pigeontheory

[pigeontheory]

My creative enquiry critical reflection. 

[pigeontheory]

Photos of my installed work.

3 Development pieces (some which i might keep in the exhibit? if possible)

and 2 main pieces, my banner and my sculpture. 

Installing my banner was difficult, the stands alone couldn't support the poles so i had to put hook screws into the walls and tie the poles to the hooks with string, quite tightly to hold them in place. 

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‘Pigeons can discriminate Picasso paintings from Monets. In 1995, Japanese scientists tested the visual abilities of pigeons in an unusual way: They showed the birds paintings by Picasso and Monet (Watanabe et al., 1995). Pigeons were trained to discriminate between photographs of Monet and Picasso paintings. They had no problems doing this. Then they were tested with other pictures by the two artists they had never seen before. Still, the birds had no problem discriminating between the artworks. Fascinatingly, the birds were also able to discriminate between the works of other Cubist artists and other Impressionist artists. This shows that pigeons can categorize complex man-made artworks and even discriminate between two art movements—something even some humans without a background in art history might have problems with.’

Such an interesting read, and shows again how we underestimate a pigeons intelligence. 

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I found this particular set of sculptures inspiring while making my porcelain-poos. The realism in the feather is so strong but with the gloss glaze it shows it as ceramic and it really brings nature and mankind together. Theres something so satisfying about ceramics that are based on natural things that people never expect to be so man-made. 

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Making the stands for my poles. 

Using a 28mm drill bit to create the wide holes, the same size as the diameter of the curtain poles. This took a while as the wood was very thick.

I also had to saw it in half, as i didnt have any wood as sturdy and heavy as this piece so i did not want the weight to be unevenly distributed across the stands.

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A really interesting look at the 2022 banner exhibition.

[pigeontheory]

This article speaks about the power of banners in protest. It mentions how the working class use banners to tell their story, when they have no other means of telling it. 

This is what i want my banner to be, a way for pigeons to tell their tales without the ability to speak. 

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 Really interesting article about the history of pigeons. I've said it before but they are one of our oldest friends and we have utilized their skills for thousands of years. 

‘ More recently, WWI saw heavy action with these fast-flying “thoroughbreds of the sky.” The pigeons could deliver messages faster and more effectively (with a 95 percent arrival rate) than any human messenger, and one pigeon, named Cher Ami, even delivered a message after it lost a leg and got a bullet fragment lodged in its chest, saving 500 Allied soldiers. ‘

This quote is particularly prominent to me, its a more recent history and it shows the dependence we had on these birds. This pigeon actually received multiple medals in bravery. 

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The beginning of my install.

I sanded my walls and plinth before painting white, allowing this to dry before I organised my sculptures and secured them using museum putty.

This ensures i dont have to worry about any breaking since the pieces are quite small and delicate.

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Some close up images of my favourite porcelain pieces, I hand sculpted these and I am so happy with the shape they came out. I think they genuinely look realistic and thats what i wanted.

I dont usually work with sculpture so i was worried it wouldnt come out so smooth and natural like these.

[pigeontheory]

My freshly glazed and refired porcelain poos, I was really worried about how these would turn out, especially using such strong iron oxides to colour them. However they have came out perfect with just the right amount of colour!

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Process images of my banner. 

I hand sewed the smaller pieces, the pieces that needed a fine hand but i machine sewed the large chunks of fabric. 

I machine sewed the rays of the sun at the bottom because i fell in love with the scallop stitch, it really felt right for the piece.

[pigeontheory]

Domestic Scene, 2016

Every Woman,  2016 Billie Zangewa

https://www.lehmannmaupin.com/artists/billie-zangewa/biography Billie Zangewa is a textile artist based in Johannesburg, her use of colour and form to make her silk tapestries really inspired my use of textiles in my final piece. She uses fabric to create scenes from her life, and they show life more than any photograph could. 

This is what I would like to replicate in my piece, an uplifting scene.  

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Biscuit fired pieces coloured with red purple and black iron oxides.

I varied intensity using water, some areas must be darker and deeper than others and hopefully we will see how the colours change after glazing. 

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I’ve never seen pigeons argue I only see them soar I don’t know if a pigeon is naïve or worldly I just know it has no past to make it toil through life Maybe they’re the tongues of the air Lazily expressing cars’ sighs Maybe they’re lined up on the roof Vying to perform snow’s wedding One day I stick my head out the window And realize their nation is the act of soaring Soaring makes my silence meaningless Thank god, they’ve taught me how to talk about nations! Standing under a flock of pigeons, I think oh People aren’t even worth one flower blooming toward them

Huang Fan

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/149269/pigeons-5c6467be676aa

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Playing with ideas for my banner.

Unsure on whether or not to have many pigeons or only a few. 

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freshly biscuit-fired porcelain.

I dripped the top pieces and i hand sculpted the bottom pieces, really excited to colour these and see how they turn out after glazing.

I would like to use a gloss glaze to get that real porcelain look, the contrast between something as precious and delicate as porcelain is perfect for the idea of pigeon poo.