Arcelor Mittal Orbit, Olympic Park, London

Untitled ,Concrete Coils, Gladstone Gallery New York

Anish Kapoor's current exhibition at the Gladstone Gallery, New York comprises of a-typical conglomerate coils of concrete the appears to melt towards the earth. Kapoor explores the objects changing and transient materiality and observes it's natural movements and connection. I am currently attempting to make some sort of connection  between these works and his Arcelor Mittal Orbit in the Olympic park. The Orbits convoluted structure and twisting geodesic character may in a way be applicable to question the organic and inorganic quality here of steel of which 60% of it was recycled. It may be advisable to visit both these works before passing further judgement, yet there is a hugely contrasting dialogue held between these two contemporary works made by the same artist.  

The Banff Centre: Artist Residency

The Banff centre in B.C. Canada offers many visual arts programs that are both thematic and experimental. Following on from a tutorial with Kim Pace I have done some research regarding their art residencies. The art residencies offered are categorized into seasons as the climate it is a prevailing factor. Those applying for this program must have an exhibition record with formal and possibly post-graduate  study in the visual arts.

It is strange that so much experience is needed in a place so isolated and remote yet I understand that a standard must be reflected in possible candidates that will present the Banff centre well. It may be advisable to pursue less affiliated residencies in the surrounding area first to gain a knowledge in discovering a practice away from major metropolitan centres.

In saying this however there is much offered in terms of amenities and hospitality.  Rooms with mountain vista's, large fireplaces in common rooms, 350 seater dining halls all incur expensive surcharges and fee's. The want of comfort in such a remote area could be luxurious yet also carry negative connotation's with regards to the chosen art practice followed in such a place.  Obviously I would like partake in such a residency but would need more experience, skills and strong commitments to follow through.

German artist Cornelia Konrads uses steel poles, rope and branches to presents an ethereal emancipation from the clutches of gravity. The site-specific installation in a forest clearing in Osnabrück, Germany presents the audience with a pseudo-reality in which the Gateway also the title of work appears to emerge from the forest floor. In it's construction this effect is acquired through a subtle interweaving of very different materials that culminates in-corporeal perspectives. A strong narrative of the works is in it's appropriative reference to folklore and magic yet its realization is through a harnessing of the immediate natural surroundings and found materials.

Dan Holdsworth series Transmission is a print project showing the topographical contouring and façades of Salt Lake City, Mount Shasta, Mount St Helens, The Grand Canyon and Yosemite. These famous geographical area's have been presented in a c-type print format that shows texture with light and shadow. The whitewashed appearance of the work is similar to when sometimes too much light enters a camera before taking a picture.

Photographer Lola Guerrera attempts to empower a resource taxed area of Mexican desert in hope of raising awareness of a previous metaphysical interrelation that was shared by the indigenous people and the land. If I had found about Lola Guerrera I would have included this work in my dissertation which held some concern for the practice of rituals in indigenous cultures.

In this recent series by Guerrera an orchestrated performance is initiated through the use of brightly coloured smoke clouds that through a strange surreality narrate the relationships between Human and landscapes carried forward by the inertia of smoke resembling apocalyptic natural disasters.

What is meant to be a signifier for a balanced relationship with the natural landscape also acts as a metaphysical performance by the land to depict an unseen, unperceived dimension.

Illustrator Simon Padres creates eclectic narratives where the image grows from within depicting for example an apocalyptic urban landscape within the confines of a hippo's insides. This convoluted amalgamation of line and tone produces a strong effect enabling the image to carry the narrative forward.

Designer françois xavier saint georges automatic drawing machine similar in essence to the automaton the recent feature length animation Hugo is able by layering to construct complex patterning and tone. The ink drawings fixed to rotary or cyclical outcomes are simple yet through evolution of the 'roto-drawing machine' different and unexpected outcomes may be possible.

What is interesting about this project is the idea of letting go and removing a dictatorship over the work. Such work as this has been more attractive to me since attending Giorgio Saddatti's Transmission lecture. I feel that this work is close to the ideal of a metaphysical natural freedom that I search for in my own practice which is perplexing considering the taxing despotic character of the way I work.

Issac Cordal's project of carving then placing miniature figurines in dire yet melancholic climate changing scenario's acts as a subtle reminder of the natural environments potential future. I write this on April the 4th during a heavy snow shower at 9' o'clock in the morning.

