Saturday, May 7, 2011
Friday, March 25, 2011
Matthew Barney
This article was very informative on the work of Matthew Barney. Above all, I was intrigued by his past. He was an avid athlete and attended Yale for school, his past seems traditional however, his creations are from that. From his past, he adds his athletic ability to his work. Barney has accomplished so much in the art world as a 36 year old, it is quite impressive that most of his work is in video form ( ex: the cremaster series) His work is very sexual and he often uses himself as a model. I find his work to be a bit strange and even uncomfortable. I believe that his work pushes the boundaries, but I really do enjoy his use of costumes and dress, this reminded me a lot of Cindy Sherman. It is evident that Barney and his team plans every thing out to the minute. He has a whole team behind him who care about the art he is making and are passionate about his many projects. As a viewer, I am not quite sure what he is saying but it is fun to explore works of artists who don't follow the normal beat and path.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Response to Matthew Barney
From reading this article I am most impressed by Matthew Barney's conceptual exploration, inventiveness, and discovery of himself. At first glance Barney seems like a very strange artist,unrelatable,someone who is completely out there and searching for his artistic focus, but I think because he is so out there and so willing to incorporate his interests in medicine, American football, freemasonry, prosthetic body parts, body orifices, and Harry Houdini, as well as himself he creates work that defines his understanding and approach to art. Barney's work is encoded with multiple layers of meaning, and I enjoy that because he has presented his audience with an image and allowed the view to make their own interpretations.
Response to Barney Reading
In the reading one of the quotes that stood out the most to me was "Barney views the entire universe of forms within the constellation of the cycle as one multidimensional artwork." In practice this means that the artist Matthew Barney really tries to establish a meaning or message and then create art works that push the boundaries of the original idea. One of the main topics that the reading explored was how Barney looked into gender with his Cremaster series, and although they are numbered 1 through 5 they were produced out of sequence and with little spoken language. Having refrained from actually watching the videos, since we are going to do that in class, it seems that they will either tell an actual story – or be so bizarre that they are more shocking than anything else.
Another aspect that I found interesting is that after he spends years developing the Cremaster series, at the end its resolution is what the reading describes as “ambiguous.” While they seem to downplay the political implications of such work, it seems that simply exploring these topics could cause some controversy especially since it seems to allude to the fact that the final gender is not final. Perhaps Barney’s thought that the gender differentiation is trying to mimic the process of creating art downplays that message.
Another aspect that I found interesting is that after he spends years developing the Cremaster series, at the end its resolution is what the reading describes as “ambiguous.” While they seem to downplay the political implications of such work, it seems that simply exploring these topics could cause some controversy especially since it seems to allude to the fact that the final gender is not final. Perhaps Barney’s thought that the gender differentiation is trying to mimic the process of creating art downplays that message.
Response to Matthew Barney
This article about Matthew Barney was very refreshing in that it discusses a very inventive stylistic approach to art. Because of his varied academic and athletic backgrounds, Barney is able to execute a vision of artwork unlike any other. Although many people may have dabbled in academics, medicine, and athletic competition like Barney, not many people would take the risk to combine all of those interests and viewpoints into one. I especially like Barney's idea of comparing muscle and artistic forms and seeing how each is different but evolves and develops in the same way. From a viewer's perspective, this is something that could be relateable to many. Athletes could view his instillation in a gallery and see how creating art is a multi-step and careful process--much like progressing as an athlete or building muscle strength. Artists or art appreciators could view his work and make connections to other disciplines (like athletics or something similar) and be intrigued by Barney's less-conventional artistic approach.
Barney's incorporation of conflict into his works is also very intriguing. He draws inspiration from unlikely sources such as Harry Houdini, a famous magician and escape artist and also Jim Otto a player for the Oakland Raiders. Each of these people inspired Barney by the way he overcame challenge with grace and skill, and that is what Barney aims to do through his art. For many artists, the challenge may be coming up with a new idea for a piece or the laboring process it takes before the final product is produced. For Barney, challenge and conflict are actively incorporated into his performance pieces as if to show the viewer that development and process are never complete.
