Greene-ware 2020 Year 12 Ruby A Art as Knowledge

Art As Knowledge – Phase 1 Contents • Focus from Inquiry phase 1 – not for re-assessment • Resolved work: Ancestry Installation 2 11.5cm x 16.5cm etchings 2:21 long video 90 x 60cm investigation board • Artist’s statement • Display view • Individual works • Documentation • Annotated details of the resolved artworks to support performance descriptors in developing, researching and reflecting criteria • Supporting evidence – these slides were used in the presentation of the resolved work

FOCUS – INQUIRY PHASE 1 (not for re-assessmnent)

The focus for my body of work is how the history of those who came before us can be explored and investigated through art practices, and more specifically, how forensic practices can explain the history of one’s family.

Ancestry and heritage can be dated back for thousands of years, and the importance of knowing about ancestors can range from family to family, and even individual to individual. Forensic investigation is a form of identifying and explaining the lives of individuals who have often died, and this can be used to discover the history of those who came before us.

The theme of death in art is one of the most pervasive themes in art history, and is often referred as a grim reminder of numbered days, and a powerful motivator to live well while you can. Artworks about death are created to understand the full circle of life, and is a form of explaining how each period of human history perceived death.

ARTIST STATEMENT

Ancestry Installation Death is one of the most pervasive themes in art history. It is unavoidable in life and is often referenced as grim reminder of numbered days, and a powerful motivator to live well while you can. The passing on family members can often be a distressing and rather emotional event in life, but it is often important and fascinating to understand the journey that they had in life, and the milestones that they reached. The importance of knowing about family ancestry can be explored through the use of forensic investigation and investigation boards, which help conduct research on events or situations that have not yet been fully explained. Together, these themes and practices can tell a story of one’s life journey.

RESOLVED COLLECTION OF WORK DISPLAY VIEW

Ancestry Installation

RESOLVED COLLECTION OF WORK INDIVIDUAL WORKS

Ancestry Installation

RESOLVED COLLECTION OF WORK INDIVIDUAL WORKS

Ancestry Installation

RESOLVED COLLECTION OF WORK INDIVIDUAL WORKS

Ancestry Installation

RESOLVED COLLECTION OF WORK INDIVIDUAL WORKS

Ancestry Installation

ANNOTATED DETAILS OF THE RESOLVED ARTWORKS

Developing: Personal context – inspired by my passion and interests around forensic investigation and the curiosity I have with my family ancestry. Investigation boards are often used to conduct research and planning on events that have not yet been fully explained – I applied this to my family history as I didn’t previously have much knowledge. I took the theme of death in art and combined that with family ancestry and forensic investigation which are both interests of mine and I created an installation which helped convey the meaning behind these united themes.

Researching: The theme of death in art is one of the most pervasive themes in art history, and is often referred as a grim reminder of numbered days, and a powerful motivator to live well while you can. Artworks about death are created to understand the full circle of life, and is a form of explaining how each period of human history perceived death.

Reflecting: My visual expression created a sense of purpose in the life journey, and the visual forms in which I communicated the history of my grandparent’s through added an extra layer of meaning and emotion behind family ancestry and death.

The idea of fading away and blurred, distant memories was introduced through technical features in the artworks.

SUPPORTING EVIDENCE: PLANNING

Planning Sheets: This is where I decided on what specific focus I wanted to take from my inquiry question: “How can the history of those who came before us be explored and investigated through art practices?�

I chose to look into my family, more specifically my grandparents who have passed away to make the context more personal, and I decided to use forensic investigation as the art practice as that is one of my main interests and passions.

SUPPORTING EVIDENCE Artist and Theme Research: I research Damien Hirst as my focus artist as death is the central theme in his artworks. He is known for conceptual art, installation art, painting and sculpture which was helpful as I too wanted to complete an installation.

The theme of death in art was the main theme in my artwork. Death is one of the most pervasive themes in art history and it is created to understand the full circle of life as well as explaining how each period of human history perceived death.

SUPPORTING EVIDENCE

I looked into different art practices that interested me to determine how I was going to complete the installation and what type of experiments I would have to include/would want to include.

I decided on incorporating digital work by creating a video that showed the life journey of my grandparents through photos that I collected from my parents and the use of digital editing.

In my installation, I wanted to include the use of lighting and sound to create a mood. I have a soundtrack in my video which helps to focus your mind on what you’re viewing and helps to receive an emotional response. The use of lighting I have decided on are some fairy lights to set up around the frames of photos that I have to give a memorial like feel to the installation.

FROM ORIGINAL PLANNING SHEET

I also took one of the photos that I had collected and etched copies of it. In the first etching, I showed the idea of fading away or passing over time by wiping the ink away to make it look like the people were dispersing away. The second etching shows overlaying, which represents the blurred, distant memories of my past and how unclear my ancestry may be to me.

SUPPORTING EVIDENCE

These are my sketches of how I want my installation to look. On the right was my original plan, to set the installation up in a black box but due to unforeseen reasons, having that black box at the present time wasn’t able to be so I drew up the second sketch (above) which depicts the installation just on a table with a wall behind in which the video can be shown.