Saoirse Crean - Artist

Screen grabs from my last film.

Wed, 11 May 2011 10:54:41 +0100

Screen grabs from my last film.

Recap:

Wed, 11 May 2011 10:51:00 +0100

I feel I have successfully referenced the following criteria:

1. How did you arrive at your management group and what is its structure - Through volunteering and voting as a whole year group. We chose to have the following teams: Marketing and PR, Fundraising and Merchandise, Catalogue. We also elected a group president, secretary and treasurer.
2. What is your role in the organisation? Outline your duties and the expectations upon you. - My role in the organisation is head of marketing and PR. This involves overseeing a team of 5 people. Delegating responsibilities such as gaining official sponsorship, designing a brand, advertising online and in national publications, applying for funding for the london and edinburgh tour (and arranging all the finer details of this), social networking.
3. What are the key issues/considerations arising out of the relationship with Peter Scott Gallery? (contract/deadlines/health and safety) The contract has to be signed by tomorrow and each member of the class will pay a £40 deposit. There are no obvious health and safety implications with my work, apart from any wires and cords will have to be covered and taped to the floor.
4. Describe the descision making processes for the catalogue. (references/design/funding/taste) The majority of decisions for the catalogue were made by the catalogue team and were not group decisions. We asked Gerry Davies to write the tribute part in the front but as far as I am aware he declined! The design is similar to the brand created by the Marketing team. We funded this through bake sales, socials, and sponsorship from North West Mediation Solutions.
5. How do you want your work to be represented within the group show? (issues/tensions/opportunities) I wish to project my latest film which I am in the process of making, in the video viewing space upstairs in the Peter Scott Gallery. It will need to be viewed on a large scale so one feels they are almost a part of the piece. This could cause issues and tensions as other digital artists in the class may also require their films to be viewed on a large scale and would mean showing one film after another.. which I am not so happy with as viewers may not wait around to watch all the films on a loop when there are 39 works to be seen.
6. What overall design/look/hanging arrangement do you want for the solo aspect of the show in the studios? I will possibly be displaying my work in the installation space of the new LICA Building, or in a blacked out space in Bowland Annexe. I will have my film ‘Out of Touch’ projected on a large scale, and my film from last term displayed on a television set in the same space, preferably with a sofa in front so the viewer feels the environment is like a familiar homely space.
7. What are the practical considerations in terms of location, spatial arrangement, lighting, technology, audiences? ( you can use plans, maps, and measurements) As some of my work is to be projected I will need darkened spaces. My newest piece can be viewed by standing in front of the large scale projection, therefore seating etc isn’t important- and it will be less than five minutes long. However my work in Bowland Annexe or the Installation space will need a sofa, or reflect a familiar home environment. Technology required will be 2 projectors, a television, and 3 dvd players.

Marketing Meeting Today

Tue, 10 May 2011 19:00:10 +0100

I had a meeting with the marketing team today to decide how we are going to be able to promote ourselves online and to decide who to send invitations to.

I will be setting up a facebook group for the marketing team where we can share information about any free online advertising we may be able to get, and to find sites that advertise art exhibitions and degree shows.

I then gave each member of the team a city or area of their own in which they will promote the degree show. The show will be promoted by sending invitations and catalogues to 6th form colleges, foundation courses, curators of galleries and gallery directors etc, and any other people from creative businesses who may be interested in coming.

We will be dividing London between everyone in the group so we can make sure we cover all the galleries.

The emails will include a short greeting message and the invitation and a pdf of the catalogue will be attached.

The Wordpress Page

Tue, 10 May 2011 18:46:07 +0100

The Wordpress Page:

Now that our poster ,and therefore website addresses, are in public circulation- it is important for me to keep on top of them and make sure they look professional and provide the information that people may require.

On our wordpress site, we have weekly ‘interviews with the artists’ and I have just updated this site with our portraits and names.

Similar information is held on the facebook page and twitter page. I have managed to keep on top of them quite well so far- but the next month will be particularly busy!!

My latest work experience:

Tue, 10 May 2011 18:42:05 +0100

My latest work experience::

I have just been told that I will be Mark Amerika’s assistant all next week in various film locations across the north west. I will be documenting and photographing the different areas in order to help him to decide which will be the most suitable locations for his film and I think I will be helping with the filming as well… I’m not really sure what the work experience fully entails yet but I know it’s going to be a very busy week!! Filming all day for Mark Amerika’s film, and editing all night for my own work!

