Category: Video

Video recordings

Posted on

Art 23 Genesis

What a great evening!

All finalists painted live in front of an audience.

There was a lot of interest in my work and I have received plenty of encouraging comments.

This is a portrait of a young, beautiful and idyllic-looking Haitian girl
playing with butterflies. I met her during my travels through Haiti,
where most people survive on less than 1$ per day.
She is totally oblivious of her origin.
She does not understand, why she is consistently ostracised and
bullied. Her skin is white, and her eyes are baby blue. She definitively
stands out!
She has never heard of Poland. Her home is on a little island called
Petit Goave.
She is a descendent of Polish legionnaires, who were sent to Haiti by
Napoleon to suppress an uprising of slaves. However, having realised
the extent of exploration and abuse, the Poles changed sides and
fought in support of the oppressed indigenous people. Subsequently,
most of them were punished and slaughtered. A few lucky ones
managed to disperse to the islands.

Posted on

Porn Star is Born, Hope Dies Last

06C1AE1D-9279-4C53-A916-059F525DC7A8

Waiting is a complex and multi-dimensional concept. Perhaps, we could attempt our identity by using a metaphor to the dreams, aspirations and desires we are all hoping for.  In Haiti, it could be a few grains of rice to survive, while in the West…a cocktail called Porn Star.

This piece is on outcome of a collaboration between a painting and a video.

It question the idea of identity in the broader context of external dynamics and stimuli.

Our dreams, ambitions and aspirations are formed by brutal and vulgar contrasts between the opulence and status of the privileged and the suffering of the starving underclasses. This powerful contrast is charged with a broad range of associated high level emotions and feeling, such as jealousy, anger and a total lack of understanding of the reasons behind one’s faith.

Posted on

Blasting Porn Star in Blue

I have continued to overprint this image with a newly developed screen portraying a cocktail called Porn Star.  I have manipulated a primary source photograph to make it more ambiguous and harder to read.  This openness to interpretation is totally intentional and desirable.  I would also like to continue to overprint this work to make the surface more distressed and tired.  The breaking of top layers gives a very sensitive effect allowing the viewer to question what is underneath. My creative intention is to create a sense of curiosity. I am hoping to experiment with a greater amount of blending of colours between individual layers and employing a range of secondary colours using more transparent inks, alternating warmer and colder tones.

The other accidental effect, which I would like to continue to explore further is the dripping of washed out colours.  This spontaneous process allows me to achieve an improved fluidity of colour and a more appropriate cohesion and bonding between the under and over images.

I am intrigued and inspired by the heavy texture scrunched up textures, which I have managed to develop.  This is opens up an opportunity to isolate and enlarge smaller sections of this composition to reveal their hidden content.

This is also significant through its metaphorical meaning and connotations.

4EA1BD38-C6FE-4752-B84D-14872E40471C

Posted on

New Porn Star Takes Shape

The process videos below are a record of the development of my current idea.

I have started to experiment with combining a number of contradictory in meaning images and brutally blasting them with a powerful jet of water, while purposefully ripping and tearing the canvas under pressure.

Currently, the under image is almost ready for the next stage in the process of its development and progress. It is suspended somewhere between the forces of creation and destruction.

I am planning to continue with the overprinting and blasting at intermittent stages in order to increase effects of layering, juxtapositioning and, finally, stretching this piece to the edge of its physical integrity.  The concept is to echo the learning from critical analysis of my primary sources and field research findings.

Life is based on one brutal and vulgar contrast between the opulence of the privileged and the suffering of the starving.  Additionally, this powerful contradiction is charged with a broad range of high level emotions and feeling, such as jealousy, anger and a total lack of understanding of the reasons behind one’s faith.

Posted on

New Porn Star Is Born

I am working on a new screen while developing and discussing alternative possibilities for further investigation.

My new concept titled after a primary source photograph of a drink: “A cocktail called Porn Star”.  It is a symbol of the ultimate wealth and opulence, top-of-the-range experience of celebration, delectation with a complex flavour and a high class degustation experience.  It is also a metaphor for a false high social status, meaningless aspirations and an empty desires.

The sandwiching of unnecessary wealth and absolute poverty may appear to be relatively crude and obvious.  However, life is full of “right-in-your-face” contradictions and contrasts, which frequently amuse, shock and overwhelm witnesses.  The layering technique, which I am trying to experiment with, allows for a smoother blending of both contradictory perspectives, while initiating a moral dialogue and forcing the element of questioning.  Subsequently, any observer is forced to reflect on the most crucial dilemma of human existence: what is right and what is wrong .  It is a form of the ultimate appraisal of human morality and breakdown of the bases of our virtuous spine of social rules, doctrines and principles.

Posted on

Low Res – Seeing Collaboration Project. Day 1

This was a true ice breaking exercise, which allowed to erase boundaries between the online group and London based students.  The other benefits included integration of year 1 and 2 students, and most importantly, the project gave everyone an opportunity to expand their horizons and become much more experimental in the development of ideas and discussions of alternatives.  Ultimately, we all become much more sensitive in terms of our observations of the Universe and the attention to fine details.

