Unit 2 Blogs – Karyn Easton

Nov 19

Epic Making Session

Yaacov Agam Inspired Work – Over many months now I have been wrestling with a myriad of ideas. In my Study Statement I was keen to develop a new form of hybrid human, digital and AI art. I also wanted to include an element of mystery and discovery whereby elements of the work were hidden. During my search for inspiration I came across two artists that particularly resonated with me, namely: Alexander Calder and Yaacov Agam. I particularly liked the idea of movement and mobile art seen in Calder’s work. Indeed I was so taken with his work that I went to visit the Tate Modern to see some of his pieces there. However, Yaacov Agam’s work really did inspire me. In his Artist’s statement he says: “My aim is to show the visible in a perpetual state of becoming”. I think this is a beautiful way in which he describes his work. However, I personally would liken it to, showing the visible in a perpetual state of change. Given the nature of the subject matter that I’m exploring, his work for me very much aligns with this notion of change as well as ‘becoming’. Below is a short […]

Oct 31

by Karyn in Artists, Crits, Unit 2 Blogs, Zentangles, Zoom Meetings 0 comments tags: Artists, Crits, Unit 2 Blogs, Zentangles, Zoom Meetings

Zoom Session 35

Group Critique #1 – Today we had our first group critique ‘crit’. I was in a group with Donald, Ellie, Sean and Shirin. It was really great to see how everyone was getting on. Sean spoke about his paintings, Ellie showed some images of her sculptures and Shirin showed her large painting about Utopia. To see everyone working so well with physical materials was great and it has only strengthened my resolve to edge closer to physicality. I had some nice feedback. Ellie definitely ‘hit the nail on the head’ when it came to understanding my thinking. The MACBA Metamorphosis work is all about giving recognition to the graffiti artists of Barcelona. It’s about placing them into one of Barcelona’s most prestigious art galleries where they too can have a voice. It’s about disrupting the average of that museum and filling it with something that may never appear there. Ellie also recommended the work of Peter Fluck as he had made some interesting mobiles. I am particularly fascinated by mobiles at the moment so any ideas are very welcome. Shirin felt it would have been nice if there was perhaps some of my own drawings as part of the project. […]

Oct 28

by Karyn in Artists, Galleries, Unit 2 Blogs 0 comments tags: Artists, Galleries, Unit 2 Blogs

Biscuit Factory Birthday

It’s My Birthday! And Other Things – Today is my birthday and I’m really excited because I’ve received both a mini projector and projection mapping software as presents from my family! I have wanted to try projection mapping for as long as I’ve known of its existence, which is a long time now. I also recently enjoyed ‘The Van Gough Experience’ in London which added to my enthusiasm. However, because I can see a use for it regarding my MA work, the need to explore it has become much more urgent. At the moment I am visiting family and friends in the North East of England. Whenever I come up this way I always like to take a trip to Newcastle. Last year I visited the Laing Art Gallery, this year I decided to take a trip to ‘The Biscuit Factory’. This is a small gallery just on the outskirts of Newcastle City Centre. Although a small gallery it had both a restaurant and some beautiful art pieces. It was a different kind of space to the Tate Modern. The mobiles displayed there were also very different to those of Alexander Caulder. However, the gallery was beautiful and provided much […]

Oct 19

by Karyn in Artists, Galleries, Unit 2 Blogs 0 comments tags: Artists, Galleries, Unit 2 Blogs

Calder at Tate Modern

Up Close and Personal with Alexander Calder – In my search for a human, AI and digital hybrid model of art, I came across Alexander Calder. I don’t know why but I instantly fell in love with his kinetic mobiles. I discovered that some of his models are currently housed in the Tate Modern. I knew that I had a trip to London coming up so I was keen to visit the gallery to see his work in person. It was a great experience! I saw a mobile suspended from the ceiling and one of his ‘Stabiles’ standing firm on a plinth. I really do find the kinetic motion of mobiles really appealing. I was quite pleased with my very first attempt at this beautiful and mesmerising form of 3d art. Below is a short video of my mobile in motion. Random Thoughts Mobile The designs used on the circular parts of my mobile are designs produced by me each week. They are freehand pen drawings that are subsequently digitised. Each design represents a state of mind. I simply let my hand move over the paper and make marks. It’s completely random. Calder’s Mobiles at the […]

Oct 12

by Karyn in Artists, Unit 2 Blogs 0 comments tags: Artists, Unit 2 Blogs

Grotto Print Artist Talk #2

Selling Your Work Without Selling Out – Zoe Tynan Campbell – This was an interesting talk. Below is a link to the presentation slides which are really useful when thinking of going it alone. Zoe’s Presentation- 11 October 2

Oct 05

by Karyn in Abstract Art, Ai, Animation, Artists, Experimentation, Ideas, My Work, Patterns, Problem Solving, Risk Taking, Tasks, Unit 2 Blogs, Videos 0 comments tags: Abstract Art, ai, Animation, Artists, Experimentation, Food for Thought, Ideas, my work, Patterns, Problem Solving, Risk Taking, Tasks, Unit 2 Blogs, Videos

