Contextual Influences in Art & Design Unit 5

These pieces were part of my BTEC Art and Design Unit 5 called Contextual Influences in Art & Design. 

First we were asked to create a Pinterest account in order to research further into the themes of collage and allow them to inspire my choices of work. 

I chose artist Hannah Hoch as one of my inspiring artists because she does very simple but meaningful collage work that I thought would be a good place to start for my collage work. As I wanted to have a strong meaning behind my work.  I decided I would choose 4 very different artists in order to get a strong understanding of a wide variety of ways to create collages. Hannah Hoch is very photograph orientated. 

I also chose Greg Gossel because his work has inspired me many times in the past and I really enjoy his work. He also gave me a great idea for a theme when I was doing a transcription of his work but I thought I would research further artists before I decided. Here I chose a photograph and transfer orientated artist. 

I chose David Spiller because his collages are very colourful and have a strong personal meaning behind them. I also felt he was a very different collage artist to the ones I have researched into so far. 

Here I have chosen Bruce Connor because he creates  strong mixed media collage pieces that is different to my other artists so far. He also has a theme of decay which shifts towards the theme I had was adapting in my head whilst researching these artists. 

Here I done extensive research into Joseph Cornell as he is an artist that has always inspired me and this unit was no different. His mixed media collage work is not like another other artist and his vintage work really inspired my growing idea for a theme. 

Here I have done extensive research into Sabrina Ward Harrison's work as her mixed media collages are very personal to her mind. They are almost like a diary and this really inspired my idea for a theme to make my work very personal to me. 

Here I have displayed my Primary sources for this unit having chosen my intended theme of the decay of our modern youth and how it goes hand in hand with the decay of our industrial society.

Here I have displayed my experimental pieces based on my artist research and primary sources.

Here I have researched into the history of collage and information on where it came from and why in order to gain a strong background on the subject, thus improving my background knowledge to influence my further developmental pieces. 

WAR

I created this piece by using an A3 piece of mount board. I then used my primary sources in order to create a collaged background inspired by Greg Gossel. I then cut out the people in some of my primary sources and arranged them on the board (inspired by Hannah Hoch). In a way that mixes in the layout and the background inspired by Bruce Connor. I then used a glue gun to add vintage 3D pieces (inspired by Joseph Cornell) such as buttons and keyboard keys to spell WAR. This shows my intended them of the war our corrupted youth face against industry and other generations. The buttons signify age and past generations. Finally I used a frame and put staples into it to signify decay and add texture. I then painted it grey to signify industry and how it frames our society. Encages us.

The Board of Broken Youth

I have used a block of wood in order to create a strong, solid 3D piece. I then used my primary sources in order to create a collaged background inspired by Greg Gossel. I then cut out the people in some of my primary sources and arranged them on the board (inspired by Hannah Hoch). In a way that mixes in the layout and the background inspired by Bruce Connor. I then used a glue gun to add vintage 3D buttons (inspired by Joseph Cornell). The buttons signify age and past generations. I also added a tag which I had typed using the type writer, BROKEN YOUTH in order to show my theme more strongly of the broken youth we see before us.

Fuck Industry I have gone much larger scale and used a draw. Strongly inspired by Joseph Cornell. I then used my primary sources in order to create a collaged background inspired by Greg Gossel. I then cut out the people in some of my primary sources and arranged them on the board (inspired by Hannah Hoch). In a way that mixes in the layout and the background inspired by Bruce Connor. When sticking down the people I decided not to glue down all the parts so areas such as arms and legs could stick out and add a stronger 3D affect. I then drilled holes along the bottom and printed secondary source pictures of pylons and stuck them to mount board I then glue the pylons to the bottom and put wire in the holes I had drilled to give the strong 3D appearance of pylons. I then drilled more holes at the tom and got further secondary sources of flying machines including a zeppelin, hot air balloon, a kite, and airplanes. I glued my secondary sources to mount board and glued them to wire. I then glued the wire into the holes I had drilled at the top so they hung at various depths and lengths. Finally I used keyboard keys to spell the words FUCK INDUSTRY in order to show my theme of corrupt youth and industry strongly.

