Courtney Michalik

Hmmm.

2010-10-15T01:03:00.000-07:00

So I don't know how I feel about creating a brand or a logo or a watermark, but I have been playing around with the idea...

Brian Skerry

2010-10-12T19:03:00.001-07:00

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/10/right-whales/chadwick-text?pid=MT

Nick Allen

2010-10-11T17:59:00.000-07:00

I just stumbled upon the photography site of Nick Allen called Within Waves. Check it out!

Nick explains the last image (titled "Fragmentary") by saying, "This is what happens when saltwater hits film before developing, with limited manual film advancing, and multiple exposures. I think some sand might have worked it’s way into the frame as well. No photoshop required…"

Booooooom Project

2010-10-11T17:50:00.000-07:00

The creative blog Booooooom.com hosted a project called Little Drifters which invited people to create and photograph little sculptures to set free into various bodies of water. Some of the images that resulted are really beautiful.

Ville Varumo

2010-10-09T12:58:00.001-07:00

{Ville Varumo}

Matthew Cusick

2010-10-09T12:52:00.001-07:00

Matthew Cusick's collage work using maps...

Rune Guneriussen

2010-10-09T12:44:00.000-07:00

I am loving the color of the light in these installations by Rune Guneriussen. He is a Norwegian "artist working in the transition between installation and photography. As a conceptual artist he works site specific primarily in nature, but also with more manmade structures. The isolation of objects are turned in to installations, most of these are not seen by audience, but only photographed".

Linn Olofsdotter

2010-10-07T17:05:00.000-07:00

Found this illustration by Linn Olofsdotter for Oilily that I love love love.

post college life...

2010-10-07T16:59:00.000-07:00

So it has been a while since I have posted because I have been unsure about the direction this blog is going to take now that I am a college grad... oh boy. Over the past few weeks I have come across some interesting artists and projects that have inspired me. Many related to the ocean or water which shouldn't come as a shock to anyone. :) I think I will start posting the "finds" I am making while I start to think about some of my own work again.

{ffffound.com}

more from mada

2010-08-05T13:34:00.000-07:00

As I edit more photos and continue to experiment with my editing process, I find myself wondering how others will perceive my images... what they will get out of them or a feeling they might come away with.

These two photos were taken when our group visited the Indian Ocean near the city of Toamasina. This little girl was so adorable... she was happily playing with other kids and came running over when her dad began cutting up coconuts for our group to try. She was a happy little girl who appeared perfectly content with her lifestyle, but I wonder whether others will find her looking sad in these images.

The photos above are not the only time I am going to question my images... While I was in Madagascar I began thinking a lot about photojournalism and how African countries are portrayed in the media. Population growth is an issue that I am particularly interested in... the WWF wrote a paper entitled "Population trends and the environment in Madagascar". The article states,"Madagascar's exploding population exacerbates its economic stress. The island’s average population growth rate ranks among the highest in Africa at 2.8 percent per year. The population of around 14.1 million is expected to double by 2025. Since in-migration is negligible, population growth is driven by high fertility rates. In turn, poverty and a lack of reproductive health facilities contribute to the high fertility rate. Research has also shown a clear correlation between fertility and women's access to education. This is significant for Madagascar as over 40 percent of the female population over the age of 15 is illiterate. Female literacy is exceptionally low in the spiny forest but higher in the central highlands in and around the capital, Antananarivo".

This is clearly a complex problem to solve. My question as an artist is whether creating sad, even beautifully sad, images of children is going to do any real good... because unless real changes are made, Madagascar may see some very catastrophic effects due to their population growth. As a photographer is this a meaningful use of my time? And is it even truthful when I think about the actual happy children I saw?

HOLY S*@#!

2010-08-02T17:44:00.000-07:00

Check out this:

FREE DIVING VIDEO

This is one of the coolest things I have seen in a long time... another reason why I am DYING to get into underwater videography (and perhaps finally decide on my next camera purchase and go with the Canon 5D mark II ??)

Gizmodo.com writes, "In this remarkable clip, world freediving champion Guillaume Nery stands at the edge of the world's second deepest underwater sink hole. And he jumps. The ensuing photography is a hypnotic adventure into the impossible. While Nery contends that no freediver can nor ever will make it to the bottom of Dean's Blue Hole, he spent four afternoons pulling off the stunts to simulate the effect while girlfriend/freediver Julie Gautier, just as impressively, filmed them (while freediving herself!) with a Canon 5D Mark II".

Flight - May 12, 2010

2010-07-21T17:34:00.000-07:00

My first journal entry from the trip:

The flight alone has already been pretty incredible. Our flight from Detroit to Amsterdam was rerouted due to the volcanic eruptions in Iceland. Our flight plans actually took us above 66 degrees north, into the arctic circle, around Iceland. I was secretly hoping to pass over the northern part of the country just to get a glimpse of the amazing landscape I visited three summers ago. We never caught a glimpse of Iceland, but we did get a chance to see the eastern edge of Greenland. I opened the shade on the airplane window and I found myself looking down at black rugged mountains, layered in snow. The mountains appeared to be just peeking through the unimaginably deep snow banks, as if they were drowning.

I am writing this as we fly over a completely different, yet eerily similar landscape... the Sahara. I see nothing but sand and complex rippling patterns caused by the wind. The mountainous formations that appear every so often look like black islands in a sea of glowing beige. The differences between the two environments are immediately apparent to me. I can imagine myself struggling through the frozen landscape or the suffocating heat of the desert. The temperatures may be polar opposites, but the sense of isolation is frighteningly similar. Black peaks pear out beneath expanses of snow or sand, and both landscapes spread out before me until the horizon. There are no manmade interruptions like the orderly rectangular squares of cultivated earth outside the Amsterdam airport. These places are untamed and explored by so few. In many ways I feel like I have explored a significant part of the globe in the past 16 hours. From the arctic circle, and on past the equator, we have already begun our exploration even as we happily enjoy our inflight movies, vegetarian pasta meal trays, and beverages.

Here is an overlay of the two photos above... just for fun.

Madagascar [underwater]

2010-06-29T17:33:00.000-07:00

I just returned from my 6 week long trip to Madagascar! I will have lots to write about this summer until I switch over to the new blog/website that I am working on. I will begin posting to both blogs :)

I have started editing the 1600+ photos I took during the trip. I am really excited about them, but it may take me a little while because I am also editing wedding photographs from this past weekend.

Here are a few underwater images... most have been converted to black & white... and of course I am into the patterns.

the finished (?) product.

2010-04-22T12:48:00.000-07:00

I am happy to report that the opening reception on April 16th went very well. There was a great turn out and it was really exciting to see everyone, so to those of you who could stop by, thank you!!!

The show runs until May 1st if you would still like to see my work.

Here are a couple of images from the final exhibition space:

24

2010-04-04T17:55:00.000-07:00

Today I saved 24 milk jugs from the garbage of Starbucks. It turns out that the Starbucks in Arborland mall does not recycle. I was pretty shocked and actually horrified once I realized just how much recyclable material ends up in landfills (or who knows where) as a result. The employee who collected the milk jugs for me handed me two large bags and said that he was giving me what the store probably throws away in 4 - 5 hours.

Then I asked him if every store just throws away their recyclables. He told me that he used to work at the Starbucks downtown and they recycled everything. He seemed to think that the store's location had a lot to do with the recycling situation and he wasn't sure why recycling was less accessible at this location.

So now I am very intrigued to know who is really at fault... Ann Arbor or Starbucks? Or are they equally at fault? I need to find out more details... I know that the city doesn't pick up recyclables everywhere, but does that mean recycling services are completely unavailable? In general Ann Arbor has a reputation of having a very good recycling system, so if an Ann Arbor Starbucks is not recycling what does that mean for other Starbucks locations across the country? I am also interested to look into the corporate policy of Starbucks... Starbucks advertises fair trade coffee, some brands are supposed to be "good for the planet", the store sells reusable travel mugs (my travel mug is, in fact, from Starbucks), and they also offer a discount for using your own mug. So I found it very ironic to be looking at a new mug product which was advertised as being created from sustainable/reused materials as I waited for my 24 milk jugs to be rescued from the trash....

