hi Jenny

All the information about this exhibition is on this website:
http://www.thelowry.com/events/everyday-people/the-exhibition/
'Over one remarkable weekend in May, Tunick will make a series of photographs and a new film of his multiple-site installation in Salford and Manchester. Volunteers will be taken, via a caravan of heated buses, to eight locations over the weekend of 1 - 2 May and asked to pose naked while Tunick creates the installation. The resulting photographic and film work will the be shown at The Lowry from 12 June - 26 September as part of the exhibition, Everyday People.'
I have signed up to be a volunteer for this installation on the 2nd May. The reason why I have done this is because I feel as though it would boost my self-confidence, and to say that I have been a part of a massive art installation like this one, I know i would look back and think of how brave I must have been, but also, that I would be part of a piece of art work. The idea of that really appeals to me!
I received an email off The Lowry yesterday asking if I would like to participate in giving interviews to newspapers, magazines, radio and TV press, and to give them my story of why I joined in with this installation and tell them my experience of taking part over the summer.
This is the email I sent back to them:
'Hello!
My name is Jenny Huddart, and I am just about to graduate from a 'Moving Image' Degree which I do at Stockport College.
The reason why I would like to take part in this installation, is because it would definitely boost my self-confidence and to say that I have been a part of this big art installation is just amazing to think of!

I work with experimental/abstract short films, I would like to show my work in Galleries, or at film festivals depending on which piece is suited for which area. For one of my pieces of work I looked at the motion of the natural body, and filmed a Nude volunteer. It was one of the best experiences throughout my degree work as I felt so comfortable getting the angles of the body that I needed. When I filmed my model, I was always thinking, she is so brave, I could never do this! I feel as though Spencer Tunick has given me (and everyone else involved) the opportunity to be part of something dramatic.

I have had diabetes for nearly 21 years now, I am 22 years old. I haven't let it stop me from doing what I want to do. There have been obstacles and setbacks, but I have always managed to get past them and follow through with the things I want to do. Every college trip I have been on, Berlin and New York I had hypo's, but the most recent trip to London we had I didn't have one, even though I was expecting it! It made me realise I can overcome my condition if I control it and put my mind to it. London was a very important trip for me, networking and meeting up with design agencies and other artists to show them my work.

I would also like to do interviews for the press (Newspapers and magazines), and maybe mention that my end of year degree show is open in June at Stockport College. The preview night is Friday 4th June, and is open for the following week 7th-11th June.

Thank you for reading!

Jenny

Jenny Huddart. BA (HONS) Moving Image. 3rd Year. Stockport College. Manchester.'
I basically thought that by being part of this installation it would give me the perfect chance to get my name known out there, and to promote Stockport College's end of year degree show!
They still need to email back, and give out information on where to meet and times etc, but i do think if they allow me to do interviews it will give me the perfect chance to help promote my end of year degree show and encourage artists and designers etc to come and see the work we have produced. At this moment in time, I' feel alright about it, but I know that as the time draws closer I will become more and more nervous and scared! I just hope i get over that fear.....

Earlier on this year, I came across a filmmaker called Damien Serban and emailed him with questions about his work. I was especially drawn to his Experimental pieces:
http://www.damienserban.com/filmo/xp.php
He kindly emailed back with answers to my questions and told me to keep in touch.
I needed 1 more portfolio viewing, done digitally, through email, I admire Damiens work and I thought it would be a good idea to ask him to have a look at my own work and see what he his opinions are of it, and any advice he may have.
He has very kindly looked at my work and given me a response to it:

Hello Jenny,

I have watched your work online.

I like a lot of what I see... I feel a bit out of place to tell you what I think because I don't consider myself to be any kind of authority in experimental films or art in general... but you asked for it !

The body, as you point out has some successful parts and some less successful, what I like personnaly is when you don't understand what's going on on the screen, when you recognize just enough to think you know what you're seeing just to be proven wrong by a movement, a color, a change in shape. I think the parts where you fully understand where is the body and where is the video projection are less interesting.

The Rhythm of the Body seemed to me a little more "classic". The editing works well with the music/rhythm, but the overall film with flashes of eyes and dirty video noise looks a bit too "déjà vu" for me.

Rhythm of People is really nicely done, I like the feeling it creates. Maybe what this piece lacks is a clearer "evolution"... I don't know if you prefer your films to be shown in art galleries or in cinemas... I know I personally prefer the cinema, I consider my films to be... well... "films", and I consider myself a "filmmaker". So when you do a film, whether it is totally abstract, experimental, love story, comedy, documentary, whatever... you need to create something that will take the audience by the hand and bring it with you in your universe. This is only my opinion, but I feel a lot of experimental films in general, lack a sense of dynamics, a sense of evolution... basically a sense of storyline (even without a story).

I like your music quotes, and I like the fact that you didn't just satisfy yourself with one try, but experimented to find what you were looking for... And I think you've managed that in the 3rd quote and particularly in the 4th.
The 4th quote has everything it needs in my opinion, a sense of mystery/abstraction, you think you know what you're looking at but you don't really, a real evolution, you really get drawn in the film and want to see more, to discover what will happen, and of course the images are quite beautiful and go well with the choice of music. It's my favorite of your films.

I hope I'm making sense, and I don't seem to "know-it-all"... because clearly I'm not. But if any of my blabber is useful to you, I'd be glad.

