Rotation Week 1: Exhibition Visits | Movie Review

WEEKEND // Visiting the British Museum:

// Desire, Love, Identity: Exploring LGBTQ History

Just like every course, research is a vital part of your sketchbook. The class was given a list of exhibitions to visit during the weekend. I chose to visit the British Museum to look at their exhibition on the LGBTQ Community.

There was a central focus once you entered the exhibition and that was a sculpture by Ain Shakri. The sculpture depicted two figures embracing and quite obviously being very intimate with each other. This really struck me because the figures didn't have any faces or explicit indications towards their sex, they didn't have an identity. It was just Desire and Love. The brilliant thing about this is the pure fact that they have no identity because why should it matter, Love is love regardless of who it involves.

Ain Shakri

(**IMAGES FROM GOOGLE BECAUSE MY PHONE RAN OUT OF BATTERY**)

David Hockney

Tomb painting showing male lovers.

One other piece I found interesting was this cup shaped piece of pottery with very intricate designs on it. It is from the Ancient Greek era and depicts young, naked males serving their older counterparts who are also in the nude. It is understood that this was a tradition called a Symposium where there was generally a high possibility of sex between the young male servants and the older men. This was quite shocking to me personally because it was not only proving that homosexuality dates back that far but also the fact that homosexuality was an accepted part of society and seen as it should be, normal.

Pottery: red-figured kylix (drinking-cup) showing boys serving wine. The guests recline on wooden couches propped up with cushions. Jugs and drinking-cups are shown hanging up on the wall behind.

MONDAY // Tate Modern Visit:

// Soul of a Nation

Another exhibition I attended was the Tate Modern exhibition on the power of black art, it was called 'Soul of a Nation' and it was truly inspiring. The whole class attended and I'm sure we all felt the powerful messages portrayed through the artwork displayed.

Norman Lewis, America the Beautiful 1960

This was the very first piece that caught my eye when I arrived into the first exhibition room. Upon seeing this painting my mind instantly recognised the white, pointed figures as a Klu Klux Klan gathering. The 60's in America was a very tough time for ethnic groups, especially for African Americans, during this time America was going through a huge Civil Rights movement in order for less socially accepted ethnic minorities to live the carefree life they all deserved. This painting is very evocative of the struggles and troubles the Black community went through in order to be accepted. What I find very powerful about this painting is the colours used, though there are only two it is the only two colours needed to accentuate the divide in America at the time.

These are some extracts from a Newspaper called 'The Black Panther'. The newspaper can be described as a form of propaganda as it is promoting a political point of view, however this is not to be confused with the Nazi propaganda that circulated Germany during the World Wars as this form isn't misleading at all. It was a tool used by the Black community to unite and inform every possible black person in America of the injustice forced upon them by the American Government. Unite being the key word here.

Emory Douglas, sections from newspaper 'The Black Panther', 1967-71

The graphics were produced by Emory Douglas who was also an influential artist at the time.

A series of work that I found really interesting were some collages by Romare Bearden. I took a liking to them because his use of contrasting imagery really created a feeling of resistance. In these pieces are a mix of photographs from rituals in the rural south to everyday life in the busy city. At the time there was of course a divide between ethnic communities so it was very rare to find what was depicted in the collages actually happening in the big cities. Bearden has managed to create a piece of work that uniquely criticises the divide and almost gives power to the black community by essentially saying that they now own these cities. It is a form of resistance against the nature of life in America at the time.

Romare Bearden

I really enjoyed the exhibition, I felt it was really powerful and it was especially nice to see a gallery with significance such as the Tate Modern giving light to artists from the Black Community. There is a lot of controversy nowadays regarding whitewashing and certain ethnic groups being underrepresented in the world so it was really refreshing to see something new and certainly something this powerful.

Further images from the exhibition visit:

TUESDAY // Studio work

Today was a day that allowed us to reflect upon our visits to our chosen exhibitions. The day started with a lecture about generic things about the year but progressed onto small tasks.

Our first task of the day was to upload an image to the classes Padlet about one of the things we found particularly interesting at one of the exhibitions,

I posted the painting by Norman Lewis, America the Beautiful, 1960. I felt it was very evocative of the struggles and troubles African Americans went through at that time, during the Civil Rights movement.

One other task we had was to create or find something either online or inside the school that depicted some sort of rebellion or something that we could, ourselves, rebel against. Rather than search online I felt I needed to find something inside the building that I could alter to represent dissent.

I found this little stand outside one of the toilets on level 6 that read 'WET PAINT'. Personally, I hate the medium of paint. I have never really excelled with it and often find it troubling to work with, also nobody on this earth finds wet paint amazing. Its an inconvenience. However one medium I am particularly fond of is pencil, I much prefer pencil (and pen) to paint because it allows me to be far more precise in my work and its a material that isn't messy and couldn't possibly ruin my clothes.

As a very simple way of showing my rebellion I put a bunch of pencils around the sign expressing my idea that pencils would be better. Although it doesn't fit into the context of what the sign is saying, that is what makes it a bit quirky and almost comical. Its a more fun and personal way of rebelling against something; perhaps only people with the similar preference to pencils over paint would probably understand what I am getting at.

My response to the task posted on Padlet along with the rest of the classes responses.

