Using angular lines to contrast the organic structure of bones

"The Wasp Factory is part of the pattern because it is part of life and-even more so a part of death." - (pg 153) The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks 

A PUBLIC CONTEXT

Antonia Elizabeth Scott

A maquette of a miniature shrine  

   By putting work into a different situation I can determine what works within multiple contexts by using the indoors, I can control the lighting and the space more competently than I could outdoors in conjuction to this my work is to fragile to withstand the elements, for example putting it in a forest. I can change this through making shelters or 'shrines'. I learnt this through working with my pieces in my family's quarry (using the trees and the undergrowth).


Interventions- Moving contexts
I created five situations (out of the studio) to place my work to challenge/question the context of my practice. 


Context: The circumstances that form for an event, statement, or idea and in terms of which it can be fully understood and assessed. 

Using artificial lighting

Internal lighting to light the space

I used the 'home' as my context, in the sense of an animal coexisting with us but  living separate lives. So I used under desks and places we usually find creatures. 

The creature near the plug-hole

Using similar materials to house them

 I wanted to create a miniature religion underneath the floorboards, that was my thinking point when putting my sculptures in different places outside the gallery. I was still working with some of the pieces which I made for last assessment because I was really proud of them as objects of curiosity. In most of my pictures, the lighting is dark because I wanted to portray the essence of the unknown. 
I also tried experimenting with artificial lighting, to see if i could manipulate the shadows cast on my sculptures. I also tried hiding objects within things, for example I used books and boxes. Reflecting on what I did for this mini project, I think I have grown more as a person and have changed how I perceive my art practice. 

Indoor shrine

Photography and Modelling

Photo-shoot in Northfield Quarry

Photo-shoot in Northfield Quarry

In early Spring I did a collaborative fashion shoot with American designer Micheal Ghossainy. We chose to do the shoot at Northfield Quarry (My family owned business) taking inspiration from the past Industry and the feral nature of the woodland. We decided to use black, gun-bolt and beige colours with hints of red; which opened the cracks of a carnal beast. This was also the first time that I had worn false nails; its not just a sexual fashion accessory, but a tool to look more feral, cannibalistic even. This opened my mind up more to the possibilities of this specific location, because I had never took professional quality photographs here.

"My father claims that he cut the animal open and found my tiny genitals in its stomach." - (pg140) The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks

Photo-shoot in Northfield Quar

(Film Still) In the process of arranging the shrine

In one of the garages at Northfield Quarry, I set up an altar in preparation for the ceremony of the Mouse. Using the bones that I had spent days foraging for, all cleaned, categorised and placed within the coves of wooden boxes. I also used scrap metal to create the decaying atmosphere and times once past. I was on-the-fence about using candles because I didn't want it to look characteristically religious or 'gothic'. I decided to use them because I liked the light that they emitted; dusty yet subtle.

"Then I burried them, using as coffins the big match-boxes we kept by the stove."- (pg 141) The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks

(Film Still) Mouse before dissection 

(Film Still) The completed shrine

Shaman Mirror Mask &
Template for Shaman Mirror Mask 

I was given the mouse as a gift from a cat; I was quite glad because I wanted a mouse and was worrying about how to acquire one. It was unblemished, a perfect specimen. My first thoughts as I held it in my hands, its soft fur resting on my skin, was to create a ceremony. Then I started to make a series of videos of its dissection. All of the filming took place in Northfield Quarry because after my tutorial with Jo, I realised that this is what I was reacting too; a place not a thing.

The Shaman Mirror Mask

Make-up underneath Mirror Mask

I made a Shaman mask in relation to the mask I made in the last assessment (cream leatherette vinyl). I thought I should mix-it-up a bit by using a mirrored vinyl to contrast with my surroundings (reflections). So I changed the pattern slightly to give the mask a snout, also making a 'halo' to try and incorporate some religious function. 

(Northfield Quarry) One internal space for filming, including altar

With this I tried different 'face coverings' for underneath the mask, like tights and hats. The most successful was to black most of my face out with make-up and use red liner to highlight areas of my skin; contorting my face slightly. I took inspiration from theater make-up from when I did drama at school. 

"I set the jar on the altar, which was decorated with various powerful things; the skull of the snake-" - (pg 157) The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks

Found tiles (recovered half buried in the mud of a forest) pieced together on Quarry office floor

(Northfield Quarry) Future performance space in the old Mill

 The space where I filmed the Altar had to be cleared first because I wanted to remove everything that wasn't necessary for the scene and take focus off the subject. Also if I wanted to do a re-shoot it would be easier to re-create than an un-doctored space.
  
