Hanging around #2

Here I have tried hanging them in a small room, playing with space, light and shadows: 

Hanging around....

I have finally got them up..... It's nice to finally see them in a space, as trying to visualise them otherwise was proving difficult! 

I now need to play with height, which swing to display, rotation, materials etc..... 

A different way to tell a story...

With the carving proving to be unsuccessful I have taken to trying printing.... 

I am really looking forward to seeing how these turn out.... Especially being able to to then experiment with glazes and colour. 

Etching, sketching, and breaking

So I thought I'd try carving words into my swings as a way to try and bring the narrative I wished to express into my work....

I wanted to scratch into the plaster so that I created a hole. A hole that would cast a shadow into the floor below but not seen from above.

The No's.... (Ones that haven't worked)

So I have decided to split my works into yes and No's in an attempt to be more decisive. This will also help me clearly recognise and determine my practise going forward. These are the No's... 

Number 1. (plaster)

Like the clean, simple abstract form. However is this recognisable as a swing, no? As the swing is going to be invisible apart from the seat I need the actual seat to be a obvious form. I will see how plaster works on a mould with wood effect. As maybe this will solve this problem. 

Number 2. (Plaster in wood mould)

The wood grains have come out really well in this however I have lost the fragility of the piece. 

Number 3. (Fimo)

This have come out just like the plaster with wood impression. The size is personal and delicate in that it's small, however I don't think you get the same aesthetic as you do with the Kroger pieces. 

Number 4. (Icing sugar)

Similar to the Fimo in that the detail has come out beautiful, but I don't want my piece to be small and childlike. 

Number 5. (Screen Print)

These have come out beautifully. Delicate, fragile and eerie. They stand alone in an unknown empty space. This is what I want from my installation. So whilst I won't take the prints further I now know what aesthetic I'm looking for.

Number 6. (Wood)

Based on an actual handmade swing, this was one of the first I did. However as soon as it came together I hated it. It's far too industrial.

Number 7. (Solid glass) 

I was really excite about these as thought the glass would give it the delicate, fragile feel I needed. However as a solid form it remains too strong. The detail of the wood is also missing. 

Number 8. 

Again one of the first ones. I used the table to try out the "hanging/ fee hanging swing." The swing gently sways with the movement of the room. Hypnotising you as you watch. It has no beginning or no end, it's just stuck in the void, solitary. 

The glass .... It smashed

Sooo my glass finally came out the kiln... I carefully, drilled four holes into the glass without breaking, cracking or so much as splintering the beautiful slump....

I also managed to carefully hang the piece firstly with string then thread so it seemed to be suspended in mid air.

It peacefully swayed, back and forth.... Hypnotising me with each silent movement. 

It was exactly how I wanted it.... In the sense of the feeling one got in its presence. 

Size matters....

As well as experimenting with materials I have also played with size, would this allow more options with the materials I could use ?? 

Even icing sugar, it maintains the childlike element of the work as it smells sweet but it's too fragile. 

Staying with the youthful aesthetic, I also played with Fimo... This beautiful captured the imprint from the wood and was strong enough to cast a hole through for hanging. 

Above I have played with an idea I had for display, bringing in pictures from my own child hood. However for me this was too cliche, too obvious. And while delicate it was delicate in all the wrong ways. Someone described it as "cute" which I really was not happy with!!! 

Upon asking my sister, I was pleased to hear she agreed: 

"It does preserve it. Of course. I just think it's a little bit literal. Like a message in a bottle or a time capsule. I wonder if there's something else that would preserve these memories. Surely all art (perhaps not installation & performance) preserves to a certain extent.  The jar turns the piece into an contained object - which I think is a shame. I'm not trying to be critical btw, and I think the idea is great... But I think you can take it further... "

And so I continue.... 

Moulds moulds and more moulds

In the process of trying to find the right medium to create the right aesthetic, one must try, try and try again 

So far I have created, glass, plaster, rubber, plaster of Paris in the hope to create a delicate looking "swing" 

The glass is beautiful but not as delicate as is have liked. The plaster of Paris, again whilst clean and simple it doesn't give an air of breakability, unsafe, limbo that I need. 

Rubber Moulds of all things old

I