Ephemera: 21 Questions

Right so my project is all about my not wanting to have children but also the way that decision is viewed by our society as a whole. Ive decided to try and get questions off people, the kind of things they would ask a woman in her 20s who says she doesnt want children, questions about how i came to my decision, about motherhood or my family or contraception at least thats what im hoping for. Ive got a box in the class at college for people to leave questions and an AskFM that ive posted on Facebook to try and get some attention so heres hoping. Im going to be answering 21 questions, one every night just as i take my birth control pill. It was originally going to be 28 days to include my 21 day pill cycle and the 7 days off you have your period in but im running out of time to do four weeks of filming plus i think the 28 days of the birth control are more important than the 7 days off the pill when im menstruating.

Cliteracy

Ive been doing a bit of research for my Internal Ephemera project, thinking about what my call to action is. I decided to take a look at a project i had seen ages ago and saved on Pinterest by Sophia Wallace called Cliteracy. 

CLITERACY is a new way of talking about citizenship, sexuality, human rights, and bodies. The project reveals the – phallic as neutral – bias in science, law, philosophy, politics, mainstream and even feminist discussion, and the art world - which is so saturated with the female body as subject. -Sophia Wallace.com

I love this project its so good, and it demonstrates its point in the fact that I've learned all these weird clitoris facts at 25 that i never knew about my own body. I want my project to have this combination of humour and educational value and a little fuck you to the patriarchy of course.

If you're interested in learning more about the project the HuffPo have this cool little Cliteracy mini site here.

Internal Ephemeral

ephemeral

ɪˈfɛm(ə)r(ə)l,-ˈfiːm-/

adjective

adjective: ephemeral

1.

lasting for a very short time.

"fashions are ephemeral: new ones regularly drive out the old"

synonyms:

transitory, transient, fleeting, passing, short-lived, momentary, brief, short, cursory, temporary, impermanent, short-term;

Its been a wee bit since i last blogged anything, been winding down from the Non-Place brief. Next up we're picking a brief from a choice of three, the first one was based on punctuation which didnt interest me (too cold), the second was based on the concept of Newspeak from Gerge Orwells 1984 which is a bit overwhelming and ive never actualy read the book despite wanting to (too hot). The final brief is internal ephemera which involves recording your thoughts over a period of time (just right).

My concept is basically about the way people discuss womens fertility as being ephemeral and encourage women and push women into having children, which is what ive seen. I really dont want children and never have at any point of my life so far and yeah i could change my mind but that doesnt change my thoughts at the moment and how much i try to avoid pregnancy. I suppose ive always found it really condescending the way people use the 'you'll know when you have your own kids' line, like the way your being talked to like an adult and talked at like a child at the same time fucking infuriates me.

So yeah keeping it nice and light this time.

First Article For The Edinburgh Feminist Review

My first post for The Edinburgh Feminist Review is up, all about Games Are For Everyone an event showcasing indie games at the Mash House in Edinburgh and includes the book launch of Embed With Games by Cara Ellison who I interviewed for the blog. Check it out here.

Non-Place: Display

Non-Place is all wrapped up now, feeling pretty good about my work. My work is a response to commuter stress in the train station utalising colour theory, aromatherapy and nostalgic imagery to create a calming atmosphere. I created two animations to be played in Summer and Winter along with a blend of essential oils to create a scent to fill the station and litte cards people can take away with them on their journey with a QR code which will play the animations on their devices. I also included designs for train tickets to be used at the stations.

me looking very proud

we have a very nice smelling coridoor for a while

i swear these QR codes work

Non-Place: Final Animations

My animations for non-place are now done! Basically these colourful animations would be projected in the train station creating something interesting to look at along with my calming scent, the scent can be taken away on a little card onto the train where the animation can also be viewed on YouTube via QR code. so here they are, the animation that would be played in summer evoking memories of the Great British Holiday and the Winter one which is all about snow and snuggling up.

Non-Place: The Final Stretch

Ive been really unwell for about a week so things are feeling a bit tense the now. Not to worry though, getting my animation finished up and all my essential oils have arrived for me to start experimenting and creating my oil blend and the little cards to go with. I was going to project my kaleidoscope in the college but chasing down a projector has been a pain in the arse and since i was gonna do this anyway im putting a QR code on the take away cards which will link to my animation on YouTube, all sorted. This project is a bit of a detour from what ive usually been doing and the sort of thing i want to do for the degree show and i cant quite make my mind up if i like it or not. Anyway here are some kaleidoscope photoshop things I've been making using family photos to evoke nostalgia of summer and winter holidays and good times, Blackpool and Butlins and Halloween and Christmas. I made these with a bit of help from this tutorial from Creative Bloq.

Bit of a pink tint for this one, still thinking about my calming colours

this one is a wee bit more modern, view of snowy gardens from when i was about 10

Big News!

