Inception

In relation to the Outside/Inside project I have began to look at sources other than artwork. After thinking about dreams the movie ‘Inception’ came to mind so I decided to re-watch the film and pick out parts which I found informative towards the idea of studying dreams.

This film uses clever cinematography and narrative to give a good representation of dreams. The main character ‘Cobb’ has an ability to enter peoples dreams and steal their secrets from their subconscious. In a scene from the film is talks about how worlds are created in dreams, ‘Cobb’ explains how “our mind creates and perceives our worlds simultaneously”. This scene also talks about how the human mind creates worlds and situations so good that we don’t know it. This is how dreams feel realistic until we wake up and realise something was strange.

This film also plays on the theme of dreams vs reality. ‘Cobb’ uses a totem which is an object to test whether he is in a dream or reality. The object is a spinning top that stops spinning if he is in reality.

(Inception 2010)

Defining 1 dimension

this weeks text was from Creative intuition art and poetry, J. Maritain. This text was again extremely difficult to take in and develop and understanding of it. However after breaking it down into sections it became more clear.

 

From what I understood the text explores surrealism as well as poetry and how they relate to one another.

‘As Brenton put it, it leaves aside “any aesthetic” as well as any “moral concern.” The aim is to express “the real function of thought.”

In this quotation it talks about how surrealist express “the real function of thought” in their artwork. Therefore surrealism is about visualising “thought.” In relation to defining 1 dimension; Surreal paintings visualise “thought” through art which could be seen as the first dimension.

An example of this within the museum was difficult to find so i found an abstract painting which did not have the form of anything and tried to relate the brush strokes in the painting to this idea of the first dimension. I found this painting used brush strokes , shape and colour to give a representation of an object which could be related to the “real function of thought”.

Defining 4 dimension

This week in the museum the task was to read another text which was in the form of a play. After reading it over a few times I found the at the characters were talking about the subject of happiness and how being rich or poor can effect this. The character ‘MASHA’ describes how poverty is not the worst thing that can happen to someone. This gives a different perspective of happiness/unhappiness to the other characters.

My understanding of 4 dimension is that it uses all 3 dimensions as well as a fourth dimension which involves the senses.  I found that it was extremely difficult to find a piece of work that i could relate to this so i decided the example need to be more of a concept rather that a visual image. The piece of art I chose was Tyrrau Mawr, (Big Towers) 2016, which was part of the Artes Mundi Exhibition in the Cardiff Museum.

 

This to me includes a fourth dimension by using sound as well as image in an artistic way. This engages the senses and allows me to experience the artwork in another dimension.

Defining 3 dimension

In this weeks museum exercise we had to define 3 dimension.  We were each given this text to read through alongside this piece of art work. Once i had read through the text a few times i had to try make sense of it and choose something in the museum that i could relate to this to define 3 dimension.

My first intentions were to find a white marble sculpture as this seems to be what the text describes. However from what i understood the text was talking about an object and how an object such as a photograph could create a reflection. For example a photograph is 2 dimension but it is a reflection of the person in it. I believe that although the photograph is 2d our imagination creates a third dimension based on the reflections of the person in the photo.

Here is some of the art work i chose from around the museum that could best relate to this suggestion.

These are two sketches of a standing female nude by Augustus John (1878-1961).

Defining 2 dimension

In my ‘Transparency: Literal and Phenomenal’ lecture we were each given the task to solve a short riddle and find a piece of art or object within the Cardiff museum that could help me explain 2 dimension. Here is a photo of the piece we were given.

I figured out this was describing shadows and that figures cannot be seen clearly if there was no light or shadows present.

 

after taking this into consideration i found this piece of work by Ben Nicholson which i could use as an example to define what 2D meant in my opinion. I stated that when paintings contain shadow the human mind visualises the form in 3 dimension by using depth of field and tone. however when there are no shadows present the painting becomes so abstract that it looses its form and the human mind cannot visualise it in 3 dimension, therefore becoming 2D.

Francis Bacon

Study for self-portrait

While on a visit to Cardiff museum i came across this painting by Francis Bacon which i thought would strongly relate to my project ‘outside/inside’. At a first glance the subject has a relaxed posture however when looking at the centre towards the face where the features are difficult to identify, the subject doesn’t appear relaxed at all. The gestural strokes of paint show there is some sort of confusion or disturbance going on within the person. I feel that this could aid my project when exploring the human mind or dreams.

Frank Stella

I have chosen to look into the work of Frank Stella because of the unique shaped canvases he uses in his paintings. Stella creates giant paintings on shaped canvases. In relation to the shaped painting material project i feel he is a good example to look at to gain ideas. I really like the way Stella uses colour, pattern and line in his work to give the shapes a more 3 dimensional look to them. Here are examples of his work that i was particularly drawn to.

http://www.thephotophore.com/frank-stella-paul-kasmin-gallery/ ( accessed on 28/10/16)