The Gacosian gallery space works... the artwork reflected Ballard's investigation of environment, violence, corrosion, destruction and technology. The large spaces allowed the art room to breathe and held an eclectic mix of modern artwork by Francis Bacon, Jenny Saville, Jean Michel Basquiat, Paul McCarthy and more.
Paul McCarthy Mechanical Pig, 2003-05 (Silicone, platinum, fiberglass, metal and electrical components)
Francis Bacon Still Life, Broken Statue and Shadow, 1984 (Oil and pastel on canvas)
On the otherside of town was the claustrophobic setting and pretension of the Whitechapel Art Gallery's exhibition as they scraped the barrel with: I shake you by the hand, comrade Bacon: British Art Abroad
In the small room that held the exhibition, a queue formed in front of a handwritten letter by Francis Bacon. I joined the back of the queue and eventually got to have a closer look. Not a sketch, not a piece of art, just a handwritten scrawl on a scrap of paper by Francis Bacon in a room full of very strange people determined to enjoy themselves. In the corner a woman stared at a wooden container on the floor for a long time before declaring, "It's not a work of art at all!". Clarita and I couldn't contain our laughter and decided to leave before we were asked to. We went back to Cinephilia East near Brick Lane to look at more Polish film poster prints to recover.
Polish film posters @ Cinéphilia West 171 Westbourne Grove, Notting Hill
and at Cinéphilia East, Sclater Street, off Brick Lane, London
Narrative illustration that is not constrained by the source material...
Holy Mountain (Dir. A. Jodorowsky, 1973) Artists: J. Gorska & J. Skakun Blade Runner (Dir. R. Scott, 1982) Artist: Michal Ksiazek Un chien andalou (Dir. L.Buñuel, 1929) Artist: Wieslaw Wajkuski Seven Samurai (Dir. A. Kurosawa, 1954) Artist: Andrzej Pagowski
Breakfast at Tiffany's (Dir. B. Edwards, 1961) Artist: Michal Ksiazek The Shining (Dir. S. Kubrick, 1980) Artist: Leszek Zebrowski
After being derailed by a broken laptop I have just got back into doing digital artwork and discovered Alchemy - an image idea generator... a bit like the bastard son of an etch-a-sketch and clouds in the sky, the patterns that you create in Alchemy can lay the foundation for a composition that can then be further developed and finished off with additional layers of digital paint by importing the image into art software (eg. Photoshop/ArtRage).
Transliteracy Conference, Leicester 9th February 2010 @Phoenix Square
Professor Sue Thomas described Transliteracy as being the ability to read, write and interact across a range of platforms. The conference presented a wide range of media used to engage with modern audiences and the use of social networking tools was encouraged and the speakers were filmed to document the day for a digital audience.
Gareth Howell of De Montfort University presented the use of web comics as a means of producing small press style comics cheaply and using the web to have access to a wider audience and stretch the medium. When asked about audience and the possibility of having to wait for a 'transliterate audience', he replied that you can't wait for the audience or aim too low to make them happy; you need to challenge them to adapt and evolve their grammar as the medium evolves. His target audience is web savvy and he produces fragmented narratives that complement his medium of choice using the internet as a tool and weaving web comics with character blogs to allow stories to be broken up and read according to the audiences personal preferences.
The comics medium relies on audience interaction; the reader imagines what takes place between the gutters as the artwork changes from panel to panel and Howell uses the web to encourage readers to engage with a story from site to site or device to device (e.g. a story read on a hand held mobile device.) Using different mediums such as comic book layouts and social network links to expand the stories changes the way that it is read and allows for the author to experiment with different perspectives and designs and get audience feedback. The medium is further expanded as the work can then jump from author to author as the readers comment on and develop the fictional worlds.
Above: fan fiction based on The Watchmen commenting on the decline of the newspaper comic. Ombudsmen by Scott R. Kurtz.
Dr. Steve Gibson presented Grand Theft Bicycle; interactive video game art produced as political satire. The user interacts with a 'Borgcycle', a customized bicycle with controls built into the handlebars that is hooked up to the game. The interactive game becomes a social experience as onlookers enjoy watching the action unfold as much as taking part.
Graphic storytelling: The influence of Dan O'Bannon and Moebius on Ridley Scott's Blade Runner
Above: toe curling body horror as 'The Girl' transforms.
Moebius has frequently collaborated with film makers, having previously worked on Ridley Scott's Alien, designing space suits, his artwork was also a source of inspiration for the design of Blade Runner. His collaboration with writer, Dan O'Bannon produced The Long Tomorrow which shares similar themes to those seen in Scott's adaptation of Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?.
Moebius conveys mood, atmosphere and horror with stripped down and direct line art. His attention to detail and body language; showing the curled toes of a horrified man witnessing his lover shape shifting into her true alien form is something that I will try to capture as I gather visual references for my own project; a graphic treatment of Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis.
Experiments with mixed media and sequential art will be presented at my MA exposition. A distorted perception of events, paranoia and body horror, featuring contorted and cramped hands and feet will feature in my own concept art for Gregor Samsa's awakening in The Metamorphosis. His metamorphosis and his altered perception of reality may stem from a seizure or stroke...
