White Sky Thinking // BA Fine Art/Contemporary Arts
University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield
18 - 24 June 2011
Reviewed by: Critical Writing Collective »
Review by Alice Bradshaw
The University of Huddersfield's BA Fine Art / Contemporary Arts Degree Show White Sky Thinking, housed in the Technology Building of the Queensgate Campus, features 27 new graduates from the former Fine Art BA, now the Contemporary Arts BA.
Noticeably, there is a strong book theme running through the show. Many pieces in the exhibition are book works and the catalogue features images of altered book works by each artist. Gary Popple's A Brief History of Time is one such altered book in the show. Each single word “time” has been cut out of the book of the same title by Stephen Hawkings and presented on new pages with connective ink drawn lines running between them.
In the next room, Samantha Small's Heathen features the carcasses of small animals which glisten with varnish like greasy takeaway remains. Presented in wall-mounted display boxes they are suggestive of a museum display which is emphasised by low light levels. However the shrivelled uncased frog pinned in the corner at knee level and the sacking figure slumped in the opposite corner with another carcass disrupts this museum reading and with the title as the linchpin, meat-eating as barbarianism or religion emerge as the central theme.
Puy Soden's someother reconfigures atypically positioned canvasses into an architectural tent-like structure, collapsing downwards from their frames and amalgamating into one wall of surface which is heavily daubed in white acrylic. Connotative of Angela de la Cruz's considerately damaged canvases and perhaps of Anish Kapoor's large scale stretched surfaces, Soden's approach to painting is quite sculptural through testing the limits of surface.
Jarred Knott presents a series of works focussing on human behaviour through text and instruction. Inspired by the ethically controversial obedience experiments by Stanley Milgram in the 1960s, Knott presents the viewer with This Is A Moral Free Zone; a fair stall with balloons, a range of merchandise such as mugs and t-shirts and free stickers and magnets featuring the title slogan. Knott aims to affect behaviour as an experiment within an art institution framework. Although not exactly lab conditions, his observational approach is a study into social psychology as well as to raise questions for the self-electing participants. Two plinths featuring a large red button and a donation box and are inscribed with the texts “If you push this button, someone where will die” and “If you place a donation in this box, someone somewhere will die” respectively. With aesthetics borrowed from the world of advertising and design, Knott tests ideas of belief, superstition and authority.
White Sky Thinking demonstrates students are equipped with a conceptual framework and visual vocabulary. Wondering what career paths these new graduates are considering in light of current financial and educational crises, lack of jobs in the sector but strong DIY scenes in the region, I manage to speak to one artist about his future plans. He is planning to stay in Leeds and seek exhibition opportunities there as he can't afford MA course fees. Along with many new graduates now pursuing professional practice and entering into the highly competitive work market, encouraged ideologies of collaborative working will be invaluable. Having had a narrow miss from abhorrently high BA tuition fees and cuts to teaching budgets, these new graduates have promising horizons in a region where DIY activity and collaboration are at the heart of a thriving contemporary art scene.
White Sky Thinking travels to Vyner Street Gallery, London E2, 1st - 7th August 2011.
Alice Bradshaw is an artist and curator based in West Yorkshire. She is founding director of Museum of Contemporary Rubbish, co-founding director of Fundada Artists' Film Festival, co-curator in residence at Westgate Studios Project Space in Wakefield, co-curator for Holmfirth Arts Festival, co-founding director of the Manchester artist collective Contents May Vary and she also co-directed Temporary Art Space in Halifax in 2009.
http://www.alicebradshaw.co.uk/
About Me
- HcanSam
- Huddersield, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom
- I am a fine art student in Huddersfield, my work explores community projects and upholds the rights of the community to creative practice.