Heres a little break from college work stuff, im not a contributing reviewer for The Edinburgh Feminist Review an arts and culture blog based on things in and around Edinbrugh. I'll post more when i have my first blog up.

Non-Place: Animation fun

Okay so i dont have a great deal of expertise in using After Effects, in fact im using a 30 day trial of it to do this project but, ive been trying really hard and created these little test kaleidoscope animations using my family photos, forgive the quality i needed them to upload to YouTube without taking a million years.

 

Non-Place: Childhood Nostalgia

Looking into smell and nostalgia i found this article about the science behind  it all. Apparently research done in Sweden found that when exposed to certain smells people could recall memories from younger ages than people who just heard the names of the smells and people who had the smell along with its name recalled more memories.
Im using this information to create my own blend of essential oil scents along with information from Snoezelen about how aromatherapy oils are used to relax or destress. I want my scent to recall memories for people but if you've ever walked past a candle shop near Christmas you'll know it can go a bit far with the old artificial mulled wine and winter fruits.

Going overboard with the Christmas factor is something i also have to think about with my images. Seeing as i always put myself in my work somewhere i have decided to create a projection which uses photographs from my own childhood mixed together in a kaleidoscope. Its my hope that people will be able to pick out some elements of the photos, some snow or a christmas present (or a beach holidayin the Summer), without seeing the full picture. To recall memories of good times and childhood happiness without plastering a picture of my gurning baby face on a wall.

(my photos)

While i was looking into kaleidoscope style artwork i found someone else turning old photos into patterns. Nicole Crock's Tesselate project turns vintage photographs of people and their homes found in thrift stores into abstract patterns which she also makes into three-dimensional origami shapes, since im looking a bit into 3D mapping, origami stars could be the way to go.

looking at these made me think about using not only photos from my childhood but family photos of holidays and good times going way back before i was born

images from nicolecrock.com

Non-Place: Brian Eno Made Me Do It

After doing some more Snoezelen research i found that the rooms contained projectors showing images on the walls, maybe a forest combined with the sounds of trees. Im now thinking about doing a projection, something ive never done before which is a bit scary.

Brian Eno (yes that Brian Eno) does a lot of projection work and his installation 77million paintings has been projected in Rio de Janeiro, Madrid and even on the Sydney Opera House. I found this really intersting snippet on his website:

Working on evidence that the use of art and music can produce improved psychological, physiological and biological outcomes of clinical significance in patient care, Eno created an eight-piece version of 77 Million Paintings.
On the lower-ground floor, he created a Quiet Room where patients and staff can sit and be immersed in shifting colours and soundscape. As one journalist soberly commented "so you have to be pretty ill to hear this particular piece of music."
Architects IBI Nightingale said: "Creating a healing environment isn’t only about correct surgical procedures and the right technology but also about making an atmosphere where the patients feel able to relax enough to clearly think through their options, and to properly take part in the healing process themselves."
Now other hospitals in England have commissioned Eno to create similar rooms for their spaces and schools are now approaching Eno for quiet areas for their pupils.

 This is exactly the sort of thing i want to do so im glad i looked at his site. Ive done a wee bit of research into other installations and artwork that uses projection, from simple light creating shadows to the complicated but impressive 3D mapping.

Jenny Holzer, projection in San Diego 2007

Interactive sound installation 'Noisy Skeleton' by Theoriz

video projection onto origami by Joanie Lemercier

Non-Place: Light, Colour, Smell and Sound

New Moon by Caitlind r.c Brown & Wayne Garrett

Ive found some really amazing public art from Charles Petillon and Caitlind r.c Brown andWayne Garrett, really visually striking as well as being fun and dreamlike. My original idea was to create a light installation or illuminated sculpture but I've moved on to projection with the possibility of 3D mapping which is pretty exciting.

Heartbeats by Charles Petillon

I got thinking about this idea after my lecturer Paul told me about Snoezelen rooms, therapy rooms which use light, projection and aromatherapy to stimulate but not overwhelm the senses. I want to use the principles of relaxing and calming patients in the Snoezelen rooms in the train station environment to relax or stimulate commuters. 

I have also been looking at scent and art coming together on Odette Toilette's blog, she teamed up with art historian Christina Bradstreet to host a tour through the National Gallery pairing works of art with evocative perfumes which you can read about here.

Non-Place

Now that the pencil is over and done with its time for a new brief already. This one is all about the concept of 'non-place' a term coined by Marc Auge a French anthropologist to describe spaces that are abstract in character, that people travel through and exist only in units of time as people just pass through them unaware.

So with what little information i had i started thinking about non-place and what it is to me and ways i could improve that space.

