Banksy.

On the 22nd June 2009, the four arty fartys (Jaz, Rachel, Amy, and Jase) went to Bristol to go and see the Banksy exhibition.

To be standing in front of Banky's work in an actual art gallery was a surreal experience. Before seeing Banky's work in the flesh, I didn't really know too much about him. I knew he was a graffiti artist, and well known for his art across the world, and that was about it.

I really like the way that Banksy pushes boundaries with some controversial pieces in an ironic and mocking way. As the viewer of his work, I found myself actually thinking about being in the situations Banksy had installed in front of us and what I would do. To sum up, I found Banksy's work to be very thought provoking and engaging in the context of past, current, and future global dimensional issues, especially when we consider art as a form of expression in relation to these.

Banksy has literally taken over the whole gallery and museum building. We found ourselves playing the 'Where's Banksy game' as we eagerly looked for his work across the permenant collections of the gallery. My fellow arty fartys are amazing! As a result of visiting this exhibition, we had many deep and meaningful conversations about the underpinning beliefs and aesthetics behind art, and how and why it is percieved in the way that it is.

The ice cream van which was used as the gallery information point. Genius.

I really like the irony in this piece.

Is it?

Is this what we have done to Tweety by keeping him locked up?

Is this how it should have been?

Can you see? i Can.

Real or not?

Reflection on year 3.

My end of year art exhibition culminated the success of my practice.

This year, I have developed and extended on an idea which I began to experiement with at the end of my second year. The notion of movement is one that really inspired and engaged me. I have considered how movement can be represented and captured in somewhat 'unconventional ways'. The variety of my work includes:

Movement drawings:

These drawings have been created by allowing the motion of various vehicles that I am travelling in to create marks on my paper, thus creating visual representations of those specific journeys.

Glowstick photography:

I have used various coloured glowsticks and a digital camera in a dark open space to create these photographs.

The thought behind this idea was to create movement by moving the glowsticks in a variety of ways and capturing this movement by slowing down the shutter speed on the camera. A special thanks goes to Amy, Luke, and Taz.

Spinning top drawings:

On the internet I managed to find a spinning top which uses a writing/drawing implement as its spindle. This was fantastic as this would allow me to use pens and pencils to create drawings which would show the journey that the spinning top had taken.

To begin with, I experimented with perfecting the technique in my sketchbook, and then I moved out of my sketchbook onto large paper. With the technique perfected and an understanding of how the spinning top worked, I incorporated Abode Photoshop into my work. I was then able to manipulate a variety of my spinning top drawing images in many ways.

So overall, with both really positive and critical feedback behind me, I think I am now able to progress my knowledge and understanding of art application. I have found that reading about art and art history has really helped me to underpin personal ideas and conclusions about critical judgement and perception, as well as it being related to my theme of movement. At the moment I am not too sure what will be in store for my art next year. I am hoping that many visits to art galleries, and further reading behind art and design principles will assist me in this process.

Here it is.

Art is a huge part of my life. It always has been and always will be.

I have created this blog so I can document the journeys and movements that have been made to experience, engage with, and ultimately create art.

From being told by my art teacher at secondary school that I was a complete failure, and no way near as capable as some of my peers in my class, I completely dimissed art as a subject that I very passionate about. When starting my degree at university, I re-discovered art and the pleasure that it gave me. I experinced feelings and emotions that I had not felt in five long years. I was welcomed by a positive and open environment, which allowed me to create art once again.

For me, art is the freedom of expression, it is subjective, ojective, compelling. It allows us to comprehend society and historical and cultural movements. I can escape to a place where I don't have to worry about immediately getting the 'right' solution to a problem. Art is a progressive subject and as McNiff (1998, p.15) states, "creative problem solving is a process of give and take".