YOUR VOICE COUNTS! Can you help please?

As you know, I am currently in the middle of working towards my dissertation of my degree. Here is a big favor. CAN YOU HELP PLEASE? I need as many voices as possible for my research and it would be greatly appreciated if you could spare some time for this questionnaire. 

There are only 6 questions. It will remain anonymous. Please do not worry if you are not in a creative industry, it does not matter. Your voice does matter to me. Feel free to share this link to your friends and family. The more participants the merrier. 

How to submit your answer: 

Please send me your answer via Email to makikohastings@gmail.com

or

You can use blog comment space, but in that case you may like to select anonymous, unless you don’t mind your link will show up. 

Deadline: 

Please submit your answer by Monday 14th November.


(Those who participated in the questionnaire will be automatically entered my Christmas Giveaway Prize Draw!)

Thank you so much!!!!!!!  So here are the questions…

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Q1. What is your age group?

☐ below 18 ☐ 18 - 24   ☐ 25 - 34    ☐ 35-44    ☐ 45-54    ☐ 55-65    ☐ above 65

Q2. What is your perception of ‘beauty’? Please describe as many as you like.

Q3. What is your perception of ‘ugliness’? Please describe as many as you like. 

Q4. Have you seen (or made) any examples of what you perceived as ugly art or ugly subject? If so, please briefly describe what it was and why you felt it was ugly. If the answer is No, please go to Q6.

Q5. Have you seen (or made) any examples of art work, that you first perceived as ugly, but your perception has altered later on? If so, please describe what it was and how it altered.

Q6. Please look at the following four examples of British Artists work and follow the question Q6-1 to Q6-4. 

(fig 1)

My Bed (1998) by Tracey Emin

Emin shows us her own bed, in all its embarrassing glory with empty booze bottles, fag butts, urine stained sheet, worn panties, the bloody aftermath of nervous breakdown. By presenting her bed as art, Emin shares her most personal space, revealing she’s insecure and imperfect as the rest of the world. (referenced form the Saatchi Gallery)

Q6-1. Do you think this work (fig 1) has the aesthetic value and why? 

(fig 2)

Piss Flowers (1991-92) by Helen Chadwick

12 flowers bronze casted from the cavities created by urinating in to the snow, by both Chadwick and her partner David Notarius. She saw the work being erotic, since they were made via a sensual bodily collaboration. (referenced from fineart.ac.uk)

Q6-2. Do you think this work (fig 2) has the aesthetic value and why? 

(fig 3) 

No Woman, No Cry (1998) by Chris Ofili

A tribute to the London teenager Stephen Lawrence who was stubbed to death in 1993. The Metropolitan police investigation into his racially motivated murder was mishandled, and subsequent inquiry described the police force as institutionally racist. In each of the tears shed by the woman in the painting is a collaged image of Stephen Lawrence’s face, while the words “R.I.P. Stephen Lawrence’ are just discernible beneath the layers of paint. The painting stands of two dried, varnished lumps of elephant dung. A third is used as the pendant of the necklace. (referenced from Tate Gallery)

Q6-3. Do you think this work (fig 3) has the aesthetic value and why? 

(fig 4) 

Fantasy Village (2006) by Grayson Perry 

The vessel depicts an alternative vision to the rural idyll and was made for the Charms of Lincolnshire exhibition curated by Perry in 2006. Perry described the work by saying ‘often our vision of rural life is mired in the pre-industrial age. The Victorian era is a popular setting for sexual fantasies as well. The snapshots show typical rural sights today.’ Transferred images captures such as parked vehicles and squashed plastic bottles on streets. (referenced from collection of art and archaeology in Lincolnshire)

Q6-4. Do you think this work (fig 4) has the aesthetic value and why? 

Thank you so much for your time x maki

FLARE

porcelain christmas hangings on their way

ugly ducklings available at FLARE

Going a bit manic with the last minute work for this year’s FLARE. I will be holding my stall on Sunday 6th November at The Tithe Barn. With loads of excuses, I haven’t made much of new items, but will do a big stock sale of my ceramic and print work (up to half price!!!), so don’t miss out the chance! Hope you can make it. 

Have a nice weekend, everyone! x maki

J D I

How are you all doing? 
I am incredibly slow and low with everything at the moment, as the fear of dissertation is taking over my daily life, as well as a huge concern on my mentor’ illness. There seems to be not much improvement with my work but thought I’d just say hi to the world. Life is such a cruel monster at times stealing things around you, but hopefully we all see the peaceful light at the end of the tunnel.   

The image is new Ai-Awase test pieces that came out of a kiln this morning. It took me ages to develop this far but there is still a long way to go. My mentor said, “you can have as many ideas as you want. But just because your idea is precious to you, you don’t have to put them all together now. You must develop it and grow it before putting it into your work.” When I was telling him the idea of my final project and dissertation, he pointed out that I was not thinking enough… He shown me a number of pages of drawings and endless ideas in his sketchbooks, which rather made me feel inadequate.

Whether you agree with what he said or not, you know now the fact that there is NO EXCUSES. Just Do It. x maki 

art of serendipity

Thank you so much for your supportive comments and email messages on the previous post JAPAN NOW. Your ongoing thoughts on people in Japan is definitely the greatest help. I am aiming to start the project in 2012 so will let you know once it’s ready.

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Today I would like to share some wonderful arts and artists that I met in Japan, (and sorry for the delay in posting this!) all of which I found it a kind of ‘serendipity’. You can view more info by clicking the name. 

Kiiroi-tori-utsuwa ten is a beautiful shop with tons of lovely ceramics made by Japanese potters like Makoto Kagoshima and Koki Terakado. I always wanted to visit this shop, so we went off at the first thing in the morning but it was closed! (Oh no, should have checked the opening hour, silly me!) Luckily the shop owner Takahashi-san let us browse and even served us cold drinks in those beautiful pots! How sweet! :) Thank you so much Takahashi san. 

Another fortunate ‘serendipity’ was when I visited Gekkousou to get a new sketchbook. It came cross with a beautiful playful collage and printing exhibition by Mitsuru Ishimasa. I fell in love with his work and in particular his ‘handmade’ story book of map.Then guess what? He happened to be there in site just in time, and after his kind negotiation I also purchased one of his handmade story books (only five exist in the world! ), which has become my precious. 

If you like quirky illustrations, you may already know about Mogu Takahashi. I love her drawing so much and it was lovely to see her exhibition in Tokyo. I also decided to join her ‘making finger puppet’ workshop running that evening at the last minute. It was such fun to  mess around with remnant spontaneously. (Mine are two birdies) Thank you Mogu-san :)

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I am going to have a bit of blog break in order to concentrate on my final year of degree study. Hopefully I can come back now and again to share my progress and certainly will keep you informed about HELP JAPAN PROJECT 2. In the meantime, please feel free to contact me via email. Bye for now. x maki