Rachel Whiteread

House

Holocaust memorial

Stairs

Rachel Whiteread is an artist that uses liquid concrete to fill spaces. In 'house' the abandoned house has been filled with concrete and the outer shell has been stripped away. You are left with the imprint of the interior of the house, the windows and doors, on the exterior. Whiteread wanted to create something unmoveable and quite permanent. This was the piece of art from which she won the Turner prize. Many people either really hated it or really loved it. It wasn't considered a work of art but a waste of space by many. Andrew Graham-Dixon, in an article for The Independent, says "The house has, itself, become a giant sarcophagus, a mausoleum containing (but also concealing, as mausoleums do) the lives and memories of all the people who once lived there." It does make you wonder who had lived there, what they achieved and who had died there.

It was demolished about 11 weeks after it was made and the same day that Whiteread won the Turner prize for it. Turns out that it wasn't permanent at all and the council hated it. But it's still one of the most admired pieces of work by artists today.

Using Plaster

I have been experimenting with plaster and have used it to create texture.

I started off by printing pictures of each stage of a match burning and pasting it onto some cardboard.  I then mixed some plaster and water so it was quite thick and using a paintbrush I layered on the plaster. Once it dried it had an unusual texture to it. 

Seeing An Installation

I recently made my way down to Birmingham city centre to attend a small event organised by the Hippodrome and the Ikon Gallery. It was called About Town and was a series of installation by a dozen or so artists. Starting in the Hippodrome, there were random videos of stray cats on old TV sets placed around in the building. The second was a clip of the artist sitting on the steps by the old Birmingham library for several days, at the same time. The people just go about their daily business without noticing her. The artist is called Kelly Mark. 

After, we walked down to the back to back houses and made our way up the narrow stairs to a video by Dean Kelland called Just Like That which was a line commonly used by the comedian Tommy Cooper. There is no sound but as soon as the fez is removed he starts to mime 'Just Like That' but in a very distressing manor. Its funny but painful to watch. Even though there is now sound you can almost hear his screams fill the room. 

We then walked to the Havana car park and there was one installation showing there by Grace Ndiritu called The Nightingale. 

Ndiritu's website (http://www.gracendiritu.com/The-Nightingale-2003) says:

  "Poetically, this is conveyed by a sentence superimposed on the opening sequence: "He stood East of my childhood and West of my future". The beginning of The Nightingale is peaceful and serene, showing Ndiritu slowly moving a cloth that covers her head and shoulders, to reveal her face, with eyes closed. The quiet African music suddenly changes as the artist becomes animated, with eyes wide open, focused on the viewer. She twists, wraps and folds the fabric in a sequence of simple movements to transform her appearance. Each action reveals another identity, the fabric being exploited for its versatility, playing the role of blindfold, hajib, headscarf, burka, veil, bandanna, purdah, gag and turban. Its reference to an assortment of cultures is both joyful and unsettling, developing with the rhythm of the music, pausing into moments of playful seduction and sculptural beauty. The final sequence of the video consists simply of birds in flight, literally above human politics, suggesting freedom from cultural compartmentalization."

The music was the first thing you hear as you walk toward the car park and it gives a sense of the installation without even seeing it. As the piece of cloth starts to move the music gets faster and as the music gets faster her actions get faster and it captivated the audience. Something so simple to do but very effective at the same time. 

I didn’t even think about adding sound to my final piece and it is something that’s worth thinking about. It can create more of an atmosphere.

Moving on to the Gallan Car Park, the massive car park has about 6 installations it it which are all from different artists. The one that stood out was by Yang Zhezhong who used two screens opposite from each other. On one is a video of her exhaling with all her might and the one opposite was a video of a busy street in Shangai zooming put every time she exhales.

About Town made for an interesting evening, the artists all had very strong ideas and represented them in their artwork. It inspired me to expand on my work and strengthen messages behind it.