Carmen McNally's Art

  3rd snippet This is the link to my  3rd audio snippet I now have all the voice recordings. We had to fade in and out most of the voices, this is so the voices blended from one to another more smoothly. We had voices in the background and the foreground to give that effect as though the voices were coming from both far and near. There are some voices I am not happy with because they sound a bit overpowering and we will edit the levels next time. Because of all the repeated vocals from the 1st and 2nd snippets, we've had to delete as many repeats to make space, this was time consuming.  Because I didn't have any control with how the selected people recorded their voices, I found that some of them were muffled when we were listening to them. We had to put on some effects to distort some of their voice so it sounded balanced with the other recorded voices. I did not want the same person speaking their thought in a row, which I didn't for most of the track but as we had an abu

I had to make a plan with Don and Gary from 3D workshop to work out the measurements I needed for the booth so they could build it for me. The wood joins needed sealing with gummy tape as the light was coming through where the edges didn’t meet and I needed the space to be completely light-tight. The process of sealing the edges and painting took 3 days. I attached a blackout curtain to the doorway and when I closed the curtain I couldn't see my hand in front of my face- so it was successful.                                                                                                                                   I had problems with the thin hardboard roof as the weight of the frame and hanging perspex was going to be too heavy. I had to get some extra planks of wood to strengthen the roof. With help from my classmates, I had to thread the industrial wire through the roof and then through the planks and pull it in place. This was really stressful as it affected how the whole

  Lighting up the test perspex I found inspiration from the  fibre optic LED light I took a test piece of perspex back to the store cupboard and fixed a couple lights to the bottom with a sealant glue to see the effect it would have with glowing the cut edges. I'm really happy with this as I think this will give the letters an enchanting feel. I purchased these tiny battery operated LED balloon lights from Amazon. I wasn't sure how they would work. I thought they would be too much of a distraction on the clear perspex but they're not. I think because the whole entire light glows makes it look better.

  Cutting and warping life size perspex Using the downloaded stencil font, Lostamp Clean which I paid £10 for, I sent it over to Don in 3D workshop so that he could laser cut it for me.   This link shows the laser cut  lettering   I spent the rest of the day in ceramics workshop stretching and warping my perspex plaques. I found that using the wood and clamps a good process as it kept the ripples shapes I formed in place and I was able to manipulate them easily whilst creating texture on the surface. I really wanted to give every plaque a unique bend so they all hang differently. The videos below show the step by step process the of how I warped the perspex plaques. The technician, James showed me how to clamp my 1st piece and I had 16 more to go in all. Once I got into a rhythm I really enjoyed it. For health and safety, I had to double up on heatproof gloves as it was extremely hot and I burnt all my finger tips.

Sketchbook ideas     I think it would look great if I could have my frame rotate slowly like a wind chime. I have researched into different  rotating motor  and the prices. The weight of the frame along with 20 maxium pieces of perspex it going to be quite heavy. On a guesstimate, it will weigh no more than 10kg. the prices are around £30-£50     I researched how DIY chandeliers are made. I was inspired by this process to use when it come to hanging the perspex pieces.

  Making a frame I made a frame in 3D workshop to hang the laser-cut plaques on. However, I didn't think about the weight of the plaques as there are 16 of them and they are 5mm thick. The frame would not be able to hold the weight, So I'm going to have to make another frame with a thicker durable wood. Making new frame I'm happy with how my frame turned out. I've had to be precise with my measurements as this frame will be attached to a rotating Mechanism within the light-tight booth where I will exhibit my work.  The chicken wire I used will allow me to have more freedom with my placement of the plaques. I'm yet to test out the weight so that will be my next step.

Test lighting in the store cupboard   I hung my warped perspex test pieces in the store cupboard to see how they would sit together. However, I still need to arrange how they will be placed.  This is a link to the video footage  warped perspex in store cupboard   without the lighting                                                                           I purchased 2 ripple effect mood lighting to use. I set them to different colours and I found the purple and orange the most effective combination. I think this will work best with my audio track sound.           I really like the way the shadows are cast in the background and I believe this will be really effective with the laser cut lettering.                                                                                                                         As I mentioned previously, whilst warping the perspex with the vice, I didn't like the imprint texture that was created on the pieces. However, this was really effective

Artist research   Listening to my audio track gave me inspiration to create what I wanted to see visually. I envisioned being underwater and seeing the effect of the sun hitting water creating those beautiful rippling patterns. This is when I knew I wanted to create a dark space with mood lighting. One of the effects that I want to create visually is calmness as I feel relaxed when listening to my audio track. I found this in the work of  Raphael Daden  in his use  of the sea pattern with the mood lighting shining through as it is mesmerising.   Raphael Daden Sea Pattern 2010 Other images I looked at and took inspiration from can be found at: sunrays reflecting on water   sunray in a pool sand pattern on pinterest Amazon lights I will choose

Raphael Lozano Hemmer   I really like the work of Hemma and his clever use of projection and lighting. The scale of his work is amazing and how he works outside.

  The font Having experimented with 2 script fonts I have not found one that works well yet. I decided to ask for advice from Sam another student on the course. He showed me Adobe Illustrator which allowed us to manipulate the font and turn the letters into a stencil so when I laser cut the letters they remained intact. Although I felt this was effective it was very time consuming to do the same to 16 other sentences. So I decided to purchase a font called Lo Stamp Clean that was script in a stencil form.

H&M advert research Link for  h & m advert I really like the journey you go on while watching this H&M advert. It is the music with the children's laughter in the background that can take you on your own reminiscent journey. I really like how the music intensifies in parts and then softens as different people speak. 

Perspex manipulation   I remoulded the perspex pieces in the oven as I wanted to create a ripple effect instead of just a simple curve. I'm really happy with how they turned out this time around and how the light bounces off of them.  The link will take you to me  warping the perspex I put the perspex back into the oven to melt again Remoulded and warped by hand With help from the ceramics technician James, we tried stretching the perspex in a vice using a clamp. This wasn't very successful, I think the oven would have to be a lot hotter to achieve the perspex to stretch. Unfortunately, the vice left indentions which created texture on the perspex so I will mould the pieces with my hands instead. This link shows James and I stretching the perspex . While stretching the perspex piece in the vice I had laser cut, it started tearing at parts. Can I laser cut after warping the perspex? I did some research on laser cutting on a curved surface . I spoke with the 3D workshop technicia

  Making a lantern Research on making lanterns  I looked at the technique of lantern making. I had a go at making a lantern with the scrap pieces of perspex that I warped in the oven. This is the link to watch me  making my lantern.   I completed it fine but it looks like a lampshade rather than a lantern. I think there is a slim window from creating a lantern that just looks like a lampshade and this put me off. So I want to experiment further with warping the perspex pieces. I want to see if I can remold them in the oven to explore again.

  Warping Perspex   Today I am experimenting with  warping the perspex   by melting it in the oven and manipulating it when it's soft. I used the wooden arch above to experiment with the manipulation of the perspex. However, I found that the manipulation by hand was more satisfying because I enjoyed using my hands to change the shape of the curve. I chose to use the wooden arch for some of the perspex pieces to have continuity with them looking the same. Now I have a variety of shapes to explore further.