Barney's incorporation of conflict into his works is also very intriguing. He draws inspiration from unlikely sources such as Harry Houdini, a famous magician and escape artist and also Jim Otto a player for the Oakland Raiders. Each of these people inspired Barney by the way he overcame challenge with grace and skill, and that is what Barney aims to do through his art. For many artists, the challenge may be coming up with a new idea for a piece or the laboring process it takes before the final product is produced. For Barney, challenge and conflict are actively incorporated into his performance pieces as if to show the viewer that development and process are never complete.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
In Progress Assignment to Myself
Like described in my proposal I want to continue the last project by using a similar strategy to location. For this in progress, I chose to photograph locations with unique or quirky architectural elements, as well as play with the idea of balance. Continuing with the inspiration of Jeff Wall, I would like to fill the space with inanimate objects and have a model in the mist of it.
Assignment to Myself
For my assignment to myself I would like to continue some of the same concepts and themes of the last project. I would like to make some of the settings more elaborate with inanimate objects and find locations that have unique architectural elements. As well as focus on the techniques of portraiture, I want to capture these subjects in a way that will create a varying narrative. I would like to continue to research the work of Jeff Wall and artists who do similar installations.
Although I am adopting many of the same techniques from the last series, I have to raise some questions about the concept and subject matter. As far as subject matter I am trying to figure out if I should stick to women as my subjects, to continue the isolated, mysterious themes of their characters, or do I incorporate men into the narratives. I am unsure because I know with using a male subject, the narrative becomes somethings else, there are undertones of masculinity and for this project I am not speaking to male masculinity, however I do think it would be interesting to use men and create a similar sense of vulnerability and uncertainty. I think it would be interesting to play around with both ideas and decide when the images are placed into a collection.
I do not want to limit myself to a specific number because I feel like this subject matter and approach can be stretched to a limitless amount of images. The series will feel complete when the collection speaks for what I am trying to address.
I want to continue this project because I had so much fun with it in the last series and I feel like the project can be pushed forward. Of course I am worried about the series becoming repetitive in nature but with location and subject changes I do not think the viewer will become bored.
Although I am adopting many of the same techniques from the last series, I have to raise some questions about the concept and subject matter. As far as subject matter I am trying to figure out if I should stick to women as my subjects, to continue the isolated, mysterious themes of their characters, or do I incorporate men into the narratives. I am unsure because I know with using a male subject, the narrative becomes somethings else, there are undertones of masculinity and for this project I am not speaking to male masculinity, however I do think it would be interesting to use men and create a similar sense of vulnerability and uncertainty. I think it would be interesting to play around with both ideas and decide when the images are placed into a collection.
I do not want to limit myself to a specific number because I feel like this subject matter and approach can be stretched to a limitless amount of images. The series will feel complete when the collection speaks for what I am trying to address.
I want to continue this project because I had so much fun with it in the last series and I feel like the project can be pushed forward. Of course I am worried about the series becoming repetitive in nature but with location and subject changes I do not think the viewer will become bored.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Kirsten Cleary Proposal
For my final project I want to explore portraiture. I want to control both the model and the environment they’re placed in so I would continue to create setups similar to my previous photo works. Subject matter I’m interested in shooting is people with obsessions, the work will capture both the objects people choose to keep and the type of people who collect them. I think the theme is general enough that I will be able to have various setups and a wide variety of photographs. If I have the chance to take this further I think it would be also interesting to play with projections, particularly I would like to experiment with reflecting my photos on different surfaces and view them on different textures seeing how this effects the affect of the image.
Goal: 10 photographs.
Proposal
For my project to myself I wanted to modernize the idea of the family portrait. Instead of using my actual family, I want to incorporate my roommates and our dog into a "portrait" or series of images that represent our experience of living together. I have a few ideas about the direction for this assignment, but I am hoping to combine classic technical portraits with portraits of scenarios that are much more realistic. I anticipate the series around 10 images and would like to incorporate the use of diptychs and single shots. Hopefully the series of images will highlight characteristics of the individuals and as well as the group dynamic. I think by having a combination of single portraits, groups portraits, and portraits of our "lifestyle" together, I can create an intriguing representation of what it's like to live in a house with five people (and a puppy).
