'time, the noo'

my project began when i found a book on a beach in greece. it's a 2007 pictorial diary containing frameworks of time where each double page spread is one week and illustrations are both historically literal and visually / mythollogically imaginative. the book, 'comte de choisuel gouffier. pictorial tour of greece 1782', is in the form of a hard back and has a ribbon for keeping the relevant page



cover of diary (left) and illustration, digitally coloured in (right)


someone lost this diary in summer 2007 and i have since cared for it in north east scotland, even taking it to the beach, and kept it on my studio desk. if it is yours, please contact me to reclaim. i have never written in it (partly due to the fact i find it an impractical size and myself incapable of consistantly using a diary)

i was interested in the aesthetics of the book, which lead me to think about it in more conceptual terms. the notion of time linked with my existing interests in photography, new media, minimalism, space, documentation and mapping. i wanted to explore the processes and dialogues contained within the visuals. i suppose that visualising time was my initial aim



photographed background, swapping decorative motif for a tattoo




containers of time collaged with diary frameworks

after seeing my work at the 'work in progress' exhibition, a lecturer advised me to look up the author italo calvino. i was inspired by his books and found it really helped me to verbalise my work.



work in progress image layout


“is what you see always behind you?”
“does your journey always take place in the past?”
- calvino, i. invisible cities

location : :
north east scotland is the landscape i used for much of the photography. coming from there, i wanted to bring an element of it into the project and this is why i used the colloquial phrase 'the noo'

as i like to spend my time on or near beaches i felt i could engage with the landscape through my creative design. the open space, colours and atmopshere helped facilitate my work




inspiration on the tinternet : :
cape farewell
david carson
everyoneforever.com
vincent laforet
dmtr

books : :
plato : symposium
(illustrated by) gouffier : pictorial tour of greece
almond, d : 50 moons at a time
ambrose / harris : the fundamentals of typography
anikst, m a : russian graphic design
calvino, i : invisible cities
demand, t : b&k+
klanten, mischler, hellige : swiss graphic design
noble, i and bestley, r : visual research
williams, g : cream3, contemporary art in culture
paterson, t : struktur
architecture now

odell, j : onedotzero_select dvd's 1 – 4. adventures in moving image
greenaway, p : a zed and two noughts (dvd film)

the clock / diary on the right of this page is a flash file i designed as a typographic response. i wanted to create an abstract image with no defined border which has themes of now (the noo) and space. by giving the image no border, i aim to give time a fresh, user-defined framework. the flash script was created by jamie eason @ d o j, dundee university





screenprinted sign





"the city repeats itself so something will stick in the mind" - italo calvino
click to enlarge





google earth screenshots
click to enlarge





a tee shirt i made





my hardcover book, printed from blurb
click here to see it in detail





a wallpaper made out of the days of the week





now - the past is one way, the future is another, and you are somewhere





thursday printed / cut out of paper





signage and tide tables





writing "saturday" in the sand using chile powder. the dark red text became an important aspect in order to emulate the aesthetic of the pictorial diary, as was the typographic design.





2 photos of the same scene about 2 hours apart, stitched together





a random piece of pipe just above the high tide line - a clock





google earth screenshots, with lines drawn on to map my path when i was doing my project on location





in the dark, using a long exposure, i like using a laser pen to draw. the laser pen also has a blue light which gives this pic a purple-ish feel. its a wave





pencil and collage straight onto the wall. i really like having an image lost in a large white space





double layered image mounted on perspex





illustration level 4 exhibition of work in progress. i designed the poster (image above) for the exhibition and included 2 works in the show

i feel this project could go on further, in fact forever. my final outcomes do give satisfaction and allow me to view my work in new light, giving a sense of completion. i think there are avenues i would like to develop further, but in the meantime i really want to take many more photos of more things.
oh, and windsurf lots