Supermarket abandon

While shopping I've always noticed and puzzled at the frequent and rather illogical abandonment of certain items on supermarket shelves.

It seems to me that people have discarded these items in favor of the products around them. It seems just plain bizarre that someone would decide milk was suddenly unnecessary and that a chicken must replace it. It makes me think of the trivialities and conversation of people both internal and external that have decided on the abandonment of these things.

So I'll just keep documenting and archiving, every time I see them. With the hope that one day I will make a lovely book from them.

Kenneth Dibben Project

I'll be exhibiting my photographs from my work in the Science Park here along with other WSA Fine Art Painting students.
I think the name of the show sounds a bit like a prog rock band but it works :)

Trees in the Earth

During my lovely autumn walk yesterday I noticed how very peculiar it is that trees planted into concrete is a common occurrence, and that it is even more peculiar that I have not noticed that it is peculiar before.

Science Park Sculptures

So after reflecting on the things I saw in the science park I came to the conclusion that parks, and gardens in general area bit Heimlich.
The layout of most recreational land in urban areas is quite geometric. Nature is forced into small spaces that cannot accommodate it sufficiently despite our best attempts.
Such as trying trees to walls....
Thinking about the way we destroy the wild and then cram our own synthetic cultivated version of it back into the spaces around our constructions I made some bricolage sculptures using the plants and fruit and the man made constructs around the site.
I tried to use symmetrical shapes and patterns in these sculpture/drawings to demonstrate the unsuitability of the materials to achieve such arrangements.

PVA glue

I've started using PVA glue a lot to make new painting surfaces and perhaps to make some shadow images. When it's dried it has a very beautiful opalescent quality.I found that using different drying surfaces and adding objects into the glue generates some amazing and delicate patterns when it becomes solid.

This is a PVA surface that I made using a CD case. I painted on it with oil paint and scanned it to see what that would look like.
Another thing that I find really beautiful about these surfaces is their listless movement when you hold them in your hand.

The Science Park continues

First day at the Science Park also yielded these observations:

• That placing a bench somewhere automatically renders whatever it's facing WONDEROUS. I mean seriously, I think every tree has something interesting about it, but is this "sculpture" really worthy of my attention? Is it really worthy of my sitting down attention?

• Gardens and parks are strategically placed in urban area's because people need to have organic "greenery" (as its labeled) in their environment or they become depressed or something along those lines. That's probably true but gardens and parks are just plants etc shoved into geometric shaped area's that they don't really fit into which require constant "maintenance".

• The layout of such parks and gardens often seems as though its attempting to look natural as though when the buildings were constructed on untamed land these little sections of wildness were spared to thrive among the amazing buildings, roads and amenities. In reality, the whole place would have been leveled then turf chucked into some spare areas with trees planted on top in symmetrical rows. Then obviously this looks AMAZING so you'll need a few benches so people can sit down, catch their breath and really appreciate the immense beauty of nature captured in a garden like this......

Today I was trekking around a "Science Park" as part of a four day project in University. We weren't given much direction from our tutor, only shown slides of some artists work, which is pretty much the perfect way for me to start a project. By just wandering around aimlessly.

Anyway, the "Science Park" was actually a complex of office and lab buildings with standard carparks and grassed areas, not a large field filled with strange sculptures that demonstrate various powers of physics, which is what I envisioned when I heard the title "Science Park".




The offices were actually on the edge of a large nature reserve and the whole place was surrounded by motorway so wherever you were, the constant din of cars was audible even in the forested nature reserve. This intrigued me a lot as it reminded me of the constant rushing sound that can be heard from the factories near my house and so I recorded a few videos including this spider web with the obnoxious background noise of cars.

Paint the unphotographable

As I am about to start my second year at WSA under the painting specialism I have had many thoughts about the purpose/validity of painting in the context of modern art and more importantly what it means to me personally. I have always used a lot of photography and drawing/painting to investigate things but I find that I rarely begin or conclude things with painting and yet it still remains my favorite practice.
Therefore I feel I need to be able to rely more on my drawing and painting skills and I think the only way to do this is to embark upon an analysis cannot be documented initially though photography.

So I'm going to document the reflection and shadow perceived through my own eyelid but I fully expect to veer from this rather vague brief.

A few pages from my sketch book containing paint experiments as I try to find the best way to layer colours that mimic the pulsating patterns of my eyelid in strong light.

Editing process

Long exposure shots before and after they were edited in photoshop using basic auto commands.

I have started using the auto-contrast method in an adverse attempt to realize the abilities of technology to manipulate the natural.

I felt that the meticulous process I usually undertake when editing digital photographs seemed rather redundant here. I want to see what technology is capable of creating without too much interference on my part.
On a side note, long exposure photography is much more satisfying as I find that I don't "hoover" images as a photography tutor of mine once berated me for doing.

More long exposure shots

A few more long exposure pictures from my own back garden. The shadows in these photographs were produced by the bright moonlight at the time. I must take some photographs without moonlight as I want to see how the landscapes will look without conventional shadows.
I'm beginning to refine the subject of these photographs to well maintained gardens. There is something disturbing about the congenital desire of people to ensnare, manipulate and breed nature into their own personal fantasy.
I also have become very intrigued by the tiny scraps and sections of grassland and garden in between motorways and on roundabouts and I intend to explore this subject within the area of long exposure photography.