week44:

why people collect?
why collections of artists are "an artwork" in museums, and collections of "not-artist" just collections?

here are answers:

http://collectingseminar.wordpress.com/2008/11/10/assignment-5-archive-of-contemporary-history/

http://www.formfollowsbehavior.com/2008/06/25/collecting-as-art/

 week44:

work in progress

© Viktoria Gitzl

© Viktoria Gitzl

© Viktoria Gitzl

© Viktoria Gitzl

© Viktoria Gitzl

© Viktoria Gitzl

About week43:

After the initial confusion in my head, and the next attempt to order this chaos, I have decided to return to one of my starting points. I tried to find out what my interests are, on which subject I feel very strongely, for working on it deeper. In addition I decided to take a direction, whose processing I enjoyed. The collection "23" which I built here in Gothenburg, has become very valuably for me, because I am very proud of some finds; and on the other hand, the collection corresponds to my picture, the form of the nature of Gothenburg. The attempt to pack this into plastic bags , and therefore to pack into my mind-bubbles.
At the beginning of the week 43 I have started to build an archive for my findings. A "thing" in which I can present my findings, at the same time, however shows which relation I have to this collection, and what they mean for the outside world.
The result was a sort of letter case or seed box (in german "Setzkasten"), made of brown cardboard, with 23 fields/boxes, in the dimensions of the plastic bags. The form remind me of my childhood, because my father built a letter case of wood for me, in which I kept a mingle-mangle of small, for myself valuable, objects. At the same time I associate to this archive the pushs/boards of the big cupboards in a miracle chamber, or it remind me of the butterfly's boxes in a natural-historical museum.
The next step will be that I will make for every field one little pillow with a velvet cover, to give to my findings the necessary esteem.
The fact to build/create now something for real, made me very contented. I think that I have found by this archive made of cardboard, a medium which expresses quite well, what I connect with the content in my work.
I discovered the material "cardboard" as a new material for myself . The work with it is very excitingly, it gives big pleasure to me. After some research I found out that many artists and designers deal with the materials paper and cardboard, and bring it in a new context, outside from writing material and packaging material.

Parallel with the construction of the archive I work with Gothenburg city maps.
The city maps, which I got when I came here, first and most important thing in a new city. An aim are spherical objects, folded from the paper-maps. At the moment I experiment with different folding methods.

The group meeting on Thursday was very motivating. I could see that everybody tries to work hard for finishing in a good way for the exhibition. It is good that each of us, has enough time to discuss with the group about the own project, and to get and to give assistances and other recommendations.

© Viktoria Gitzl

Wien/Vienna:

I'm presently dealing not just with our "Gestaltningsproject", but also with the preparing of one of my works, that I did last semester, for an exibition at my University at Vienna. Therefore I thought it would be interessting to show you the work, made by porcellain.
The pictures are just made by myself with the phone in the ceramic-workshop, but it's just to give you an idea of the work.
The text unfortunately is in german, but maybe you understand almost everything.

 

© Viktoria Gitzl

© Viktoria Gitzl

© Viktoria Gitzl

week42:

Aleatoric Composition 2

Matthew Shlian x Michael Cina

"The path to a finished work of art is often littered with the detritus of jettisoned ideas. Matthew Shlian and Michael Cina, two aesthetically distinct artists, find commonality in how they walk this path—stopping often, retracing steps, collecting, discarding, and finding surprising treasures concealed by the overgrowth along the way. When the two artists decided to collaborate on a series, we had no idea what to expect, but we knew that the combination of their unique styles would prove captivating.

The resulting series, a fusion of Cina's abstractionist canvas work and Shlian's organic formations, is titled in reference to the emphasis of chance in the process of creation. It is also a singular example of emergence at work: here the whole is not simply greater than the sum of its parts, but something altogether different. Aleatoric and emergent, yes—though perhaps the best word to describe it is simply, awesome."


More about the work:
http://www.theghostlystore.com/collections/art/products/matthew-shlian-michael-cina-aleatoric-composition-2#prettyPhoto

More about the paper-artist Matthew Shlian, and his works:
http://www.mattshlian.com/

week42:

Before the group-meeting on Thursday, I was quite contently, with the thoughts, which I gave myself to my work, and which direction,  I had taken. I was awake to the fact that from the outside in all probability a not too large step in the advancement was visible , because this is one of my “ innerer Schweinehund- innerl pig-dogs”, I tried to overcome:

Not always only to formulate the “perfect the concept” in thoughts, but finally act, even if its not 100%  clear, what the result will be, because in doing, and by the coincidence very interesting things can be developed. 

Nevertheless I was content with my thinking work. 

After the group meeting this construct of ideas/thoughts which I had arranged nicely for my collection, got a lot of new levels.  I got a lot of inputs,  in whose direction I had not thought at all. In addition my own constructs of thought began to totter, because I questioned them in another way.


Before the group meeting I could imagine my aim for this "Gestaltningsproject", where I want to go, . After the meeting I was inundated by new ideas, therefore I had, absolutely no more notion which direction is "my direction".

