Blog Evaluation

Overall, I have enjoyed making a blog about my College work. Although, i think i could of put more effort into including more posts and maybe arrange the order of my posts better as a few are out of place. If i ever get the chance to make a blog again i would probably plan it out better, so that all my posts follow in order.
I do think that Blogger is a really good method of showing your work and ideas over a period of time though. I have found it fairly easy to use as the layout is rather simple and easy to follow. I also like the idea of following other people that inspire me or people i can relate to. :)

Mark Ho

Mark Ho is an animatric human sculpture who uses bronze and stainless steel and produces some very clever sculptures that represent the human body. I'm glad that i came across Mark's work as i can relate my own work to his. His work is very interesting and time-consuming, it looks like he puts a lot of time and effort into his work.

FMP

An artist i have researched for my FMP is James Corbett. James uses salvaged old car parts and transforms them into amazing sculptures. He uses parts of cars of the 1950s and 60s. The thing i like the most about his work is that all of the car parts he uses are the same as when he found them, He doesn't manipulate or change the shape of any of the parts. But, he spends a lot of his time finding the right parts to fit the sculpture perfectly. As i am doing mechanical structures and working with metal for my FMP, finding James' work has inspired me a lot, as i want my ideas to develop into looking at cars; the inside, outside and under the bonnet and looking at all the different shapes found in and around a car.

Amsterdam trip

I had a really good time whilst we were in Amsterdam. The museums we visited included the Van Gogh museum and the Rijks museum. I found it interesting looking at the artist's original pieces, it was probably a once in a life time oppurtunity seeing some original Van Gogh paintings, i'm glad i had the chance to go.

The 90s

Here is my essay i wrote about my chosen era; 1990s.

For my essay I have chosen to research the 1990s. The reason I decided to chose this decade is simply because I was born in 1992 and lived my childhood in this era. As I grew up I was introduced to the music, fashion and everyday way of life.

       Off the top of my head, when I think about the 1990s, I picture the Spice girls, The Union Jack flag, shell suits, Pokemon, Nokia mobile phones and the many different toys, gadgets, films and music.

       The most appealing things in the 90s to me were the toys and gadgets, as I was growing up in this decade. A favourite toy of mine was the Sony Playstation, which was a massive hit with many people all over the world.  Pokemon was also introduced, as anime and manga art became very popular in this decade. The very first anime series “Astro boy” was released on Japanese television in 1963. Although, as time went on, the popularity of anime television was increasing which gave great opportunities for animators to work in the film industry. By the 1990s anime and manga television had reached its height of success when some famous material had found it’s way onto Japanese and eventually, Western movie screens. It further developed into many different gadgets including Pokemon collectable cards, figures, game console games and was a craze for many Children all over the world. And although, anime and manga were products of the twentieth century, their origins lay in traditional forms of Japanese art including kabuki theatre and woodblock prints.

         A famous Artist who made a big impact in the 90s was Keith Haring who passed away at the very start of the decade February 1990, His work responded to the New York City street culture. His bold lines and active figures carry poignant messages of vitality and unity. His legacy made an impact on late 20th century art and has given us all a vision for the future. In 1989 The Keith Haring foundation was established to assist aids related and children’s charities. Haring’s work is unique and highly recognisable and also holds a lot of strong meaning.

Francis Bacon was also a well-known artist around the 90s, a figurative painter famous for his graphic and emotionally raw imagery. His work is very interesting as it’s the total opposite from a pretty picture of flowers in a vase. His work makes me want to know a lot more about the story behind the picture. The figures in his paintings appear to be set behind glass or steel cages set on a flat plain background. I think his work is eerie and strange but also very intriguing.

       On the political side of the 90s, The United Kingdom’s prime minister from 1990-1997 was Sir John Major who was also the leader of the Conservative party.

He held the posts of Foreign Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer in the cabinet of Margaret Thatcher and was the Member of Parliament for Huntingdon 1979–2001.

Major was said to have had a weak style which was a complete contrast to Thatcher’s forceful and confrontational manner.

Although I don’t know too much about the politics around this period of time from my own general knowledge, one genre I am more in tune with is the music.

The spice girls were probably one of the biggest things to come around in the 90s consisting of five girls including Victoria Beckham Melanie Brown, Emma Bunton, Melanie Chisholm and Geri Halliwell. They released their debut single “wannabe” in 1996 which hit number one in more than 30 different countries and also established the group as a ‘global phenomenon’. Their debut album “Spice” which sold over 23 million copies worldwide, then became the best world wide selling album by a female group in music history. The symbolic union jack dress instantly reminds you of the group. Britney Spears was also a massive pop icon in the 90s,  Britney has sold over 100 million records worldwide, making her one of the best selling music artists in the history of contemporary music. The late 90s was the boost of Britneys career, but it appears that as the years have gone by things started to go slightly downhill for the Singer/Actress. One of my favourite bands as I was growing up was the Backstreet boys, another very successful pop music group of the 90s. The band was formed in Orlando, Florida in 1993 and they are apparantly the first group since Sade to have their first seven albums reach the top ten in the charts.

        The fashion trends of the 90s are mostly based around denim Jeans and T-shirts. It appeared that denim was a big hit with many people and shell suits and track suits were also a favourite. The hairstyles people chose were often straight, Men had longer hair, as did my Dad. Around 1995 a trend set off which was known as the Rachel haircut, inspired by the Character from the programme ‘Friends’. Tattoos and body piercings were becoming more popular and well known and the colour trends varied, For example, the colours people mostly wore in the early 90s were bright neon colours brought out of the eighties, But towards the end of the decade the colour black became a lot more popular and wasn’t seen as being a colour just for Goths.

        Another great outcome from the 90s were the films that were produced, Some classics include; Men in black, The Matrix, Armageddon, Austin Powers, Batman, Titanic, Twister, Forest Gump, Ghost, Jurrasic Park, The Lion King and many more.

        Although, On the down-side this particular decade also holds bad memories of natural disasters including The Bangladesh cyclone April 1991 where 138,000 lives were taken, The North American storm in the united states happened in 1993 taking 318 lives,  Izmit earthquake in Turkey of August 1999 taking 45,000 lives and the North Koreon famine 1996-1998 where a large ammount of lives were lost.

       And finally, One particular thing that has improved the most through-out the 1990s is technology. The development of the internet and computer software was a great achievement. Mobile phones, calling devices, game consoles and many other gadgets have just got better and more advanced as the years have gone by, who knows what things will be like in the future if technology is as good as it is now.

Leo Sewell

Leo Sewell is a junk sculptor. Over the past 50 years he has developed his own unique assemblage techniques by collecting scraps of plastic, metal and wood and creating 3D sculptures such as animals and objects. When i came across Leo's work i was inspired to attempt to make something similar due to the fact my Dad is a messy person and has always collected random things. I think i should of gave my self more time to make my own piece and found better resources to use.

Inspiration

Room Seven.

The inspiration for my patch work design for my raincoat was the Children's clothes designer, room seven. I did some research on Children designers to give me an idea on suitable colours and designs. When i came across this patch work design i knew this was the sort of pattern i wanted to produce.