Here they are laid out on the studio floor after cleaning them and cutting them in half.

3.26

2010-03-23T22:29:00.000-07:00

Did: Gathering milk jugs, cutting, stringing (7+ hrs)
Hanging material in extra studio (2 hrs)
Working on new website (3 hrs)
Group Crit (20 min)
Meeting w/ Mark Nielsen (1 hr)

Discovered: I am very excited about the installation possibilities for my work after putting it up in a second studio space... but I am also very nervous about my final show being a complete success due to space. After talking to Mark, I realized I really might not have enough room to make both a projection and sculptural installation possible... I am going to bring a projector down to the gallery next week to play around with a few things, but I think I won't know exactly what I will be showing until I start setting things up in the gallery....

I was also really grateful for the critique on Thursday with our visiting artists. I think they really had a new perspective to share and they also provided me with a list of other artists to look at so I am excited to check that out.

Other than that I am work work working... cutting plastic, stringing it together and trying to figure things out...

Do: My last pool photo shoot is tonight, so I am going to photograph some of the milk jug handles and un-cut milk jugs. Then I need to get serious about the loop of images that I will hopefully be able to project and I also need to collect plastic exponentially from now until my final installation. At this point I feel like the more material I have to work with, the better my installation will be.

3.19

2010-03-19T08:34:00.000-07:00

Did: Editing new photos (some are shown in my last post) (1.5 hrs)
Gathering milk jugs, cutting, restringing, organizing (8+ hrs)
Chatting with a number of people about installation options (2 hrs)

Discovered: I am now pretty set on pushing forward with an installation and projection in the gallery. Now I just need to figure out how to combine the two. I have thought about a couple different scenarios:

I would like the projection and the plastic materials to occupy some sort of space together without competing with each other. I want people to be able to examine the plastic objects closely without getting in the way of the projection. And the projection and the sculpture feel to me as if they are two separate works (although they are obviously closely related) so I would like them to have enough room so that there feels like there is that small distinction...

I have spent a ton of time this week collecting milk jugs because I am going to need a large amount of material to pull off a successful installation... I also restrung a lot of the previous strands that I had made because they were strung on thread and I wanted everything to be consistently strung on thin fishing line. I feel like I am getting into a pretty productive working mode.

Do: I now have a new second studio space to start working on possible installation scenarios. I am really excited about this and in critique an idea came up to install the material above the viewers head so that people can walk under the installation of my materials. Then I could have pieces of the installation hanging down at a better viewing level, and maybe even trail some of the material onto the floor.... lots to start doing. I am hoping to have a mini installation to show next week.

new photographs

2010-03-15T15:50:00.001-07:00

3.12

2010-03-12T07:19:00.001-08:00

Did: cutting, collecting, restringing plastic (7+ hours)
researching photographers I came across (1 hr)
Friday pool photo shoot & prep (4+ hours)

Discovered: So, Florida was not the super productive break that I had expected, but I would like to say that the weather was greatly at fault for this. The temperatures were 15 degrees colder than average for the time of year making up the coldest string of days since 1958. Yay spring break!!! My grandma's pool was not heated and so I wasn't able to take advantage of it... I did complete a photo shoot last night and I will start going through the images and editing them.

Florida was productive on another level though. I walked the beach a lot (in a sweatshirt :) and went to the Florida aquarium. I began taking picture of organisms I found that had interesting patterns and forms.

Here are some of the new forms that I have been working on:

I think there might be a lot of potential to utilize shadow in the gallery space:

I found the photographers David Liittschwager & Susan Middleton who focus on animals that are endangered. They began a series in the Pacific and came across an albatross that had died from ingesting plastic. They photographed the bird and then removed the plastic contents and photographed them separately:Do: GET TO WORK. I'm slightly freaked out by our lack of time. I need to make a final decision soon about whether or not I am going to have the plastic pieces in the gallery space. I plan to meet with Mark again personally to discuss my options and show him the projection that I have started putting together.

new projection experiment

2010-02-23T07:50:00.000-08:00

I have created a new short video loop of my images... they are moving much slower which I think could work well in a gallery space...

2.26

2010-02-23T07:32:00.000-08:00

Did: Cutting plastic (4)
Creating new video (1.5)
Prep work & packing for Florida photo shoots (1)
More research & article reading (1)

Discovered:
Sorry this post is late! I forgot to post it before I left for Florida on Friday...

A new BBC article just came out about plastic pollution in the Atlantic Ocean. It seems that more research is being done in oceans other than the Pacific, and its not a shock to me that they are finding similar "patches" elsewhere. Check out the article, "Plastic rubbish blights Atlantic Ocean". I also came across the website, greenfudge.org, which has a ton of links to articles about marine plastic pollution. I love the title that states, "The Great Pacific Garbage Patch: The Parabolic Toilet of the Environment". How eloquent.

I was really happy with the feedback I got from showing my projection at the critique. I posted the new projection in my last blog post. I am going to push forward with making new images this week in Florida... assuming the weather cooperates with me... it has been freakishly cold :(

Do: Make more images and continue cutting & making plastic forms.

2.19

2010-02-18T12:23:00.000-08:00

Did: Thesis 2nd draft (4+ hrs)
Met with Patrick to discuss printing options (1 hr)
Small group crit (1 hr)
Recovering data from hard drive (2+ hrs)

Discovered: To be honest, this week has not been extremely productive for me. I became really overwhelmed by a technological problem with my hard drive. It totally freaked me out and I need to do a better job of backing up my work asap. My hard drive malfunction, in combination with the need to finish the 2nd draft of my thesis and prepare for my cousin's wedding which I am photographing today has prevented me from being really productive with my IP work. I am hoping to get back on track before the upcoming break because I am planning on photographing in my grandma's pool in Largo, Florida. I'm really excited to enjoy some warmer weather, but I would also like to produce a lot of new images... I need to get back into a productive mode.

I do think that the small group critique this week was really helpful for me. It became apparent again that viewers do not necessarily see a connection between my images and marine pollution. Instead they see pretty images that look like weird organisms. My group suggested that I try taking some images where the milk jugs might be slightly transformed but more identifiable as milk jugs. If I combine images that look more like milk jugs and the images that I have been making in a projected loop, I may be able to make it appear as if the milk jugs are being deconstructed. I like the idea of trying to visually show the process of plastic breaking down. I think I avoided photographing the milk jugs as milk jugs in the past because I was worried that I would make work that would be too literal. I didn't just want to throw trash in the pool and photograph it. But I am excited about the idea of slightly manipulating the milk jugs and photographing them as if they are going through the process of breaking down and becoming the abstract-organic-looking sculptures that I have been making. We shall see... I think it is worth a try...

Amanda also suggested that I look at Cornelia Parker's work. I recognized her piece "Hanging Fire Suspected Arson" (1999) but I really liked this image of her piece "Cold Dark Matter: An Exploded View" (1991):

I think this piece could provide some great inspiration for the installation of my work...

2.12

2010-02-12T07:55:00.000-08:00

Did: Pool photo shoot & prep (4 hrs)
Transfer readable files to my computer (1.5 hrs)
Review of thesis 1st draft (45 min...)
Conversations with Erica & Amanda (1 hr)
Edit photos (4 hrs)

Discovered: One of the biggest things that I discovered recently was the fact that my camera has a very weird image quality setting, which I had to figure out how to deal with... I wrote about this in more detail in my last post, so I'm not going to go into that too much again... I have begun to actually access and edit the images and I am really happy with a few of them.

I am really happy with the way I was able to play around with reflection in this shoot. In a couple images the reflection essentially doubled the subject matter that I could deal with.

In the editing process I have also been playing around with different color balances for some of the images. I think that if I am going to project a reel of images I am going to need to pay a lot of attention to the color of the images and their relationships as a set. I also need to figure out what the dimensions of the projection will be so that I make sure I am editing the photos to the right size.

