Points made in my first tutorial that I am going to look into further. also key words.
I need to look at how handmade and digital intersect with each other, as opposed to either/or good/bad. Overlap rather than polarise.
I also need to look at paradoxes within my question.
Physical vs digital over handmade vs digital.
Conceptualise in the intro
There are many types of value I can look into within my essay - artistic, cultural, economic, ethical, aesthetic etc
time = value
Handmade is painstaking and personal
The rise of Pinterest - handmade via digital
Comparative chapter:
Pinterest
Tumblr - discuss spectres and functions
Etsy
do these platforms allow to display via digital in a way they couldn't before? - blurring the lines
Arts and crafts movement, William Morris - moving away from industrial and towards handcrafted.
Blood, sweat and tears.
Tuesday, 28 October 2014
Wednesday, 17 September 2014
Fangirl
//Paper cut: The artists talk @ The Proud Archivist, LDN with Owen Gildersleeve + Rob Ryan
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Here's a photo I nabbed from Owen Gildersleeve's Instagram of us at the talk. That's me in the yellow - the joy that is London traffic meant were a little bit late so we had to sit at the back but it was still amazing. (I look like I wasn't listening but I was actually just writing stuff down, honest!) The exhibition space so cool too!
Just to pre-warn you: I met Owen Gildersleeve and Rob Ryan and had a really nice chat with them both individually and they are just the nicest people and I don't think I'll ever get over it so I will probably get very overexcited blogging about it but it's my dissertation blog so that's okay. I was so happy and I still don't think I'm fully over it!
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Where do I even start with the talk? It was so inspiring and so interesting to hear these two incredible artists talking about their work and their day-to-day lives. I got some notes obviously but I was so excited at the time and busy hanging on every word that was said that they don’t really make much sense to me anymore. I’ll do my best to decipher them but all I can see right now is ‘why are you like you are?’ and ‘Rob Ryan - we had a chat and it was great!!’.
So here we go:
What I found really interesting was one of the first things that Gildersleeve said - it’s something that I’d never really considered or knew before and if that makes me stupid/ill informed then so be it but at least I know now and it raised an interesting point for me to look at in my dissertation. He was discussing the importance of digital within the handmade industry and what he mentioned was how he created mock-ups and templates for clients and himself of the papercuts he creates using Illustrator, a digital programme. This is something I didn’t know before, I don’t know what I thought happened but I guess I just hadn’t thought about it much before. The great thing about this talk and ‘Paper Cut’ the book is that it looks not just at the end result but at the process behind it. Gildersleeve says that ‘the process is as important as the finals’. He also said that digital and handmade work together, which is something I want to look into further. He said to me that they work in tandem, that one can’t really exist without the other.
So here we go:
What I found really interesting was one of the first things that Gildersleeve said - it’s something that I’d never really considered or knew before and if that makes me stupid/ill informed then so be it but at least I know now and it raised an interesting point for me to look at in my dissertation. He was discussing the importance of digital within the handmade industry and what he mentioned was how he created mock-ups and templates for clients and himself of the papercuts he creates using Illustrator, a digital programme. This is something I didn’t know before, I don’t know what I thought happened but I guess I just hadn’t thought about it much before. The great thing about this talk and ‘Paper Cut’ the book is that it looks not just at the end result but at the process behind it. Gildersleeve says that ‘the process is as important as the finals’. He also said that digital and handmade work together, which is something I want to look into further. He said to me that they work in tandem, that one can’t really exist without the other.
Although some of the talk was not relevant specifically to my question/dissertation in general there were still some great points made and advice given. Gildersleeve says that ‘collaboration is very important’ as well as using a photographer for the projects rather than doing it yourself as you get a fresh perspective and that good old industry term - ‘fresh eyes’. Another interesting point that was made is that ‘when you make something it exists, you can move it’ - this was in the context of a piece of work created for a magazine that he had also made into a piece of moving image, because once you’ve made something you can do anything with it and why not? ‘It’s nice to see it come to life’.
