Video Project - What they are doing?

When I was thinking one of my short projects 'Memory', I came up with a new idea. This idea presents a concept - transition. The girls in this video are all from China and they are students studying in London. They sell food and jewelleries on Sunday Up Market every Sunday. They are foreigners and students here and they are doing something different.

The Last Minute

I hanged up my works in my space for the final show. It looks nice. However, The cigarettes marks work seems that it can not express too much meaning of the damage of smoking. But I like this work. It is a perfect circle. People like to talk with each other when they are smoking. It is a social circle. But it was damaged by cigarettes and the circle mark is fading out. I just think smoking is a communication and this communication can also be damaged by smoking. Anyway, in the last minute, I changed my plan. I think I will make more works and choose one to exhibit in the final show. The new work is presenting cigarettes can damage the edge of a table. It can damage some perfect thing and also our health. It presents something happened with time and smoking.

Diary

I like using camera to record what happen in my life. I took photos almost everyday. I am just thinking these photos can present my life. So I decided to make work with the photos I took. I started to select photos on 31st July 2011, then printed the photo I chose on a postcard. And I decided to send one postcard to myself everyday. I just printed photos with no words to explain the photos, I think it is a new way to write diary. This idea is a start point. I want to continue it.

Burning Cigarettes - What shape?

These are some photos of the experiments I made for the cigarettes burning marks. When I was observing the cigarettes burning, I was also thinking what I could do with these marks. I was thinking what shape can I make with these marks and why.

The little books!

I made some small books and burned cigarettes on them to get the marks. I want to show them in the final show, but I don't know which way is the best to set them. But I will keep trying.

What's my way?

It is close to the final show. I just finished my things I used to show my work. Actually, it costed me a lot of time to make them. But now I am happy I finished them and I like them. I feel satisfy with my works and the things I made for exhibiting my works. They all made by my own hands. Of course, in this process, many people helped me and I am really grateful to them for helping me so much. At the beginning, I prepared for the show, I felt nervous. However, I enjoy this whole preparation.

Now I put my plinths together and paint the woods to put them on the lights to hang up my works.



For a disigner, maybe you don't need to make your own works every time. However, as a student, I think it is better to try everything and try to make your idea come true. And it is a very good experience in the life. Maybe when I begin to work in the society, I don't have time to do these anymore.

Works are important, because they express your ideas and present your creativaty. However, I think the way to show them is important too. You need to ensure your works are exhibiting in a right way and make something to attract people to come to your works. I saw many different ways of showing works in London's galleries. I totally love the galleries in London. I learn much from visiting them. Now my final show is coming, I will show my works in my way.



How to exhibit my works

At the beginning, I thought it would not difficult to exhibit my works. However, when I began to think about this thing, I found that it was really complicated. I want everything be perfect, so I change the way to exhibit the final work again and again. And it is not so easy to make the result in my head. Anyway, this progress is a good experience for me and I think every designers should have this experience. Now, I just finished my plinths. They are beautiful. I like them. I made them for show my book.

The other work I want to show in the final show is several pieces of papers. I burned cigarettes on these papers and got some marks on the papers. The shape of this is a big circle like this:

But it will be bigger. Now the problem I face is how to exhibit this work. I want to hang them up sheet by sheet. So I need to know how to hang them. Silke gave me a lot of ideas and I also asked Anthony to help me. Now we got an idea to hang them, but I need to try this way. Hopefully it can work.

Works about Smoking

Anthony made some works about smoking and he showed me. They are beautiful. He made 3D works and I think it is different from my works. But I think they are interesting. Thanks, Anthony.

This is a lung. Smoking will make people think the lung.

These are butts.

Yves Klein -- Fire Painting on Board

Now I am doing some works with burning cigarettes. It can be said it is about fire. Silke suggest me to look at Yves Klein's works. He used fire to paint, which is very special and interesting. I love his works -- Fire Painting on Board. Actually I want to see the really work. There must be many details on this work. And I found some images of his works on the Internet. They are very beautiful. He controlled the fire to paint on the board. However, there may be something by accidents. Whatever he controlled and the accidents, they are both amazing. I also want to use burning cigarettes to 'paint'. It must be interesting. But I need to do some experiments first.