Grotto Print Ideas #1

Print Ideas & Adam Bridgland (Jealous London) – Today we had an interesting talk about the ‘Grotto Project’ formerly ‘Merch’. Adam Bridgland from Jealous London came along to share some insights and revealed a lot of useful information – see a selection of his slides at the end from the talk. I’ve just been looking at the deadlines and I’ve realised that I really do need to start moving on this. Some very interesting takeaways from the talk included answers to questions such as: what was a popular poster colour? What kind of images sold well? Adam suggested that blue was a popular colour and skulls, butterflies and cute cats seemed to do quite well. Unfortunately the human form, unless comprising a skull did not seem to fair quite so well. I’ve produced many digital images over the years, but the thought of choosing just one singular image to print has really made me think. I have some interesting macro photographs of oil on water hanging on my walls. One was bought by a large Australian advertising company, one hangs in the local hospital and one appears on an album cover. Even Adobe use some of my work. Therefore I can’t […]

Sep 27

by Karyn in Artists, Galleries, Sculpture, Sound, Unit 2 Blogs, Videos 0 comments tags: Artists, Galleries, Sculpture, Sound, Unit 2 Blogs, Videos

London Visit

Van Gough Experience & Whitechapel Gallery – “To love many things is to love life, to love life is to be happy.” Yesterday I travelled to London and today while there, I had the opportunity to visit a couple of galleries. Since I became aware of its existence I always wanted to visit the Van Gough immersive experience. It certainly did not disappoint! I actually learned a huge amount today – so much so that my childhood perception of Van Gough completely changed! Whenever Van Gough was mentioned, either at school or at art college, his persona in my mind, was one of someone who, couldn’t paint very well, went mad, chopped his ear off and then killed himself. In my adolescent mind this was probably as a result of him not being able to paint very well. Clearly my childhood view was both incredibly uniformed and naive and as I learned more about his life and works, my views began to gradually change. However today was completely revelatory! Van Gough reimagined for the digital age, complete with a narrative of his life was incredibly moving. Up to this point I had also been completely unaware of his many words […]

Sep 24

A Mental Derive Part #2

Picking Up Where I Left off – Ever since my first mental derive, it was always my intention to recommence this particular project. now that the second draft of my research paper is nearing completion, I feel I am better able to return more fully to creative activities. Since part one of my mental derive, I didn’t totally abandon this project and I experimented with suspending some of the circles on a sheet of acetate between some thick heavy duty white elastic. Below is a gallery showing the results. This is a project I’d like to return to at some point, but I don’t currently have the correct materials. The acetate was far too thin and buckled under the strain of the elastic. Therefore thicker acrylic is possibly a better choice. The patterned discs/circles also had a habit of ‘pinging off’, so a better method of securing them is required. However, I do think that there is room to develop this project further. Moments in Time and Space Each black and white patterned circle/disc above, is a collage of many little moments in time. For this reason I wanted to trial another form of suspension. I am particularly […]

Jun 13

by Karyn in Artists, Culture, Experimentation, Food for Thought, My Work, Photography, Unit 2 Blogs, Videos 0 comments tags: Artists, Culture, Experimentation, Food for Thought, my work, Photography, Unit 2 Blogs, Videos

Barcelona Graffiti

Barcelona – Graffiti Capital of Europe? Is Barcelona the graffiti capital of Europe? Within only a short walking distance, the 1.15 minute clip below exposes the shear volume of street art around the city. In many cases residents have turned what is obviously a problem into something much more creative. They appear to have given up on trying to clear the graffiti. Instead, there is a sense that it is not just part of local society, it is in fact now embraced by it. Below is a video short highlighting the sheer scale of the street art. Calling it graffiti feels almost unkind because many of the colour schemes and designs seem carefully crafted as opposed to simply scrawled. Interestingly, the famous street artist Banksy has his museum in Barcelona. I wonder how much the colourful street art/graffiti clad surroundings influenced his decision? Barcelona – Graffiti Capital of Europe? One thing that particularly struck me while photographing all of the graffiti were the times that people seemed to have matching graffiti with clothes or other items. Below are some examples where people’s outfits or items matched the graffiti surrounding them. Maybe the graffiti was affecting their fashion choices […]

Jun 13

by Karyn in Artists, Little Wins, My Work, Unit 2 Blogs, Videos 0 comments tags: Artists, Little Wins, my work, Unit 2 Blogs, Videos

Little Wins #3

Gallery Interest As it’s a very busy time of year at work, I haven’t had a great deal of time to think about galleries. However on Saturday I wandered into a new contemporary gallery in Dartmouth. I had seen a large piece in the window which comprised stripes of colour. The piece was similar to a series of ‘Touch Designer’ works that I had completed earlier this year, but as the viewer moved past the colours on this piece changed. I was intrigued and wanted to learn more about the artwork and the artist who created it. I discovered that the artist was Lawrie Hutcheon who just like me enjoyed creating computer generated art. I began to chat to the lady in the gallery. I explained about my love of computer art and what I had done. She said she was interested to see it. As I was scrolling through my phone, she caught sight of some of my black and white weekly Zentangle work and asked if I had made any images into cards? I explained that I hadn’t, and she said that her husband (the gallery owner) might like to talk to me further about pieces to go into the […]