Site project

First day back to uni to start off 2011. And it wasn't too freshly I might add. And we are given the "site" project.
We were asked to define what makes a "a site specific work". Site specific work is art work that is created to to exist in a specific area. The work doesn't just have to be physical art works such as paintings and sculptures, it can also created through dance and performance. I guess that site specific art is also linked with environmental art. Environmentally I would consider the contrast between a natural area and a man made one. Or taking something from one environment and putting it into another where it doesn't normally belong for example taking snow from the Northpole and putting it in Africa. Or putting a country farm in the middle of a busy city such as New York.
When I think about the environment I am struck by the devastation that is currently in the pacific ocean. The trash vortex:

Over the years rubbish has ended up in the pacific ocean. The majority of it is plastic which is non bio-degradable which means the plastic will stay there reaking havoc, death and destruction. There a reports of sea life and birds being found dead with plastic inside of them such as lighters and tooth burshes etc as well as animals that have become trapped. I feel that this needs to stop and people need to have more concern for the world they live in. By simply cutting down on the amount of plastic they buy would be really beneifical. Even by carrying around their own bags instead of taking plastic carrier bags from shops would be a great help and recycle whatever plastic they use.

People need to be aware of this crisis as it is being held under wraps and I want to change that. I tried thinking of a place within the uni area which I could try and alter which had either a relevent or ironic characteristic. I starting thinking about areas that use a lot of plastic and areas that contain and/or are made from plastic. I then thought about an area in the uni that takes the use of plastic for granted and this is the plastic workshop because there is a huge disposal bin for wastage of plastic which will have no purpose other than to be disposed of into some derelict area which could become the ocean.
I decided to make posters and place them on this bin to make people aware of what they are doing. They must recycle.
Here are the posters that I made:

One69a

Over the past few months I have been volunteering for the company "one69a".
one69a is a company in Salford, Islington Mill, which specialise in screen printing. This can be on clothing, posters, and CD's/records etc. http://one69a.com/ their blog is also on this site.
I have been going up to their studio and helping out with tasks such as cleaning screens and general cleaning tasks. Through doing this I have learned a lot about the process of printing, the chemicals used and their purposes as well as the time, effort and talent that goes into it.
After doing a few jobs for them I got the chance to screen print myself.
I have found this to be a great experience. I have met a lot of people that also work in the studio's that specialise in different areas that I am very interested in so hopefully I can grasp some networking for the future. I have also got a good insight into the working world of art, involving the pressure and stress as well as the great rewards. One69a have worked for people such as addidas and bands such as melt banana. I feel this is rewarding in itself, especially knowing that your work is out there for everybody to see. Through this I feel more enthusiastic about the working world and I also feel more possitive about my course as the people who run this company are x-interactive arts students.

GROTTO

This christmas the company "one69a" managed to rent out a shop for artists to sell their work in. The theme was christmas but it was very open to other art works completely unrelated to christmas such as paintings and sculptures etc.
One69a were not doing this for the profit, they were just doing a great deed by helping artists get their work out there.
There were loads of arts and craft works being sold in the shop, from jewelery to clothes, to accessories to paintings and photographs. And I thought it was amazing!
The grotto was a great experience for me because I got to first hand feel what it is like to work in the art world for a profit and it was exciting. I loved making little pieces to make a profit from and work out how much I should sell them at relating to how much I spent and how much effort went into them. I also got an insight into what goes into running a shop and having the experience got me thinking about what it would be like to have my own shop. All of this experience is great for thinking down to reality instead of dreaming about what could be fun. The reality check is a very possitive thing!

Here are images of what I made for the "Grotto" shop. I made them all out of Fimo. Its a simple tool but the pieces that I made were very small and there is a lot of detail so they were quite tricky but I loved making them. It brought back memories of when I used to make little pieces of food for my dolls house out of them when I was little with my Aunty.

This is supposed to be a giant yorkshire pudding with onion gravy but you can make your own mind up on that one...
My fried breakfast! Yummy