Following numerous consultations, my group settled on an in-depth investigation of our current individual practices to make the project very experimental. Our creative intention was to develop a broad range of ideas rather than focus on a visual proposal for finalisation.

This proved to work very well and everyone made a valuable contribution to the dialogue of contradictory perspectives and the element of questioning of visual possibilities and their meaning. This process was supported be appropriate enquiring discussions and evidence of critical analysis.

All collaborative participants presented their research findings at the end of the day. We were the only group to remain open minded and approached the task with a truly experimental attitude; focusing on the reflective process rather than on illustrating the narrative.

 

A combination of group efforts put together on Padlet.

 

There are some action shots from the Low Res collaborative day project – Seeing.

 

Posted on

Mid Point Review – First Draft.

My project is an attempt to create a metaphorical and exploratory portrayal of people, who are trapped in the state of waiting. This ‘suspension’ is usually associated with a bizarre uncertainty brought about by a range of discrepancies between what is expected, desired, anticipated and what actually happens.  In essence, it is about HOPE!

The unpredictable character of life and its uncertain quality make our existence very delicate and fragile. Our anxieties can be camouflaged by money, entertainment and other temporary disruptions. However, waiting in the context of uncertainties of tomorrow is the foundation of what I am trying to explore and visualise in a series of painterly interpretations.

The complexity of the element of questioning in the project was increased by my experiences and observations in Haiti. I recorded memories of desperate people, who waited for something to happen, not really knowing, who and what they were actually waiting for.

This reinforces the universal value of critical analysis conveyed in the ‘Theatre of Absurd’ novel titled “Waiting for Godot” by Samuel Beckett.

“(Vladimir) Why are we here, that is the question? And we are blessed in this, that we happen to know the answer. Yes, in this immense confusion one thing alone is clear. We are waiting for Godot to come. …We are not saints, but we have kept our appointment.”

 

Beckett, S (1953) Waiting for Godot in

https://www.thoughtco.com/waiting-for-godot-quotes-741824

Posted on

Fragile Little Dreams Turning Orange

I was on a totally overcrowded coach in Haiti. All seats were broken, ripped and absolutely filthy.   I left early in the morning and with passing time, the refreshing sunrise breeze was replaced by a stinking stench of old sweat and … alcohol fumes.  I was travelling from La Caye to an unpronounceable and mysterious road junction (as noted by a woman in my hotel) hoping to catch a connecting minibus to Jacmel. The day was extremely hot and humid.  The bus was stuck in a traffic jam in scorching heat for over an hour. I kept looking through a dirty window to try to relax in this very claustrophobic and uncomfortable situation.  My attention was drawn to the minibus on my right. There was a young girl staring at me through the window.  She was expressionless, almost deadpan.  The hot sun created an orange glare on the surface of the glass. Her face was somehow integrated with a number of layers of reflections of the surrounding area – mainly bustling traffic.

She was sat there, waiting with patience, stone-faced and humble. I smiled and took a quick and discrete photo of the bus and her.  My fellow travelers got really disturbed by this; annoyed and angry.  They did not understand my intentions. They definitely did not like seeing a tourist photographing their hardship. I realised that by displaying an expensive mobile phone to take this supposedly meaningless photograph humiliated the locals.  It created an unnecessary division between them and I. It also reinforced our differences and  the diametrically opposite sides of life and the world. However, all this had made no impression on the girl whatsoever.  She remained untouched and unmoved, with exactly the same expression on her face.  I begun to plan ideas for a painting.  The same evening, I started to draw and make notes in my little pad. I really wanted to protect my memories from being forgotten before I return to my studio and translate my observations into a painterly interpretation.

I have worked on this image for quite a while now.  Following a long process of change and manipulation, I have just blasted the red layer off and started to over-print the surface with a range of hot and creamy oranges.  These new layers have been also partially washed off to reveal little parts of the under image.  My intention was to create an ultimate superimposure of the many components and elements of this composition.

We are all waiting for something to happen, from little and insignificant things to big and pivotal changes.  As a matter of fact, we spend our entire lives waiting for the end of a journey – the final stop. Our destination is unknown and unpredictable.  This causes a lot of uncertainty. We are all subjected to mortality after all.

 

Posted on

What Are You Waiting For?

I have done some research with a group of my Foundation Art students. Their ages, backgrounds and life experiences vary substantially.  Following a group introduction and a talk, which outlined the necessity to deeply analyse ‘self’ in the context of the broader needs before formulating and recording key ideas on a slip of paper, which was provided and supported with a number of prompts.

Students’ responses were very original.  They varied from trivial to sophisticated, reflective and meaningful.  I have experimented with the organisation of their responses by combining individual pieces of paper to create a long and vertical format of continuous answers.  This was less effective than the proposal with a looped animation.

I have also tried to explore possibilities for animating their responses using Photoshop.  Initially, all litte slips of paper were scanned and than displayed as a stop frame animation.

I am waiting for.JPG