Experimenting » Rebecca Gove-Humphries

Paper chain

I got one step further to making my book of discarded furniture today. I have chosen the photo’s and I have bought the fairly eco 160gsm paper, it is FSC certified paper from a well-managed forest. Unfortunately it isn’t recycled and I was slightly confused by the difference between FSC and TCF (which has something, I think, with not bleaching paper with chlorine.) Paper is a total minefield but I am determined to learn more about it, even if I have to climb to the top of the below paper mountain!

Whilst I was in staples today I also found the EcoEasy range which is really great. I think they might have had some plastic wallets made out of biodegradable plastic, which is a great idea! I bought a notebook for White Rabbit Studio’s which is made from 80% bagasse. ‘This is the name for the plant fiber waste remaining after sugarcane is processed and crushed to make sugar.’

Finally, I will leave you with this image that Phil sent me from the website Sustainy. I love this visualisation of the amount of water in the world vs the size of the atmosphere, both in proportion to the earth. It boggled by mind to think of the atmosphere as a sphere.

Collaboration stations

I’m feeling excited again! I’m collaborating on a project with Katie where we’re going to find alternative uses for objects that have been discarded, have been left behind or made to feel redundant. We’re going to give them their purpose back and have fun in the process. We shall be meeting up soon to film our first object. I am thoroughly looking forward to it!

I like this image

I was standing on my red rug, in my yellow tights and I looked down and liked the image. I took a photo using my mobile phone.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

First things first, why is it always the most obvious place where things are found when you deem them lost. My camera was not on a field trip to the football but instead having a snooze in my handbag. Apologies for the slander Al.

After a lot of thought and confusion about how I could make my work more environmentally conscious, I had a plan. I moved house last weekend and it felt as though it was taking over my life. I decided to take this experience as an example of an everyday happening where there is potential for waste, especially with protective packaging.

I timed parts of the day e.g. tea break, conversation with the removal men and building the bed etc. I had the aid of Katies casio watch and got timing. The results are in and i’m going to make a visual bar chart of these timed events.

I did a test in the studio for 4 minutes with some cardboard:

Cardboard tower - 4 minutes Cardboard tower - 4 minutes - detail

I am going to cut the cardboard/bubble wrap and other materials into squares using the length of the scissors blade. This will ensure the time is as even as possible and also the squares are the same sizes.

Shredding

After highlighting words in a book, I decided to shred paper and highlight the strands instead. I feel it works better as it appears a waste of time to highlight information that is unreadable and also you can standardise/regulate your pace, so still measuring periods of time. It’s more difficult to do this when colouring in a blank piece of paper as you can speed up, slow down, make different types of movement, that are more or less effective.

Shredded paper Shredded paper highlighted

Highlighting test and varnish

Highlighted pages in a book After highlighting plain pages, I was thinking of how you usually use the highlighters and decided to try highlighting a book for the length of an advert break. There is no relevance of the type of book and using the highlighters for it’s original use-value felt naive and dissatisfying.

I am going to experiment with shredded paper.

As part of my challenge to make sellable art, I have began to make smaller, varnished string pieces. I wrapped the string around my finger for the duration of an advert. I bought both matt and gloss varnish to try out.

Experimentation at the studio

My most recent experimentation:

Glue

I am trying to make sculptures out of glue by pouring it for periods of time. I set up a few experiments and none of them have even slightly dried.

Did some research and the way to get water based glues to dry is to aid evaporation of the water in them. The three things to remember are that you need a) Hot temperature. B) Make a large surface area and C) Reduce density of surrounding water vapour in the air (good ventilation/wind/fan).

I am going to try making some flatter attempts to increase surface area. Hopefully they will dry but not sure if they’ll be as sculptural.

Highlighers

1 minute highlighted

I coloured in the corner or each piece of paper starting with 10 seconds to 60 seconds with a highlighter. I would like to colour in some larger paper for the period of time of events, like with the string pieces.

Tape

1 minute, 2 minute and 3 minutes of tape

I wrapped tape around the end of bic Biro’s for 1 minute, 2 minutes and 3 minutes. I used masking tape as a base layer but the tape still wouldn’t come off. It also put a real strain on my hand and became quite painful. I shall try wrapping it around other things too. I was thinking it would be quite good to try doing this with something that spins – like a cassette player with a pen in it.

Spray paint

Spray paint 20 seconds

I sprayed the paint onto paper for different periods of time. Where it had been sprayed in a concentrated area it became shiny. I think this is a very simple idea but would like to try it in different ways.

Unraveling

Experimented in the studio tonight and this is what happened. The string was wrapped around my hand for the amount of time it took me to go to the shop, and then unravelled.

String on wall - 'Going to the shop'

String on wall detail

Glue and String

String and glue After a few close calls with the string pieces threatening to unravel themselves entirely, I started to think about ways to make them more permanent. I like the fact that they are ephemeral but thought it would be a good thing to try. Katie suggested using Varnish which I think would make them encased and shiny. I like this idea and will try different methods but I have just tried PVA glue as a starting point. It works really well as it still has the same aesthetic of string and the feel is just a harder,less fragile version. I worry that when parts get glued into place, it changes where they fall and what people will get from the work. Going to have good think.

I have really exciting news!! I’ve used some of my holiday allowance so that I can have every other Monday off until October. I’m really looking forward to having the day in the studio, just trying things out and attempting focus.