Our trip to the Leeds Armory Museum...

This image was taken from one of the many helmets that were on display in the Armory Museum. The reason I chose to put this image on my blog was that what made this helmet stand out from all of the others in my opinion, was the pattern. The way in which it connects to the other sections and the black on gold are also features which drew me to this specific piece.

Although after seeing nearly every gun ever constructed in the museum I found myself intrigued more by the older guns rather than the modern. Where as the modern gun's sole purpose is practicality, the older guns although keeping practicality in mind, the aesthetic qualities are obviously present. With most having a silver/die on the finished result and with them being so hidden to us in comparison to the weapons of our time this I think also adds to why I find them so interesting.

History of Your Life in 4 Objects/ The Present...

My Pencils. These specific pencils are from the Derwent Cumberland Pencil Company which first began business in 1832. The archetypal pencil may have been the stylus, which was a thin metal stick, often made from lead and used for scratching in papyrus, a form of early paper. As well as being used extensively by the 

ancient Egyptians and  Romans the word pencil originally comes from the Old French word pincel, a small paintbrush. I think by choosing pencils, a form of stationary, this isn't meant to just focus on pencils specifically but art as a whole. The object is meant to symbolise that in the present my entire life is pretty much art and, as far as I'm aware it will hopefully be my future as well. Becoming involved in art from a very early age, during my childhood it was more a hobby and only with growing older has it really become a significant part of my life. 

History of Your Life in 4 Objects/ Late Teenage...

My iPod. iPod is a line of portable media players created and marketed by Apple Inc. Apple Inc is an American multinational corporation that designs and markets consumer electronics, computer software, and personal computers. The iPod line came from Apple's 'digital hub' category, when the company began creating software for the growing market of personal digital devices. Digital cameras, camcorders and organizers has well-established mainstream markets, but the company found existing digital music players "big

and clunky or small and useless," with user interfaces that were "unbelievably awful," so Apple decided to develop its own. The name iPod was proposed by Vinnie Chieco. AFter Chieco saw a prototype, he thought of the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey and the phrase "Open the pod bay door" which refers to the white EVA Pods of the Discovery One spaceship. Chieco saw an analogy to the relationship between the spaceship and the smaller independent pods in the relationship between a personal computer and the music player. The reason I chose this object for my late teenage is because during my last year of secondary school and throughout sixth form I can't remember a day I didn't take my iPod into school with me. I think my interest in music obviously played a large part in my attachment to my iPod and since then its significance has simply grown to the point where I'd be devastated if I lost it.

History of Your Life in 4 Objects/ Early Teenage...

My Dunks. The Dunk was first introduced by Nike, Inc. in 1985. Originally designed for basketball, the intent was a lighter weight and staying closer to the ground shoe. In addition, the paneling was revised to improve basketball game performance during pivoting and blocking. Moving on to the colour of the shoe the Dunk was used to spearhead what Nike called the 'College Colours' program; essentially the shoe matched the teams uniform. Moving into skate culture Nike's basketball shoe line was fairly popular in the skate- boarding scene, and the Dunk soon 

became a popular shoe for skaters due to the stability and lower profile sole which improved grounding performance. In 2002, Nike created a Dunk specifically for skateboarders, known as the Nike Dunk SB. The popularity of these dunks has grown so wide that it has prompted Nike to create many other kinds of shoes specifically for skateboarding such Paul Rodriguez's, Tre's, Blazer's and Team Editions to name a few. When I first bought these shoes I thought they were amazing, I thought they were comfortable, the colours everything about them I liked. However, after growing since then, looking back at the shoes I can't help but find them, repulsive. I didn't play basketball or even skate so the reasons for wearing them were merely casual. As to their current significance and future importance I really can't see myself wearing the shoes ever again and in terms of their significance I honestly have no attachment to them anymore whatsoever.

Erwin Wurm/ Thorsten Brinkmann Interpretations...

This idea was based on combining the work of Erwin Wurm and Thorsten Brinkmann into one image or at least having features of both artists in the photograph. The aim of the exercise was to basically wear a t-shirt in a way in which we don't normally wear one, keeping in mind the styles of both artists.

