Introduction
Make Do and Mend... a weird saying, but fits with what everyone around the Globe is having to deal with right now. Yes, even you could be going through COVID-19 in whatever country you are in right now! Wherever you are right now, you should be either at school, working or at home depending on how bad it is in your country. I hope you stay safe from COVID-19 and all of the harmful things that are happening in the world right now. Make Do with what you have right now, and Mend whatever you can.
Artists like John Baldessari have used instructions in their teaching of young art students. Some artists have made instruction based art, like the American Sol LeWit and 'The Photographers' Playbook' contains '307 Assignments' designed to help image makers get out of a creative rut.
COVID-19 may be very harmful to most of the community, but the restrictions that have been put in place cannot hold us back from getting what we need done, finished and either put ur into the world or keep safe with ourselves.We can be more creative if you put those restrictions in the back of your head and go out into the world and take as many pictures as you want! Teach, write, draw, take pictures and believe in yourself to change and change the world.
Artists like John Baldessari have used instructions in their teaching of young art students. Some artists have made instruction based art, like the American Sol LeWit and 'The Photographers' Playbook' contains '307 Assignments' designed to help image makers get out of a creative rut.
COVID-19 may be very harmful to most of the community, but the restrictions that have been put in place cannot hold us back from getting what we need done, finished and either put ur into the world or keep safe with ourselves.We can be more creative if you put those restrictions in the back of your head and go out into the world and take as many pictures as you want! Teach, write, draw, take pictures and believe in yourself to change and change the world.
Just a quick question, why are artists so good at solving problems? Well, to get it straight is;
What does the phrase "Make Do and Mend" mean to you?
Now, I know you can't answer me here, but I'll tell you what it means to me.
"Make Do and Mend" means to me that you just have to make do with whatever situation you are in and express what you want to do, let no one hold you down, let people push you down a bit, but always get back up to mend whatever you can and whatever you will. Mend relationships, mend people, mend what you've made, but always clean up whatever you broke and mend it back together so everyone can be whole again.
Watch this short video below to learn about how people cope against creative constraints.
- They believe they can overcome anything, and they can, will and will keep doing it
- They believe that you can do anything to bring out your artist inside
- They never give up, and you shouldn't either
- They want you to express your feelings of whatever subject, job or hobby you are doing right now, and tell the world.
- And finally, they are always listening to you wherever you are
What does the phrase "Make Do and Mend" mean to you?
Now, I know you can't answer me here, but I'll tell you what it means to me.
"Make Do and Mend" means to me that you just have to make do with whatever situation you are in and express what you want to do, let no one hold you down, let people push you down a bit, but always get back up to mend whatever you can and whatever you will. Mend relationships, mend people, mend what you've made, but always clean up whatever you broke and mend it back together so everyone can be whole again.
Watch this short video below to learn about how people cope against creative constraints.
If you didn't really get what this video was proposing, I'll explain it now;
This video was talking about what a creative constraint is, how many people cope with it and about which famous people had it and fond ways to get around it to discover and create many amazing things that make us what we are today! If you have a creative constraint, you can find something to get around it with. Maybe you have a tremble, make art or photos that are meant to be wonky. If you have a disease that makes your limbs stop working (kind of like being paralyzed) you can get round it by using that disability to your advantage! Be what you will, even if your body is holding you back!
This video was talking about what a creative constraint is, how many people cope with it and about which famous people had it and fond ways to get around it to discover and create many amazing things that make us what we are today! If you have a creative constraint, you can find something to get around it with. Maybe you have a tremble, make art or photos that are meant to be wonky. If you have a disease that makes your limbs stop working (kind of like being paralyzed) you can get round it by using that disability to your advantage! Be what you will, even if your body is holding you back!
Choices
This is a list of choices you could make as a photographer!
1. I would make sure I have the right equipment, eg. Camera / Phone, Lighting and the Object or Person you are taking a picture of.
2. Make sure the lighting is in the top right hand corner of the photo and you have your camera / phone tilted at a 10 degree angle
3. If you have a phone and / or taking a picture with it, make sure it has the flash off / on.
4. Be bending over for the picture and make sure the object is just a bit off centre (upwards) to get more of the bottom in.
5. If you have table top or a counter that is polished, take the picture there.
6. Make sure all other lights except for your light you are using, are blocked out.
7. If you do have a stand for your phone / camera, use it.
8. Make sure that nothing else is in the picture except the person / object.
9. If you are taking a picture of the object, make sure you are at the appropriate distance from it (Same with the person).