Some Thoughts about Final Show

When I am busy making my works, I am also thinking about the shop in the final show. I think it is interesting to sell something I made in the final show. Here are some little things I made. Maybe I can improve them and sell them in the shop in the final show.

Recent Works

Rencently, I am making cigarette marks on paper. I tried different papers to get different results. Here are some experiments.

This work was made before unit two, which was my beginning idea of burning marks of cigarettes. I like marks on the back of the picture. Then I test more different papers.

This is a handmade book I bought from Cass Art. The papers of it are not so flat, so the whole feeling is not so good. But the marks on the papers are clear.

I used different kinds of papers to make books, then I light up cigarettes on them to make marks. I got different results and I found one paper is very good to leave marks on it.

I made another five small books which are in postcard size, then I burned cigarettes on them. I am quite happy with these works. And I want to make a larger one.





Some of My Works in Unit One

I took photograph of my works in Unit One. Here are some pictures.

Scan apples

Handwriting

Using Camera in Different Way

Memory

Book Project

These works are all my short projects. I love to do some short projects when I am doing a main project. Doing short projects can make me feel relax and happy.

Tate Modern| Current Exhibitions | Miró

Tate Modern Current Exhibitions Miró

I went to this exhibition because Denise told that there were some burning work in it. I am now make books about cigarettes burning, so I went this exhibition to do some research. It is a nice exhibition. The works are very good. Follow the rooms, I felt that I was looking the progress of Joan Miro's life. From the first room to the final room, I found that he shaped his own style of painting gradually. He has his own painting language. I think all of us should have our own features which are like our own identities.

His 'Burnt Canvas' are the works I want to see. Maybe it is because the background of that time, he burnt some canvas to express his anger. Burning is like destroying. My work about cigarettes burning has something with destroy too. Finally, this exhibition is amazing. I love it.

Make plinths

This whole week I planned to make the long plinth. I asked Anthony to help me. Then we went to the 3D workshop in the college. They said they would help me to make it and cut the woods I wanted first on Tuesday. However, when I went to them on Thursday to attend the introduction, I found they had not cut the woods yet. Actually, I was so unhappy with this. Finally, they helped me to cut the woods, but they just told me that I must move the woods to the studio and made it by myself. Then Laia and Vicky helped me to move the woods to the studio. Thanks them for helping me a lot and I knew the woods were very heavy. I just felt disappointed with the 3D workshop of the college.

On Friday, Anthony help me to make the plinths. He brought his tools and help me a lot. It was an interesting experience to make plinths. After all, the plinth was made. I am happy with this. It is an important part of my final show.

Thanks Laia, Vicky and Anthony. You are so kind. Thanks a lot.

Experiments about Burning Marks

After the class with Silke Dettmers last Wednesday, I really thought about my budget and the experiments of burning marks on surfaces of some beautiful things. I don't have so many money to buy an ipad, then burning cigarettes on it. However, I still did some experiments last weekend.

Firstly, I thought about damage of smoking. I came up an idea that when I 'open' some beautiful things and I find it is broken inside. For this, I made some experiments. Cut some fruit half and put burning cigarettes on them. It would leave cigarette marks on the surfaces of these fruit.

It is an interesting experiment, but the marks I got were not so strong and the visual effect was not very good. What can be open? Books. I did another experiment with books.

Maybe because the papers are not thick enough, so it damaged so badly. Then I tried another paper - hand made paper. It looks better.

After this experiment, I changed my mind. I want to do another book about cigarette marks. When I burned cigarettes on a book, I got different marks in different pages. They are fading out with pages. If you read this book from the 'lighter mark' page, then you found the marks would be darker and darker. It likes addiction and damages of smoking. The marks are lighter, because you do not smoke a lot at the begining. With time flies, you are addicted to smoking, you smoke a lot and the marks will be darker. The damage of smoking are the same, darker marks mean damage more in body.

So I got this idea and I do need to try more differet papers.