I started my Project on bacteria with the idea of looking at bacteria on a macro scale rather looking at the microscopic or ‘unseen’ level. i primarily wanted to investigate the ephemeral side and the decay of an object. one such thing i had studied before was the heart pluck of a cow, which consists of the major organs of a cow, but i hadn’t let them decay before and i wanted to work with the physical and bacterial change of the meat.
the initial concept of this is fairly gruesome but once you overcome the presence of the gore there is an odd serenity to the colour and organic shapes found within the heart. The vibrant reds turn to a mix of browns greens and white flecks as well as a layer of a sort of slime covers the meat.
As well as this i didn’t want to just look at meat and on more of a ‘counter material’ i though i could use bread which has a large colour change from a pale brown to a vibrant blue speckled with dark green.
these stark visual changes are all due to bacteria changes and organic decay and i find there is a real beauty in these changes and a sort of peaceful in these organic colours being produced however these is sill a sort of odd uncomfortable feeling as we are not used to seeing these colours on these objects.
To convey this i wanted to slightly exaggerate these colours in my paintings and create a sort of visual distinction between the shapes and colours
For the end of the project and something i will need to do in my free time is to capture the heart pluck from life rather than photos (which is really quite difficult due to the overwhelming smell) i bought a large 10L bell jar with an air tight lid. I want to suspend it in a clear liquid and draw and paint it watching as it decays over time to try capture it in varying stages whilst also creating an ephemeral piece.
Harry Toller 