The Decision Door

Here I have presented my final piece. It is 5ft tall so I have taken pictures of it to place in the journal. It is the frame base of a sink that I have laid up right so it looks like a door. I then used my primary sources in order to create a collaged background inspired by Greg Gossel.  I then ripped up brick wall wallpaper and placed it around the piece to give it a more urban feel. I then used a rag and white acrylic to dry brush over the whole piece. I then cut out the people in my primary sources inspired by. I then cut out the people in some of my primary sources and arranged them on the board (inspired by Hannah Hoch). In a way that mixes in the layout and the background inspired by Bruce Connor. When sticking down the people I decided not to glue down all the parts so areas such as arms and legs could stick out and add a stronger 3D affect. I then used a glue gun to add vintage 3D buttons (inspired by Joseph Cornell). The buttons signify age and past generations. I then drilled holes at the top and got further secondary sources of flying things including a UFO, hot air balloon and a bumble bee. I glued my secondary sources to mount board and glued them to wire. I then glued the wire into the holes I had drilled at the top so they hung at various depths and lengths. I feel this door is very symbolic to my intended them of industry and our generation. Showing how generations of teenagers have changed throughout the years and how industry in turn has got worse. How our generation will influence industry to destroy our planet. The door shows the paths we could take to either stay on the wrong side and destroy our planet or open the door to new possibilities of a greener future.  

Unit 5 Final Evaluation

My Intended Theme:

My intended theme was to display how our generation is corrupt and it won't just stop there. Our generation is the future and we will manipulate industry to ruin the planet for years to come. Not only is our generation ready to destroy the planet but they are also destroying themselves. As seen in my primary sources our generation use drugs, cigarettes and alcohol in order to drown away the responsibilities we have in saving the planet. Trying to fix which has been so long broken. 

My Inspiring Artists:

The artists that inspired me are Hannah Hoch, Greg Gossel, David Spiller, Bruce Connor, Joseph Cornell and Sabrina Ward Harrison. 

Hannah Hoch's use of collage in strong themes and various contexts has inspired me greatly to use photographs in order to portray my theme. 

Greg Gossel's use of collage techniques such as ripping, layering and emulsion transfers has inspired my work greatly. 

David Spiller's use of hard edging, block colour and rough hand writing really inspired my initial ideas of drawing all over my pieces in rough handwriting but I decided to use his block colour in order to frame my works. 

Bruce Connor's use of mixed media materials and strong textures in his pieces really inspired me throughout my work to concentrate on texture and 3D affects. 

Joseph Cornell inspired my work very strongly as I feel that working in draws and wood really allows age to stand out in a piece of work especially with my initial theme. 

Finally Sabrina Ward Harrison's work inspired my initial ideas of handwriting over work in order to express my intended theme strongly.

My Journey of Work:

After allowing my 5 chosen artists to influence my intended theme I started off by using mount board in order to create 6 small pieces of work I used emulsion transfers inspired by Greg Gossel in order to get strong effects. My edited primary sources cut out inspired by Hannah Hoch. Typewriter text of sentences and words to get across my intended theme more strongly inspired by Sabrina Ward Harrison and David Spiller. Finally 3D textures such as tags and buttons inspired by Joseph Cornell and Bruce Connor. 

After creating my 6 developmental pieces I decided to research further into the history of collage and educate myself further in order to make a more educated decision on the techniques I would use in my further developmental pieces. I decided to work more on photomontage and larger items to work inside inspired by Bruce Connor and Joseph Cornell. 

I started off by using my primary sources to create a photomontage inspired by Greg Gossel and used the people in my primary sources as inspired by Hannah Hoch. I worked on mount board and then used a wooden frame which I added texture to by adding staples and used block colour of grey to frame it inspired by David Spiller. 

On my second further developmental piece I decided to do a smaller photomontage on a block of wood to experiment with adding 3D pieces and a tight photomontage. 

In my final further developmental piece I decided to go bigger again as I felt it worked better to work big to get my intended theme across more powerfully. I used the block grey inspired by David Spiller and wire along with secondary sources to add a stronger sense of place inspired by Bruce Connor and Joseph Cornell. 

Finally for my final piece I decided to go much bigger and use a sink board placed up right as a door with a hole in it to symbolise the choice we have to continue to ruin ourselves and the planet or change, to open the door. I used photomontage as before and used wallpaper to add stronger areas. I dry brushed the background of industry to push it back so you could see my primary sources of our corrupt generation more strongly. I then added 3D buttons and secondary sources from wire in the centre to symbolise what we have created, (hot air balloons) what we are destroying (nature) and what we will have to use to leave the planet once we have destroyed our own (UFO).

I feel my final piece worked really well and continued on from my developmental pieces to show what I have learned from my journey in collage in order to presented a strong meaning.