JIAYI ZHU
Teaching and Learning Events
1. Tutorial with Francis Summers and Eriel Araújo
Francis gave me a lot of inspiration in thinking and logic, and gave me a lot of suggestions on academic issues in the project. At Francis’s suggestion, I read family snaps and studied Freud’s Oedipus complex and Electra complex, which is about family relationship. Concepts of family, the relationship between family and photography, as well as the relationship between mother and son, father and daughter, mother and daughter, father and son in the family have been deeply thought, and on this basis, I conducted in-depth research based on my own growth experience.
The conversation with the artist Eriel helped me a lot. When I was approaching the WIP show, I was entangled in the presentation method of the exhibition. eriel's works also have a lot of considerations about materials and methods. He did a lot of experiments with images and installations, and these works are very inspiring to me. He also gave me a lot of concrete suggestions on form and presentation. He used his practical experience to tell me many ways to express his works. At the same time, he also gave me a lot of reference suggestions for artists. Such as Ai Weiwei and Barrao, The works of artists are all about damage and repair. Reference is made to each artist's choice of materials and forms of fragmentation and recombination, as well as their interpretation of this behavior. It has great reference significance for me to analyze my own behavior. I think this was very helpful in improving my final work.
Family snaps
By Jo Spence and Patricia Holland
This book deals with the second phase of photographic history, when the invention of the box camera and roll film made it more possible for the individual, even of modest means, to own a camera. The age of the 'snap' had begun.
The book looks at the shifting meanings of domestic photography and the transformation of the family album into narratives of commmunity.
After reading this book, I think objects in the family have a very strong function of carrying memories and are unique elements. An object is like a photo. So I decided to express it using specific elements that have a special meaning during my growth.
INÉRCIA Eriel Araújo
The work “Inércia” is made up of a series of superhero porcelain pieces. This series is faced with a video image transmitted by a TV set, through which some contemporary myths reach us. The image corresponds to the representation of the same object in porcelain that we see on the shelf, moving on an industrial conveyor belt, which then falls into a void, breaking into “a thousand pieces”. The spectator does not see the impact on the ground, only hears its noise. Just below the image display, the element broken down into pieces.
(Itroduction of INÉRCIA)
Eriel recreates the entire process of Inércia through complete, broken, reorganized visual elements combined with sound, creating an infinite loop of reactions through visual extension and imagination.I thought his combination of visuals and sounds was very clever, and it made me think about the importance of sound in my work, and how to combine sound and visuals.
INÉRCIA Eriel Araújo
FRAGMENTS Ai Weiwei
With its tables, chairs, and stools, this work also displays pillars and wooden beams from temples dating to the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911), destroyed by the regime and originally from the Guangdong province. Resembling interlocking arms, the imposing wooden elements that define the work’s structure have been arranged by the artist to graphically correspond to the map of China. A complex system in delicate balance, This installation may be viewed as a powerful metaphor for everyday reality and the fragility hidden behind displays of strength.
The same form of destruction and reorganization, but a completely different expression. Ai's use of elements and metaphors, delicate balance, fragility and solidity can also be understood as relationships.
© Ai Weiwei Studio . M+ Sigg Collection, Hong Kong. By donation
2. Print and shooting workshops with Josef Konczak
Photography and printing are the two most important parts of my work. In the "paper" media part, I need to try different paper materials to achieve the final effect. During the workshop, I actually experienced various materials and Having a preliminary understanding of it will be very helpful for subsequent experiments. I chose the textbook cover as the specific representation of "paper". When choosing the textbook cover material, I compared the textures of different papers and chose the most similar material. I used different materials to conduct wet repair experiments to see the effects of various materials in this process. There were many difficulties encountered during this period, and I noticed that the cover material is generally thick and waterproof, which will mark during the repair process. However, due to its smooth surface, the ink cannot be absorbed when printing photos on the back, which produces unexpected effects. At the same time, I also tried the paper material of the inner pages of the textbook, and got the effect I expected when double-sided printing was exposed to water. The most needed materials were found through constant experimentation.
The shooting workshop helped me complete lighting, shooting and other content on my own. Since video recording is different from images, I can't use flash, so I have to set up the lighting and eliminate the impact of shadows on the picture. Although there is still room for improvement, it was still a good attempt.
Different type of paper test
Printing effect test
Documentation 2023
Camberwell, London, England
3. Work in progress Crits
This is the first time that our works are presented in the form of an exhibition in this course. First of all, I am new to the exhibition of pure art works. We made many changes from the initial location selection. Francis adjusted the location and gave me When I explained how this arrangement would make the audience feel, I gained a deeper understanding of the matter. And regarding my work itself, Francis also gave me some suggestions on the final exhibition choices. Since I use paper and crayon as two media, putting the two together at the same time can easily lead to misunderstandings for the audience. Too much irrelevant information will make the audience confused about what the work wants to convey. Maybe I have more diverse material that would give the audience enough information to interpret. But in the case of two media at the time, not enough information was given and may cause misunderstandings. And as a textbook, it has certain cultural limitations. So I finally chose crayons as the most intuitive and abstract expression medium to complete this WIP show. During the discussion, the students also expressed their personal understanding and questions about this work. While answering questions, I discovered that everyone has completely different interpretations from different perspectives. And in the process of reflection, I discovered details I hadn't noticed. such as the control of editing rhythm, the feelings different video speeds bring to the audience, and the choice of lighters, etc. I think this is a great opportunity for artists to move beyond their own brains.
testing in WIP show 2023