THE COMPARISON OF THE ANCIENT AND MODERN, UNSPOKEN COMPANIONSHIP OF MAN AND ANIMAL
It has become apparent throughout my work the fetishisation of animals has provided a pivotal point for discussion on the ethics and rights of the animal, embedded within my own experiences, it is only fitting that a decision is made on my own moral standing. There are many viewpoints on the relationship of animals and in correlation, many ways in which they are tested both philosophically and ethically, some of these will be explored and discussed with the intended outcome of a moral ground from which I can defend within my own work. My area of proposed research is a continuation of my current practice, my work comprises mainly of sculpture and installation with the usage of animal parts making up a considerable amount of my material, everything from the way these materials are sourced, to the way they are used is considered
We have been fascinated with technological advances since the first fire, mankind has developed over time the cognitive ability to question and make sense of his surroundings and technology has been knitted alongside human evolution to both dramatic success and failure. How does the relationship between the animal, human and technology affect each member of the triangle? Darwin theorists are firm believers that mankind developed technology to further advance himself, having possibly reached the height of his evolutionary state, it is widely considered that man has reached this point, however Darwinian law suggests that a species can still evolve, despite the fact that man has remained unaltered for millions of years, this led man to alter the world around himself, resulting in our present consumerist society. Technology no longer stops within the confines of inanimate objects; digitally interactive games appear to respond to direction and movement, giving the appearance of reality. This deception of simulated life is carried throughout many actions, for example the application of such appearances, to the popular Nintendo Wii’s ‘Nintendog puppies’ allow people to interact with their very own virtual baby animal, it obeys its owners command and even plays ball. Exotic wildlife programmes are widely available but seldom does this biological diversity extend to the everyday urban life, resulting in humans being exposed to a limited amount of animal species. As I have explained in my own work, it would be extremely difficult or near impossible for industrialised countries to return to a more direct exposure to the natural world. In Philip k. Dick’s science fiction novel ‘Do androids dream of electric sheep?’ [1] (1968), in a post nuclear world, there is no wild animal life and that which remains is coveted by the humans that remain behind as expensive collector’s items. The book analyses the different ways in which we judge animal life and indeed the way we view all of life itself. The protagonist of the story finds what he believes to be a real toad, true to life robots are rife throughout and serve to disguise the fact the most of the animal life as we know it is extinct, only later does he discover that it is indeed a robot of the same kind. Deckard, (the protagonist) utilises this to come to terms with the fact that ‘electrical things have their own lives’, this does not extend so easily to the androids that are fashioned from humans. They are not made electronically but are biological human copies, they are also not easily distinguished, their psychological processing is much different and they lack empathic behaviour towards living things. Dick cunningly borrows the dominant characteristics from the Western world, applying them to that of the androids and contrasts them with the advanced humans which are incapable of the brutalities caused by the androids. This novel serves as a reminder of the cultural and social factors that bring around the ecological deterioration and species extinction, however I feel that it leans too heavily towards the context that artificial life is still in fact life, the novel entails the context that animal life is not as important if a realistic version is there to replace it. Within it and other literary works, it assesses animal life by the terms of its benefits to humankind, what knowledge, comfort and drawbacks it can bestow upon us. Therefore in this sense, it does not fulfil the needs of the animal itself, once it has become irrecuperably lost these novels accept the fact that technology can replace nature. This relationship poses many threats not only to the animal environment, but also that of a moral one, how is it that man can determine the value of life over its usefulness without the acknowledgement that all life has a means to its own end and in fact, it has a right to ‘have its own life’.
(Mrs Egyptian Mantis 2011) The notion of the electronic is a somewhat contradictory relationship, it would seem that even the deterioration of species has become a televised event, each person knows how to describe a tiger despite never seeing one in the flesh, it is difficult to empathise with something we have never experienced before, in relation to my own work with regards to other peoples experience, there is not nearly enough animal input into urban lives and this is something that is very unlikely to change due to restricting social and architectural circumstances. My own work is an attempt to tweeze out small points that can be related to, building up a bigger picture; it has no need to be bold or brash to alarm the viewer into my own way of thinking. I feel that in this case, the relationship between animal and electronic is taken for granted, the novels specified do carry notes of truth and indeed make true to life comparisons, however they are ahead in their future prediction. If animal extinction came to such a catastrophic head, electronic advances would allow for the exploration of and reconsideration of technological pursuit from an environmentalist point of view. Unfortunately this poses a somewhat multiple sided issue; the fascination of the android animal removes the qualities of the organic animal, I agree that if such electronic life reached a stage where it was regarded as an animal replacement, then indeed it too has its own right to live, this in itself causes problems.
Position Statement
As it stands my work is foraging through the experimental stage with some frenzied excitement. My aims are to follow on from my previous project towards something more encompassing of my ideas and concepts, not to say that my previous has not done this, I am merely attempting to fine tune the details on a larger scale.
I am using the same materials (natural clays, wax, bone, flesh and fur) but have been using chemicals to achieve certain finishes to moulds of rabbit bodies, I have watched the work of Von Hagen with mixed reaction however his process are unique if not somewhat controversial.
I would like this week to attempt to preserve my own piece of muscle tissue using a similar process to plastination (as patented by Von Hagen), I am not even 60% sure that this process will work but here is a brief outline of how I intend to proceed:
Acquire muscle tissue and depending on thickness slice thinly, this is important so that the formalin can strip thoroughly the fats and water, it must also be positioned the way it is to be presented. This must be left for no longer than 48 hours.
The tissue must then be dried out in Ethanol, by slowly increasing the concentrate over a set period of time bearing in mind the length and thickness of the flesh.
