Reflective Journal
Fei
Gao
I had been focused on expressing living things for a long time, and I like some objects especially trees. I think trees are just like human beings which are alive and have spirits. During a very long period of time, I have been focused on researching trees and drawing trees, and It had been continued to my early MA courses.
People like trees because of their utility. When they are trees, they could purify air and prevent sandstorms. While when they are changed into wood, their function looks more specific, used to make our lives more convenient and more embellish. Human beings use the trees as well as the wood. The relationship of the trees, the wood and human beings is to use and to be used.
Since I started my MA courses, I have been focusing my research on expounding the relationship of them. Except finishing some teacher’s arrangement, I have tried different ways to do the projects. Experimenting with different mediums and techniques helps my works develop and evolve.
"Words are unreliable" is my first poster project since I started this course. It is also the first work that I used Photoshop software to accomplish. For me, Photoshop is a very fresh creating tool. In this project, firstly, I chose the word "safe" from the sentence which the tutor gave us "You make me so safe, Jessica." I think "safe "is the very important word in this sentence. It is easy to clarify the idea "Words are unreliable." then I used the word "safe "to do a broken chair. We always think that a chair having four legs is stable. We can sit on it to have a rest. While when one leg is missing, it means this chair is not safe any more. So the meaning of the word and the broken chair has a strong conflict. The word "safe" is unreliable.
I had been focused on expressing living things for a long time, and I like some objects especially trees. I think trees are just like human beings which are alive and have spirits. During a very long period of time, I have been focused on researching trees and drawing trees, and It had been continued to my early MA courses.
People like trees because of their utility. When they are trees, they could purify air and prevent sandstorms. While when they are changed into wood, their function looks more specific, used to make our lives more convenient and more embellish. Human beings use the trees as well as the wood. The relationship of the trees, the wood and human beings is to use and to be used.
Since I started my MA courses, I have been focusing my research on expounding the relationship of them. Except finishing some teacher’s arrangement, I have tried different ways to do the projects. Experimenting with different mediums and techniques helps my works develop and evolve.
"Words are unreliable" is my first poster project since I started this course. It is also the first work that I used Photoshop software to accomplish. For me, Photoshop is a very fresh creating tool. In this project, firstly, I chose the word "safe" from the sentence which the tutor gave us "You make me so safe, Jessica." I think "safe "is the very important word in this sentence. It is easy to clarify the idea "Words are unreliable." then I used the word "safe "to do a broken chair. We always think that a chair having four legs is stable. We can sit on it to have a rest. While when one leg is missing, it means this chair is not safe any more. So the meaning of the word and the broken chair has a strong conflict. The word "safe" is unreliable.
The project "From Monday to
Friday" is a work after I did my artist book. My artist book is to
print my previous projects on the selected special newspaper. Actually I
have noticed the issue about newspapers for a long time. I think the attitude
that people have towards them is contradictory. On the one hand, we can often
see people reading the newspapers when they take the tube. That means it
supplies some useful information to people. On the other hand, when a lot of
newspapers are thrown away after being read. I couldn't help complaining the
behavior of people. I think it is a good thing to get knowledge from the
newspapers, but we shouldn't throw them away like toilet paper. That means we
waste a lot. In this work, I try to connect the newspaper with toilet paper. I
also try to find the relationship between them. I think we read newspaper like
we use toilet paper everyday. So I did seven newspaper rolls that represent
seven days in one week. The rolls which are in different sizes only represent
that the quantity of the newspapers we read is different .The aim is to evoke
people not to waste too much. We can read newspapers, we can get a lot from
them, but we also need to do something to make them recycle. 
I always like taking photos when I find something interesting especially my favorite trees. One day when I passed by a park, I saw a dead tree trunk which lies on the ground. I think the textile of the surface of the tree looks like landscape. The barks which still stays in the trunk looks beautiful. It also connects with the small cracks of the trunk. Then point connects with the lines and the plane. That is the reasons why I like them.
Under the influence of in these photos, I did an etching printmaking project. The topic of the etching is "The landscape of the tree trunk". This idea is from that lying tree trunk which I found in that park. I found there is a strong contrast between the tree trunk which is with rough bark and the smooth one and the bark one has dropped off. Especially we can see the lines on the smooth surface. It is the link of them. I think it looks like Chinese Painting. Then I decided to do etching printmaking, because I want to try different methodology to express my idea. I know etching printmaking can make some accidental effects. That is what I want to get in this work.
