Daily Archives: 16th May 2021

COMFORT: Resolved work + Evaluation

For my resolved object i wanted to include all the elements had previously explored with my drawings and smaller object making, incorporating text work, knitting, embroidery using parts of things I already had and used and thing left over from earlier in the p[project that i wanted to include.

the thing itself is very heavy to move around because of all its embellishments however i feel this gives it more human like qualities as well as the form and shape it takes. Because of this it is physically made to feel comforting and plesent to touch and hold. to cuddle and sit-beside it and be stimulated by the various textures is soothing i find really soothing and think is very succesfull. Compositionally everything wraps around and leads into the next surface element so i think it flows very well without appearing too perfect and retaining that childish messy quality i have carried with me throughout the project and making work.

of course it hold this unique on of a kind soft toy because i have made it purely for the purpose of soothing myself and occupying me and my space. however id like to think that the object would become its own thing and i and other people have the ability to add their own qualities and things to it despite the fact its inanimate.

I wanted to take images of me interacting and sharing comfort spaces with the object. Showing how I interact with it and how it would fit in around me and my life. ideally i wanted to also take it outside and about with me but the weather wasn’t in my favour and as it was already so heavy with it not being wet i just took these images inside and round my house. Locations where i sit and feel the most comfortable i sat for 5 mins at a time and recorded my time with the object. Touching and sitting with it in my own space.

I think theres soothing really sad but kind of endearing about these images. above all they feel kind of lonely and quiet. Maybe this is just because its just be and the object or the fact that i and the objects appear really childish. These images also hold a lot of potential for drawing and paintings

I later comprised all the videos I took and over lay them with one of the letters i wrote to/from the objects perspective. I find the video kind of endearing and disturbing as the contrast of me sitting with and caring for the object are met with me asking it all these questions about itself and question its ands my identity. Where and why did i make it? does it truly belong to me?

link to video : https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/549882702

Evaluation of Project

Looking back over the project and what i set out to do i think i have created a strong body of work. I have a new understanding of materials and have moved from 2D and 3D successful and repeatedly to spark new ideas and research thought. Initially wanting to look and and create my own comfort space i changed the project slightly to consider comfort objects rather than comfort space. I think this was a good call and i wouldn’t have produced as much work if i was just repeatedly making rooms and ideas for installations and spaces.

This has also encouraged me to look into other areas of interest thinking about objects and the qualities that they hold not only as children but how we carry attachment through to adulthood in different forms. How i feel about myself and the things that i make and how I value something aesthetically as well as my understanding of colour line shape and composition when making objects and not just drawings. I think physically making more things that are a bit more time consuming has allowed me o maybe focus a bit more and think more about the physicality of something and the space it occupies.

Given more time or if i could do the project again i would have left more time for material explorations with the expanding foam maybe resin and clay. 3D materials id like to experiment with and gage a better understanding of. However giving restrictions and not having access to studio space i still think i was explorative enough in my approach and methods of working. I would have also made more time for drawing and 2d work as i think i lacked it a lot in this project and got to invested in the actual making process.

I think i responded well to feedback throughout the crit and moved the project forward at a good pace as the weeks went on. I also enjoyed doing a bit more text and written work and having an open dialog with whatever it is i’m making and question its purpose and who it belongs too. Why am i making something and what quality sand purpose dose it have. My art as a style and the aesthetic qualities it holds i feel has also really developed this childish quality i think is very effective and reflects how i like to work and the approach I like to take.

COMFORT: Crit Feedback + More Resolved Work

Expanding foam and soft forms In response to all the soft objects I have made throughout this project and the 24 observational drawings exploring texture shape and form thinking a out a more resolved piece I wanted up the scale and spend more time considering before hand the types of shapes and textures I wanted to create. Keeping in mind that the object i was now making was a comfort object for myself. Making it for myself i wanted to have some kind of larger base to dd softer materials on top of.

The expanding foam provided This solid soft looking forms however became ver hard to work with when it had dried and hardened, moving and manipulating it was difficult however I think it provided me with the type of soft rounded shapes I had in mind and that are reflective of my last set of drawings. I also like the kind of fleshy tone and surface texture.

