Antony Gormley - Blind Light

I like the mysterious quality to this pieces, the people behind the smoke create shadows and silhouettes that look dazed and disorientated. They look somewhat like they are vulnerable and need rescuing from the smoke. I like how the smoke creates mysterious human presence and a dark and eerie shapes and movements through the smoke. I have been looking towards the dark side of everyday life and human presence, this piece shows emotions and vulnerable side to the human being.

Anthony Gormley - Another Place

Gormley's Another Place is currently situated on Crosby beach which is not far from my house. I get the chance to see them and observe them whenever. I have always been intrigued by these ghostly sculptures that are dotted all along the beach. When they were first placed along Crosby beach there was some confusion and panic as the onlookers watched the human figure get battered and consumed by the waves as the tide came in. However I have always been interested in the sculptures and over the years of them being along the beach I have learnt to love them more. I feel that the piece is quite a Dark piece, being that each sculpture is isolated alone all the time. The idea that the sea and the sand are trapping the sculpture and they cannot escape from their fate. The sculptures are looking out towards the sea, I often questioned, what are they looking for? Are they looking for freedom from the world they are trapped in at the moment? The sculptures are all looking out towards America, could this mean they are seeking freedom and looking for another life elsewhere.

For me this is a very emotive piece of work by Gormley. The piece evokes human emotion and human presence. As I have said it is a very Dark piece, the sculptures are alone and vulnerable to the elements and also other human beings. Depending on where each sculpture is placed along the sea front determines how much they actually go under water. When the tide is out the sculptures that are further out are laced with barnacles and seaweed that have latched on to the sculpture over the years. This shows the piece aging and deteriorating just the same as humans do if we are consumed by something that traps us.

Goldsworthy - Rain Shadows

For me these pieces of 'Rain Shadows' are very intriguing. I find them almost haunting to look at. They remind me of a crime scene of a murder or something, were the police or forensics draw around the body to mark its presence. For me these 'rain shadows' evoke a lot of human presence. However it is more of an obvious human presence than his work I've previously mentioned. I like the eeriness again of these pieces by Goldsworthy and the ephemeral aspect to them also.

Andy Goldsworthy

Goldsworthy is another artist that works with the environment in an ephemeral way, All his works are preserved only by using photography. Looking at Goldsworthy's work he also uses the circle format to create most of his pieces. I can relate to these pieces again with me tea stain work as they are also ephemeral pieces of art. I think the format of Goldsworthy's pieces is really beautiful and delicate. I don't necessarily feel the eeriness with these pieces like Long's circle shapes because of the warm colours and delicate leaves used to create the pieces. However I have been inspired by the way he captures his images with photography and that is what I'm going to experiment with through this project.

Richard Long

I like the images above and below because they look somewhat eerie, they have been made by a person and they allow the viewer to see the human presence within the piece. They are a similar format to the 'tea stain' mark and have similar qualities such as the circle shape and the fact that a human can only create these marks.

I visited Berlin last year with the university and we visited a gallery with Richard Longs work in it, i like how he uses the 'circle' format within his pieces. I have always been fascinated by the idea of the circling action, that is also a mark only humans can make and I asked myself why do we circle things, similar to what I was looking into with my previous project, the idea of circling is to pin point something, to draw your attention to something. For me the circle withing Richard Longs work represents someone being there. Richard Long uses pieces of the environment to build up his work such as mud, stones, wood etc. This makes his artwork somewhat ephemeral. Which is what I think the 'tea stain' is to me.

Human Presence

using the idea that a ‘tea stain’ represents human presence is a metaphor for a human having been present.

- The idea to document the tea stain, different places and different times, using photography.

- use the tea stain as means to communicate different emotions. E.g. splashed everywhere – anger, small circle – calm, happy??

- Documentation of emotions different types of stains. Represent how you feel on different day, about different situations.

- Eeriness of tea stain, the idea that someone has been there someone is or was present.

- play with scale, is a certain persons presence too over powering?

- could evoke unsaid feelings or emotions. isolation, violence(eerie theme) almost like a crime scene? Instead of finger prints its tea?

Only a human can make that mark!

My next project is based around the idea of human presence and the everyday. How often do we hear or see people talking about having tea or coffee? For me i feel its an everyday occurrence in a humans everyday life. I began by linking the physical mark of a 'tea stain' to the presence of a human being, the idea being that only a human can make such a mark.