Instruction based art
Instruction based art is art that relies on the artist telling another person what to make or do, the art can be the instructions or what is made itself. The guardian wrote an article about this an event called ‘do it’, which is an event where a collective of artists collaborate to make instruction based art. Instruction based art has been around for a lot longer however, this is just an occasion where multiple artists make it together. anyone can get involved and they must do exactly what the artists says, for example Ai Weiwei gave instructions on how to make a overhead CCTV disarming device, for security cameras above the ground, the device consists of a long stick, a wire, a corkscrew and a can of spray paint, this is one of my favorite pieces of instruction based art because it shows that most things are accepted in this event, I think this because even though it is illegal to do what Ai Wiewei is instructing, people still accepting of his art, it is also a good example of artists and people having to get creative with what they are doing/being asked to do. I think makes sense that Ai Weiwei made this his piece because he is an activist as well as an artist and has openly expressed how critical of the Chinese government he is, so in a way he is combining what is going on around him and his own beliefs into his art.
I think that instruction based art is an interesting concept that should be used more widely and more often, I think this because it gives the audience a chance to interact with some of their favorite artists. Possibly not even with famous artists because there are plenty of famous artists who aren’t famous so this could even be a way for up and coming artists to gain more popularity.
Instruction based art can be traced back to when conceptual art first came about and started raising in popularity in the 1960s. Conceptual art is art where the meaning is more about the concept than the art itself or the concept plays a big part in the what the art is. A lot of artists use conceptual art in the 21st century when it wasn’t until the late 60s and the early 70s that conceptual art was considered its own art form, the first artists to use this in their bodies of work were people such as John Baldessari, an example of one of his pieces of art was burning all of his art that he had made between 1953 and 1966, it was called the cremation project, Lawrence Weiner, the distinctive trait of his work would be the graphic texts that were involved in his work. These are two examples of two of my favorite artists who started conceptual art in the 60s. In more recent times we have artists such as Damien Hirst, an exmaple of his work is a piece of art that he did called the physical impossibility of death in the mind of someone living, this was made in 1991, so even in more recent time conceptual art still lives on.
Do it was born out of a conversation between three French artists, Christian Boltanski, Bertrand Lavie, in a café in France, it has been going on for 20 years now so, the actual event based around conceptual and instruction based art hasn’t been around for too long compared to the art form its based around.
I think that instruction based art is an interesting concept that should be used more widely and more often, I think this because it gives the audience a chance to interact with some of their favorite artists. Possibly not even with famous artists because there are plenty of famous artists who aren’t famous so this could even be a way for up and coming artists to gain more popularity.
Instruction based art can be traced back to when conceptual art first came about and started raising in popularity in the 1960s. Conceptual art is art where the meaning is more about the concept than the art itself or the concept plays a big part in the what the art is. A lot of artists use conceptual art in the 21st century when it wasn’t until the late 60s and the early 70s that conceptual art was considered its own art form, the first artists to use this in their bodies of work were people such as John Baldessari, an example of one of his pieces of art was burning all of his art that he had made between 1953 and 1966, it was called the cremation project, Lawrence Weiner, the distinctive trait of his work would be the graphic texts that were involved in his work. These are two examples of two of my favorite artists who started conceptual art in the 60s. In more recent times we have artists such as Damien Hirst, an exmaple of his work is a piece of art that he did called the physical impossibility of death in the mind of someone living, this was made in 1991, so even in more recent time conceptual art still lives on.
Do it was born out of a conversation between three French artists, Christian Boltanski, Bertrand Lavie, in a café in France, it has been going on for 20 years now so, the actual event based around conceptual and instruction based art hasn’t been around for too long compared to the art form its based around.
John Baldessari
John Baldessari is an artist who, has been around since the 1950s, he started doing conceptual art in the 1960s when him and five friends decided to burn his body of art from the year 1953 to 1966, after this he started to increase in popularity, he started making more conceptual pieces and even got his burnt body of art baked into cookies. Another thing that he does is image text, this is where he would take a picture from a movie for example and get text from a play and put them together, this would have no relation and have no meaning however he did this to get people thinking about what it might mean, I find this interesting because he did this to confuse people and he really has no reason for doing this, I think it also shows the development of his work after he burnt all the art he had done of the 13 year period. He also did similar things to this, one thing that he did is called image sequencing, this is similar to image text however it is where instead of putting an image and a piece of text that is unrelated, he would put two images that were unrelated together.