Taking these smaller hard forms and covering them with the softer materials I have been using (multi coloured sting ) allowed me have something solid and larger to start from and work round. I later decided to add these to a large pregnancy pillow that belonged to my mum and was gifted to me when i moved away from home. I thought this was a good place to start as the pillow already held a maternal quality to it and has sat on my bed ( a place of comfort) the whole time iv lived here over lockdown and has occupied my space. It carries with it a part of me and my mum and as i’m making this object for myself its almost got to have parts of it that are reflective of me or pieces of myself that i want to put in it. Creating and adding parts to my object became very time consuming and almost intimate as I had to physically wrap myself around to to sew and knit pieces around it. This closeness and hugged shape I think can be seen in how the object sits and slumps over by itself, it also looks likes its missing companion.

Final Crit Feedback

Interesting combination of objects and text- contrasting with the childish bold fonts and use of language. Develop the narrative between the object and yourself and to the audience.

interesting ideas surrounding skill and aesthetics of object making – dose it have to be “well made” to have aesthetic value? The objects and text hold sinister quality especially when looking at the expanding foam, the grotesque runs thought holding themes of inner and outer beauty.

the work can be interpreted as sophisticated when thinking about line, colour and composition and not just skill alone. along side a strong body of work throughout this project and keep up the relationship between soft sculpture and drawing.

Longer text works are quite successful and encourage more writing maybe in combination with images and drawings when making a resolved piece.

COMFORT: Artist research

Mike Kelley

American artist, Kelley is regarded as one of the most influential artists associated with the Conceptual Art movement. His work explores themes of youth, class, and the divide between high and low culture. His art is both playful, childish and disturbing. by using found objects like soft toys and knickknacks in contrast with the exploring the history and nature of the objects the artist investigates societal norms and how we place value on inanimate objects. His work spans across multiple disciplines drawings, paintings, soft sculpture and film.

“I think they’re really standardized kinds of repressed things in the culture—embarrassing things, like sexual dysfunction and the scatological,” he once said of his subject matter. “I started seeing throughout my work that a lot of these traditional, low comedy forms and subject matters were operating. I wanted to start to deal with that in a more conscious way.”

Kelley often assembled works of different media into installations of various constituent parts. In doing so, he helped to debunk the traditional expectation that the artist must be a master or expert of a particular medium. Instead, the unifying factor in many of Kelley’s heterogeneous installations and sculptures became above all conceptual rather than formal. His use of soft materials and how he repurposes objects is something i’m really interested in and am exploring in my own work. object making and adding meaning and context to inanimate objects is something iv explored and thought about a lot throughout my project.

Annette Messager

  • HyperFocal: 0

Born in 1943 in France, Annette Massagers work focuses on the perceptions of women by individuals and by society as a whole. Her earlier work focused on domestic objects such as textiles, toys, and found objects similar to the materials and things i am investigating in my current project. She consistently continues to question traditional notions of femininity and masculinity. “At first, I felt proud when someone said, ‘Your work looks like a man did it.’ Then I realized that was stupid,”

‘The Pikesis‘ is an instillation comprises an arrangement of more than a hundred long, spiked poles or ‘pikes’, propped up against two adjacent walls, each of the pikes either supports or impales a variety of objects as well as images. Small bodies made from doll parts, stuffed limbs, headless torsos and internal organs are placed in tights, or pierced by pencils and hung with images of torture instruments along side their victims. Other pikes show colourful drawings of limbs and figures as well as maps showing various contemporary political entities in Africa, Europe and the Middle East.

Messager’s used a wide variety of techniques and materials using photographs, drawings, text and found/made objects, embroidery, knitting and painting. Her works explore expectations of power in the relationships between male and female, vulnerability and aggression. ‘Pikes‘ a time when chaos and disorder is briefly allowed and the boundaries between civilised and uncivilised actions blur. “Showing parallels between the potential cruelty of children’s play and that of modern social and political structures, using a combination of pathos and violence. Evoking sympathy while suggesting sadism, her objects and imagery illustrate the paradoxical complexity of human relations on both personal and political levels.”

This contrast of using soft ‘innocent’ traditionally feminine materials in a serious and brutish context agin is something i’m interested in and have explored throughout this project.