10. Make sure that the focus is directly on the middle of the object and no where else.
11. If your taking a picture of the person, make sure they are wrapped in fluffy and / or thin shirts, t-shirts and a coat.
12. Finally, take a picture of the object and / or person when all of the instructions above have been completed by either pushing the button on the top of the camera, or pushing the white button on your phone screen.
1. I would make sure I have the right equipment, eg. Camera / Phone, Lighting and the Object or Person you are taking a picture of.
2. Make sure the lighting is in the top right hand corner of the photo and you have your camera / phone tilted at a 10 degree angle
3. If you have a phone and / or taking a picture with it, make sure it has the flash off / on.
4. Be bending over for the picture and make sure the object is just a bit off centre (upwards) to get more of the bottom in.
5. If you have table top or a counter that is polished, take the picture there.
6. Make sure all other lights except for your light you are using, are blocked out.
7. If you do have a stand for your phone / camera, use it.
8. Make sure that nothing else is in the picture except the person / object.
9. If you are taking a picture of the object, make sure you are at the appropriate distance from it (Same with the person).
10. Make sure that the focus is directly on the middle of the object and no where else.
11. If your taking a picture of the person, make sure they are wrapped in fluffy and / or thin shirts, t-shirts and a coat.
12. Finally, take a picture of the object and / or person when all of the instructions above have been completed by either pushing the button on the top of the camera, or pushing the white button on your phone screen.
Instruction to take a picture
I was told to take a picture by one of my peers. They had to instruct me how, when and where the picture was supposed to be / look like. They didn't give me much information so I took it like this. Here it is!
Open phone, open camera, tap square, take photo of inside your toilet as soon as you wake up
WWW: |
EBI: |
I really liked this picture because of the angle and the difference of most pictures because it's... a toilet.
The toilet has great lighting because of the time of day I took it. |
It could've been much much better than I did it (Too many to list) and I don't like the place I took it from.
I could've used a better camera to take it with. |
Marcel Duchamp & The Readymade
When Marcel Duchamp decided to deface a work of art in 1919 he chose perhaps the most iconic image in the world - Leonardo's 'Mona Lisa'. Scribbling on a work of art was intended to ruffle a few feathers. In order to create the most shock value, Duchamp knew that he needed to attack a painting that almost everyone knew, a symbol of amazing artistic skill but also an image of female beauty. But why was this particular painting so famous?
This is partly explained by the mystery surrounding the identity of the sitter, the praise given to Leonardo and this painting (or a version of it) in his lifetime and by the scandalous theft of (and subsequent world tour) the painting in the late nineteenth century. By 1919, 'Mona Lisa' had become something of a celebrity, re-installed in the Louvre, one of the biggest art museums in the world, and a symbol of the genius of Renaissance art. In other words, it was the perfect target for a joke at art's expense.
Obviously, he couldn't damage the original painting. So he decided to draw on a photographic postcard version of it, something that could be bought for a few francs as a souvenir. Because of its fame, the painting was reproduced millions of times (rather like the way a successful advertising campaign can be seen today on TV, on billboards, in magazines and on the Internet). Duchamp drew a moustache and goatee beard on Mona Lisa's face and wrote the letters 'L.H.O.O.Q.' underneath. When pronounced in French this sounds like the rather rude accusation "Elle a chaud au cul" or "she's got a hot ass"! Duchamp may have been referring to Mona Lisa's famous beauty and her enigmatic smile. Duchamp experimented with creating a female alter ego, Rrose Sélavy, so the moustache and beard might be a reference to the idea of gender fluidity, a more common idea now but more unusual in 1919.
This is partly explained by the mystery surrounding the identity of the sitter, the praise given to Leonardo and this painting (or a version of it) in his lifetime and by the scandalous theft of (and subsequent world tour) the painting in the late nineteenth century. By 1919, 'Mona Lisa' had become something of a celebrity, re-installed in the Louvre, one of the biggest art museums in the world, and a symbol of the genius of Renaissance art. In other words, it was the perfect target for a joke at art's expense.
