Planning some responses:
I initially had many ideas about how to develop my work from the exhibition, I have always been fascinated about the pattern of bacteria, especially when presented in petri dishes. I also loved how the curators at the Natural History Museum decided to add colour to the images they used in the exhibition, from this I was inspired to do some surface & pattern design-like work. I also wanted to use a range of media like; water-colour, oil pastels, acrylic paint, as well as drawing with pens and pencils to create illustration designs. I am interested in creating some mark making designs, as well as incorporating my pathway through some three dimensional textile designs.
In addition I would like to focus my study and do something that links to bacteria found in the home. For this project I have decided to research the most common found bacteria in certain parts of the home, like the kitchen and bathroom. After finding the names of the bacteria, I am hoping to find out the shapes and patterns, and the ways the bacteria lives and works. With these images I am planning to create some interesting surface pattern designs – thinking about the shapes, colours, lines, textures and how I present the work: whether it will be 3D, 2D or digital, or what materials I will use.
Once I have created a series of 2D and 3D responses to the exhibition and the bacteria I have found within my research, I am hoping to relate this to the home and where the bacteria can be found. I have not yet decided whether this will be presented digitally or by collage – I am planning to do some experiments to see which works best.
My final responses:
The first set of art I created was a series of acrylic paint prints. At first the patterns and delicate lines that were created through the process of pressing two pages together looked successful, but I felt the work needed more depth. To create a more successful and finished set of work I added detail to the prints by using a fine liner black pen and highlighted some of the interesting shapes and lines within the print. My initial idea and aim of this art project was to show the complexity and variety of bacteria shapes and patterns, in an abstract way I think my work was successful. If I could go back and change anything, I would probably experiment with different layers of colour as well as different textures and thickness of the pens I was using.
Although I believed my small abstract pieces were successful I wanted to move on. For my next set of art I wanted to stick with the idea of showing the shape and patterns of bacteria but in a illustrative way. I created was a series of circular ‘cut-outs’ that I filled with watercolour patterns, illustration-like drawings, biro mark makings and think liner pen drawings. I presented this on an A1 sheet of paper:
I think this presentation sheet was a successful starting point for my bacteria responses. I really like the way I have created each circle differently and that I have not only used just pens but also watercolours, inks and biro mark making techniques. One thing I would change about this piece is the way I have displayed it on the page, next time I would probably make it more presentable by making it clearer and neater.
After this, I knew I wanted to create 3D work, I had previously written in my blog: ‘I am hoping to create a larger scale piece of work, still focusing on the shapes and patterns of bacteria, however I would like to incorporate textiles and think materials like cardboard and polystyrene, as well as fabric and thread.’ This was interesting to read as my development ideas involved a series of textile pattern designs and a digital film and photograph study of bacteria shapes.
As I knew I enjoyed art around the shapes of bacteria, I used this as my starting point in drawing bacteria shapes with black ink. I decided to use black ink to make the shapes really stand out on the black paper I had originally planned to display them on:
I felt my work was lacking a certain level of depth, although I really loved the way my ink pieces looked on a black background, therefore I developed my idea and used my bacteria shapes in another project. For this piece I created a series of photographs and videos. This artwork has definitely been my strongest response to bacteria so far. I created the series of photographs and videos first by scattering my bacteria shapes onto an A1 sheet. I then incorporated the idea of shining a red light onto the shapes to represent the idea that they are ‘bad’ bacteria. To then develop my piece and make it more sinister I moved the piece of paper to create interesting and scary sounds – for the videos that are silent it’s important to watch the movement of the bacteria shapes and watch the ‘creepiness’ of the movement.
(insert pictures + videos)
Immie Cory 