Progressive Fulfilment

Today I was reading Thomas Troward's "The Creative Process in the Individual" (below) and came across this paragraph, something which seems highly relatable to that of my own project, again talking about self expectation and success - even if we are successful in our conditions and fortunes, our self expectation may be higher and even then our lives will not be good enough. What then will we do? Lower our expectation or thrive to be more successful? And it is in the process that we may have feelings of doubt and worry, but for what? Better conditions?

"Well, the general direction in which we all want to go is that of getting more out of life than we have ever got out of it - we want to be more alive in ourselves and to get all sorts of improved conditions in our environment. However happily any of us may be circumstanced we can all conceive something still better, or at any rate we should like to make our present good permanent; and since we shall find as our studies advance that the prospect of increasing possibilities keeps opening out more and more widely before us, we may say that what we are in search for is the secret of getting more out of life in a continually progressive degree. This means that what we are looking for is something personal, and that it is to be obtained by producing conditions which do not yet exist, in other words nothing less than the exercise of a certain creative power in the sphere of our own particular world."

Getting more out of life in a continually progressive degree, when would it finish? Do we then mark our own fulfilment, tick the boxes as we have achieved and succeeded? Would there be an end?

Condition seems like a possible title to his project?

Proposal 2

Susie's proposal, again to be discussed along with other proposals at the gallery.

Concept:

This work explores something that I have still yet to fully understand. It documents a journey with no end, no conclusion, no understanding. As there is no final chapter, this piece of work is open for interpretation. I want the viewer to form their own concepts, their own ideas, and their own world within what is presented. To me, this represents the ambiguity I feel regarding photography on different levels. From what attracts me to photography to the state of photography to the theory of photography.

Display Requirements:

To display this piece of work in its full book content, the pages pulled out is 5.328 metres in length with a possible addition of 0.3 for the artist statement (at your discretion). The pages will be stuck to the wall, page by page in a long line. However there is another option to print individual images with the same/similar placement.

I would like the statement to be placed at the end of work as this will work with my concept.

The page option: the whole thing is 198mm in height and 5238mm in length. Individual option: The sizes of the images vary and as they are square and low-res images they will only be small.

Summary of this week

Just a few summarising points that arose from our meeting on Tuesday and from the work that has been done this week:


Image: After debating over the images I want to exhibit, I have been thinking why they are being chosen and what I am trying to say, or ask. I don't want this display to patronise, which I feel I may be in danger of so I feel the use of a2 images strongly reduce this risk. So although it is based on the displays used in estate agents, it is not completely obvious and I do not regard the display as a main factor, only a contribution to the images. I feel the images I have chosen represent my theme well, and hope that with a short lyrical statement they will provide a thought provoking display. Again, I do not want this to be obvious, and that also goes with the statement, hense the lyrical option. 


Curation: There have been problems with the curation process so far, mainly with the choice and availability within the space that we have. At this point we have assigned a space for the main four contributors, but since we have opened the space up to further contributors within the course there have been some issues. With the original sort of themed exhibition it has been difficult to secure people to contribute as they felt their work would not fit in, for instance the discussion with Hayley's work at the gallery. The intentions thereafter were to take this theme away, or to make it less constricting. 
One issue that arises with this change is that the exhibition may become disjointed and messy, and there may be confrontation with the new contributors and the spaces that they would want or require. 
From Tuesday's meeting, we decided that although we will receive the proposals for the works which contained sizing and space wanted, we will be curating the whole process, meaning there will be no choice for the others as to where there work will sit in the space. This is intended to help the process run much smoother, and will help create an exhibition that will hopefully not be disjointed and won't feel 'placed'.


Printing: After the second test prints came back last week they were fine and ready for final print, which was quite a relief. When I came in this week there had been a problem with the final prints, though. there were two prints that were successful and I tested them out in the acrylics, which looks good. However, the rest had a sort of pink/red and green band that ran across each image. I went back through the process to print, and discovered that the files had corrupted between the machine and Graham's computer, so we tried again using a formatted disk to transfer the images. fortunately this problem was then solved and the prints came out fine, the new Matt paper has done really well with the vibrancy of the colours in the images and I am pleased with the results. these are now safely in the acrylics and ready to be transported at any time. 


Gallery Space: Yesterday the group went one more time to the gallery to finalise certain aspect i.e funding and furniture. I had a look at the ceiling again and had a talk with one of the staff members, and basically I can't screw my rods straight into the ceiling. This is a problem but it can be solved quite easily (I hope) there are beams that run across the ceiling which have a sort of lip on the wall, this could potentially be used as a holder for a long piece of hard wood that can be screwed into, thus eliminating any damage I do to the room. I will possibly have to cut the rods down also in case they are too long for the room height, but this can be done on the setting up day. As far as the lighting is concerned, I need simple but effective spotlights that can clip onto the lips on the beams, I have found some suppliers that do this, and I have a recommendation for a shop in Manchester that may have what I need. I plan only to use 2 lights, but will get 4 in case these are not effective enough, I don;t want this to be over bearing on the images, and equally don't want the room to be gloomy with low visibility. 

