Changing Faces

Exhibition Pitch
Christy Brocklesby-Weller Emily Adams Cassie Foster Jaime McDonnell

Our Concept
Our concept for our exhibition piece titled Changing Faces focuses on the destruction and insignificant nature of objects that were once deemed an important aspect of society but now have become irrelevant, left over time to waste away. Their face has changed.
So why an exhibition?
We felt our work fitted in with the style of the exhibition genre rather than a newspaper or magazine, as we thought that our images would not work as an article, rather installation pieces that worked on a common theme, as a single image that also worked as a group. We decided our target audience will be people from our generation and slightly older (20-30) to make them aware of the issues in society relating to waste.

Why the Location?

We chose Fort Amhurst rather than the other two options, as it had a barren, isolated feeling to it that linked in with the our concept of a subject losing its value and worth over time. Left to waste away.

Group Roles
Christy Brocklesby-Weller Paper/size of prints Positioning of prints Room sketches Promotional poster Emily Adams Scale 3D model Floor plan Lighting Budget Cassie Foster Press release Promotional Flyers Jaime McDonnell Gallery Labels Lighting Research

Location Choice

Entrance to Top Floor

2x Upper floor rooms (exactly the same size next to one another)

The extra room The staircase from upper to lower floor

At the top of the

Upper Floor corridor stairs on the top level

The Entrance Hall

Lower floor rooms (x2) and the corridor

Location
So why this location? The sole purpose of the design and building of Fort Amhurst was to defend and protect the River Medway after the 1667 attack by the Dutch. HOWEVER. The fort was never used in battle and in 1820 was declared obsolete due to better artillery equipment in the Victorian ages. This sense of abandonment, of the role of the fort being wasted away over time, is a theme all of our images relate so we thought the setting would reflect the tonal value of our images. The underworld of the labyrinth of tunnels and passages lead the audience further underground, the atmospheric quality isolates the setting ( like we want to create with lighting and the layout of the rooms). The lack of human interaction and the passage of time has changed the perception and usage of this setting and we wanted to highlight this quality in the presentation of our own images.

Space we are using

Floor plan: Colour labeled

3.40m wide x 2.67m high x 4.70m long

So why these two rooms in Fort Amhurst?

Floor Plan Circle part is where our exhibition will take place We chose the these two rooms because we felt that the space upstairs mirrored the sense of a forgotten place, it had been left to age. The two rooms that were the same in dimensions were used as a partition for the two separate themes. There was one theme, but two separate subject matters. Cassie and Jaime focused on human waste, whereas Christy and Emily focused on industrial waste so worked better in the same room. We felt that the work should be contained as we didnt want a break up of the narrative.

Sketches of ideas for room design

Before we started to look at references for our room design, Christy just sketched some quick ideas about the layout of the room keeping in mind three things Relatable to Waste Connect with the setting but with a modern, contemporary look Connect with the overall theme of waste

Christian Boltanski

Design Influence
From the sketches drawn of different sets we Wanted to produce a setting that mimicked the idea of TIME WASTING AWAY by having discarded objects in a heap similar to the ones shown in the images. These objects are relatable to the subject of the images, and therefore come to symbolise the loss of importance of these icons, the effect of time and technology advancing and their services no longer needed, therefore left to waste away.

Edward Burtynsky

In each room there would be two separate piles of trash to coincide with the theme in the room; so in room one trash associated with industry (Emily and Christy) and in the other trash associated with humans (Cassie and Jaime)

Chris Jordan

Design Influence/Props
In the second room of the exhibition displaying the work of Cassie Foster and Jaime McDonnell, we wanted to create an interactive space in which the audience could touch and see the elements which surround both series themes. There will be a washing line kris crossing at different angles in the room made out of shredded material, with the images being held by pegs. The washing line and the pegs represent the content of Cassies images and further more represent the connection between the images and the exhibition space. Similar to the washing line representing recycling of clothes through second hand stores, we thought along the floor under the photographs could be crumpled book pages that would represent Jaimes theme of the waste of the human body and youth in todays societies.

Props Pick axe Helmet Coal Shovel Chains Ropes Makeup Mirrors Helmet lights Bird Cage

SET DESIGN
We did look into different methods of framing but we found that contemporary frames would not work in the space because of the context of the building. We will instead use spotlights to frame the images to demonstrate the sense of isolation and disregard. Whereas the other two members of the group are placing their images on the wall, Cassie and Jaime liked the idea of using a washing line to hang their images from, as their themes of work focused on human waste (Cassie with the disregard of clothes and Jaime with her theme that focused on the wasting away of humans and youth)
Washing line made out of rope Emilys pictures

Jaimes photographs

Pile of discarded clothes and human hair that is built up to the wall

Cassies photographs

Christys pictures

Pile of rubbish. Placed up against the wall, spill out onto the floor.

