Developing works for Exhibition

With the workshops now at the half way mark, the creation of the final works for the exhibition begin in earnest.  The DM (digital media) artists will be developing a Hero/Avatar character with a name, back story and a costume. Each artist will then will wear the costume, and become the subject of a portrait shoot. The portraits will then be displayed as large scale prints in the exhibition. 

The first step in the development of the characters was a 'brainstorming' exercise, whereby the artists listed their likes, dislikes, interests, and heroes. These words were then used as search phrases in Google images. Images representing each word were collated, and used to a create a mood board. This mood board is the foundation for the character, and will be used to develop the name, back story and more importantly the costume.

A similar process is taking place in the PA (performance art) workshop. Through improvisation the artists are developing exaggerated versions of themselves, as theatrical archetypes. The focus is on creating strong silent characters, and nuanced movement. The characters created all represent some kind of emergence, and relate to the young people coming in to adulthood, and their emergence as artists.

Movement, posture, breathing exercises and visualisation were used to further explore the characters. They talked about the type of music they would use to present their work, and how they will furnish the "rooms" in which the work would be displayed. The intricacies of the costumes were also discussed.

Over in the MM (mark making) workshops the experimentation continued. The artists experimented by making instinctual adjustments and movements to their stance and position as they marked. This experiment was in turn, preparation for an exciting collaboration with a group of NAISDA dancers. More on that next time...