 While I was foraging in the woodland, I started to dig for things that were covered by the undergrowth. Through doing this I found these old broken tiles that are totally out of place in this industrial site. I took them to the brick office and cleaned them all, then arranged them on top of the tiles there. I think it looks quite interesting even though I had no real motive, but it seemed a waste leaving such beautiful things muddy in the ground.

(Northfield Quarry) Future performace space in the old Mill

"Where the sheep moved slow, like maggots, over the land."- (pg 198) The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks

In the other 'zones' of Northfield quarry I re-discovered the possibility of the old mill and photographed it for future reference. I love the dustiness and how the light turns grey in this specific building. When I re-shoot my films, I want to use this site; the reason I did not do this previously is because the weather conditions were not suitable and would compromise the well-being of the video-camera. 

(Northfield Quarry) Future performace space in the old Mill

"It was still alive, but most of its black coat was gone, and the skin underneath was livid and seeping. It quivered in the water, it could only see with one un-burned eye, as it raised its shaky head out of the water. In the little pool around it floated bits of clotted, half-burned fur." - (pg 202) The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks

These are some of the video clips from the shoot I did with Robert Smith, I wanted to create a persona which I morphed into so I wore fake nails that became claws and fur which became my own. I didn't want to show my face because it would give the viewer the mental stability that I was a real person. I uploaded low-res videos because it is just for demonstrative purposes.

This is a copy of the business card that I have produced especially for the exhibition.

Lali Chetwynd- Spartacus

TUTORIALS AND GROUP CRITS

Jo Lansley, Oran O'Reilly, Brigitte Jurack and Kit Craig.

Lali Chetwynd- Jabba The Hut

I have had 3 tutorials since last assessment but unfortunately I haven't had one from my tutor (B.Jurack). I think the most helpful tutorial was from Kit Craig, because he gave me the idea of using gypsum as a base for my work; bringing the landscape with them from Northfield quarry. Jo also pointed me in what options  I could have if I worked with film (e.g. A narrative piece, theatrical, prolonged suspense?). I want to re-shoot the films because there is more scenes that I wish to shoot, so I'm going to make a storyboard of what I want to film. Jo also advised me to look at Matthew Barney (which I already had) and Lali Chetwynd, because of their theatrical nature of there artworks, a nonsensical story-line.
I also had a few cross course crit with the painting students, which was interesting because we don't interact as much as I'd like. I think there would be more cross-course contamination if we were closer together and sculpture students new the codes for the painting studios. I think it must be hard for painting students that there work is all flat most of the time, and suggesting ways in which they can improve their working style makes me feel at a loss. In one of the Crits with Oran, we began to discuss how the Art School is run and how it always contradicts itself. I wish that the art school system was separate from the University because it wouldn't be continuously under scrutiny for having high results and not being efficient enough. That has really altered the way I think about art because it feels like we are continuously jumping through hoops and the inner self is crushed by what society wants. 

Bone Constructions and Foraging 

Arial view of Northfield Quarry (from GoogleMaps)

Above is the site which I have been getting all my inspiration from. As you can see its a trove of different 'zones' and hidden paths which as lead me to create other-worldly artworks. Over the Easter holidays I went to this place and crawled through the thick woodland to find bones and other pieces which I could translate into ideas.

"Some with beaks and jaws open, some shut, the teeth exposed like drawn claws."- (pg57) The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks

Bone Construction with gypsum crystals (Weaservidae)

All the bones that I found are pretty much unchanged since the foraging (except from a wash which took off the mud and moss). I didn't want to bleach them because it could make them look fake and sterile, like a specimen that could be found in a doctors office. 

Bone Construction with gypsum crystals (Triodactle)

I constructed them through patience and endurance; one skeleton alone takes me 2 weeks to complete because superglue takes longer to set strongly in comparison to Bostik all purpose. In some cases I had to make a wire frame which sits inside the bone because the stress on that particular section was too great. I didn't want to make an external frame because it would destroy the illusion that these animals are standing through their own soul.
  I had no idea how to show them in the exhibition because of their size. Different things came into my mind and a reason why I should and shouldn't do it:

-A shelf ~ I want the viewers to look 360' around my work (because it took so long to make) and they have more than one good side.
-A plinth ~ This was my main suggestion because its a natural gallery standing object. I decided against this because when I was trying to find one a week before the exhibition, none were available (which were the right size).