Do: I need to rework my thesis, sooner rather than later so I don't put it off. I also need to start working on a new loop of images for a projection and test that out. I am really excited to meet with Mark or Stephen about gallery space, because I think the site is going to be very important. I want to know where I will be showing sooner rather than later so I can get an idea about the amount of material I am going to need to make and/or reconfigure for the space. LOTS to do!

an almost meltdown turns into something beautiful

2010-02-09T11:02:00.001-08:00

Everything went well during the pool photo shoot on Friday and I actually think it was the most successful shoot that I have done. I've learned a little more each time... but then I realized that my camera had been set to shoot in an image size/quality that is virtually unreadable. I almost had a complete meltdown moment, until I searched online to see if anyone else had dealt with the same problem. It seems that the highest, non-compressed, image setting that my camera has is recording information in a "Tiff YUV" color space. This is the color space that tv's use, but it makes no sense for a camera. So I learned that I needed to download a "universal file reading software" called Irfanview. Then I found out that Irfanview is only supported by pc's. So I had to spend a good amount of time in the IT office today, using their pc's to convert my images into a photoshop-readable file. whew. pain. in. the. ass.

Bottom line: I can't wait to get new equipment :)

Despite the technical chaos, I am pretty happy with the results from the photo shoot. Here is the first photo that I have spent time editing:

2.5

2010-02-02T10:59:00.000-08:00

Did: cutting, gluing, sewing, assembling, installing plastic (9+ hrs)
critique & thinking about future install possibilites (1/2 hr)
emailing contacts about printing images and sound (1/2 hr)
working with Katherine Weider to create a short video piece about my project (1.5 hrs)
running around organizing for my pool photo shoot tonight (3+ hrs)
dreaming & researching about south pacific islands (2+ hrs)

Discovered: My apologies for not posting this by noon today, but I have been running around like crazy getting everything in order for my photo shoot tonight. I am pretty excited that Katherine Weider will be coming to film the process for a short video piece that she is making. I will have new underwater photos to post soon :D

I have also been thinking a lot about the possibilities for installing the work in a gallery setting. I want to make sure I avoid making the piece look like a fancy lighting display at Ikea. Don't get me wrong, Ikea has a special place in my heart, but that is not exactly what I'm going for. I am thinking about pieces that might be installed on the floor and I am also thinking about the shape of the projection. In critique Liz brought up that it might be interesting to think about projecting the images in a circular shape on the wall. I don't know what that will do to the images themselves, but it might be an interesting way to make the audience forget that the piece is just a projection on the wall. If I project the images on the wall as a rectangle, I think I want to take up the entire wall... this makes me realize that the location for my final installation will be really important so I am excited to talk to Mark or Stephen about my gallery space.

I also really like how interesting the responses have been to the mini-installation I put up in the IP studios. Everyone has responded to the pieces by saying that they look like some kind of organic form:

kelp,
cells,
spores,
fruit,
jellyfish...
etc.

Do: I'm excited about my photo shoot tonight! After the shoot I will need to process and edit the images, and get back to thinking about what I will be projecting. I am going to attempt to create another loop of images which cross dissolve into each other over much longer periods of time.

photos from the studio

2010-01-28T09:43:00.000-08:00

I thought I would post some shots showing the new progress in the studio :)

I installed the spherical forms that I have been making onto the wall of my studio (the pieces are made out of milk jugs, after the milk jugs were cut up and glued back together)...

Some people have commented that they look like pregnancy bellies...

Detail... you can see that the milk jugs are cut into small cellular-looking pieces:

Here are strands of larger milk jug pieces hanging in the adjoining studio:

The 4 x 6 images I printed out for the meeting with Chris Pullman... The images Hannah responded to are in the top two rows... now I have to decide which ones I think are compelling...
I also added a set of these images to my website under the working title "Everything Goes Somewhere" (too vague?)... Check them out: www.courtneymichalik.com

new video

2010-01-22T16:20:00.000-08:00

Did: finishing up video/slideshow (2 hrs)
organizing studio, moving stuff into new second studio :) (2 hrs)
cutting plastic (6 hrs)
printing 4x6 images & meeting w/ chris pullman (2 hrs)
gluing plastic pieces & installing/hanging pieces (2 hrs)

Discovered:

I definitely realized that I am not happy with the slideshow/video that I made (I am trying to avoid the use of the word 'slideshow'...hah). But I think making it was still valuable. The feedback made me realize that the images might be moving too quickly, making the piece repetitive. Also, the video is definitely, and apparently, lower in quality than the images. The images tend to "pop" out when compared to the video. I love a lot of the qualities of the video, but I feel like the combination of the two is definitely missing something at this point... it just isn't working. If the video quality was higher, I would definitely jump on the chance to expand the video work. However, due to the time constraints of IP I am much more inclined to focus on still images alone. My next step in video work will be experimenting with cross dissolving images VERY slowly into each other.

Another helpful aspect of my video-creation was learning how interested I am in playing with sound. I am becoming much more interested in creating a score of tones and underwater breathing noises to accompany my projected images.

After meeting with Stephanie, I think one of my more immediate steps will be working on some of the physical pieces for installation. I am planning on creating a more complete installation in my second studio space :) images will be coming soon.

Do: I will continue to work on the sculptural pieces and play around with installing them. I am also going to try and experiment with the video and sound portions of my project.

sound?

2010-01-15T08:20:00.000-08:00

Did: working on video/slideshow (4 hrs)
organizing plastic materials in my studio (2.5 hrs)
cutting plastic (3 hrs)
scheduling pool time at NCRB (1/2 hr)
distracting myself by researching grants, artist residencies, etc (3 + hrs)

Discovered: while working on the video/slideshow this week I realized that sound could play a really important role, especially if I want my audience to become immersed in an environment... I had thought about using sound before, but I think actually making the video has really influenced me. There were a lot of reactions to the sound of the bubbles from my breathing in the last video and I think I should explore ways to incorporate it. I think progress on the visual aspect of the piece is going well, but I am hoping that feedback during the crit on tuesday will help me out :)

Olivia also sent me this website, which I am excited to explore further:

http://www.messageinthewaves.com/

I also looked up Sigur Ros videos (they are an Icelandic band) after Erica mentioned them. I have loved them ever since I went to Iceland after my freshman year, but I haven't really watched their videos.... This one is particularly relevant to me:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yjurf5d6X0

Do: Finish up my video/slideshow for Tuesday & work on sound :D

back to school, back to school.

2010-01-08T08:07:00.000-08:00

The last semester of my college career has begun! I am feeling positive about the direction my work will be taking this semester. After writing the first draft of my thesis and meeting in a group as a class, I have a good idea of what I need to work on immediately. I have been so focused on creating underwater photographs and figuring out the logistics of this project that I have put the actual presentation of the work on the back burner. I have a feeling that this semester is going to fly by and I need to start actively figuring out how I want to present this project to the public. I am interested in projecting the images... which will allow the images to be much larger than I would be able to do with prints (due to technical problems, cost & space...etc.). As the project has evolved I have also become much more interested in creating a sense of atmosphere in a gallery space... a place where people feel as if they are entering into my work.

For Jan. 19th, I will be showing classmates a projection in a small group critique. I realize that I need to figure out how to show a number of images without them appearing to be a slideshow. I am interested in incorporating some of the small video clips that I have taken... So I am going to start organizing and compiling still images and video in imovie so that I can experiment to get the effect I want. I am hoping that I will be able to get a number of images to flow together into each other. I will also have to address sound and decide how much audio should play into the finished product. It may turn out that imovie won't be the best software to work with for this project, but I am going to use it as a starting point and explore other solutions if problems arise.

I spent my studio time yesterday editing pictures that I haven't given enough attention. I really responded to this image:

It is very different from other images that I have taken this year, but there is something about the way it glows in combination with the movement blur that intrigues me. Without knowing the context of my project I don't know how anyone would know what this is... I feel like the combination of images like this with sound and video could produce the kind of atmosphere that I have been thinking about. I want to create the surreal feeling of being in the water, or in a unfamiliar space with these images...

