Presentation - Mini Installation

Below are photographs of my Mini Installation for my Collaborative Project Presentation. 

I wanted to create an intimate space which communicates my project in an interactive, quite playful way, which expresses numerous series of method and process combined with importance of material and time. This is a small area in our main studio which i closed off and made it my own, mimicking how i use my workspace suggesting to the viewer that they can come in and do there own 'arty science experiements'. I also used the space as a way to experiment with presence and absence. My works tends to have a strong emotional attachment and in the past i have used selective text alongside imagery, but for this particular project  i was unhappy with my overall presentation looking static and felt i needed to use a thought out, imaginative space to capture the mood and oversight of this project, which has required a lot of learning. I have found it to be both rewarding and challenging. 

Cell Biology Lab Photoshoot

It was important to me that when i had 'finished' my resin blocks that i then go back into the lab and photograph them in the environment i was initially working in and inspired by. I wanted to see what effect the environment had on them and how 'sciencey' in context they actually are in relation to the high tech science equipment in the Lab. At this point i was also quite excited to show Ruth (with her help and guidance) i had come up with but also i was keen to get Ruth involved with the photo shoot, taking control over me and letting her choose where and how the blocks were placed  or interacted with. The whole experience of photographing the blocks in all the places of the lab that Ruth and i had spent time together was immensely fun and it became more like playing in the lab, moving my blocks from place to place. I was pleased that Ruth not only interacted so well with me and the resin blocks but came up with some exciting ideas using lighting for the photos. Here are a small collection as a brief insight...

My 3D Works Continued...

Cress - as time goes by...

Art and Science 3D Artworks

Resin 'building block' (one of many) 3D drawings with Acids and Alkalis. Representational construction of 'Within a Cell' - Atublin, DNA and Proteins with in a cell

3D paintings

DIY-OLOGY - Do it Your Self Arty Science Kit

 For the International Artists book fair I have designed and made Arty Science kits taken from ideas and development in my sketchbook. The kits will include most of the materials I used in my initial experiments and instructions for people to follow and have fun doing their own Science Experiments at home. I have also included some 'next steps' which I myself have done throughout my project, using my experiments as drawing tools to fuel inspiration in a much more 'arty' context. 

 

The kit will also include stickers, which are some of my early to more developed drawings in order for them to see what I came up with. 

Feedback is an important part of selling the DIY kits and I hope to receive feedback in the form of images, drawings, photographs and comments. I have included business cards in my kits, which has my email and blog details on so that people can contact me further with feedback or if they would like further information about my project etc. 

Materials - Cress - Art and Science

I remember my first ever science experiment...

I have found that I am using cress more and more within my work, whilst collaborating with Science. To me cress holds a strong narrative to my childhood and the early stages of development of life. Cress is easy to use and I think at some point most adults have probably grown cress either as a small child or simply to eat. 

I think the link to my childhood is quite significant within my current collaborating project; Ruth and I have know each other as children, grew up and lived very separate lives and then reconnected through this project as adults. 

My Art and Science Collaboration is much more the overall umbrella (structure) of smaller collaborations within it. Firstly I am exploring my connection to my materials and life cycle, how to collaborate logic and emotion, a fun interactive piece for the Artist International Book fair, working with my old schools in Cumbria on Science awareness and its connection to Art, Collaborating with Ruth at the Cell Biology Lab in Leeds and I have very recently began working with The Arts and Mind Network working with people in the community, which i plan to incorporate into my ongoing ideas about the human mind, mental health and wellbeing and overall quality of life. 

Organic Drawings

As i continue to develop my own Science experiments at home and in my studio space i have been exploring ways in which i can come up with a piece that contains an element or interaction or participation but is perhaps like a fun learning tool in order to commuicate the methods and process i have been using that i discovered in the Lab and how have then developed ideas in a much more 'arty' context. 

This is an image of 3 Microscope Slides i have created by carrying out a series of small process ( keeping in mind all the time what i have learnt in the Lab with Ruth). I decided to combine growing cress and acids and alkalis in order to alter and change the development of growth. These are the results which altho tiny are incredibly interesting and quite beautiful in a strange almost alien way. 

Kelly Cumberland

Kelly Cumberland's Work explores  change and removal, growth and deterioration of the life and nature of a virus. Cumberland’s ‘dust’ and dissected drawings represent the paradoxical fragility and strength of microbiological structures. Installations and objects demonstrate how something seemingly delicate and insubstantial can overwhelm its environment; whilst dissected drawings, cloth and paper works represent the paradoxical fragility and strength of microbiological structures.

For The Drawing Shed, laser cut stencils and chalk powder are used, layered in sequence, using repetitive patterns and techniques. The construction process ensures the work retains the possibility for expansion and modification, allowing the drawing to grow and morph throughout the week, gradually engulfing the whole structure

Helen Pynor

I was instantly drawn to Helen Pynor's works after seeing Red Sea Blue Water Series, as i myself have used real organs within my work. I find the complex simplicity of Helen Pynor's work fascinating and in regards to method of practise i can see some similarities to my own Artisit's practice and the commitment to the piece and the amount of time it takes to be created. 

"The Art of Life lies in a constant re-adjustment to our surroundings." 

Okakura Kakuzo

Drawing with Organic Materials

Protein Drawing with Cress.
After looking at Cells in the lab, breaking them down and observing 3 elements (A-tublin, DNA and Protein) i began to experiment more with my drawings incorporating elements from my own practise by using organic materials. The seeds were carefully placed over one of my sketches and left to grow on tissue until fully grown, observing and recording daily. I then left the Cress to die and observed and recorded in the same way as before. 

Seeds Drawing

Agar Acid drawing

I began exploring my initial experiments through my drawings, working in layers and drawing in and injecting liquids into my materials. 

KIWI DNA DRAWINGS

Creating Art from Science; Methods, Materials and Processes

Agar, Gelatin Mix, Bacteria in the Air and then drawn into using a match stick and then injected with Alkalis solution

This was one of my first experiments after having learnt about bacteria in the Lab at St. James Hospital. I sealed the Petri Dish with tape and left for about 1 week. Original the Medium covered the entire petri plate. In order to get the image above I had to carefully undue part of the tape and pour the liquid through a tiny hole. It was very smelly so I knew that there was bacteria growing on their and that it would be unsafe to take the lid off entirely.

I left the petri dish again in a warm dry place (as I learnt from spending time with Ruth that Bacteria needs to be in a room temperature of 37 degrees to grow well) and checked back 1 week later. The same had happened again and i had to carefully remove the liquid in order to observe the image above. I find working with organic materials in unconventional ways incredibly fascinating because they almost take over and have a life of their own. Unexpected results can both be amazing and a disappointment.

This is a drawing from the Analogue experiment taken into digital. Through out all of my experiments i stop and draw and record at different intervals, trying to document every change and watching as the small dish in my hands is in fact almost living, and i find myself excited to see what it will do next.  

Drawing with Science  - mixed media/methods and process