Two types of tape art..

MARK KHAISMAN VS. ERIKA IRIS SIMMONS

Flipping over pages in my 'Crazy Art' book written by Chantal Alles I discovered something incredible..

First of all was the work of Mark Khaisman.  

''Few would deny the prosaic qualities of packing tape.  However, put the unassuming sticky brown strips in the right hands and they're transformed into a glowing, expressive work of art.''

Introduction..
Nationality: Ukrainian
Trained:  Moscow School of Architecture
After moving to America he gave up architecture and began something a whole lot more exciting and unique.
He was inspired by stained glass..''drawn by the way light illuminated the materials''.

He is a mixed media artist who uses ordinary brown parcel tape to create pictures.  By layering strips on top of one another he can create shadow and depth in his work, before applying it to clear Plexiglas and a light box.

''Did Joey kick your facein, why?''
2008, packing tape on backlit acrylic panel, 36x48

''Little and kind of skinny she was but real fireball''
2005, packing tape on backlit acrylic panel, 36x48

''There's a frame missing, buster''
2008, packing tape on backlit acrylic panel, 36x48

''Get an ambulance, quick!''
2008, packing tape on backlit acrylic panel, 36x48

Lara and Annie
2008, packaging tape on plexiglas, 36x48

You are nobody but escaped convict
2006, packaging tape on plexiglas, 36x48

 ''THE TWO-INCH TAPE ACTS AS A WIDE BRUSH, AND THE LIGHT BEHIND THE PANELS AS AN ALCHEMIST'S LUMINOUS BLENDING MEDIUM.''

Losif, from series Portraits in Red
2009, packing tape on backlit acrylic panel, 36x48

Igor, from series Portraits in Red
2009, packing tape on backlit acrylic panel, 36x48

Lyudmila, from series Portraits in Red
2009, packing tape on backlit acrylic panel, 36x48

This work is so different from any other type of art.  The illustrations have a very similar aesthetic to traditional knife painting, with the tape creating thick brush strokes.
More can be seen on his website - www.khaismanstudio.com


Have you ever seen the Bruno Mars video Just The Way You Are??  If not, take a watch below..

The reason for showing this brings me onto my next finding, she comes under the name of Erika Iris Simmons.

''Spare a thought for the audiocassette.  Revolutionary when it first appeared in 1963, the tape sank into oblivion when CDs marched onto the scene.  Increasingly, however, old audiocassettes are granted a certain retro kudos, viewed as collectors' pieces in much the same way as vintage vinyl.''

Introduction..
Nationality: American
Aka: Iri5
She enjoys to 'take things - random things - and make them into composite art.'
Browsing garage sales and old stores she would search for materials to make her work with, in particular, old audiocassettes and rolls of film.  She then recycled these products by making them into fabulous portraits of iconic figures.

GHOST IN THE MACHINE SERIES..
This is made up of over 50 portraits.  Using, cutting, shaping and arranging the magnetic tape she generates these drawings of faces.  Genius!
She also incorporates the case into the frame as well as transforming the unreeled tape into hair, eyes, mouths.. even musical instruments!
''The Ghost in the Machine series was inspired by some strange ideas,'' she explains.  ''How at one level we are cellular beings and at another we are a single 'self.'  The single cassette tape I thought of as representing the mind.  The tape ribbon represents our thoughts, the data within.''

Ghost in the Machine - Marilyn's White Dress

Ghost in the Machine - The Beatles

Ghost in the Machine - Fred and Adele

Ghost in the Machine - Debbie Harry of Blondie

Ghost in the Machine - Melora Creager

Ghost in the Machine - The Hendrix Experience

''THE IDEA COMES FROM A PHRASE (IRONICALLY)  COINED BY PHILOSOPHER GILBERT RYLE, A DESCRIPTION OF HOW YOUR SPIRIT LIVES IN YOUR BODY.  I IMAGINE WE ARE ALL, LIKE CASSETTES, THOUGHTS WRAPPED UP IN AWKWARD PACKAGING.''

