Katherine SullivanAudiences and Contex t s/ Independent P rac t i ce

EXHIBITION

The exhibition that I found of most interest was ‘Shadow Catchers – Camerless Photography’ at the V&A.

I have never done any photograms before and so wanted to try and capture objects without the use of a camera at home.

I used light sensitive paper and with some patience and testing got the timing right to capture the images using my desk lamp.

I first created some photograms using everyday objects and then joined them together to make a different combined image.

ORIGINS

I wanted to research into the history and evolution of self-publishing.

A lot of my independent practice is inspired by DIY culture, in particular screen printing

and self made zines. I love that you can still create something honest that’s your own

and can share with others; the methods may have evolved but the ethics

remain the same.

http://issuu.com/katsullivan/docs/booklet2

INFINITY MANIFESTO

Originally our manifesto group consisted of ten people, each who had a shared interest in self

publication. Our first group brief was to design a postcard on our chosen word that reflected our

practice. I chose passion and created the postcard below. Despite the initial interest the group soon

splintered into those more interested in DIY ideology and hands on methods as opposed to using Macs more for a more clean cut approach.

As well as working with my group I choose to develop my own practice and reflect on the ethics

that drive my own work.

I enjoyed the opportunity to take over some of the workspace and present our

work together as a group. The six people that remained in our group worked

hard together and it was exciting to see everyone’s work up next

to eachother, creating a greater sense of unity.

MAKING DO

One of my favourite workshops this semester was when Mary from Making Do came in a presented us with a copy of Making Do Magazine, the brief

was to ‘re-do’ that issue. Our group chose to translate the information and images given in our

own way to transform the issue.

Our group used a very hands on approach by using the photocopiers and other equipment

on hand to create an entirely new interpretation of Making Do.

MANIFESTO - EXTENDED (JAPAN)

Working on a collaborative book for the manifesto brief. Each of use chose

a weather subject, mine was earthquakes - my submission is on the right. I designed this four days

before the news of the Japan earthquake and tsunami.

Subsequently, after the devastation in Japan several charities and individuals

raised money for the red cross Japan fund. I got involved with a promoter

who was putting on an all day gig and so I offered to design and print T-shirts and screen print posters for

free. I adapted my original design for the manifesto brief and the prints and T-shirt were sold at the gig and online

afterwards with all money going to charity.

Various poster designs that were used to advertise the gig as well

as the final T-shirt design.

Expanding on designs to commerate the Japan earthquake and those who lost their lives.

I was inspired by previous briefs from the first semester where I worked on the Chilean Miner

rescue and the idea of creating a symbolic image in remembrance.

‘THE GIRLS’ WORKSHOP

A one day workshop with ‘The Girls’, I really enjoyed their approach to photographing themselves, in inhabiting new characters (much like Cindy Sherman) and their

photomontage arrangements. Our group photographed ourselves in a similar pose and then I overlaid the

photographs, adjusting the levels till we effectively became one entity. In the right image you can see that we

included our chosen objects for the day, including: book textures, a guitar pick and a novelty egg timer.

This workshop also inspired a poem that I wrote on the opposite page.

APHORISMS

Working as a group to create this stock frame animation on our chosen aphorism. I enjoyed working with people I hadn’tcollaborated with before as this brought a different dynamic and ideas to the group.

Our video was shown at the Epsom Playhouse along with the other videos featuring interpretations of aphorisms. It was an exciting opportunity to see our work outside of the university,as well as being able to invite others to see it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7APm7sZvEs

APHORISMS - EXTENDED

I created a series of aphorism postcards that were originally coloured and without the

aphorism displayed however I adjusted the colours so to appear more of a set as well as

having the title for clarity. The title could alternatively be printed on the other side of

the postcard to allow the viewer to think more as to what the image is referring to.

BADGES

Workshop with Mark Pawson, designing badges with a collective theme. I was inspired by skate culture, THRASHER magazine and the iconic ‘screaming hand’. Although I liked the idea of making

our own badges, it was the only workshop this year that I felt I didn’t connect with. I prefer creating your own ideas and images

instead of using someone elses, however afterwards I relooked up Mark Pawson and found some of his ideas of how he presented

things clever and his DIY attitude, yet I still prefer more hand rendered designs.

MAKE ME GO SOMEWHERE...

The ‘Social Kit’ brief was fast paced yet this provided a quick process from design to implementation to feedback. I had to convince a group of people to go somewhere so I designed a photographic treasure hunt using photos I had

taken from around the Graphics area, placing them with my treasure hunt symbol and a number. The objective was to go on a trail to each place depicted and eventually you would

be rewarded with sweets. The feedback I received was positive from those involved as they enjoyed the challenge

and reward. The brief also made me consider how this could be produced on a larger scale and perhaps integrated

with an advertising strategy.

PAPER CO

I found the Paper Co brief both challenging as well as an opportunity to explore an area of commercial design

I had not approached before. I found presenting to a real life client useful as we were

able to get a direct response as well as experience.

Here is a summary of our proposal:

“Our idea revolves around the concept of creating an everyday keep sake that our peers would find useful for

their day to day activities. After much deliberation we have created the ‘Keep It’ which is an A3 sized piece of

paper that is folded into an A6 wallet that’s sole use is to store both business cards and our

own brand of post it notes.

On the front of each ‘Keep It’ it will be personalised with the receivers name along with our re-invented

logo promoting the concept of nine lives and going green.

The post it notes will be kept in the center of the wallet and can be refilled by the user regularly.

Each post it note will have the black Paper Co logo displayed in the corner and they will be

a canary yellow colour.”

Below is the net of the prototype for the ‘Keep It’. The pages consists of a refillable post it note holding space.

