Brian Dickson

LAVA ZINE (Visual experimentation's)

2009-07-16T15:20:00.001-07:00

Static Frames

2009-05-25T05:28:00.001-07:00

O.5 black pen, Tracing paper

I began researching static televisions and the images they created. I was fascinated by the infinite amount of forms that could be created and began to study them intently. I wanted to harness and control the essence of the images that static televisions created and reform them myself.

Static: Public Art Project

2009-05-11T23:00:00.000-07:00

Static Video, Installed in Comet Shop Window, Dumbarton Road, Friday 22nd May.

I wanted to display my Static video as a public art work and the best way to do this seemed to have it playing in an electrical equipment store. I wanted the work to go unnoticed as much as possible.

When the video is looked at closely, you can tell certain aspects of it are not quite right. There are enough visual clues to suggest this is not just conventional static interference. The image tends to repeat over, only once you look at this for an extended amount of time you realise that this static is not constantly creating new images and forms. Also, LCD Televisons do not recieve static interference.

This thought of playing the static on improper equipment became the inspiration for creating my slide projector piece, consisting of a slide projector displaying static interference.

Hand Drawn Static Public Artwork Publication

2009-05-11T16:44:00.000-07:00

The only condition for allowing me to display my static in the Comet store shop front, was that I supply a publication or some kind of literature to accompany the work. The Manager was concerned that people may just assume these televisons were broken, so he wanted some kind of visual aid to explain the work to the customer.

A pile of these cards were left in the store for anyone to take away.

Static Slides

2009-05-10T16:20:00.000-07:00

Static Slide Projector

2009-05-09T14:20:00.000-07:00

Slide Projector, Hand Drawn static Slides

The same ideas from my public art work were applied in the creation of this work. By recreating the visual qualities of static interference and showing them through a medium which static has no association, it has a skewed almost humorous effect. Much like the LCD televisons in Comet which do not transmit static interference.

The Static Slide Projector consists of a full reel of 80 slides in all and are in constant motion. The image changes roughly every second and when looked at for an extended period of time, a trance like state comes over the viewer and gives the impression of static interference.

Flesh Wounds

2009-02-07T23:30:00.000-08:00

Flesh Wounds was first exhibited as an installation work at 'milk teeth'. The work was then reworked and later shown as a linear 5 minute short film at the art film screening night 'As We Speak'.

http://www.theskinny.co.uk/article/44450-new-video-art-night-as-we-speak

http://www.myspace.com/432684515

I wanted to damage the skin of fruit in a calculated manner. The skin of each fruit acted as a plain unmarked canvas, of which my urges compelled me to put my mark upon it. But to justify this act of destruction, I wanted to make amends for this by committing the same destruction upon my own skin.

milk teeth

2009-02-07T06:49:00.001-08:00

Milk Teeth Exhibition, Friday 27th February

Milk Teeth was an exhibition Co-Organised by a group of practising artists and students from both Glasgow and Edinburgh. The exhibition had work from various artists ranging from drawing, to video projections to sound pieces.

I exhibited Flesh Wounds for the first time at milk teeth.

Tear/Repair (Video)

2009-01-28T12:37:00.000-08:00

Needle, Thread, Canvas

To be exhibited at Fourth Year Mid Term Show, Glasgow School of Art, February 9th 2009

By taking what is stereotypically a feminine action, sewing, this element of the video shows the creative side of humanity which is within us all. But the other destructive side is shown to be a more masculine trait. The very action of tearing fabric is a brutish and malicious act. It speaks of abuse and even hints at rape. These two very different actions, create a haunting atmousphere when shown together in unison.

What makes the destructive side of this video so poignant is that in the time it takes to sew only a few centimeter of fabric, it takes only seconds to tear several metres.

Untitled Destruction (Gun)

2008-12-28T03:54:00.000-08:00

Cast Black Wax

Exhibited at "Derogatory or Nice" Flat Exhibition

By taking an object of such obvious ferocity, I wanted to disway the fear that can be caused at just the sight of such an object. By presenting a gradual destruction of the image, the viewer can tell these guns on the wall are not real and have no threat.

Untitled Destruction (Hay)

2008-07-27T10:11:00.000-07:00

Hay, Burnt Hay.

Exhibited at RE:DO, Domane Marienberg, Hildesheim

http://www.uni-hildesheim.de/raum/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=68&Itemid=35&lang=en

This work is one of two which were created in Domane Marienberg, Hildesheim as part of the RE:DO project. The RE:DO consisted of several artists from Glasgow School of Art, invited to make work alongside German students from Hildesheim University, within the grounds of a soon to be demolished site.

This work demonstrates a desire to control the nature of a destructive act. the square represents this as there no perfect squares in nature. By creating a perfect one metre by one metre square shows this precise destructive intervention.

Untitled Destruction (Brick)

2008-07-26T11:00:00.000-07:00

Two Bricks Crushed to Dust, Latex Rubber, MDF Supports

http://www.uni-hildesheim.de/raum/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=68&Itemid=35&lang=en

The second of two works created as part of the RE:DO project in Hildesheim. In this work, two bricks were painstakingly removed from a wall of one of the soon to de demolished buildings. These bricks were then individually crushed into dust in a controlled environment where all remains could be gathered and collected. This dust was then mixed with Latex rubber and set in a brick shape mould. Once set, both the bricks were returned to the place in which they were taken.

These bricks, now, part brick, part rubber, are more likely to survive the demolition process and go on eventually to be found at a later date.