Gallery space sketchup

Whilst figuring out the measurements for the space I have, I thought it would be best to make a rough 3d sketch of the whole place, that we could all use and manipulate as we wish to see our displays without visiting the gallery. Useful when considering about proposals and what space we have. Here are some screen grabs of the sketch: ( I have tried to roughly sketch out the displays, only from what I believe the plan is for the others)

Proposal 1

First Proposal for the space came today, from Ang, to be discussed this week.



Hi all, just wanted to propose my work to see if there may be an opportunity to put it up.

I'm having to do a re-shoot on Monday for a few images but at the moment I've planned to produce 5 final images. 

Frame size 500 x 700 (to be hung Landscape)

White wooden frames x 5

Project title: The Museum

Last year I was exploring the relationship between a time and a space, mainly focusing on waiting rooms. Exploring how time can be shown through the space, however I came across a spanner in the works when one student in my presentation pointed out that the spaces I was shooting may not have changed, but the people that go through them have, showing the effect of time. This project is really the second part, I've have been shooting a ladies home (aged 80+) and her objects. This time looking into the relationship between time and people, looking at how its carried through our belongings. She isn't a hoarder, but has kept objects that have belonged to relatives, friends and employers that have been passed down. 

 I'm not sure of the space layout or what space is left that my work could be placed, but if possible I was hoping to also play the Westminster chime that I recorded in her home, from a 218 year clock she was given from a Lady Howarth (Owner of the CHristian Science Church, Cheadle Hulme) in 1990. I had focused on this through out my project as it represents the time that is currently passing and the time she has kept with her, hearing the chime every hour through out her whole life. It's not the main focus of the work but if possible I would like to include it.

I will be printing my final pieces from Tuesday latest, I will be happy to email the work or to show anybody if they are in college this week.

I was a little uncomfortable to ask previously and have left it a little late, this is because I am going to America May 11th and was aware this is the day after the opening. I didn't want it to seem like I was just putting my work up and leaving it as that. I will understand if this is an inconvenience but please know that I am willing to put in extra time and help, and provide any funding for the show if needed.  

Thanks for your time,

Angineh Nowroozi

Group Discussion

After further discussion with the group, resulting from a tutorial with Greg there was a general consensus that with the amount of space and lack of displays it seems strange not to inhibit others work into the gallery and work with more of the students.


The plan has been to include further contributors to the show, however since so far there has been a connecting theme throughout the works. This is originally what I had concerns about as I was joining the group late on in the process. As the rest of the group came out of the discussion with Greg it became apparent that this need not be the case and actually the show would possibly be more of a success if there wasn't a theme, and instead of excluded peers, we should include and curate a wide selection of works. 


Now of course we can't just throw everybody on board, so a collective decision was made to accept proposals from peers, and to discuss.


The message sent out to the rest of the year can be seen below, and I have created an email address for the exhibition team to receive the proposals. (transmissionexhibition@googlemail.com)

•  ·  ·  · Yesterday at 17:52 
• 

  Joe Light

  Hi guys, after discussion today we have decided that anyone who would like to be involved in the exhibition should email us a short proposal of what would ideally suit them. For example size of prints, number of prints, estimate of space needed and a short paragraph explaining a little bit about the work.
  
  Don't be worried about your work fitting in with our themes as this isn't important at this stage - we just want you involved. It would be a great opportunity to present work together and have a nice time at the end of the year.
  
  We can't guarantee that you will get exactly what you want, it's always going to be a compromise but we want everyone to feel included and will do our best to accommodate your ideas.
  
  We apologise if this wasn't made clear sooner but there is still time to get involved.
  
  If you have any questions get in touch.
  
  Thanks, exhibition team.

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

Display Fittings

After taking the measurements from the gallery which resulted in just under 3 metres (which is perfect for the rod fittings that I've found) the acrylics have been ordered and should be here this week, I'd really like to test with the prints I have been working on. 
(website can be found here)
UKPOS

 The acrylics are set to landscape, there is a little bit extra each side for the clamps to hold on to. 
the rods Have also been ordered and should be here later in the week, I'm hoping that the 3mm width will withstand the weight of 3 acrylics but I have been assured that they will.

These are the clamps that have been ordered, I really wanted the fittings to be subtle and aesthetically pleasing. The choice was basically between the 3 and 6mm rods, and I went for the 3mm for this reason. 


There were bigger clamps but again I don't want the display to distract, only contribute to the work.

