Continuing with First Assignment

I found the books recommended for this course on Amazon and ordered them; the first one arrived, British Art Since 1900: by Frances Spalding: Thames and Hudson (1987). Skimming it quickly I think Chapter 9: Pop, Op and New Generation Sculpture will be very relevant to this course, and I have received a few more but one book is still outstanding. The Hockney looks amazing I did see some of the series on television when it was broadcast and found it fascinating.

3D Elements

The next element of the Task 1 in Assignment 1 is to make a scan of 3D items. I chose things to scan that were around me in the first instance and then chose things that interest me and have an influence in everyday life. I had investigated things to do with grooming. This may seem obvious to us in Western civilisation but would be considered luxuries in some societies. What I became interested in was the illusion of containment of objects within receptacles, particularly in these scans of shells. This is a view of the "upsidedown" world that is the scanner. It is amazing how convincing this illusion is; it defies the reality of the "rightwayup" world we actually live in. Another aspect that was interesting was the background. I touched on this in the 2D element when looking at cards. Quite subtle differences can have quite a major effect on the mood. I think this is clearly illustrated in the slide show. The background was changed but the composition remained the same in the last four scans, but the effect on the final images is quite striking. Also the orientation has a huge effect; I changed the orientation after the first scan so that the three final scans with different backgrounds were the other way up.



The next set of 3D items I scanned in was on a wool and knitting theme. some of these were a lot more successful than others. I like the wool in the box, again the "containment" of the objects appeals to me. I don't think the other scans were very successful. The pieces of knitting and the gridded balls of wool are quite boring and the random balls (not in a box) have nothing to recommend them either.


I have lost my way a bit; I thought I was doing OK but I feel I have hit a bit of a wall, which is a bit of a shame so early in the course. I have had a few ideas for the final image but I think they may be a bit difficult to pull off. Although I have scanned in lots of stuff I feel as if I need to start over. I have been looking at words and opposites and am trying to work something out in imagery, but maybe I need to stick to something a bit easier to tackle for my first assignment, just get it out. To quote one of my bosses "better to do a job badly than not to do it at all." Anyway the word that triggered my train of thought was transparency. There are many connotations to this word which are most pertinent to this course.