Cabinet work notes 13/03/13

For my work that is going into the cabinets i wanted to write down all my thoughts and pick through them and see what would work best and then start to piece it together. The main points are that i am interested in is advertising, and the more absurd/strange remedies.  

Mock up installation 11/03/13

Today we as a class collectively created a mock up of what our installation piece may look like, for our first room of our exhibition at the Botanics. We cut approximately 200 shaped tags out of paper, tied them to individual pieces of thread, attached them to wooden blanks and suspended them form the ceiling.

 For the finished outcome we are hoping for the tags to be made from a mixture of steel and copper. We also want the tags to have unique and individual hand-drawn images that will be fixed to the metals through the process of enabling. The images on the tags are all going to be centered around medicinal medicine. The overall look of the installation will come together with the use of directed lighting that will provide an atmospheric feel to the room.

All and all, we have the main components figured out, but we all just have to make the physical artwork which we will be starting on the 18th March.

Library meeting No.2 01/03/13

So this is the second group research meeting myself, Jenny, Samantha and Jess have carried out ourselves. Today them three kept focused on the installation piece, but I focused more on the work I am going to be creating to be placed in the cabinets in the middle room. I went in search of certain books that were centered  around old medicinal medicines, and luckily enough I came across the most perfect book.I really couldn't ave got any better than this. The Book being the Physicians of Myddfai, that had ancient herbal remedies associated with the legend of the Lady of the Lake. So having remedies that were actually used within Wales was just what i was looking for. So i spent the day writing out a dozen of remedies that stood out to me, the more absurd the better. All being the basis of what i want my work to focus on.

Library research 22/02/13

Myself, Jenny, Samantha and Jess took it upon ourselves to visit Trinity Library and gather research on installations. To discuss and make a few decisions on what we think the labels should look like, shape, size colour etc. The day was a great success as we seemed to work a lot better and be able to speak out our own opinions in a smaller group with out feeling uncomfortable. As we had more time to think of what we wanted to state and non of us were put on the spot. This is hopefully going to become a weekly thing.

Workshop with Pete

A few outcomes today from our workshop with Pete using source material we gathered from the Botanics. 

Room Plan meeting 12/02/13

Having all had a group meeting we have come up with a plan of what kind of work is going to go in each of the three rooms. The last room collectively we thought we would utilize the high ceiling and create a hanging instillation piece. With the theme being centered around bottle/plant labels and use the process of enameling on steel to create the pieces. With Samantha, Jenny and Jess focusing on this and managing all the in's and out's of the installation. The middle room having been given approximately 6 cabinets to place work in, we loosely have come up with the idea to make individual pieces of work that complaint the space, they are subtle and blend into the surroundings rather than being brash and bold. With myself, Tony, Danielle Siobhan  and Carla creating the work. Then within the first room we have decided to approach the first year painters to create pieces to work within the space. Fingers crossed we have all made the right decision in letting the first years incorporate there work.    

First visit to the Botanics 29/01/13

As a class we visited the Botanics today to get a feel of what the Medicines in May event is all about. We wanted to gather information and take inspiration from our surroundings to help us make our pieces for the exhibition. Most importantly we got to see for the first time where our work will be placed for the public to see. And this was not to disappoint. We having been very kindly given three separate spaces that all flow into each other under one roof. The first room being an information exhibit with a video screen, text on the walls and and cabinets that are filled with medicinal objects. The second room being a mock up of an old apothecary. It is such a beautiful space filled with amazing history. Then the last room basically working as a blank canvas. Its function being a teaching/training room. After this we also had the privilege of being shown the library catalogue of old and new books all centered around botanical matter. What interested me the most was an official acopercaries record book all all the names of people of obtained remedies off him and what exactly that remedy and all the ingrediants that went into it. So having seen the space and taken in a lot of information, it was off to the drawing board, to see what we could come up with as a collective.