Lighting
As a group, we decided that we wanted to use hard, directional spotlights as our main lighting source on our images. Through this technique we wanted to create an effect of isolation, of being looked over and discarded. Through this effect, these once anonymous subjects are exposed and forcing the eye to look at the subject, the detail, the colour, the fixed focal point. For a time these subjects are brought back into the conscious, remembered until once again time moves on and they once gain get forgotten. In respect to the lighting used in the pile of litter, this will be lit at the base to show the varying levels and textures of the discarded, valueless pile of human waste

Final Room Plan and Lighting

Wall of broken glass: 1.70m in at both side- centre to the back wall

Pile of rubbish from the wall comes down in heap and scatters on the floor

3.40m long
Come to a stop at 3m

Pile of rubbish from the wall of broken glass out and scattered on the floor

Lit at base with a normal spotlight Upwards a Come to

stop at 2.35m

Pictures: 1.6 m apart

cold: Warm: truly regenerati waste on

Pictures: 1.6 m apart

Base lit

4 w .70 ho as m ok hin lo s g n to lin g tie e. rop r o Us e f pe e or

Pictures at differen t lengths apart

Middle picture one we have used in advertising 2.35 m in

Key:
Spotlights from above

Christys Emily Pictures s pictur es

Spotligh ts

Jamies Cassie picture s s picture s

Layout of the Images (Left to Right- natural looking direction) 2nd Room st 1 room

Christys Images Left Wall

Produce a series of images that focused on the decaying and wasteful nature of the numerous vessels and boats that dot the Medway Maritime shoreline.

Cassies Images
Document what happens to our household waste once it is taken from our homes. She captures the people and the settings that deal with it.

Emilys ImagesRight Wall

Regeneration of waste land focusing on an old mine field

Jaimes Images
The idea of psychologically damaging of your health or mind through substance abuse or due to the modern age is a very unclear subject

Paper
1. Emily, Cassie and Jaime all want size A3 matte paper for their prints. A3 sizes are normally 40x297mm / 16.5x11.7inches. They want to print on Fuji Crystal Archive Matt . A3 is big enough that the audience stop, look and reflect the message but it not so big that the eye glances over it. We want the audience to really go into the photograph, to look at each part of the composition, the lighting, the tonal range, for example in Cassie Fosters series to notice up close in detail the textures and colours of the fabrics and in Jaime McDonnell's images to be able to notice the texture of the skin, hair and book pages. Christy on the other hand wants to print 20X30mm. This size means that the prints create a intimate feeling, an interaction with the audience. A size that reflects the isolation and wasting away. A size that creates an interaction with the audience, to make them really look in to the frame, the detail, the composition. Too smaller of a print and too larger print, would in some cases be worse as people skim over the picture and not really go in and examine the composition.

Framing/Mounting
In respect to framing, as a collective group, we decided that having frames would not suit the setting of the Fort, as a lot of them are contemporary and modern and the set is old and wasting away. We would still like to mount our images but just on a thin foam board because we want to create a sense that the image , like the set is becoming insignificant and forgotten. Therefore we liked the use of foam board. There is no need for framing yet there is definition that allows the print to come away from the wall without having any other distracting issues.

So why Matte? The neutral tones of matte paper produce a finish that is subtle, natural looking and does not reflect light. The dull quality of the paper would work well with the setting of Fort Amhurst; the coldness, isolation and a sense of being forgotten works well with the printing quality of the paper, it too through its subtle colours is sometimes overlooked and therefore the little details become insignificant. The natural looking paper would work well with the lighting and the wall texture, it looks clean yet a little contemporary with the slight shine, meaning the lighting wouldnt produce a light glare

So why Giclee paper (semi matte) paper? It has a professional quality, a refined and detailed finish that I think would work with my images as the composition is made up of detail and depth, issues I want the audience to really look closely at. The semi matte finish links in with the rest of my group so there is a continuous narrative, also it links in with the idea that these prints are forgotten and discarded.

Phillip Toledano 'The Days with My Father'

All American Rejects song 'Dirty Little Secret'

Gillian Wearing 'Signs'

We decided that we didnt want any writing besides our images, creating this sense of being anonymous, of having no real value. We wanted our images to stand alone to be looked at as single pieces of work ( we would have the name of the photographer and type of print etc.) The type of font we are after is a style that is faded and almost absorbs into the background. This would work well with the setting of the fort, the crumbling walls and the lettering would create this effect that reflects the setting- almost become irrelevant and forgotten like the subjects in the pictures. Instead of words about our work, we thought having quotes relatable to each rooms theme would suit the theme of our workanonymous yet create a linking narrative. These would have to be put on a wall on top of the original wall because it is a grade 2 listed building so we cannot do anything that will damage the structure. These are some possible quotes brought those landscapes in our conscious- Edward Burtynsky These ships carry a great metaphor connecting us through the seasall the materials we experience comes through ships so they have become the kind of reason globalisation is the portions it is Edward Burtynsky Books are but waste paper unless we spend in action the wisdom we get from thought - asleep. When we are weary of the living, we may repair to the dead, who have nothing of peevishness, pride, or design in their conversation. - William Butler Yeats Beauty can be seen in all things, seeing and composing the beauty is what separates the snapshot from the photograph. Matt Hardy I have always looked upon decay as being just as wonderful and rich an expression of life as growth - Henry Miller So why these quotes? Making the audience fully understand the impact of their actions bringing it back to their consciousness so that these once discarded objects are remembered and are looked at.