Proposal - Brandon Lawson
For this assignment I would like to return back to my perception project from last semester. In this project I used a laptop to show an image of what was behind the screen, always in the photo studio setting. There was often small interactions with the picture to try and make it more realistic and believable.
Using that as a starting point, I first want to move outside of the studio to try and take away some of the questions that arise from photos taken in that environment. I also want to make the computer much less the central point of the picture. What this could mean is that you potentially could be presented with a scene that while interesting on its own, has the addition of a print or digital device to alter it in some material way. Perhaps the "fake" image that is shown by the computer or print is how the person could envisions what is behind the screen. Another path could be to find images on the internet and then try and place them in real environments. This would fundamentally change the relationship that was created in the original project, but still make people question the validity of the images.
Using that as a starting point, I first want to move outside of the studio to try and take away some of the questions that arise from photos taken in that environment. I also want to make the computer much less the central point of the picture. What this could mean is that you potentially could be presented with a scene that while interesting on its own, has the addition of a print or digital device to alter it in some material way. Perhaps the "fake" image that is shown by the computer or print is how the person could envisions what is behind the screen. Another path could be to find images on the internet and then try and place them in real environments. This would fundamentally change the relationship that was created in the original project, but still make people question the validity of the images.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Gregs Proposal
Who do you get your news from, and who do you believe is correct? Stories from news organizations can vary drastically depending on if you are watching Fox News, National Public Radio or anything in between. The information that is released to the public from various PR companies will have various slants depending on how the company would like to be presented to the public. For this project I will combine ideas from past projects along with new ideas pertaining to this project. I will use a projector to project various images from politics and news stories then I will include myself in the foreground to interact with the projection. The idea is to represent how various stories from the news project themselves in a way that they want to be seen, but is it something that we should believe as the truth?
Goal: 4-6 images
Goal: 4-6 images
Kyleigh's Proposal
For my proposal I would like to spend more time thinking about who I am as an artist and what I want to express to viewers of my work. Thus far, I have really been intrigued by personal expression as well interacting with other individuals in society. That being said, I brainstormed a few ideas that would involve me the photographer or cameraman directly with participants.
Ideas:
1) For my previous video project, I taped several students blowing bubblegum. This in itself is a fun task, yet at the same time is a very intimate thing. What if I photographed a person blowing a bubble and them in midst of this action? This would require very fast shooting to capture the " perfect" bubble. In addition, I would need to research the most effective chewing bubble gum and find willing models. I believe that this action will in some aspect break down the barrier between me and the participant.
2) Participate in the photos directly. This would be quite gutsy and I could look like a nut case however, It would be very interesting to ask random people if I could take my photograph with them. Just as if I was a tourist in a foreign country, I will act like I want a picture of everything and everyone. This idea intrigues me because I really enjoy being social and interacting with others. Even though this would a bold project, I believe this project would push me not only as an artist but also as a person.
Goal: A 10 Photograph series.
Ideas:
1) For my previous video project, I taped several students blowing bubblegum. This in itself is a fun task, yet at the same time is a very intimate thing. What if I photographed a person blowing a bubble and them in midst of this action? This would require very fast shooting to capture the " perfect" bubble. In addition, I would need to research the most effective chewing bubble gum and find willing models. I believe that this action will in some aspect break down the barrier between me and the participant.
2) Participate in the photos directly. This would be quite gutsy and I could look like a nut case however, It would be very interesting to ask random people if I could take my photograph with them. Just as if I was a tourist in a foreign country, I will act like I want a picture of everything and everyone. This idea intrigues me because I really enjoy being social and interacting with others. Even though this would a bold project, I believe this project would push me not only as an artist but also as a person.
Goal: A 10 Photograph series.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Project Part III
This project began with with me standing in front of the camera and having a conversation with the viewer. It has so far evolved into a photograph of another person in my class projected onto the wall in my apartment. The part that I created for the second part of the project involved my photographic interpretation of Kirsten's video. For the second part i was trying to show the relationship between the models emotions pertaining to a high fashion photo shoot. The image that showed the model with a happy smiling mask on aggressively coming at the other model that looks like she was upset is portraying a persons struggle with trying to put on a happy composure in the face of the public eye.
