This week I went up to the Arts Centre to take another look at the space I want for my installation at the Takeover in May. I measured the diameter of the room as well as the height of the doors and some of the lowest hooks. I think that this space would really complement my work, so I just need to devise a plan of what to make to hang my butterflies above my wax sculpture.
‘Ever Blossoming Life II, A Whole Year Per Hour, Dark’, by teamLab
‘Ever Blossoming Life II, A Whole Year Per Hour, Dark’ was an interactive digital installation created in 2016 by ‘teamLab’. The piece was created to represent the continuity of life over time for eternity. It consisted of a dark room, where digital projections of flowers were first ‘born’, before they then grew, developed, and blossomed as in reality. Over time these flowers would then begin to age, their petals began to scatter, and the flowers would wither and fade away back into nothing. The piece was aligned to the passing hours of the day over a period of one year, and the cycle of birth and death repeated itself for eternity. The installation was the second in a three-part series and was generated in real time, meaning that the flowers were all interactive- if someone touched a blossom it would wither a die. There were two versions of ‘Ever Blossoming Life II’: ‘Dark’ and ‘Gold’ and the piece was also aligned with its predecessor ‘Flutter of Butterflies Beyond Borders’ in which dainty, interactive butterflies would leave their own installation space and flutter over to the flowers as they blossomed, showing not just continuity but co-dependency in nature.
‘INTERSECTIONS’, Jamie Roadkill
Jamie Roadkill is a young artist from Brooklyn, USA. She collects animals off her local highways that have been killed by vehicles and subsequently discarded. With these animals, she then processes their bodies until she is left with only the skeletons before she plates them with 24-Karat gold and articulates them. She then uses the embellished skeletons to create sculptural scenes and installations, where the animals’ remains are the centerpiece. Jamie’s work comments on humanity’s lust for progress and brings this ‘progress’ into question- her use of roadkill being symbolic of the hypocrisy of mankind to label living creatures as ‘vermin’ whilst being the most damaging species on earth. I find her work morbidly beautiful, as it highlights the importance and magnificence of every animal and every life. Jamie Roadkill’s work is hard-hitting, not just because she creates something beautiful out of creatures previously ‘discarded’, but because it disconnects the body and soul and gives the body left behind a new narrative and purpose
Cemile Pelin Gur
Cemile Pelin Gur is a 34-year-old artist originally from the middle east, who now lives in London. She gave up her career as a project manager in engineering to focus on her business ‘JejeFelting’. Cemile spent around a year training in different felting techniques, such as wet and dry, and now creates portraits and life-like replicas of people’s late pets. Her works are intricate and delicate and create a sense that the owner’s lost pet is ‘always with them’. This is a special and beautiful idea, as she uses her skill to create art that comforts people and helps them begin the healing process. Her inspiration sprung from her own pet, Jeje, a 9-year-old Jack Russel Terrier, who she adores and considers part of the team. It is apparent how Cemile’s love for her own son Jeje, as well as the understanding that he will be ephemeral within her lifetime, have fueled her creativity and passion for creating personal and heartfelt works of art that her customers can treasure forever
Cemile Pelin Gur,
‘Estrella’
Needle Felt Dog
Cemile Pelin Gur,
‘Ralph’
Needle Felt Tabby Cat
My Project over Easter:
25/03/23~ Butterfly House Revisited…
For the first weekend of the Easter break, my friends from Cambridgeshire have come to visit me as an early 21st birthday celebration and we went to the Butterfly House! It was a really warm day, so the butterflies were all really active and friendly and it was great to be able to gather more inspiration for my project. I felt a really personal connection with these insects now, especially after all of the research and studying of them I have done over the last few months, and it was beautiful to see them all dancing around.
29/03/23
All the sculptural components for my installation have arrived. I am currently waiting on some antiseptic liquid, taxidermy pins and foam boards to be delivered so that I can begin the process of rehydrating my butterflies so that I can pin and dry them out in my desired position. I need to find a suitable surface to make my wax sculpture on- I am leaning towards a rotary cake stand as this would be the most useful, however I am struggling to find one with fast delivery so will keep looking. It would have been Cherry’s 2nd birthday on the 27th, the day before my birthday, so my project feels even more important to me now.
04/04/23
I recently got a new job serving ice cream and have been working a lot meaning I have had less time to work on my project, as I usually have to sit for a while to get in the right mindset, especially things like sculpting. I have however rehydrated and pinned my butterflies onto homemade boards. As I wanted a specific angle for the insects’ wings, I had to make my own pinning boards as typically they are flat. I used polystyrene blocks from amazon, cut them to the desire angles and then attached these blocks onto some pieces of carboard (just the amazon box that they were delivered in). The butterflies are currently drying out again in their new positions and I plan to leave them at least a week. I have not seen anyone pinning butterflies in this way before, as I wanted them to appear as if they are still alive and flying to create a lively and energetic sense of movement through space. Hopefully it works.
08/04/23
Today I started making my wax sculpture of Cherry. The white modelling wax came in four long uneven blocks which was not ideal, so it was quite difficult beginning the piece as I first had to try and make it into a rectangle, which took over 3 hours. I have also never made a proper sculpture before and also never modelled with wax, so it is definitely going to be a long-term challenge for me over the next few weeks as I learn how to work with wax and sculpt at the same time. I have been using old photographs of Cherry from my project last semester to try and recreate the basic shape of her body. It is very challenging as obviously the images are only 2D, but my vivid memory of Cherry has been very useful in helping me make a large scale version of her- and I feel this makes it even more special. Additionally, the butterflies are still pinned and drying out in their new positions as I don’t want to make the mistake of moving them too soon.