We were shown work from Gildersleeve’s professional portfolio and his personal work (something he feels is very important - gives you a break), given an insight into his working life and the processes behind his work. It was really nice to hear someone speak so passionately of their work and of the exhibition and book they have produced. He’s definitely someone I want to look at further as he’s (for me) one of the forerunners of the new handmade movement. I was lucky enough to be able to speak to him in the break (because I was too scared to ask my question at the Q+A section and I wanted to see if I could actually do it) and he was so nice and answered my question the best he could (I think I need to work on the wording of my Q as the meaning of ‘value’ may be coming across wrong + also I think I’d like to look at them working together more?). I can’t actually remember anything he said directly to me about it as I was too busy being very excited, but he was very nice and gave me his email address so that I can get direct quotes, which I will do instead of messing up like this. But yes, that was the Owen Gildersleeve part of PaperCut and it was brilliant.
We were shown work from Gildersleeve’s professional portfolio and his personal work (something he feels is very important - gives you a break), given an insight into his working life and the processes behind his work. It was really nice to hear someone speak so passionately of their work and of the exhibition and book they have produced. He’s definitely someone I want to look at further as he’s (for me) one of the forerunners of the new handmade movement. I was lucky enough to be able to speak to him in the break (because I was too scared to ask my question at the Q+A section and I wanted to see if I could actually do it) and he was so nice and answered my question the best he could (I think I need to work on the wording of my Q as the meaning of ‘value’ may be coming across wrong + also I think I’d like to look at them working together more?). I can’t actually remember anything he said directly to me about it as I was too busy being very excited, but he was very nice and gave me his email address so that I can get direct quotes, which I will do instead of messing up like this. But yes, that was the Owen Gildersleeve part of PaperCut and it was brilliant.
‘Using words within a picture is cheating? Fuck off!’ - Rob Ryan
This was my second Rob Ryan talk and I don’t care how teachers pet it is of me but I was incredibly proud to be the only one in that room who could put up their hand when asked if anyone had been to one of his talks before. I honestly don’t think I’ve ever seen an artist more humble about his work, talent and how far he’s come than Rob Ryan. He describes his work as ‘just some words, birds and leaves’, but it’s much more than that. It’s the words that touch people, and the detail on some of the pieces. I honestly can’t describe what it is about Ryan’s work that I love so much, I just do.
He describes what he does as ‘working with paper as opposed to on paper’ but he sees himself as a printmaker as it’s what he did at college/uni and what he sees his work as. They are produced as screenprints, with each papercut design going straight onto a screen for printmaking, it’s pure. He said of this process ‘work can be easily ruined when you take it away from the screen, it’s like velcro. It almost creates another piece of artwork in itself’ - it’s not like digital where you could undo the mistake with just the click of a button.
Ryan has a team of 5 to assist him, which he says ‘allows him to draw all day’ which is what he really wants to do, and allows him to continuously produce new works. He doesn’t deal with the digital side of things, as he explained to me that he can do a few things with digitising his artwork but he can create it so much faster by hand so that’s what he does. He told me that he’d been asked to produce something straight onto the computer and he ended up doing it by hand as it was so much quicker for him to achieve what the client wanted. Also if there’s someone else who can do that side of it for him then why not? So digital may be important in tandem with handmade, but perhaps not directly to the handmade artist?
As I mentioned in a previous post Ryan has become the target of copycatting over the years and there are god knows how many wannabes out there. Ryan spoke briefly about this and said it was his lack of interest in producing commercial work that eventually led to him going under licensing - companies would just get another artist to do work in his style and this obviously annoyed/upset Ryan as they were taking away something that was his. He began doing commercial work after this and his work is now mass produced onto anything that can be given as a gift, with his name on it. He said of mass production that ‘your work becomes something else when it’s mass produced’ - you can see that Ryan’s heart lies in his more personal work which is lovely.
The Rob Ryan philosophy is ‘life is so good you don’t even have a right to complain about it. Things aren’t so bad’. He also says his work is just ‘small messages of hope and positivity for me and you’, and he’s right, they really are just amazing, uplifting messages. He’s unintentionally become a wordsmith of the art world.