Ghost in the Machine - Bob Marley

Ghost in the Machine - John Lennon

Ghost in the Machine - Audrey Graceful 

Ghost in the Machine - Paul Griffiths

I have fallen in love with the work of Erika Iris Simmons.  If you have too, check out her website - www.iri5.com and flickr account - www.flickr.com

Is 'surgery' a synonym of 'art'?

After contributing to a forum on our Representation Unit I got caught up thinking about the discussion going on.
First of all I discovered Orlan, a so called 'performance-artist' who has dramatically changed her face through surgery as part of her art.  There have been huge debates over her work and how people, mainly females, have altered their bodies to attain this 'ideal beauty'.  Is it just purely narcissistic or does she effectively comment on pertinent issues facing society today?

Here is the Guardian's article on Orlan - www.guardian.co.uk

But what really interested me from this class debate was a later topic brought up, asking about the similarity between Orlan and Katie Price.  They have both changed their appearance to conform to a particular ideal of beauty so surely that makes them the same?

There were many posts by peers that had strong opinions about plastic surgery and what Orlan was doing to her body under the name of 'art'.

A noticed a discussion between two photography members which I wanted to get involved in as I had similar views.
They agreed that Katie Price and Orlan are both doing the same thing, whether its to make themselves attractive or to make art.  The go on to bring up Valeria Lukyanova, a female who has made herself look exactly like a barbie doll.  I had seen an article a few weeks before and was amazed.

Here is my response to the forum..

Out of all of the comments added to this forum so far this is the one I wanted to reply to as I have also read one of the articles on Valeria Lukyanova.  I stumbled across it on Facebook a few weeks ago and to say I was shocked would be a massive understatement, Why I ask?  I just don't get it.
I have never really been a huge fan of plastic surgery but then again, some people feel they want it and that's up to them but in my opinion I think that it causes more problems than anything else.
For anyone who hasn't seen the human Barbie Doll, take a look here www.geekologie.com

Anyway, back to the discussion on Orlan and Katie Price, when you think about it they are both exactly the same, even though at first glance people think they are far from it.  Just because Orlan argues that she creates 'art', through changing her bodily appearance, surely Katie Price could say exactly the same?
For one reason or another, they both do it to alter how they look but I definitely don't think that either of them are creating 'art' in any way.

I also agree with Leah when she says that it is not right that Jordon gets all this critical and negative abuse from the public when others out there are doing or have done exactly the same.
I can kind of understand why they have done it, mainly for attention.  The same with Valeria Lukanova and Lady Gaga and her synthetic 'star image'.. would she be as successful today without it?
Minus the surgery they would be like everybody else, but is that really such a bad thing?  Has what they have done made it worse for themselves or do people actually appreciate this so called 'form of art'?

LIVING AS A HUMAN BARBIE DOLL..

I may be by myself on this one but I can't understand why someone would do this to their body, making it look so unnatural.  I was genuinely so amazed the first time I discovered her.
I have to ask, has the continuous publication of 'faultless models' with 'idea bodies' getting the 'perfect man' pushed people to far into believing they need to be something they are not?
Are we starting to lose a sense of reality?
Aspiring to look like a plastic child's toy?  Imagine that question in a school classroom..'so, what do you want to become when you are older?'.. with a child replying 'a Barbie doll'.. the teachers would have a fit!
The whole world is going mental when it comes to how you should look in order to fit in with society nowadays...

Fashion and beauty photography over time probably hasn't helped this situation, especially now with the digital manipulation technology which is around.  The majority of magazine as well as tv adverts have been Photoshoped or edited in some way.  Removing blemishes, taking inches off the waist, sharpening jaw lines, brightening eyes or even straightening teeth have all given us the wrong view on how people need to appear in order to get by in our world.

Replacing paint with light, David Gilliver.