With the exhibition drawing ever closer things seem to be getting much more hectic, I've had a discussion with Joe about what will be going on the leaflets and the main items include general information, a map, names, sponsors etc.

Test Printing 2

The First test print came through today, I have used the new 240 Matt Plus paper which is photo quality.

First things noticed from the print is that the colours a amazingly vibrant, a perfect match with what is on the calibrated machine I am working on. Also - the white balance for each picture does match the other images. Since I have been working on images on their own it has been difficult to match up the colour balance etc so printing strips in this way has proven really effective and I am please that I caught this before working further into the images.

I have corrected the white balance for the images using the curves tool, using both the white and grey picker depending on the image.

Here is a screen grab of the first strips:

 

Now compare with the new strips, white balanced etc. The strips are not aligned but I have tried to include variations of colour in each image.

This has now been sent to print again.

Test Print Strips

In the Mac Suite today looking at getting some test prints done. I've been told by Graham that there is now a Matt Paper that is photo quality. Since the images will be behind acrylic, and will also be vibrant and colourful I would assume a glossy paper would not make sense underneath a glossy material.

Here is an A2 sized image ready for test print, I have cropped certain sections out of each image that will test tonality and vibrancy. Straight away without printing the second image from the left seems to stick out, with the sky being slightly off colour - when this has been printed, which will most likely be friday I will have to look at what changes can be made to this image. Or whether another image may be a better fit into the set.

Display Option

Since using a cable display will not be an option, because the cable will need to be spring loaded from both the floor and the ceiling. From the same kind of suppliers that I have been researching, I have come across a similar display - where stiff rods can be suspended from the ceiling, creating the same effect but without having to attach it to the floor.

I will be taking the measurements of the room on Wednesday, but I would assume that 3m in length will be sufficient enough - and I will be able to cut the rod down to size and put a stopper on each end for an aesthetically pleasing look.

With the Rod only being 3 mm in width, it will not be too noticeable, but noticeable enough to produce an estate agent look a like.

As I have been working on the images, I am leaning towards an A2 display, with each image laid on top of the other to create three image display, on both sides.

Gallery Contact

 After further discussion with the gallery space, it has been established that the cable display will not be usable, here is the contact from the space:

 

 

Hi Tess

Thanks for the email, I've included Shaz Bansal, our External Exhibitions and Events Manager into the email as she will be your main point of contact.

As I said to you at the gallery, as long as you are able to return the space back to how it was prior to your exhibition, you can do whatever you need to do. S if you were screwing into a wall we'd expect you to fill the hole afterwards. If you can attach stuff to the ceiling without compromising the integrity of the structure and are able to return it to its previous state then that should be fine.

Shaz, when the group were at the space, they wanted to keep some of the structural features of the current show, like the dark corridor and the door structure on the end room. If this is still the case can you alert the team working on Inside, or discuss with them whether it's possible to leave those features in for the Stockport show, and then they can come down after?

Thanks

Kind Regards 

John Leyland

Blank Media Collective Director

& blankpages Editor

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+44(0)161 222 6164

john@blankmediacollective.org

 

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Sent from my iPad

On Apr 11, 2012, at 8:27 PM, Teresa Beatty <t_beatty@live.co.uk> wrote:

Hi John,

I'm Tess, one of the photography students from the Stockport College exhibition group - I came in to the gallery today with the group to talk about display options.
It was established in the discussion that it would not be possible to attach a fitment to the floor, with screws. I have come accross similar display methods that do not need to be attached to the floor, but still need to be fixed to the cieling.
Would it be possible to either attach the cable/rod to either the ceiling or a false panel fixed onto screws that are already there?

Regards

Tess Beatty

Exhibition Space

On wednesday me and the group had a small meeting at the exhibition space in Manchester. 

It was the first time i'd even seen the place so I didnt really know what to expect, and I was pleasantly surprised. There is ample, quality space with an interesting layout that we can work with. 

Some of the space had already been assigned, i.e Alex is intending to display huge A0 images, and therefore is most certainly suited to the main room with a lot of wall space.

Here is a rough sketchup of the space and the plans of usage at the moment. There is a definite sense of journey as you walk around the space, and I believe the connections between our work and the journey that it takes around the space will be effective and is a good use of what we have. The current plan is to use the corridor at the bottom as a dark corridor, and Joes room will be displaying light boxes. My work will be hung in the middle of the room and Alex will have huge images hung from the cieling.

As well as curating our own work in the exhibition, the space has been opened up for people wanting to display from the other two projects, for which in turn we need to curate and connect ourselves. Susie, Constantin and Hayley came to this meeting for a discusion about the space and how it will be used. It was established that the work susie was using fit well into the main room, along with the work that Alex is producing. Unfortunately there came to be issues when discussing Hayleys work. With such a tight nit sense of theme and journey between the space and works, it was difficult to find a space that suited Hayley's unique works. There is the possibility of using the downstairs space, but it is quite out of the way, and is completely seperate from the group. It was established that the work would not flow right within the journey and would have to be used either on its own or with another similar photographer. It is unfortunate given the amount of work that is evident in the project.

