Thursday, June 21, 2012

Ireland: Part One

I recently returned from a two week tutorial/residency at the Burren College of Art, in Ballyvaughan, Ireland. I was accompanied by five other SFAI students and Frances McCormack, Chair of the painting department at SFAI.

While preparing for this trip, it was really hard to predict the kind of work I would make there. But I had to come up with some sort fo game plan before hand, since I had to really consider what to bring with me. I knew for sure to bring my 4x5 and lots of film, but I knew that just photographing would not be satisfying. Especially since I have started to shy away from traditional photography and been getting my hand more involved in experimental, camer-less type of image making. Of course, I ended up bringing a lot of stuff that I didn't really need. Digital paper and book making suplies mainly, but it was better to have them than to not.

I knew though, that I needed to start making images right when I got there. I know myself, and I know that I can take too much time over thinking things, so I already had the plan of spending the first day in the library there at the Burren. I had recently made a few images combining other artist images from their books. Sometimes combining them with my own work, or even with objects. These images became a dialogue of various arts and histories. I knew when I arrived, I should make images in this fashion, just to get my brain and thoughts moving. To have something to guide me to the next idea. This series of images were the first I made, during my first two days in Ireland. 

    Cloudscape, 2012. Image made from a monograph of work by Paul Graham

 
    River & Sky, 2012. Image made from monographs by Paul Graham and Roni Horn. 

    Clouds, 2012. Image made from a monograph by Wolfganf Tillimans 

     Irish Seascapes, 2012. Double exposure of two images made by Sugimoto. 
     Both images of his were taken from Ireland,one looking out into the Atlantic 
     Ocean, the other looking out into the Irish Sea.