Amerika has been commissioned by AND Festival to make this film for their 2012 festival.

Really looking forward to it- apparently he’s a lovely bloke.

Saoirse Crean - Artist: Describe the descision making processes for the catalogue. (references/design/funding/taste)

Mon, 09 May 2011 16:00:04 +0100

Saoirse Crean - Artist: Describe the descision making processes for the catalogue. (references/design/funding/taste) :

efbates:

saoirsecrean:

After looking at different options for the catalogue, the group came to the decision that it was best to use a square format, as we needed something bigger than previous years because there are so many of us, but an A4 size just wouldn’t have looked professional enough. If we had gone for the same…

Hi Saorise,

I just want to say that me and Pul-ling have spent alot of time designing the front cover for this Catalogue, making sure there was a link to the posters and invitations you had sent out. Also, I can’t quite see how you think this page is fussy! I think it’s the opposite, it’s incredibly minimal, even more so then the poster and when I tried using the font on the poster it just looked rather boring with all that white space, un-professional and like we hadn’t put much thought into the design. Unlike the poster with all the text, the catalogue needed more character to it which is why we chose this font after much deliberation. It is also very similar to the comments people made on the first layouts in regard to the typewriter font. I also think this makes it look quirky and creative, as it is an art catalogue after all..

Thank you for your comments but I think we have made a very strong visual link to your poster designs and tried to bear in mind the comments the group have mentioned. I have also been told on several occasions by people that it doesn’t have to directly link to the posters anyway. We spent ages looking at font designs, much like you did with the posters so we have to make the decision since we were voted in to do this job. I’m sure you’ll understand that we aren’t going to please all 39 students and how hard it is when you’ve spent weeks designing and people aren’t so keen.

Hi Emma,

I hope you didn’t take my blog post as a personal attack! In the course handbook we are required to “Describe the decision making process for the catalogue. (References/design/funding/tatse)”

I was critiquing the choices made for the catalogue and stating what I would have done differently. After all, taste is subjective. I think the point of these blogs is to answer the assessment criteria ourselves, from our own point of view, otherwise we would have 39 blogs all writing the same thing about the catalogue.

I would be happy to discuss this further with you in person.

hazelblake: Group photo for the catalogue taken by Suzy...

Mon, 09 May 2011 10:32:21 +0100

hazelblake:

Group photo for the catalogue taken by Suzy Wimbourne

important dates

Sun, 08 May 2011 19:33:43 +0100

hazelblake:

- Thursday 5th May- A discussion with Richard from the Peter Scott Gallery about practical considerations for our degree show.

- Wednesday 11^th May- Hand in Curatorship work and CD

- Wednesday 11^th May- Email Rachel Daniel with artist statement

- Monday 16^th May- Email Rose or Anna with artwork images

- Monday 20^th June- All practical work ready for exhibition

- Tuesday 21^st June- Exhibition (eek)

Describe the descision making processes for the catalogue. (references/design/funding/taste)

Sat, 07 May 2011 18:08:39 +0100

After looking at different options for the catalogue, the group came to the decision that it was best to use a square format, as we needed something bigger than previous years because there are so many of us, but an A4 size just wouldn’t have looked professional enough. If we had gone for the same layout as previous years, with each artist having 2 pages each, then we would have had to get the catalogue bound which would have raised the costs considerably. With each person having just one, fairly large page, it means we can get them stapled in the middle and save about £1000. The design of the catalogue was chosen by the catalogue team. I think the inside pages work really well and have a professional layout. The cover is a bit fussy for my personal taste, and the font isn’t the same as the posters and invitations which is a shame, as I would have preferred if the degree show had one overall brand image that was cohesive throughout. Especially seeing as we had to have so many votes with the class and redesign the poster and logo until the lecturers were happy with it! I do like the catalogue overall though, and we have been told it’s main function is as a souvenir for the students and their families I will, however, be sending the catalogue out to art world professionals as a PDF attachment with the invitations. Hopefully this will act as a preview for the degree show and encourage more people to come.

How do you want your work to be represented within the group show?

Wed, 04 May 2011 23:43:13 +0100

This is something I have given great consideration to recently.

The title of my dissertation was “The Role of the Gallery in a Society Shaped by Technology” and the conclusions I came to were that a physical gallery space isn’t necessarily the right environment for my work.