Take care.
Cheers
Damien

My rhythm pieces were done in the 2nd year of my course, they were the very 1st pieces of film I had created, and I enjoyed it so much I realised that working with abstract film is what I would really like to continue with!
'The Body' and 'Music Quote' pieces are my most recent, I actually agree with Damien about the body comments. And once i've graduated I aim to re-edit the piece to let it flow more smoothly and contain more mystery! My favourite piece is also the 4th music quote, this is the most recent i've done, and i feel like i've learnt a lot from that particular brief and it's helped me to understand my own style etc.
I feel that Damien's comments were very honest, and there wasn't anything he had really mentioned that I didn't know already. I am definitely going to take on board his comments about 'Evolution' and having a kind of narrative/storyline to my pieces, I do feel as though I have learnt this already as I am including this within my Final Major Project. It has all been a big learning curve for me!

Lauren Moriarty works with Textiles, she is a 3D designer. She mainly works with product production, designing objects such as cushions and lampshades. These objects though are not the normal products you see in department stores or 'home' shops. They have a certain twist to them.
Different people give Lauren a different label for her type of work, these include:
Textile Designer
Industrial Designer
Product Designer
3D Designer
However, when Lauren was first graduating, she had no idea what direction she wanted to take her work in. I think she knew that we are all about to graduate and wanted to reassure the majority of us who don't really know what direction we would like to go in either!
Her passion was focused on experimenting with material in 3D, and also lace structures, she was drawn to the idea of illusion. She put these practices in her product designs which make them stand out from the rest, they have that edginess about them because of the material used, or the use of interaction between the material and heat or example.

These are the laser cut hand - finished rubber lace panels. I think they look beautiful and very creative!

The 3D cushions she produces are more for the design factor, the look of them, they are on show, pleasing to the eye rather than to use the actual product for comfort. I think it is different and yet very interesting. She had mentioned to us that to create 10 cushions, it would take 10 days to complete! She had said that was the only down side to it, that when she's producing these cushions for a batch order, everyday feels the same, just like groundhog day!

I think the build up of the laser cut neoprene material gives the cushion a geometric feel to the design, I do think that it is really interesting the type of materials that she experiments with, and to then create everyday objects using her ideas, i am very impressed with her use of imagination and creativity.
But what really impressed me about her designs, is one product that she created within a collaboration with a design student. The piece is called 'Solarise' which is a lampshade product. It shows the London skyline which becomes heat reactive. So its starts off black, then within a time span of 5 minutes you get the sunrise effect, which then ends up showing the light risen in London.

It's a simple yet very effective idea, I haven't seen it in motion as of yet, but i really would like to! I can imagine the effect that it has and the type of atmosphere it would create in the home. I was very impressed with this piece.
One more design that I am going to mention is her use of pattern, and the different outcomes she produces with the same pattern.
Her Butterfly pattern has been used to create lampshades and also net curtains. There is a twist to this pattern design also which put Lauren on the contemporary and edginess scale for her design work! This is a motion pattern, the illusion is created by just layering the patterns on top of each other to make the butterfly's look as if they are fluttering. I like the idea of these products, as they are different and i am very impressed that she has put her design ideas into practice and actually has produced everyday products that reflect her imaginative ideas. She had also mentioned that it is good to change your original design ideas to go along with customer feedback. She had shown her butterfly lampshade at 'Pulse' in London, her original design was in black to represent the shadow play, but once people had seen it, she had loads of requests off people for it in pink!


One thing that Lauren Moriarty did mention which i felt struck a chord in me was her advice about doing an MA course. At the time of her presentation I was battling in my head about whether to go on straight to do an MA course which I would feel was more to do with my direction i'd like my work to go in. Her advice was to wait. Not to rush into anything. She had even said that she felt that her own work had developed further in the 2 years she took out to just concentrate on her own style and get her head around what she really wanted to do. Reflecting on her own life in a way. By her saying this, it made sense to me and made me look at my own work in a clearer sense and to realise that i needed a clear head about this type of stuff, it's best to do an MA once my own work has developed a bit more and i know for sure what area i would like to explore.
She has also done some commission work such as the winter lighting project which was help by the council for Camden street lights, Renault car designs, Southbank Windows and design work for the london eye! Her experience with this area was that she had to compromise a lot with the company, simplify her ideas, but when there are quiet periods in your life, then work on commission and with other companies, not just for the money, but to get your name known in the industry aswell.
This visiting practitioner was one of my favourites, she gave out a lot of advice and was very clear on her process and development of her work that she went through to get where she is today.

Hi Jen take a look at this guy, I think you'll like him. He seems to do quite a lot of stuff, but if you look under his video section there's some pretty cool stuff.

Ben Wilkinson is currently studying a Graphic Design/Animation degree in Australia. He has created a short film called 'House Of Cards' which looks at the subject of Depression/Loneliness in a different way.

House of Cards from Ben Wilkinson on Vimeo.

I like the idea of representing a subject using things you wouldn't normally associate with the subject. I think it reflects a good sense of creativity. In his description he mentions 'Each card that is focussed upon is symbolic of an emotion that the character cannot escape' He has successfully represented the atmosphere of feeling trapped i think, especially with the use of close-ups on the structure of the house of cards.
Another part of his description I was drawn to was 'Contrasting the different way each card scene was framed was symbolic of isolation versus overcrowding. This was specifically evident when the colour was adjusted to the existing lighting so that each scene was ‘cut off to the world’ as they were surrounded by darkness. A lonesome card surrounded by an abyss of blackness is bound to produce isolation.' I quite like his way of looking at Isolation, and the different techniques he has explored when trying to create this atmosphere. This has given me the inspiration to consider exploring the idea of using different objects to give them characterisation to represent the subject of isolation.