The post it notes have the PaperCo logo in the right hand corner and have been created so that they are designed to fit specifically inside of the

‘Keep It’ wallet. Another page is a pocket which when the user opens it will already hold 6 PaperCo postcards but the pocket will also have

room so that the user to store up to 8 business cards in total.

These three images show how by scanning in the qrcode and using your mobile device you can be directed to the PaperCo website at the click of a button. We choose to develop our ‘Keep It’ further this way so that

another level of end users can access the PaperCo website on the go.

LAB: MAKE ME THINK

I found the LAB’s two weeks the most productive and motivating aspect of this semester. I loved being able to see other people’s

work and interactions with the space, especially the freedom and excitement that increased the more people realised they

could make the space their own. It was also a good opportunity to see how other people worked and their style in relation to

my own work.

The 24-hour session in particular was a good opportunity to work in a different environment. Printing at midnight till morning

and the sense of occasion I think gave more people the motivation to get on with work as well as talk to others from

both years and share ideas.

Documentation of activity during the LAB:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ksulli1sulli2/sets/72157626711256406/

As part of the LAB students were able to contact designers that they wanted to come in and explain about their practice/give a workshop. I contacted Mark Pavey (right) who is a freelance graphic designer from Kingston. He is also one of the founders of ‘The Art Is Proof’ - a collective of designers who exhibit screen prints together as well as putting on workshops encouraging others to screen print.

Mark and Dan Mumford (left) another freelance designer who has collaborated with ‘The Art Is Proof’ before, both came in together to talk about their work as well as give a one day brief on poster design for bands. The workshop encouraged us to move away from computers and instead draw/photocopy/collage to achieve our design. I made my poster based on a fictional band, The Lovely Hands, using only marker pens and a photocopier.

During the LAB I created an installation in one of the spaces. I created a hand drawn poster containing a line from a poem I wrote and displayed it behind

cut outs that reflected themes in that poem.

I then projected my poetry onto the artwork. I wanted to create 3D

poetry as i find myself often confined to a page, this piece also

enabled the poem to communicate to others on a visual level as well

as through words.

LAB: RAG FACTORY

For the Rag Factory exhibition I chose to submit one of my prints that I created during the 24 hour session. This was shown in the gallery next to another depiction of a heart

(shown below.) During the 24 hour session, I produced several prints on a varying scale from A6 to A1 and presented these

on walls available around the LAB. It was a good opportunity to put our work physically up instead of being confined online.

POETRY

I’m holding the mast, your holding the rudderWe’re sailing in circles away from each otherThe currents are pulling this haul to the deep

Parched mouths full of sea waterSo we cry out like the gulls above at the unforgiving sea

Passing our sins through our lipsLike lovers who one day crashed upon the shore

With only the sound of crashing waves to their namesWhispers of salt leaves floating in the breeze

So here we are loveI can see our house on the cliff top

At least we are still breathingEven if we are just barely believing

Let’s shudder once more before we dip our feet in.

WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT

This semester I have been concentrating on keeping up to date with my blog as well as creating a website from scratch using html.

I hope to finish this over the summer and also set up a bigcartle to sell my

screen prints and books.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

EXHIBITIONS -

Shadow Catchers, V&AAi Weiwei, Tate ModernOut Of Place, Tate ModernPick Me Up 2011, Somerset HouseDrawing Fashion, The Design MuseumJohn Pawson - Plain Space, The Design Museum

BOOKS -

Fanzines - Teal Trigg Stolen Sharpie Revolution: A DIY Zine Resource - Alex Wrekk Whatcha Mean, What’s a Zine?: The Art of Making Zines - Esther WatsonTypical Men: The Representation of Masculinity in British Cinema - Andrew SpicerScreening the Male: Exploring Masculinities in the Hollywood Cinema - Steve Cohan

WEBSITES -

http://www.dobi.nu/http://www.threadless.com/http://www.makingdo.org.uk/http://www.dan-mumford.com/http://www.taramcpherson.com/http://www.markmadethis.co.uk/http://www.somersethouse.org.uk/visual-arts/pick-me-up

EVALUATION:

During this semester I have been able to look at my practice as a whole more clearly than before and have developed a greater understanding of how I work and of how I work with others.

This semester I have enjoyed working on the group briefs and I value the advantages a group can bring to creating various ideas as well as how to work well together and keep a clearer form of communication between those involved. Each of the group briefs such as, Making Do, Aphorisms and ‘The Girls’ workshop I approached slightly differently depending on the brief given but I feel I have gained more experience of a how a group works together productively.

I have been using the print facilities more this year and would like to develop these skills further into the final year. I also attended an advance book binding workshop that was beneficial and I would like to combine these techniques in the future along with my poetry and writing with the aim of distributing my work on a larger scale.

I found the two weeks of LAB: Make Me Think to be the most productive and creative period during this semester. I liked the idea of the students taking over the space and I was enthusiastic about how people, myself included were motivated by the work in progress we were experiencing.

Being involved in both the LAB and the exhibition at The Rag Factory was an opportunity to see how others viewed my work as well as displaying it in a physical space. These along with the aphorism video showcase at Epsom Playhouse have shown me some of the ways in which I can showcase my work. I have since been in touch with a south London gallery and I plan on putting on an exhibition with a collective of students from the university who share a similar interest and ethics in illustration in September.

Through this semester I have seen how my independent work has blended into the given briefs and how many of the briefs further our interest in independent practice and offer another viewpoint from which we can see our work at and see where we would like to go. I hope in the third year to develop my independent practice in illustration, poetry and forms of printing.

I will be doing my work experience with the FA during the summer for two weeks and although I understand this will be challenging as it is both a busy work environment and a corporate approach to design, I hope to learn how an in-house design team works as well as it being an opportunity to see if it would be an area of design I would be interested in the future.