Claude Parent

Claude Parent transformed Tate Liverpool’s Wolfson gallery space in 2014 with ‘La Colline.’ With inclines, sloping walkways and curved walls his intervention makes for an inviting and unique alternative to the classical gallery viewing space. 

Parent created a balance between considering visual art and physical participation. With its grey and yellow ramps, semi-transparent walls and sloped walls, his intervention invites you not only to look but to physically engage. Whether traversing ramps, leaning against curved walls or relaxing on in-laid platforms, you could also take in work by other artists.

Carsten Hoeller

‘Test Site’ was built in 2006 in the Turbine Hall of Tate Modern, and was made up of five spiraling slides that reached from the top floors to the ones below. Carsten utilises the experiences of his audience as his ‘raw material’ and has created art since the 1980’s that focuses on visitor participation.

As an audience, we only associate slides with parks or emergency exits. This installation allows participants to experiment and trial the individually shaped slides, mostly to perceive how they are affected by them. The museum was used as an area to test out concepts and plans that could potentially be created on an even wider and bigger scale. The slides have been described as exploratory sculptures and according to Hoeller, “offer the possibility of unique inner experiences that can be used for the exploration of the self.”

Rose-Marie Goulet

Goulet created a monument to the memory of the victims of the tragedy at the Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal, called ‘Nef pour quatorze reines,’ which effectively takes up the entire site and offers a moment of reflection. 14 blocks are combined to a band of black granite addressing the names of each victim. The blocks are situated along the whole length of the confining pathway, encouraging a time of consideration and pause.

“Our artwork is a memorial that integrates the site and the monument into a single commemorative gesture in memory of the 14 young women. The evocation of those who have died becomes the site and the site becomes a place of memory.”

‘Running Fence’ – Christo and Jeanne-Claude

The ‘Running Fence’ was an 18ft high and 25-mile long fence that ran along the north of San Francisco. The artists went through many difficulties during planning, as the project involved dozens of public hearings, a 450-page environmental report and 2 years of public planning, as well as the construction and cooperation of 59 ranchers. A part of the fence, a strip that ran across the coastal cliff and into the Pacific Ocean caused the most commotion and there was a group called ‘Committee To Stop The Running Fence’ who appealed the permit that the artists had obtained. As a result, the artists were charged a $10,000 fee, as well as $500 a day for every day the fence ran into the ocean. Although they faced many issues and difficulties, Christo and Jeanne-Claude described themselves as “the cleanest artists in the world: all is removed, large scale works of art are temporary, the sites are restored to their original condition and most materials are recycled.”

‘Indra’s Cloud’ – Anne Percoco

During her visit to India, Anne Percoco was encouraged to creatively use materials available to raise awareness on consumerism and the environment. She built a floating sculpture that was formed of over 1000 found water bottles to resemble a cloud. This sculpture allowed her to make a statement about the extremely polluted condition of the river. She was inspired to create this cloud because she was appalled by how many people went through single-use plastic bottles and littered these everywhere.

‘Concrete Jungle – The Birds’ – Mark Dion

Mark Dion has been known for merging human action and the natural environment in his work. He tends to challenge the ways in which we observe information through his photography and sculptures. Through his work he proposes that “our ideas about nature have led us to behave in an ecologically suicidal manner.” (P. 43). His sculptures are constructed of found objects and ocean garbage that he collects.

 

I started reading ‘Gyre: The Plastic Ocean’, which discusses the originating issues of plastic waste, the issues that animals and nature face due to plastic pollution, examples of artists work depicted as a visual impact who use debris collected from various beaches across the world, and ways of solving the problem of plastic pollution.

The book provides many shocking examples of what plastic pollution has led to in the environment and depicts plastic waste as “colourful testaments to human consumption”. Artists and scientists together have the ability of creating an impactful visual narrative. Although scientists are able to provide us with realistic facts, artists are also keen observers and researchers. Art has a way of raising awareness by leaving people with information and motivation to make a change. Using art as a form of research is able to “provide a special way of coming to understand something and how it represents what we know about the world” (Sullivan, 2004, p.61). 

