final show hanging

some impressions of the hanging for the show. the lowest image is the final order and selection.

oil on board

To add another, local character to this series I used one of the old victorian fairy-images of -The Cottingley Fairies- which were being taken by Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths, two young cousins who lived in Cottingley. The photographs were taken in 1917. Elsie was 16 years old and Frances was 10. These photographs were believed to be genuine, as no one was able to prove they were fake until the early 80´s, when Elsie and Frances admitted that the photographs were fake using cardboard cutouts of fairies copied from a popular children´s book (princess mary´s gift book) of the time. Frances continued, that some photographs were genuine, whilst others were fake.

From a today´s point of view it seems incredible, that images like this are taken for real for over 60 years. Photoshop, and digital, available photo-manipulation seems to be the reason for the stronger scepticism, although the Cottingley Fairies show, that a 16- and 10 year old girl can create fake images with such an impact - without photoshop!

I only painted a section of one of the photos, as in this case I wanted the -fake object- to be strongly in the foreground. I quite enjoy playing with the obviousness and the hidden in this series.

four examples of photographs by Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths made with cutouts of fairies.

comparison between -Princess mary´s gift book (right)- and -The Cottingley Fairies-

oil on wood / 20 x 20 cm

oil on wood / 40 x 30 cm

These are the only paintings in the series (so far) that had no template. They refer to extreme macro/microphotography and fhotos, that are completely out of focus, which often offer nothing more than a blur. These images are completely dependent on text and description that come with the image, as noone can decode only from the photograph alone. The interpretation of the observer is dependent on this information, which offers a wide room for manipulation of perception.

In the case of my series the surrounding information is of myth and paranormality, so the viewer connects this information to the blur, and interprets it in this context.

oil on wood / 20 x 25 cm

As Britain has colonies, a lot of exotic animals have been brought in the country. Some people believe, that panthers & pumas, once brought in the country as sweet baby cuties has been set free in the countryside as they grew too big to keep them. The website - www.bigcatsinbritain.org- shows among other things big-cat hunters who spend their nights in tents placed in areas where big cats were spotted. There is no objective proof for the existence of cats of prey in the UK, but the myth keeps the story alive and many hunters in their tents, passing sleepness nights for the proof of their existence.

oil on board / 35 x 30 cm

This image is, analog to the image with the child, based on a snapshot. I think, many people will need their time to find the actual abnormality in the image (it´s the two circles that appear in the upper part of the painting). These two circles can be interpreted as orbs, which are energy fields or ghosts. This image plays with the viewers obsessive urge to interpret. So do many other paintings in this series as well.

oil on wood / 70 x 60 cm

When I did my research for this series, I realized that absolutely everything apearently unexplainable within a photo - dots provoked by random reflections, dust, dirty lens etc. - can be read as a paranorman phenomenon. Mostly these images are the result of wrong handling of the camera, or of errors in the photographic process.

Translated into my painted series, every error in my painting could result in similar interpretation. Theoretically only - of course- as it is a human-made, subjective painting process. It will never seriously be read in that way, but with this ridiculousness & humour in my work I want to question images in general via painting. Interpretation is manipulable

oil on board / 20 x 15 cm

oil on board / 20 x 20 cm

During my research for appropriate templates I was often surprised, that simple dots or lines within an image are being interpreted as paranormal phenomena. Often I needed quite a lot of time to find the actual protagonist of the image. Sometimes huge arrows dot to a tiny abnormality or error in the image, which is interpreted as phenomena or even proof for a certain myth. These paintings are based on very simple mark making. the horizontal backround indicates a landscape, then a tiny stroke is created with a dry brush in the wet paint, which indicates the phenomenon, abnormality or irregularity. The surrounding context forms the meaning of these simple, almost abstract paintings.

damien tutorial

NAME OF TUTOR: damien

DATE: 27.7.11

STUDENT TO FILL IN:

What points were discussed during the tutorial?

