Idea No 1: Apple

The idea of a rotten apple began with the initial thought of creation (The third day). I wanted to document an apple tree as it starts covering with leaves then blossom and eventually apples growing on it. This idea will be easy to execute as I have an apple tree in my garden and obviously a good camera and some knowledge in photography and depth of field thanks to my photography unit.
I started taking pictures of the tree and will continue to do that until the project is due even if it will eventually won’t be the final presentation. I was hoping to document a full cycle of the apple itself from blossom until it falls on the ground and decay.

One problem I came across while deciding to try this, is time: I can document the growth of the apple up to a point, but will not have enough time to see if fully grown, falls and rot. I then thought it can be a two stage project: one of the apple tree and one of an apple itself rotting in supervised environment. This can be easily achieved in my kitchen and documenting it will also be easier as I can control the light, while shooting outside is subjected to weather, time of day and quality of light.

The first thing I did was finding a time laps video on YouTube showing a rotting apple. I took some screen prints of it and will use in in my sketchbook. One thing led to another, and seeing the beautiful colours of the decay, I am also thinking of using collage of images, one on top of the other like pages in a book, when the audience can flick through and see the process of decay. I am thinking of using thin paper and manipulate it a bit to create a nice collage. As the paper is semi-transparent, the colours will look nice through the layers, especially if I use PVA glue. I am hoping it will not give me too much grief as the paper sticks to the fingers fairly easy and it is hard to work when my fingers are covered in glue and pieces of paper. Also, once touching the glue, the paper transfer it’s paint onto the fingers and other layers. I can use this to my advantage but it can also be a problem. Maybe I can use tweezers but it will not be the same as I cannot feel the material. Well, I will never know until I try.

 

My apples are going wild! The first thing I did was to create a series of apple in rotting stages and place them into a table. Then I chose 15 images (just to set them nicely in my sketchbook. Initially I had 17 images).

Step 1: colour painting over and around the apples, getting the tone and exploring warm/cold colours. This will later lead to another thing I want to explore.

Step 2: cutting all images and placing them in a chronological order in a semi-circle. This is my first sample of how I want the final result to look like.

Things I came across while placing the images:

·         If I want the images to be visible from every side, I need to make sure I have two copies of the same apple and put them back to back.

·         If I want the process to look like a rotten apple from left to right and from right to left, I need to design each apple to show the first image from one side and the last image from the other side, then the second and second from the end back to back etc. the middle image should be the same on both sides. I will need an uneven number of images from each side of the centre image to make it look good. Not too many images as it will be confusing and missing the lovely colours of the mould. Maybe 8 images of each side of the centre apple? Again, this is just the idea of how I want it to look. The final piece, if I chose to use this, will not be made out of paper.

·         How to keep the same distance between the images? How to arrange the images in the semi-circle? Can I make a full circle?

Step 3: laser print the image of the apple on acrylic boards. Size? At the moment it is A5 but if I decide to go through with this, it will have to be bigger.

I started playing with acrylic paint, trying to get the right tones and colours, at the moment I am not happy with the result but will keep trying. The idea is to have series of images that can be seen from both sides.

Next step:

·         Getting the right colours.

·         Cutting the acrylic boards to the shape of the apple and not as an A5 sheet.

·         How to place the boards?

Further future, if I decide to go ahead with this design will be designing the images to fit a circle 3D shape. I am thinking of using a disco ball to project lights through the acrylic boards so the effect of rotten apple will be full.

First thoughts about Final Major Project (FMP)

When coming to deal with the final MAJOR project, it only comes down to: what can I say that has not been said before? How can I bring anything new that has not been done before? How can I re-invent the wheel and still make it roll?

The brief itself is very flexible and open, it gives me the chance to produce something, anything, but justify every move and process. I need to be clear.

One thing that came to mind is the size. Before I even start thinking about an initial idea, I need to consider the time I have to produce it, costs of materials and space. How big do I want to go? How big CAN I go? Putting aside minor details, I need to come up with 3 different ideas, different mediums for each idea and make it logical.

I am now thinking about something completely irrelevant to the brief itself: how provocative do I want to be? Do I want to shake people’s minds? Do I want to mess up with them? Can I justify my need of provoking in the name of art or is it just for the sake of provoking? For example: if I want to move forward with an idea that will require offending people in a way, how can I avoid offending them and make it clear that I just want to deliver a message, an idea, leave my mark and not just be another student delivering a project?

One of my ideas involves light. The initial idea was an installation and whatever whatever whatever light. Then it progressed, as I started playing with the meaning of light, having to do with my name of course (yes, Or in Hebrew means light). I wanted it big, sparkly, changing, involving the crowd, mega giant super wow. And then I reduced it to the concept of light, but let’s go smaller, maybe think about the phrase “let there be light” and quickly it became the seven days of creation and the whole biblical story of Genesis 1. Few hours later I moved from super complicated to super simple. How about a room? I imagined a dark room, and a light switch. Hey, wait a minute, not even a switch. Let’s make it an infra-red movement detector, and if someone walks into this room, there will be light! WOW effect and orchestra in the background. I am a genius! Now let’s minimise it even more: how about a dot. Just a dot. Simple. Minimalism. Project is done. An hour later, I am still in the same room, but the floor is moving, the sealing opens up and the creation of the world happens in the same room with the light switch. No, no good. Too many health and safety issues, not enough time to get something like this done, and I will probably need a stage crew to make something like this happen. Ok, so let’s focus on hearing. Yes! Everyone relays on vision, they will never expect something like this: same room, everything is dark, white noise (thank you Steven for the fab idea!) and a deep voice announces: let there be light! And then, we can hear the sea as God separates heaven and earth and then more sounds of birds, wind in the trees, animals… you name it, it’s there! Oh, and while we are there, how about some sparkly skies? Stars? Maybe even glitters (the audience will love that, won’t they? Erm, no.) Yes, I messed up the order of the days but I am overly enthusiastic about it all. And just before they are about to leave the room, I need to come up with the creation of man but how? Relay on sound again? Maybe put Eve’s voice telling Adam she asked him to do something 5 minutes ago and how many times does she need to ask? Maybe not. Maybe just a silhouette of human bodies, nothing specific? Just something that passes through, allowing the brain to make the connection? God! Creating a world is too hard!

Changes in my blog

Ok, so I am getting closer to the end of my Access course, and since this blog was originally opened for college purposes I have decided to start making the most of it and not just use it as a links box (although I will continue to throw more and more links that inspire me and are related to my work and research) but I will start to document more and more of my work for the next however many years of education.

I also found out that I actually do have an audience somewhere, so if you read this, please feel free to leave a comment, it will brighten up my days (especially the ones when all I do is research and writing and not so much art).

Having said all that… here’s to new beginnings!

Cheers!

FMP inspiration - The art of shadow and light (links and a general plan)

I am quite fascinated by the concept of light and shadow, especially the art of Rashad Alakbarov. creating landscapes using materials that will at the end result will something completely different projected onto an opposite wall is truly spectacular!

Red Hong Yi's Shadow art is also a remarkable artist playing with shadows in a smaller scale, which is more appropriate for an FMP project (Having to deal with lack of time).

I am hoping to combine the two methods into one outcome by using Acrylic plates placed on skewers (at least for the maquette it will have to be skewers or cocktail sticks).

Fingers crossed, that is my plan for the next few days.

FMP apple inspiration - Sam Taylor-Johnson

Still life 2011 - the ultimate metamorphosis of fruit, thoughts about mortality and beauty.

FMP - Apple - inspiration

Toki - A Fascinating 3D - Printed Light - Based Zoetrope By Akinori Goto