On another note, I looked at the work of Chris Jordan after my review panel recommended him. I don't know if they were aware of the fact that he just recently completed a project related to the Pacific garbage patch... He went to Midway Atoll where he photographed baby albatross chicks who are being fed plastic particles by their parents on accident. On his website he explains,

"These photographs of albatross chicks were made on Midway Atoll, a tiny stretch of sand and coral near the middle of the North Pacific. The nesting babies are fed bellies-full of plastic by their parents, who soar out over the vast polluted ocean collecting what looks to them like food to bring back to their young. On this diet of human trash, every year tens of thousands of albatross chicks die on Midway from starvation, toxicity, and choking.

To document this phenomenon as faithfully as possible, none of the plastic in any of these photographs was moved, placed, manipulated, arranged, or altered in any way. These images depict the untouched stomach contents of baby birds in one of the world’s most remote marine sanctuaries, more than 2000 miles from the nearest continent."

These photographs were taken from Chris Jordan's website: www.chrisjordan.com

You can view a TED talk of Jordan discussing his work HERE.

I also found images, videos, & writing (including Jordan's) about the garbage patch at this website: www.midwayjourney.com

I heart Stephen Colbert.

2010-01-07T10:57:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Stephen Colbert had Charles Moore (the man who discovered the Pacific garbage patch) on his show. Here is the link to the interview:

http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/260772/january-06-2010/charles-moore

2010-01-05T22:00:00.001-08:00

http://www.midwayjourney.com/

post review

2009-12-18T07:47:00.000-08:00

Oh! here is the video I showed at my review. Please excuse the dark graininess:

Did: I gave my review!

Accomplished/Discovered: I feel really good about my review. I think gathering everything along with all of my thoughts into one presentation was really helpful for me. I also feel really positive about my feedback. I came away from the discussion with two main points in mind:
1. The panel was interested in the fact that I am walking a line between having an "activist-minded" project and doing "something else". A boundary between science in art and a boundary between a campaign and a work of "fine art" (perhaps?). I was encouraged to keep exploring this boundary even if I don't have answers.
2. There is a real need for CONTEXT in the project. i.e. if I want the audience to be aware of the plastic pollution problem they need to know more factual information about the problem. They might need to know how many milk jugs were used, where they came from, over what period of time...etc. This would emphasize that my art itself is made from recycled materials. I should also think about what I am going to do with the work once IP is finished. But I will need to be careful about how I integrate this information.
Obviously, this is my personal take on my feedback so I will be interested to see what kind of comments came out of the review.

Do: ENJOY break. (& maybe do some occasional milk jug cutting and thesis writing... maybe)

scuuuba in the pool

2009-12-11T09:01:00.000-08:00

Did: arranged tank rental (1 hr)
signed pool contract (1 hr)
milk jug work (2 hrs)
picking up equipment/transporting to pool (2 hrs)
time in pool, setting up & photographing (3 hrs)
editing photos/video/working on presentation (3-4 hrs)
returning tank/cleaning equipment (1 hr)

Accomplished/Discovered: I feel like I did a ridiculous amount of leg work to get into the pool this week. There were so many things that could have gone wrong and almost/sort of did. I am hoping that now that I have figured all of this out, the process should be much easier. I arranged for a tank rental last Friday, picked it up this Wednesday, went to the pool on Wednesday night, and returned the tank yesterday afternoon, whew! Then I had to sign a contract for the pool rental... that was a process... Once I had moved everything to the pool I started setting up my equipment. Unfortunately I had a slight equipment malfunction over which I had a short anxiety attack, but I was still able to dive in the pool. Yesterday afternoon I dropped off all of my scuba equipment to be checked out.

The actual pool experience, however, was phenomenal. In a serendipitous turn of events, a classmate of mine (Jake) from my "Creating Art Outdoors" class, has been working on a large plastic piece with the intention of using it in a lake or river. Ideally it would partially fill with water, and the edges, which are inflatable, would help keep the water in. I told Jake about my project and he decided to bring everything on Wednesday as well. Since the piece is actually pretty big, it became a great background for my work.

We were able to play around with a lot of variables. He had rented lighting equipment from the Duderstadt and that created an amazing glow in the pool. We were able to shut all the lights off in the pool as well.

The entire experience was incredibly surreal. Jake's piece looked like a giant inverted jellyfish.

When he began swimming in it it actually looked as if he was encased in an enormous egg-like structure. His silhouette went in and out. Sometimes I would see just his hands pressing on the interior of the structure and the rest of his figure would be lost in a hazy shadow.Here are more images from the evening:
Do: Now I need to focus on getting ready for my December review on Tuesday... That will include editing more photographs by that time. Over break I also need to start thinking about what will really be important for me to photograph at my next pool date (Jan. 13th). Then I can actively start to build it :D

I am also super excited just to have some down time over break... I can't wait :)

12.4.09

2009-12-04T09:07:00.000-08:00

Did: Hours & hours of plastic collecting, cutting, stringing and experimenting. Prep for Dec. 9th pool photo shoot. (6+ easily)
Contacting Rec Sports supervisor about pool date (1/2 hr)

Discovered/Accomplished: Potentially one of the most important things I discovered this week was that I cannot continue to hot glue plastic milk jug pieces in my studio. I have to start doing this in a ventilated area... I guess I didn't realize that gluing the pieces was releasing fumes until I stood up... haha... its sort of funny... kinda.

This week I feel like I became really inspired to create new forms with the plastic. Part of that is a result of coming across some new images of underwater life. I am working on creating a sphere of plastic using much smaller milk jug pieces, glued together around a form (pink plastic kiddie rubber ball). I am hoping that I will be able to put an underwater flashlight inside the sphere to make it glow from the inside. I also made new forms with the milk jug handles where I attached plastic bag pieces to one end. This form will be able to inflate... inflatables are something that I am starting to think more about. One of the problems I am encountering is the time consuming nature of mass producing the kind of forms I need. Inflatable forms would allow me to take up much more space in an underwater environment without as much labor intensive work cutting and gluing...

Do: I need to begin working on my practice presentation for Thursday. My first photo shoot with scuba equipment and a pool to myself is this upcoming Wednesday!!! I am really excited, but I know that I have a lot of preparations to make. I need to finish the spherical form so that I can experiment with it on the 9th.

*I will post photos soon!

Wayne Levin

2009-11-27T12:52:00.000-08:00

"Floating Ziplock Bag"

"Fish Net Pyramid"

this is ridiculously cool and I want one.

2009-11-27T08:59:00.000-08:00

http://greenbridge.wordpress.com/2009/06/08/tires-cans-and-bottles-oh-my/

The link above takes you to a blog post about "earthship" houses made out of recycled materials... tires, bottles, cans, etc. The houses are amazing :)

I think this image is also relevant to my project:
It reminds me of the aesthetic I have been using and the color of the light is beautiful.

Did: This week I don't think I have completed 6 full hours of work due to Thanksgiving... YUM. I participated in critique with the group from John & Elona's section and I also probably spent about 3 hours cutting and stringing plastic pieces.

Discovered: I have been planning on photographing the plastic bottles (from Sadashi) and the strands of plastic pieces in the pool on December 9th... I think I am going to need an insane amount of strands completed if I want it to look like any kind of environment at all...

Do: I need to start actively collecting materials... more plastic bottles, in more colors than just white or clear. I think I need to start raiding the container recycling bins in the school. I also think I am going to try and purchase the clear "bag-like" housing to test out using my Nikon underwater.

11.20.09

2009-11-20T09:07:00.000-08:00

Did: Collecting, cutting and stringing plastic pieces (4 hrs)
Gathered bottles from Sadashi (1/2 hr)
Attended scuba club meeting (1.5 hrs)
Research - read Dive magazine (1 hr)
Meeting with Rec Sports to reserve pool (1.5 hrs)

Discovered: After talking with Stephanie, I decided that I needed to designate some space in my studio to hang up my current work from this project. That way I can evaluate it and really study it on the wall... I started to hang up a bunch of strands of plastic milk jug pieces. I am going to need a LOT more strands in order for me to fill up a part of the pool... I need to get into MAKING mode :)

My meetings this week were very productive... I had intended to do some more photography experiments in the pool on Wednesday, but then the Michigan Scuba Club had a meeting... Another student was speaking about his own underwater photography (he had a beautiful ikelite housing, suuuuper jealous). I'm hoping to talk with him further about my project and the equipment required. I think meeting other divers at Michigan could be very beneficial for me if I need others to help out with installations in the future.

