Research – Karyn Easton

Hanging Around

Choosing a Suitable Stringing Method – Choosing suitable materials and a hanging method for my mobile has to be one of the most challenging aspects so far. I’m way beyond my comfort zone with this! Noah one of my fellow students shared a link by the creative force that once was, namely David Bowie. Im going to put what he said here so that when I struggle I’ve got a point of reference to start things moving again. Today, having produced enough mobile elements to explore hanging and stringing I started running into multiple problems. Some of these included: 1). What kind of stringing method would I like to use 2). How do I arrange the elements neatly enough so that the viewer understands them as binary. 3). What materials should I use to actually string and hang the mobile? 4). Will a smaller prototype actually translate into a much larger one? The problems above were to name only a few. I spent the evening trying to source suitable hanging materials. I managed to source a very good older pdf on the subject of mobile making which helped a lot! How to Make Mobiles How to […]

Dec 24

by Karyn in Artists, Research 0 comments tags: Abstract Art, Artists, Culture, Food for Thought, Galleries, Research

Henri Kalama

Monday Guest Lectures – Henri Kalama – was born and raised in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where he received his academic artistic training in painting. He later moved to China where he spent six years and completed a master in arts. Henri, relatively early on, has moved towards abstraction with a particular focus on colors, which he sees as a main channel for emotions. While he stills lives and works in the Congo, he is representative of a trend that aims to evolve from certain stereotypes in what is generally considered as “African” art. “Humanity is moving to a point of connection, a planet village, a boundless world – all of which I want to express with my work. The all connecting languages are music and art – both of which express and invoke feelings which everybody understands, no matter where they come from. The umbrella term which I use for my work is “cosmic vibrations”. I am convinced that there are some things – words, emotions and spirituality- that can’t be transmitted through human languages, but only through colors. Different tones of colors, to me, are the carriers of different feelings which can only be expressed through art […]

Dec 22

by Karyn in Artists, Research 0 comments tags: Artists, Culture, Food for Thought, Research, Sound

Trevor Mathison

Monday Guest Lectures – Trevor Mathison – is a founder member of Black Audio Film Collective, the award-winning documentary film group (Handsworth Songs, The March). He formed Dubmorphology with Gary Stewart in 2005. Culture critic Kodwo Eshun has hailed Mathison’s pioneering use of tape loops for their ability to make “the imperial anxieties of the early twentieth century resonate… with the multiple fears of the present.” Ashley Clarke, film journalist in his article ‘A Centrifugal Force: the magnetic sounds of Trevor Mathison’ for Sight and Sound magazine states: “His intricate work incorporates elements of dub and musique concrète“ Jean Fisher on Handsworth Songs 1987 describes: “a polyvocality of recorded testimonies and intercessional poetic voiceovers that, contrary to the ‘explanatory’ panoptical impulse of the documentary narrator, build an oblique relation to the audiovisual track.” Mark Fisher, “Trevor Mathison’s astonishing sound design certainly draws upon dub, but its voice loops and seething electronics are equally reminiscent of the work of Test Department and Cabaret Voltaire. Source: Trevormathison.com Take Away From The Talk Some notes from the talk: Collaborate with people. Trevor feels that working with people and maybe having a collective is really important. He feels it’s becoming harder to find artist […]

Dec 21

by Karyn in Artists, Research 0 comments tags: Artists, Culture, Food for Thought, Galleries, Research

Rindon Johnson

Monday Guest Lectures – Rindon Johnson – Rindon Johnson is an artist and poet. He has based his work in language. Johnson has presented solo exhibitions at Chisenhale Gallery (London), The Julia Stoschek Collection (Düsseldorf) and the SculptureCenter (Long Island City). Johnson has participated in group exhibitions at the Brooklyn Museum, Kunstverein Freiburg, The Hammer Museum, The Whitney Museum, The Studio Museum in Harlem, Literaturhaus Berlin, Haus der elektronischen Künste, Basel among others. He is the author of Nobody Sleeps Better Than White People (Inpatient, 2016), the VR book, Meet in the Corner (Publishing-House.Me, 2017), Shade the King (Capricious, 2017) and The Law of Large Numbers: Black Sonic Abyss (Chisenhale, Inpatient, SculptureCenter 2021). He was born on the unceded territories of the Ohlone people. He lives in Berlin. Source: Take Away From The Talk Nothing really is out of bounds, not even the sex life of whales. Rindon discovered that when whales climax they experience colour in their brains which is unusual because apparently they don’t normally see in colour. This can only mean that they have a heightened experience. To make art from this is a unique and highly creative idea. Rindon has created the most beautiful glass […]

Dec 21

by Karyn in Artists, Research 0 comments tags: Artists, Culture, Food for Thought, Galleries, Research