Bone construction with gypsum crystals (Carnetacines)

- Three old wooden boxes (removed from Northfield quarry) ~ I was originally going to show them ontop of these boxes, but after a tutorial with Kit Craig I decided that this wouldn't be the best idea.
- A table ~ I was put off by this because it would look like a table, a halfhearted attempt of a plinth, but I found a round sheet of wood to make the table look more interesting. This became the base for my work which I think will look quite nice in the gallery space.

Graphite drawing of bone construction
(on old V.A.T documents)

  I thought it would look 'boring' if I just had them on a table, it would take them out of context. I decided to put them on a base of gypsum crystals; a mineral naturally occurring in Northfield quarry. You can get it in different purities (different colours) ranging from clear/purest to pink, grey and yellow. An interesting other-worldly substance which a lot of people haven't seen in its original form because it is usually made into plaster boards.

Graphite drawing of bone construction
(on old V.A.T documents)

   While cleaning the bones in front of the fire in the brick office, i started to draw from the bones that I had laid-out on the table. I found some large paper from Northfield Quarry which happen'd to be VAT papers from 1988, this gives me a geometric ground which to work on and previously existing pencil numbers from when that page was in use. I wanted to use everything I could from this place to transport the viewers to this place which had been lost in time.
  I made most of the drawings from a graphite stick to work with the existing pencil, but I wanted to try something bolder and contrasting; so I used marker pen. It worked fabulously and in conjunction with a blind drawing technique it made the drawing look fierce and wild, so much energy bouncing through these hollow bones.

Graphite drawing of bone construction
(on old V.A.T documents)

Dream Interpretation

Machine: A machine may well represent the machinations of life, which would be interpreted as "the life process". In Chinese medicine spiritual energy flows in a certain way around the body and the life process aids in that flow.

- In dreams, machines represent the brain and the logical thinking process, so psychologically it is the actual process of thinking that is important in this context rather than what we are thinking about. When a machine of any-sort (particually one that operates automatically like a robot) appears in a dream, it is often highlighting the body's automatic functions. These are the ordinary everyday actions that take place, such as breathing, heartbeat, elimination- those mechanical drives towards life that help us survive. "The Mechanics" of the body are an important part of our well-being and often when we percive a machine breaking-down in dreams, it warns us that we need to take care, that perhaps we are over-stressing a particular part of our body, such as the lungs or intestines.   

Exhibition 

The exhibition will take place on the 10th of May at Manchester School of Art at 5:30 on-wards

This is a drawing I made to see how I could present my work in a gallery environment.

I want to show my three skeleton sculptures and three bone foraging drawings, so that they can support each other. In preparation for the show, I tried to find three plinths to which I could place my sculptures; this proved quite difficult so I found a large round piece of wood which can act as a display table. I simply framed my drawings in plain glass because I didn't want to detract from the image. I chose for my gallery space to be in  the sculpture set-up space because I did not want my work to be in a cubicle which would make viewers less obliged to wander round the table. In conjunction to this, the other artists showing in this room will be film pieces (e.g. the room will be as dark as possible) so I can use spotlights to highlight my work. Also for this occasion I have made 45 business cards which hold my Blog address and email, to make my work more accessible for the visitors.

Work titles and Artist Statement 

Bone Construction 1

  Graphite on VAT Paper
2012

Bone Construction 2

  Ink on VAT Paper
2012

Bone Construction 3

  Graphite on VAT Paper
2012

Weaservidae

  Bone on Gypsum crystals
2012

Triodactle

  Bone on Gypsum crystals
2012

Carnetacines

  Bone on Gypsum crystals
2012

Artist's Statement

View of my work during the exhibition

   "I wanted to transport my family's quarry to the gallery because it has been such an influence to my work without consciously knowing it. The material of the work I have shown is all from Northfield quarry; gathered, collected and compiled.  