I also met with my Rec Sports boss to talk about pool reservation times. We are setting up dates for me to use the pool from now until April. It looks like my first date will be December 9th. By that point I will need to have an installation ready to set up and shoot underwater... Just in time to edit some photos and show them at my December review.

List of potential dates:
Wednesday, December 9, 6:30pm-10:30pm - IMSB
Wednesday, January 13, 6:30pm-10:30pm - IMSB
Thursday, February 4, 8:00pm-10:00pm - NCRB
Friday, February 5, 8:00pm-10:00pm - NCRB
Thursday, February 18, 8:00pm-10:00pm - NCRB
Friday, February 19, 8:00pm-10:00pm - NCRB
Thursday, March 11, 8:00pm-10:00pm - NCRB
Friday, March 12, 8:00pm-10:00pm - NCRB
Thursday, March 25, 8:00pm-10:00pm - NCRB
Friday, March 26, 8:00pm-10:00pm - NCRB

I also found an article called "Life in the Hidden Depths" in Dive Magazine that was relevant to my project. The author wrote, "In the final days of the expedition, we made a distressing discovery. One late afternoon while viewing hypnotic scenes from the ROV of a vast desert-like wilderness, we saw a landscape of trash scattered across the seafloor more than 2,000m down off the Philippine island of Simunul. The ROV's powerful lights lit up drink cans, foam cartons, plastic bags, biscuit wrappers, soap packages, and food tins. This inner space environment, where no human can survive nor has been before, bears the destructive evidence of our species."

Do: I need to keep stringing plastic pieces in order to complete a large-scale installation by December 9th. I am also going to start working on how to address the sides and bottom of the pool... I think I am going to buy fabric sheets to create a backdrop of some kind.

grant writing week.

2009-11-12T17:53:00.000-08:00

Did: collected and cut plastic (1.5 hrs)
networking, researching & setting up meetings (3 hrs)
prep for grant writing and drafting grant proposal (3 hrs)
printed photos & dropped off two images from my recent work at the Chelsea Center for the Arts for the show Hydrology (2 hrs)

Discovered/Accomplished: This week I spent much more time networking, talking to others, researching & grant writing instead of actually creating sculptures or images. I think all the things I did were useful so I don't feel by any means like it was an unproductive week. My Rec Sports boss has been helping me figure out how to reserve a pool. It looks like it is definitely possible and I am currently talking with her about the details. I am also meeting with a professor today who does research on corals for pharmaceutical properties. I would like to find out through him which other departments do work directly related to the ocean and whether there are any departments which currently utilize underwater photography equipment.

A few weeks ago I entered two of the images I have made into a call for art at the Chelsea Center for the Arts. The show is titled "Hydrology" so I thought my work would fit pretty well. This week I printed the images, framed them, and dropped them off. Although I don't think I want my final showing of images to be framed pieces, I think it will be interesting to see how they look in a gallery.
I have also found a few artists who are making very surreal work underwater... I don't know which I like more: Elena Kalis' images, or the fact that she has lived for the past ten years on a small island in the Bahamas with her husband and two children.
http://www.elenakalisphoto.com/

Kate also sent me a link to images of Philippe Ramette's work. Here are two of my favorites:I also felt that the group critiques this week were extremely beneficial. Two interesting concepts were brought to my attention...

Erica said that my images have a sense of tragedy, which I think is a great compliment. I like the idea that my work can be somewhat abstract, surreal, slightly unsettling, and tragic.

There was also a lot of discussion about the use of figures in the work, which I had been wanting feedback about. Some liked seeing humans and some didn't. The idea of incorporating text is an important part of this discussion because I think there are 2 different routes that I could follow with this work:

* The first would be creating a series of abstracted images without people (similar to the images of the plastic milk jug pieces). These images would be beautiful, but they would not be disturbing in any way... They might be strange, but not unsettling. The twist would be incorporating text. Throwing in facts about the plastic pollution, or descriptions about how it is affecting the environment, would change the context completely. John Marshall gave the example of Andres Serrano's "Piss Christ": Without knowing the title, the image is actually beautiful... it glows. But once you read the text, you know that the crucifix is sitting in a container of the artist's urine, and your feelings towards the image completely changes.

*The second route I could take would be to incorporate humans and use them to create a series of images which gradually gets more unsettling over time. Not all of the images would have to include people. In this line of thinking about the project, text might take a backseat to the images... The images would drive the viewer's feelings about the work & the text would be supplemental rather than being the key element that changes the viewer's perception about the work.

Do: I need to get back into the process of making this week. I like going into the pool on Wednesday nights do do "mini experiments" for my larger installations. This week I wasn't able to do so because I was busy working on my grant writing and I didn't have time to make anything new to play with. I am also going to follow up with my plans to reserve the pool. Hopefully I can come up with a few solid dates where I know that I get the pool all to myself :D

patches and patches of trash

2009-11-09T20:01:00.001-08:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/10/science/10patch.html?_r=1&hp

Kate forwarded this article to me... thank you!

11.6.09

2009-11-06T08:20:00.000-08:00

Did: -collected & cut up plastic pieces (2-3hrs)
-contacted Rec Sports directors & looked up how much it costs to rent scuba tanks (1/2 hr)
-searched for more underwater photographers and potential grant opportunites (1.5 hrs)
-scanned important pages of Good Magazine's the Water Issue (1/2 hr)
-organized research into two main categories and listed quotes/research under those categories (1.5 hrs)
-photographed at the pool again (2 hrs)
-edited photos (1 hr)
-fell asleep in my studio (1 hr)

Discovered/accomplished: I think organizing my research was a really good step for me this week (look at the last 2 blog posts). It helped me rearrange all of my crazy thoughts surrounding what I am actually doing. I like the idea of viewing the plastic particles as "organisms". It actually makes sense the more you read about plastic in the environment... plus there has been more than one occasion where people have commented saying that the sculptures I am making look alive, they move like they are alive, some of them look like kelp/seaweed, they remind people of microscopic cells or bacteria...etc. I think the photographs this week were also really interesting. I am not sure yet whether people should be a part of my photographs, but I think the images I made this week are interesting. I would be interested to hear how people respond to them...

Do: After talking with Hannah, she suggested I try and contact professors/administrators here at U of M who may be working in areas relating to oceanography. They may have more information to give me about the problem, but they also may have underwater photography equipment that I could tap into... that would be amazing... I also need to see if I hear back about the possibility of reserving a pool to use for a larger scale installation. I want to keep adding to my list of quotes (2 posts ago) so that I have a wider variety of sources. I need to keep making. If I want to relate the scale of this problem I need a LOT of plastic.

just keep swimming...

2009-11-05T21:28:00.001-08:00

"large pieces of plastic can kill by entrapment, suffocation and drowning" - Algalita Marine Research Foundation

image inspiring words, words, words.

2009-11-03T21:23:00.000-08:00

This is an attempt at organizing my research into the most critical elements and inspiring descriptions.

I need to relate the SHEER MASS (i.e. the amount of shit in our oceans):
Facts: 500 billion to a trillion plastic bags are used worldwide per year (National Geographic News).

"The detritus of human life is collecting in a swirling current so large that it defies precise measurement." - Lindsey Hoshaw (NY Times, 11.9.09)

"The scale of the phenomenon is astounding" - Charles Moore, founder of Algalita

"Sprawling mass" - Michelle Rindels AP Writer (www.usnews.com)

I need to explore the possible BEHAVIOR of this introduced, synthetic element into the ecosystem ( i.e. it is eaten. it attracts chemicals in the water. it photodegrades/leaches into the water. it has a long life: 1,000 years to biodegrade. in what ways is it becoming its own organism within the environment? is it essentially an invasive species? what does it look like? how does it move?):

"Ironically, the debris is re-entering the oceans whence it came; the ancient plankton that once floated on Earth's primordial sea gave rise to the petroleum now being transformed into plastic polymers. That exhumed life, our "civilized plankton," is, in effect, competing with its natural counterparts, as well as with those life forms that directly or indirectly feed on them" - Charles Moore, founder of Algalita.