Where is my leitmotif, my central theme, my "red thread"??

To structure this chaos of thought and to get an overview, I have made mindmaps, which should help me now to decide me, or to produce conjunctions.

week42:

At the last meeting, we were talking about stories: inventing stories, collecting stories, stories which are combiend with memory-thougts and keepsakes (memory-things). It doesn't matter if stories are truthful or imaginery, but they can help you, to remember important things, things you shouden't forget. It's easier to remember a whole story, instead of a particular single item. By the use of stories you are able to conjure up a lot of visual images, connected with true-life-things.

After this thoughts, I did some research about "collecting stories". I found this great video, on the TED-homepage. A young software ingineer talk about his passion to collect things, and to collect stories too. It's about of different ways to collect stories of people, and the try to experience very personal storiesof them.
I like it so much, you should watch it. Follow the link for the video:

http://www.ted.com/talks/jonathan_harris_collects_stories.html

Stories as an archive of people, situations, encounters, memories, things here in Gothenburg.

In addendum of week41:

In week41 I wrote about my inner archive. I tryed to "build" this memory spaces of paper globes. I think that the qualities of paper would correspond with my thoughts about not tangible or concrete, about something light and airy. I could imagine to build hundrets of this paper-bubbles to create a accessible installation. 
At the meeting with the group, Lisa told me about an swedish fashion designer "Bea Szenfeld", which makes a lot of very interessting things. I would say, she makes, amongst other things, portable paper installations. By looking at her creations of the collection spring/summer 2014 "Haute Papier", I had associations to the shape of my inner archive: Be surrounded by a lot of memory globes/bubbles made from paper.

Look at her homepage, to see more:
http://www.szenfeld.com/ 

following this Link, you will find the whole "Haute Papier" Collection, Spring /Summer 2014:
http://strictlypaper.com/blog/2013/09/bea-szenfeld-haute-papier-spring-summer-2014/

week42:

In order to archive my finds better, I began to provide all finds with a number. In a book I record all information, which I have about the individual finds:

Find number, 

find date,

discovery site,  

as well as a short description of the find (in the case that it should not be recognizable later anymore). 

As a further medium I selected a citymap of Gothenburg, in which all finds are registered, with the appropriate number, and a attributed color, at the appropriate discovery site.  

© Viktoria Gitzl

© Viktoria Gitzl

 

© Viktoria Gitzl

As a further medium I selected a citymap of Gothenburg, in which all finds are registered, with the appropriate number, and a attributed color, at the appropriate discovery site.  On the map it can be seen that there are so-called "conurbations". The find-spots are not widespread in the whole town, but concentrate to certain places. I try to find things in my normal everyday life, to be attentive and to look for the special in the normal surroundings. This means that I don't especially go in another parts of the town to look there for findings. There are certain places in the town, where  I stay more often in my everyday life. At these places the find-spots concentrate.

week 42:

 

The collection grows.
It contains until today 23 items, ordered by date of finding.
I try to collect everyday a find. Label this find with date and findspot, and put them in a smal plastic bag, to keep it save.
Some of the finds, mainly all those which I have found at the beginning of this experiment, have already got a white, furry coating. Some have become soft and sticky, and other have not changed at all. On some finds you cannot read the inscription on the slip of paper anymore.

© Viktoria Gitzl

On the pictures below, you can see some of my new finds.
I started to get very proud of my collection, it has become a firm component of my equipment in my room.
Wherever I go, I always have an amount of the empty, small, plastic bags with me, because I see my environment by the eyes of an investigator, always in search of some great, special find. The collection has an effect on my everyday life here in Gothenburg. Scary!

© Viktoria Gitzl

© Viktoria Gitzl

© Viktoria Gitzl         

© Viktoria Gitzl

© Viktoria Gitzl

week41: 

 

If I think about my “inner archive”, then is this actually somewhat that is not tangible or concrete. Something, which does not has a material-related form, since it concerns an abstract structure.
With the attempt to find out, how this abstract structure, all these thoughts, are ordered, I noticed that all my memories, experiences, sensations of the past (sound, taste, smell, and haptic memories), visual stored images, feeling- and emotion memories are tied to specific experiences /events/adventures. 

An example: I open an old book, and smell the smell of the old paper, the dust, the leather, the printing ink, etc. Immediately I am thinking to my Grandpa's wall cupboard with thick, canny books. In my mind I see my grandpa, with bright white hair, going to the closet in the living room. He open it. In there are his personal belongings: a typewriter, its shaving things, the big keys of the church, goodies for us children and many books, notes and forms; everything carefully ordered. He takes the bag of goodies out, turns to me, and looks at me through his thick lenses, lays his head a little to one side and looks at me questioningly. I nod, grab into the bag, and take out one of the drops.

So my "inner archive" does not follow a chronological (example: annual rhythm) order, but consists of thousands of small and large memory spaces. This in turn contain a certain time, certain people, a certain action/activity in a certain place. All these memory spaces, or we can call them also knowledge spaces, exist next to each other and do not follow a incomprehensible order. All these memory spaces are indeed stored in my thinking, but I can not fetch it immediately. This means I need an impulse, an initiation, a motive that opens me certain memories and knowledge spaces, enlightened them. This will trigger a whole chain of associations, and numerous memory spaces pop up, one after another.

