Studio Journal Six.

Today was very successful! It was the day of my Exquisite Corpse Party! I managed to get a mass email approved by the Mason Gross moderators just in time and that brought in some journalists from the Targum. Despite a with time conflict with the visiting artist, quite a few people stopped in and helped out for a while. I'm leaving the supplies out for the rest of the week an
d I have made a large instruction sheet for people to come in and continue the project.

While I still don't know exactly what I want to do with these collaborative creations, I am feeling very good about this jumping off point. Everyone was very supportive and into the project.

I stumbled upon an artist

named Kelly Tunstall (http://www.kellytunstall.com/) who does these great elongated, distorted woman with large eyes that I absolutely love. While our art style is different, I love her lines and shapes. I might try to take some of that and put it into my own art.

I read an interview with her and I particularly enjoyed this Q and A. (http://www.hifructose.com/the-blog/1798-%20an-interview-with-kelly-tunstall.html)

"There is always a peculiar element to your work, such as: the unexpected ways in which you paint eyes, the elements of navigation and exploration, circus freaks, mythological creatures....

It’s external symbology of the internal for me- that girl having extra arms means extra efficiency or desire to be more so, or multiple eyes to see better from the mind or more watchful all over, but I also don’t mind co-opting imagery and symbology from religions, ancient cultures; people know these symbols somewhere in their guts I think.

The eyes are worlds inside of worlds- mirrors to the soul and all, but also I strangely try to reflect where light sources might be in the space they are in at the moment. Ferris and I are very practical- we have to stop ourselves from being like, well, that bear couldn’t possibly be balancing on that piece of string or whatever. Even though we don’t have to, we can’t help but making rules of physics and the physical world apply... most of the time.

I’m never one to try and tell a specific story that someone could literally read, it’s more a feeling that you get. That you’re being looked out for. If I attach myself to one of my pieces- that i need to hold onto one for a bit, I kind of think it knows something I don’t- some attribute I’m looking for aspiring to- something I might need to absorb. I can’t speak for other people and why my work appeals, but I really do think they can be protective.

My father was an airforce navigator, so his maps showed up early on as backgrounds. I love them, they’re so graphic, but that’s also what we wrapped our presents in. Personally, I feel like I’m still out there exploring- living in San Francisco; every day you’re doing ten things to keep it together. It’s all very romantic, good work, but hard for sure."

Look at this guy carve a chess piece with his feet! O.O

Studio Journal Five.

Weekly plan:
1. Get a lamp for my studio (since I'm still down a light >:| and I do not know when my service request will be responded to )
2. Continue folding paper
3. Work on etching
4. Work on installation
5. Prepare for art fair in Union

My posters are up and I have some papers folded for my Exquisite Corpse shindig! I have art supplies and have been getting feedback from the posters. I've been spreading the word by mouth, poster, and facebook. Everything seems to be working out. A couple of classes even said they might stop by as a class for a few minutes to participate in the event. I am so very excited! Once I have a starting point for my thesis idea, I feel like I can really start to go wild and explore. Still need to see about the chairs and tables though...

I've also been working on an etching, in which I aquitinted black and have been scraping back into it. This method is totally out of my compfort zone and I am having some trouble making my experiment a cohesive, developed print... I am going to work back in now with some lines. I feel like my burnishing will still be very apparent and will not be lost in the print.
I'm also working on an installation in which tentacles will be coming out of a door on the 2nd floor. The door is well known for shaking, and so I want to play off that.


Since I've been into exquisite corpses lately, I decided to check out some of the surrealists corpses.


Yves Tanguy, Man Ray, Max Morise, Joan Miró



osephine Meckseper,Laurie Anderson, Olaf Breuning, Nick Mauss


I also found this sweet site
http://www.epicexquisitecorpse.com/
Its one GIANT exquisite corpse where anyone can participate

Naturally I added to it.








video games + violin = amazing

Studio Journal Four.

My business cards just came in the mail! I'm feeling all professional now and whatnot. I never really thought about getting business cards until recently. I had noticed a couple of my friends and peers had invested in some, but the real kick in the butt was when I participated in the Highland Park art festival and multiple people asked me if I had a card. Silly me had to whip up some makeshift cards. The whole thing made me put together a website too so I could have something more professional on a card than a deviantart and a tumblr url.
I also have signed out the project space room for October 23-29. I created a facebook event for Tuesday 25th for an Exquisite Corpse party-shindig in order to get this whole idea rolling. Our last crit was really helpful in coming up with that idea. That type of thing had not crossed my mind until Rachel had brought it up. I'm very appreciative of the suggestion. I am going to get some little posters up tomorrow to post around the school. I've already started to buy some silly art supplies for the event; crayola crayons and some strange markers from the dollar store. I have to see if I can acquire a table and some chairs for this event...

Also...its been two weeks since I've put in an order for a new lightbulb in my studio...Ugh, its beginning to cause some difficulties.

But anyway, the weekly plan:
1. Get posters up
2. Work on my etching
3. Get more disposable supplies
4. Acquire more paper
5. Work on installation piece for advance print
6. Start folding paper for Exquisite Corpse party in advance

On a side note, I've been playing a lot of final fantasy lately...I decided to look up the art behind the gameplay. I always tend to forget how much artwork is made before an actual game is put together. The artist, Yoshitaka Amano, is amazingly talented. His art is beautiful and stand alone, even without the video game beside it.



I don't know if this counts as some type of written material, but I was studying for psychology and I was reading that pheromones (aka our unique scents that we give off) can alter the age that we hit puberty. Girls who are around unfamiliar men may hit puberty at an earlier age because of the pheromones that the male give off. I find this beyond bizarre. I wonder if this could be captured in some for of art in some way. Its so strange, but I don't know how to conceptualize it.

Here's something else thats crazy.


I am interested in weird stuff like tentacles, feet, abnormalities, and diseases, but technological advances, psychology, and science really intrigue and inspire me as well.

Studio Journal Three.

I finished my etching and it turned out quite nicely. I have to take a picture and post it sometime soon.

I got some of my packets out for the

exquisite corpse out, but I have not received any back yet... I'll have to make some more and hope for the best. If there are little to no responses I'm going to have to take a different approach.

Currently I am working on a silkscreen for my advanced printmaking class. Its a silkscreen based off of the Burning Monk.

So far I have drawn the image out, separated the mylar for each layer, and exposed my screen. I plan on starting to print it tomorrow. I never really used the pinhole registration method when it was a sophomore, but now I appreciate it very much so I took the time to get everything cut down and hole punched properly.

Things to do:
1. Work on print
2. Work on piece for the Chance show
3. Do more for exquisite corpse
4. Sketches
5. Prepare for show in Union

I took a look at the suggested artists Dana Shutz, Theo Rosenblum, and The Chapman Brother's. They were all great fun to look up.
I particularly loved The Chapman Brother's stuff. They're so grungy and crazy.


I also redicovered Fuco Ueda's art. I love the tentacles.


In my last blog I mentioned that I love original fairy tales and comparing them to the disney versions of them.
Here is the Little Mermaid.
http://hca.gilead.org.il/li_merma.html
The difference in the original? When the little mermaid walks on her new legs, it feels like she is being stabbed. Her love interest loves to see her dance, so she dances for him while she feels the pain. She also dies in this version...because she does not marry the prince and she could not kill him.
Its funny...this dark version of the story is actually the one I grew up with. My parent's bought me an animated version of the original tale rather than the disney one.
Here is the start of the movie