THIS IS ART - STAMP

I have mentioned making some form of stamp for the 'This Is Art' work, I have had discussions in and out of school about doing this, as it may be the easy option out of doing a sticker, however as I am also making a sticker I feel the stamp would be a good addition, for example it could be used if the stickers ran out...

ALEX FARRAR - THE IMPORTANCE OF THE SIGNATURE

I have been a fan of the artist Alex Farrar for a while now. His work is very simple, yet really intriguing. He uses a lot of legal wording and whatnot within his work, making his pieces seem more important than they maybe are, which again is sealed with signatures and whatnot...

THIS IS ART - CHOICES

Having re-looked at the 'Facility For Thought' work and looked at some more reference points I have decided to change both the format and the text that is on the sticker, only slightly but in the context of the design I guess its a pretty massive change. I have changed the name for a start to, 'This Is Art'...

I PROMISE NEVER TO - BOB & ROBERTA SMITH

I saw this image a while ago on a blog and was intrigued to what it was and who did it, I recently stumbled upon it again and quickly found out who did it. The people who did it are British artists Bob and Roberta Smith and was connected with a show they did in New York at Pierogi back in 2002...

PLEASE DO NOT

I found this photo the other day and it made me laugh, amazing that someone has done this in some art gallery somewhere in the world so small that probably nobody noticed, brilliant. Completely taking the piss out of the gallery culture altogether, maybe that of 'This Is Art' will change that!

ART IS ANYTHING

This is a picture I found the other day that I felt was appropriate to the 'This Is Art' work. The statement 'art is anything you can get away with' is an interesting one, because I feel this is right in so many senses due to the fact that if someone wants something to be 'art' and they are given the power to make this decision...

FACILITY FOR THOUGHT - THIS IS ART - IS IT ART

After finishing the second instalment of 'The Changing Face Of The Modern Gentleman' I'm now back to the 'Facility For Thought' work. I've had this work at the back of my mind constantly however, looking at different ways of doing it and what I want to be producing for it. I've had many conversations on the subject too..

THE CONVERSATION SERIES - ROBERT CRUMB

Today I have been reading one of the many books in 'The Conversation Series' curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist. It was sitting on my kitchen table and belongs to Ariane. The series contains long interviews with different people every book. Robert Crumb was the interviewee this time round who's a cartoonist and illustrator...

FACILITY FOR THOUGHT - FIRST OUTING

Yesterday I went out and bought some plain white stickers, to proceed with my 'facility for thought' work. I have been printing all different versions today, until I got the right design for the job. Once this was done, I went out to a place near where I live, where there are two massive blocks of concrete...

POETRY BY CHANCE

I was at work today and went on my lunch-break for an hour, in which time I went to the Tate, watched ben buy some paint and bought a baguette with some tasty filling. On my way to the Tate, I randomly saw this sticker stuck to the side of a gate, which could very easily be missed, however something attracted me to it...

FACILITY FOR THOUGHT - DEVELOPMENT RED

Here is the same design, just in red, as I said I'd do this project in colour.

FACILITY FOR THOUGHT - DEVELOPMENT

After designing, and re-designing the facility for thought work I have suddenly fallen upon this design. Its one out of a very long list that is actually working. I stripped the information on it right back to the essential. Allowing the real essence of what the design is, be known...

FACILITY FOR THOUGHT - THE INFORMATION

Today I have been trying to design the stamp for the Facility For Thought work, however it is a lot harder than I imagined. I have been trying to strip the design of it right down, so it is purely there for a function and not for how it looks. This is a very clear design choice I am making due to the fact that if I over design it then it will come more about the stamp and less about its use. Which defeats the point of the work. Anyhow I have been thinking of what information to put on the stamp too and these are the main things that are going to be on there.

FACILITY FOR THOUGHT
DATE
EXPLANATION OF THOUGHT
MADE BY

All these factors are important, this is because the date is there as a time stamp, of when the piece got recognised, and branded as art. The explanation of thought is there so if someone wants to explain why they think this object or thing is of merit they can. Finally made by is there so that someone can put a name or signature to it, much like that of R. MUTT (Marcel Duchamp) for the urinal work.

I am also still toying with the idea of the stickers, maybe I will do a stamp and a sticker, just for good measure, I am also pondering the idea of a small book to accompany it.

STAMPS

I was looking at an old printing methods book today, and saw that the stamp which shows how long you have the book out for was an old 'central school of arts' stamp, and was dated 23rd November 1948. I find it amazing how long it has been there for and how many people must have looked at it over the years...

LETTERPRESS FACILITY FOR THOUGHT

I am now going through various ideas that could be used on a sticker that could be placed upon an object that is of interest to the individual, which then becomes something other than an object. Here is an idea I have been looking at tonight. I have been looking at stamps, and how I could use them within my design...

FACILITY FOR THOUGHT

I have been thinking of ways of refining the ideas I have had about the IS IT ART work and for a starting point I have changed the title to FACILITY FOR THOUGHT this is because the work I am producing is all about making people think about things they wouldn't else wise, the end product is a facility or a catalyst for this thought process.

So for the work I have chosen to go down the path of a sticker, that can be attached to anything that one would perceive to be of interest. This means if I place any words on it this become my idea, and takes away from them being able to voice their opinion. I want to be able to give the option of either saying what they think but also if they just want to make a statement this will also be possible.

I was talking to my Bahia today about it all, thinking she would be a good person to talk to about the work, because she is nothing herself, and it seemed as if she had very similar ideas to what I am trying to express. It was good to be able to talk to someone who is not tied into graphic design. We both agreed that art should be in the eye of the beholder, and that if a message needed to be given it is about the function of that message and not the form of how it comes. Very interesting stuff but also very confusing, however I think I have cleared my mind a bit about what direction I am heading with the work, which is a nice thing.

I am now coming up with some new ideas that have evolved from my initial ideas I had about the project, after thinking this brief was good to last only a day it was quite a surprise to me that I'm still doing it, however it is a lot broader subject than I imagined and I feel it necessary to give it the time it deserves.

PAT TESTED

As I was talking about in one of my other posts about a girl doing a project on PAT tested things, and saying how everything now had to be checked and checked again for health and safety, I was looking at the design of it, and although it is a very simple and standard, clinical design, there is something interesting about it...

READY-MADE

Ordinary objects that are manufactured to be something else, by either repositioning, tilting or signing it when this act was done, the object became a ready-made and therefore art. This process involved very little interaction of the artist and the art, however provoked reactions of millions and sent them into a frenzy...

BLOGGED

Having spoken about its nice that, I am increasingly thinking about blogs. I use mine for work I do and for things I think are relevant or cool. Its a place where you can put stuff that you think is cool or worth looking at. As I said I could spend hours at a time trawling through all the style, art, design, fashion blogs that pop up, its like a never ending bank or images and writing. I feel this project would be bringing a blog to life in a way, this is because when you see something cool, you mark it, you let share your finding with other people people either agree or disagree.

GET SOME COLOUR

I have noticed that a lot of my work has been in black and white recently, so for this project I want to use some colour, how very exciting.