Boyle Family

The group and I had to re-create a small version of the map but this time we made rubbings and sketches only. So we took the same guided walk around Bermondsey like we did before, and made rubbings of surfaces we found interesting. It was sometimes difficult as some areas did not show any texture when they were rubbed. I experimented in using different materials to do the rubbings, such as crayons, markers, pencils and pens. After we made the rubbings and sketches we stuck them down on a large piece of paper then drew a map of our journey. I decided after I drew the map onto the paper to not write the road names and it would look clutered. We was trying to create something like what the Boyle family did by slecting random areas and making a piece of art put of it.

Bermondsey History & Changes

Bermondsey then & now

Bermondsey is an area in South East London, in the borough of Southwark.

The conditions were really polluted, that people in 1847 caught Cholera by drinking unboiled and died. The housing was poor as most of them were dreadful slums, people said that Bermondsey was the worst slum in London in the 19th Century. This was the time when Charles Dickens wrote 'Oliver Twist' he wrote about it being 'every repulsive lineament of poverty, every loathsome indication of filth, rot, and garbage.'

People on a low income could only afford basic accomodations, some builders would build their houses cheaply and quickly, sometimes even without toilets or bathrooms.

Most of the houses were occupied, sometimes with more than 1 family living together.

Industries

During the 20th century to the east of Tower Bridge, along the riverside were lined with warehouses and wharves.

Bermondsey was well known for its leather industry, which began in medieval times. Fur factories were also popular.

Population

In 1801 the population was 27,465, and in 1891 it had reached 136,660. So as the years went by the population increased rapidly. this is according to http://www.visitsouthwark.com/pages/history_of_bermondsey.html

In the 19th Century most people were working class citizens, but jobs were scarce and people who had a job didn't get paid a lot, as they were un-skilled. People were paid only when work was available, so many were unemployed this was a result of poverty.

An abstract art of Bermondsey

Evaluation of an abstract art of Bermondsey

We went on a guided walk around Bermondsey and took sketches and rubbings of things we found interesting. The section we sketched/rubbed were only small so they are not accurate. I thought that it being accurate wasn't a problem as we just want to get an impression of the area and not a big description of what the area is like.

We tried to make rubbings on surfaces that showed a clear texture and shape, as not all surfaces appeared while the rubbings were being done.

I created an abstract piece of art of Bermondsey, As it shows sketches & rubbings I have made of the area. we then created a map of our journey. I made sure all the rubbings and sketches were placed edge to edge, we stuck it on to a large piece of sugar paper and trimmed it till there was no sugar paper showing. I think that the map is abstract because you can't tell what some of the sketches/rubbings are of. I traced the journey from a map we displayed on the overhead projector, but I traced the rest of the area that was on the map too. I decided that the map looked better if I didn't write the road names on the map and the sketches/rubbings were already distracting. I drew the roads with a black marker pen as it looks bold.

Our random selection makes it relate to the Boyle family as they select random things so they don't exclude a potential object.

Here are 5 facts I found out about the Boyle Family:

• Are a family of collaborative artists in London.
• Their best known work is 'Journey to the surface of the Earth'
• Their aim is to make art that doesn't exckude any potential object.
• They've been known as the Boyle Family since 1985
• They create random selections to use as a piece of art.
  

Comparing my photos to a photographers work

Comparing my photos to a Photographers work

I took pictures around Bermondsey and I chose the picture I preferred out of the others and had to take a better photograph than the one I had done.


Here are the pictures:


This is the one I took before that I needed to re-take.
I like this picture as it shows St Saviours Wharf from a side angle, and you can see the road it leads down to. This photograph was taken by a camera phone with a 2.0 mega pixels camera. So I was unable to change things such as the aperture.
I like this photo because it's simple but things could of been changed for improvement.