"tangled in the green net of some nameless fisherman" - Michelle Rindels AP Writer

"plastic debris was floating everywhere: bottles, bottle caps, wrappers, fragments." - Charles Moore

"We were looking at a rich broth of minute sea creatures mixed with hundreds of colored plastic fragments." - Charles Moore

"transparent... organisms with colored plastic fragments in their bellies" - Charles Moore.

"most of the plastic looks like snowy confetti against the deep blue" - Michelle Rindels.

"the fragments look like confetti in the water" - Lindsey Hoshaw

"large pieces of plastic can kill by entrapment, suffocation and drowning" - Algalita Marine Research Foundation

"some floats, some swirls below the surface at various depths, and some has already sunk to the sea floor" - Algalita Marine Research Foundation

revised timeline

2009-11-01T18:31:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure if I needed to post this revised timeline or not, but here goes.

10.28: I want to take anything that I have made so far from the plastic milk jugs and/or the plastic bags and take them to the pool to photograph. Wednesday nights may be a good time to photograph at the NCRB. If that is true, I may use Wednesday nights as photography nights.

11.03-5: Consolidate research to the point where I have at least a tentative understanding of what I will be illustrating through my photographs… i.e. I would like a specific list of phrases that I am the most interested in using for inspiration. I also need to be continually making and adding to my plastic installations.

11.12: Grant proposals due.

11.17-19: Continue to MAKE things!! Complete an underwater photo shoot after making adjustments from what I learn during the Wednesday pool experiments. This photo shoot will involve more planning, including contacting pool directors and using Scuba equipment.

11.24-12.03: Begin thinking about and working on presentation.

12.15-16 December Review: Ultimately I would like to have one or two “completed” installations by December review. I want to have images from a larger scale underwater installation using my plastic sculptures. My research should be incorporated into the presentation and I need to clearly define which information is the most influential to the work I am making.

10.30.09

2009-10-30T06:36:00.000-07:00

Did: -collected and cut plastic (4-5 hrs)
-underwater photo shoot at the pool (3 hrs)
-editing photos (1 hr)
-thinking/networking about the future after John's talk (1 hr)
-looking at other artist's work (Beili Liu, Andres Amador, Tara Donovan) (1/2 hr)

Discovered: I want to thank Meg, Stephanie, and Erica for recommending artists for me to look at. I was definitely inspired by their work. I absolutely LOVED the aesthetic of this piece by Tara Donovan (Untitled, 2003, ACE Gallery New York):
It is made completely of styrofoam cups and hot glue. It mimics cells and natural structures, but it is also creating a type of synthetic landscape which I am becoming extremely interested in. I haven't found an artist statement yet, but I am wondering how much environmentalism plays into her work. I'm not sure that is a huge goal of hers because in her work I don't get the sense that she is using discarded materials. It seems really stupid to me that she would buy a bazillion styrofoam cups to make this... but it is something I need to look into before I make any statements about the work she is making. Regardless of that, I absolutely love the environment she creates with this incredibly mundane object.

I also photographed underwater for the first time this semester!! Yay! It has taken me way too long to get to that point...

I am really happy with the results of my first underwater experiments with the plastic milk jug pieces (photographs in last post). I feel like there is a lot of potential to expand this project and really create an environment for me to photograph in the pool. A lot of what I accomplished in getting into the pool was getting reacquainted with my equipment. I needed to organize all of the camera gadgets I had making sure I had enough batteries, making sure I remembered how to hook up the strobes (underwater flash system) to the camera...etc. This was obviously not my favorite part of the experience, but it is really beneficial.

Once I was in the pool it was interesting to watch how my plastic experiments behaved. I tied the strings of plastic to bolts, which sank to the bottom and allowed the rest of the line to float to the top. It almost looked like seaweed/kelp. Other free-floating pieces began to move in very interesting ways. They almost come alive in the water...

I want to make more. I want to fill a pool or at least a part of a pool with these structures. For my final exhibition I could recreate the environment indoors so people could view it for a longer amount of time, but I really want to see this underwater and photograph it underwater. I am now starting to envision the final result of this project to be an installation with the plastic pieces in a physical space, but alongside the sculptures would be my images. I am also thinking about how projection could be used to show the images instead of photographs in static frames...

I had been thinking about this idea before seeing Beili Liu's work, but her piece Tie. Untie, 2008 has really inspired me to explore this idea more. She projected a video loop onto a pile of string on the floor. I think projecting onto a material other than a screen could work well with my ideas:
Do: I need to get serious about finding out if I can reserve a pool. I need to talk to contacts I have at Rec Sports. I also need to find out how much it costs to rent tanks, weights, and underwater lights from dive shops in Ann Arbor. I will need to be continuously making, otherwise i will not have enough to photograph... I am also going to compile a list of figures/statistics/quotes from my research which are the most important for me to discuss with this project.

Look Ma it worked!

2009-10-29T10:30:00.000-07:00

another friday :) 10.23.09

2009-10-23T08:18:00.000-07:00

Did: I have probably spent at least 7 hours this week collecting plastic milk jugs, washing them out, cutting them up, and either hot glueing or sewing them together. Here is the result (excuse the bad photos, I will post better ones soon):

These pieces were strung together and are hanging in my studio right now:

I still feel pretty disorganized at this point due to the fact that this weekend I completely moved everything out of my parents old house (fun fall break, hah). But despite the chaos, I think I was fairly productive with the plastic shapes.

Discovered: Most of what I discovered this week really had to do with the material of plastic itself. I really like working with the plastic milk jugs. I think there is a LOT of potential for experimentation with this material and the best part is that it is free. I have been taking milk jug donations and I have also been going over to Beansters almost every day... they may think I'm crazy, but right now I'm happy because I don't really have to pay for materials :) Beansters has also been a great source for the plastic because the milk jugs aren't sitting around for very long so they don't smell like ones that have been sitting in recycle bins (NASTY).

I also love how the shapes I am making mimic so many natural forms. Cells, certain types of fungi, & coral all have the same circular or ovular shapes.

Do: Here is my tentative schedule until December review.

10.28: I want to take anything I have made so far from the plastic milk jugs and/or the plastic bags and take them to the pool to photograph... I found out Weds. night is a good night for experimenting with this.

11.17-19: Continue to MAKE things!! Complete an underwater photo shoot after making adjustments from what I learn during the 10.28 pool experiments.

12.15-16: For the review I want to have images from a larger scale underwater installation using my plastic sculptures. I want to incorporate my research into the presentation and more clearly define which information is the most influential to the work I am making.

I realize this is a really rough schedule... but I think it is hard for me to come up with a day-by-day plan... especially as I encounter problems or challenges. (i.e. cutting the plastic pieces is extremely time consuming) As I work, I will discover things that will influence the direction I take. Ultimately I would like to have a completed underwater installation to show at the review.

go see this!

2009-10-21T19:14:00.000-07:00

Last night to see The Cove at the Michigan Theater is tomorrow night... Go see it!

http://www.thecovemovie.com/

shapes in the sand

2009-10-19T17:54:00.000-07:00

I love love love these & wanted to share:

Jim Denevan creates these drawings in the sand at low tide. I love when simple and/or organic shapes make such bold & powerful images. Check out his site: http://jimdenevan.com

10.16.09 post

2009-10-16T08:23:00.000-07:00

Did: -playing on beach, experimenting (3 hrs)
-edited photos (1/2 hr)
-research, found more artists (Ha Schult, Tim Noble & Sue Webster, Judith Selby Lang and Richard Lang, Claudia Borgna), found Antennae (a great online magazine), contacted scuba club (2 hrs)
-organized plastic research into a word document w/ links to articles (1 hr)
-continued editing project proposal (1 hr)
-collected milk cartons from Beanster's and began cutting them up into pieces for installation (2 hrs).

