from the archive part 3

digital image, 2007
from the photo in 'from the archive part 2' and altered with photoshop.

wall work musings

wall piece #3 detail 2007, pencil on wall

one of the issues i am having to deal with in working on the wall surrounds documentation. the last three pieces i have done on the wall have been in pencil, using a thin line. the work is discreet and subtle. standing at one end of the wall (it's at least 8 metres long, if not more) i am unable to see the work at the other end of the wall. the work becomes experiential. but it also raises a big question, how do i document the work. photos i have taken illustrate the problem. if the work is hard for the eye to see, how difficult will it be for a camera?

the above photo is of the most recent wall work. i've found that i need to take photos of details and sections. even then, with the position of the corridor i'm working in, taking a decent photo is tricky. i need to think about a couple of things, firstly the lighting, and secondly, it might be good for me to talk to someone who knows a bit more about photography. i'm not happy with the photos i'm taking at the moment.

the other reason documentation is important is because the work is temporary and site specific. a photograph will be the only means by which some people get to see the artwork. it will also end up being the only record i have of the work, so it's improtant to work some of this stuff out now.

wall piece #3 part one

pencil on wall, detail August 2007
a very small section of line, part of a whole, drawn on the wall.

from the archive part 2

photograph, 2006

A set of wire boxes i built, stacked together then photographed. The photo was taken on my Canon eos 300 after i got my act together and replaced the battery. the digital slr is on my wish list.

documentation

red pencil on tracing paper on paper 2007 (detail)

fredbaby

hmm. a somewhat self-indulgent post, i'll admit.

from the archive part 1

acrylic on paper, detail 2006

moma and richard serra

MOMA is having a retrospective for the sculptor, richard serra and has put together a nice little page for the occasion.

i do appreciate it when major galleries make their collections available online. (the moma's is here.)
there's no substitute for seeing the real thing though. the subtleties and texture of most artworks can't be captured in a photo. i had no idea of what the surface of Les Demoiselles d'Avignon was like until i saw it on the gallery wall, yet it is one of the key paintings of the 20th century. i like to be able to look at a painting and see the brushstrokes.

projection

Wall projection April 2007

red mark

acrylic on paper

wall piece (detail001)

red pencil on wall, May / June 2007

one has to start somewhere

...and I'm starting here. (the beginning, a very good place to begin.)

more to follow.