sam buc art

Looking at my exhibition i have decided that spotlighting is essential due to the brilliant effect the shadows of the piece create on the otherwise bare backboards.

In the weeks since my last update here is what has happened:

All my MDF pieces were cut and decorated using permanent markers, one by one. I chose to use red white and black in a Frank Miller style for high contrast maxiumum impact on the viewer. The edges of each piece and all the panels were painted black using acrylic, simply because it was quicker and required no priming with te right consistency of paint. Also no detail was needed so paint applied with a brush to creat solid black was the best and easiest choice.

I used 0.7mm fishing wire of 60lbs strain strength, looped through the edges or corners of each piece, through holes which I drilled using 1 and 1.5mm drill bits.

My exhibition space consists of two boards standing perpendicular to eachother at their corners at 90 degrees. The metal grid was placed on top, also resting on a wooden beam which was placed toward the front end of the space in order to bring the grid as far forward as possible.

The pieces were hung by attaching to wire to paperclips, which turned out to be far easier and equally as effective as making all my hooks, so i saved myself a lot of time.

The final piece was built from the ground up to ensure that there would be enough space for all the mdf drawings. The drawings are displayed slightly differently to the original plan, due to miscalculation of space available. Effectively I had initially planned for the piece to hang from the ceiling, allowing for pretty much as much space as I needed. As it turns out the exhibition boards are around 2.5metres so that’s how much space I had to work with, deciding against ceiling haning, as it would be simpler to create a show that cannot be seen from behind using boards.

My initial plans for a second and third outcome fell apart due to a combination or lack of time and underestimation of the amount of work that my main final piece needed in order to fnish it completely without compromising quality. As it stands, I am very happy with my exhibition, but if I could go back I would decide on the number of outcomes I wanted to produce far earlier during the 10 weeks.

Almost finished applying designs to MDF. Have realised that I need 1 more large panel to complete the piece. Wil lget with tomorrow morning and paint it white. it is unlikely that I will be able to complete all cutting tomorrow, but if not I will extrend this process into thursday. I plan to be decorating the piece on thursday afternoon. If all this is achieved I can drill haning points on firday and start suspending pieces.

Will complete suspending after half term. Feel that I may have estimated time it has taken to finalise my designs, have definitely underestimated amount of materials needed and this has set me back slightly.

Exhibition note: piece must be displayed in such a way that it is impossible to walk behind it as the rear will not be decorated.

• Complete story visuals
• Complete cutting MDF
• Construct hooks
• Paint frames black
• Plan exhibition
• Assemble

Plan to finalise story visuals tonight, meaning I can being cutting individual scene elements tomorrow. Ideally all the pieces would be completed early next week so that I can begin the suspending process thurs/fri next week. This plan requires 100% attendence from here on out!

Have constructed first 4 ‘frame’ panels. Am having to start construction at the same time as finalising designs due to time restrictions. Better time management may have prevented this, but I’m not coping well with the stress at all.

Hanging method has been successfully tested and is far superior to my previous suspended piece (which fell to pieces!)’

For hooks: metal wire hooks tied to a length of fishing wire, threaded through corners of MDF pieces (drill) provides excellent maneuverability, strength and durability.

Constructing first set of panels from MDF. Instead of keeping a single-piece solid frame I have cut out two pieces, as I would have had to use a drill and jigsaw in order to ‘cut out’ the empty space (far more time consuming, which I have increasingly little of). This way I can stick to using the band saw, where I can easily achieve my desired results relatively quickly.

Have nearly completed designs for plot on paper. If I can get into the wood workshop regularly I can have all the pieces for the story cut out by the weekend. I can apply the designs to the cutout pieces at home then hopefully start the suspending process next week.

Dear PRJ…….

Tomorrow is my interview for Nottingham Trent Uni. I’m incredibly anxious but I’m feeling confident
and have spent all day working on my portfolio and notes for what I plan on saying during the interview.

In terms of preparation I feel that my portfolio is good, although incredibly limited as I have had to narrow down the number of design sheets to the asked 15(ish). Considering that I have around 40 sheets in total, the selection process has been tough! In retrospect I would have focused more on completing strong graphics-based sheets for my folio towards interview time. As it happens I started with a very broad show of work, which I have had to mix and match in order to show both exploration and a graphic design direction.

My sketchbooks are weaker, I feel. I will be going through my selected books and adding in any missing anotations etc tonight before I get going tomorrow.

I really hope I get in. This is where I want to go.

Continuing with construction of end piece 1. Panels and majority of pieces are going to be cut from MDF. Panels will be painted plack with acrylic, rolled on for smoothness and texture consistency.

A quick review of my sketchbook progress so far has shown me that I need:

• More hanging sculpture references
• + other references (Frank miller…)
• To Top up anotations and notes
• To remember to document construction of end piece

I feel I am now able to work more confidently and fluently in my sketchbook as my final pieces seem more realistic. One of my goals is to keeo this consistency of work for the remainder of the course.

My hanging rig for end piece 1 is now finished, coated in chicken wire for extra hanging points. Will be using hooks attached to fishing wire to suspend objects from the rig, rather than directly attaching them to it as I did before. This will give much better manouveur manoeuvrability and many more options without ever completely setting anything in stone.

Narrative designs need to be completed ASAP, and further options need to be explored for end piece 2 before I can begin construction.

