20/04/2017 - PASTE SESSION 2

For my second paste session I was well prepared with much stronger paste and this time I had mentally marked a few places which I wanted to hit. I found small inset doorways which created small alleys at right angles to main high street sections which were just long enough to display a poster in, so that it may be seen by passers by, but not within their walking space. (see right) I hoped this would both increase visibility whilst lowering the chances of the piece being torn or ripped as members of the public walk by. I also chose some walls with BT green broadband boxes next to them, I could climb up onto these to paste my work above the reach of foot traffic, hopefully increasing their longevity further.

12-13/04/2017 - PASTING SESSION 1

 In my first pasting session on Wednesday for these new pieces I tried to find locations which would regularly be passed by a lot of footfall. It was the first time I had ever used newsprint paper for wheatpaste and I found it was not as effective as I had hoped. The paper was not very absorbant, and did not readily absorb the wallpaper paste, thus weakening the bond between the paper and the wall. I also did not make my paste quite thick enough in this session, as I was having trouble getting the larger images to stick. The bees, because of their size, took to the walls well but the posters were a bit of struggle, quickly weakening when wet and making repositioning or adjusting near impossible.

In total I managed to lay about 15 bees and around 10 posters without any problems, making this a very succesful hit. Even from this moment I felt a more positive reception for my pieces, as it was clear to passersby that my motive was slightly different to most after-dark taggers. I had people walking past on nights out who would nod and smile at me as they read the work I was pasting, a reception which I was not initially used to I must admit. As always however, the biggest part of the excitement for me is watching the social reception to these works, something I am looking forward to in the coming days.

Unfortunately I visited some of these spots the next day and saw that the pieces were already starting to peel away of their own accord (see left) This should not have been happening so soon, and could only have been down to the paste I used lacking strength. Because of this I decided I would need to go back out as soon as possible, not only to replenish any pieces which were already struggling, but also put out some more works with a better, stronger paste.

24/03/2017 - SAVE OUR SEAS FINAL PRINT

In this final print workshop session I managed to get the rest of my A3 layers printed. By the final print, the four layers of ink were glossy and thick on the very thin newsprint, however it was an effect I quite liked, the heaviness of the print contrasting the thinness of the paper. The slight texture made the work feel tangible and grounded. When finished at the larger size the true impact of the piece was conveyed, and I felt much more certain that the design would grab people from across the street.

I also isolated each of the colours for a single print, and became interested with the way this allowed anyone to see the physical stages involved in creating it. From my research into advertising and it's connections to capitalism and consumerism, I have begun to find that a lot of the problems we face in this post truth age are down to humanities need to seperate ourselves from the base truths of life. We seek to control our environment, and a lot of the time that means distancing ourselves from reality. We build houses to distance ourselves from the reality of the wilderness, just in the same way we buy meat and animal products which have been specifically marketed to distance themselves from the reality that animals have undoubtably felt pain and fear at many points in their lives. We buy clothes from major fashion brands because we seek clothes to feel ourselves, yet distance ourselves from the reality that such affordable highstreet styles come at the cost of millions of children working for pennies in sweatshops elsewhere. Advertising plays a huge role in this farce as it is able to mask the truth behind the way we live our lives, and the costs our choices have to others. However I can't help but feel if there was greater transparency, whilst maintaining the vast advancements advertising has made in terms of social communication and spread of information, consumers could make educated decisions decisions based on informed, realistic self awareness.

I was beginning to have ideas of how to convey this for my final exhibition, and thought that producing induvidual colour seperations could be metaphor here. They expose the process through which the image is comprised, and demonstrate how by using informed amounts of a limited range of colours a full spectrum copy is created. By exposing the induvidual seperations for my work I gave it transparency, the audience can see each step of the process openly and are able to fully grasp exactly the steps I as the artist have undergone. There is no smoke and mirrors, and thus some of the falsehood surrounding advertising is disseminated, the professional illusion is shattered and the artist-audience divide is weakened.

As well as this, I also just found it quite fascinating how four images can be in essence the same, but also differ vastly in legibility and tone. I think there are comparisons to be drawn between this and Warhol's work both in format and media, despite the styles being dissimilar.  I would also like to hope my audience can find interest themselves in this 'behind the scenes' look at screenprinting. As the process of learning and improving my screen printing ability has also been paramount to my enjoyment of the SKILLS 3 workshops, I also think it is important to pay a nod to this in my final exhibition. I have absolutely fallen in love with the methodical but incredibly gratifying process of screenprinting, and want this presentation to be atleast in some instance an homage to that.

March/April - CAPITALIST REALISM - PROMOTIONAL CULTURES

In preperation for my essay on Advertising and Art I read Capitalist Realism by Mark Fisher and Promotional Cultures by Aeron Davis. Reading these books one immediately after the other definitely changed my induvidual perceptions of them. I found so many linking theories between the two texts, which made me truly appreciate just how closely connected capitalism and consumerism are, both to each other, and to so many aspects of modern life. Reading these after starting 'This Changes Everything' by Naomi Klein, another book on climate change I am yet to finish, provided a profound reminder for the size of the sheer task at hand when engaging with the public over their addictive, wasteful lifestyles of overconsumption.

1/04/2017 - UPFEST ACCEPTANCE

Last year I applied to paint at Upfest, the UK branch of Europes biggest Street Art festival, held in Bristol every summer. I was not accepted, however decided to apply again this year. I was incredibly excited to find out my application had been successful this time.