We talked about the -mystery- series I intend to show in the final show, and how the images interact with each other. I told Damien about my starting point, when I wanted to make the painting as much photo-like as I could. After a few paintings I felt that I should give the painting itself a role in the work as well, and the validity of painted content. Especially I wanted to use the ridiculousness of trying to use painting as a proof. Damien seemed to like the very obviously manipulated ones. It added some humour to the whole series.

Damien mentioned warminster as a town that is very related to ufos. I said, I am a bit unsure about the backround of the paintings (wall) – whether to paint it in a certain colour or not. We talked about red (pseudo-horror) and black (colour of the unexpected). Trying in photoshop would be the best solution. Furthermore Damien told me about local mythodology, such as panthers that once were transported to the uk and then escaped in the wild.

The idea arose to make fake-posters of a missing mystery thing (panther, dinosaur...) and hang them around in a certain area.

2. What issues will be thinking further on as a result of this conversation?

I will definitely think further about the poster idea ( especially because as a graphic designer I made many posters, and I was always looking for a way to combine these skills), probably will happen after the show/course, as at the moment I want to concentrate on finishing my painted-series. I will also think further about the sense of humour in my work.

STAFF COMMENTS:

Max’s current series of paintings is progressing well, the looser marks are an interesting playful development. It would be advisable to paint more than is needed and then whittle down a strong final selection for the degree show. Considering the cryptozoological aspect (Nessie) the curious phenomenon of alien big cats in the UK would be of interest ( HYPERLINK "http://www.ukbigcats.co.uk/" http://www.ukbigcats.co.uk/) and adds a local twist to the tale (the Beast of Sydenham). Martin Healy’s work was discussed: his work often explores superstition and belief, including a UFO series (link to a clip of his Warminster documentary: HYPERLINK "http://www.martinhealy.net/watcher3.html" http://www.martinhealy.net/watcher3.html). The idea of planting misleading information in the public domain calls to mind the work of Jamie Shovlin or Maurizio Cattelan. Film stills could also be employed as a source of imagery, see Peter Rostovsky’s Transport Series.

written paper

At the beginning of the course I was very much into painting

portraits - mostly black and white - of people, that are often overseen,

such as tramps and alcoholics, but in my opinion had very

interesting faces. I encountered them randomly on the streets,

asked to photograph them, then I painted them on a large scale in

the majority of cases - celebrating the uncelebrated.

Within the course I started to question scale, experimented with

different formats, played with colouring, but I kept on working

with random encounters - not only in the context of humans, but

also objects and street-scenes (CCTV), and lastly with images

I found on the internet. I began to get more and more interested

in the gap between the actual, visual content of an image, and

the social context that it was being made in. I got very interested

in the manipulative nature of images, and how they change our

perception of facts. I started deliberately misleading the viewer

and tried to misdirect the interpretation of the observer within

a painting. The source of the image and the actual context is

disguised through my selection process, which only shows a

fragment of the whole story. So the viewer starts to build his own

subjective story of the painting, which is dependent on his very

own perception and experience.

Later on, I started to include the fake subject matter in my work.

I became interested in imagery and myths that arose with the

support and „proof “ of fake imagery. My own experimentation

with faking photographs (without the help of photoshop) helped

me understand how easy it is to form content that misleads the

viewer. The painting of fake images adds another layer of fakeness

to it. Painting is less believable than photos, even in times of photoshop

we tend to believe what we see in photos, as photography

has a much more objective character than painting, where every

stroke is human-made, thereby subjective and not reliable. At the

moment I play with these properties of painting, adding simple

almost naive marks as ufo´s, ghosts etc. . This added humour and a

certain ridiculousness to my work that it did not contain before. I

make fun of the paintings inability to be valid as a proof, but at the

same time questioning the reliability of images in general.

After the course I´m planning to make a series which adapts the

visual language of -missing- posters, and insert my own ridiculous

content, such as a devised animal (lion, octopus, or a mixture of

both...), or maybe even just a simple painting mark, that is being

interpreted by the viewer.