I like his work because it often doesn’t make sense and has a strange approach to photography and art. I also think that he is very brave and interesting in that sense because he burnt all the work he did over the course of 13 years, not many artists could bring themselves to do somethings like that, this is another thing that I like a lot about him, his mentality at that point in his life, I think he is a respectable person, especially as he might have been struggling with things like mental issues in his life at that point and managed to channel into in to his art
I like his work because it often doesn’t make sense and has a strange approach to photography and art. I also think that he is very brave and interesting in that sense because he burnt all the work he did over the course of 13 years, not many artists could bring themselves to do somethings like that, this is another thing that I like a lot about him, his mentality at that point in his life, I think he is a respectable person, especially as he might have been struggling with things like mental issues in his life at that point and managed to channel into in to his art
Instruction based art questions
Can an idea be a piece of art?
I think that an idea can be piece of art in the correct context, concept art Is based around this idea, where the concept of a piece of art is more important than the art itself, what I mean by ‘in the correct context’ is that if someone was to make a piece of art without it meaning anything then no the idea isn’t the piece of art however, if an artist/photographer takes time to out thought into and turn a concept into a piece of art then yes that idea is a piece of art.
Is good art always skill full?
I think that anyone can be an artist and it isn’t hard to become an artist, in current times there are multiple different ways to be an artist, different media and I think that art means different things to different people. During the renaissance period of art, the only thing considered to be art was very detailed paintings that often took years to make, this kind of art took a lot of skill, at the same time it was the only form of art that was popular at the time. It is interesting how much art and artists have developed since then, in the modern-day art can take form of, photography, sculpture, drawing, painting, film and media, the difference from then to now is very much that art can be anything now, a good example is Onement by Barnett Newman, this piece of art is highly popular and is worth 43.8 million dollars, the painting is a dark blue colour with a white stripe going down the middle, it is interesting to see how art has evolved from the renaissance to the modern day.
If you don’t make works of art can you be an artist?
I think that this question really depends on what kind of artist the person is, if you do art that requires other people to make it then yes you can be an artist because it is your idea, this concept also works for photography, if you tell someone where, when, what of and with what settings on the camera, and you give them this information, and tell them to take a picture with the information then it is your pictures as you came up with the idea and all the person you are asking to take the picture is doing is going to the place and pressing the shutter. In my personal-opinion I think that to be an artist you have to have made something yourself, unless the focus of your art is instruction based and you get other people to do it.
Why might artists ask other people to do their work for them?
Artists do this for various different reasons, some people might not be capable of doing it themselves, if an artist wants to make a big structure but they cannot build it then they would have to get help doing it from people like builders, this is interesting because it links back to the other question if you don’t make works of art are you an artist?, in this context then someone defiantly is because they have thought of the idea of what to do, just someone else is helping them make it. Some artists might ask others to do their work for them to find out what people other than themselves think and take on their work.
What makes instruction interesting?
Instruction is interesting because it raises a question that people have different views on, where the line between something being your art and someone else is, I am a strong believer that the person giving instruction is the artist but then again I think that the art in do it is not just that artists work, do it is a large collaboration with lots of people to connect with their favorite artists, so I believe more that for an event like that it is a collaboration of work but when someone instructs someone on how to do their work for them then I do believe that is their work.
Does the photographer always need to press the shutter?
The photographer can take a picture and it is his, but the picture isn’t just pressing the shutter, before taking a picture, a photographer will consider where they are taking it, what they are taking it of and what settings they will use on the camera, that last point is one of the most important, without certain settings being in a certain way then a photograph can look compeletly different, so esseantially, n o the photographer doesn’t need to press the shutter.