Discovered: I found more helpful articles about plastic pollution at www.innovations-report.com. I watched a video that Erica recommended on trash "Buy Your Garbage Back?".
I found a few artists working with garbage. Ha Schult creates life size "trash people" and then installs them at different locations all over the world. Tim Noble & Sue Webster use piles of trash to create silhouettes.

Judith Selby Lang and Richard Lang, collect trash on Kehoe Beach and use it to create art... here is a collection of plastic cheese spreaders that they have found over a 10 year period

I discovered Antennae magazine which featured an article about artist Claudia Borgna.

Claudia Borgna's work has an extremely similar aesthetic to the installations I have had in mind:

Borgna writes, "In the past years I have been looking at how rubbish and man made objects are very much transforming and creating new landscapes and becoming more and more integrated into nature... the plastic bags are a human creation and therefore natural appendix of man. One could argue that whatever is man made is natural and that ultimately nature is an unstable and unreliable human construction ruled by social and cultural needs."

As I researched plastics I found lots of interesting or poetic descriptions of the plastic problem:

"In the week it took to cross the subtropical high, no matter what time of day I looked, plastic debris was floating everywhere: bottles, bottle caps, wrappers, fragments."

"We were looking at a rich broth of minute sea creatures mixed with hundreds of colored plastic fragments-a plastic-plankton soup."

"Our photographers captured underwater images of jellyfish hopelessly entangled in frayed lines, and transparent filter feeding organisms with colored plastic fragments in their bellies."

"In the Great Pacific Garbage Patch most of the plastic looks like snowy confetti against the deep blue of the north Pacific Ocean."

These phrases that I keep coming across have influenced my ideas about the direction my project could take. I like the idea of illustrating these phrases and statistics from scientific research and reports. My installations would reflect different sentences or descriptions that I isolate from my research. In that way they could become a narrative about the process of plastic. Text may become an important component... Ultimately I could re-envision scientific research and show people what is really happening outside of the context of dry scientific reports and data.

Do: After organizing my research I would like to make a list of the quotes/phrases that I think would be interesting to illustrate. I also want to get a lot of work done on the installation I have in mind using pieces of milk cartons. I think this installation would explain the process of the break-down of plastic particles once the enter the water. I WANT TO MAKE THINGS AND PHOTOGRAPH THEM UNDERWATER. yay!

lake michigan experiments

2009-10-12T09:42:00.000-07:00

I went to the beach in Grand Haven this weekend to play.

I want to create an installation HERE:

here are some of my experiments...
dark sand on light sand:
an attempt at a whitefish silhouette:

plastic bag boulders:

10.9.09 post

2009-10-08T10:11:00.000-07:00

Did: created a mini installation in my studio, took photographs & edited the pictures (3 hrs)
researched Great Lakes fisheries (2 hrs)
conversations in IP studios & printed some of my photos (1 hr)
writing and organizing my thoughts and writing proposal draft (2 hrs)
looking at grad student Sarah Berkeley's work (15 min)
editing draft (1/2 hr )

Discovered/accomplished: Building off of last week's photo experiments in the Huron River, I decided to experiment a little bit more with light. I placed my light source and cut-outs behind the plastic and then kept my camera on the same manual settings as I moved the light source backwards, inch by inch. I created this image to explore the possibilities of the quilt as a screen. This image is a composite of 20 photographs:Having to write a draft proposal really forced me to face the conceptual background for my project. I think to some degree it is hard to explain or justify why you are doing what you are doing... and I think Sean & Erica had both begun to point this out to me in their comments on my posts. I feel like they were both saying that I had to decide whether I wanted to take an activist stance or not. But even if I don't want to become preachy, I still have to look at whether or not I am sacrificing my passion for environmental issues by not deciding to influence my audience in a specific way. So I began to write my proposal with those things in mind.

I also know that I am interested in water and human relationships with cycles occurring on earth, but I keep coming up with ideas for installations that involve either fish or plastic (maybe I am just drawn to an aesthetic idea that I see coming from these two subjects). When composing the draft I wanted to come up with a more unified idea for why I am interested in looking at these two subjects. I began to think about water in this way:
-Water as a food source/basis for all food & life
-Water as a disposal system/waste returns to water systems
(ultimately it's kind of a "don't shit where you eat" problem). My new analysis of this issue influenced how I wrote my proposal:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Project Proposal (w/ edits after peer review session)

I intend to explore human relationships with water by creating surreal visual experiences for the viewer. Human beings are made out of the same fundamental elements as all other living creatures, yet our extraordinary manipulation of the world around us causes me to question our role in the environment. I wonder whether or not we have removed ourselves from nature, making our processes "unnatural". I am especially interested in two areas of focus. The first being water as a supplier of food and our subsequent abuse of that food chain, and the second involves the transformation of our oceans into an enormous waste disposal system.

At this moment in time there is a huge disconnect between basic human processes and the environment. Many of us have risen above the basic processes of production and disposal to the point where these things become invisible and unimportant. This disconnect is important for us to acknowledge and understand. I want the viewer to be confronted by a surreal picture of the world that in fact reflects real problems we face as a society. In a way I am hoping to make the invisible become visible, and therefore important.

To complete my project I will be creating a series of temporary installations, which I will photograph. Since I will be exploring water related environmental issues, it is important that I make work outside and/or in water sources such as rivers, lakes & pools. With unlimited time and resources I would travel to a variety of locations worldwide to create underwater installations that would be photographed or filmed. My realistic challenge may still involve traveling to various locations around the state of Michigan. I hope to create a series of photographs based on my own temporary installations. I could also envision these final photographs being displayed in a gallery space, along with the resources I use to create my installations. With a much more limited time frame and restricted budget I would likely focus on one very specific installation and try to complete it in a public space.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DO: -I want to compile a list of the installation ideas that I have been thinking about and decide which ones are the most important for me to accomplish.
-I am going up north this weekend and I want to create a new installation outside... I have felt like the images I have created thus far are just experiments leading up to larger projects. I need to really focus in on creating the type of things I have in mind... or seeing if they are going to work...
-Go to the Institute for Fisheries Research on campus (next to natural history museum) and speak to someone about the largest problems they feel we are facing in the Great Lakes.

weekly post 10/2

2009-10-02T08:08:00.000-07:00

Did: photographed plastic quilt outside/in the river & edited a few of the pics (2 hrs)
emailed contacts about getting into a pool to photograph (1/2 hr)
worked on quilt...cutting and sewing... (5 hrs)
word mapping/brainstorming key words (1/2 hr)

Discovered/accomplished: Here are a few images from this weeks experiments with the quilt outside...

I think it was kind of funny to watch the geese as the quilt floated down the river towards them. They were a little confused...
I realized that camera angle makes a huge difference in how big the quilt looks. In the photo above, the quilt looks very small, but in the one below it looks as if it occupies much more space.

I liked the flexibility of the quilt to take on different forms. This photo reminds me of a miniature version of Christo & Jeanne-Claude's Wrapped Coast project in Australia.
As I have been constructing the quilt, I have been wondering about different ways light could affect it... These photos kind of happened by accident as my mom lifted the quilt with the light behind her. As clouds passed in front of the sun and the light's intensity changed, her silhouette became softer which I thought was really beautiful... It has given me a lot to think about in terms of playing with shadow and silhouette behind the quilt.

I have played with color adjustments in photoshop as well... the image on the left is closer to the original color of the photo straight out of the camera.
I made a word list in the hopes that it would help me figure out more about what I am really trying to accomplish... here goes:

bizarre/boundary of reality
surreal/surreal landscape
eerie
ephemeral
ghostly
shadows
illusion
floating/fluid

I also love this quote from the book Land Art:
"Places of this kind are outside of all places, even though it may be possible to indicate their location in reality." - Michael Foucault

I was also asked to answer WHAT my project is and WHY I am doing it, in order to prepare to write my proposal.

WHAT:
Art that explores human relationships with water and creates a surreal atmosphere that pushes the boundary of reality.

WHY:
I intend to inspire deeper thought about our place in the world. My work should prompt questions about the role of humans in natural cycles.

