Mia Pearlman - Hannah Grainger

I came across a very intriguing artist called Mia Pearlman.  She works in both two and three dimensions that blue the line between actual, illusionistic and imagined space. I love how she creates a natural look to her work, it's very moving and has a great sense of freedom and movement.


 She uses her surroundings and what is going on in the world at that time for her inspiration. This piece below is called HAVOC and was created in the middle of an ice storm in Pembroke. The title reflects the weather and the current political and environment at the moment, I think she has captured this really well in her work and has made me think about how I can relate my work to my project and create a strong link between the two.

Fiona Curran - Hannah Grainger

Yesterday I went to a talk by Fiona Curran. She mentioned that she draws using paint and her ideas always start out as a series of small drawings but develop into a much larger scale which I found inspiring. Here is a photo of her finished piece of the project 'Designing Identity' for Tatton Park as part of the Biennial in 2010. 

she showed us how important it was to visualize your ideas by making little models and taking digital photos to develop your ideas and to see if they will work or not. I love how her choice of colours that she uses, they're very bright and bold. Her work often invilved over lapping, collages and shapes which I find works really well on a large scale. 

 

Fiona Curran talk- Laura Paterson

I've been to the Fiona Curran talk today which I found really interesting. She showed us how her work had progressed from a small folded piece of paper in to huge sculptured wall art. I really like the colours and bold shapes In her work. She also talked about how she had worked for Tatton Park and had created a tree house Influenced by difficulty in the environment such as Hurricane Catrina.

Samiyah Fiaz - Cube Gallery

The cube gallery was about the underground Manchester, I found this Gallery interesting because  I learnt more about The Mancunian Way, The Picc-Vic Tunnel, The guardian Underground Telephone Exchange and lastly the City Heliport on top of Victoria Station. 

In  found all these short video clips on YouTube interesting and moving it shows the insights of History stuff that we would not experience today or even remember.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-OrJq0oJ6Y - I found this video interesting as in Manchester there was a wishing well shaft beneath a restaurant.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-4ph3jRcG4&feature=related - This video I found very edgy and freaky as there are some scenes that are really dark and some bits which are light and normal and you can see out into Manchester. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQ3NP9zeUv4&feature=related- Manchester's long lost canal and tunnel.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yc_00gb-fTU&feature=related- Underground Manchester, I have recently found out that you can actually go on underground tours, I have tried to book on as I found it interesting and to see Manchester with secrets, but so far they have been fully booked.

Designing in public lecture- Laura Paterson

 Today I went to a lecture by a lady who studied architechture and currently works for URBED (urbanism, environment and design). She told us they had recently designed a bus tour for the public which takes people around Manchester and gives a talk about its history - I thought this would be quite good for me as i am focusing on Cities. She also talked about the density of Manchester and how in the past flats were demolished and rebuilt.

We were told about Jeanne Van Heswick who designed 'The resistance of small happiness'. This was a huge horse shoe shaped table he made so that people in the town could gather round and socialise at BBQ's etc. I like the idea of different people in cities and towns coming together as i think it creates a contrast between rich and poor, old and young etc. 

City life/ Claire Lowe lecture- Laura Paterson

I want to look at city life and the contrast of people, buildings, places and transport. I want to compare the dull reality of the city, such as homeless people to the rich buisness men. From public transport to posh cars and old worn out buildings to new architecture. I also want to look at students, music festivals and partying, all the things that make a city.

 

I went to the Claire Lowe lecture today which was all about the corridor Manchester which i found quite interesting in relation to what i am doing, she talked about what the corridor meant to different people and having a sense of place and belonging. 

 

 

'The place is about what the people in the place want it to be about' - Peter Saville.

Alix Dessain- Cube Gallery

Richard Brooks, a lecturer in Architect, came in to talk to us about the new art school but more specifically about the 4 internal concrete pillars within the building. Rather than being 4 plain pillars they have been moulded with a floral pattern, designed by former Manchester School of Art pupil Lewis Day. By adding the floral pattern the harshness of the grey concrete has been softened and makes the pillars look a lot more attractive and interesting and I’m looking forward to being able to see the pillars myself. It was interesting seeing what is usually considered a very industrial material being used in such a way to give it a softer and more textural look.  

He also spoke about the current exhibition at the Cube Gallery ‘Infra_MANC’ which looks at the post war development of the infrastructure in the city.  I went to see this exhibition and really enjoyed it as I was able to look into the geographical history of the city. I was intrigued by the underground system that is in the city and has made me want to explore this more and incorporate it into my project. The underground world of Manchester that many people don’t know about or even know exists reminded me of the mystery of the alleyways in Marrakech where people don’t know what is around the next corner or what lies on the other side of the alley walls.

Here are a few pictures of detailed maps with patterns and colours that I found interesting and appealed to me.

Dave Haslam Talk- Alix Dessain

This week we started our new unit, Unit X. As part of the unit there are a number of talks that have been put on, one of them was by Dave Haslam, a Dj from Manchester.

Although I had never heard of Dave Haslam and knew nothing about him, his talk last Tuesday was interesting. He talked about the famous music scene in Manchester and about the ‘unknown and secret’ Manchester. Some of the venues he mentioned, such as the Kraak Gallery in the Northern Quarter, have made me want to go out and explore the smaller independent places that can be found here.  I knew Manchester was famous for its music scene and that countless bands started out in the city, but I never knew that there were so many musicians that were established here such as Joy Division, The Chemical Brothers and Doves.