Final Stage of Our Deconstruction

Final Outcome We began to put our final piece together by arranging and placing the photographs onto the wall. We started off with the centre of our image, creating, what we though, as a group was the most significant piece of Van Gogh’s painting. Using photographs of lights bending and curving, we created the swirl. When we worked around the swirl, we separate all the photographs we had taken between us into what we thought were suitable groups, creating a landscape section, town and sky section, what we thought were all quite significant parts of the painting. Using ideas that we had come up with amongst the group, we incorporated a small amount of painting in different ways, in a few subtle places, we added paint directly onto the photographs. We then painted onto acetate and hung these in front of our photomontage to add a sense of a 3-dimensional piece. Once we were happy with the arranged photos, it was suggested that we continued the photomontage onto the floor, too add more movement to the final piece. So we went ahead, and painted the floor white and arranged the photos. The idea then changed, to having the photos on a 'ramp', this would give an even better effect of movement.

Ideas...

We began to look at the signifiers and the research we found, to come up with ideas for our deconstruction of our piece, taking into account all signifiers we came up with different forms of media to use for our reproduction.

We came up with using sound to recreate 'starry night,' we had thought about the use a Dictaphone to record sounds, which we would then distort the actual sound into a different to the previous sound.

(mind map on group ideas- sound and scupture)

Another form of media that we came up with was a sculpture piece, creating a 3D sculpture out of clay. Looking at the style of Salvidor Dali, his work is extremely interesting as his images are not what the seem.
As the paint in Van Goghs piece is tight and close, we came up with the ideas of creating a sculpture that could be visual to everyone.
Looking as a viewer the art, would be different from each angle, for example could be totally different from looking at it up close as dose from a distance.

(mind map - photography)

We came up with a concept of using a collage of photographs, taking shots in a contemporary style. We wanted to look further into producing a photomontage as we all found that using photography for out deconstruction would work extremely well and engage with the audience.
To do this we looked into an artist, David Hockney.

http://www.davidhockney.com/
His work is particularly attention-grabbing.

We had discussed all types of media that we could use to reconstruct 'starry night'
We came up with several layouts for our photomontage.
Having wanting to take images relating to our signifiers, we decided the actual photomontage back to the 'starry night'.
We thought of having photographs suspended from the ceiling to create a 3 dimensional look or alternatively having the photographs straight onto the wall influenced by Hockney but interpreting our own way.

We decided on the latter was more appealing at we thought it would give more of an impact to the audience.

We began using the images we had taken and started by placing them onto cartridge paper, to deiced where we would place them on to the wall. To make reference to starry night' we had incorporated a swirl as the central feature as it is in the original paining.


While discussing the layout we all wanted to include painting into the deconstruction based on the ideas that the original is a painting itself and how two different forms of medias would work as one.
We decided to paint around the photographs once they had been place on to the wall, this was our original idea, however we had experimented with also working on top of the images and found that this worked well.

IS PHOTOGRAPHY TAKING AWAY THE IMPORTANCE OF PAINTING?

HAS PHOTOGRAPHY OVERTAKEN PAINTING?

Other ideas we contemplated was using acetate sheets, to layer upon the images as layering was a technique appeared to be used by Van Gogh. We wanted to hang these in front of the photomontage to also give the 3 dimensional feel.

Movement...

Looking into one of the signifiers, movement; I (sana) had decided to take images using a sports mode on the camera which allowedme to take one shot after another. This was because I wanted to create movment through still photographs, to get this effect I used the help of a student. Above you can see him in shots piveting through out the shots.

Links to Artists we Feel Relate to this Piece

ANSELM KIEFER
http://www.leninimports.com/anselm_kiefer_gallery_12.jpg

JENNY SAVILLE
http://laurapoustie.files.wordpress.com/2008/01/jenny-saville_1.jpg

FRANK AUERBACH
http://www.leninimports.com/auerbach_biog.html

SALVIDOR DALI
http://www.virtualdali.com/

Vincent van Gogh 'Starry Night' Deconstructing the Grand Master

Artist - Vincent Van Gogh

Year - 1889

Type - Oil on Canvas

Dimensions - 73 cm by 92 cm

Location - Museum of Modern Art, New York City

DECONSTRUCTION - Rigorously pursues the meaning of a text (object etc.) to the point of undoing the oppositions on which it is apparently founded, and to the point of showing that thouse foundations are irreducibly complex, unstable or impossible.