Do: 1. I want to make silhouettes that I could place behind the quilt in order to create an illusion of a landscape/place that isn't really there.
2. I am going up north this weekend, in order to help my parents move, but I would like to experiment with a couple ideas I have had for outdoor installation ideas involving plastic.
3. I would like to do more research & consolidate research that I already have, especially plastic leaching into water & food. I want to read the water issue of Good Magazine.

weekly post 9/25

2009-09-24T10:38:00.001-07:00

Did: Reading, Empty Ocean (1/2 hr)
Word vomit about ocean plastic (15 min)
Checked out & watched 2 documentaries: Manufactured Landscapes & Rivers and Tides (3 hrs)
Searched www.greenmuseum.org, good resource :) (1/2 hr)
Worked on plastic quilt (4 hrs)

Discovered/Accomplished: Watching the documentaries this weekend was really beneficial for me. I love watching Andy Goldsworthy's process and it made me think a lot about how time is incorporated in his work. I thought Manufactured Landscapes was absolutely incredible. Ed Burtynsky photographs landscapes that have been transformed by man in some way and the documentary has a particular focus on China's industrialization. I love the eerie or surreal feeling I get from the still images and the video footage in the documentary. It is hard for me to believe that industrial processes exist in such a huge way, but they can because the world is so huge... now with globalization we don't actually have to look at where we are getting all of our resources because they are shipped in from somewhere else. In turn our garbage is taken away too... out of sight out of mind?

A few of Ed Burtynsky's photos:
We take resources from the earth:

We build things with these resources/we build ships which transport other products:

Once our products have served their purpose we dispose of them and they return to earth, but in an altered form. We may "scrap" our used products to reuse or recycle:

But ultimately we are a part of an incredibly complex cycle of gathering, producing, using, destroying, re-gathering:

Our end products become recycled and incorporated into our new environment. We produce plastic bags from petroleum products gleaned from the earth, we use these bags, we dispose of them in some way, they find their way to garbage dumps or recycling centers, or they end up in our water. They make their way to the ocean where they circle in gyres to form enormous dumping grounds of our waste. Slowly (it takes a plastic bag 1,000 years to biodegrade) they leach into the water supply and bioaccumulate up the food chain. They make their way into the foods we eat. So it seems that not only do we bring our groceries home in plastic bags, but we will eventually be consuming the chemicals of that plastic at some point. The cycles are just crazy and keep running circles in my brain.

I have also been doing a lot of thinking about how I would like my work to be perceived by my audience/what do I want my work to do? I am a little worried about becoming too activist minded because I am worried that my pieces will become a little too preachy. I don't want the end result of my project to be a message like: don't use plastic bags, use canvas instead. I think that is a little bit too simple and the environmental issues we are dealing with are much more complex than that. I took this quote from the Manufactured Landscapes documentary because I felt that it really spoke to a lot of the problems I have been thinking about.

Ed Burtynsky:
"We are changing the nature of this planet. We are changing the air, we are changing the water, we are changing the land. That's not just China, that's the world at large. There are times where I have thought about my work and putting it into a more politicized environment. If I said, 'this is a terrible thing that we are doing to the planet' then people will either agree or disagree. By not saying what you should see, that may allow them to look at something that they have never looked at and to see their world a little differently. I think many people today sit in that uncomfortable spot where we don't necessarily want to give up what we have, but we realize that what we are doing is creating problems that run deep. It's not a simple right or wrong. It needs a whole new way of thinking."

On a separate note, I have continued to work on my plastic quilt. It is continuing to grow in size and I think it has a lot of potential. For whatever reason I want to make it really large. I just think that it's movement gets more interesting as it grows.

Do: 1. Word mapping about cycles. What specific issues am I really interested in and how are they related?
2. Continue to work on the plastic quilt & photograph it in water. This weekend I probably won't be able to photograph it underwater, but I would like to put it in water (maybe the river?) so that I can observe it in a different way. I also want to make some images. I think the process will be beneficial for me, and I will be able to see what I might need to do in order to get a better aesthetic effect from the piece.
3. Contact pool people again. I haven't heard back from the contact I emailed, so I have a few other people in mind who may be able to help me get access.

weekly post

2009-09-17T11:47:00.000-07:00

Did: researched plastics online (~1 hr), plastic quilt construction (~3 hrs), added 3 artists to my link list & viewed their sites (Subhankar Banerjee, Patrick Winfield, Scott Hocking, ~1 hr), Time in library finding books, reading & doing research (~2 hrs), began emailing contacts who could help me get into the pool & I looked up schedules for teams who regularly use the pool (~1/2 hour)
Discovered/accomplished: Beginning to make my plastic "quilt" was, in my opinion, a good first step for me. Working with the plastic bags was really interesting... cutting it turned out to be the trickiest part of the process, but I love how it looks when I sew it together. I like the way light looks through it and the way it moves. I think it has a lot of potential, now I just have to figure out what I am going to do to make it an installation/how to take it further. Here are 2 pictures of the quilt after I hung it in my studio:
It is pretty hard to take a good close-up of it, I will have to experiment with that...
When I was researching plastics, I found a Spanish art group called Luz Interruptus who created an installation using plastic bags:I love the way the bags glow, and I also like that they really didn't alter them in any way (they didn't cut them or sew them), but just by adding the lights & letting the wind blow them they become very sculptural. Someone also suggested when looking at my piece that I try to recreate the "plastic soup" in the ocean, by just photographing tons of plastic material in a pool. That is definitely something I think I should consider.
I am starting to think more about the work I will be doing as installation/temporary installation that I will photograph. In that way I will be a photographer and a sculptor and the two mediums influence each other. I was very inspired by Scott Hocking's work and the way he explained his process and the idea that his installations are temporary and subject to the environment. They also only exist today in his photographs, as many have been destroyed. It kind of reminds me of ghost sculptures, especially when you view the before & after shots. After spending time in the library looking at books, I am finding that I absolutely love the aesthetics of land art/earthworks. ( I checked out four books: "Water Library", "Land Art", "Earthworks & Beyond", and "Great Lakes Water Wars")

I want to create something that responds to human interaction with water and makes the audience think more deeply about the subject.

Do: I am realizing that I need to define my main water issues... i.e. How much can I tackle? What is the most important thing for me to take on?...etc. I would also like to continue working on the plastic quilt and expand on it. If I hear back from the pool managers I am hoping that I could try to set up dates to use the facility for an installation. I am also going to see if I can check out Andy Goldsworthy videos from the library, because Hannah and Chelsea both suggested that I look at more of his work.

first week adventures

2009-09-11T07:55:00.000-07:00

Hello :) Welcome to my IP blog. This blog should follow the crazy process of a year-long art making adventure.

This is a picture of me diving in Belize where I spent 5 months beginning last January.

Did: This week I created this blog, which I will be posting to every week... I spent some time in the Art & Architecture library. I found a magazine article on James Balog who helped start the Extreme Ice Survey, which is an amazing photo-documentation project based on shrinking ice caps & glaciers around the world (I linked his website in the list on the right side of the blog). I also began to work on my studio space :) I painted the walls and have begun to put up images (some are mine, some aren't), fabrics, & other scraps of things. I have also started to gather contact information for pool directors and members of u of m's synchro team, so that I will hopefully be able to access a few pools this year for projects :)

Discovered: I decided that I would create a list of links on the blog that will lead to people that are inspiring to me, or may influence my own work during this process. I had been making a list of interesting subjects/people on paper, but I think it will be really nice to have them all in a specific place online where I will quickly be able to link to images of their work. I also feel that my conversation with Claire about my project for Tuesday was really valuable and I have been thinking a lot about my next steps.

Do: Next week I want to contact the director of Canham Natatorium. I photographed the synchronized swimming team before in the dive well there and I think it would be a great place for my installation ideas. I think I will also need to expand on the plastic sculptural piece that I am planning for Tuesday. It may be a jumping point for me to create an installation for the dive well. I want to really begin setting the steps in motion that will make it possible for me to complete an underwater installation some time in the near future. I really think I need to get in the water soon so that I will be able to judge what is working and what isn't.

My studio space!!!(I want a bright space so in the middle of the winter my studio will be a nice place for me to be):

Close up of the yellow wall (I would like to continue to add images to this wall that interest me and create new ideas):