I think that an idea can be piece of art in the correct context, concept art Is based around this idea, where the concept of a piece of art is more important than the art itself, what I mean by ‘in the correct context’ is that if someone was to make a piece of art without it meaning anything then no the idea isn’t the piece of art however, if an artist/photographer takes time to out thought into and turn a concept into a piece of art then yes that idea is a piece of art.
Is good art always skill full?
I think that anyone can be an artist and it isn’t hard to become an artist, in current times there are multiple different ways to be an artist, different media and I think that art means different things to different people. During the renaissance period of art, the only thing considered to be art was very detailed paintings that often took years to make, this kind of art took a lot of skill, at the same time it was the only form of art that was popular at the time. It is interesting how much art and artists have developed since then, in the modern-day art can take form of, photography, sculpture, drawing, painting, film and media, the difference from then to now is very much that art can be anything now, a good example is Onement by Barnett Newman, this piece of art is highly popular and is worth 43.8 million dollars, the painting is a dark blue colour with a white stripe going down the middle, it is interesting to see how art has evolved from the renaissance to the modern day.
If you don’t make works of art can you be an artist?
I think that this question really depends on what kind of artist the person is, if you do art that requires other people to make it then yes you can be an artist because it is your idea, this concept also works for photography, if you tell someone where, when, what of and with what settings on the camera, and you give them this information, and tell them to take a picture with the information then it is your pictures as you came up with the idea and all the person you are asking to take the picture is doing is going to the place and pressing the shutter. In my personal-opinion I think that to be an artist you have to have made something yourself, unless the focus of your art is instruction based and you get other people to do it.
Why might artists ask other people to do their work for them?
Artists do this for various different reasons, some people might not be capable of doing it themselves, if an artist wants to make a big structure but they cannot build it then they would have to get help doing it from people like builders, this is interesting because it links back to the other question if you don’t make works of art are you an artist?, in this context then someone defiantly is because they have thought of the idea of what to do, just someone else is helping them make it. Some artists might ask others to do their work for them to find out what people other than themselves think and take on their work.
What makes instruction interesting?
Instruction is interesting because it raises a question that people have different views on, where the line between something being your art and someone else is, I am a strong believer that the person giving instruction is the artist but then again I think that the art in do it is not just that artists work, do it is a large collaboration with lots of people to connect with their favorite artists, so I believe more that for an event like that it is a collaboration of work but when someone instructs someone on how to do their work for them then I do believe that is their work.
Does the photographer always need to press the shutter?
The photographer can take a picture and it is his, but the picture isn’t just pressing the shutter, before taking a picture, a photographer will consider where they are taking it, what they are taking it of and what settings they will use on the camera, that last point is one of the most important, without certain settings being in a certain way then a photograph can look compeletly different, so esseantially, n o the photographer doesn’t need to press the shutter.
Assignment number 10
thoughts and ideas Beforehand
In class we were asked to make a series of 30 images under certain instructions, the instructions were, 'photograph the back of things, underneaths of things, extreme fore shortenings, uncharacteristic views. Or trace them'. My initial views on this assignment was that I had never really been given instructions in this way that I had to take a series of images, so I was excited to do it. I thought that the instructions were interesting and I hadn't ever photographed in such a bizarre way. What I first wanted to get out of this was some decent pictures that were taken under instruction.
In class we were asked to make a series of 30 images under certain instructions, the instructions were, 'photograph the back of things, underneaths of things, extreme fore shortenings, uncharacteristic views. Or trace them'. My initial views on this assignment was that I had never really been given instructions in this way that I had to take a series of images, so I was excited to do it. I thought that the instructions were interesting and I hadn't ever photographed in such a bizarre way. What I first wanted to get out of this was some decent pictures that were taken under instruction.
Thoughts and ideas afterwards
I enjoyed taking these images, I enjoyed it because this is the first time not just in a photography lesson but in my general interest in photography, this is the first time i have ever been asked to take pictures in such a specific way, so taking these images around the school was interesting. The images that I took are very different, I tried to find a balance between all four of the instructions so that I had a variety of images, so I think that the images that I have taken are interesting and that I have taken time to review, retake and think about these images. I did find this difficult in the beginning because I was worried about wether the images were good enough, as I started taking more I realised what the images were meant to be like and how they were meant to be taken, in the end I was defiantly in the hang of it, I took fifty pictures, all of which I had taken time to think about and put effort into, the images above are simply my favourite thirty. I think that I aM able to take interesting photographs and follow instruction, in a way I like doing it almost just as much because if you have multiple peoples work in one place and they have all followed the same instructions then it shows peoples different style of photography.