Forced impregnation must then be applied by means of a vacuum and the introduction of a polymer or resin, slowly depending on how the mixture bubbles, it must not boil rapidly as this renders the mixture useless.
The result of this must then be cured by means of warm temperatures (up to 50˚c) until it fully hardens.
Further routes I’m currently following:
Democritus the inventor of the theory of atoms
Sophists and their ideas behind the key to a happy and inwardly tuned individual, their views are highly contradictory of even their own theories! (They taught philosophy but only to demonstrate that all philosophy is false, Pascal later observed that ‘to ridicule philosophy is truly philosophical’.
I am giving a lecture on animal ethics nearer to Christmas as I do not feel that people understand the difference between ‘factory farmed food’ and food which you have caught and killed yourself. This is largely linked into my project.
Further notes and reading:
Abstract of US 5089288
A method of impregnating a tissue sample with paraffin in which, in a treatment vessel, a tissue sample, which has been fixed with isopropyl alcohol, is maintained under vacuum and simultaneously the molten paraffin and tissue sample are subjected to ultrasonic vibration effective to remove the isopropyl alcohol from the tissue sample and to impregnate the tissue sample with the paraffin.
Plastination journal Volume one
Word Count 482
Project Summary
Project Reflection
‘Heathen’ has presented to me the recognition of the connections between my life and my work. The statement of ‘previous project reflection’ is somewhat untrue; the project is deeply rooted inside my existence and forms large parts of itself purely from this essence.
Drawing further inspiration from philosophers Soren Kierkegaard and Frederick Nietzsche who once wrote the life fulfilling theories of Existentialism.
This philosophical view encapsulates the individual, providing the basis that all emotions adjoined to the individual contribute largely as to how mentally secure they perceive themselves to be. There are many factors that interact with the individual being, how does one dictate what constitutes a fulfilling life? How does one achieve this quality of life? How does ones environment affect the self internally even considering the possible consequences of Gods existence or non-existence? As the outlook of the Existentialist is highly self orientated I would propose to continue from this point. Somehow the comfort and freedom gained from this isolation blankets the internal and external influences, in an ideal world where this philosophy can be applied to each person the possible outcomes would be unfathomable, this is yet another reason why I want to further persue this project.
The notion of survivalism has always been very close to me, I was taught from a young age how to look after myself if ever I was caught in a situation where I had to stay outdoors for long periods of time. My family on my mother’s side have been gamekeepers for generations and so I feel that it is important to understand that if you are willing to eat something you must also be willing to kill it. I began to understand when took a rabbit in to prepare for the exhibition, it was fresh that morning and whole. I wanted to share the preparation stage with other colleagues but the notion was met with some disgust and even horror once the rabbit was removed from the sack. My reaction to this was calm, ‘you’ll eat beef and that’s much bigger than a rabbit, this is nothing’ all to no avail, I was sectioned to the empty project space to carry out the deed alone. This experience has confirmed my belief that our society’s demands are too high, it would be too inconvenient to slaughter your own food, too messy and too much time. Meat is readily available in any supermarket, washed, packaged and ready to eat and this has been readily noted by health experts, chefs and food critics alike.
Unfortunately (at least from my point of view) western society is devoted to scientific, industrial and aesthetic led goals, to return to more basic instinct would be considered a savage step back and in some ways I agree, our progress as a species is astonishing, modern medicine and communication allow us to live longer, we can do and explain things our ancestors might of described as witchcraft but does this make us happy and content with our lives? Some would definitely say that this is wonderful but there is a part of me that longs for the reality that we had not progressed so fast. A part of my mindset that doesn’t care if I die young or if I get an incurable disease, just that I respected and loved my life aswell as those in it. My project is not simply a depiction of life and death, but also an appreciation as much as a celebration of the two.
This re-enforces my belief that we are all the results of Evolution, social and physical rather than the creations of a deity, if we were meant to ‘evolve’ into what we are now, myself and others like me are doomed to extinction, it is a fact that we are already a dyeing breed.
Perhaps it is a question of how we are raised. The behaviour to fend for ones self has been lost overtime and perhaps for some, this innate nature has been forgotten forever, the prospect of catching and killing their own food proves revolting. I still feel that being able to recognise as well as listen to your innate needs is vital. However I do not oppose the availability of food nor is clean packaging, of course it would be difficult for everyone to live from the land, the countryside simply couldn’t support the onslaught, however I still feel that more people need to open their eyes to what is available to them.
I have come to appreciate the balance of our workings, life and death are inevitable. Throughout the complicated entanglement in-between I can hope that these traditions will stay alive however I fear that that the traditions of survivalism are numbered and are doomed to become something of a novelty.
