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Installations

Arrow of Time

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These images are of a model of an installation I build consisting of four sculptures I welded together from recycled chair legs. From each end of the sculptures there were lights shining into a dark small surrounding space, Two of the sculptures were made to rust to represent the colour of the death of a star and the other two were exposed to heat from a blow torch to produce a shining blue colour that represent the colour of a newborn star. This piece was from the result of my researching into nuclear fusion and entropy. The effect was of a dark and eerie space that was immersive to the audience.

Light and Dark

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These images are of an installation I built in July 2012. This piece consists of two rooms. The work itself consists of two contrasting rooms, one room is a black and dark and atmospheric cube containing some simplistic, schematised drawings on the walls made with natural materials, while the other room is white and light with synthetic material for the audience to use. Walking into the dark room, the viewer is faced with a vertical white line drawn with chalk, which is approximately 8 inches across and about 5 feet high. This line represented the perspective of every think that is placed on the earth surface. On the wall next to it is another drawing, this time of a circle, which represented the earth surface from an outer space perspective. This line was of the same thickness and height as the vertical line. The third line was a horizontal line which represented the perspective of the earth’s surface from our eyes. The reason behind using chalk to draw the lines is to represent a natural element that is found in the earth. There was also a sound being permitted into the space which was constructed based on the sounds recorded from the planets Saturn and Jupiter. The white room consisted of 4 white walls and white UV paint alongside stamps. This room needed the audiences interaction to use the stamps to paint on the wall, this may seem like a pointless exercise painting white on white but after 5 min the light would change to a UV bulb, this was to represent how we humans can only see so much with our naked eye and galaxies

Spiral of Light

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These images are a proposed installation of a sculpture that slowly rotates. The concept behind this movement is to represent the spiral movement seen in our universe of distant galaxy due to the pull of gravity. The viewer is to walk inside at the piece while it slowly rotates causing a disoriented feeling to the audience. When the viewers are inside the light streaming in through the holes give a new experience as if looking at the stars moving round them. The idea was to then switch the ambient light with in the room to a light within the sculpture which changes the atmosphere for the viewer both inside the sculpture and outside.​

Hero Prayer

 

Walking around the Royal Engineers museum I was in awe of all that they have done. I found myself engrossed in all the artefacts that they have collected over the years but for some reason one copper coloured box stood out to me. I felt I had seen it before with my own eyes and this is where my journey began.

I decided to chase up my family history during the war as I knew my Grandfather was an engineer for the Royal Air Force during the second World War and that my Great Grandfather was in the first world war. Knowing this, I dug around my family to find what I could that belonged to my Great Grandfather which is where I can across the copper coloured box again. I found out this box was given to the soldiers during WW1 by the Queen at Christmas time enclosing little gifts of treats of chocolate and etc. I must say the treat I found inside was a little different.

 Opening this box showed me that not only did my Great Grandfather survive during WW1 but he was there from the very beginning, as inside I found his medals. The one Medal that caught my attention the most was the one that was shaped as a Star. It was my Great Grandfathers 1914 (mons) Star. So from here I tried to find out all I could about him during the war. I was told he never spoke about the war and was a very kind man. This shows as before he left for war my Great Grandfather, Mr Job Arthur Saunders, married a maid who had no family. He did this so she would have his money when he died during the war. To both of their surprise he lived and they stayed together until their dying day.

This meant I had to find out about him all I could through the paperwork I still had, which luckily he kept through the years which makes them my personal artefacts. Through this, I discovered he was at the Battle of Mons as a gunner in the Royal Horse Artillery and later received a Military Medal for his bravery. Through all my research about my Great Grandfather, I read so much about the first world war and I was not surprised anyone liked to talk about it afterwards, but what did stand out to me was the stories of a soldier praying and stargazing from the trenches while believing in seeing angels while in the trenches.

I decided to look into what the night sky would have looked like in August 1914 from Mons and I discovered that the sky would not have been that different than in Lancaster where my Great Grandfather was from. I also found that the star constellation of Hercules was dominant at this time and would be shining down on them. I found that the similarities between what the soldier say and the history of the constellation quite apt as the myth deciphers the moment that the war hero Hercules is on one knee praying to his god for help with the battle he was about to face with a giant called Dercynus, a prayer I'm sure a lot of soldiers would identify with

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