I chose the names of my sculptural pieces on Latin translations and creatures that could be in their family tree. When I was assembling them, I found it quite grotesque that a baby rabbit skull looks aesthetically pleasing when attached to an adult rabbit skull. Mother and child can be reunited through exhibitionism. It is my tribute that all things must come to an end." - Antonia Elizabeth Scott 2012

Collaborations

One of the posters for the POP-UP-SHOP

POP UP SWAPP-IT SHOP

  The idea came from the story of a man who traded a paper-clip up to a house on a website; Charleigh Deane and I wanted to do something similar but use sweets to trade for items in people's pockets. We set it up in the Holden Gallery Café because it was an area which was frequently visited by students and members of the public. We had four bowls of sweets on the table and a sign which said "Swap Anything!" which grabbed a lot of peoples attention. When we traded a sweet for an item, we logged it on a piece of paper with the time and the item swapped and received. I believe it was quite successful because we swapped over 50 items in 3 hours. After all the items were gathered, it was Charleigh's intention to swap the items further (around Manchester). This led to her asking people on the street if they wished to trade something for one of our items.

(We created the posters using stencils which makes it appear like a neon signage.)
Charleigh Deane (blog) -
http://charleighdeane.blogspot.co.uk/

Syrinx

Syrinx- Is the name for the vocal organ of birds. Located at the base of a bird's trachea, it produces sounds without the vocal cords of mammals. The sound is produced by vibrations of some or all of the membrana tympaniformis (the walls of the syrinx) and the pessulus caused by air flowing through the syrinx. This sets up a self-oscillating system which modulates the airflow creating the sound. The muscles modulate the sound shape by changing the tension of the membranes and the bronchial openings. (Description from Wikipedia)

Using horizontal blinds or bendy lengths to make a contour suit 

       Rosemarie Tucker and I have decided to collaborate on a piece which mixes my interest in animals and Rose's inquisition with the internal. We are looking at how birds create sound and how that is changed through the space that it passes through; we aim to make a sound piece which mimics birdsong but alters it into something more obscure. The initial idea came from my skeletal sculptures and what sound they would make if they actually existed. Then we moved onto how our body could move within the shape of a Syrinx. After deliberation, we have decided to make a sound piece by using different calls of birds then editing the   sound (using software) then projecting it through something. I am going to experiment with throwing (ceramics) and see if i can make a shape which could make sound jumble-up within it. Rose drew something which reminded me of a 'love hole'; a masturbation device which mimics a vagina. It correlates rather well with our collaboration, so we are deciding whether to buy one then cast it to see what sound it can produce.

A Syrinx pattern cutting
(what it would look like)

Inside a 'love hole' which depicts a similarity to the throat.

THE INTREST OF OTHER ARTISTS

ENVELOPA: Drawing Restraint 7 (Guillotine) 1993

MATTHEW BARNEY

CREMASTER 4: TT: ascending HACK (1994)

Loughtan Lamb (Native to the Isle of Mann)

  I've been really interested in Barney's surrealist biography of himself because it can reveal the untamed fantasy of an inner mind which you never knew. Crossing Greek myths with Celtic legends to create something which has no context to time. In 'ENVELOPA' (a series of progressing photographs) depicts two satyrs wrestling on the floor,(most likely because the false goat legs are insufficient to hold the weight of a grown man) their disfigured stone faces cleverly hides the personal identity of the two humans. This makes me realise the context of how animals all look the same (separated by species) and usually don't have any defining features apart from markings. Its like Barney saying "this is the animal, this is what it looks like". 

CREMASTER 4: Three Legs of Mann (1994)

CREMASTER 4 Film Stills (1994)

   In CREMASTER 4, Barney takes the role of a young gender-ambiguous Loughtan lamb/Loughtan Candidate (see image above) which progresses into a male through the course of the film. He uses the Isle of man as a film set, also making use of the heritage that this Island has accumulated over the years (The Tourist Trophy/TT races, wildlife and natural geology). "The Three Legs of Mann" shows two side-car driver attached by cables to a shriveled scrotum (Barney) on Victora pier. I noticed that the clips on either side were uneven; which to further investigation was to "Create perfect indifference by making the scrotum equal like classical and neo-classical sculptures, to acquire balanced masculinity". Barney thought that the Loughton Lamb was the perfect species of equal indifference because its horns are pointing an equal amount up and down. After 'OTTOSHAFT', Barney began exploring the use not only of Teflon and stainless steel as prosthetic materials, but also plastics that could be used in a similar way. He was interested primarily in their potential for extending the body.

MARCUS COATES

 I'm interested in Marcus' practice because of his approach to animals and the subversive feral subconscious.