Obviously, he couldn't damage the original painting. So he decided to draw on a photographic postcard version of it, something that could be bought for a few francs as a souvenir. Because of its fame, the painting was reproduced millions of times (rather like the way a successful advertising campaign can be seen today on TV, on billboards, in magazines and on the Internet). Duchamp drew a moustache and goatee beard on Mona Lisa's face and wrote the letters 'L.H.O.O.Q.' underneath. When pronounced in French this sounds like the rather rude accusation "Elle a chaud au cul" or "she's got a hot ass"! Duchamp may have been referring to Mona Lisa's famous beauty and her enigmatic smile. Duchamp experimented with creating a female alter ego, Rrose Sélavy, so the moustache and beard might be a reference to the idea of gender fluidity, a more common idea now but more unusual in 1919.
Leonardo’s painting was famous because no one knew who the picture was of. His painting was about a lady who was sitting there smiling. It was the most detailed painting of its time. It had been stolen once by Vincenzo Peruggia, an employee of The Louvre and was missing for 2 years!
The meaning of L.H.O.O.Q is “She’ got a hot ass”. Yes, a rude saying, but, it wasn’t me! Marcel Duchamp drew a moustache and a goatee on a postcard of ‘Mona Lisa’ and called it, “ready-made art”. I think he added it to mock the ‘Mona Lisa’ for being so famous! A “Readymade” is a work of that takes an already made piece of art and changes it in various ways to alter its meaning. An example would be ‘L.H.O.O.Q’ which has been titled ‘readymade’ because it was already on a postcard and all he did was draw a couple lines on it. People would just go out and get random pictures / objects and change them ever so slightly or change them drastically to make a totally new piece of artwork called ‘readymade’. I think that Duchamp is very talented and his approach to it is very strange. He gets already made objects and put’s them anywhere or changes them and publishes it to make a totally new piece of art. He should’ve made 100s more of his artistic ways and there are also many more Marcel Dushamps out there, so he’s not alone. |
Kensuke Koike
Kensuke Koike is a very famous visual artist who changes pictures by cutting them up and changing them drastically, making them look funny and mainly taking famous pictures and transforming them into something totally different. He loves to cut them up and rearrange them in many different ways from different parts of the picture and making it look like t was the original picture. Here are some of my favourite works of his.
Sharon Walters
Sharon Walters is a London-based artist who creates hand-assembled collages celebrating black women. The series, entitled 'Seeing Ourselves',explores under-representation in many arenas in particular, the Arts and Heritage sector and mainstream western media.
The work encourages us to 'take up space', be seen and create our own spaces. Seeing Ourselves’ explores identity, beauty standards and race through papercuts and hand-assembled collage. Sharon creates pieces using both images from women’s magazines and photographs taken herself or provided by others. Each collage is carefully constructed, features a black woman and is a celebration of natural afro hair and its beauty. So often blackness is represented as 'other'. Sharon provokes an alternative narrative of empowerment. Each piece is a reaffirmation of the right to ‘take up space’ even when you don’t see yourself in certain settings.
The work encourages us to 'take up space', be seen and create our own spaces. Seeing Ourselves’ explores identity, beauty standards and race through papercuts and hand-assembled collage. Sharon creates pieces using both images from women’s magazines and photographs taken herself or provided by others. Each collage is carefully constructed, features a black woman and is a celebration of natural afro hair and its beauty. So often blackness is represented as 'other'. Sharon provokes an alternative narrative of empowerment. Each piece is a reaffirmation of the right to ‘take up space’ even when you don’t see yourself in certain settings.
My version 1
The images you are about to see are my own version of Kensuke Koikes' pictures or some pictures I have made inspired by Kensuke Koikes' pictures (Not necessarily actual Kensuke copies).
My version 2
The images you are about to see are my second versions of Kensuke Koike's pictures.
WWW:I really like I used more pictures this time and explained what I did to make the final product in these pictures.
I also like that I took more pictures art different angles to make the picture more vibrant. |
EBI:I need to make more use of the camera and add even more explaining and maybe change the finished product to make a new finished product for next time.
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Hannah Höch's 'The Beautiful Girl'
I can see many parts of a human and some parts are a car. I can also see the BMW symbol in the back which suggests that some of the parts are related to a car and some to a human. My eyes come to rest on the light bulb because, at first, I thought it was a diamond on a small pole that the hands were holding. I can see a woman's body and leg poking from behind the tyre to the right of the picture. I can also see a piston or a pedal of a car that almost looks like a leg at first glance. I feel like the person who made this, purposefully made the woman look ugly and put cars everywhere to say, “Woman are woman, we can't change. We can fix cars and so can men, but just because we are woman, doesn't mean we have to be ugly”. Perhaps the artist was part of the feminist movement back in the 1920’s. I would’ve called this image, “We can cook, we can build, just because we’re woman, doesn’t mean we need to be beautiful”.