My work is about the need for people to connect and how we are achieving these connections more and more through technology. It’s a bit of a utopian ideal that many digital artists seem to share, and one could certainly take a negative view point and argue that technology is in fact alienating us even more from each other. I, however, feel we should be embracing these technologies.

I have been looking at artists such as Jeremy Bailey, who create work which is specifically to be viewed online.

Thanks to social networking, we have the ability to share information with one another for free nowadays and there isn’t really an elitist institutional control over net art- as there would be for art being shown in a gallery.

Having my work on the Internet means anyone can view my work for free, I am not out for financial gain but wish to share my work and ideas with anyone who wants to see them.

Being a digital artist, my work is produced for the screen. I make my work on a 27” monitor and this is how I am used to seeing it. In my last film/performance, I am watching the television in my living room, my character is then transported in to the television and is able to interact with the programs. This television is also a 27” screen.

When I watch programs on iPlayer and 4OD, or watch YouTube videos, they appear in a small rectangle in the corner of the screen. I want to keep this viewing process in mind when creating my films in the future.

I am thinking of displaying my work in an online gallery rather than the physical Peter Scott Gallery, yet I need to think of a way to make this accessible to people in the Peter Scott Gallery- seeing as we have to have a piece of work in there.

So far my ideas include having a live Twitter feed projected on the wall where people can make comments about my film that they have viewed online, or possibly having a computer or iPhone that viewers can watch my film on. The point of this is that technology is becoming a part of who we are and we need to embrace it and use it to connect with one another, as was Paik’s vision.

Having my film displayed on an iPhone could be interesting as the viewer would have headphones in and be able to hold the screen close to their face, therefore not getting distracted by anything else in the room.

I would have to attach the iPhone to an elasticated wire in the wall (as they have in phone shops) so it doesn’t get stolen..

I’m not sure which of these ideas would work better, as viewing a film on an iPhone is quite an anti social activity, whereas a live Twitter feed would promote social interactions.

Outline Duties and what is expected of you:

Wed, 04 May 2011 23:17:34 +0100

As head of the marketing and advertising group, I have been responsible for overseeing and delegating tasks to the marketing team.

So far we have come up with a brand design for the degree show to provide us with a clear identity when advertising in jounals etc.

We have placed our ad in AN magazine and on their website and this is on the British University Artists website aswell.

The event is also listed on the Live at Lica page.

I have also been responsible for obtaining any sponsorship. This has included drafting a letter to be circulated around local businesses by the fundraising team, to gain any prizes that can be used in raffles etc.

The marketing team have also sent a similar letter to larger companies asking for financial support, in return offering these companies free advertising by placing their logo on all of our posters etc. . and who doesnt love to support the Arts?

We have gained sponsorship from Barefoot Wine who will be providing wine for the opening evening. And Charlotte managed to get a nice big cheque from a solicitors.

The Ad in AN magazine and the one that will be in Lancaster Guardian have both been paid for by LUSU Involve because of the artist workshop days we did with local schools.

What is still expected of me:

I am having a meeting with the marketing team on Tuesday where we will design the invitation and decide how we are going to circulate it. We will post some out but the majority will be sent by email. (LUSU have agreed to pay for the invitations)

I need to attach an invitation to the thank you letters which we will be hand delivering to the companies who provided raffle prizes etc.

We need to get A4 posters printed to display in local businesses and North West art galleries.

Larger Posters need to be printed for the degree show week to display outside the peter scott gallery, bowland annexe and the LICA building, along with orange and white ballon arches to link the three buildings together.

If we have enough funds remaining (which I think we might) then we will also be advertising the degree show in Frieze and Art Monthly websites for the month of June.

I feel being head of Marketing has greatly benefited me in terms of future employment, as Arts Marketing is an area that I can see myself working. Even though it isn’t actively creating art work I still feel I have had to be very creative, and I quite enjoy management and developing leadership skills too!

Listings of this years degree shows on an Magazine

Wed, 04 May 2011 22:36:39 +0100

Listings of this years degree shows on an Magazine:

There are lots of good designs out there this year for degree show ads, but I think ours manages to hold its own due to its simplicity.