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Ways of solving the problem:

Humans put debris in the marine environment, which means that we can keep it from happening. Marine debris is a tangible issue, and it’s preventable. On the other hand, it’s also a very complex issue with no single solution. It requires responsibility and action at every level, collaborative effort from governments, the private sector and individuals.

Reduce, Reuse & Recycle!

• There are easy and effective ways for people to help prevent waste from entering the marine environment
• Limit single-use items, join a cleanup, raise awareness among peers
• Everyone has a contributing hand in the problem, which also means everyone can and must help solve it. We are the main cause of the problem, but also the key to the solution.

After having looked at many examples of 3D typography I wanted to start experimenting myself. I was interested in using waste material rather than purchasing brand new mediums. I was travelling home on the tube and came across a few newspaper articles that were left on the seats, which seemed well suited to start exploring 3D type with. 

I collected them and started making small scrolls out of each double-spread page. Once I had a larger number of them, I glued them together to form different letters. As I had previously ripped each sheet into smaller pieces, the scrolls ended up as different sized which made the overall letters more interesting. I was quite surprised at how well you could identify each letter when viewed from above. Although this was a fun exercise, I felt that using newspaper wouldn’t be the best material, especially if I’m displaying my final piece outside. It stuck well together because I made the newspaper more rigid by rolling each sheet together, but I’d be limited in making a large piece of work and there are difficulties in forming a 3D model in paper, as it’s not very solid.

This made me reconsider the material I wanted to use for my 3D model and so I started to consider more sustainable mediums. With plastic pollution being such a large issue at the moment, I started thinking about using recycled plastic as a way of making people more aware of the current issues we face. Using recycled plastic would provide me with firm material, which will be more useful for my installation, as well as being able to raise awareness about plastic pollution.

This presentation was aimed to guide and help us with confidence when presenting our work in front of a larger audience, for example in the final critiques. We went over presentation and technical skills, as well as talking about anxiety and general tips that can be useful when holding a presentation. I’ve listed the general advice I found to be most useful to myself below. 

Key points that make a good presentation:

• Not reading off the slides for long periods of time (useful to have more images over words to stop this from happening)
• Bullet points over large paragraphs 
• Planning / logical order / layout 
• No jargon / consider your audience / use the right language 
• Practice !!
• Narrative > one thing to come away with > what’s the relevance & what do I want people to get out of this

We were then given a quick task to complete with a partner, which involved reading an article and then holding a brief one-minute presentation about this article. We only had 10 minutes to prepare for this which was a very limited amount of time to present a story in an exciting and persuasive way to an audience. Once every pair presented their article we took part in another short exercise, which involved everyone sitting in a circle and mentioning pros and cons in relation to the one-minute presentation. A way of making sure everyone had a turn in saying a point was by throwing a ball of wool across the group. This was a fun and engaging activity and it was very useful to hear everyone’s feedback and will help me in my future presentations.

Words, symbols, images, and forms can be used to help structure our built environment. Design brings communities together, forms branded areas and generates pleasure through the use of colour and typography. Super graphics have long been treated as a lesser method of communication which was simply used to cover faults on bland architecture, for example, designing immense coloured stripes along dull walls and offices to create a nicer environment.  The interpretation of super graphics, however, has been altered in the past 20 years. In the past, a broad geometric design on construction was considered to be a supergraphic. Now, the word encloses architectural delineation, leading the way into a certain direction, analysing signage and illustrative murals. Digital technology now enables interaction, communication, and screen-based media on a great scope. The viewer has the opportunity to connect and collaborate with an architectural area in a different, particular and possibly intimate way. A genuine and authentic inventor uses the full area, context, and sense of place to transform the environment and produce a narrative including colour, shapes, and words.

Successful supergraphics:

• have a strong concept
• give the opportunity of interaction between the architecture, light, and space
• have a relationship with the audience

Typographic graphics contribute as decoration or as determining signage to set the boundaries or limits of a distinct location. A maker cover and place brand tag-lines, messages and sense of direction information to buildings, screens, and many more surfaces. Typographic graphics thrive when unified with or act in response to the area or architecture of an environment. 