I enjoyed taking these images, I enjoyed it because this is the first time not just in a photography lesson but in my general interest in photography, this is the first time i have ever been asked to take pictures in such a specific way, so taking these images around the school was interesting. The images that I took are very different, I tried to find a balance between all four of the instructions so that I had a variety of images, so I think that the images that I have taken are interesting and that I have taken time to review, retake and think about these images. I did find this difficult in the beginning because I was worried about wether the images were good enough, as I started taking more I realised what the images were meant to be like and how they were meant to be taken, in the end I was defiantly in the hang of it, I took fifty pictures, all of which I had taken time to think about and put effort into, the images above are simply my favourite thirty. I think that I aM able to take interesting photographs and follow instruction, in a way I like doing it almost just as much because if you have multiple peoples work in one place and they have all followed the same instructions then it shows peoples different style of photography.
most interesting photograph out of the thirty that I took
This is my most interesting photograph out of the thirty that I took, I think that it meets the criteria of what we had to do for assignment number ten. With buildings I think that we always look up at them anyway so to a certain degree they always look like they are towering over people, something that most people don't always view in this way is other people, so I thought that it would be interesting to see an uncharacteristic view on a person. What I tried to achieve with this image was try and distort the two subjects of this image, the building and the person, I wanted to make this person look a lot taller than he usually would and to make the building look smaller than it usually would, all this was taken from an uncharacteristic view. I am glad because I think that I managed to achieve these things. I may have put too much thought into making this image but the outcome was exactly how I wanted it to be.
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These are my four favourite images from the photoshoot, I think that they fit the criteria of what was asked of us to take, these four mages all have uncharacteristic views, foreshortenings, the back and the underneeth of things.
second instruction based art photoshoot
For this photoshoot I think I went more down the route of uncharacteristic viewpoints, I still do have a lot of other variety in this photoshoot but uncharacteristic viewpoints is the type of image for this task that I am best at taking, this is highlighted in this set of images. I think that I went into taking these images with a much different attitude having done this task once before, my images are not better than the images in the last photoshoot, as it only takes a certain amount of understanding to complete this task however, I do think that the two sets of images differ as I had already evaluated the images that I did in the last photoshoot.
WWW
These images very much highlight my ability to see and take images in uncharacteristic viewpoints whereas in the last photoshoot it was a much more wide variety of ability across the whole task and I showed what I could do under all the categories which I have also done in this photoshoot, I just think that this one shows my strengths a lot more than my previous photoshoot.
EBI
I think that this photoshoot could have been better if I had taken more images, for example in the last photoshoot that I did I took two times as many images as I have taken here, when I take more images I think that it gives more variety as to what I can and cant put on my website.
WWW
These images very much highlight my ability to see and take images in uncharacteristic viewpoints whereas in the last photoshoot it was a much more wide variety of ability across the whole task and I showed what I could do under all the categories which I have also done in this photoshoot, I just think that this one shows my strengths a lot more than my previous photoshoot.
EBI
I think that this photoshoot could have been better if I had taken more images, for example in the last photoshoot that I did I took two times as many images as I have taken here, when I take more images I think that it gives more variety as to what I can and cant put on my website.
These six images are taken from both photoshoots and they are the images that I think fit best with what we had been asked to do for the assignment, I think that this especially highlights my ability to take images from uncharacteristic viewpoints, I also think that it highlights my style of photography. These images also show how even though someone else has instructed the images to be taken there is just enough of in put from the person taking the images that the images are taken in the style of the photographer taking the images.
