This lecture with Tiffany Singh and Tessa Laird has given me a insight to the use of colour in art and the effect colour has on people. Tiffanys main and most frequent use of colour refers to a spiritual context as her work is heavily influenced with a Indian culture which she is ¼ Indian her self. Many of the religions in India use bright colours to express a ceremony I cant remember the name of this particular ceremony but by throwing coloured powder at each other which is a very ‘joyous occasion and represents two gods making love. Singh context also lays in the audience participation as she says her interest are not her own work but what people do with it. She has coloured wax sculptures that she exchanges with the audience the colours represent the colours of the chakra ‘the 7 energy points in a persons body. These colours continue through out her works.

Tiffanys wax sculptures set in a rainbow or colours of the Chakra form

Tessa and Tiffany with there temple

Tessa Laird approach to colour in art is more of a quest for why modern gallery art is usually dark or white rather then packed with bright colour. From the age of 4 she fell in love with bright colour living next door to a artist who also love bright colours. Lairds art reflects the vibrant psychedelic posters from the 70. Laird also talks about how people will embrace a particular colour and are recognised through a colour like Chine-red, Islam-green, Ireland-green and so on which makes me think how colour plays a big part in our lives from gangs as a lot of them have a significant colour that represents them, to a countries flag.

Xavier Meade also uses colour to make his posters stand out as he says’ the posters have to jump out and grab you strait away’ the colours he uses come across more like power, to fight and freedom as most of his posters represent the under dogs.

My favourite colour is red. I think its because from when I was a child I remember seeing the mongrel mob from time to time and thought they looked cool and tough I guess I admired them ‘silly I know’ but even now I still like that colour because it reminds me of a strong and powerful visual.

Fran Allison, William Hsu

In this lecture we had two artists who are both lecturers at M,I,T and both are recently collaborating with other artists. The two collaborations are sprit from each other with Fran Allison collaborating with 4 other artist who work apart from each other getting together every now and then to critique each others work over a cup of tea and cake. Also bouncing ideas off each other in the same way as Deon, James, and bill do as Deon likes to call it whiriwhiri korero.

The group have exhibition or outing as they like to call them were they exhibit there work in a unnamed and combined fashion.

the group setting up for one of there outings

The materials Allison uses seem to be unlimited as she has developed a wide range of skills through out her career working in several different jobs and mediums like constructing metal swards in England, making fake plastic ice cream for advertisements and scrap jewellery for the movie ‘Bridge to Tearabithia,. With these skills under her belt her work in as a collaborative is often changing still designing and sculpting but with different materials.

Xavier, James Ormsby and Fran Allison all say to not be afraid, fearless and to take risks which I find very empowering an inspiring. It’s interesting how they have all worked in collaborative or are now working in that form. I think its all part of becoming successful ‘to take risks because failing is a learning process.

Williams Hsu collaborative is with four other artists, but takes a different form. They all work together bouncing ideas off each other ‘but it’s the RM “room” that is different. The group has all worked together to seek out a space for there art. So they all pay rent at this location to make it more affordable. The way they use this space is interesting as it functions as a studio and gallery and invite people in to either take part in the art or lecture

lectures

studio work

Another interesting approach to there art is when they improvised not being able to afford artists or art from around the world so they emailed artists from across the globe for instructions in how to create this show.
Artist from round the world gave instruction and this it’s self is art.

throw mud at a flag instruction

The approach the two collaborative groups have are different as one gets together on accession to brief there work and exhibit work elsewhere and the other work in more of a studio fashion. But both groups take advantage of bouncing ideas off each other and growing pushing there art further and that’s what I like about art. Constantly evolving and flexible

Deborah Crowe and Filipe Tohi

In the lecture with Deborah Crowe and our visit to the Mangere art centre with Filipe Tohi we were given a lot of useful information for proceeding a career as a artist as Crowe talks about her process, works, influences, experiments, and the use of building relationships for business then the corm attitude of Tohi as he talked about his influences, works and processes. The two artists both work with sculpture as well as other arts and both relate a lot of there work to weaving.

As Crowe loves things like a grid form, large overwhelming space, and weaving like scaffolding, fabric, the frame structure of a building or bridge. She has had this interest of these things since childhood with her mother being a big influence as she was very good sewer and weaver as she made and repaired there clothes. Through out Crowes career she has incorporated grid, line and weaving in all her area’s of art like fashion, design, sculpture, photography and moving image and she often regenerate her work to create her next piece pushing and adding more each time.

I like that through her work she will create something that accidently reflecting things or moment from her life like her sculpture …… which reflects the view of the city an motorway outside her window which weaves in an out of its self

. ‘The subconscious mind at work’ lol.

I like that through her work she will create something that accidently reflecting images or moment from her life like her sculpture …… which reflects the view of the city an motorway outside her window which weaves in an out of its self

. ‘The subconscious mind at work’ lol.

Filipe Tohi in some pieces uses weaving in a similar way as he uses it for grid and structure in his art. His sculptures Mata Tangaroa and Mataki Moana’ court my eye strait away when I walked into his exhibition as I noticed a weaving pattern knowing that we had to compeer the two artists through there weaving influence.

Matataki MoanaMata Tangaroa

Mataki Moana is probably my favourite piece of his because of the size as it is large rock and very detailed. I like the shape how it wasn’t perfectly circle and kind of looks as if it there’s movement inside it. I also liked the way the light hits the sculpture as the patterns are solid squares with hard edges creating shadows which gives the sculpture life and flexibility. When I was told that it represents a net it made sense to me as there would be fish inside it moving, altering the shape.

In my opinion it is his Pacific influence where his weaving pattern reflects in his work from tapa cloth, Halamoana sculpture to wood carvings, drawings and the making of bounding thread. The two artists are both intrigued by weaving patterns but approach the form from a different angles as Crowe’s has more of an architectural structural form and Tohi looks more Pacific influenced that carries symbols and tells a story.