Live Events- Sculpture by the Sea

I recently visited an art exhibition at Bondi Beach, Australia where various artists placed their work in various places along the coast. The exhibition was unlike any other I have seen before as it took place outside and each piece was placed in different positions that sparked different emotions and reactions. It was also interesting to see 3d art and be able to walk 360 degrees around a piece of art because the sculpture could look totally different from one side to the other. An example of this was a piece by Simon McGrath called who left the tap running.

This piece was fascinating because the above picture reflects the title and is quite obvious that the tap has "filled up the sea" but standing on the other side it was just a giant tap on the  top of a mountain and it made you wounder the story and reasoning behind it.

Another interesting piece and one of my favourites was a piece called Domestic bliss by Peter Tilley;

The subject, the setting and the way the sculpture has been placed interests me and provides an opportunity to suggest different meanings and messages behind it. It keeps the audience guessing and wondering what the story behind the artwork is. This reminds me of Theatre. Every theatrical performance creates different meanings and subconscious messages which helps ignite emotions in an audience. Similarly to one of my four chosen images it makes me wonder why the chair is empty and what the person is doing. He is staring at the chair as if someone is missing from it. As i stood by this sculpture I would see people walk straight passed it as it did not interest them, maybe because there was no obvious meaning or story for them but for me it really got me questioning it and has stuck out in my mind ever since.

Marcus Tatton- The ruin

This was one of my favourite pieces and reminded me of my own scenic design for the play the Crucible. The cut away design is similar to mine and suggests that we are looking beyond an exterior to discover something new and the loves of the people within the four walls. I love the simplistic use of the logs and the the earthy browns on the soft sand.

 

This image above shows artwork from Belinda Villani called the predators in the park. Unlike many of the sculptures in Bondi this one shows animals in a natural habitat and is much more naturalistic than the others. These were placed away from the sea and amongst trees where they would live in the wild. I enjoyed this piece as it was easy to look at and quite black and white as it was what it was. This shows what a variety of artwork there was in the exhibition and how an outside location can put a whole different spin on a piece of art.

It would be interesting to see a similar outdoor exhibition in the UK as I think that the result would be quite different. The weather would have a huge impact and would create quite a different mood and atmosphere for many of the sculptures. Overall this exhibition has been one of the most memorable for me and I would love to visit again if I ever had the chance. It was a very successful exhibition with hundreds of people visiting each day that it was on. I think all aspects of the exhibition worked well, although naturally there was art that excited me more than others.

Story telling through imagery

This is a picture from the french artist Christian Guemy who believes that you can tell a persons life story if you look deeply enough into their face. This is one of the reasons that this particular image attracted me. The woman's posture, facial expressions, and eyes suggest that she is deep in thought and is sat waiting/hoping for something/someone and some sort of meaning or purpose. What really fascinated me is how Guemy has placed this piece behind bars and brought the piece to life even further. The bars suggest to me that she is trapped or captured and is trying to break free. Without the bars I think I would see the picture in a totally different way. This also suggests that the woman feels lonely and has very little self confidence and freedom. This image makes me wonder about the before and after to the story of this woman's life. Why did she end up here? What is going to happen next? The blue tones give me quite an eerie and cold feeling so if I was to develop this piece I would create the opposite of the image and create what the woman is looking at and include lots of bright vibrant colours to show that she is admiring something quite spectacular and is actually very happy. I think this is a picture that could suggest many different things depending on the audience. For this reason I think that has been very cleverly done as it keeps the audience thinking and creating their own interpretations. However if the woman was looking and the audience it could make her look angry, happy or lonely depending on the detail and angle of her eyes. This excites me as it shows what you can create from how you dress something.



 The empty chair by Deena Cardwell

I think that this is a really striking piece and I immediately felt emotional after seeing it. To me this painting suggests a very sombre mood. I relate this painting to grief as the figure is sitting alone in the one chair and his face is hidden. He is sat next to and empty chair which suggests that a loved one has passed away. The warm and vibrant colours suggest his anger and pain and also connote blood to once again represent death. This piece makes me feel very sad and although the story behind it could be interpreted in different ways, to me the symbolic story of grief is quite clear and this makes me relate this painting to my own life. Because of the strong emotions that this painting has sparked in me I believe it is a very powerful painting and also very successful.





This is a picture taken from a production of Macbeth 

When I came across this picture I was so excited as I think it is such a powerful picture. The dark almost empty black stage gives a bleak and uneasy atmosphere and the subdued lighting enhances this. Much of the light casts long shadows across the stage which creates a pattern of shapes that would change with movement. I imagine the music to be quiet at first and quite ghost like and repetitive. This will enhance the mood and atmosphere and further darken it along with the drab haze of smoke. I also think that the figures are stood very powerfully and mirror each other. They look like they should typically be holding guns or weapons but their stance and positioning with the lighting is symbolic enough and I think is more powerful than holding actual weapons. Although the mood that the picture gives is dark and bleak I think that it is a brilliant picture and I'm very excited when I think about what the whole production would have been like and what I would feel if I was sitting there watching this scene. It gives me a sense of happiness and excitement that inspires me to become a creator so that i can influence other audiences in a similar way.





Two women with contrasting dress at 1967 conference in Amsterdam

This photograph taken in a conference in Amsterdam shows a huge contrast in characters.  The two women in the picture could not be any more opposite but they have ended up sitting next to each other and the result is quite comical. The picture sparks many different topics such as religion, smoking, youth and freedom. At a first glance it just looks like two women sitting next to each other but at a closer inspection and noticing the cigarette in the hand, the short skirt, and feminine light dress this women goes against every belief of the women of faith. This makes this picture quite a powerful picture and although gives a comical mood would give an audience strong opinions depending on which woman they are more similar to. If i were to see this picture come to life I would love to see the two women be mother and daughter or best friends and think they could be made into a very comical duo. I like the fact that the picture has no colour as it makes the picture exactly what it is; black and white.


CHOICES


I have tried to pick 4 contrasting images that have triggered different emotions for me. Between the four pictures i have felt excitement, happiness and experienced laughter. I have also experienced pride, confusion, sadness and pain. To get such emotions from a single image is extraordinary and makes me realise that there is always a lot more behind what you might first see.