For the third part of the project i created an image by projecting one of the photographs from the second part onto a domesticated setting.The image that i chose portrays the model as someone who has a childlike optimism but looks like she was upset about something. By portraying the image in this type of setting i am conveying to the viewer a feeling of where the person has come from or even where the model may live.
For the third part of the project i created an image by projecting one of the photographs from the second part onto a domesticated setting.The image that i chose portrays the model as someone who has a childlike optimism but looks like she was upset about something. By portraying the image in this type of setting i am conveying to the viewer a feeling of where the person has come from or even where the model may live.
For part three I have decided to compare and contrast the idealized world of modeling with the average American woman. Initially I was inspired by Izima Kaoru, the kind of anti-fashion photographer who photographs models in ditches and other situations in which they appear to be dead, but the caption reads what they are wearing. For a while in advertising there was quite an "ideal" beauty being a woman with soft curves, blonde hair, and blue eyes. While this image is not quite as stringent, there are still certain ideals that models are supposed to uphold and that people are supposed to find beautiful. It is interesting to that while most advertisements are so sexually driven, they actually are focused more towards women than men. Women are supposed to want to become these women, to emulate their figures and looks.
For my project I am going to take an average woman and project the face of a famous model onto her face. It is the sort of anti-image of what we are supposed to find beautiful. The modeling world and in turn the advertising world often seek to change people or reshape them to fit the image they want and that the people want to see.
Part 3: Project
For part 3, I thought long & hard of how I was going to execute this project. I was heavily inspired by Lyle Ashton Harris. Harris is known for displaying masculinity, femininity, stereotypes and race is all of his works. He also plays heavily with light and color. I was very intrigued by Blow Up IV. He used a central picture with a collage of related items steming off from the main picture. My Project features Imani with an abundance of color, part 2 photos focused on make up and the need to be looked My first intention was to form some sort of collage however,a happy accident encouraged me to follow this route. Above, is a photograph of what I will be bringing into class.
The concept of my Part III to "The Project" is about the way that photographs relate to each other and to the viewer, when displayed as prints. In this case, I used the concept behind my Part II, which portrayed moments in Brandon's lottery-winning revelation, to influence different possibilities when looking at the images. Having the same image printing in repetition is meant to evoke the sense of "producing" the moment, rather than capturing it. In our discussion about Part II it became clear that in order to create my 4 images I needed Brandon to pose continuously until the image was just right. With Part III I'm trying to examine the concept of a revelation. If Brandon had really won the lottery his reaction may have been more explosive and ecstatic than portrayed in my photos. There is also the possibility that he may not have reacted this way at all. Looking at the set of prints that I made, the element of production and trial and error is revealed. Although I finally captured Brandon's emotion from different angles, the process to get there was not as simple. The prints are meant to show the reproducibility of emotion when a person is acting and how it can differ so greatly from a true genuine emotion.
Part III: Final product
In the beginning I proposed to create a video installation that capture the emotion of a subject and project it into the bottom of a suitcase but I was unable to figure out why I was doing this, what was the significance of the object that made it so much more important or physical than a white wall, or on a computer screen. I was especially stumped with the content of the video because I felt that its presentation needed to be powerful and emotional, so because I was unable to answer those questions at this time I chose redirect my project idea.
This image is a recreation of the original image. In the beginning I said I was inspired by Sarah VanDerBeek but after reconsidering I was interested Sherri Levin's explanation of appropriation and felt this image challenged our general understanding of appropriation. Because I have re-photographed on of my own photographs and altered its presentation. The original image was crisp and followed several narrative but this new image has been distorted with light and color, which seem to take the appearance of paintbrush smears. I wanted to play with the technique of rephotographing an existing image on a computer screen, this way the lines and patterns visually distorted it
This image takes on a new layer physical and narrative, as well as, adds more dimensionality.