Life advice from Rob Ryan: Always keep a sketchbook
Things Rob Ryan said to me whilst we had a lovely chat:
‘It’s not papercutting, it’s colouring in’
‘it doesn’t need to be intricate, it doesn’t make it more valued the more detail it has. If I can move someone with a simple design then that’s great!’
‘art is for everybody to enjoy’
‘work as medicine - therapy?’
‘the only way to find out if you can do something is to just try’
This was my second Rob Ryan talk and I don’t care how teachers pet it is of me but I was incredibly proud to be the only one in that room who could put up their hand when asked if anyone had been to one of his talks before. I honestly don’t think I’ve ever seen an artist more humble about his work, talent and how far he’s come than Rob Ryan. He describes his work as ‘just some words, birds and leaves’, but it’s much more than that. It’s the words that touch people, and the detail on some of the pieces. I honestly can’t describe what it is about Ryan’s work that I love so much, I just do.
He describes what he does as ‘working with paper as opposed to on paper’ but he sees himself as a printmaker as it’s what he did at college/uni and what he sees his work as. They are produced as screenprints, with each papercut design going straight onto a screen for printmaking, it’s pure. He said of this process ‘work can be easily ruined when you take it away from the screen, it’s like velcro. It almost creates another piece of artwork in itself’ - it’s not like digital where you could undo the mistake with just the click of a button.
Ryan has a team of 5 to assist him, which he says ‘allows him to draw all day’ which is what he really wants to do, and allows him to continuously produce new works. He doesn’t deal with the digital side of things, as he explained to me that he can do a few things with digitising his artwork but he can create it so much faster by hand so that’s what he does. He told me that he’d been asked to produce something straight onto the computer and he ended up doing it by hand as it was so much quicker for him to achieve what the client wanted. Also if there’s someone else who can do that side of it for him then why not? So digital may be important in tandem with handmade, but perhaps not directly to the handmade artist?
As I mentioned in a previous post Ryan has become the target of copycatting over the years and there are god knows how many wannabes out there. Ryan spoke briefly about this and said it was his lack of interest in producing commercial work that eventually led to him going under licensing - companies would just get another artist to do work in his style and this obviously annoyed/upset Ryan as they were taking away something that was his. He began doing commercial work after this and his work is now mass produced onto anything that can be given as a gift, with his name on it. He said of mass production that ‘your work becomes something else when it’s mass produced’ - you can see that Ryan’s heart lies in his more personal work which is lovely.
The Rob Ryan philosophy is ‘life is so good you don’t even have a right to complain about it. Things aren’t so bad’. He also says his work is just ‘small messages of hope and positivity for me and you’, and he’s right, they really are just amazing, uplifting messages. He’s unintentionally become a wordsmith of the art world.
Life advice from Rob Ryan: Always keep a sketchbook
Things Rob Ryan said to me whilst we had a lovely chat:
‘It’s not papercutting, it’s colouring in’
‘it doesn’t need to be intricate, it doesn’t make it more valued the more detail it has. If I can move someone with a simple design then that’s great!’
‘art is for everybody to enjoy’
‘work as medicine - therapy?’
‘the only way to find out if you can do something is to just try’
When asked what his favourite piece of work was that he’d created this was the one he started describing and it was just the perfect end to the evening, because that’s my favourite piece of Rob Ryan work ever, and it’s just a card but I love it. He really has a way with words.
There is probably more that I've missed but I've exhausted my brain for now, I'll add anything else in that I've forgotten later but overall it was an amazing talk.
Monday, 15 September 2014
Blood sweat and tears
/Paper Cut the book
All images are scanned in from my copy of the book and are the property of the individual artists and Owen Gildersleeve. I do not claim to have created the work shown.
"In a world that's become saturated with faultless digital design, the importance of human interaction and its inherent imperfections has become hugely important. We want to feel a connection with the imagery we are looking at, and even if it's just a photograph of the finished illustration, knowing that it exists as a physical artwork is hugely satisfying."