My three adjectives for the picture would be:
My three adjectives for the picture would be:
- Feminist
- Strange
- Amusing
- Why put the car parts and women’s body parts together? What were you intending to mean by it?
- Why would you make the piston / car part big and make the human body small?
- What would you change about the picture if you could?
3D > 2D > 3D > 2D
Matt Lipps
Matt Lipps is a very famous artist who, same as Kensuke, cuts pictures up and changes them in certain ways to make a totally new picture.
Some of his work is amazing, but some of it has very subtle changes that make it totally look different like its from a different year or place or country. Matt Lipps's work is very fantastic and looks way to good to be just in his basement. Yes, he makes most of his fantastic work, in his basement. I know, surprising right, but, there are some people out there that get great inventions by sleeping in a bath, hanging off of a balcony (not that high) and even on their roof, so, they're not that different.
Well, what you've been waiting for, some of the best pictures I think that are worthy enough to be on this website.
Some of his work is amazing, but some of it has very subtle changes that make it totally look different like its from a different year or place or country. Matt Lipps's work is very fantastic and looks way to good to be just in his basement. Yes, he makes most of his fantastic work, in his basement. I know, surprising right, but, there are some people out there that get great inventions by sleeping in a bath, hanging off of a balcony (not that high) and even on their roof, so, they're not that different.
Well, what you've been waiting for, some of the best pictures I think that are worthy enough to be on this website.
I, here (yes here), have a quotation by him, from his website and on the news, yes, the news.
"...in, with and alongside photography..."
I also have a video from an interview about him from 6 years ago (2014)! Yeah, thats a long time, but, lets get onto the video instead.
Daniel Gordon
Gordon is best known for producing large colour photographs that operate somewhere between collage and set-up photography. His work, as described by The New York Times, "Involves creating figurative tableaus from cut paper and cut-out images that Mr. Gordon then photographs. In addition, he seems motivated by a deeply felt obsession with the human body and the discomforts of having one."
He has exhibited his work in solo exhibitions at Zach Feuer Gallery, Wallspace, and Leo Koenig, Inc., Projekte in New York City and Claudia Groeflin Gallery in Zürich, Switzerland. Gordon has been included in exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art, the Saatchi Gallery in London, Gallery 400 at the University of Illinois, and he was included in MoMA PS1's Greater New York 2010. He is the author of Portrait Studio and Flying Pictures. His work is in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gordon was a guest lecturer at Sarah Lawrence College in 2009.
He has exhibited his work in solo exhibitions at Zach Feuer Gallery, Wallspace, and Leo Koenig, Inc., Projekte in New York City and Claudia Groeflin Gallery in Zürich, Switzerland. Gordon has been included in exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art, the Saatchi Gallery in London, Gallery 400 at the University of Illinois, and he was included in MoMA PS1's Greater New York 2010. He is the author of Portrait Studio and Flying Pictures. His work is in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gordon was a guest lecturer at Sarah Lawrence College in 2009.
"I Daniel Gordon Sparrow, choose money worthyness of money. the eye. good or evil, the eye, of life experiance of c/o god and serpent in the beginning or another, anything. nothing forgoten. all percaution or better."
Here is a video interview about Daniel Gordon Sparrow...
Here is a picture that really caught my eye while looking for pictures for Daniel Gordon...
This picture really only caught my eye since it is very colourful and looks out of place somewhat. Like, it isn't really meant to be there at all. I feel like at the bottom of the picture, it looks like there are onions there that are mismatched with another fruit. The vase looks like it was painted over using orange paper and not real paint like it is supposed to be covering something up. It also looks like it has been damaged as it looks like it is slowly falling to one side of the picture.
Most likely, this work was made by balloons and wrapping it around them and letting it dry. After maybe a day or two, he might have popped the balloon and painted the hardened paper / newspaper. The onions at the bottom are probably just pictures that he cut out and put a stand on them. The background looks like table cloth just different kinds of it all stuck together. I think Gordon used a skill called patience, which everybody has, and used a lot of it to make this artwork, it looks like it took at least a week or two to make. I think that my three words about this art would be; Colourful, energetic and calming to look at. Any three questions I would ask about it? Well, I would ask; Why did you make this art piece, How did making this art make you feel, and what made you want to make this picture? |
Hannah Hughes
Hannah Hughes, born in 1975, is an artist working with collage, sculpture, constructed photography and moving image. She graduated from the University of Brighton in 1997 and has since exhibited in the UK and internationally. She really loves her rocks and likes putting picture on picture making it look see-through.
