The Ready Made

'An everyday object, selected and designated as art' (Encyclopaedia Britannica) 

The term ready made was originally coined by French Artist Marcel Duchamp. Duchamp created the first ready made 'Bicycle Wheel' in 1913. Through his ready made works, Duchamp attempted to destroy the notion of the uniqueness of art and subsequently a new controversial definition of art emerged, that had more of an intellectual as opposed to material focus. 

How this has influenced my practical development and project concept

I have been influenced by the theory of the ready made, in that it has made me consider not just using found materials to draw from and take casts from, to produce work, but how they can also be used as part of the outcome intrinsically. Considering this I have revisited the proposed mapped rout within my proposal, being mindful of the everyday sights that are often overlooked. I particularly noticed the street signs and how they they have become so familiar to me that I no longer read the words and letters, yet am still aware solely by the context what the sign means. With this, I have decided to move away from the casts and relief moulds that I have been working with, but returned to the patterns and textures from the environment, thinking about how I can incorporate these with found objects from the environment. 

Developed Idea

This is a piece of work that I have developed, working from my drawings which I have used to create my drypoint plates, that focus on the textures and patterns found within the urban environment. I think that the text adds a three dimensional perspective to the overall image, drawing the viewer in by the familiar lettering and format that they recognise. The viewer becomes more focused on the familiar object as the purpose has been changed, giving it a fine art context, in the same way that they ready made forces the viewer to analyse an object by changing its context and putting it into a gallery. 

Arte Povera

Throughout this project I have been working with found object from the urban environment, constructing collograph plates, taking rubbings, relief mould, photographing etc… 

Similarly, during the 1960's an art movement aroused called Arte Povera, otherwise known as impoverished art. The term Arte Povora was coined by Germano Celant in 1967, for the group of Italian artists whom during the late 1960's attempted to break down the dichotomy of art and life. This was mainly achieved through the creation of sculptures and 2D relief works using everyday materials. 

How this link to my ideas and concepts

The materials used by the Arte Povora group were largely pre-industrial materials such as earth, rocks, clothing, rope, and anything that they could find in their day to day environment. These artists saw the potential in these everyday objects to be beautiful. Supporting my concept that beauty can be found in everything and is loved in everything. 

Giovanni Anselmo- Torsion - 1968

Development of Silicone Prints

Silicone Print with Inks 

Silicone with Collage and Screen Print 

These are developed silicone mould prints. I prepared abstract screen print backgrounds, to add a depth to the prints, as elements of the colour from the screen print is drawn through the negative space of the silicone print. The bold colours of the screen print, juxtapose the dark shadows of the silicone mould, highlighting the intricate lines and patterns of the surface texture. Collaged tissue was then added to conceal elements of he print, with shapes cut away to mimic those outlined by the silicone mould. I think that these prints are successful in that they emphasise the intricate lines and textures, and draw the viewer in through their soft mottled and fractured lines. However, to develop these further, I think that a series of varying silicone moulds should be constructed, to create a sequence of prints mapping an urban area and the aesthetic beauty that can be found within it. 

Printing with the Silicone Moulds

I have developed a series of prints using my Silicone mould. I inked up the Silicone mould and run the plate through the press. A very abstracted organic shape was created, full of juxtaposing lines, tones and textures. It is unrecognisable what the print is of, which allows the audience to pay greater attention to the formal elements. 

The print has areas of greater intensity which are then juxtaposed by large areas of negative space, guiding the viewer around the image so that it can be observed intensely. To develop, I would like to experiment by adding layers of collaging or perhaps even drawing into the print, as I think that this will add a depth and an additional layering to the print, forcing the viewer to search through the layers, in the same way that in order to observe the aesthetically beautiful within a mundane environment, it is essential that the viewer uncovers layers and pre conceived contextualisations to reveal the real beauty. 

Silicone Outcome

Silicone Outcome 

Silicone Outcome 

Tactile Silicone Relief 

Silicone Profile 

This is the silicone outcome that I have produced. It has moulded to the cracks, patterns and textures of the surface, making it have a very tactile and abstract aesthetic. I think that it could be presented as a series of silicone reliefs, tracking the suggested rout that I have mapped in my proposal. Alternatively because of its flexible and subtle make up, I also think that it could be used to develop a series of abstract relief prints, emphasising the potential beauty in everything. 

Silicone Relief Construction

After researching Jorge Otero Pailos, and his works with latex, I have decided to experiment with more industrious materials.

After much consideration and experimentation, I think that Silicone will be an appropriate material to create impressions/ reliefs of a surface. In theory the silicone should take the mould of a surface, whilst at the same time be able to dry solid, whilst mainintaining a flexible, rubberlike posture. I am hoping that this will mean that the mould can then be used to develop a series of relief prints. 

