Anish Kapoor

One artist who really inspires my work is the world renowned artist Anish Kapoor. He has created some stunning work with the theme of reflection which I feel really relates to my work.

One of my favourite pieces of work from Kapoor is the reflective "cloud gate" also known as the "bean" which was created between 2004-2006. It is made up of stainless steel plate’s welded together and highly polished to reflect the cities landscapes. I really like the distorted reflection it creates and the interesting bean like shape.

Another piece from Kapoor which I find very interesting is the "sky mirror" which is a 35-foot-diameter concave mirror constructed from stainless steel. the art piece gives the impression of a lower sky.

This interesting art piece is made up of stainless steel metal balls which reflects the surrounding landscape.

Water reflection photographs

I decided to continue my research on reflection so i continued on from my earlier photographs of water reflection. I took a series of photographs throughout and around the college. I took photos of rain puddles, lakes and rivers.

A thousand mirrors

I quickly moved on from exploring the theme of a vortex and decided to brainstorm again from my earlier work of the bycycle racks. I began looking at different types of reflection. so I took a series of photographs of a mirror reflected off a mirror to create a "thousand mirror" effect.

Vortex

I decided to begin exploring the idea of a vortex. I started researching different artists who have used the theme of vortex within their work. One artist who I found very interesting was Do Ho Suh. Suh created a very interesting and precise spiral in varying shades of orange and red which gives the illusion of a fiery looking vortex. When examined closely you will see that it is actually made up of thousands of tiny men. Suh says "The work is an attempt to decipher the boundaries between a single identity and a larger group, and how the two conditions coexist"

Bicycle racks.

Since investigating the work of Olafur Eliasson, I decided to go around my space and take more pictures of reflective items. I found these intriguing bicycle racks on the college grounds. I took a series of photographs of these racks and the more I photographed them the more interested I became.

At first I was just engrossed in the texture and how the metal material reacted to light but after a few photos I became more interested in the shape of the racks. When looking through them, they reminded me of a vortex.

 As I said in my earlier post, the concept of a vortex is constantly coming up in the artists I review such as Robert Smithson "four sided vortex", the spiral staircase in the Vatican City and Olafur Eliassons "take your time" exhibit. I am now moving on to exploring a vortex.

Olafur Eliasson

After examining the work of Erika Craig I decided to review other artist who also incorporates water into their work. I was very interested in the work of Olafur Eliasson who created the “New York City waterfalls”. Four massive waterfalls were installed in the east river in 2008 with water pumped from the river. These massive pieces of work are incredibly inspiring; it made me want to investigate Eliassons work more.

 So I began by looking at some of Eliassons other work such as the “take your time" exhibit at P.S.1 which consisted of a very large tilted disc-shaped mirror suspended horizontally from a gallery ceiling. What strikes a person at first is the omniscient, bird’s-eye reflection of the room below, with the person standing in the middle of it. The mirror is rotating very slowly, and with a subtly undulating motion that causes the room itself feel warped and unstable.

When reviewing reflection work created by Eliasson I became very attracted to this piece from the take your time exhibit. This piece reminds me of a vortex. A lot of artist who I have been examining have related back to a vortex such as Robert Smithson’s "four sided vortex" and the Giuseppe momo spiral staircase in the Vatican City, Rome.

Erika Craig

I had my blog review today and my tutors seemed to like the pictures I took of reflection in particular the water reflection image. So I started researching different artist who use water reflection in their work. One artist who I really liked was Erika Craig.

Craig created a stunning series of paintings which represent woman submerged into water.

“I paint figures underwater, immersing my subjects in their surroundings. A person’s reflection in water is a constantly changing self, a distorted image with many sides. Near the surface, the familiar blends into the unknown. Colour and shape break down. Things that seem separate become entwined”.

Reflection using tinfoil

 Since researching and studying reflection, I decided to start using different types of reflective material. Instead of going straight int usin mirrors, I wanted to start of easy by experimenting with tin foil. In one of my tutorials, one of my lectures suggested looking at the space between the layers of my first 3D piece which was the tutu made from pleated paper, netting and tulle fabric.

 I began by again, pleating tinfoil. I then started cutting tinfoil in semi circle shapes and taping them together to create a 3D semi circle. I started looking at different ways of doing this by flattening the circles, arranging it in different ways and cutting different size circles. I then wanted to experiment with paint on tinfoil so I began by taking a paint brush and flicking paint onto the tinfoil. I used to types of paint: acrylic paint and silk paint. I also mixed them together to create a less thick version of acrylic paint. I also used black and white spray paint on the tinfoil but that didn’t really work out. My apologies for the bad phototgraphy i left my camera at home and had to use my phone.

Reflection photographs

Since researching different artists in relation to reflective art I decided to take photographs of reflective materials in the space around me.

I firstly went around the college and took some photographs of anything I could see my reflection in. I also took some photographs of other student’s work that was hanging in the college which really inspired me. I also went outside and took some natural reflective photos.

Here are some example of the type of photographs I took such as reflective light, natural reflection and mirrors.

 

Jacob Kassay

After studying the work of Robert Smithson, I than began looking at other artist who brings reflective material into their work. One artist which I was extremely attracted to is Jacob Kassay.

 

Kassay uses acrylic paint and silver deposit on canvas. The thing I liked most about this is that kassay is not using clear reflective materials.The objects or being that interacts with the art piece is not as clear as some other artists I previously looked at, as the materials he uses do not distinct the figure that is in front of it. They allow the viewer or object to become distorted and almost unreadable. In Smithson’s work you can clearly see figures and details in the mirrors he uses whereas in kassay work you can only see a silhouette of the figure standing in front of it. That is what I like about kassay work, it makes you think and wonder. It is not just handed to you straight. You have to look and figure out what is being reflected both literally and metaphorically.

Robert Smithson

Looking now at more contemporary artists, who incorporate reflective materials into their work, I was very interested in the work of Robert Smithson. Smithson is most famous for his "spiral jelly" piece which he created out of rocks, sediments, mud and sand in 1970.

Smithson was always interested in the earthwork and the science behind it. He wanted to combine this into his art work. "Instead of putting a work of art on some land, some land is put into a work of art" He also incorporated mirrors and reflective materials into his work. One of my favourite art pieces created by Smithson is "three mirrors in a corner" As each mirror reflects the space around it; it multiplies the reflections in the other mirrors, creating an image with the symmetry of a crystal. Again he uses fragments from the natural world; in this particular piece Smithson uses coral. The thing I like the most about Smithson’s work is that the viewer can actually be a part of the art piece by simply entering and exiting the space. That is why I am choosing to focus on mirrors as they can capture the viewer into the work.

renaissance mirrors

I am now moving on to looking at reflective space and how reflective materials such as mirrors can alter a space. Mirrors can make a space open, it can double the size of a certain area. It can allow objects to enter it and exit it which I find very interesting.

One of the most famous mirrors in art is Jan van Eyck - Arnolfini's Wedding. I found this painting very exciting as it gives the viewer a slight insight to what was happening outside the painting. If you look very closely, you can see the painter in the mirror.

Another example of this type of work from the renaissance era is Diego Velázquez-Las Meninas. Here Velázquez also depicts himself in the painting through mirrors.