With help from Daisy the illustration to be edited in colour was created.
Monthly Archives: February 2014
Collaborating with Anastasia: Afghanistan (Death in Childbirth): Epitaphs
In relation to the aesthetics of tombstones decorated by Stan Ioan Pătraş, I have chosen to use verse as well as illustration in my piece. To begin with I spoke to my peer, Mara, who is and can speak Romanian (the merry cemetery being in Romania and so the epitaphs are written in Romanian).
To begin I looked into famous poems linked to childbirth of which Akiko Yosano’s “Labor Pains” stood out. Together Mara and I settled on a suitable verse and Mara translated it into Romanian:
“With the first labor pains, suddenly the sun goes pale. The indifferent world goes strangely calm. I am alone. It is alone I am.”
“Cu prima durere de nastere, de-o data soarele paleste. Lumea indiferenta devine un calm ciudat. Sunt singura. Singura e ce sunt.
I researched the same topic but looked for writing from Afghanistan. What I managed to find was a poem that is read out at the ceremony honor the newborn:
“It is up to you to keep this light going; Keep it safe until it beams brighter; Until it lights this house and the whole neighborhood; Accept this gift and be thankful to God.”
“E sarcina ta sa tii lumina mergand; tine-l sigur pana straluceste tare; pana lumineaza casa si tot cartierul; primeste cadoul asta si multumestei lui Dumnezeu.”
Mara has also offered to have me record her speaking Romanian so that I may create a sound piece.
Collaborating with Anastasia: Afghanistan (Death in Childbirth): Cimitirul Vesel
After going through my blog with Mark (who will be assessing me at the end of the year), he mentioned to me a place called the Merry Cemetery – a cemetery with tombstones decorated by a man named Stan Ioan Pătraş.
“Over 600 wooden crosses bear the life stories, dirty details, and final moments of the bodies they mark. Displayed in bright, cheery pictures and annotated with limericks are the stories of almost everyone who has died of the town of Săpânţa. Illustrated crosses depict soldiers being beheaded and a townsperson being hit by a truck. The epigraphs reveal a surprising level of truth. “Underneath this heavy cross. Lies my mother in law poor… Try not to wake her up. For if she comes back home. She’ll bite my head off.” (http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/merry-cemetery)
I have chosen to move this project forward by taking the theme “One woman dies in childbirth every half an hour”, and creating an illustration in the style of the Merry Cemetery, to then bake 30 pieces of gingerbread shaped like tombstones, then print it off the illustration 30 times and attach to the gingerbread using icing.
Collaborating with Anastasia: Review with Tina
Tina was pleased with how our joint video had turned out and also noted how both pieces were able to be work successfully as individual films. She pointed out that we shouldn’t fall into a routine where we are unable to work alone because of reliance on the other person, which is good advice. The collaborative groups she has given Anastasia and I to research are:
- Juneau Project
- Ilya and Emilia Kabakov
- Fischli and Weiss
- Art and Language
- NSS
- Oliver Paynet and Nick Relph
- Jane and Lousie Wilson
- Heather and Ivan Morrison
- Cornford and Cross
- Super Flex
The individual artists Tina has given use are:
- Tacita Dean
- Stan douglas
- Francis Alÿs
- Doug Ailken
- Eija – Liisa Ahtila
- Ann Hamilton
- Catherine Sullivan
- Claude Cahun
- Nan Goldnen
- Vanessa Beecroft
- Silvie Fleury
- Susan Hiller
- Runa Islam
Spare Time: Photography Workshop: Project Brainstorm
Mine and Anastasia’s brainstorm for our photography workshop
1) Distortion of the female body[hands compressing parts of the body-zoomed in]
2) Squashed faces on various transparent surfaces. (windows, plastic.. etc)
3) influenced by Woodman- people hold a picture of their unexpressive face over their heads and the flowing drawing under it.
4) pinhole?
Collaborating with Anastasia: Afghanistan (Death in Childbirth): Workers Baked Alive
“Two bakery workers died in agony after bosses sent them into a giant oven to carry out repairs on the cheap, a court heard yesterday.
The machine should have been allowed to cool for 12 hours, but was only left for two.
David Mayes and Ian Erickson were unaware of the full danger as they crawled into the oven because fans had cooled its outer reaches to 40c. Its core, however, was still at 100c.
The repair was a delicate procedure in which they had to collect broken parts from along the length of a conveyor belt which carries bread trays slowly through the 75ft-long oven.
They had removed enough trays to allow them space within the rails of the belt to crawl along with it at the same speed.
But within five minutes they were relaying terrified messages over their walkie-talkies, saying the oven was too hot. There was no way of reversing the belt and they were trapped on its journey through the oven.
Mr Erickson, 44, was pulled out at the other end and died on the factory floor in front of horrified workmates
Mr Mayes, 47, collapsed inside and was caught in the machinery. He died from 80 per cent burns and multiple fractures.”
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-60734/Workers-baked-alive-bread-factory-horror.html#ixzz2uGaPAeoj
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Collaborating with Anastasia: Afghanistan (Death in Childbirth): MPH Advert
This is the Make Poverty History clicking advertisement. The action and sound of the clicking represents the death of a child, every three seconds.
Collaborating with Anastasia: Kayan Lahwi (Burma): Videos Together Before Effects and Audio Editing
Audio Edit: Introduction with Lauren’s audio, then it lowers when Anastasia’s “hands” become more aggressive, then Anastasia’s audio will move with the aggressiveness of her “hands”, and then the noise should alternate like this.
Visual Edit: Use of fade in Lauren’s film perhaps.
Collaborating with Anastasia: Review with MA student Hannah Hillier
Hannah took interest in the food element of my practice and how it has developed from extravagance to gruesome minimalism. She also noted my new interest in crochet and looked at linking my practice with this.
Artists she suggested to look at
- Emily Pope (Her website)
- Ernesto Neto
- Rachel Harrison
- Simon O’Sullivan (Aesthetics of Affect)
Hannah suggested contacting RISC for our Spring term exhibition.
A video Anastasia discovered about the reasoning behind FGM.
This video shows the way people of the areas where they do circumsice their girls perceive this process. What is shocking is their denial of deaths through infection and their determination that this tradition is deadly only to people who are linked with negative spiritual aspects.
I definitely want to use this interview for my own practice. i still havent decided though whether i want to use the image, the sounds and voices or the actual content of the interview.
My Fine Art Practice (W101) 