The Rolling Student

Today I worked hard in an art lesson, hopefully from my project you will not get the idea that I am a massive slacker but this is alas true. I use art lessons as an opportunity to think and brainstorm but rarely to actually work, why is this? Simple, I work better at home. However today I came to college with a syringe, two baubles and a homemade tilt table device. The tilt table device resembles a door knob attached to the front of a old wooden draw, and to some extent it is, however the genius is a recycled yogurt pot which acts as a socket to make a ball joint. This static ball joint was then adhered to the bottom of a large cardboard tray. I filled the baubles with ink and then using the tilting tray rolled them around on a piece of paper to create complex patterns. This doesn't seem to be exactly fine art however it is worth saying that the end result was not at all lack luster and that there is genuine thought behind it. Because in my final piece I plan to create a ball rolling machine I wanted to depict the way gravity acts upon a rolling object in a visual way, by painting with baubles I was able to create patterns which showed the curves and rolling tracks of balls being moved by gravity. The use of the tip table essentially allowing me to control gravity to my own ends, a principle I will using in my rolling ball machine final piece. This work was partly inspired by the work of Jackson Pollock, apart from some loose visual similarities I used similar principles to Pollock. Pollock created work using controlled and mathematical drips and flicks of paint, although my work is much cruder it does use some of the same ideas. This exploration with balls was not one of my most meaningful or indeed visually stunning works however it did serve its purpose as a way of looking at how I can control gravity and the rolling patterns of balls, the study also create several interesting visual effects. Although the work doesn't champion artistic skill it does demonstrate a way a piece of engineering (crude as it may be) can be used to create art in a very simple way.  

Wasting Orange - For this work I filled the baubles with ink, as they rolled around the canvas the ink escaped in drips from a small hole in each bauble. This work used three colours Green, Black and Orange this was not based on any particular meaning but due to the fact they were the only colours. This was the first work in the series, later works show how I experiment with other ways to spread paint around a canvas using paint. 

Cerebro Crimson - For this painting I started with a blank canvas, I covered two balls in diluted red acrylic paint and rolled them all over the work to create sweeping curved lines. The result of this endeavour was a haywire crimson pattern, to add depth to the work I put a dollop of silver paint in the middle of the work then used the balls to spread it from the centre. The centre of the work is a pinkish brains like form which looks to be exploding all over the canvas.

Puddle Rainbow - For this piece I placed a variety of undiluted acrylic paint around the centre of the canvas and then used rolling balls to spread and mix the colours. This work is the most Pollock like but I struggled to mix the paint around the canvas because the acrylic was so viscous. In ‘Cerebro Crimson’ I used diluted paint which was far more easy to spread around and created more vibrant patterns. I named this work puddle rainbow because it reminded me of the rainbows which petrol forms in muddy puddles.

Ghost Stria - This work was created by starting with a blank canvas and using the balls from ‘Puddle Rainbow’, these balls were still caked in paint. By rolling the balls around the blank canvas they created a much looser and less dense pattern. From a distance the work looks to be a grotty grey colour but up close its possible;e to discern a cornucopia of tones and pigments.

Lasagne Sunset - For this piece I used a combination of ink and acrylic, I squirted ink straight onto the canvas and then rolled the baubles through it, this creates a mix of different patterns and lines. To add more colour and depth to the work I then poured heavily diluted white acrylic over the work, the watery pigment mixed with all the other colours while still preserving track marks. The final product prompted debate amongst my peers who couldn't decern whether it resembled regurgitated lasagne or a sunset.