RICHARD DE CAZALET

Studio Practice 2B:Audiences and Context

Independent Practice 2B:Implementation

Video stills describing the Aphorism “The Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions.” Collaboration with Danielle Collenette, Nick Mitchell, Jade Sibley, Ruth Page, Stephanie Bottez.

Click on the icon to follow a link to the video.

IMAGE 1 (far left)

A one day collaborative project (with Danielle Collenette, Chloe Anderson, Aneesha Green) set by ‘The Girls.’ The portrait suggests the idea that photographs can be set up environments with people expressing a false or posed image (to ‘wear a mask.’) I feel this is a starting point and would be interested in investigating this idea further in future works.

IMAGE 2

IMAGE 2 (left / below)

A collaborative project (with Madeline Jenkins, Claire Lowe, Danielle Collenette)

A tool-kit designed to engage families and children in gardening, especially targetting those who don’t have access to their own outdoor garden, bringing the garden inside.

The tool-kit comes with a box, trelis, soil and seeds. In order to take the project further it was discussed that the recipients, through signing up for a partner company gardening magazine or similar, could receive an ongoing delivery of seeds to put in their garden along with decorative ornaments and stickers. Along with photo competitions for the best gardens.

Film stills from a collaborative project.

The film derived from an ambiguous photograph, set in mid 1970, it portrays a day in the life of a defeated musician.

Produced, directed and edited by Rosa Rooney. Starring and co-directed by Richard de Cazalet.

(above/opposite) Props I created for the set

A large collaborative project led by Martin O’Neill.

The brief stated all the materials must be found objects and the character must be free standing.

Each character is created by one graphic design student. I created the letter ‘O’ (opposite)

My character was made from a wicker basket. In order for it to be free standing I created a wooden frame to suspend it from.

Click on the icon to see a video.

(Photographs by Sally Anne, edited by Myself)

Examples of work produced in the letterpress workshop (original file, yellow, top left)

Collaborative project with Danielle Collenette for PaperCo. Following are the boards presented to the company demonstrating our idea.

Examples of photographs I took and developed in the dark room.

Some of the results from the Dark Room workshop. After learning how to use the dark room properly I went on to use it further this semester and have enjoyed it very much.

From the workshop I took the images into a digital format. I scanned in the photogram of the keys and glasses (left/below) after screwing it up to create the effect it had been sitting in my pocket, reflecting the subjects in the image.

I inverted the image of the hair and mirrored it next to the original creating a contrasting but symetrical image.

Observe & Create(Manifesto Workshop with Neil Drabble)

The foundation of the manifesto “Observe & Create” is visual rather than text based so there is no hard copy of what our manifesto entails however it’s suggesting the idea that we draw inspiration from the things we see around us and use our surrounding environment for it’s full potential of creative capabilities. In particular for me this meant noticing subtle things you pass by on a regular occurance and may not even notice, for example, the stone I set inside my locker (also in the photograph) has a hole in it, shaped like a human eye, coincidentally the first thing I did when I picked it up was look through it like a peep hole.

This manifested itself into a series of spaces inside a set of lockers along the corridor in the Graphics Block of the University campus. There was text and images stuck on the outside of the lockers to encourage passer bys to have a look inside forcing them to start to notice the things around them once they are ‘inside’ the locker. It was a very successful project and everyone was engaging with the locker sized rooms.

Having worked a lot on my illustration last semester I was looking to develope my photography skills, in particular film photography as I had never used a film camera before. I bought a Minolta-X300 and took many rolls of films. Over the next few pages you will find a selection of photography which fits under the concept of “Observe & Create” encompassing themes of; Traces, Portraiture, Observational Photography and Anthropomorphism.

Examples of photography (‘Observe & Create - Portraiture’)

Examples of photography (‘Observe & Create - Traces’)

Examples of photography (‘Observe & Create - Observational Photography and Anthropomorphism’)

IMAGE 1 (top left) - “No entry”

IMAGE 2 (left) - “Longing”

IMAGE 3 (above) - “Landmines”

IMAGE 4 (opposite) - “Hurdle”

Above are two interesting photographs resulting from my film camera. It reminded me of the idea of ‘breaking the grid’ from semester 1 which influenced me to create the image opposite, using telegraph phone lines as the structure. It suggests grids represent predetermined boundaries to which one may or may not conform to where freedom comes as a consequence of breaking away from the grid.

