An added part of my collaborative work was experimentation with materials. At the initial conception of the Group Exhibition we had in mind a Gallery Gift Shop idea in which we planned to mass-produce our artwork onto everyday objects. Although out exhibition proposal has changed significantly since then, we still felt it was necessary to exercise what this may have looked like. Choosing three common objects we each printed out artwork as a part of a collective piece.
Despite the fact that none of these images will be seen within the exhibition or the research catalogue, we feel that it is a necessary part of our collaboration to see through many of the topics and idea we have discussed throughout the 10 week collaborative period.
One of the successes of the objects is how easy they are to achieve. Using a simple transfer we were able to photograph and reproduce our work multiple times without a loss of quality.
In addition we also made a translucent book that became the primary mode of presentation for the objects (something which we have decided to include alongside our research catalogue in the end-of-term exhibition)
There is something very delicate about the translucent (acetate) book, something very unlike all of our own practises. Each page needs into the next, and vice versa, as the audience have an opportunity to assess how far our collaboration has gone. In addition, the book I feel also adds some context to the exhibition which remains very conceptual
The mugs are probably my favourite application of our artwork as they have taken on a completely different form. Using basic stackable mugs from John Lewis, it really makes some direct comments on the far-reaching nature of reproduction and the institutions who primary aim is to sell them to the public.
The T-shirts, although a much more utilised mode of destination, they are also a nice touch to our experimentation. Although I feel the images may for better on a large scale on the t-shirts, it is interesting to see how easy and cheap reproduction has become. This is definitely a trend I would like to continue (alongside making a research catalogue) in the future, especially how my work progresses in a linear fashion. I feel that the book format will be well suited to my drawings and photographs.