"If you see something beautiful inside someone, speak it"
My 3D photosculpture
Images unavailable...
My tabletop sculpture
A sculpture I made taking it at different angles (x5)
Abstract Advent
Abstract Advent is a bit of festive fun devised by Chris Francis, a teacher at St. Peter's School in Bournemouth and co-ordinator of Art Pedagogy. The idea is simple. Each day in December a prompt is offered (via Instagram) and participants respond in whatever way they want, posting their creations to Instagram and tagging them with (this year) #abstractadvent2020.
In the spirit of Make Do & Mend, all of my responses this year will be edits of existing photographs. I looked back through my pictures on Flickr, choosing those containing shapes similar to Chris' prompts. I then used a variety of tools to edit the pictures, removing the objects from the background and changing their colours. here are the results, with the original images: |
Images unavailable...
Collaborative Instruction Collage
You will need a pair of scissors, a glue stick, a camera/phone, a piece of A3 cartridge paper and a magazine (containing interesting photos).
- Cut or tear out 5 pages from your magazine. Choose pages with interesting images.
- Make a pile of these 5 pages on your desk.
- Take the top page and cut a hole in it (Note: it doesn't have to be perfect).
- Pass this cut out image to your neighbour (the person sitting nearest to you in class).
- Put the page with the hole in it at the bottom of your pile.
- Take the (new) top page and tear it in half. Pass one half to your neighbour (the same one as before) and put the other half at the bottom of your pile.
- Take the (new) top page and cut out a shape (Note: you could cut round an object or simply cut a random shape of your own choosing).
- Keep the cut-out shape, putting it at the bottom of your pile, and pass the page that remains to someone 3 places away (Note: make sure you don't end up with your own page).
- Take the (new) top page and tear a strip from the (top or bottom) edge. Keep the strip and pass the remaining page to someone else in the room.
- Place the A3 sheet of cartridge paper in front of you (portrait format).
- Without altering them, arrange the pieces of paper from your pile on the A3 sheet to create a pleasing collage. Carefully photograph your first arrangement.
- Again, without altering them, repeat this process, re-arranging the various elements on the A3 sheet until you are happy with the results. Photograph carefully.
- You may now swap 1 or 2 elements with your neighbour. Make a new arrangement and photograph carefully.
- You may now adapt the pieces in any way you like - cutting, tearing etc. Make a new collage, this time sticking them to the A3 sheet of cartridge paper.
- Photograph your finished collage carefully.
- On your Make Do and Mend web page add the title Collaborative Instruction Collage.
- Add a Gallery and upload the images you have taken today of your collages.
- Write a brief evaluation (WWW/EBI) reflecting on what it was like to make a collage by following instructions and how you feel about the results.
Photos Used...
Photos Made...
Not very sure what to do for the WWW and EBI because I wasn't in, thank you jimmy for the photos
Prison Photography
Write about this film in your own words here...
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Nicoló Digiorgis' Prison Photography
Write about this project and book here and add the genre captions to the pictures below...
Genre Photography Treasure Hunt
I decided to have a go at collecting a series of photographs using a list of instructions:
- The view through a window
- Your reflection in a shiny surface
- The back of someone’s head
- A small object shot from a low angle against a plain background
- The palm of someone’s hand with the word ‘help’ written on it
- A smile
- A plant growing in the wrong place
- A cracked paving stone
- A pile of clothes
- The creases in a bed sheet shot from above (with nothing else included)
- A close-up photograph of a computer, phone or television screen
- A map
- The spine of a book
- The inside of a fridge
- The sky
- Part of a fork
- The sole of a shoe
- The ceiling of your bedroom as you are lying on the floor
- A photograph of a photograph
- A glass of water
Images unavailable...
Virtual Field Trip
This is a gallery of pictures I took from all over the world using Google Maps and Google Earth.
Collaborative GSV Project - Venice, Los Angeles
In these following photos, I was focusing on cars. For example, old cars, classic cars, refurnished cars and new and upgraded cars.