Labudio( Laboratory / Studio )

During to two week ‘lab’ project, in the studio space I set out making my own Camera Obscura, effectively a human sized pinhole camera. All that was required was four desks, a piece of cardboard, many dark proof sheets and a regular glasses lens.

These are the results of what you could see from inside the camera, taken on a long exposure setting on a DSLR. The image from the outside is projected onto the back wall (or in this case, cardboard) the only difference being that it is upside down. I had a limited space thereby had a limited option in what to take a photo of on the account of the camera not being very mobile. However, it was an interesting project and I would be interested in developing it again once I have found an ideal location. I included myself in the image seen below, I found it intriguing that I appear to be in the space (despite it being upside down) when in actuality I was only standing in on a projection of reality. This is another concept in which I will be investigating in future works.

As another way of capturing the image on the back wall, I sealed myself in the light proof camera and tiled the back wall with 70 sheets of light sensitive paper. I then had an assistant remove the lens cover and exposed the paper to the light source and the results are displayed opposite (right.) The process was arduous but effective. I developed each individual tile in the dark room and then inverted the image and meticulously pieced the jigsaw back together. The results displayed opposite is as close to the original as I could manage after some photos going missing and the numbering system I employed failed to perform. However I am very pleased with the resulting piece creating an image full of interesting geometric shapes and patterns with a particularly dark, mysterious aesthetic and surreal quality.

The camera itself was a very engaging piece of work as even before I had put the sign up people were interacting with it. I had overheard a number of people discussing it with their friends and inviting people inside, it was great to see people getting excited about my creation.

Another interesting interaction I had discovered with my work were these apples that I had hung up on the strings of the blinds in the studio. I came back the next day to find the apples eaten with the cores left hanging.

The following series of work was created for the ‘Make Me Think’ brief set by Jade Sibley and Ruth Page as part of the lab. Based around the idea of the desire line, a path developed by erosion caused by footfall, the piece is designed to evoke feelings of uncertainty and mystery. It also portrays themes of human intervention and comparison with nature and natural effects, though communicated more efficiently through video (page 44) than photography. The materials of the work are made up of a single line of painted white sticks, collected from the forest, and the human ‘web’ comprises of 75 separate lengths of string.

The sculptural installation gave a number of curious forest-walkers the opportunity to interact with the obstacle in their path in which they walked around and continued back onto their ‘desire line.’

The work was shown in the Make Me Think exhibition at the Rag Factory in London, curated by Sibley Page. The exhibition was very successful and a great opportunity for my work to be externalized. Guests included Ken Garland who described the image displayed in the gallery as “Mystifying” and “Captivating.” The piece also creates parralells to the work of Richard Long.

Piece displayed in the Rag Factory exhibition

Conversation with Ken Garland at the Rag Factory Exhibition

Having left the installation piece in the woodland space, I traveled back a week later with a digital camera to record evidence of activity. I was pleasantly met by sculpture on the ground, sticks kicked aside and string cut down. The interaction in the piece reinforced the idea of this ‘desire line’ and the instinctual necessity to cut down obstacles in our path.

The following series of photographs are selected from a number of photo shoots, interacting with different types of meats and animal based products. It investigates the relationship between human and animal and how this differs, or whether it differs, once an animal has died and is ready for consumption. It also explores themes of man’s dominance in comparison to an animal’s powerlessness to it. Placing the meat out of context from it’s traditional setting, such as a supermarket shelf or a dinner plate, and in an urban and very man-made environment, brings about a strong unsettling sense of wrongness, and it felt wrong doing it.

Alongside this, the project’s inclination towards animal welfare and commentary towards the views of vegetarianism has a strong ironic factor in the sense that meat, and lives, had been wasted to create these photographs.

Despite being such a controversial subject, the project hints at humour, for example the image entitled ‘Stairs’ opposite plays on the idea that a cow can be lead upstairs but can’t walk down, is it the same for the minced beef...? Or simply the idea of seeing a fully naked and headless bird flying through the sky.

Viewer’s note, animals were killed in the making of these photographs.

