MIVC503 Conclusion

I have created 3 books that conclude my body of work; the books contain the progress of my project and show the strategies that I took to help the Passenger Pigeon migrate. They also contain art work and imagery based on the idea of migration with pull out posters and stickers so that the reader can help spread the species themselves.

Looking at the artist 'Space Invader' was very inspirational when considering where to place my stickers and art work to go alongside them.

One of Space Invader's well known mosaic tiles in Shoreditch.

 I felt that I wanted to bring together all my work and show it formally in books as I have created many different ideas in regards to migration and the project is more about the heightening of people’s acknowledgement to the extinction f the species and reviving it.  Unfortunately when creating one of my books I made a mistake with the lay out so it does not open very easily, however I learnt from this error and ensured the other books did not have the same fault.

A lot of my illustrations were inspired by imagery in the footage that I took of the pigeons eating off the camera, I feel these images were successful because of the interesting view point and the beautiful silhouettes it gave, it was also a good source of reflection to base my ideas around.

Some stills from the footage showing the angle and silhouette.

I wanted to display my work in a way that encapsulates the whole project, so I painted a box with pigeon patterns and detail so that my sketch books and handmade books could be shown within this and is an extension of the project itself.  I feel that the outcome of my work has successfully represented my idea of reviving the Passenger Pigeon species and my finished hand made books evaluates my ideas.

'Birds in Hats'

This image is from a blog called 'Birds in Hats' which presents many illustrations of birds wearing hats.

I thought it was a beautiful illustration of a pigeon that i could use for inspiration for art work in my project. Also the top hat and monocle add a sense of humour to the image, which i feel is relevant to some of my art work.

books

another book that i made that illustrates the idea of migration with a few pages of simple black and white illustrations of birds flying in flocks.

I think that by using black gives an idea of a hole in the page, this connotes the idea of the birds not being there and just leaving holes where they have been linking to the idea of the extinct Passenger Pigeon that has left a hole in the bird world.

Pigeon Design box for assessment

For assessment I wanted to present my Contemporary Technologies work in a box, so i painted this one with pigeon inspired patterns to try and make the box take on a pigeon like form which could envelope all my sketch books and hand made books.

I thought that presenting my work in a portfolio was not very appropriate due to the form of my work so i wanted to present it in something that encapsulated the project.

acetate page for my book

I typed up a page of onomatopoeia's for pigeons and the noises they made on the video footage i recorded, so that the pages could overlay on top of my paintings to mirror the frantic affect the video has.

The Passenger Pigeon Project Zine

The front and back page work as separate images, or when open, as whole image.

This is a book that I made and bound myself. It documents the progress of my project and the strategies that I have carried out to spread the migration of the Passenger Pigeon. It also contains many paintings, in particular the double page spreads (shown in photos) that i painted from observation from the footage of the pigeons that i shot.

I would like to make a few of these zines, and then give them to readers, leaving them with the idea of helping the species migrate. 

Hayley Potter

This image by illustrator, Hayley Potter reminded me of the work i am currently doing dues to the ink paintings of the pigeons. I like the monochrome pallete she has chosen and her illustrative style.

'Attack of The Space Waffles' @ The Outsiders Gallery, Greek Street, Soho W1D 4DG 10/12/2011

I went to a pop-up exhbition put on by Space Invader him self. it was at 'The Outsiders' gallery in Soho and showed many photographs of his work and a video instillation. The show featured a waffle maker that made waffles in the shape of a space invader, hence the name of the show 'Attack of The Space Waffles'. It also featured a giant disco ball which was covered in silver space invaders so that when the light hit it the room was filled with thousands of space invaders, i like this idea as it mirrors the repition of his art work and felt like they were invading the room.

Space Invader

Space Invader is the tag name for a French born graffiti artist who takes his inspiration from the Space Invader computer game. He creates his work using a mosaic style which he mounts onto a tile that can easily be glues onto walls. He uses these characters to 'invade' cities and they can be found in countrys all over the world. The reason why i have chosen to look at him for this project is because like my stickers i am spreading them attemptong to make my Passenger Pigeons invade, migrate and spread awareness.

Space Invader doesn't spontaniously put his work up in any place, he thinks about each location carefully in regards to aesthetic preferences. He often makes maps and guides to where you can find his work. In one case he located his tiles carefully so that when you plotted them onto a map it made the shape of an invader.

I think that this street artist is very inspirational and relevant when thinking about my sticker art that i am attempting to virally spread.

map of progress

I created this map to show the locations my Passenger Pigeons have spread to, wither via download-able origami species or stickers. I hope that as my project furthers it will have a chance to grow even larger and my Passenger Pigeons will be able to migrate further afield. 

origami bird replies

Here are some origami replies that i received via email from a friend who printed of the specially designed origami paper and created their own bird.

stickers

Here are some photographs that i took of my stickers. I tried to put them in relative places that illustrated the Passenger Pigeons situation. For example on a mesh window which connotes how it is caged and cannot migrate. Or perhaps on a bin which connotes how the species has been dieposed of.

In this film I decided to see if the pigeons would eat out of my hands. The results were successful as they were very tame! Maybe this could act as a strategy to sway peoples attitudes on the widely disliked species.

Pigeons eating

I attempted to create the same view point as i did in my previous film of pigeons, however this one wasn't as successful but i like the view of the trees in the background as it gives it a sense of height and position. Also the view of the pigeons is better as there is more light i the shot and show their patterns and faces more visibly.

Squirrels

After feed back from my first  blog assessment i was encouraged to create more footage, this is one film created whilst attempting to lure squirrels. I was trying to create an interesting view point with the camera, although i realise that this isn't as successful as the other film of pigeons eating that i recorded.

http://passenegerpigeonmigration.tumblr.com/

I created a tumblr page solely for my Passenger Pigeon illustrations so that i could have them all in one place  without any distraction from research or text.

Mark Dion's Mobile Aprreciation Unit

Mark Dion's Mobile Aprreciation Unit is an interesting way to see how someone created a project about a conventional bird that many people dislike due to their behaviour and regularity.

He created a mobile unit of a giant gull that was staffed with people giving information about gulls.

These are scans for an information booklet that was given out, and I think the illustrations and use of monochrome colour scheme is interesting when considering creating my own zine.

Stickers

This is another sticker that i created, i wanted to create larger scale sticker so i got hold of some A4 adhesive paper and painted a profile of a pigeon. I like this idea, as by positioning it on a ledge you get the idea that this pigeon character is popping its head up nosily. I think that it is a more alternative sticker form, as most are the conventional sticker size but this gives it an interesting twist i feel.

some photographs of my other stickers.

click to see the GIF I created

Please click on this image to see the moving Gif that i created, 

i made it by painting 2 images of a pigeon both in different positions and then merged the images together to create a make-shift animation. The motion is very robotic i feel, however i think this is quite similar to the way that pigeons move with short, quick movements. I am happy with the outcome if this piece as i have never created a Gif file before, and i think the outcome has been a small, quirky, little piece that nicely portrays the idea of the species in flight whilst showing some considered watercolour painting.

Paintings and Drawings

I have began to create imagery of Passenger Pigeons to add to my project, because I have an idea of eventually creating a zine about the Passenger Pigeon that I can circulate. The first is a painting that I created using water colours, the second of an ink drawing in which I tried to create a kind of natural science illustration.