Inspired by the sculptures of Andy Goldsworthy, my recent work is about the relationship between the nature and human beings. After I tried to do some projects by different methods, I decided to do some new attempts. I planned to do some drawing on the wood .So I went to Timber Yard.
These are some photos which I took there. When I first went there, I was attracted by the scenery. I saw a lot of wood which have been put there for sale. Some of them look like beautiful paintings, or sculptures. Horizontal Line and vertical line crisscross together. Circle and rectangle mix together. The shape of circles are inside the rectangles, actually rectangles came from cylinder as well. That also comes with color. I especially like that green color. In my opinion, green always means life. When spring is coming, plants begin to recover. The world is all around in green color. When I saw that I thought even though the tree had been cut and they don't have any life, but for me, the tree trunks have been given new meaning, that is another beginning of the life.
I quite like this picture. It is really like a beautiful water color painting. The label which is on the top left corner is an interesting thing. It implied the identity of the woods. The red mark on the bottom right corner is another mark, it is not integrity. You can guess what it is. These woods should be put over there for a long time, and we can know it from the surface of them. They must have experience the sunshine and rain as well. Actually I think the wood has strong connection with human. On the one hand, when they are trees, they are living things, and they have a lot of common points with human beings. I mean trees have very strong vitality, sometimes they have some character of people. For example, there are some marks on the white poplar trunks. Do you think they look like some eyes? On the other hand, woods have close relationship with our daily life. We can use wood to do some houses, some furniture like shelves and sleepers. For me, the really interesting thing that the wood attracts me is the growth ring of the tree. We can only see it when the tree has been cut. From it, we can see the growth process of the tree. But when we see it, actually the tree has stopped its life.
I am interested in these woods stamps and colors. These stamps represent different meanings. Some of the stamps have been stamped by the quality or producing area .Some of them are marked by the staff, then they can know them clearly. All of them implied the new identity of the woods. They also look like beautiful drawing which attracts me so much.
I did some research on Giuseppe Penone's art work. I quite like his idea which is to use simple materials from daily life to unsettle the boundaries between art and nature, and to point out the interdependence among all organic life forms. It's just like what he said,
“My artwork shows, with the language of sculpture, the
essence of matter and tries to reveal with the work, the hidden life
within.”
–Giuseppe
Penone
He always uses natural material to do his
work, such as stones, wood, and leather, etc. Penone was interested in the
space between the hand and the touched surface forming sculpture and drawing,
between print and sight, gesture and action, which has been maintained
throughout his body of work.
I am also interested in Andy Goldsworthy's works. I think his works are highly relevant to my works, especially the attitude towards nature. Andy Goldsworthy believes that he should not choose the materials he works with and his duty is to regard and use the whole nature as his materials. He understands from the literal sense of the word that ‘raw materials’ are found in nature in primeval times, which is the starting point of human production.
After doing the research, I am devoting myself to using the wood to do some sculptures. By picking up the shape character of the wood and finding the sameness objects which appear around our daily life, I am trying to do some better interpretation of the relationship between nature and human beings.
This is the wood bread. When I found this piece of wood, I found the rectangle shape of the wood looks like the bread that we eat everyday. The wood is also around us in our daily life. I cut the wood into the bread size, then put them in the original order. We can see the pattern of the wood surface. As for this work, I just want to find the relationship between the wood and our daily life.
At present, I focus my research on the growth rings of the trees which show the growth process of the trees. It reflects the climatic conditions in which the trees grow. One thing which I have to mention is that we can only see the growth rings when the trees have been cut, and that means it won't grow up any more. The identity of the tree has been changed into wood. It is human beings that operate the process.
I am also interested in Andy Goldsworthy's works. I think his works are highly relevant to my works, especially the attitude towards nature. Andy Goldsworthy believes that he should not choose the materials he works with and his duty is to regard and use the whole nature as his materials. He understands from the literal sense of the word that ‘raw materials’ are found in nature in primeval times, which is the starting point of human production.
