Flashbulb eyes...

What if the camera
Really do
Take your soul
Oh no
What if the camera
Really do
Take your soul
Oh no

Hit me with your flashbulb eyes
Hit me with your flashbulb eyes
You know I've got nothing to hide
You know I got nothing
No I got, nothing

What if the camera
Really do
Take your soul
Oh no
What if the camera
Really do
Take your soul
Oh no

Hit me with your flashbulb eyes
Hit me with your flashbulb eyes
You know I've got nothing to hide
You know I got nothing

Hit me with your flashbulb eyes
Hit me with your flashbulb eyes
You know I've got nothing to hide
You know I got nothing, you know I got, nothing

Hit me with your 

Kenneth Grange, comparing with Tony Cragg and Michael Landy.

 Contemplating Cragg's monumental sculptures and Landy's found materials, it is  easy for one to dissociate these fine artists with the products of Kenneth Grange. Yet, and stating the obvious, this is the point of the blog, a subjective perspective illustrating the view's of my own understanding of art and product design, culminated from my 3D design module. 

"A limit of selfishness, in this, every designer should want to own and live with what he or she designs."- Taken from an interview with Kenneth Grange.

Granges words create a solid foundation for my own argument to be built upon, that creativity is inevitably linked through the absence of subordinated control; that creativity and originality can ultimately arise from the individual, forming the intangible link between all three of the creators. However it would be easy to polarise Grange for his purposeful products, each separately briefed with a clear cut purpose. Working for the speaker manufacture Bowers & Wilkins emphasises this, as his primary aim was to enhance the owners listening experience, and therefore develop the product. 

And yet there is an air of ignorance within a description enclosing a designer as simply a manufacture, unable of creative thought, as the evolution of his speaker design exemplifies.   

As I look into the shear scale of the second, furthest away speaker I can't help but compare it to the scope of Tony Cragg, as it becomes far more than simply a sound making device. In a similar way, Cragg's sculptures offer far more than a simple aesthetic thrill...

Ultimately it is individualistic consciousness, which formulates an artists form, and in this sense Kenneth Grange can be described as a fine artist. Yet, in doing this, defining a designer as a fine artist one begins to question the very notion of art itself, and it is fairly obvious where this trail of thought is going... 

All three are artist's in their own right, and although a description exemplifying this notion of creativity has already been described, returning to it would only reiterate my only serving point, and therefore further emphasis has been forgotten, leaving behind the final thought of simply a student of art. 

Responding to Michael Landy & Tony Cragg

Landy's primary inspiration arises from the objects around him, creating the very art which he exhibits formed through the inspired, found objects. This is exemplified by his "art bin," interactive piece where he asked other artist's to contribute to his centrepiece of "creative failure."  

Cragg complements this ideology of taking found material through his own application of found materials; that which occurs naturally in form of metal ore and that of human construction such as plastics, never the less both artists create thought provoking art representing the world in which they live. 

Michael Landy- Art bin 29th Jan- 14 Mar 2010

Taking aspects from both artist's culminated in my sculptural 'failure;' that is to say that my primary vision was never realised. I set out to create a solid concrete form of a Smirnoff Vodka bottle, encapsulating money within its construction, questioning the financial implications of alcoholism on the economy as well as the individual consumer. However, receiving my brief two days before I cast, I had to adapt my material to that which I already had. Therefore, the mix created "gobbo" and not true concrete. Never the less, the form was created and the following photographs show its development. 

Using a mix of three gravel to one cement, with five pence pieces added created the needed mixture, while adding plenty of water brought the consistency to the desired runnier level.   

These two show the form before the glass started to be smashed; a consequence unpredicted is the layer of concrete present on the bottle forming an interesting photographical form.  

The bottles top presented the greatest challenge and one which I unable to successfully overcome. However, interest has still been created even though the structure fractured...

The layer of glass below the broken neck was the first place to be broken, as this photograph shows the contrast in form. 

The next three images represent the unfinished idea; that it is, that is that it shows the complete structure set in the concrete form. Unfortunately, the only clearly visible five pence's were at the very bottom, and taking this negatively I have alternatively used the sculpture as a photographical construct, enabling the original concept of alcoholism and the consumption of money, to be emphasised through the black and whit stills utilising the previous notion set by Michael Land'y art bin.

Tony Cragg

"I'm still searching for meaning..."

Cragg's words highlight his work's and not his own creativity, as the sculptures he creates are really creating them selves.  In this way, its hard to envision a greater purpose than ones own; as Cragg embarks on the incomprehendable through the absence of a solid meaning. Without one, every individual response is as worthy and true as any other forming a great bond between the piece of art and the person viewing it.

As he embarks on experimentation and adaptation of wood, metal, plastic and countless other materials it is easy to see how his free flowing forms are created. Yet, It would be a misconception to only describe Cragg in this way, as many of his sculptures are reflections of our urban and natural world, yet, for tp really engage with Cragg's work is for one to embark on their own personable response and meaning. 

Runner by Tony Cragg | Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas, Texas

Tony Cragg, "Elbow," wood, 2010, photo copyright Michael Richter

Tony Cragg, "Outspan," bronze, 2008, photo copyright Charles Duprat

Diane Arbus

Instead of showing a portfolio of her work, similarly to my previous Uelsmann post, I have instead decided to focus on one particular photograph... her most recognizable of works:  Child with Toy Hand Grenade in Central Park

" She catches me in a moment of exasperation. It's true, I was exasperated. My parents had divorced and there was a general feeling of loneliness, a sense of being abandoned. I was just exploding. She saw that and it's like . . . commiseration. She captured the loneliness of everyone. It's all people who want to connect but don't know how to connect. And I think that's how she felt about herself. She felt damaged and she hoped that by wallowing in that feeling, through photography, she could transcend herself."-

This quote was spoken by the boy being photographed; Colin Wood and it remarkably captures the horror's of the Cold War as well as that of Wood's own personable demon's. What strikes  me the most is its resonation in my mind, I first viewed it about two years ago and seeing it among 50 other photographer's, its impact was frightening. 

Jerry Uelsmann

Offended, that's how one feels after viewing 50 photographer's without the inclusion of Uelsmann. I could blog continuously for another 1000 word's, however you have own ideas and responses. So alternately I urge you to scroll back up and simply admire at his masterpieces'...    

£ land...

"Project 3.

2 objects.

From your local pound shop buy 2 different £1 objects. At home explore different ways of joining them together..."

A task, one of simplicity juxtaposed with ones own self forming imagination, creating a infinite array of possibility. Dew to the unfortunate realisation of libraries facilities, your time is once again taken in the observation of my own response to this task. From the outset a particular strand was recognised, that of sculpture and the effect it has on the transformation of mundane objects. To exemplify this, two seemingly unconnected items were purchased at the specified location; a shower hose and a light...