I want to do further work on the hoax-character of my more recent

creations, maybe also with mixing silkscreen and painting.

oil on wood / 40 x 40 cm

Most ghost photos are based on a snapshot. It´s typical for these images, that the intention was not to photograph a ghost, or paranormal phenomenen, but the family, a group shot, or in this case a child. After the photographic process people find unexplainable things in the completed image.

Many fake ghost & UFO photos play with this typical given fact, and stage-manage a classical photosituation where they involve their -proof- in the backround, often out of focus, to support the mystery within the image.

The photo I painted is one of the first to be found on Google, when -Ghost- is being written in Google. I don´t know if the template I used is a deliberately staged image e.g with a fog machine, or it´s just a random dust-clowd provoked by the neighbour´s mowing machine, but this image is definitely one of the most-present images in the internet when it comes to ghost-imagery.

selfmade fake photos

it is surprisingly easy to fake photos, even without photoshop. I think, they are mostly even more successful if they are done analogue without manipulation afterwards, as people are rather looking for typical photoshop errors, such as wrong light / shadow, selection contour, resolution difference... .

two examples of fake photos of ufo and ghost I made myself with a tealight on a string and smoke machine.

oil on wood / 20 x 25 cm

The very simple shape of the so called orbs is very interesting for me. This eccect mostly appears from reflections, snow, rain or dust. Many images of the orbs are visually very appealing, and often almost seem abstract.

The image I chose interested me because of the simple composition (horizontal line in the backround & dots in the foreground) People who don´t know about the orbs-phenomenon will probably rather see an abstract painting, but as in many other cases in this series, the surrounding paintings form the context and content of this painting.

oil on wood / 40 x 40 cm

This painting seems to be from a planet, or the moon. Actually it is a close-up of an orb - probably a reflection of something. I chose this image as it is hard to read correctly, even if it is very realistically painted, almost withoout visible brushstroke. The viewer probably tries to find the meaning of this painting in the mystery of the moon. This deliberate isleading of the viewer interests me very much and is contained in many of the paintings in this series.

oil on wood / 25 x 20cm

One of the most ridiculous & absurd paintings in the series. It´s not based on a template, completely made up. The actual UFO is made by two simple marks, obviously painted and it´s also obvious, that this image never existed as a photo. As images of UFOs always have a certain will to be authentic, this painting in its obvious, absurd way seems quite funny in a ridiculous way. It´s farcical to forward this image as a proof for anything´s existence, but (I hope) it still questions images and their credibility in general.

oil on board / 40 x 60 cm

This painting is based on a selfmade template I made in my back garden. The actual UFO is a tealight on a string, moved to get a motion blur and unsharpness which is typical for these inages. Tha actual UFO was only ca. 60 cm away from the camera lens, but as it´s backround is the sky, there is no optical relation, so i seems far away and big. Perspective, and optical illusions in context with fore- and backround are often being used to create images, that are not what they seem, and deliberately mislead the viewer.

40 x 25 cm / oil on board

This is one of the classics in the series. The template for this paiting was Adamski´s invention and formed the stereotype of most of the ufo-fakes that came afterwards. It shows an Venusian scout ship. but his descriptions of the technology aboard the space ships suffer from an electromechanical view: plausible in the 1950's industrial hopes but surely not with ours. Adamski described no microchips, no fiber optics. his descriptions of the inside of the spaceships also stay mostly very general.

here is a graphic explanation of space-ship.

20 x 25 cm / oil on board

In 1934, Marmaduke Wetherell had his son-in-law Robert K. Wilson photograph a toy submarine with a sculpted head in order to pass it off as a picture of -the loch ness monster-. Most people fell for it at the time, and an entire cottage industry of nessie hunters was born. The photo I used as a template is probably the most famous of the loch ness monster.

