research journal (MA and beyond)
voice: i have been thinking about experimenting with some soundscapes and vocal narratives in my video pieces, something integrated into and layering on the visuals. i want to see how the voice responds to the framing of the landscape in some way - either as sound or narrative. for the moment this is occurring in... Continue Reading →
journey through contemplating a mountain EXPERIMENTATION 1: VISUALS AND PROJECTORS manipulation as challenge: i have been doing lots of reading about the manipulation of the image - manipulation being gendered female, manipulation being material, bodily and subjective against un-manipulated, immaterial, objective and apparently masculine image making processes. aren't all processes a manipulation anyway? isn't... Continue Reading →
manipulation as a form of challenge: over the past week, i have continued to look into 'making versus taking' in photography from a gendered perspective. in 'A History of Women Photographers' (2010) which i got my hands on recently, Rosenblum discusses the manipulation of image in women's photography, particularly in the 80s and 90s. adding... Continue Reading →
the physical frame: running through my exploratory making, i am also doing some exploratory reading. i came across a thesis discussing the form and function of the physical frame in contemporary art (Geraghty, 2008). while this thesis does not discuss its relation to gender, it does set out interesting theory, history and art practices related... Continue Reading →
still starting from scratch?: i decided to continue my pinhole camera work, this time heading to the sand dunes of sandymount. while these images are dark and somewhat vague (overexposure - 40 seconds too long) there is something that really draws me into the image because the subtle traces of elements in the landscape need... Continue Reading →
breaking the narrative: my new book arrived in the post, suggested by MW during my last tutorial - 'Broken Screen, Expanding the Image, Breaking the Narrative, 26 Conversations with Doug Aitken. there is an interesting diagram at the back which lists non-linear films, categorised according to how they can be considered non-linear, i.e. manipulation of... Continue Reading →
journey through an analogue process exploration - returning to unease: for the last few weeks i have been getting ready to start exploring again - not that i had stopped but more that i had not done anything really unknown. starting this type of exploration seems necessary to keep me pushing at the questions i'm... Continue Reading →
journey through undressing the horizon getting real: recently i have been writing up an exhibition proposal about what my work is about and some ideas about how i intend to install work. it was all feeling a little bit aspirational until today when i just started to experiment physically with the materials, forms and type... Continue Reading →
some exploratory research: thinking about the edge of the pictorial frame and limits chosen to contain landscape as image, i went to sandymount to gather some footage of the sea. the sea as a landscape stretches far to the horizon so it seemed like a good place to go to to examine how i contain... Continue Reading →
ease and unease in the studio: in the studio again to work on a landscape image that i have been planning to do for someone for a while. the landscape means a lot to this person rather than to me, although i do know this landscape and have walked it. having explored colour related to... Continue Reading →
kick-starting some uninterrupted days in the studio with some reading research. continuing my research reading on landscape and body, i have been reading Stacy Alaimo's paper "Trans-corporeal Feminism and the Ethical Space of Nature" in 'Material Feminism' (2008). here, Alaimo argues for a non-binary approach to nature/culture or body/culture. some notes... 'flight from nature': for... Continue Reading →
a bit of making: thought i'd do some screen printing for christmas - nothing about landscape's gendered framing! but art making all the same. happy to be physically engaged in a process where the outcome is not tied up with 'what it is doing or saying' beyond creating a physical card. sometimes success criteria is... Continue Reading →
elaine crowe 