- Owen Gildersleeve
"In a world that's become saturated with faultless digital design, the importance of human interaction and its inherent imperfections has become hugely important. We want to feel a connection with the imagery we are looking at, and even if it's just a photograph of the finished illustration, knowing that it exists as a physical artwork is hugely satisfying."
- Owen Gildersleeve
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| Cover art by Owen Gildersleeve |
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| Andersen M Studio |
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| Yulia Brodskaya |
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| Elise |
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| Alexis Facca |
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| Helen Friel |
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| Helen Friel |
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| Lobulo |
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| Lobulo |
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| Chrissie Macdonald |
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| Chrissie Macdonald |
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| Motherbird |
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| Hattie Newman |
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| Jeff Nishinaka |
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| Eiko Ojala |
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| Fideli Sundqvist |
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| Cover art by Owen Gildersleeve |
Friday, 5 September 2014
Pixelgarten Party
“We think that analogue and digital methods can co-exist and that they can even mix and create something of their own. The intersections of different disciplines are always the most fascinating.”
- Pixelgarten (Frankfurt, Germany)
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| http://files.idnworld.com/creators/files/v16n1/Pixelgarten/600w.jpg |
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| http://www.gutenberg-intermedia.de/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/pixelgarten_mario_b2.jpg |
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| http://pingmag.jp/2008/08/04/pixelgarten-layouts-in-space/ |
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| http://idnworld.com/creators/?id=Pixelgarten |
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| http://idnworld.com/creators/?id=Pixelgarten |
What I'd give to live in Ryantown
Rob Ryan is so bloody fantastic he's even got his own shop in London, selling all his fabulous creations. The shop is only open Saturday and Sunday, Mon-Fri requires an appointment. I'm going to London in 2 days and feel it's only appropriate that I pay a visit, it's for my dissertation after all (yeah right I'd be going regardless). Seriously though, look at that shop and try telling me that's not a designer/artist's heaven. Being a penniless student means I may not be able to pick something up with the larger price tag, but maybe a card or something, either way, Rob Ryan!
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| Image from: http://robryanstudio.com |
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| Image from: http://robryanstudio.com |
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| Image from: http://robryanstudio.com |
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| Image from: http://www.madebywhite.com/ |
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| Image from: http://www.madebywhite.com/ |
Also, here are just some of the beautiful items available to purchase if a piece of original artwork isn't what you're after/like me your budget's a bit tighter. It's an interesting point that consumers seem to enjoy the handmade look to commercial products like this - although these images have obviously been digitised to create the final product they were originally handmade and I think that's what really sells them to the audience. They too can have a small piece of this huge artists artwork right in their home, maybe they like to think that the same amount of craftsmanship went into their particular item? Is the item more appreciated than a traditional version of it because of the handmade design? It's all in the details and Ryan certainly doesn't skimp on them.
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| Image from: Google images |
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| Image from: Google images |
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| Image from: Google images |
It's almost as if 15 year old me knew...
I bought this book when I was in year 10 at school and have read it frequently ever since - not only are the images beautiful, the words are too and I think this book connects with everyone on some level. I was introduced to Rob Ryan's work through a friend and have been obsessed ever since. From talks to notebooks, calendars to books I've either got it or had it. There's something so satisfying about his work that as a consumer you appreciate the craftsmanship and serious attention to detail. Ryan's work has become so prestigious within the design world that he has been hailed as "the king of paper cutting" and I'm sure you can see why:
Not only are the images themselves beautifully crafted; the words are composed beautifully by Ryan, tackling issues, putting into words things you couldn't say yourself. One of the things I love the most about Ryan's work is the typeface that has become so recognisable, it's just so genuine and authentic. Ryan's work is so widely renowned that it has spawned dozens of copycats of his style around the world. I would say in this case that's not necessarily a bad thing - it means more people are making design by hand, and I think that's really important to the industry.
*All images scanned in from my copy of the book
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