This is the picture I re-took, I like this picture in a different way than the one I did before because I experimented with it, using a different angle and camera. I took this using a SLR camera, I decided to use a frame in this photo as it draws peoples attention towards the main image. From this angle it looks as if someone is looking at it from a street corner. The thing I don't like about it is that because I changed the aperture to make the exposure low, I couldn't capture what the texture of the brick wall. It looks a little too dark, but I think I would edit it to lighten it up so I can see it properly.

I did some research on photographs that were similar to my work, for my 1st picture I thought that this particular image was related to my work.

'Bridge' By Thaib Chaidar.
Source: Photo.net

The way this picture is taken the perspective is similar because its from the left side, showing the structure of the object from the beginning, but not quite being able to see the end. With my picture the end of the road is exposed so there is no sense of mystery or depth to it. Whereas in this image it makes the audience believe the end is further than the eye can see, even though it seems as if the end of the bridge is being shown on the picture. The black and white makes the image look strong and old, as if the bridge has been there for a long time. In my opinion the real weather in this is looks manipulated as even a blue sky with lots of clouds would seem cloudy if a black and white effect was used. I like the contrast between the distinctive lines in the bridge structure and the simple surrounding, with the river and the cloudy looking sky.

By Eugenio Eugenio.

I thought that this picture relates to my second photograph because the dark motion blur of a person acts like a frame leading down the alleyway, in the same way the brick wall leads to the behind it. The tones in this picture look like a dream-like painting. There is a contrast between the left side of the image and the right, to the left the image is more blurred and out of focus but whereas the right is clear.

This photograph seems like it was taken maybe by purpose or by accident, but it actually works well. The perspective of which this picture is taken is as if the photographer is walking down the alley. This image makes it seem mysterious as the alley bends and the audience doesn't know where it leads to or how long it is.

Map Evaluation

Evaluation

The reason I chose to write a description about the Bermondsey walk was because it made it seem more personal than if I had just made a list of how I felt at the time. This was the same reason why I chose to hand write it than type it out, then people can see that I actually took time to write it out, like a letter, my handwriting also makes it more personal. In my opinion the reason why people prefer something personal is that they can relate it to themselves or others around them.

We all made a different section of the map, choosing what colour the road should be from our personal taste. I think that doing this had a positive and negative effect, the positive was that it expresses everyone's different personalities but the negative part was that it didn't look neat and presentable. If we were to do it next time I think that we should all decide on what colours everyone should paint the road...etc.
I created two written pieces one about the walk along Wilson Grove, and the other one was about when I was at Bermondsey Wall . My second piece is quite different from the first one because the emotion changes from being not so enthusiastic to being interested.
I decided to place the piece I had written about the walk on Wilson Grove horizontally along the middle of that road on the map because it shows I felt and saw the things I had written whilst walking along.

Here is the piece about Wilson:

'The weather and day was just as gloomy as each other. The sky was light blue with a mixture of grey, after the downpour of rain, but light rain drops were still falling. I could feel the chilly breeze surrounding me as I walked down the wet grey concrete road on Wilson Grove. We walked down a couple of streets which were quite desserted as they were all houses, as maybe they had all gone to work at that time.'

This piece is about Bermondsey Wall:

'The sun was facing the River Thames at Bermondsey Wall and shining on my back, it felt warm and comforting. The river looked at ease, the waves rippling gently. As the noise of the cannon ball hits an old building a speed boat rushes by, the sound of the engine roaring, causing the water in the river to rush upwards. The sky is a krisp light blue, there aren't a lot of clouds as they are faded.'

During the walk we collected objects to place on the map, we weren't really accurate when placing them on there, in the future we should try to find the nearest place where we found it. Pictures were taken of the area such as all the road signs, and interesting things that we thought were relevant. The pictures that were stuck on the map weren't accurate, but that can be a good thing as not being accurate shows a creative side while being accurate is important as it is a map and should show where everything is accurately.

Research on the work of Giorgio De Chirico & Giovanni Battista

Research

I have selected 3 pieces of work by the artists Giogrio Chirico & Giovanni Battista that are of an urban environment, and I have included my own visual records, experimenting using different materials to sketch.
The Soothsayer’s Recompense, oil on canvas by Giorgio de Chirico, 1913.