In the attempt, to describe on paper this above-mentioned train of thoughts in an objejective form, I developed the following images.

© Viktoria Gitzl

© Viktoria Gitzl

© Viktoria Gitzl

week41:

 

The collection grows.
It contains until today 15 items, ordered by date of finding.
I try to collect everyday a find. Label this find with date and findspot, and put them in a smal plastic bag, to keep it save.
Since 3 days, I take everyday a picture with my camera of the whole collection, and of each single find. I do this to document the process the transformation both of the entire accumulation and the single objects.

© Viktoria Gitzl

about week40:

The prospective result of these 5 weeks, of this "Gestaltningsproject", lies (still) in far distance. However i don't feel no longer disturbing, since I enjoy this searches and identification, investigation, compilation, to photograph, to draft, and to keep records; my curiosity is aroused.
The joint meeting on Thursday was very interesting. I had the feeling that the discussion on the morning, in this protected setting, brought us, as a group closer together.
I could observe this also at the following "small exhibition of the inner archive". We could take a look for the first time, at the artistic functioning of the people in the group. This opened up the view of diverse approaches, ways of thinking, and ways to implement them.
Although I don't know you all yet so well, nevertheless it was very interesting to see that each individual “inner archive” reflect exactly the characteristics of that human, who created it.  
 

The further discussion of the independent artistic work in smaller groups, were very beneficial. Therefore, everyone had enough time to speak and discuss about the own project.
The view of outstanding people to the own work is in my opinion, very important, because art should  not only keep the validity for me, as the artist, but also for my environment.
All the suggestions and input were very helpful for those far development of the work. 

week40:

In my collection those things find place, which I detect in the city and in the closer environment of Gothenburg. I am searching for bizarre, special, unique, typical or atypical, particularly beautiful, particularly ugly forms, to discover the shape of Gothenburgs nature.
The evaluation of the “finds” is very subjectively, since only I decide, what is taken up to the collection. I decide, by my past experiences, how particularly, special, unknown or new the finds for me are.
I decided to take things from nature, since these entail a further interesting factor: the fast own change of their shape and/or their appearance and/or their form and/or their consistency and/or their color. 
A collection, which changes and develops constantly independently.

© Viktoria Gitzl

© Viktoria Gitzl

Already in the Renaissance humans, above all wealthy citizens, collected “special things”. In so-called “miracle chambers” (art chamber, curiosity cabinet, Wunderkammer) things were kept, which had a special attraction on the viewer.

Ole Worm's Cabinet of curiosity, from Museum Wormianum, 1655
 

Johann Georg Hainz, Kleinodienschrank, 1666

The main interest of the assembler was the fascination in rare pieces and curiosities, things with  unusual form, by then unknown- still unexplored things, pieces- to which a special impact were awarded, as well as technical-industrial innovations, or special handicraft art.

In these miracle chambers you could admire for example following things: 

Silver and goldsmith work, corals, beads, rock crystals, animal preparations, large shells, nautiluscups, bordered ostrich eggs, narwhal teeth as horns of the unicorn, scrimshaws, mathematical-physical or surgical instruments, grounding and celestial globes, cherry stone carvings, etc.

Just as well importantly as what was collected, was the way of storage and how to order the finds. This typical aesthetics of the miracle chambers were coined by the extra made art-armoire/cabinets, which served not only for storage, but also for the exhibition. They were also collection objects; hid drawers, and symbol-loaded ornaments were part of this large arrangement system. 

The term miracle chamber designates thus quaint regarding, and the astonishment of the viewer. Impact for the collections were the discovery trips in the 15. - 17. Century, and thus the meeting with the heterogeneity of the world. The collections aimed to represent the universal connection of all things, with the purpose to convey a world view in which history, art, nature, and science merge into a unit.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabinet_of_curiosities

http://mjt.org/

Since my stay here in Sweden/Gothenburg also resembles an exploring-expedition, and I be confront with this heterogeneity of the city, the country, and humans, I would like to create with this collection a personal Gotheburg/Sweden archive.

about week39:

On Monday morning of the week 39 we attended to the digitally workshop, an introduction to the photography. Since I already made a seminar about photography at the University in Vienna, it was not bad that the course was kept in Swedish.
For all those, which are not yet very safe in handling a camera, I found it unfortunate that the seminar took only a half day.  I needed a half year,  to understand the entire system “camera”, to test and to sample all the theory, in order to be able to deal somewhat with it.
In my opinion however, it is very important as an art/teaching student, to know and to handle the medium of the photography. It is essential in the own artistic work, as means of the documentation, or research, or exploring, as well as later at school. 
Nevertheless the search for a suitable, at the same time special, and for me personally fascinating and interesting motive, provoked me.
I thought about: What are parameters for a good and/or a bad photo? Is a foto always just a reproduction of reality?
Picture composition, color composition, image detail, etc.