Baselitz in the White Cube

This exhibition has been one of the best ones, I´ve been to so far. the space of the white cube is ideal for baselitz´s massive paintings. They were quite simple though, but very precise. he repeated the subject of the eagle many times, so this was banging into the head. it reminded me to printing. It´s almost, that he is acting like a human printing machine, doing his motives again and again. The urge to produce stuff is incredible. But It seemed to me, as he would simplify his paintings, in order to produce more of them, and not to lose the equality of them by adding too many details. the stroke on top acted for me like a landscape, grabbing for the eagle to get him back on the ground. the fact, that the image is upside down works in a strange way, as he is depicting an animal, which is quite independent of -up- and -down-. also the fact that the eagle is a important national sign/symbol in germany (and other countries as well).

Here is an image of the german reichstag.

Mc Collum-Robbins interview

McCollum Robbins Interview

Mick Finch about Gerhard Richter

article here

tutorial donal maloney

NAME OF TUTOR: donal maloney

DATE: 23.6.11

STUDENT TO FILL IN:

1. What points were discussed during the tutorial?

It was refreshing, to talk to someone, that did not see the diversity of painting-style as an error, but as a chance. At first we talked about the big -the fight- painting. Donal mentioned, it looks almost artificially constructed. The smaller painting was quickly decoded from him as the tomato fight painting that it actually is, but he said he could not see that as easily in the big one – which shows me, that it´s more successful in terms of being hardly de-codeable. (which I want it to be).

Donal mentioned some neo-expressive painters, like Julian Schnabel. He recommended to insert all painting styles into one painting, however I did not want it to be a painted-collage. (maybe just because I never saw my work in this direction). When I showed him the self-portrait-with-a-toilet-roll painting I made, he noted, that he already sees this direction in my work.

2. What issues will be thinking further on as a result of this conversation?

I will think about ways to insert diverse painting styles in one painting. I´m thinking of quite photorealistic, but out of focus backgrounds, with expressive marks on it. Maybe it would make sense to start by overprinting photos? Ridiculous “proofs“ of e.g. U.F.O.s would maybe be an option. For example a photorealistic landscape as a background with a childish-doodled ufo in a corner....just thinking.

3. Any other comments

It was nice to meet you at white cube. A damn strong exhibition.

STAFF COMMENTS:

We discussed differences between the two ‘Spanish festival’ paintings and how the scale of the larger painting made reading the interaction between the figures more ambiguous (could have been a battle rather than a celebration). Throughout other paintings such as the ‘bucket hat’ paintings and ‘toilet roll’ painting Max continues this interest in how the translation from photograph to painting shifts the narrative. We talked about ways to further develop this. One way we discussed was to introduce crossovers between the more expressionist works and the more detailed U.F.O./paranormal phenomena paintings. Whilst there were four/five different approaches to painting being explored we talked about particular combinations that could cover many of his separate investigations. The main concern would be how to produce results that reflect his interests and generate others, whilst not weakening each separate inquiry through their combination. We discussed different ways of doing this like drawing into the wet paint with subtle drawings that come from images in other paintings. Rather than on overt and brash clash of styles Max discussed his interest in the centralized image. Further analysis of the role of photography in his work will help to identify and clarify his interest in the translation and manipulation of images.

See D.A. Robbins interview with Allan Mc Collum for a discussion on painting as non-transcendental and the gesture used as an ironic sign of modernist reproduction-http://homepage.mac.com/allanmcnyc/amcpdfs/McCollum-Robbins.pdf

See Andrew Otwells article on Richter’s paintings as simulacra- http://www.heyotwell.com/work/arthistory/Richter.html and Daniel Yacavone’s paper on reflexivity- http://www.forumjournal.org/site/issue/01/daniel-yacavone and Mark Finch’s paper ‘Gerhard Richter: The Polemics of Paint’ -http://www.mickfinch.com/texts/gerhard.html.

Following on from our discussion on humour and irony/wit in painting see the work of Albert Oehen, Peter Davies show in the Approach gallery (online) and Andrew Stahl’s paintings in the 1980/90s.

Shea Hembrey - How I became 100 Artists

Paul Coldwell crit

Notes:

Paul Coldwell Crit 8 June 2011

Max introduced his work by stating that he was interested in the misleading appearance of images: E.g. Supposed UFOs actually buttons; Protesters appearing funny, yet with a serious function; A tomato fight evoking war/violence.