Today marks the penultimate stage in my time plan. I have to begin the construction of my final pieces in order to stay on target. The other loose ends will have to be tied up next month, after the workshops close. Everything that requires workshop use is going to be prioritised, starting today.

Plans for today:

- Write narrative for final piece 1
- Finalise size/dimensions/materials needed
- Begin construction of hanging rig in metal

Dear PRJ… tomorrow is Monday and I will be in college all day finalising the plans I outlined in my previous entry.

It hasn’t been a brilliant Easter as far as catching up with work goes, having been ill for most of it. However from now till we go back on Tuesday I am going to be progressing my FMP. Here is the plan for the next few days:

• Finalise plans for end piece 1. Draw up exact measurements, materials list, cost and estimated construction time.
• Complete final version of essay. Add missing references, proof read etc.
• Go through sketchbook with FMP checklist and fill in any gaps to maximise preparation for the last stretch of the course.
• Finalise ideas for end piece 2 and decide on format.
• Choose/invent a figure/organisation to work on for end piece 3.

From the 21st - 29th April I will be splitting my time between end piece construction and interview prep for my interview at NTU on the 29th. Within this period I will need to allocate time to:

• Review portfolio & sketchbooks
• Decide which portoflio sheets I will be taking (15 max). Will need to make new ones for FMP work which I want to take with me.

And go!

Reflecting on the progress of my figure/background pieces and want to modify the posed shots in some way to make them more comic-like, and to add more drama as they feel a bit two-dimensional at the moment. Experimenting with drawing over images and digital modification in photoshop.

Current options I have considered for hanging sculpture:

• Panels suspended horizontally over large 2D floor image (initial reaction)
• Tower/box type sculpture with clear perspex top from which panels and other imagery are suspended, layer upon layer so that from a bird’s eye view through the perspex, one can see the full image. All horizontal.
• Short narrative, translated into hanging comic book (vertically, similar to my smoking man sculpture), which progressively falls to pieces (all pieces remain suspended in air, at different angles and heights) all the way to the floor.

At this stage, it is safe to say that the third option would clearly create the most visually exciting piece, if not the largest, most complex, most costly and most time-consuming to assemble. This all aside I believe it would create the most effective final piece in relation to my project.

Christ. It’s 4 days until the end of term and there’s lots to be done.

According to my statement of intent timeplan, starting this week I’m supposed to be finalising my out outcome ideas. Looking at my current situation, I’d say I’ m about a week and a half behind where I was planning on being at this stage, and still lacking in primary research. These two items will have to be addressed over the half term.

I have a number of things I’ve been working on in my sketchbooks, which I’ve decided I’m going to take through to create multiple outcomes for the FMP. The issue is that my project started out as something quite simple (though, maybe a little to broad) and has now gone a bit off the rails. My job this week is going to be to reign it in and make sure it has a clear direction for the last stretch of the project.

Here’s what I have been working on:

• Hanging panel sculptures
  
  • Progress: Completed initial experiment, need to evaluate in order to plan for final piece. Begun initial recordings of ideas for a final piece. Final stages of planning this week (scale, materials etc).
  • Relevant artists: Cornelia Parker (Thirty Pieces of Silver, seen at Tate Modern), Roy Lichtenstein
  • Final piece: Large scale hanging sculpture which is composed of multiple large comic book panels (wood/black mounting board/black foam board/cardboard/metal), suspended from a rig, over a huge 2D image which lies flat on the ground. Depending on the weight of the panels I will either use clear fishing wire or a stronger material to hang them. The rig will be made from criss-crossed metal beams. Floor image will be a Lichtenstein-style piece of a number of different smaller images flowing into one. Most likely will be mixed media, using my own printed out images, drawing and painting. I may also include some low-relief elements. This floor image will also be typographic.
• Figure/background pieces
  
  • Progress: Have sketched out initial ideas (figure poses) and translated them into photo shoot. Currently combining these figures with background imagery which I have researched and am designing to work with the poses I shot. Have been experimenting with different types of markmaking/found objects and photomanipulation to make background images.
  • Relevant artists: Neil Gaiman, Humberto Ramos, Yukito Kishiro
  • Final piece: Life-size (hopefully - however, resources, money and time will dictate whether or not this scale is possible. May have to settle for A1, as this would be far easier accomplished) versions of photographed figures, stood in front of large reproductions of background images. Speech bubble to be layered in front of figures, either as 3D objects or drawon onto clear plastic. All 3 layers will be have stands to balance them on the ground.
• Essay-related graphic identity project
  • Progress: This reality of this outcome will be entirely decided by the time left available to me after completing my first two outcomes, as it will not require any workshops. As of yet it has not yet been started, other than in the form of research in my essay.
  • Relevant artists: Sol Sender (Barack Obama graphic identity) +more to come
  • Final piece: Design of a graphic identity/visual campaign for an individual/group/organisation with similar functionality to the work Sol Sender + MODE on the Barack Obama presidential campaign. This piece would be a straight graphic design project, in line with my pathway.

With my plans and progress now outlined I can now say that I have a direction to head in, though with better time management of the past few weeks I would have better preparation, more resarch and more branched-out exploration. As it stands I’m going to have to rush into the preparation for my final pieces with what I already have to hand, as I no longer have time to start anything from scratch. Over half term and after I have finished my final pieces I will return to my sketchbooks to work upon these areas.