Breaking the Boundaries

This is the row of houses in which one of I live in, and I did have an idea of this whole row of houses showing my work in their front windows, however I decided not to go ahead with this idea because I did not want my neighbours to be dealing with any negative issues.

The house with the bins outside is my house! and I have decided to show my work on the windows of my front room, rather than involving the neighbours. I also decided to have an open studio as well on the 20th and 21st of October.

What I do like about having the images up at the window is that there are not intrusive as I thought they would be and you do have to walk up to the glass to see the work clearly. 

The postman was really funny! He said he always thought I was strange but in a good way? Also he thought what I had painted was a load of shit but could see I had talent!?! Interesting.. 

Through out the two days I did see some people slow down to look at the images, but nobody came to the door that passed the house.

I targeted people from within the Pathology Laboratory who do not know me or know that I paint or even studying for an M.A
Then reason I decided to do this was because if they did not know me personally then hopefully  any comments recieved would be without worrying about my feelings, and guage a more honest reaction.
I got the impression that people had concerns that this was going to be hard work, non of the people who showed any interest of coming wanted to go to any exhibitions, so I did have to reassure people that firstly this was in my home and that the pieces would be place for people to see easily and this really wasn't going to be anything too formal.
With this in mind I decided that I would not hang all the pictures not only because of the comments mentioned above but also I do live in a small house and I wanted people just be relaxed so I could get some comments if I am being honest!

So I placed the paintings at one end of my lounge and waited really, I didn't give any specific times. I had also placed a A4 poster in the porch of my house, that invited anybody from outside in. 

By the evening a couple of people had turned up and did write some comments,and also on the friday evening more people arrived and comments were made which are below and are with the paintings that they relate to.  

"This picture makes me feel that this individual has seen someone and does not want to be seen."

"I like the sad looking dog with the red background because it makes you want to cuddle him all up, it's so loving. Not like the sad dog in the blue as its making me feel sad."

"I really like the dog with a red background and the hood over his head. Looked sad but I liked it."

"Loved the red colours. Sad face, lovely pic."

"I like the female dog, she has such a sad, yet friendly face that I feel I could talk to her." (Verbal comment).

     

"This picture seems as if they are stalking someone."

"The blue background dog is lovely."

"Blue is very deep but lovely colour."

"The work especially the blue painting has no relevance to modern society! I don't see a hoodie I see a cape." (Verbal comment).

"I love the blue painting it reminds of the bad boy, we know that shouldn't fancy, but secretly have a crush on!" (Verbal comment).    

"The aggressive dog is the one I like best because it relates to the way I feel."

"Do not like the Rotweiller or the white background picture - evil to look at."

"This picture shows someone responding in a nasty and violent way."

   

"This picture makes me feel like the youths of today and they act like wild animals going around attacking anyone."

"Cream background, very detailed and angry."

"I found the fighting dogs rather comical."

"I thought the aggressive/fighting dog picture was extremely well drawn/painted, but I found it very aggressive, quite frightening and made me think of dog fights which is upsetting."

"The fighting dogs look really vicious - the breed of dog exactly portrays this."

"The fighting dogs has a graphical rather than painterly aspect to it." (Verbal comment).

"The fighting dogs has made me angry as its insulting to dogs, dogs only behave like that when forced into a situation." (Verbal comment).

"The painting of the two dogs fighting is very emotive and the human aspect of their faces shows the callousness of a disaffected society where self is the prime objective."

"This picture show someone who is deep in thought and has lots on their mind."

"I like this one because it looks like someone who is sad and depressed."

"I like the bloodhound picture as it is mournful."

"The dog drinking the beer is seen and done by the young and the old alike, Alcohol consumption is a massive issue in society." (Verbal comment).

These are the comments made about the work in general.

"I think the mood of the pictures is very atmospheric."

"They are cool because they're different and I haven't seen anything like it before. The dogs seem in the right 'character' like the bulldogs in a fight and the bloodhound with the can of stuff. So yeah they're cool."

"The work is amazing." (Verbal comment).

"The use of dogs rather than using a human face is in a way insulting, however the idea of masking someone to create ananomity allows freedon to be creative and for expression." (Verbal comment).

"It's all bullshit and not what I would call art, I like art that interests me, and this doesn't interest me," (Verbal comment).

"The colours are very vivid and are interesting." (Verbal comment).

"Brilliant work just not my taste." (Verbal comment).

The has been a difficult Task for me to complete and yet I am pleased with what I have done I do wish that I could have had the paintings in a more professional arena. However the comments have been very interesting and varied as well.

I have learnt that trying to organise an exhibition can be and get very complicated and trying to get a date from people is difficult and situations change.

Overall I am just relieved that I have achieved something with this task, and now I can concentrate on writing it all up