(image to come)

Ive been thinking a lot about the way colour and light can affect mood as well as smell and how its linked to memory and nostalgia, so, the two main parts of my artwork are going to be colour and smell. Im thinking about my non-place being a train station because it can be a pretty stressful space. People tend to travel further on trains which makes cancellations and lateness that more annoying, i think airports can get away with this a bit more because they are larger spaces with more stuff to keep you distracted. Ive also researched artwork in these spaces, train stations and airports, a lot have really beautiful work inside, not so much where im from.

So my first points to look at are: Light and colour affecting mood, interactive artwork in public spaces and the link between smell and nostalgia.

Pencil Final Display

When it came to displaying my pencil stuff i was trying to steer away from just putting them in frames, i dont find frames that visually interesting and i cant be doing with paying for them either so i decided on having them clipped onto a wire or string in a neat little row. The string i used was from Paperchase which was a bit of a bugger to get tacked onto the actual wall, had to use drawing pins and a hammer so its not all that neat, my clips and my printouts are from Mailboxes etc. in Stirling done A4 size on semi glossy photo paper.

this was about as taught as i could get the string to go, it started to dip when the photos got pegged on but what can you do

i like these little clips id probably use this display method again but tidied up

Pencil Part 3 - Taking Photos

I got set up for taking my photos with an idea of how i wanted them to look, i was worried i was maybe overthinking the child portrait and trying to add to many bits so i started off with something basic, a childs drawing and writing on my face and then added some other stuff, like pencil shavings as i went so i didnt go overboard.

I set my camera up on the tripod in my room using natural daylight and used this matte black paper i had lying around as my background. I would have liked to use fancy lighting in a darkened room to look more like the professional illamasqua pics but didnt really have the time to wait for amazon shipping.

drawing on your face is much more tricky than drawing on your hand

i added these pencil shavings to my hair in later photos

inspiration for my face doodling, makeup by Andrew Gallimore

 Using better quality lighting might have meant i had less photoshop to use for these images, i basically made two copies of the photo layered in photoshop one darkened with the burn tool for my black background the other lightened with dodge for my skin, i put dark on top of light and used a really soft eraser to rub out the areas i wanted lightened. After this i used the dodge tool again on the writing on my face just to make it bolder looking . 

The next image was my adult, basically pretty, conformist makeup look. I decided to go for a 'red lips and liner' look since there are 211,000 videos that come up in youtube search it must be pretty popular with people wanting to do makeup proper. This was relatively easy to achieve, as i was taking the photos i quite liked all the romantic old portrait style poses i was making.

 This image was edited much the same way as the child but as well as using dodge and burn i used a layer with the colour vibrancy dialed up and used the eraser again to make my lips and eyes more stand out, again i used the dodge tool at the end to darken up the eyeliner and eyelashes and a bit of eyebrow.

The final image was my creative rule breaking makeup, i took a bit of inspiration from Val Garland and Alex Box and some clowny makeup they had done before. The idea was to be a bit ugly, androgynous and messy with colour placement.

Val Garland for Vivienne Westwood, really liked the black lines in this

Image from Rankins Surface Attraction

The makeup took a bit to put on and it took a while to get off as well, i really liked how it turned out though, i used these kind of unflattering 70s disco bright blue eyes and bright pink blush around the outside of my face, my hair was up with a peek of my undercut looking quite boyish and as a last minute decision i found this blue lipgloss in a little tube and just smeared it over my neck and chest. Just like before i used the dodge and burn layers to get pale skin and a darker background, used vibrancy to jack up the intensity of the colours and a bit of dodge on the black lines.

I actually decided for my final display to have a version of the images cropped closer but you'll see that next.

Pencil Part 2

Ive pretty much got a solid idea for my self portraits based on the pencil, im doing a child portrait which will include all the nostalgic things about the pencil, Here are some notes from my sketchbook:

'when i was a child the pencil was creative and uncertain and could be changed easily, there was no fear of making mistakes. I remember desks covered in rubber shavings and jaggy pencil sharpenings getting stuck in my tights.

as an adult pencils are the tools of my femininity, enhancing my features, smudges must be fixed, theyre used in a very precise way. I write in pen the majority of the time like i was taught to do after leaving primary school

Do pencils still hold the child-like joy and creativity for me as an adult?'

So the child portrait will have a little bit of nostalgia and some of the elements ive mentioned, maybe some childs drawings or face painting included.The next image would be the adult me conforming to beauty standards through makeup, ive done similar to this as part of the last project with instagram so im good with that. The last image will be the creative adult, so i get to be as crazy as i want and really expressive and excessive.

In the last post i mentioned Alex Box the creative director of beauty brand Illamasqua, i really love their promotional images and campaigns so im looking into their images as a bit of inspiration on how to photograph and edit makeup.

i like how soft and glowy this looks, by Alex Box

Illamasqua 'Throb' Valentines Campaign, makeup by Alex Box