After doing the research, I am devoting myself to using the wood to do some sculptures. By picking up the shape character of the wood and finding the sameness objects which appear around our daily life, I am trying to do some better interpretation of the relationship between nature and human beings.
This is the wood bread. When I found this piece of wood, I found the rectangle shape of the wood looks like the bread that we eat everyday. The wood is also around us in our daily life. I cut the wood into the bread size, then put them in the original order. We can see the pattern of the wood surface. As for this work, I just want to find the relationship between the wood and our daily life.
At present, I focus my research on the growth rings of the trees which show the growth process of the trees. It reflects the climatic conditions in which the trees grow. One thing which I have to mention is that we can only see the growth rings when the trees have been cut, and that means it won't grow up any more. The identity of the tree has been changed into wood. It is human beings that operate the process.
This book
is made of one piece of wood which had been put in a corner of Timber Yard as a
piece of excess material. When I saw it, I thought I could do some drawing
on it. Later I cut them and I found there are some effects which are caused by
the electric saw. They are special already like a drawing. Cut wood comes with a
smell of burning. I cut my wood into fifteen pieces. Now each piece is a page
of a book. You can see the contents of each page, growth rings. I not only like the pattern of
the growth rings, but also like the meaning of it. It shows the age of the tree
and also reflects the climatic conditions in
which the tree grew. We can see its history on each page. When I put all those
pieces together, I can see the tree and the book, my wood book. 
When I started my degree show work, I considered some materials which I could use in my art work and try some different forms. This is a very important way that could determine the result of my final work.
In this final work, I made the shape of these wood blocks to an arrow shape. On the one hand, I’d like to point to the outside tree. I want to find the relationship of the wood, trees and human beings. That is the aim of my research. On the other hand, what I pursue in this work is to connect circle, square and triangle all together. They are the basic shape of the world. So I got circle growth rings，cubic wood blocks, and triangle arrows. I painted the wood surface to black color except the two flanks. In my opinion, black means no life. The wood comes from the tree, but it is not the tree any more. Its identity has been changed. I kept two flanks of each wood original color. So the audience can clearly see the growth rings which can evoke people's memory. I put each line in the original order and you can see it by the wood grain hidden in the black color. I also put some of the wood which should be put in the middle of the work on the other wood. Because the angle has been changed, the audience can see the growth rings from different angles. All the above is what I want to reach..
It’s exactly as I mentioned above, in the whole research period, I did a lot of research about the trees, the wood and human beings. I also tried different ways to finish my final work. I used traditional method and new technology to express my idea. Traditional drawing skill as a kind of tool is necessary, but it is the same important to add new material to my work. Graphic design is not to repeat the old and past practice even if they are successful, undoubtedly it also need creation and new elements. A successful art work needs to find a new idea to keep pace with the times, which is what I need and continue to do.
When I started my degree show work, I considered some materials which I could use in my art work and try some different forms. This is a very important way that could determine the result of my final work.
In this final work, I made the shape of these wood blocks to an arrow shape. On the one hand, I’d like to point to the outside tree. I want to find the relationship of the wood, trees and human beings. That is the aim of my research. On the other hand, what I pursue in this work is to connect circle, square and triangle all together. They are the basic shape of the world. So I got circle growth rings，cubic wood blocks, and triangle arrows. I painted the wood surface to black color except the two flanks. In my opinion, black means no life. The wood comes from the tree, but it is not the tree any more. Its identity has been changed. I kept two flanks of each wood original color. So the audience can clearly see the growth rings which can evoke people's memory. I put each line in the original order and you can see it by the wood grain hidden in the black color. I also put some of the wood which should be put in the middle of the work on the other wood. Because the angle has been changed, the audience can see the growth rings from different angles. All the above is what I want to reach..
It’s exactly as I mentioned above, in the whole research period, I did a lot of research about the trees, the wood and human beings. I also tried different ways to finish my final work. I used traditional method and new technology to express my idea. Traditional drawing skill as a kind of tool is necessary, but it is the same important to add new material to my work. Graphic design is not to repeat the old and past practice even if they are successful, undoubtedly it also need creation and new elements. A successful art work needs to find a new idea to keep pace with the times, which is what I need and continue to do.
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