Chloe Piene

I have been looking at the video work of Chloe Piene as she is interested in youth culture. In The Woods, which was shown at Liverpool Biennial in 2002, Piene filmed a group of teenagers in a 'mosh-pit' in a club-like setting. Piene then slowed the video and sound down so that it highlighted the ritualistic type behaviour of hardcore music fans dancing to their favourite music in a group. Similarly in Self Portrait, 2002, Piene drew a crowd of metal fans to a concert and filmed herself crowd-surfing among them. She used a spotlight on her body so that she would become over-exposed; creating an ethereal, glowing, almost religious figure above the metal fans. This again references religious and tribal themes.

In other video works, such as Blackmouth, Piene shows a frustrated young girl in isolation - showing the power of the human body as the girl howls; presenting herself as a hybrid between human and animal. Piene films herself in this same way in You're Gonna Be My Woman; where she is isolated and trapped in a concrete cube; appearing erotic and tortured, almost possessed by demons. Both of these films were also edited and slowed down as part of Piene's signature style.

I'm interested in similar themes to Chloe Piene - in youth culture, and shared experiences such as clubbing and going to concerts, very similar to those that Piene depicts. People feature strongly in her work, which is something I am keen to develop; I like the contrast between some of her videos which depict large groups of people, and others that show a lone person in isolation. My work has been described to sometimes look like that of a 'journalist photographer' as I depict students isolated, as though there is a spotlight on them. Light is very important in Piene's work as it is in mine; figures often have a spotlight on them, and the work has a 'glow' to it - which I am starting to include a lot in my paintings. The colour, or the 'glow', aiming to sum up the atmosphere of the memory. Piene's tribal themes really interest me; - showing teenage behaviour as cult-like and ritualistic. I think student culture and nightlife can be similar to this. It has made me think more about other scenes I can depict. As Piene has also focused on revelers; it has made me think more about the UK riots that happened in 2011, across various cities in Birmingham. I might start collecting some images of this to work from, as it is a recent experience that we all have memories of; as it was so widely covered in the media at the time. I want to now start collecting my images from video footage; as the stills of Piene's work I have here have an 'in the moment' quality, as they are like action shots; which I think could really improve my work.

Eberhard Havekost

Havekost creates his paintings from his own collection of photos and videos - digitally altering the original image. The alterations are generally subtle - such as a slight change in hue, and then these changes are then translated into painting. The paintings are therefore slightly inaccurate perceptions - adjusted versions of the truth, but they actually end up making more visually pleasing images as he reaches an 'ideal image'. Havekost is interested in the city and modernist buildings, - interested in politics and the idea of a failed utopia. His work doesn't seem overtly political though - there isn't any emotive or protest-style language - but one of banality. Havekost crops images and uses extreme close-ups, which make his work almost pure abstraction. 

The process of Havekost's practice is very similar to mine in that I also collect photos and video footage from the media, and then digitally alter them. However, I also emulsion print them, in order to 'lose' even more of the image (before re-scanning and re-editing). The digitally altered images then provide plans for paintings. Havekost's images veer towards abstraction and there is an ambiguity to them - much like what I try to create with my own paintings. I want the viewers to be able to 'fill in' the story - to work out the narrative of what is happening within the images, as so much of it has been erased. Havekost's paintings also look like memories, in that they look fleeting; snapshots of time and place. I am trying to create the same thing within my own images - a collective memory of an era; a summing up of time and place. I'm also interested in the city and this dystopian view - but not so much the banality of ideal image of it. I want to show 'truth', or at least the perception we might have of an event through the media. As I am working with collective memories that I want viewers to recognise - even in my abstractions I need to keep an element of truth or familiarity, so that viewers can recognise what the images are relating to. Havekost generally creates a series of several paintings and displays them together, so they become part of a story; filling a narrative. I am hoping to do the same with my own work - create a series of images that relate to the collective memories of my generation/fellow students, and that refers to life in the city.