‘Pig Sty’

‘Stairs’

‘Home’

Documentation: My vegetarian accomplice who helped by throwing the chicken. Irony. ‘Flying Lessons 1’

‘Flying Lessons 1I’

‘Sea bed II’‘Sea bed I’

‘Mother’s Love’

‘Nest’ ‘Simba vs Egg’

The image entitled ‘Mother’s Love’ opposite draws on the relationship triangle between human, food and animal. It questions the difference between an alive animal, perhaps one we know well such as a pet, and a ready to eat animal and whether there is any difference at all other than a lack of pulse. Does having a relationship with another mean you can’t eat it, and do animals share a similar perspective?

Here are a series of illustrations of beach related articles depicted in a variety of beach settings. They are drawn by hand, coloured digitally and edited ontop of photographs which were taken on a medium format camera. I quickly ran short of photographs of the beach and have yet to return to the seaside but I am looking to continue this into a long series of illustrations after my next trip to the coast.

This is the start of another long series of illustrations I would like to finish over the next few months. It’s titled “Would You Rather...” based on a game of the same name which entails describing two ridiculous scenarios and picking one which you would rather. I can imagine the series making up an illustrative book but in addition to this I am planning on screen printing the illustrations onto the inside and outside of reversible T-shirts so admirers of the work can wear which one they would rather in style.

INSIDE OUTSIDE

Evaluation

I feel I have learnt a lot this semester, not only in terms of practical skills but in regard to my own way of working and a more directed approached to my work and I have a clearer understanding of where my strengths lie. Previously I had felt my practice was so broad I didn’t know where to position myself, however now I feel after experimenting with a large number of techniques and media I understand what works and what doesn’t. I would like to pursue my work in illustration (including print) photography and sculpture. I consider myself as both an observational and conceptual artist and it has been reflected strongly in my work this semester.

I have produced a number of works I am particularly pleased with. The meat project was definitely the most challenging (and expensive) project I have done to date, but I also learnt a lot from it and developed my film photography skills further. I also learnt to challenge myself by working in an environment I wasn’t particularly comfortable in but if I were to create a controversial piece I came to understand that people will stare and people will think I’m being odd, but at least they were looking.

In addition to this, not only through observation but a lot of my work this semester was being activity engaged with, for example, the Camera Obscura and the Untitled sculpture I made in the forest. It’s great to see people getting excited by work I’ve created and I feel I want to continue making work people can not only see but communicate through the other senses too. Having my work displayed in a gallery space outside of University was a really exciting experience and gave me the opportunity for my work to be seen by a larger audience.

I really enjoyed the 2 week Lab experience in the studios and could only wish that was the norm for the University working environment. I spoke to a lot of people who I wouldn’t normally have spoken to and created and discussed work. It was also a great opportunity to see how other people work and generate ideas.

I have a number of unfinished projects or projects I would like to revisit which I still feel have potential to be taken further and am enthusiastic to continue this throughout the summer months to keep the creative juices flowing.

Bibliography

Books / Magazines

“It’s Nice That - Issue #2”“It’s Nice That - Issue #3”“It’s Nice That - Issue #4”“How to be a graphic designer without losing your soul” Shaughnessy A., Laurence King Publishing, 2010“Cult-ure” Hughes, R. Publishing Limited, 2010“The Conspiracy of Art” Baudrillard J. Semiotext, 2005

Talks

Kate GibbRick PoynorKemistry, Ricky ChurchillCreative Review, Patrick Burgoyne

Workshops / Studio Practice

The Girls, http://www.thegirls.co.uk/Neil Drabble, http://www.neildrabble.com/PaperCo, http://www.paperco.co.uk/Martin O’ Neill

ArtistsAndy Goldsworthy, http://www.rwc.uc.edu/artcomm/web/w2005_2006/maria_Goldsworthy/TEST/index.htmlRichard Long, http://www.richardlong.org/Jana Sterbak, http://www.janasterbak.com/

Video

“Secret Knowledge” David Hockney

Exhibitions

“Gabriel Orozco” Tate Modern“Exposed, Voyeurism, Surveillance and the Camera” Tate ModernBrighton University, Performing and Visual Arts, End of year Exhibitions“Pick Me Up” Somerset HouseV&A