To make the silicone mould, I covered the chosen surface with concentrated washing up detergent to work as a lubricant to stop the silicone from sticking to the surface. 

Silicone was then squirted and pressed firmly onto the surface to ensure that the silicone was pressed into all of the cracks and markings of the surface. I then left it to dry for a few hours before removing .  

Silicone pressed and left to dry

Grayson Perry

Today I have been listening to some brilliant radio broadcasts of interviews with Greyson Perry. There are a series of four lectures called the Reith Lectures produced by the BBC.

click here to listen to the radio lectures with Grayson Perry

I have found these lectures fascinating to listen too, and they have made me reconsider my use of materials and indeed how I have gone about my investigation into the beautiful.

Jorge Otero Pailos- Influential Artist

Jorge otero Pailos is a New York based artist, historian and architect, that has become known for his works presenting the remnants of ancient buildings by encapsulating the dust from the walls, demanding that the surface dust of the artworks are as intrinsically important to the aesthetic and history of the building as the walls themselves. In the same way that through the development of my work I celebrate the pattern and detail of a wall, section of floor, a rusting railing, as the intrinsic beauty to an environment. 

click here to read article and view works by Jorge Otero Pailos

Salt Dough Experimentation

Following my work with plasticiene, I have been considering materials that I could use that have the same dough like qualities, that will maintain the imprint of a surface, but at the same time will go rock solid, so could potentially be utilised in the production of prints. 

I have researched into making plasticiene and play dough and have discovered salt dough, which can be made using equal measure of flour and salt with a table spoon of water. 

I have made some dough and experimented imprinting surfaces of walls, floors and iron works on a short walk along Dover sea front. The dough does take the imprint of the surface, as the plasticiene did, however once I had baked the imprints in the oven, they rose slightly meaning that some of the detail has been lost, in addition to becoming so hard and brittle that they would not be able to go through the press. 

On the other hand, I think that the relief imprints are successful in that due to their monochromatic colour they allow the viewer to focus solely on the patterns and textures and not the contextual purpose of the original surface. 

Making the Dough

The Imprint 

Baking it in the Oven 

Project Concept

The underpinning concept of this project, is centred around the basis that beauty can be found in everything, if sought. It is the aim that the project outcomes will provoke an awareness in the viewer to the beauty in their everyday environment, making them mindful to the potential beauty in everything that they encounter. In addition it is aimed that the viewers take more responsibility in their noticing of the beauty in their environments, that when they are confronted with a mundane scene or landscape that they encounter daily, that opposed to just looking, they begin to see, experience and explore it. 

Walter Benjamin and the theory of Flaneur 

Flaneur is a 20th Century Sociological and aesthetic theory. Originally popularised by German Philosopher Walter Benjamin (1892-1940). Flaneur was a concept that originally applied to rich gentry men who walked the city streets examining and exploring. 

'The Flaneur is free to probe his surroundings for clues, and hints that may go unnoticed by others'. 

(Walter Benjamin)

It is from researching the theory of Flaneur that I have realised that this is what I am requesting of my audience, that they become more aware to the environment that they are in, and have more of a conscious awareness to they beauty that they are being confronted with every day. Aiming to remove the blinkers of society, so that looking can become seeing. 

The Flaneur 

Experimenting with taking a relief print

Through experimentation with print, I have decided to return back to the urban environment to study the beauty within the everyday, however this time instead of drawing a response to what I have seen, I would like to take 2D relief imprints. I think that this will be a more effective way of bringing importance to the patterns and textures, lines and tones that are present within everyday life that are often overlooked. 

I have been out experimenting with plasticiene. I think that the relief imprints that I have taken are bold, and draw the viewer in to focusing on the markings and the movement within the relief. I think that the abstract colours of the imprints draw attention away from the original context, thus allowing them to focus on the formal elements.

I have however discovered, that the plasticiene will not dry completely solid and will stay partially tacky. For this reason, I think that I would like to find a similar doughy material that will take the imprint of a surface, but will dry firm and solid without becoming brittle. 

Drypoint Outcomes

Today I have experimented largely with my two drypoint plates, working with them both individually and separately, layering them on top of one another, in addition to combining them with layering of image transfers to create very distorted textured images, which allow the viewer to become lost in the subtle lines and tones of the ghost prints, whilst at the same time become overwhelmed by the vibrancies of the photographic image transfers. 

In addition to layering the same plate over and over to crate several short prints, I also worked with the plates together to create large combination prints, which I think are very successful in that the industrious mechanical aesthetic on plate one juxtaposes the subtle organic lines of plate two creating an overall abstracted dynamic, which requires a detailed search to decipher the intention of the image as one.