Paul Coldwell (PC) noted the different approach to painting taken in each piece/series.

It was stated that the photojournalistic quality of the images was apparent.

Max noted that the paintings were connected to the photograph. The images read out of context give an initial response which is at odds with their original purpose. The idea is to confuse the viewer.

PC questioned the rationale behind the scale of the paintings and suggested that the sizes could be reversed: i.e. that the viewer would read the protesters differently if they were small as the content of the image would be less immediately apparent. Similarly, if the UFO pieces were larger, the viewer would look and attempt to find things in the vista.

Concerning the Tomato Fight painting, Max stated that he was interested in the movement from figuration to abstraction. PC stated that the painting evoked the massacre pits in Bosnia and that the reality of the image provided an interesting double edge: innocent, yet interpreted as catastrophic. It was suggested that an exhibition at the Imperial War Museum would be relevant.

PC questioned what effect the artist intended the work to have in the world. Max stated that the aim was to confuse the viewer and that he didn’t want to the work read as social comment.

PC noted that the work was jarring a literal reading and that the problem today was that we are not allowed to interpret. The importance or otherwise of the veracity of the image in the context of digital photo manipulation was mentioned.

The way in which people play to the camera in conflict situations was raised. Theatre of conflict.

A question was raised regarding the importance of the viewer becoming confused. Max stated that the titles of the paintings would provide a clue to their intention.

PC reference Hunt’s painting of a tethered goat and the range of ideas people project onto the work. PC suggested that Max consider how he paints and more consciously make decisions about style. The importance of the surface to painting that referenced photography was stated. B.J. Kelmans (????)

-----

Comments on Comments:

I very much liked the idea of making the UFO painting bigger, that the viewer would have to search for the -wrong- thing in the image. Maybe it would be necessary to set the painting in context with other paintings where strange, unexpected things are happening. So I could shape the expectation of the viewer and use it.

I also very much liked the term -theatre of conflict-. I see some potential in it, as theatre automatically includes fakeness. I´m very interested in the interaction with cameras in times of war and catastrophy, and the fact, that every conflict is dependent on media-attention to be successful. The resulting images are semi-authentic, as the conflict is real, but through the interaction with the cameras a fragment of the conflict turns into a staged scene.

colin crumplin tutorial

please click on preview to read.

Essay / Research Paper Unit One

Str_richter

Tutorial 19.5.11 Klaas Hoek

MA FINE ART: TUTORIAL NOTES FORM


NAME OF STUDENT: max strasser

NAME OF TUTOR: Klaas Hoek

DATE: 19.5.11



STUDENT TO FILL IN:
1.What points were discussed during the tutorial?

At first we talked about the series of people covering their heads in interesting ways. I mentioned, that I like the contrast between the photographic background, and the more painterly faces. Klaas raised the question, if I want to imitate photography, or keep it in a painted manner. I mentioned that I would be interested in painting a nearly abstract image into a rather photographic background. We spoke about the point, when painting is actually representing the medium itself, and when painting is representing the image. We furthermore discussed that there is a photographic out of focus, and another – ore more another way(s) of a painterly out of focus. Klaas noted, that it is always a game of the experience, and the existing knowledge of the viewer. I talked about my interest in creating a image, that is abstract from a closer point of view, but from the distance it is decode-able. Klaas mentioned, that it would also be possible, to paint a very close detail of something, which would on the one hand look like an abstract image, but represent something. He advised me to make close detail-photos of things, as a research in this topic, rather than directly try to paint it, as it is quicker.

Klaas recommended me to look at the work of Wilhelm Sasnal. He also mentioned, that Luc Tuymans has published a book with his templates. It would rather be interesting, what other artists look at, than what they actually make out of it.



2. What issues will be thinking further on as a result of this conversation?

I will think about the contrast between photorealistic backgrounds and painterly foregrounds. I also think about, if I want to imitate photography in the background, or keep it in a painted manner. I would rather think about imitation, to keep the contrast strong. Furthermore I want to start doing photographs of everyday-details to get a sense of abstraction in everyday life.



