All the things i’ve been up to!

Sooooo, since all these new ideas have started i’ve been photographing but have yet to post any new pics.

Here they are:

Yet Another Video

I’ve been looking at a lot of fashion shows.  The Grammys a couple of nights ago were a good indication that “the future is here”.  The idea of the machine, geometry and math are taking shape as “the future”.  Fashion shows are the best combination of the arts, geometry and math (clothes themselves), form, colour, audio, video and an overlying message.  Viktor and Rolf were all about fabric manipulations and colour.  In this video, Alexander Mcqueen uses cameras as capture and walks them up and down the runway as the future has arrived.  Note the patterns on the clothes, the shoes and the way they make the models walk, the lighting, the choice of flooring: both colour and finish along with the audio and decide if the future has arrived?

http://www.alexandermcqueen.com/int/en/corporate/archive2010_ss_womensp.aspx

Viktor and Rolf S/S 2010

One of the best shows i’ve ever seen, the forms are out of this world!

upDATE

Sorry, it’s been about a week since my last blog confession!  My mind is all over the place, i’ve started two new bodies of work and have absolutely no idea what i’m doing!

I don’t necessarily think that this is a bad thing.  I mean we are in the deep depths of January.  Photos will soon follow, but lets just say for now that I’m using spray paint, metal, text, and just about killing my brain trying to figure out this thing called display.

I hate walls and pedestals thus leaving me innumerable options for failure and only a few for success.  You can see… or at least read the dilemma.

I’m hoping to wrap up my first complete piece in the next few weeks and get it all settled… I’m starting to slow down a bit which i think is needed.  I need to reflect.  Some changes in my personal life, and my living situation are setting me a bit off kilter aka time to buckle down.

I promise, i won’t be as long this time. I break promises!

Test. Fail. Beer. Win?

After my “drip tests” the results are obvious, no glaze movement, no drips, no clear glaze.  It wasn’t a good scene to say the least.

Now that things are starting to speed up, its a constant firing schedule, 9 kilns in 9 days.  The text has been completed on 7 plates and the drip tests were submitted to another firing with a 3 hour hold at cone2.  (Images for those to follow).

After that I began to make consideration for how the plates will be integrated with the sheets of metal.  My original plan was to mount the plates on sheets of metal.  I would then selectively rust the metal and mount images/apply text.

So, I did that and it sucked. It sucked bad.  Then i bent the metal, turned it in many directions (briefly claimed genius) and then continued along.

I began to think about dishes and out interactions with them, our dining experiences, what we think about when we eat, what we look at, the utensils we use etc.

I wonder, what if I have the ability to connotate the entire experience yet make it completely impermanent.

Why attach the plates to the metal?

Why not make the metal the place mat?

What if I decide what you get to eat with?

What if I decide what you get to look at while you eat?

Testing!!!

After a little UPS trouble, my underglazes and stains have finally appeared!  As you can see, I did a couple preliminary undergrlaze tests with my vinyl stencils.

I tried wiping the underglaze off to no avail.  Being that the plates are already glazed to a high temperature (cone8 or 10) the underglaze was washing off far too easily.

I tried peeling off the stencils, to some avail.  Yet the line quality was a little choppy and not what I was looking for.

So in the end, the burning off of the stencils works the best.  After the kiln is unloaded, there is still some underglaze residue yet can be easily picked out with the end of an exacto knife.

I mixed my stains into a readily available cone04 clear studio glaze.

Next up: Glaze testing!

Bits and Pieces You Say?

How did I name the blog?

Believe it or not, a great deal of the influence for my work comes from the written word, particularly in the form of songs and song lyrics.  The idea of the music video creating a visual for said written words fascinates me.  So yes, my blog name comes from a song: Bits and Pieces by the Junior Boys.

New Semester: New Blog!

Welcome to my blog!

My Name is Marcel Rocheleau and i’m a 4th year ceramics student at NSCAD University.  Over the course of the next semester, this blog will take you through the process of being a studio student at a Canadian post-secondary institution.

I will be showing much of the work I am doing as well as provide text and commentary to issues myself and my class are exploring.

Hope you enjoy!

The first image is of my studio space.  At NSCAD we are lucky to have an amazing facility that looks directly on to the Atlantic Ocean.  I share my studio space with 3 other students.  I am the closest pace on the right.

The second and third photo shows my method for using stencils.  The stencils are vinyl.  The vinyl  is printed from a special printer.  The Vinyl has an adhesive backing for easy application.  After the vinyl is removed from the backing, it is placed on the work and each letter is individually pealed out with a fine tip exacto knife.  Time consuming: I know; but well worth it!

The next step for these test tiles is for underglaze to be applied to the surface.

Day 1. Complete.