This image is a recreation of the original image. In the beginning I said I was inspired by Sarah VanDerBeek but after reconsidering I was interested Sherri Levin's explanation of appropriation and felt this image challenged our general understanding of appropriation. Because I have re-photographed on of my own photographs and altered its presentation. The original image was crisp and followed several narrative but this new image has been distorted with light and color, which seem to take the appearance of paintbrush smears. I wanted to play with the technique of rephotographing an existing image on a computer screen, this way the lines and patterns visually distorted it
This image takes on a new layer physical and narrative, as well as, adds more dimensionality.
Part III: Prosposal
After reading Charolette Cotton's "Physical Material" I am really interested in playing with the physicality of the objects displayed in the original photographs. I have two ideas to approach the task of incorporating a physical elements, both include installing a video into the bottom of a suitcase. I chose a suitcase because there are several meanings for the use and significance of a suitcase. I want to play up the mystery of the character from the original image, I want viewer to question why this woman is emotional, what is her story, and what is her relation to us as the audience. This film will be for the most part silent but I am contemplating adding music because I do not want the music to become the focal point of the video.
My second idea is to create video that captures the motion of walking, capture the legs of the subject walking, this will symbolize her journey and continue the story that was created in the original images. For this piece I think the audio will derive from the footsteps of the subject.
At this point I am not too sure which direction I will take because I need to figure out how to approach the content of the films because I think if I am projecting images into a suitcase I need to know why I am doing it and what the significances and benefits are from projected imagery. For both of these ideas the content of the film is very important. In order for this to be successful I need to answer these questions because it could easily turn into "why can this not go onto a white wall?" and what significance the suitcase has to me as the artist and audience?
While I was inspired by Jeff Wall for the original images, I was interested in the style and approach of Sarah VanDerBeek because she incorporated sculptural elements to alter the presentation and audience interaction of the piece. Based on her style both the suitcase and video are the sculptural or physical elements which create a relationship between the existing space, recreated (confined) space, the audience, and the material.
My second idea is to create video that captures the motion of walking, capture the legs of the subject walking, this will symbolize her journey and continue the story that was created in the original images. For this piece I think the audio will derive from the footsteps of the subject.
At this point I am not too sure which direction I will take because I need to figure out how to approach the content of the films because I think if I am projecting images into a suitcase I need to know why I am doing it and what the significances and benefits are from projected imagery. For both of these ideas the content of the film is very important. In order for this to be successful I need to answer these questions because it could easily turn into "why can this not go onto a white wall?" and what significance the suitcase has to me as the artist and audience?
While I was inspired by Jeff Wall for the original images, I was interested in the style and approach of Sarah VanDerBeek because she incorporated sculptural elements to alter the presentation and audience interaction of the piece. Based on her style both the suitcase and video are the sculptural or physical elements which create a relationship between the existing space, recreated (confined) space, the audience, and the material.
The Project part 3 porposal
For part 3 of the project I wanted to incorporate photography into a 3dimensional environment. For my project I wanted to use the images I took for part 2 and and incorporate them into a 3 dimensional space. I wanted to elaborate on the idea I had to portray a relationship between government and the people. Instead of portraying the relationship within the images, I decided to break my image apart and from its original form and physically connect them using strands of strings. I feel this will not only emphasize on the connection between the government and people, but also involve the viewer more because instead of having them see the image on the wall as a flat substance it incorporates the surrounding environment and in a way draw them in to question why are these images positioned in the way that they are (different from the way photography is traditionally displayed)and further look into what the image is trying to portray.
Part 3 Proposal - Brandon Lawson
For part 3 “Physical and Material” I want to focus on digital photography and how the medium is often distributed for people to see. Computers, the internet and digital cameras have come together as one giant medium and made it so photography can easily be disseminated, but the problem is that everyone’s computer monitor is differently calibrated and physically made. This can make images appear very differently depending on who views them and where they are. In the digital format they also have the power to change the image size, and perhaps view it much larger than originally intended.
