My tutor, Derek came to talk to me in the afternoon on Monday and suggested I looked at a few things, he also said it would be the content that pushes the project. So I thought I should just step back, do some research and go back into what it is that I like and what inspires me, and choose what I want to centre this project on.
Peep shows/Dioramas/Toy Theatres
It was suggested by a few tutors that I looked at old Victorian methods of storytelling like Peep Shows and Toy Theatres to think about using similar techniques with modern materials and images. With my last project I made mini set type pieces and it would be good to explore this further with this current project. Dioramas are slightly different in terms of being 'theatrical'; they are more like film sets and used in modern times for models of events or places. It would be interesting to look at having a made piece and creating final images from it varying in composition.
This is a traditional British Victorian Toy Theatre; A Proscenium Arch Theatre. The Victorian tradition of storytelling uses flat sets and paper to create characters and props which would be used to perform. With these theatres the stage and bordering decoration is included and set like a real stage to hold productions. This could be an interesting concept to consider when creating; the idea of two stories almost going on at once.
These are pieces from 50Watts, a blog which these were posted as part of a blog post containing sets from model theatres. I thought these have been created really nicely and show a lovely technique in draftsmanship and painting. I liked the layered strips to create depth with the sea and sky.
This I found on a blog called A Puppetry Odyssey in London. The blogger put on a performance of their own with this stage. I noticed the all seeing eye (Eye of Providence - to watch over humankind) at the top which was an interesting feature. I liked the layered drawn set pieces here.
This is screenshot of 'The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus' which I got from wyrdmotion. The film by Terry Gilliam references the Victorian Toy Theatre and creates it in a larger scale with live actors able to perform inside it. I really like the idea of scaling up and creating something that will be great to be exhibited. Terry Gilliams work frequently shows references to this type of scenography;
In the film 'The Adventures of Baron Münchausen' the Venus scene shows visual links to a theatrical stage as well.
I like the aesthetic quality of using theatrical staged imagery and I like the era that the tradition comes from. I think, especially with 'Doctor Parnassus' the imagery and era tie in well with other themes I am interested in like the surreal and magic.
Then the morning of Bruce Ingrams talk, I came across this video in a random blog - Once Upon A Blog that I didn't even know I followed on here;
The Snow Child
A new book is just about to be realised called 'The Snow Child' and is the first novel by Eowyn Ivey. It's set in 1920's Alaska and centres' around a couple who have moved to a Homestead in the Alaskan Wilderness after failing to have children. One night they create a snowman - they change to a snow child, a girl, and give it gloves and a scarf. The next morning the gloves and scarf are gone and their is something seen amoung the trees. A child appears - a girl. She slowly accepts the couple as they take her in but all the while they know she never truly belongs to them.
There was an animated trailer to go along with the realise;
Something about the basis of this story really intrigued me. It had that element of magic and the surreal but you know it's based in a real setting; there's no fairytale here. The books has been described as dark and wicked but with moments of tenderness and warmth. I think the setting would be a really interesting thing to work with using paper and staging; the red fox that follows the child around would be a great contrast to the white background. I just got a good feeling about it and so I have it in mind.
The Tigers Wife
Just on my own I've been reading a novel called 'The Tigers Wife' by Tea Obreht. It's has nothing to do with Angela Carter's short story. It's set in an Balkan country, in the present and half a century ago, and features a young doctor's relationship with her grandfather and the stories he tells her, primarily about the 'deathless man' who meets him several times in different places and never changes, and a deaf-mute girl from his childhood village who befriends a tiger that has escaped from a zoo. It's set from first perspective and is really strange to read with the definite reality of the narrators life; talking about the war, her upbringing and schooling, the fact that she is a doctor and scientifically everything she talks about is fact; juxtaposed to these two stories which are so surreal and unexplained.
I think I enjoy the realism in both stories as it makes the surreal aspects more intriguing; it's like there's a possibility it could be true.
I feel a lot better about choosing a content now and feel like I can look into ideas for both stories and see what is working for me.
I spent a little bit of time sketching some images I'd found recently on tumblr. These images stood out to me due to the character of the animal that came through. They were serene and at ease and that seemed nice with a creature of such great power. I really wanted to do some more sketching and regular drawing and so this was an excuse for that. Once I'd scanned the images in I played around with colouring to get gentler tones that I thought leant to the sketches.
Seperately I've had a few ideas for one-off pieces based on various things. I had this image from East of the Sun West of the Moon in my head and decided why not do it. I think all the ideas and drawing I'm doing at the moment is helping to keep me working and not just be stuck on what to do. Idea's about what to do will come from these pieces I think too; I like the idea of containing images inside another image.
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