I think that my sketched worked well with the pencil as I can create darker and lighter shadows by changing the pressure I put on the pencil whilst sketching.

The Song of Love (also known as Le chant d'amour or Love Song; 1914)

I don't think that this particular sketch worked well because the pressure of the brown colour pencil doesn't become obvious in the drawing, as much as the pencil.

Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Parere su L'architeturra (1765)
I really like this sketch because insteak of choosing to draw the entire image I took one particular area and sketched it. The look of the pen drawing makes it interesting because it looks more defined and darker.

Bermondsey Walk Evaluation

Bermondsey walk evaluation

Bermondsey is an modern area in South East London, it is on the southern bank of the River Thames. It is part of the London Borough of Southwark. There is a clear view of the Tower Bridge when you are at Bermondsey Wall. The prices of housing is now quite expensive in Bermondsey, especially all the new apartment buildings that are being built.

This is quite different from what it used to be like in the 19th century according to Charles Dickens novel 'Oliver Twist'. Which gave the impression of it being a dirty, filthy place where everybody was poor and even working class people had jobs that didn't pay much.

In Bermondsey there was a island called Jacobs Island, being an island the thing that seperated it as an Island was the foul ditches surrounding it. It was Bermondsey's earliest and worst slums. Charles Dickens described the place as "the filthiest, the strangest, the most extraordinary of the many localities that are hidden in London".

We took a walk around Bermondsey here is the route we took:
I wrote two pieces about the walk in two different areas. The first one I wrote about was when I was walking along Wilson Grove.

The 2nd one I wrote how I felt when I was sitting at Bermondsey Wall East.

The whole calss discussed what we saw and felt about the walk, a lot of people agreed that it was a quiet because of all the houses and at that time everybody had probably gone to work. The part that goes into Jamaica Road you could hear the noisy traffic and you can see everybody in a hurry to get to their destination. Whereas further down near Bermondsey Wall the area is more quiet and calm as it near the River Thames. At Bermondsey Wall East there were a few sets of benches for people to sit on and enjoy the view of London. Loftie St was closed as buildings such as the 'Cold Stores' were being knocked down and probably being replaced with expensive apartment buildings. We walked through Bevington street towards Chambers street, where all the new apartments were, with pricey cars. On Jacob Street the road was very narrow and was still able to mantain an old building, I could tell because the brick work on it and the font on the frount of the building. Bermondsey Wall was not much different than Bermondsey Wall East, you could see the view of the River Thames and a clear view of Tower Bridge. George Row was quite a large road with council estates very different from a street away on Chambers street. We then walked along Jamaica Rd and went back to college.

V&A Evaluation

The V&A Evaluation
When we took a trip to the V&A gallery our aim was to 'Capture'. We were asked what the word capture meant in our own words I came up with the following:

Capture:-

• Photography/Cameras
• Filming/Videos
• Diaries
• Memories/Events
• Past/Present/Future
• Internet
• Networking Sites
• Drawing/Paintings
• Observing
• Writing

We were told things about the V&A and what it was about. I made notes on what the cureator said.

The V&A

• Uses design objects to tell a story
• Popular culture tastes are shown as well as non-popular
• Such as lighting & radio of the 2oth century as it shows how it has evolved over the years
• Some objects came from World War times.
• Transport is also a big design issue and it has become so different from now
• Images collected are used to tell a story
• 21st century meant after the WWII
• Some designs are according to fashionable taste
• Items like clothes changed since the 1950's
• The gallery captures by collecting things from the past and present
• Some objects reflect on the kind of designs nowadays, as people may recognise something but seem a little different from what they see now

We were told to capture 3 visual images of items we found interesting or significant in some way.These are my drawings from 3 different objects.

During this trip I've learned the many ways there are to capture and the variety of meanings the word could have in a media/art related way.