interest because they were related directly to the brewery.

Lancaster Museum and Art Gallery

Whist in Lancaster I visited the Museum and Art Gallery, there were a few artists that took my interest on the ground floor Shelley Rhodes had a few pieces of art displayed in the "From Where I'm Standing..." exhibition. Rhodes is a textile artist using scrap bits of fabric and distressing them before sewing them together. Using inks and dyes, she manipulates fabrics and mixed media to reflect her surroundings. Her work appears very delicate and distressed, I can work from this to influence samples and larger pieces of my own. Unfortunately I was only able to get one image of her work from the gallery, but have included some images of her work from online sources.

http://www.shelleyrhodes.co.uk/

http://textilestudygroup.co.uk/

The second artist that caught my eye was Elizabeth Couzins-Scott, I wasnt able to get any images from the gallery as you werent allowed to take photographs. After further research I have found some different styles of work that Elizabeth creates. Her most recent collections use earthy colours and work with translucent fabrics and papers. It appears that she uses wax within her textile work. Looking back at her work from 2007 I remember be a part of a workshop she completed at the Whitworth Art Gallery, using nails and metal she creates some truly wonderful bags, all of her work is a bit eerie and I like that feel and could relate it to the same feeling within the brewery.

http://www.axisweb.org/seCVWK.aspx?ARTISTID=5321

http://www.axisweb.org/seCVWK.aspx?ARTISTID=5321

http://www.axisweb.org/seCVWK.aspx?ARTISTID=5321

http://www.axisweb.org/seCVWK.aspx?ARTISTID=5321

15/11/2012 Filming at the Tate Liverpool

The opportunity came up to do some filming for Tate. Being on the Art and Design side of the course, I didnt think I would have the chance to be involved in filming for an art gallery. I have never used a filming camera before and the daunting prospect of using it around everyone, who knew what they were doing, only hit me when we got there.
We were given exclusive press passes when we arrived, which gave us first view to the displays, this was very exciting. There were two separate parts to the display, one room was work from one artist only and the second had various artists. The exhibition was called "Tracing the Century: Drawing as a Catalyst for Change". I took two shots in the display upstairs, it seemed to take me like three times as long as all the media students, but they reassured me that my shots were good. It was really interesting to be involved in something a bit different, thoroughly enjoying using the camera. Maybe with a little more help I could use a film in my new work.
Just hoping my shots get used now, fingers crossed, I'll keep you updated.

UPDATE!  3/12/2012

12/11/2012 Whitworth Art Gallery- Manchester

Jane and Louise Wilson had taken a series of photographs and recorded a film based around the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.It showed the devastation left behind, focusing mainly on the empty buildings that had been abandoned. I thought this might relate well to the theme I plan on using in my project, I have gathered images on empty and damaged buildings. The images taken within this have made me want my images to have meaning.
The film which was produced by Jane and Louise Wilson, it was hard to understand as we were only able to start watching it part way through and didn't have time to watch the whole thing again as the gallery was about to close. Some of the imagery included in this film were amazing and it showed the effect that nature has over time on buildings and the sheer impact this can have. Interesting angles of the buildings were used and I want this to influence my work.

http://www.whitworth.manchester.ac.uk/whatson/exhibitions/jane-and-louise-wilson/

These are some of the images I have already gathered... 

12/11/2012 The First Cut Exhibition

I noticed that there was a paper cutting exhibition on at The Manchester Art Gallery. It featured some artists which I have previously carried out research on and some others that I had never heard of before, the collection and variation in the artists was massive.

Danielle told me that our next unit would be based on manipulation and different ways in which we can manipulate fabrics of our choice, I thought that the exhibition would therefore be relevant to my work as I was interested in working with paper. 

When I first arrived at the gallery there didnt appear to be that much of the paper cutting work, as there were just a few pieces located around the gallery, however, after much confusion I managed to find the main room. There were many different styles of work using different methods of cutting and manipulating paper. The work was a massive inspiration for me and I plan on using the artists work throughout this project and cannot include all the work from the gallery in this post, I have included just a few highlights. 

Susan Stockwell 

James Aldridge

27/10/2012 Blackburn Museum

I returned to Blackburn Museum to have a look at the collection of stuffed birds. I decided that I wanted to move on from using the bright blues and greens to a more delicate colour pallet of browns. I remembered that there was a collection of birds with more natural feathers. Looking at the birds themselves, I liked the idea of using a structural element to create a piece. Here are some images of these birds...