Art@41: The joy of being a mixed media artists is that mat...

Art@41: The joy of being a mixed media artists is that mat...: The joy of being a mixed media artists is that materials have no boundaries....well, for me I love flotsam and Jetsam, the opportunity of...

The joy of being a mixed media artists is that materials have no boundaries....well, for me I love flotsam and Jetsam, the opportunity of breathing new life into something old and forgotten, the possibilities of creating new connections, fresh meanings...

....along with the fact that I really love how installation art  draws the viewer to encounter new experiences through a visual  and emotional feast....

My dissertation is about how and why artists use materials such as cloth to evoke dormant memories and how they often use installation to gain successful and effective results.

Artist such as Annette Messager, Louise Bourgeios, 

PINK DAYS AND BLUE DAYS, 1997
Steel, fabric, bone, wood, glass, rubber and mixed media
Overall: 117 x 87 x 87 inches (297.2 x 221 x 221 cm)

A life-long hoarder of clothes and household items such as tablecloths, napkins and bed linen, from the mid-nineties Bourgeois cut up and re-stitched these, transforming her lived materials into art. Through sewing she attempted to effect psychological repair: ‘I always had the fear of being separated and abandoned. The sewing is my attempt to keep things together and make things whole’.

Peaux de lapins, chiffons ferrailles à vendre, 2006
Steel, stainless steel, marble, wood, fabric and plexiglass
251.4 x 304.8 x 403.8 cm / 99 x 120 x 159 in

http://www.hauserwirth.com/exhibitions/743/louise-bourgeois-the-fabric-works/view/

...other artists I have been researching further are  Christian Boltanski, Anselm Kiefer, Tracey Emin,

Robert Rauschenberg..... all these artists use installation art to enable the viewer to encounter first hand, through its construction, an effective impression of dispersed subjectivity. The clever articulation and positioning of the objects heightens the viewers awareness as they have to physically enter....its a whole mind and body experience. The artists present the viewer with elements for them to experience directly achieving a heightened appreciation.

The fact that they all use cloth, clothes, textiles within their work takes the installations to another level...they become metaphors, carriers, bearers of significant meaning...provoking and arousing almost  palpable responses such as memories and emotions......I am still working on my dissertation and have a lot of research to do but feel that I am turning the corner as to how to present my point.....I just have to thrash it out and stop being distracted!

Anyway these photos are the start of an installation based on my pebbles!....I've got a few old port holes and I'm suspending machine embroidery across them taken them from the markings I find on the host of pebbles I find on my local coast of Scarborough. I'm hoping to get a few more port holes ...but sadly they are a tad expensive so...I 'll have to see what else I can find to substitute as an outline of a pebble..of course there will be a mirror within the installation, I love the fact that the viewer is visibly part of the experience and I'm searching for some relevant text to include or weave within the embroidery marks...

They are all going to be suspended from above so they hang together -  gathered like you associate them on the beach...with clever lighting I hope the shadows will accentuate them and double the amount of pebbles for further effect!....also - element of sound if they bang together?....well thats the plan!....like my dissertation its a working progress!

Machine embroidery of pebble markings
on water soluable material

 I just thought I should touch base with my blog as time seems to be flying by and a good Sunday blog helps end the week nicely for me!

happy reading, take care...bye