Considering the lessons theme was inspired by the two artists mentioned above the basic aim of this exercise was, in pairs to dress one another in things we might not normally wear, whilst also trying to create a different and unique outfit.

So these were fun.

Thorsten Brinkmann...

So Thorsten Brinkmann's artwork basically resides of him redressing people mainly women in clothes putting say a bag on the head or trousers on the arms. As you can see in the photograph the subject is wearing what appears to be a leather bag on her head and a cardigan the wrong way round. I think everything about this piece is perfect, it seems to me to have a slight eighteenth, nineteenth century theme with the image being taken from the side. The colours of the items of the clothing are also interesting as they avoid any bright colours and seem to vary around quite dull almost faded colours which I like. Moreover although the clothes in the image are in a way wrong as in how they are being worn the piece still seems to make sense and is still easy to determine which position the subject is facing and what it actually is. An absolutely brilliant piece in my opinion I feel like its wrong, yet it looks right.

Another amazing piece by Thorsten Brinkmann: now after seeing this piece and and a few others I feel pretty certain in assuming that the artist goal when creating his pieces is to create a eighteenth century portrait with a hint of surrealism in it and modernism of course. After looking at the headdress I'm still uncertain as to what it is. At first I just assumed it was another bag after seeing the first image but when I looked harder it, in opinion resembled the paper you get your chips in at a fish and chip shop however, I then went back to my previous idea due to the surface having what looked like a shine to it. The pose once again I think helps resemble a portrait from the past, as if it is of someone royal perhaps. Again I think the use of colour in this piece is very interesting; this piece differs from the previous as the subject is completely light in contrast with the black background allowing the audience to focus on the individual.

Out of all of Brinkmann's pieces this piece is my absolute favourite. The section regarding the head, I like more than the other pieces simply due to the shape; the smooth outline of the what I think might be a tennis racket case and the nose of the model slightly protruding creating just a slight amount of shading to make it obvious what it is. Moving down the image the doylees or whatever they are taking on the role of what I think is called a lapel, its so simple, merely resembling a similar upside-down triangle shape yet its recognizable. The backwards facing jacket I also  think fits perfectly. The green, brown, gold mix and the folds, even how the upper part of the chest stands out more than any other part of the torso. Finally the milking jug on the hand I think is just amazing but, I'm not really sure why I like it so much. The overall pose of the subject when looking at it as a whole I also think has been created in a perhaps modern style, as if the subject is looking at you, the surreal aspects again I think. After actually looking at this artist and evaluating his work, deciding what I like and dislike his artwork has really made me change my view on what I consider to be fine art. From normally only really, seriously liking art mainly created with pen, pencil or paint this artwork has really opened me up to accept and to explore other artists besides those using the traditional medium.

Erwin Wurm...

Discovering this artist today my overall opinion of the artist and his work is generally positive. I think that this piece specifically works really well as a whole. The simplicity of the piece being really just a bag on a person's head I really like but when I looked closer the stage and what I think are tennis balls I think help the piece as well. Furthermore the piece I think has a surreal aspect to it which is one of my favourite types of art.

Following on from the surreal nature of his pieces I think this piece demonstrates that exactly to an extent. The angle of the woman's body coming down slightly from the right and eventually getting larger at the bottom, it just works, its a great pose. With it getting larger it also sort of contrasts with the sharp, thin pointy pencils she's obviously about to sit on. I like the colours as well the neutral, non vibrant tones of the woman's dress, skin colour and even the background of the piece and the slightly brighter more vibrant colours of the pencils are lovely.

One thing that my lovely teacher (Andy) told me about this piece is that to create it the artist set up two buckets and said "stand in one of the buckets and put the other on your head." Therefore depending on how the individual stands, sits or crouches even the pose and overall image will be different, suggesting that the form of the person or stance is the actual artwork rather than the obvious bucket on the head. What I like about this piece of art however is how its almost like people who don't do art perhaps are actually helping creating these interesting pieces and with such ease. So overall I think that this artist is really interesting, I really like his slightly surreal approach and how with some pieces he even gets the viewers of his art actually in the art. Although its a small part of his art I also like how he actually presents his work, the colours, the poses of the primary subjects, the little raised stages: I just like it.