Colour is often used to serve the purpose of emphasising a brand message, suggest a decorative aspect or to navigate the audience into a particular direction. The graphics also have a possibility of complimenting the structure and architecture of a bland exterior or interior space. Often, the colours will be vivid, radiant and bright and are able to tolerate fluctuating weather and light conditions. 

“The term ‘vernacular’ refers to language. In design, it is a culture’s specific visual language. This can take the form of colours related to the local community, typography based on historical references, or materials that are indigenous to, or synonymous with, a region, such as flip-flops and Sydney.” (P.18)

Vernacular design can be produced by an experienced and qualified designer. As essential to a unique community or culture, vernacular design can also be formed by non-designers, for example, a shop owner painting a sign or symbol. “The primary factor of vernacular supergraphics is a visual solution based on a specific set of cultural connections.” (P.18)

 

 

 

The word “tangible” is defined as something palpable and real that has a physical existence and can be distinguishable through touch. The works shown in this book are created as three-dimensional objects that are approachable. This creates an inviting urge for viewers to further explore the experienceable projects. They vary from being uncomplicated structures to unbelievable arrangements that have been exhibited as an actual presence in a space.

The following works have been created by graphic designers but go beyond digital or virtual designs as they identify as touchable. It is not only the use of a creative mind that is required to be able to delve into the installations but rather the entire body. The installations may have initially been designed to act as flat media, like posters, and yet have become a three-dimensional interactivity where the viewer’s participation is essential for them to act as interactive media.

The installations manage to question the prominent misinterpretation that interactive design must be displayed on a screen. They draw the viewer closer in an attempt to reveal ideas and thoughts behind each project.

Corita Kent was an artist, social activist, and a nun. The exhibition at House of Illustration displays 70 of her screen prints in which you can see the progression and growth of her work. Through incorporating slogans, lyrics, biblical verses and literature quotes with typography and graphic design, Corita has challenged misogyny, racism, and war in the 1960’s. In the early 1960’s she places religious texts together with controversial advertising slogans as a contrasting effect capturing the expression of dissatisfaction and commercialism in LA. She then uses her art to protest against poverty, war, and racism in the late 1960’s. Being in the position of working as someone who made a vow of obedience towards America meant that her work was greatly influential.

When I walked into the main part of the exhibition I was quite taken aback. It is not very often you see that many vivid, radiant, bright and bold screenprints in one room that hold such a striking political message. The vibrant colours are reflected all over the room and almost bounce off of one another. Although the prints would still look incredible when displayed on their own, they represent a powerful and controversial voice influencing social change when combined. I really enjoyed looking at the way she layers and merges documentary footage from various magazines including Life and Times. 

In this workshop, we created some collaborative work together using type and stencils. We were asked to bring a stencil, or multiple, that we collected from the previous type safari. In order to create the stencil, we had the blow a photograph of any letter up and print this out in A3. We could then carve out the inside of the letter so we could use it as a stencil in the workshop. We were also asked to bring our basic drawing kit, sponges, straws, toothbrush, and inks.

We then worked as part of a team in using these stencils to create an image involving type. Some of the things we considered during this included negative space, overlapping colours and textures, minimalism and rendering something in 2D so that it looks 3D.

Although type may often go unnoticed, it plays an essential part in design and display layout. For example, logos are designed very precisely with a chosen type font to fit the company/brand. Choosing the right typeface will catch the viewers attention. Each typeface conveys a certain mood, therefore it’s important to be used correctly so that the audience interprets the message accurately and shows an interest in it. It is also vital for the font to be easily readable and not too small or having too much text packed into a narrow space as this could lead to the reading of the text being completely avoided. It’s also worth considering positioning and placing of text so that viewers are able to easily decide on the most meaningful and crucial parts by acknowledging different font sizes and types of font.

When we were taken on the type safari walking trip we met in central London to be shown examples of typography in everyday urban environments. We considered the hierarchy of typography including size, eyeline placement, and height, as well as the juxtaposition of old and new architecture and design within the city. We also looked at the memorialisation of individuals and events through typography, for example, the blue plaques. We were encouraged to use the viewfinder to hunt for letterforms and typography and record this on our cameras and in our sketchbooks.