Charlotte Walker Art Foundation Degree

At the beginning of my project I was interested in the microscopic, unseen world of the ocean - organisms, algae, plankton, and microplastics. I wanted to explore the effects of the human lifestyle on aquatic lifeforms and gain an appreciation for the smaller creatures that are integral to the ocean ecosystems. To gather some primary research, I visited several beaches while away in Cornwall; here I collected small fragments of plastic as well as samples of sand, which I later viewed under the microscope. Interestingly, most of the sand was made of the remains of shells and other structures made by small creatures, like tiny relics of life. I’m happy that I did this because I got some really interesting photos through the microscope that reveal shapes and colours that we would not normally notice, plus the circular framing creates an extra-terrestrial effect like planets and moons. The close-ups of the plastics on the other hand are arguably much less beautiful - you can see the way th

  Microplastics  The photo by David Liitschwager at the top of this article shows how plastic is dominating the natural environment, with the one helpless looking fish in the centre surrounded by hundreds of fragments of plastic. It looks exactly like the litter I found on the beach, mostly consisting of fishing rope with other random broken bits of stuff mixed in. The caption notes that the image 'shows how intertwined microplastics are in the daily lives of marine animals.' which relates to my work because I want to talk about how our everyday lifestyles are directly impacting these fragile ecosystems through the imagery of packaging (tetrapaks) with an aquatic themed colour palette. The article also defines microplastics and talks about how it occurs and the effects they have, so I found that really useful.  Marine Pollution I used this article to get a better understanding of what exactly is polluting the sea and where it comes from, as well as the complicated way it impa

  Strait (Grey Red Yellow Blue White Green) , 2015  https://www.roslynoxley9.com.au/artist/bill-culbert Bill Culbert uses ready-mades to create  3D installations. In this image Culbert appears to have threaded a group of coloured plastic bottles onto a fluorescent tube, illuminating them from the inside. I think this alludes to popular culture and nightlife with the bright colours reminding me of neon lights in the city and clubs. The bottles themselves are not usually an attractive object - they're utilitarian and industrial, they are not designed to look good, so I think Culbert has created a successful transformation of the bottles into something with a contemporary aesthetic quality that draws you in, and this is what my ceramic pieces are intended to do as well. I also thought about playing with light; my first set of cartons were porcelain so placing a light inside created a warm glow that particularly soaked through the seams of the cartons - however the partially dipped gla

Now that I have a good number of cartons I've got to start thinking about how I'm going to display them. On my desk I experimented with different arrangements which I have photographed here.  Grid I think the grid creates a sense of functionality and resembles the way products are shipped to stores and stocked on the shelves; the orderliness takes away any sense of individuality like a group of soldiers in formation, undermining the fact that each carton I've made is unique. From the viewers perspective this arrangement makes it difficult to see the details of the cartons towards the back and we only really see the tops of them, so I don't think I will use this arrangement because I want all of the cartons to be visible. This picture taken from a low angle visually reminded me of Peter Eisenmans 'Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe', the Holocaust memorial in Berlin - and the dystopian feeling of being lost among the grid of towering concrete blocks.  https:

Duchamp is an example of an artist famous for their use of readymades. https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/duchamp-fountain-t07573 Fountain is one of his most well-known pieces and pushes the boundaries of what constitutes art -  I find it makes people very uncomfortable and agitated when something doesn't live up to their idea of what art should be and they often use lines such as 'I could do that', 'My 3 year old could do that' or completely deny that it is art all together. Challenging preconcieved ideas of art seems like a brave thing for an artist to do because of the level of backlash it causes and rejection from the public - but I find that it is typically people not involved in the art world who are quick to say 'this is not art', I guess not everyone thinks creatively or open mindedly either, so whether we should listen to these opinions is questionable. Duchamp's Fountain seems like a humourous piece and it is weird to see a urinal in the mus

 Tony Cragg is an artist I have looked to in this project who works with ready-mades and ordinary objects to create powerful sculptural pieces. I think it's important to see how other practitioners approach this idea as it helps me imagine how my cartons might come together in their final form and give me confidence that I can make something really interesting like Cragg's. Fruit Bottles 1989 ( https://www.artnet.com/artists/tony-cragg/fruit-bottles ) These cast bronze scultpures are massively upscaled versions of fruit shaped plastic bottles, which are arranged in a group on the floor. The first thing I think is effective about this piece is the materials; the language of bronze is so vastly different to that of plastic - it is strong, valuable, heavy and goes back thousands of years as a resource used in human history. When I think of plastic I think of rubbish, tackiness, weakness and undesirability, it has a very low status compared to bronze and causes environmental destr