I'm a featured artist this week on British University Artists:

Tue, 19 Apr 2011 11:47:18 +0100

I'm a featured artist this week on British University Artists:

Saoirse Crean British University Artists Page

Wed, 13 Apr 2011 19:35:20 +0100

Saoirse Crean British University Artists Page:

I have uploaded videos of my work from first year to now. It’s interesting (for me anyway) to be able to track my progress over the three years of this degree and how my ideas have developed. My concepts have generally stayed the same, but deciding how I want to get the meaning across to the viewer has changed and required constant experimentation and research as can be seen here. There is still one more film from first year that I need to find and two from 2nd year. I feel I am nearly there with achieving what I want from the viewers interpretation of my films. There appears to be more than one interpretation at the moment and I need to decide before the final show if this is acceptable, and people can read what they want into these pieces, or if I need to adapt them to make them less ambiguous and even more literal. Making my films too obvious is something I have been warned about in the past though, so I need to be careful with how I go about doing this.

@DazedMagazine - Artist research "Lisa Rovner" uses found footage from the mass media also.

Wed, 06 Apr 2011 18:29:12 +0100

@DazedMagazine - Artist research "Lisa Rovner" uses found footage from the mass media also.

Involve

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 23:04:39 +0100

The Lancaster Involve day went really smoothly and we have recieved some fantastic feedback from the schools involved.

I think we opened the students eyes to the different possibilities that art can hold, and i know a number of them are intending to put the new techniques they learned in to practice in their GCSE’s.

The day was exhausting! And required constant energy on our part.

The digital team consisted of Suzy, Claire and Caroline and me. We spent most of the day before setting up the room that we were using, making sure it was suitably dark for the light graffiti and that the areas were clearly marked for the students to stand whilst making the graffiti. The digital group had a lot of health and safety measures to take as the workshop involved everyone dancing around in the dark with glow sticks to fairly loud pop music, and if we weren’t careful accidents could have occurred.

Each workshop lasted half an hour, there were five all together, and the school children really entered in to the spirit of the day and had a good time.

The afternoon was a bit more chaotic as we were making two large murals and there were nearly 100 people in the same room all helping out. I will show images of the murals once they are hanging on campus.

This day helped me to realise that I could see myself working with young people, preferably in a creative arts environment. Although the day required a huge amount of energy and enthusiasm, I think I could see myself doing this rather than working in the confines of a classroom. Watch out Joe Bourne, I’m after your job!

Last ever Poster design update!! This is the poster that has...

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 22:37:54 +0100

Last ever Poster design update!!

This is the poster that has been sent off to AN magazine. The catalogue will have a similar design to this although it doesn’t have to be exactly the same.

Next on the marketing teams list is sending this poster and all our details out to free arts websites. We may also be able to afford to advertise online with either Art Monthly or Frieze, however the date as passed for advertising in the printed publications.

I’m really pleased with how the Marketing and Publicity team have been working together so far, and I think we are really on top of things.

How can arts organisations make the most of social media?'

Sun, 27 Mar 2011 22:20:34 +0100

How can arts organisations make the most of social media?'

'How Can Arts Organisations Make the Most of Social Media?'

Sun, 27 Mar 2011 22:18:49 +0100

This was a full day of workshops at the Storey Gallery in Lancaster and provided lots of food for thought! The day was run by Marcus Lilley and supported by Involve’s Enterprise Fund.

Marcus asked Suzy and me to present a short workshop on how best to use social networking tools such as Twitter, Twitpic, Facebook, Flickr, Tumblr… to name but a few! We ran two 30 minute sessions with different groups. I think people found it really beneficial. The people attending the workshop had varying ranges of experience with social media, some used facebook on a regular basis, and some found it difficult to understand how these networks could be beneficial to their Arts business. However, I think Suzy and I did a really good job at demonstrating how these tools can be used and the differences between them all.

There was lots of interesting discussions about digital Arts, and listening to non digital artists opinions was beneficial when considering how I want my work to be received.

Above are some pictures of Suzy talking at the event, and explaining the pros and cons of having a Flickr account.

This is the plan for the upper floor of the Peter Scott...

Fri, 25 Mar 2011 00:20:24 +0000

This is the plan for the upper floor of the Peter Scott Gallery, which is where I would ideally like to exhibit my work.

At them moment my idea is to exhibit a live performance and I would like this to be in the alcove upstairs, where films are generally projected. It is a large space though so I don’t know if I would be able to have it all to myself when there are 39 of us needing to exhibit in there. I was discussing with suzy earlier how we could possibly share the space for our work. It is difficult as artists working in digital media, as our work can’t be hung on a wall or places on a floor. Our work involves installations, projections, performances.. all of which can take up a lot of room.

None of my films would be suitable on a television hanging on a wall with no seating area etc. as the viewing experience is as important as the film itself.