<3 Tim

without doubt one of the greatest directors and artists there is (in my opinion...)

a fountain of inspiration, imagination and originality

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Antony Gormley : One and Other

This installation by Antony Gormley was opened in July 2009 and will be running 24 hours a day for one hundred days. The artist, his previous work including 'The Angle of the North' and 'Another Place', invites the public to create a "living monument" on the empty Fouth Plinth in Trafalgar Square, London. This plinth has previously displayed work by Marc Quinn (Alison Lapper Pregnant, 2005) and other artists for short periods of time, but the question of what the plinth should be permanently used for has also been subject to much debate and criticism. Gormley is "asking the people of the UK to occupy the empty Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square in London, a space normally reserved for statues of Kings and Generals. They will become an image of themselves, and a representation of the whole of humanity."

I have stood many times by this plinth and watched whoever is on the Plinth at the time, it feels quite intrusive yet compelling to continue to watch. I get a sense of Big Brother/reality-tv style voyeurism here, the question seems to pop into my head about what is the purpose of this and why is it here.

"Through elevation onto the plinth, and removal from the common ground, the body becomes a metaphor, a symbol… In the context of Trafalgar Square with its military, valedictory and male historical statues to specific individuals, this elevation of everyday life to the position formerly occupied by monumental art allows us to reflect on the diversity, vulnerability and particularity of the individual in contemporary society. It could be tragic but it could also be funny."

www.oneandother.co.uk

David Byrne : Roundhouse Instrument

I found this exhibition by accident after attending the Roundhouse Proms session one evening in August. David Byrne, the former frontman of the band Talking Heads, is now working on a sound installation known as the Roundhouse Instrument which "invites members of the public to play the building like an instrument". It was an eerie experience for me as every touch on the keyboard reverberates around the whole building, making for quite an empowering feeling.

"Everything from the building's metal beams to its water pipes will become a component of the resonating, vibrating, oscillating noise-maker. Members of the public will be able to move through the Roundhouse and activate the space in different ways – primarily through a special keyboard that turns pipes into flutes and walls into drums."

Before now I have not appreciated this form of art as I felt it could be described as an empty nothing of arranged objects, with no use or purpose. However I feel that participation in creating your own form of installation can be very rewarding and engaging.

Su Blackwell : Paper Art

Su Blackwell creates art from the pages of books, effectively lifting the stories from out of the text into delicate, three dimensional scenes. I find her work inspirational and magical in that the scenes she creates from the paper alone are incredibly ornate and stylised - I feel that you can easily distinguish which book she is describing in the designs because she chooses such emotive and natural stories for which to tell in her pieces. She describes this on her website; "It is the delicacy, the slight feeling of claustrophobia, as if these characters, the landscape have been trapped inside the book all this time and are now suddenly released." This concept has made an impression on me in that she is reworking something that is somewhat redundant and life-less on the outside, and releasing what is inside to visually reanimate the story.

www.sublackwell.co.uk

Liu Bolin : The Invisible Artist

I get a sense of cheekiness about this artist in that he is disguising himself into the background to fool onlookers. His work is subtle and understated, so much so that I didn't notice him in the photograph featured in the Telegraph. However I'm sure his work is not to be taken lightly due to the intricate detail of his painting and ability to visually trick his disappearance into the background- I just cant take it seriously though.

I find the concept of blending into society an interesting one, disguised so that normal life can go on around you without being affected by your presence. His work gives a sense of spirit existence whereby you ask yourself what you are seeing. He is an optical illusion to test the people around him, a barely-there figure that is able to listen in.

Jonathan Darby : branded nation

I discovered this artist in an article in the Guardian and then subsequently attended his exhibition at The Print House Gallery in early August. Darby's body of work centers on the ideology behind "the phenomena of how brands and their visual aspects are taking over public space; leaving us less and less choice about what surrounds us". Visually his work is poignant and draws you to consider how you yourself are affected by branding and its motives. I aim to discuss Darby's work in my dissertation and found this exhibition to open up a reflective view of modern consumerism.

Darby typically uses mixed media in his work and a layering/collage effect which works to illustrate how we as consumers are covered by corporate marketing, allowing it to be piled upon us. He also features characters with whom you can relate to, whether they be displaying a feeling of innocence or loss of, thus creating an emotive response with the public.