We will be visiting the space next week to take draft prints of our work, so that we can further investigate the space.

There are numerous tasks that were discussed within the mini tutorial afterwards, such as leaflets, logos, fundraising, food and drink, websites and facebook advertising.

I will post updates for this list as they come together.

Exhibition, new image

Here is the 6th image I have been manipulating for the exhibition, I am unsure whether to use 6 or 8 images, it will depend on the number of acrylic panels I will use.

I believe using too many will distract from the intentioned effect, the same issue that I had with the book project.

Fundraising pt 2

Unfortunately I received a rejection notice from the earlier post, I will be emailing various businesses in the Manchester area for support, I will keep it updated.

Dear Teresa,

I am afraid we do not offer any grants and do not seek cause related marketing through the charitable work we undertake on behalf of Richer Sounds our founder.

Good luck with your event.

Fiona Brown

Chief Executive

The Persula Foundation

www.persula.org

0207 357 9298

Fundraising

As far as fundraising goes, I am unfamiliar with the process however I have sent an email to Persula Grants, which is the charity arm for Richer Sounds.


The charity gives grants to events and supports individuals with like minded values, I roughly described the exhibition and tried to include opportunities for the event and the viewers, but I will update if I get anything back!

Dear Fiona,

I am writing to you today to introduce an upcoming event and to ask for your help and support towards the fundraising.

Four students from the Stockport College Photography Degree course are holding an exhibition which opens on the 10^thMay. The space being used will be the Blank Space in Manchester, details can be found at their website:http://www.blankmediacollective.org/.

The exhibition will consist of mostly contemporary practices and displays, and will be called Transmission.

As one of the students involved I understand the enthusiasm, commitment and creativity which founds the basis of our work, and believe with further support our exhibition will provide many fantastic opportunities for the students and any contributors involved. In the current economic downturn alongside the increase in University fees, we believe it is important for enthusiastic groups such as ours to inspire the public to reach for their own like minded goals. Now that we are in the final stages of our second year of University, our group aspires to realise this event as we believe it is an important step in both our academic and professional journey.

We are now at the stage of approaching a select number of organisations that we believe share similar values and passion and with weeks to go, we are now looking to advertise our event through printed media and online marketing and as such require supporting contributors to aid in this process and ultimately promote with the greatest possible reach.

If you would like any further information or would like to discuss with the other group members, I can be contacted either via email or by calling 07411 544 458.

I hope to hear from you soon.

Regards

Teresa Beatty

Lense correction

With some of the images I have been working on - the perspective is a bit strange, and the vertical lines do not sit straight, this is both due to the wide angle nature of the lens and the low position of shooting.


To sort this out, or at least make the images look a bit less distorted I have used the lens correction filter in CS5, and these are the results so far: (some of the manipulations have changed since the last screen shot)

 

 

Exhibition, display options

At the moment I am unsure which size to use for my images, it will somewhat depend on the printing quality, the quantity of images and the display option that I choose.


The display I have in my head does not sit on a wall, rather it hangs from the ceiling - i.e an estate agents display window. I believe this sits well with my theme, and is apt for this project. I am torn between size A2 and A3, but this will depend on how many images I will use to exhibit. i.e if I choose to deliver fewer images, I will use the A2 size and vice versa. The advantage of this kind of display, is the fact that both sides can be used - so the piece will be more like an installation hung from the ceiling and not from the wall - where the viewers can walk around the piece:

If I were to have 6 frames, I would need 12 images, whereas if I used 4 A2 frames, I would need 8 images.

Using this kind of display will also depend on the exhibition space and the permissions of their team, there are free-standing units available at a much greater cost.

I have found various cable display shop fittings that will do all kinds of variations and sizing, slightly costly however I feel the results will be completely worth it. Here is one of the places that sell this kind of framing:


http://www.puredisplay.com/pureshop/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=285&idcategory=33

Exhibition, working versions

I've been manipulating images this week, working on some that I have already tried, and some new images that were recently shot. It does seem that this augmentation merits to the idea very well, I will be keeping the blog posted with images, here are the ones I am working on at the moment:

Introducing Images

So I was introduced to the Transmission blog, which is the current name for the exhibition, so that I could add my own posts and keep updated with what is going on. I uploaded a couple of the images that I have been working on originally for the manipulation tests, so that the exhibition folk can determine whether I am suitable to fit into their group or not.

Here are the images that I posted, I am still working in photoshop on these and I am currently picking out further images for the editing process. In order to establish a set at exhibition standard.