Last time I travelled home I picked up 'Gallery', Guernsey's local style magazine.  It was free and I thought it might make a good read for the trip back to Southampton.

As I was flicking through, I stumbled upon an article about a practicing photographer who lives and works in Guernsey.

His profile read..
David Gilliver - Hijacks the Night.  'Finance Worker by day, light painter by night'

Across the double page spread were images he'd taken at locations around the island.  What was interesting about these is that they are all shot at night time, incorporating the idea of 'painting with light', otherwise known as 'light graffiti', a technique I have also previously experimented with.

Here are some of David's photographs..

Electric Vazon

Race Of The Ribbons

Rainbow Road

Assault And Battery

Cornered

Some questions taken from the magazine article:

The Frog

How many nights do you go out to photograph?
I would say that on average I try to venture out 2 or 3 nights a week.

What's the longest period you expose your shots for?
30 minutes, although most of my images are created using expose lengths between 3-10 minutes.  It all depends on what light is available on any given night.
Do you need any special equipment for this type of photography?

The essential pieces of equipment are: camera, a tripod, and a cable release and different light sources I feel I need to in order to pull off the light painting that I am trying to capture.

Night Twins

What is Light Painting?
Light Painting, light drawing or light graffiti, is a photographic technique that relies on using long exposure times coupled with a hand-held light source that is used to 'paint' within the photograph while it is being taken, usually outdoors and at night.  Once the exposure has started, the photographer can then use a variety of light sources to literally 'paint' within the picture frame by walking around the landscape.  The nature of the long exposure means that the photographer remains invisible whilst creating the most surreal effects, and when coupled with the striking natural backdrops of Guernsey, the most extra-ordinary light images can result.

Where do you take most of your photos, do you have any favourite locations?
All of my Light Paintings to date have been created in Guernsey and I spend many hours each week walking around the Island scouting for new locations in order to familiarize myself with the location.  Certain locations are on the edge of a cliff, so it is pretty handy to know the location well before setting up in the dark!

Vazon Electrode

Can you explain the technique of light paintings?
There is a lot of kit required to create light paintings that can cost anything from a couple of hundred to thousands depending on how much you want to spend.  I normally try to dress in black or very dark clothing to help minimise the chances of being made visible to the camera during the shoot.  The shots are very dramatic.

How do they make you feel when you look at them?
I am still amazed by the whole process of light painting every time I venture out to make new work.  Even though I have been making light paintings for approximately 2 years now, I still feel a real sense of excitement every time I walk back to my camera to view the finished photograph.  I find the Orbs particularly mesmerising and very calming to look at.

Waiting For The Tide To Return

What kind of reaction do you get from people when you show them your work?
Reactions always vary, but thankfully most people who are not already familiar with light painting are quite amazed by the whole process when I explain it to them and they see the finished product.  I am still amazed by the actual process myself every time I venture out on a shoot - there is something quite magical about it.

Some of my work has also been met with a certain level of scepticism, as I think some people are not convinced that I do not use Photoshop to add the lights to my images.  I guess I should take that as a compliment though, and I can whole heartedly confirm that I create all of the lights you see in my photographs on location, and no trickery is ever used to add or subtract any lights from my photographs.

''My favourite locations are dotted around the coastal areas of the Island, as these tend to offer the most dramatic backdrops for my work.''

More of David's work can be seen on his website www.davidgilliverphotography.com

When I was studying A Level photography I generated some work similar and also used light to draw on a dark 'night sky' canvas.  My project was Image and Text and at this stage it was very much down to experimenting with techniques in order to find out what worked best.

I really enjoyed this but it was definitely a huge challenge.  I found it hard to write the words backwards at such a fast speed (before the shutter closed).  I hope to try some more in the future, maybe at Guernsey coastal locations like David.

Here were some of my successful pieces..

Apprentice - Off the street and into the gallery..

Standing in a tunnel decorated in urban street art, the contestants of the 2012 Apprentice waited in suspense, wondering what their task was this week..