I make many observations and love to question. Much of my work consists of open statements, however for my third project I wanted to follow my questions, persue the answers and find the delicate balance stringy balance that we call life.
My materials I feel I must affiliate with myself. As before I chose organic materials, this stages a huge part in my day to day mantra.
What do I gain from this knowledge? From this project I believe I have come to understand the answer to the great question. What is the meaning of life? The answer is not simple because the question is misleading; it is posed by human beings searching for answers where there rarely are any. It is therefor a social question and raises our pedestal above that of the animal kingdom. What differs us from the ‘animals’ is that we developed self-knowledge and cognitive awareness this is an amazing achievement in itself and the human race has come far, but at the end of the day there is only one thing determined from birth, death. We live to die; it depends on what we do with our time that dictates our contentment with life. An appreciation of life’s balance has emerged from my gaining this knowledge and a curiosity of how people deal with life’s processes. Much like in ‘Proverb’ my ideas are rooted from my experiences of life, as an observational person I watch people and my surroundings and am constantly aware of movement.
As my work progresses step by step, I aim to document each thought in the form of a journal, online blogg and sketchbook, both my journal and sketchbook are kept with me at all times incase of any spare time whilst I’m not working, any ideas which occur are duly noted.
As my work stands, until my ideas are furthered I will test them against the theories of Kierkegaard, when undergoing further research into Existentialism, I found that Christianity caused some controversy as to whether it could appear significant in an individuals life. Fellow German philosopher and psychologist Friedrich Nietzsche shared very similar ideals, although they held very little or no knowledge of eachother they both were considered to be Existentialists and condemned the church for its perversion of the Christian faith. This is the next lead in my research development that I would like to persue.
‘Heathen’ has presented to me the recognition of the connections between my life and my work. The statement of ‘previous project reflection’ is somewhat untrue; the project is deeply rooted inside my existence and forms large parts of itself purely from this essence.
Drawing further inspiration from philosophers Soren Kierkegaard and Frederick Nietzsche who once wrote the life fulfilling theories of Existentialism.
This philosophical view encapsulates the individual, providing the basis that all emotions adjoined to the individual contribute largely as to how mentally secure they perceive themselves to be. There are many factors that interact with the individual being, how does one dictate what constitutes a fulfilling life? How does one achieve this quality of life? How does ones environment affect the self internally even considering the possible consequences of Gods existence or non-existence? As the outlook of the Existentialist is highly self orientated I would propose to continue from this point. Somehow the comfort and freedom gained from this isolation blankets the internal and external influences, in an ideal world where this philosophy can be applied to each person the possible outcomes would be unfathomable, this is yet another reason why I want to further persue this project.
The notion of survivalism has always been very close to me, I was taught from a young age how to look after myself if ever I was caught in a situation where I had to stay outdoors for long periods of time. My family on my mother’s side have been gamekeepers for generations and so I feel that it is important to understand that if you are willing to eat something you must also be willing to kill it. I began to understand when took a rabbit in to prepare for the exhibition, it was fresh that morning and whole. I wanted to share the preparation stage with other colleagues but the notion was met with some disgust and even horror once the rabbit was removed from the sack. My reaction to this was calm, ‘you’ll eat beef and that’s much bigger than a rabbit, this is nothing’ all to no avail, I was sectioned to the empty project space to carry out the deed alone. This experience has confirmed my belief that our society’s demands are too high, it would be too inconvenient to slaughter your own food, too messy and too much time. Meat is readily available in any supermarket, washed, packaged and ready to eat and this has been readily noted by health experts, chefs and food critics alike.
Unfortunately (at least from my point of view) western society is devoted to scientific, industrial and aesthetic led goals, to return to more basic instinct would be considered a savage step back and in some ways I agree, our progress as a species is astonishing, modern medicine and communication allow us to live longer, we can do and explain things our ancestors might of described as witchcraft but does this make us happy and content with our lives? Some would definitely say that this is wonderful but there is a part of me that longs for the reality that we had not progressed so fast. A part of my mindset that doesn’t care if I die young or if I get an incurable disease, just that I respected and loved my life aswell as those in it. My project is not simply a depiction of life and death, but also an appreciation as much as a celebration of the two.
This re-enforces my belief that we are all the results of Evolution, social and physical rather than the creations of a deity, if we were meant to ‘evolve’ into what we are now, myself and others like me are doomed to extinction, it is a fact that we are already a dyeing breed.