Started to look at designs of exhibition posters (colour, composition, writing)

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

Promotional Poster

Postcard

Press Release

Gallery Labels
Emily Adams Origins March 2012 Looking into the history of areas where mines once existed, photographer Emily Adams explored the concept of the regeneration of wastelands focusing on areas where just over 2 decades ago stood fully functioning mining factories. Betteshanger Colliery that has since been regenerated into a nature reserve for the local community to enjoy and benefit from was the main subject for Adams series. Researching artist Oliver Bishop-Young who modifies old skips into new recreational spaces for the public to use and Photographer John Stezaker, who creates interesting and unique images by layering old and new photographs to create a new idea, Adams has photographed and created a series which holds significant importance in terms of its concept but also a piece of history observing the past of Betteshanger Colliery by compressing the negatives of old maps and photographs of the site before it was adapted underneath her own photographs taken of the reserve as it remains today. Christy Brocklesby-Weller The journey may be over but the walls still stand March 2012 Photographer Christy Brocklesby-Weller chose to focus on the Medway Maritime shore exploring the vessels and boats in their stances of decay and waste as they have been abandoned along the shorelines for passersby to experience the textures and fading colors of their bodies. Brocklesby-Weller took much of her inspiration from Tomasz Gudzowatys series entitled Shipwreckers where Gudzowaty focused on decommissioned boats and oil tankers being stripped and their materials being recycled whilst also looking at Ricarda Roggans work for research into her visual choices. When referring to the series, artist Christy Brocklesby-Weller describes the series as explosions of wood in a juxtaposition with the serene and endless atmosphere created in the black and white image standing between the rest of the series.

 Cassie Foster What's mine is yours March 2012 Photographer Cassie Foster has created a very aesthetically pleasing series looking at the concept of societies materialistic wastes being recycled back into the system as someone elses great find. After exploring different paths and locations in which waste is recycled such as skip yards, markets and charity shops, Foster chose to focus on one particular 2nd hand shop using the clothing and accessories as the main theme. The series together creates a very dreamlike, beautiful atmosphere with the washed out colors and delicate materials seen in the backgrounds of the photographs, promising the audience the opinion that although every item of clothing and accessory in the shop is second hand, it is represented and displayed in the most appropriate, beautiful manner. Foster researched the work of Pieter Hugo and Melissa Moore as inspiration for background and photographic choices, using Hugos way of caging in the subject around the waste they deal with as a very influential factor.

Jaime McDonnell Recklessness of Youth in Contemporary Society March 2012 Photographer Jaime McDonnell developed a concept surrounding the degradation of the human body and mind, focusing on the recklessness of youth in contemporary societies, exploring mainly issues dealing with the mind and parts of the body taken for granted due to their ability to replenish themselves. The series hung together stands very disjointed and peculiar as the tones and lighting choices of each photograph constantly juxtapose each other however the effects of such juxtapositions deepen the concept of unpredictable journeys through the eyes of todays generations. McDonnell took great inspiration from Chris Jordan in terms of his work dealing with materials shown in mass amount to educate the audience in their consumption statistics, but mostly from Ulrich Geberts work for the presentation of the series in forcing the audience to question the links between each photograph.

BUDGET

Evaluation

What have we learnt? We have learnt to give and take personal opinions about work, to create an exhibition that had been made in a constructive manner and that everyone felt they contributed to. Emily felt that she struggled with communicating her ideas at times, whilst Christy felt that perhaps she took control over things too much. Cassie feels she has a better understanding of how testing it can be to work in a group of people that have to compromise each others personal preferences. Jaime felt she struggled with engaging with the given task and therefore wasnt able to fully communicate her personal opinions however learnt to work within a group to build an exhibition that involved different series of work. What could of gone better? As a group there was some issues with communication and reliability, although there was numerous opportunity for team members to get in contact and perhaps this was not utilized. How about Management? Considering the time period and the absence of some team members, the project went well, we completed all tasks to a good standard. Significant Challenge? The most significant challenge was lack of physical communication in places and the equal balance of jobs. How did we overcome this? We set up Facebook groups to exchange information, however there was a significant unbalance of jobs between group members which left more responsibly on others.