10 images of water
I decided to take my images close up to the subject, not to the point where the images are unclear and obstructed but to the point where they could be considered abstract. I thought that it would be interesting to take some of the images of where there is also traces of water instead of being something similar to a glass of water, so I took images of where water had been splatted on a wall, where water had been soaked into the ground. I also took images of different sources of water/different ways of consuming water, so I experimented with water fountains, bottles and glasses.
Shapes and lines
In class we were asked to take ten images focusing on two of the formal elements, I chose to use the shapes and lines because I thought that this would be an interesting two elements to choose. Choosing the two elements to to use was difficult as all of them have so much variety. I decided that the two elements that I wanted to use were shapes and lines, I thought that these were interesting on their own but even better together, the way that they work together was especially helpful during the process. In all items and objects there are shapes and lines obviously but the way that you photograph them is what brings out those features, making things seem more three dimensional. It wasn't just objects that I photographed I took pictures of places in certain ways, highlighting walls and windows and the way that the light comes through and bounces off of them.
photography/instruction based game
In class we were asked to make photography games over the course of about three weeks, this was a homework task therefore we had to work on this very independently. The first stage of this task was to come up with an idea, this was the most challenging part for me as I couldn't really think of any ideas as to what I could make, I knew that I wanted to make a game that involved a set of laminated cards that you had to follow. The basic theory behind my game is that you roll a dice and find the instruction card that has the same number that the dice had after you threw it and you follow that instruction. The process of making it was easier than thinking of the idea, first I had to print off all the cards at the same size and after that I had to laminate each individual card, I felt that without it being laminated then it seems messy and less like you have put effort in. Another part of the making process was getting a box to put the cards in again because I thought without a box then it looks as if you have put less effort in.
what is my photography game ?
My photography game is a kind of card game where there is three players, or three teams, and each of the three players/teams gets a card that has one of three photography genres (portraiture, landscape and abstraction), each genre has six, genre based instructions cards, numbered from one to six, each of which have the instruction on one side and the genre and number on the other, the team/player will roll a dice and see what number on the dice they get, the number they get is the number instruction card that they follow (they already know the genre of instruction cards that they have as they got given the card with their genre on it at the beginning).
rules
1- Three player game.
2- this game can be played in three teams, this is also advised as this way, more people are giving their input into how the pictures should be taken.
3- Hand out the three starting cards (portraiture, abstraction and landscape), without looking at them (each of these categories have six instruction cards that go with them).
4- Turns should go in order of age to make the game work more efficiently.
5- Roll the dice and find the numbered instruction card that has the same number as the one on the dice, for example if you rolled a six then you would pick up instruction card number six.
6- Follow the instruction on the instruction card.
7- Repeat for this process for each three players four times over.
8- Multiple people can be following their instructions at the same time, not just one player after the other.
9- Take every image that you are instructed to take in your own style, not what you think the game would want you to take it in, the instructions are simply there to tell you what to do not how to do it.
10- present between the three people/teams after everyone has finished, the images that you have taken.
My photography game is a kind of card game where there is three players, or three teams, and each of the three players/teams gets a card that has one of three photography genres (portraiture, landscape and abstraction), each genre has six, genre based instructions cards, numbered from one to six, each of which have the instruction on one side and the genre and number on the other, the team/player will roll a dice and see what number on the dice they get, the number they get is the number instruction card that they follow (they already know the genre of instruction cards that they have as they got given the card with their genre on it at the beginning).
rules
1- Three player game.
2- this game can be played in three teams, this is also advised as this way, more people are giving their input into how the pictures should be taken.
3- Hand out the three starting cards (portraiture, abstraction and landscape), without looking at them (each of these categories have six instruction cards that go with them).
4- Turns should go in order of age to make the game work more efficiently.
5- Roll the dice and find the numbered instruction card that has the same number as the one on the dice, for example if you rolled a six then you would pick up instruction card number six.
6- Follow the instruction on the instruction card.
7- Repeat for this process for each three players four times over.
8- Multiple people can be following their instructions at the same time, not just one player after the other.
9- Take every image that you are instructed to take in your own style, not what you think the game would want you to take it in, the instructions are simply there to tell you what to do not how to do it.
10- present between the three people/teams after everyone has finished, the images that you have taken.