Perhaps it is a question of how we are raised. The behaviour to fend for ones self has been lost overtime and perhaps for some, this innate nature has been forgotten forever, the prospect of catching and killing their own food proves revolting. I still feel that being able to recognise as well as listen to your innate needs is vital. However I do not oppose the availability of food nor is clean packaging, of course it would be difficult for everyone to live from the land, the countryside simply couldn’t support the onslaught, however I still feel that more people need to open their eyes to what is available to them.
I have come to appreciate the balance of our workings, life and death are inevitable. Throughout the complicated entanglement in-between I can hope that these traditions will stay alive however I fear that that the traditions of survivalism are numbered and are doomed to become something of a novelty.
I make many observations and love to question. Much of my work consists of open statements, however for my third project I wanted to follow my questions, persue the answers and find the delicate balance stringy balance that we call life.
My materials I feel I must affiliate with myself. As before I chose organic materials, this stages a huge part in my day to day mantra.
What do I gain from this knowledge? From this project I believe I have come to understand the answer to the great question. What is the meaning of life? The answer is not simple because the question is misleading; it is posed by human beings searching for answers where there rarely are any. It is therefor a social question and raises our pedestal above that of the animal kingdom. What differs us from the ‘animals’ is that we developed self-knowledge and cognitive awareness this is an amazing achievement in itself and the human race has come far, but at the end of the day there is only one thing determined from birth, death. We live to die; it depends on what we do with our time that dictates our contentment with life. An appreciation of life’s balance has emerged from my gaining this knowledge and a curiosity of how people deal with life’s processes. Much like in ‘Proverb’ my ideas are rooted from my experiences of life, as an observational person I watch people and my surroundings and am constantly aware of movement.
As my work progresses step by step, I aim to document each thought in the form of a journal, online blogg and sketchbook, both my journal and sketchbook are kept with me at all times incase of any spare time whilst I’m not working, any ideas which occur are duly noted.
As my work stands, until my ideas are furthered I will test them against the theories of Kierkegaard, when undergoing further research into Existentialism, I found that Christianity caused some controversy as to whether it could appear significant in an individuals life. Fellow German philosopher and psychologist Friedrich Nietzsche shared very similar ideals, although they held very little or no knowledge of eachother they both were considered to be Existentialists and condemned the church for its perversion of the Christian faith. This is the next lead in my research development that I would like to persue.
Rabbits Fish and Tents
(Left, Soon-to-be dinner eating a Dorito)Putting that aside, the journey itself was somewhat traumatic, my partner hit one of two rabbits running on the dip of a hill and carried on driving. I asked him to stop so i could make sure it was dead but to no avail. I figured he didnt want to aknowledge the fact that he'd just made his first road kill. He didnt get off lightly! i proceeded to torture him all the way to the campsight with a sort of 'toothy voice' exclaiming that he was a killer. I do feel sorry for him having to put up with me sometimes.
The holiday itself was a little of a learning curve for him and our friend who came with us (4 of us went) as we were on a budget i said that now would be a good time to start learning how to fish and hunt game. We were staying on a campsight about two miles out of Whitby and therefor not far from the coast. Fishing was first on the agenda, sea fishing i find is much more rewarding as the variety from the old boot to a mackrel, it took them a while to grasp the casting technique (not the rod!) but eventually they prevailed. It was lucky on the first day that we were not solely relying on the ocean and the boys techniques to feed ourselves! Two Whiteing between four? not a chance!
Myself and my partner went out on a fishing boat a few days later, captained by someone who can be described as nothing less than an 'old salt', his face had clearly been succepted to years of the relentless sea, it had left him with little crinkles and cracks all over his weather beaten face. This is not to say that he was an ugly man, but it certainly gave the impression of wisdom and the use of a tobacco pipe. He took about five miles from the mainland, alarmingly close to the frieght carriers. Alex (my partener), cast off with relish to the depths benieth us (just under 140ft!) and reeled in one of many Mackerel, i took my time to explain what the different kinds of fish were, especially the Codling, exactly as it sounds it is literally a young Cod, recognised by their gaping gills and a beige stripe near the tail fin. These were thrown back (avoiding the seagulls) to help preserve dwindling numbers, i find it typical that such an ugly fish is rated one of the best tasting in the world, it gives the phrase beauty is on the inside a whol new meaning. Between us we hauled in around thirty fish and i spent the time aon the way back gutting and filleting much to alexs horror and the seagulls delight! (have you ever noticed that there is always one seagul that sits on top of the boats cabin constantly? methinks it has been stapled to it!) After that we spent nearly the whole holiday eating fish.
I feel it has introduced my partner to new aspects of life and indeed some cases death, i am somewhat jelous of the fact it is completely new to him and he can look at things with fresh eyes and eventually acceptance.
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