Will Z Visual Art FIA3 Experimental Folio
Reflective statement This unit, I have explored the concept of ‘art as code’ and signs & symbols, and developed a series of experimental artworks through a formal context. From the four selected experimental artworks, the Cultural Signs was selected as my resolved piece. A partial response to Xu Bing’s The Living World, I printed out a self-portrait of myself and an Australian flag and sliced the images into small fragments. I then hung the pieces together in the open wind, filming the flag’s movement and capturing audio from nearby. The sliced paper represents a flag, and through this formal context, I’m able to explore the internal ‘battle’ between myself and living my life as an Australian.
Resolved work
https://web.microsoftstream.com/video/09c2bc47-73f0-4b5a-ba91-3c0fd7cb0080
Untitled – My resolved artwork was filmed on a morning near a busy school area. The sound in the background is an important part of the artwork, as not only do we hear interesting noise but the meaning is that the battle I’m faced with means little to no-one – it’s all in my head. The flag motions look quite interesting, and I believe this will be a challenging artwork for many viewers. Also, my decision to cut the video at the line “why is that on their?” wasn’t intentional, the boy saying this was completely improvised, which is something I wonder how people are going to react to. Video N.A.
Resolved work- detail/plan
Initial written plan – all my ideas were collected onto a piece of paper first, to help me visualise and identify the nature of my work.
Two sets of images were originally printed out in different colours. At time of this, I was unsure of combination I would go with, so I thought it’d be best to visualise both the images.
The end result – I decided to go with the coloured self-portrait and b&w flag because I believed that the colours would make my ‘meaning’ more clearer to the audience.
Photographic evidence of me cutting the pieces of paper to create the strips that would replicate a flag.
Experimental works
A rush of blue – A video montage (meant to be played on repeat) highlighting a series of blue objects I found around my school, yet is done so quickly to cause intentional confusion. Sound effects were also used, some clearly identifiable, others not. The purpose of this video is to distort common symbols typically seen around school so that they become unrecognizable, encouraging the audience to interpret the ambiguity of the signs in the video. Video Recording 10.2 Seconds
Experimental works
Prototype
Refined
One and Free – A replica of Nepalese prayer flags, but with an Australian twist. The writing on the flag is the Australian National Anthem (hence the title) and raises awareness of the importance of respecting your country (symbolised with a Nike shoe stepping on Wattle, an iconic Australian symbol). Video 30 seconds
Experimental works
Girl Power – A series of stencil works that critique the stereotypical perception of the way 21st century women dress, and breaking that apart with the pink orchid (linking back to the text underneath). Again, this shows taking a sign to create a symbol, one which I think will be successfully in provoking an audience. Keep in mind that all of these are still unresolved, hence some of the presentation issues. Stencil Dimensions – N.A.
Experimental works
Nature – I wanted to explore the idea of ‘connecting lines’ in a more abstract way. The lines in the first installation come from the hand aligning with my body, and the second with the vines. Photo Installation Dimensions – N.A.
Supporting Evidence (Introduction)
Supporting Evidence (Cultural Signs)
The Australian Aboriginal Flag is prime example of cultural signs being prevalent in an Indigenous piece of artwork. Elder Harold Thomas created the flag, and his ideology behind the flag was to represent the culture in different ways. Red represents the land, yellow the sun and black the Indigenous people. This can be seen as Thomas creating the artwork from a ‘cultural’ context.
Harold Thomas (1947-)
Supporting Evidence (Gender Specific)
Supporting Evidence (Gender Specific)
Supporting Evidence (Repetition)
This artwork was set out to be created through a ‘formal’ context.
References N.A.