STAFF COMMENTS:

Max showed well-painted canvases where he is looking for researching relationships between photography and painting. We discussed that this remediation is a common issue in lots of contemporary paintings and I was wondering what it was that interested Max in particular. I pointed at elements that were maybe based on a more personal interest than the general issues. There are numerous possibilities to link painterly and more photographic iconography beyond the example of the usual suspects in the topical discussion around painting. Max can paint very well but is still looking for his own entrance to or signature in painting.

the fight

64 x 38 cm / oil on canvas

red is the colour of love - or, in a painting it quickly gets a sense of horror, of blood and violence. we all learned that in our life, in our visual experience, in newspapers, billboards and television, sometimes even in real life. In my painting -the fight- I´m playing with this experience. in the first moment, it seems to be a horrible image, a press photo of war or a natural catastrophe. It functions a bit in a similar way like the series of headdresses. The headdress-paintings (people saving their heads against the stones) are from civil-war, they look - in the first impression- they could also be from a strange form of carnival, or another - rather fun thing.
-The Fight- works the other way round. It is an image of the Tomato Fight Event in Bunol / Spain, taking place every year. Its a fun event, where people throw tomatoes at each other, but the image manipulates rather in the horror-story-way. This I wanted to support with the painting, making it a roughly painted mess of violence. I think, as this image is quite small, I will repeat this one on a much bigger canvas. I think the paint itself can support the manipulation much better on a large format, but still very roughly and painterly painted.

we´ll see.

Treacle-Action

Nice collaboration with Lois. I liked the action, and loved the outcome.

Cain Caser

A very interesting Artist, not very well known, I guess. I especially like his work as he is talking about it as portraits. With that in mind, it really is at the gap between abstraction in figuration. It is also interesting, as we as humans are so used to look at faces every day, that nearly every form -even when it is abstract - can be depicted as a face.

For me, it´s a very interesting field, and it makes clear, that figuration and abstraction, are only defineable in a subjective way. It´s dependent of our visual experience, and the hierarchy within that.

6

4rtist.com from klitorik* on Vimeo.

Lecture Heather McReynolds 12.5.2011

Yesterday´s lecture was a good one. Heather McReynolds spoke about her work, and about painting in general.

It showed me, that painting does not have to be under conceptual constraints, but can be intuitive, and out of concious approach. She rather saw the dialogue between the paint, the material, and the painter him/herself. Even if the paintings themselves did not really speak to me, it was nice to see, that someone holding a lecture in College has an approach like that.

Headdress

127 x 127 cm each / oil on canvas

This Series is dealing with the tension between what an image actually shows, and the story behind that image. I´m very interested in this gap. An image always gives only a fragment of a bigger story, therefore it is not very precise in telling, not to say manipulative. In the first view this series shows rather funny images of people covering their head in strange ways. but I think one can feel, that there is something serious going on. The templates for these paintings come from german newspaper and internet press. The backround of the images are held in a photographic out-of-focus style, the protagonists of the images are depicted in a more painterly manner, maybe more subjective. I wanted to leave the objectivity of the photograph to the backround of the painting, and express the human less neutral, more subjective.

The images are from protesters from Egypt / Cairo, saving their heads from the stones that are being thrown.

UFO

Pappschablone/Cardboardstencil / Oil on Wood / 20 x 25 cm

Knopf/Button / Oil on Wood / 20 x 25 cm

Knopf 2/Button 2 / Oil on Wood / 20 x 25 cm

The Appearence of images really interests me. They tell lies, manipulate, but still form the way how we see the world. They are mighty, and sometimes they are misused as a proof.

Basis of these paintings were Ufo images from the 50´s, and 60´s. where there was a big ufo hype, and everyone has seen Ufo´s everywhere.

I think I will continue this series with self-made photographs, where I fake Ufo images myself with very simple objects like ventile caps, tea lights, etc.

Appearence dictates the being.

working process

The working process of -headdress-