With the call from Alan Sugar, they then found out that over the next couple of days they would have to visit, talk to and then select two practicing graffiti artists and then try and sell their work in a given, cutting edge gallery space within London.

Street Art?
This refers to a type of visual art which is created in public places, hence having the name 'street' art.  It doesn't just have to include graffiti, even though it is this which is most commonly recognised.  Sculpture, sticker art, stencil graffiti, poster art, wheatpasting, and even video and installation art can be seen on the streets.

Most of this work you see is unofficial and hasn't been authorized by anybody of power, this is why some people class this 'art work' as vandalism.

Due to the success of their work, some street artists have gained recognition and become well known within the art world.
This has even resulted in some showing their work in museums and galleries across the world as well as on the original crumbling street wall or cracked pavement where it all begun.

One of my favourite street artists is Banksy, an unknown graffiti artist born in Bristol.  I have been to view many of his original works, in areas including Bristol and London, even though a few had been tagged over by other artists.  Some of his work can be quite dark and meaningful as well as humorous, here are some of his pieces below..

Anyway, back to the task..

With the teams split in two, each chose a project manager.  Gabrielle ran team Sterling while taking charge of team Phoenix was Tom who already seemed to have a background knowledge in the subject.  He said he could understand the work itself and how graffiti art was put together, this is what bagged him the job of PM as he 'knew the message and meaning behind the street art.'

Throughout the show the teams met numerous up-and-coming street artists in order to view their work, find out a bit about them, discuss price budgets and most importantly, select their chosen two.

First up for Tom's team was SPQR, a Bristol based artist.  Following on from this, the teams also met others including Copyright, an ''urban artist with a painters touch'' - his pieces range anywhere between £100 - £2000 and in his last exhibition.. everything sold.
James Jessop was up next, coming across as a bit crazy and wild he stated ''I'm obsessed, I like to paint.''  His pieces are large scale, poster size art - something which first put the candidates off as they couldn't imagine people purchasing this for their own homes.

The last two artists still left to mention were my personal favourites, Pure
Evil  and Nathan Bowen.

Pure Evil

Attracting my attention straight away was the work produced here, iconic images of a female crying.. in exhibition the paint ran from her eyes down onto the floor.

Nathan Bowen

He was my favourite artist on the show, having previously been a builder, he moved to drawing on the sites, sketching characters he worked with and staff of the Royal family (guards etc).  More can be seen on his blog here.

Time to sell..
The teams then chose which artists work they wanted to exhibit and try and sell on the night.. earning 40% commission on every product.  As well as the two artists, each team had a corporate client to try and make a big sale with, Renault Car Manufacture and Beefeater Gin.

Team Sterling (Gabrielle) - Artists: Pure Evil and Nathan Bowen. Corporate Client: Beefeater Gin.

Results.. Gallery sales = £11,630 giving them a commission of £4579.65.
Corporate client didn't buy any work.  This was down to the team not finding out enough information beforehand.  The Gin company were looking for something unique and to do with London, most importantly they missed questions about size and budget.  They were willing to pay £5000 but the team had chosen artists who sold their work at a much lower price.  This lost them the possibility of a huge sale.

Team Phoenix (Tom) - Artists: Copyright and James Jessop. Corporate Client: Renault.
Results.. Gallery sales = £5980 giving them a commission of £2442 and corporate client gave them a commission on £2000.. meaning their overall total was £4442.
They won by a £137 difference.

What I learnt from watching this:
- Some of the candidates didn't have a clue about graffiti or anything within the art world, Adam admitted that he didn't even know what a 'medium' was.  But this didn't matter, his team won the fight over Nathan Bowen because they showed enthusiasm and were passionate about the art.  This is what the professionals want, they need someone who they know will try their hardest to sell the work.

- They also got Nathan to draw live during the exhibition, this is innovative and organic.  The customers will be able to see this fresh work being made, hopefully influencing them to purchase a piece.