As a group we chose a painting (apart from one individual) which appealed to us because it presents a challenge to reconstruct it from impressionist to contempary art. At a first glance we came up with ideas about the painting itself, how we felt about the it and which artsits we thought linked with the work.

We came up with several artists we feel have a connection with this particular piece in terms of techniques,use of colour and structure

The artist that Sana associated with the painting was Salividor Dali, because his use of movement used through surealism and comparing it to the movement of the swirls.
Kate felt that the texture of the painting was reminiscent of Frank Auerbach who works with application of thick paint.
Alan considered that it was associated with the artist Anselm Keifer also beacuse of the textures and the layering of the paint.
The techniques of Jenny Savilles work impressed Amy because of the visible brushstrokes on both her's and his work.

GROUP THOUGHTS
Romantic feeling towards the painting
The painting has a calm effect because of the use of colours used within the painting itself
Dream like look
Fluidity/liquid
Stormy night
Fire
Memoires
Chilhood
Home
Story
Structures/ graphic/ set lines
Textures
Peaceful
Quiet
Layerd paint
Thickness of the paint

THE STORY BEHIND 'STARRY NIGHT'

http://www.vangoghgallery.com/painting/starryindex.html - link to the background of 'starry night'

After looking at the painting in closer detail, taking into account the background and what the painting means to the artist, 'Vincent Van Gogh'.

We decided to look at the signerifers within the painting. The first signifier that had struck our group the most was 'MOVEMENT', this was beacuse looking at the painiting we saw movement in the entire painting, the eye directly takes you in to the center, as it looks like a wirlwind,
the paintstrokes are so close together that gives the effect of being so tight, unbreakable and clostrphobic. We felt that the tightness of the paintstrokes and how twised it looks, makes you feel like you want to escape but you cant. A form of art movement is EXPRESSIONISM. The term used to descirbe any art form that distorts reality to produce a highly emotional effect is called expressionism. This is also charactrized by symbolic and meanigful colours, it gives the impression of larger than life imagery. This term relates very closely to Vincent Van Goghs peice as it represents an emotional factor through out his life and what difficulties he was going through.

Having researched his backgroud around the time of his painting, we had found out information about his mental health and how it had imacted on his work. The signifier we looked into was his mental health.As a group we came up with a mind map around the signifeir, MENTAL HEALTH.

• Erratic Behaviour
• Depression (since 27 years)
• Painted in Saint-Remy asylum
• Powerful emotional impact
• Turbulent
• From dark depression to light stars? (found in death)
• Attacked Gaugin with razor
• Cut off his ear/ Shot himself
• Rging night sky
• Massive dark structure (expresses)
• Isolation
• Tortured mind?
• Village lights = warmth of home
• Bright stars- dreams of reaching in death
• Failed- art dealer, methodist preachers in love - Prostitues

Quote - "we spend our whole lives in unconcious exercise of the art of expressing our thoughts with the help of words"

This lead us as a group to think about the PHYSICAL Signifers, and how much of an impact it has played within the creation of the peice and what physical aspects linked to Vincent in that period of time. As a group we came up with a mind map, which included aspects of why van gohg used what technique and where.

• Mirrored - 'the curving lines mirror that of the sky and create a sensation' - Mirror - symmetry, however structured houses contrasting against the swirls in the sky and rolling of the hills,which is very unsymmetrical.
• Colour - Blue- connetations of sea and sky each relate to movement, the cool dark colours and fiery windows spark memories.
• Dot to Dot effect - ' a visual dot to dot using the stras leading your eyes in a particualr way', lead you eyes which then 'roll over' the hills this has alot to do with movement. There are connotations to be made of jumping dot to do, a fragmented piece that is broken very complex and happeing. Abstraction , use of dots called pointilism (stipple) to again create movement or circles, using circles in a structed manner. The sound phrases are reminded of rain droplets falling and thier sound when they fall in puddles.

His piece, 'starry night' give u the impression that you want to touch it in a way to understand the texture, however a modern deconstruction could create the same response in attemp to understand what it is - abstraction.

We wanted to incoprate all all the signifers into one peice.This is when as a group we decided to look at each siginfier into more depth.We looked at movement as a form of expression, this linked in well with the insanity of Vincent Van Gogh.