Death Rattle (Video)

2008-06-27T08:40:00.000-07:00

Burning Match Held in Front of Active Microphone

Exhibited firstly at SEA Salt Group Show, Salmarket, Glasgow.

Exhibited again at One Creative Scotland, Tollhouse Studios, Glasgow

http://www.theskinny.co.uk/article/43723-one-creative-scotland-the-tollhouse-studios-glasgow-13-sep

With 'Death Rattle' I wanted to create emotions for what is nothing more than an inanimate object. By capturing the death of what is only a match, by attatching an element in which the viewer can relate to as human, this simple video of a match being burned becomes more than that, it becomes a documented exucution.This video is to be seen in a sound proof, pitch black viewing area. When the match is lit, the veiwer will be showered in sound and light, but as the match gradually fades out and eventually 'dies', the viewer will be drowned in darkness. At this point the match's death rattle can be heard.

34,560

2008-05-27T09:21:00.000-07:00

Thirty Four Thousand, Five Hundred and Sixty Hand Drawn Circles

Exhibited at Hotel Bloom, Room 209 (Permanent), Brussels, Belgium

http://www.hotelbloom.com/frescos-en.html

This work was created as part of The Hotel Blooms, BLOOM project. Artists from all over Europe where invited to come to the hotel and paint a mural in one of the 20o rooms due for refurbishment.

I wanted to create a work that would reflect the occupant in the room. At the time I was interested in counting as an artform. I was creating works that the viewer could take some form of satisfaction with, in the knowledge that they know exactly how many marks had been made in the creation of these works.

I wanted to finish off this series of drawings and experimentations by making one last work, on such a scale i hadn't attempted before. The work I created for the Bloom Project '34,560' reflects the exact amount of heartbeats an average person has in an average 8 hours of sleep. Each red circle drawn represents one heartbeat mimicking the appearance of a blood cell.

PLAQUE WITHIN HOTEL ROOM

PRESS CLIPPING

Untitled Destruction (Stool)

2008-03-28T11:44:00.000-07:00

Wooden stool, taken apart with hammer, documented, displayed then put back together.

This destruction of a stool was done so in a manic fashion. The destruction was thoughless, it took only minutes to reduce what was once useful object into shards of scrap. At this point, the caring side of my character I have chosen to create takes control.

First he collects the shards, documents them, photographs them individually and organises them. once this has taken place, he displays them in a new way on the wall. And then, the reconstruction of the stool begins.

I plan to have several exhibitions which take place in three parts. This piece or something similar will be a part of that.

The first Show, will consist of the destruction of objects, plants, furniture etc. The second show will consist of the displaying of the destruction in a formalized manner. Not heaps on a floor, but documented destruction. And the third show will exhibit these objects once reassembled.

Cube

2007-03-28T03:06:00.000-07:00

White Plastercine

Exhibited at 'People/Animals' Flat Exhibition, Edinburgh, May 2008.

I wanted to one, create an object of near perfection, and second, destroy this object of near perfection. By creating this cube with my own hands I have invested an amount of care, attention and emotion into it. By building the cube and then destroying it in a manic fashion, using my fists or nails, I am demonstrating both sides of what it is to be human.

This work raises questions of ownership. If I have created this? Do I have the right to destroy it? If I promise to rebuild it, do I have the right to destroy it. These questions are further raised in relation to, not inaminate objects, but living things in another work "Death of a Plant".

Square Hair

2007-02-20T06:33:00.000-08:00

Marker Pen, Tweezers

By Using my own body as a canvas, I am fully able to alter it without question. In this work I drew an exact 5cm by 5cm Square on my leg, then proceeded to individually pluck each hair out of that marked area. I felt there was no need to collect the hair, as the absence of hair on my leg in such a uniformed manner was more the focus of the work.

Death of a Plant

2007-01-29T06:12:00.000-08:00

Plant, Baggy, Sheet of paper, Pen

This work consists of a plant being stripped of its leaves 10 at a time. This gradual destruction was well document. Each set of 10 leaves were collected in the baggy and tally marks were taken to determine exactly how many were removed altogether.

Once this process had finished, a book was compiled consisting of the documentation process, and the leaves, numbered and logged. This book "Death of a Plant" became the art object.

This work was made thinking as to the rights i have as a human. Do i have the right to do this to a plant because i have bought it? Does monetary ownership grant permission to this kind of destruction?

What makes this not just an act of calculated destruction, is that the plant was displayed with the book, showing that not only had I destroyed this plant, I had nursed it back to health. This renewable object led me to question works in which I use my own body as a canvas. I have the right to alter my body as I choose. In "Square Hair", I'm using another renewable material, hair.

Artist Curriculum Vitae

2006-01-01T02:33:00.000-08:00

Shows

Telford College Student Show, Edinburgh, June 2006

Solo Exhibition, The 13^th Note, Glasgow, 7^th – 20^th January 2007

People/Animals, Viewforth Square, Edinburgh 18^th May 2007

BLOOM Mural Painting Project, Hotel BLOOM, Brussels, Belgium, 16^th - 22^nd August 2007

OFCOM Show, London, October 2007

Draw or Die Drawing Show, Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow, 6^th December 2007

Throb, The Flying Duck, Glasgow, Thursday 24^th January 2008

SEA Drawing Show, Glasgow School of Art, November 2008

RE:DO Project, Domane Marienberg, Hildesheim, June 2008

One Creative Scotland, Tollhouse Studios, Glasgow, September 2008

Derogatory or Nice, Flat Exhibition, Glasgow, December 2008