"By trying to become animal he empathises with the animal's sense of being and he explores how this might differ from human conciousness ans the human experience of self and being. He investigates humanness by experimenting with peregrineness, deerness, foxness."- 'Being Something' by Tracey Warr 2001   When I saw the work 'Crucifixes for Various Amphibians' (2000) it reminded me of the 'poles' described in Iain Banks' The Wasp Factory; a crucifix-esque arrangement of sticks which animal heads were tied. 

Crucifixes for Various Amphibians (2000)

Wild Animal at its Den (2000) -Billboard in Grizedale Forest-

Stoat MUSTELA ERMINEA (1999)

 His relation to my own work is that through some of the videos that I made in Northfield quarry, I became an animal human in the landscape of this place; creating offerings to my altar, foraging for items for my den and guarding the woodland. I admire his persistance to become the animal in question, for example "Stoat" 1999 where strapping mimic stoat feet to his own and learning how to walk again. This reminds me with all the children found in the wild where they have adapted to how their animal carers move, whether a bear or a gazelle. I was astonished to read that a 'Gazelle-child' was found in Siberia who was capable of running at 50mph and had adapted his body to have acute hearing and eyesight (John Michell and Robert J.M. Rickard 'Phenomena, a Book of Wonders' 1979).

"Massachusetts Chandelier" (2010)

PIPILOTTI RIST

   I went to the Hayward Gallery South-bank Center to see Pipilotti Rist's 'Eyeball Massage'; it brings together over 30 works from the mid 1980's to the present day. I wrote my experiences down from this exhibition. 

"Yogurt on Skin- Velvet on TV" (2009)

   I had never heard or seen of Pipilotti's work before, so I didn't know what to expect. I walked into a large dark room, which was filled with colour, a chandelier made of underwear hung in front of the door. So many works which intrigued me, there wasn't anything I didn't like, everything had its own soul and been lovingly made. She is present in most of the videos she makes, not so much her face but parts of her body. "Your Space Capsual" (2006) is a bedroom miniature and Pipilotti says that this is your life, "you are the one with the slice of pizza in your stomach." Also the video projections onto the floor - "Mutaflour" (1996) an endless loop of Rist thrusts the camera into darkness and then an anus appears, then she turns around and opens her mouth (as if she is eating the camera) an endless cycle of 'metabolic therapy'. "Lobe of the Land" (2009) is a beautiful visual display of different environments by using flowers and nature to create something that is projected all around you. 

CARRION- A Feast for Our Lady of Sorrows

CARRION- A feast for Our Lady of Sorrows

ELOISE FORNIELES 

"Formerly one knew (or perhaps one guessed it) that one had one's death within one, as a fruit kernel. The children had a little death within them and the grown-ups a big one. The woman had it in their womb and the men had it in their breast. One had it, and it gave one a singular dignity and a quite pride" - Rainer Maria Rilke

 In CARRION a dark room with scaffolding creating the silhouette of a roof. The floor is thick with clothes, which Eloise undresses and re-dresses (using the clothes in the space) walking upon all the discarded garments. The carcass of a calf dominates the room, she atempts to bring it back to life, when she fails she repeatedly cuts into its flesh until it becomes 'pulp'.

"Opening her legs to receive seed and spit out human flesh"- CARRION Eloise Fornieles

CARRION is a 3 day long performance where she receives notes from the audience (apology and thanks) she reads them to herself at the table, folds them up and undress and approach the carcass in the middle of the room. She then makes an incision in the calf's flesh and inserts the letter then returns to the table. But the beast is already dead so why does it need our apology? The deed is done and we must live with the consequences. Words cannot make it better.   This reminds me of the ritual I filmed with Robert Smith, where I ceremoniously cut open a mouse that my cat had given me as a present. I poured wax over its body to seal its organs and inside flesh from the worlds atmosphere; a protection that I lovingly gave it. 

Books:

Marcus Coates- Grizedale Books (2001)

Eloise Fornieles- Other Criteria (2009)

Matthew Barney- Stephan Urbaschek (2007)

Matthew Barney (Drawing Restraint vol 1)- Printmanegment Pritt (2005)
Dream Interpretation A-Z - Pamela. J. Ball

The Wasp Factory- Iain Banks

Wack! Art and the Feminist Revolution (Organised by Cornelia Butler) -The Mit Press (2007)

Paul Koudounaris- The Empire of Death - Thames & Hudson (2011)