Louise Giovanelli

Monday Guest Lectures – Louise Giovanelli (b. 1993, London, UK) lives and works in Manchester (UK). She completed her postgraduate studies at the Städelschule in Frankfurt am Main (DE) with professor Amy Sillman in 2020, after having earned a Bachelor’s Degree (B.A. Hons, Fine Art) at the Manchester School of Art, Manchester (UK) in 2015. Louise Giovanelli has been drawing attention as a rising young painter for her delicate, luminous works, which inject vitality into historical subjects from the canon of Western art. Through interconnected series, Giovanelli weaves together visual clues surrounding a specific moment or event. Her subject matter is primarily chosen for its formal qualities and includes, staged photographs, film stills, classical sculpture, and architectural elements. Within each series, Giovanelli repeats her motifs and certain paintings appear nearly identical, excepting slight alterations of the composition, or tonality. Deftly manipulating light and form, her multivalent imagery reminds us that the classical foundations of painting remain sources of delight and innovation. Keenly attuned to the historical significance of painting as a medium and system of representation, her paintings challenge the eye by dissolving representation into carefully crafted textures and patterns. For Giovanelli, painting allows for a visual slowing-down, and beholding her works is akin to […]

Dec 21

by Karyn in Artists, Research 0 comments tags: Artists, Culture, Food for Thought, Galleries, Research

Amanda Newall

Monday Guest Lectures – Amanda Newall bio-interdisciplinary artist and educator. Institutional posts include; The Royal Institute of Art Stockholm Sweden, Lancaster Institute for Contemporary Art Lancaster University and a series of posts in Aotearoa/New Zealand. Exhibitions include; Austin Tea Rooms Sculpture on the Peninsula, Hotel Jaguar, Exposed Arts Projects London, The Nordic Biennial Momentum 9 ‘Alienation’ Norway. The Hoover Diaries film, tour of NZ. Other exhibitions include galleries in Aotearoa, Australia, America, South America and Europe. Grants and awards include: Recipient of the 2021 Olivia Spencer Bower art award (differed to 2022 due to covid). Shortlisted for the Wallace awards and included in the touring show, shortlisted for the Rupert Bunny Award Australia, Swedish Arts Council funding, New Zealand Arts Council funding, STINT, IASPIS Sweden. Public presentations include: The International Award for Public Art, University of Paris 1 Sorbonne, ISEA Canada and Singapore, TATE Liverpool, Umea Academy of Fine Arts. Source: Performing Dress Take Away from The Talk Amanda Newall – My main take away from Amanda’s talk was: get crazy, make costumes, bring dreaming into your work. Shoot on location in wacky costumes, all while addressing serious issues. Use all kinds of research and different disciplines to inform […]

Dec 21

by Karyn in Artists, Culture, Food for Thought, Galleries, My Work, Research, Videos 0 comments tags: Artists, Culture, Food for Thought, Galleries, my work, Research, Videos

London Part 2

A City of Culture – I’ve visited London on numerous occasions but this time was different because it was with the specific aim of visiting art galleries and museums. My visit to the capital last week was a business trip. This week I was helping my colleagues to escort 30 students around a number of museums and galleries. Following is an account of my time there. I have also documented some of the most amazing artworks at a number of leading galleries. Day 1 Our first day was spent travelling. Just like last week I travelled from Paignton to Paddington with one change at Newton Abbot. However it very nearly didn’t happen because a train broke down near Paignton. This meant that we were almost an hour late. Therefore we had to get a later train from Newton Abbot to Paddington. Sadly because of the delay we lost about 2 hours and arrived around 9.00pm instead of 7.00pm. Above is the view from my hotel room window. Although it was a later than planned arrival, we dumped our bags and headed out to find somewhere to eat. We wound up at a Turkish restaurant near to the Ibis Hotel […]

Nov 08

Blender – Who Knew?

Using Blender to Simulate Chladni Patterns – In order to make a successful Chladni Pattern, it is important to generate a strong tone. Where fingers are placed on the plate is also crucial. I have discovered that to produce a tone and beautiful pattern is not a quick or easy process. It takes both practice and patience. Jokingly, I feel that at the end of this process, I may not have great Chladni patterns, but I’ll probably manage a grade 8 in the violin! Joking aside, this is a real and fundamental problem that I need to solve in order to move forward. In order to help me work with my bow and plate I looked for a number of YouTube tutorials of which there were a few. The people in the videos made the bowing and Chladni pattern generation look so easy! I spoke to the maker of my kit and he explained that actually it’s not that easy and practice and patience makes perfect. Below are a couple of videos where pattern generation is made to look really simple. Chladni Plate with Violin Bow Chladni Patterns – Aluminium Plate and Violin Bow Time is Not […]

Hanging Around

Henri Kalama

Trevor Mathison

Rindon Johnson

Louise Giovanelli

Amanda Newall

London Part 2

Blender – Who Knew?

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