Natural illustrator Natalya Zahn has been able to make a living by combining her blog and painting into an artist book that relates her experience's of visiting Franklin Park Zoo. The initiative to combine the traditional and digital mediums of an an artist's thought's, research and expressions is an inspiring and motivating one.

To be able to cultivate one's own unique pathway in the arts and present it in an accessible way is a very industrious feat. Also the demand for such work as Natalya's is high, which is a perplexing phenomenon in these times of socio-economic strife.

What may account for this is a dexterity to combine zoological and ecological systems and it's power with funding and promotion with an artists flexibility, motivation and skills. One a personal level I am very intrigued with the study of Natural Illustration and am interested in the modules of study and possible pathways thereafter.

Yasuaki Onishi's commission for Rice University Gallery, Houston, is a perplexing installation constructed from simple polythene and synthetic materials orchestrated to construe grand natural formations in the likeness of mountains and clouds. 'Onishi views this process of “reversing” sculpture to be a meditation on the nature of the negative space, or void, left behind.'

I am interested in this polarity between representation and nothingness, that such practices as Onishi's deals with. The conflicting theoretical ideals of East and West may be bridged when perceived with an inverted tangent such as this. The work of Onishi is suggestive of natural structures however they are presented with the philosophical backdrop that 'nature' is insignificant yet important at the same time. This Zen or Taoist rhetoric is informative of Onishi's affirmation to a practice concerned with the metaphysical.

Kulturpark Plänterwal an abandoned amusement park in east Berlin constructed by the GDR in 1969 is been explored as a site for a public art installation by the Kulturpark art group. The collaborative project sets out to re-ignite an interest in the park taking into consideration its aesthetics and historical context.

What is interesting in this project is how abandonment due to financial collapse has returned the theme park to a playground within a more defined natural environment. The overrunning of plants and tree's suggests a derelict space, but the artists aim to use this to form an interesting dialogue between the visitors who left the park 10 years ago, the ecology that has emerged due to this and then their meeting together when it is presented as a public art space.

' Pet Rocks '

Friz Hoffmann series of photographs depicting giant rocks deposited by retreating glaciers forms a national survey which is introspective of these boulders existence in city and suburbia. These erratic's found all over the USA have been imbued with the narrative of 'pet rocks' by Hoffmann. The position the artist presents the rocks in is a documentation of their passive interaction with the ever changing urban and natural landscapes as well as the 'modern social' human interaction and perhaps therefore their inevitable domestication into society.

Link to 'The Clockwork Forest" video

http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/10/view/19767/design-indaba-2012-the-clockwork-forest-by-greyworld.html

Andrew Shoben founder of art collective greyworld has instigated a work in collaboration with other artists around the globe to create "The Clockwork Forest" in Grizedale, Cumbria . By twisting a turn key affixed to various trees music emerges echoing the forests natural ambiance. The work does not harm the tree's as it was commissioned by the Forestry commission, England. Their goal was to increase the interaction between the park goer and the natural environment.It is interesting that in the present economic climate, the national forestry commission is able to fund such art projects. Being aware of the flow and exchange of funding between different commissions is an important objective for emerging artists.

link to trail view

http://naturevalleytrailview.com/

Google's road view takes on an off road expansion in nature valley trail view. A group of hikers lead a photography expedition through the Rocky Mountains, Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon. Documenting this natural terrain onto computer interfaces in such a visually descriptive and comprehensive manner presents idea's of extending the virtual world already available to us.

An inter-webbing enterprise towards aerial safety, spiders in the New South Wales town of Waga-Waga escaping flood-waters by emerging out of the landscape. The images are powerful and express the complex ingenuity of this kind of architectural practice. Similar events occurred in recent floods along Pakistan river systems. The webs allegorically describe a narrative of survival where all types of spider can be seen constructing the arc.

The project Biografi by Bernardo Vercelli uses pencil to follow the path of different insects on paper. Evident from different insects is the individual type of movement and exploration on the page. Somehow I felt this concept effective and strong in being reflective of our own confused microcosm as we each discover the world in a unique way.

New Blog

http://www.a-n.co.uk/degrees_unedited/projects/single/2051406

Artist Jim Hodges installation comprises of four 8-13 tonne boulders clad in different colour highly polished steel surfaces. The piece is described as an unmediated recreation of how the boulders would be found in the natural landscape where the aim is to experience the colour refractions with the surrounding light of the gallery space.