MOVIE NIGHT // Battle of Algiers

At the end of the day we were given the opportunity to watch a film called the 'Battle of Algiers'. The film was made in 1966 and won the Venice film award whilst also being nominated for multiple Academy Awards and I feel like I understand why. It was an amazing film that covered the Colonialism of Algeria by the French government. It was said to have been made without a bias, that both sides were portrayed fairly. However the way the viewer interpreted it is of course up to them.

young messanger recruiting Ali la Point to the FLN

It was focused on an Algerian resistance group under the acronym FLN. The role of the FLN were to liberate and unite the Algerian residents of La Casbah against the French Colonial authorities that were controlling their homeland. During the beginning of the film you start to sympathise with the Algerian residents because they have essentially been invaded by another country whom have gained control of their nation. There is a strong sense of segregation amongst the two nations, nobody tends to mix, both sides are weary of each other and there is definitely a distinct difference between the two cultures living there. However, your perception of the FLN changes when they begin to take action by commiting brutal crimes against the French authorities. It begins with the FLN shooting almost every French policeman in sight. The French respond to these murderous acts by bombing homes in the Algerian quarter of the city of La Casbah. This prompts an all out war with acts of terrorism happening almost every day until the French authorities decide to bring in the Army (known as the Paratroopers).

Colonel Mathieu and the 'Paratroopers'.

The film is incredibly powerful, not just in the themes used but its how the film makes you sympathise with the FLN even despite everything terrible they are doing. Whilst I was watching it I didn't want the French to win, I didn't want to see the French tear apart the city looking for each and every member of this rebel alliance (they'd never catch Han Solo :) ) because I felt like, despite the ways they were responding to the French authorities, I was on their side. I was on their side because what the French had done to their country was wrong, they had invaded and commandeered their country and began controlling it as it was their own. To me, that was wrong. That is the sort of stuff that creates world wars. The film made you question your morality, are the French wrong for colonising? Are the FLN wrong for trying to get their country back?

Wednesday // Creating our resistant objects

Today was the day we were to create our objects that showed dissent or resistance to something in some way. I chose to develop my idea of hating paint. Earlier in the week I put pencils over a wet paint sign to show my dissent against paint and the idea of it. Whilst thinking about what sort of thing I could respond to at home I realised I had a pot of paint and a load of spare paint brushes which was perfect. My idea was to create paint brushes with pencils acting as the bristles instead of the conventional plastic fibres.

I brought a bunch of old pencils, as well as the paint brushes and paint, with me to school and began by cutting the pencils with the band-saw in the prototyping room.

I cut a selection of coloured pencils as well as a bunch of charcoal pencils. They were all really old and I had no use for them so they had to be sacrificed. I cut them into about three different sizes so there would be a bit of a variety when it came to the finished thing. It was pretty easy to cut them up, I just had to make sure I didn't cut myself on the machine.

In order for me to attach the pencils onto the paintbrush I had to first remove the bristles. At first I tried to use some scissors but the bristles were too tough and they were too compacted to do any actual damage to them. Instead I opted for a Stanley knife and cut along the base of the fibres right next to the metal covering because that's where the most tension was. It worked. They came off pretty quickly, they ended up spraying everywhere as you can see in the picture.

Once I had the bristles off I put the brush upside down and drew around the area I needed to cover with pencils. This was also an easier way of attaching the pencils to the brush as it would allow me to arrange them and stick them together as one instead of trying to fiddle around placing one pencil on at a time. Whereas if I stuck them all together first I could just stick that one unit of pencils straight onto the brush and it'd be finished.

However sticking the pencils to the brush was actually more difficult than I had anticipated. I was trying to use UHU glue which generally has a reputation for being pretty good but I guess today it wasn't living up to its expectations because the pencils were always just falling up. I opted for a glue gun. I think the main problem was that the glue weren't drying as fast as I needed it to.

I did the same thing with a set of coloured pencils however with this one I added a different size set of pencils. Not too sure on what the idea for this was I just saw them next to each other and decided it might look alright.

The last thing I needed to do to consider myself finished (with the making) was to cover a pot of paint with a new label. It was just an ordinary pot of black paint that I covered with some paper and drew all over it with the colour paint brush I had just created, hopefully this would give more of a sense of what I was trying to get at.

The finished thing:

I was very happy with what I had created. I think what a lot of the class got stuck on was that they had overthought the task. It didn't have to be something amazing or even something that was a relevant thing to rebel against. A lot of people I spoke to were trying to resist against political issues, race issues, sexism issues and many more along those line. Whilst it may have worked for them there were a lot of people seeing this and feeling pressured to create something that might have an impact in regards to these issues. That is why I feel happy with what I've created. It wasn't a relevant topic, it wasn't a social, real world issue that needed to be spoken about but it was something that I found would work, it was quirky and almost comical. If anything I felt like it was a probably more positive piece than anything I might have created if I had focused on solving a social issue. It was simple and it worked. That works for me.

Something that was suggested to me was to create a painting with the brushes I had just created. This was to cement my idea that pencils are better and just to have something extra to express my dissent toward the medium.

I created The Scream painting by Edvard Munch. Amazingly, the colours I had selected for the multicoloured brush were pretty similar to the colours used in the actual painting. I think the only next step would be to photograph the objects I had just made in an environment that suited them.