To illustrate this difference I intend to take my picture from part 2 (the long shot with Kyleigh on the railing) and display it on 12 computer monitors to try and show the difference between all the displays. This will occur by taking digital pictures of the images displayed on the screen. The inspiration for this comes from Liz Deschenes, and while she attempted to mimic the digital display by using analog technology, I want to show the flaws in digital using digital. This will be accomplished by splitting the original picture into 12 identically sized sections (like a grid), displaying these on various screen, and then placing all of the different pieces back together to form the original picture. By doing this it will not only show the differences in the various displays, but will show the different dot patterns produced by the monitors, and their quality. Both LCD and CRT monitors where used in this project. While taking an image of a screen will never be perfect the camera and camera settings used to take all of the photos were the same to cause the differences to come from the monitors. I think since it will be nearly impossible to keep the perspective exactly the same on all of the images you will get some distortion similar to Liz Deschenes works.
The final product will involve making 12 prints probably 8x10 and then having all of them displayed so that when looked at from a distance it would look perhaps “normal” but as you get closer it would become more and more obscure, as the colors would be different, as well as the dot pattern. Due to the fact that the original image is only around 14 inches wide, when taking a small section and displaying it on a screen that is over 20 inches it leads the images to be soft. Seeing an image in this way is not possible in the analog work of an art book. I think the imperfections would speak volumes as well as the distortion that would happen showing the flaws in our modern viewing devices. This will be accentuated by the fact that since the different pieces of the photo should look identical but do not, a viewer will naturally want to figure out what has caused the change. The problem however, much like in the digital world, is that you may never know which image is correct due to the fact that everyone that views work on a computer could be seeing something different.
To illustrate this difference I intend to take my picture from part 2 (the long shot with Kyleigh on the railing) and display it on 12 computer monitors to try and show the difference between all the displays. This will occur by taking digital pictures of the images displayed on the screen. The inspiration for this comes from Liz Deschenes, and while she attempted to mimic the digital display by using analog technology, I want to show the flaws in digital using digital. This will be accomplished by splitting the original picture into 12 identically sized sections (like a grid), displaying these on various screen, and then placing all of the different pieces back together to form the original picture. By doing this it will not only show the differences in the various displays, but will show the different dot patterns produced by the monitors, and their quality. Both LCD and CRT monitors where used in this project. While taking an image of a screen will never be perfect the camera and camera settings used to take all of the photos were the same to cause the differences to come from the monitors. I think since it will be nearly impossible to keep the perspective exactly the same on all of the images you will get some distortion similar to Liz Deschenes works.
The final product will involve making 12 prints probably 8x10 and then having all of them displayed so that when looked at from a distance it would look perhaps “normal” but as you get closer it would become more and more obscure, as the colors would be different, as well as the dot pattern. Due to the fact that the original image is only around 14 inches wide, when taking a small section and displaying it on a screen that is over 20 inches it leads the images to be soft. Seeing an image in this way is not possible in the analog work of an art book. I think the imperfections would speak volumes as well as the distortion that would happen showing the flaws in our modern viewing devices. This will be accentuated by the fact that since the different pieces of the photo should look identical but do not, a viewer will naturally want to figure out what has caused the change. The problem however, much like in the digital world, is that you may never know which image is correct due to the fact that everyone that views work on a computer could be seeing something different.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Reading Response: Physical and Material
This reading is about photographers that use the physical properties of the photograph in their work. Choose three artists from the reading and describe how their use of materials helps to express their concept and ideas and unique visual perspective.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Reading: Charlotte Cotton "Once Upon A Time" for Thursday, Jan 27th
Choose two artists from the Charlotte Cotton reading. For each artist, explain how their images fit into Cotton's theme of storytelling in imagery (for some artists, a quick round of internet research might be helpful). How is the artist's approach visually and conceptually unique? What do you find compelling about the artists or images that you chose to discuss?
Example Artists from Thursday's Class
Hello all,
in case you wanted to see more of their work, artists that I showed in Thursday's class were:
Duke and Battersby-- I showed excerpts from "The Fine Arts" and "Being Fucked Up: Yoga."
and
Kate Gilmore--I showed "Star Bright, Star Might"
Thursday, January 20, 2011
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