Whilst producing a strong visual effect, the boulders represent a reverbaration of their origins in the natural landscape due to their overwhelming size and exposure of the rock's surface.

Manifest Destiny, a collabarative work by artist Mark Reighlman and designer Jenny Chapman is the installation of a wood cabin in an obselte unused space on the side of a building in san-fransisico. The cabin welded then boarded up with re-claimed barn wood seemlessley attaches itslef to the surrounding urban landscape without forming too much of a contrast.

To realize this type of work much planning is needed. Permission and Proposals needed to be made to local councils and building owners, much collabaration was also needed with engineers and builders. Funding in this case becomes a key issue, therfore the idea and discussion behind the work is continually challenged. Examining how this process develops is an essential area of proffesional practice.

link to video

http://www.le3paris.com/?portfolio=golden-tiger

footage of a running tiger projected onto the façade an urban landscape distils a representation of a collaboration with the wild and man-made. The imagery of the tiger running in the city streets strongly resonates with a sense of freedom and a natural metaphysical premise that highlights or relates to an escapism within the realm of our egotistical confines.

Julie Bender re-develops the process of pyrography when drawing on wood. She expresses and appreciation for animals. The many factors taken into consideration when producing the drawings presents the close engagement the artist has with the materials and tools.

Juan Gatti's drawings representing human anatomy alongside exotic animals and plants with taxonomic references conveys a visually indulging collaboration. What is most attractive about the works is the mixture of human and animal. for me the visual effect of stripping the skin off man to then be displayed more harmoniously with 'nature' is an insightful congruence into the development of man. These drawing also attest a reference to a personal int rest in medical and natural illustration. Seeing the way this is done is always an intrest of mine.

link to video

http://traubeck.com/years/

Bartholomäus Traubeck has created a record player that interprets tree rings into music. By a complex light system, fluctuations in the trees life span from a cross- section similar in size to a record are reproduced by a link up to a piano. This interrelation is suggestive of a mechanised relationship to the 'natural' that is creatively in tune.

Artist Matthew J. Rangel collates maps, observational drawings of landscapes, photographs and ethnographic research to produce a convergence that references 'our vital connection to the land' His work shares great similarities to my own practice where an attempt to distil a sense of sterility and documentation into the presentation and production of work is a significant factor. His project Across the Sierra is a series of works depicting topographically the Sierra range of mountains through either, digital, cartographic and lithographic techniques. The work appears clear, concise yet full of energy and meaning. His own experience of walking through the mountains and letting himself be enveloped into that environment feeds back into this series of works.

Artist Ryo Shimura’s plastic endangered animals convey a quantified declination of animal numbers. Numerous small plastic white hippos scattered on the floor describe the exact numbers left remaining in the wild. His work brought under attention by the Eco & Art award 2011 forms an apt visualization of habitat loss and poaching. The figures of the hippo's cast in white appear desensitized and removed in their setting displaying confusion of their displacement from an ecological environment.

Reading Ursula k. Le Guin's novel the Dispossessed the word anarchism appears frequently when describing positive and even spiritually revolutionary movements. From researching use of the word in contemporary media and literature an article from the New Internationalist magazine conveyed an interesting insight on the allegory that is perceived the the "a words" use.

From a historical context the word anarchism was conceived to depict different disposition than it's current conception of being evil, dangerous and destructive:

‘Anarchism stands for the liberation of the human mind from the dominion of religion; the liberation of the human body from the dominion of property; liberation from the shackles and restraint of government. It stands for a social order based on the free grouping of individuals.’

Emma Goldman 1910 ( http://www.newint.org/features/2011/06/01/anarchism-explained

Intersecting Goldman's words with the fictional writings of le Guin a comparison may be drawn concerning the subversion from the reticent nature of modern civilization. In the Dispossessed an escape from the cultural norm on earth is represented by an alternate population resident on the moon who have attained a totally annexed ideology based on volunteering and comradeship. When Juxtaposed with anarchistic movements a similarity can be construed that upholds virtues in anti-profiteering and survival of the harmony of the self in relation to the world. In this positivity however during the development of the main character Shevec in the novel he begins to question how the supposed ideological evolution of the human race after generations of the initial revolution occurring post relocating to the moon has developed another isolated society becoming more and more similar to that on earth.