FOUNDATION DIPLOMA IN ART, DESIGN AND MEDIA
CAPTURE | ALTER | ORDER
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This project is about how humans leave behind traces of a certain type of behaviour, and how these are extremely unique to one another. Each person has their own peculiarities and mannerisms that is different to everyone else's; this project explores the traits and traces of my four housemates
Statement of Intent
The Stimulus
1. Locate/record a collection of material to use for project => what is curious to me?
So many options here; do I bring in something quite obvious, e.g. a collection of photographs, key-rings, receipts?, or a something more idiosyncratic, e.g. a collection of thoughts, memories, feelings? What is curious to me as a starting point?It can literally be anything: news, social media, current affairs, fashion, politics, statistical data, documentary, photography/video, sounds. The worst thing I could do right now, is to think about a final outcome as this will hinder how wide the project gets, narrowing the theme; thinking laterally is perhaps the best way to go about it.
PLAN!!
2. Imply meaning => use various forms of media to express an idea, refine to communicate in an interesting way. Be ORIGINAL!
Whatever I decide to choose, there should be theme that makes sense for me and is quite broad to expand into a substantial project.
I went out into my local area of my shared accommodation, and tried as hard as I could to collect photographs and try to reach some sort of theme. However, I came to the realisation that I had only lived in this place once, and was not able to connect with the surroundings...the project would have been dry.
I was about to walk into class today without a collection, without an idea about my theme. The plan for today was to just use the magazines, inspiration from the resources they were going to give us on the analogue day and play around with the equipment.
However, a few minutes before I went to bed last night, I went to the kitchen to find my housemate leaning into a huge mug of Lemsip. Over the past 2 weeks, she has been very ill, but demolished about 3 boxes of the yellow, ill-tasting drink (though she might argue otherwise).
I found it strange how she was, first of all able to take so many, but also how she doesn't mind drinking it. It was the fact that there were so many Lemsip sachets in the bin, sort of how she left the traces of her behaviour behind.
It then came to my attention that I had a stimulus to a very wide project.
So, I then decided to take these photographs as my collection to edit into today.
These first two are just a regular printed photograph, edited using the hand scanner. The effect the hand scanner created was interesting to me, so decided to explore more into the technique, as well as the actual image used.
The splitting up of the photographs work quite well, as they are a metaphor to the various traits that make up a person.
The image in itself is quite an amateur setting where there is no setting/purposeful lighting, as the action is quite natural and is captured like this intentionally.
The next few collages are edited first on PhotoShop and then using the hand scanner, to create these weird shapes as outlines, which I'm quite drawn to, instead of the square/rectangular border.
Here, I have played around with the hand scanner, trying to create a zig-zag effect focusing on the Lemsip. The image is a lot more dynamic at the centre - symbolising how a serious addiction can give you withdrawal symptoms and make you fidgety. To improve, the Lemsip could've been presented more clearly; perhaps too obscured.
This one is not my favourite, but it has some nice elements to it. The various angles of the face; the profile, the front face, as well as the zoomed pictures, the complementary colours... all juxtaposing each other is quite effective. There is perhaps too much contrast between all the elements - they don't 'flow'.
Here, I have played around with the hand scanner, trying to create a zig-zag effect focusing on the Lemsip. The image is a lot more dynamic at the centre - symbolising how a serious addiction can give you withdrawal symptoms and make you fidgety. To improve, the Lemsip could've been presented more clearly; perhaps too obscured.
For these next few, I bring in red cellophane over the photos, and under the hand scanner to bring in some really strong colour , contrasting with the bright green face. The edits are now a lot moodier now, with the theme getting a lot darker.
In this first photo, there is no symbiosis between the facial expression and the temperamental red. On the other, the reflection of the edit is quite effective, but could be more successful in the sense that perhaps the reflection could be of just one element, not the whole image. It is done by just scanning back upwards with the hand scanner.
This one is a lot more successful as compared to the previous, as only parts of the image is reflected this time by the hand scanner.
In this first photo, there is no symbiosis between the facial expression and the temperamental red. On the other, the reflection of the edit is quite effective, but could be more successful in the sense that perhaps the reflection could be of just one element, not the whole image. It is done by just scanning back upwards with the hand scanner.
Artist Inspo - Phillip Toledano
Using the launch presentation, and suggestion from one of the media tutor's after a look at my work so far, I looked into the works by and life of Phillip Toledano.
Toledano is a very influential artist/photographer/art director.
"Everyone in the industry knows his name; he has no idea everyone thinks he's a genius".
[Click to expand pictures]
Most, if not all, of his projects are very personal - he is extremely fascinated by himself.
Toledano had many unnamed fears. At the age of 4, his 6-year old sister died in a car accident, and after the death of both of his parents, Toledano went on a three year project where he explored what he feared the mosts - the unforeseeable future and mortality.
He hired a makeup designer to create many different characters, to create a reality for the bleak futures he envisioned life could become. Joshua Stefel documented this troublesome journey, a 25 minute long film which I watched on the New York Times website.
This project helped him "expunge these dismal possibilities out of [him]" in the future, so he could focus on his family in the present.
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Other artists have been confronted by his project, as possibilities of their own futures, and everyone who sees these photographs also encounter the same feeling. His work, though is very personal to him and his own life, it is strange how it is the exact same for everyone else, as there is no limit to the possibility. He says "There are so many possibilities for you, and you have no sense of what they're like".
What inspired me the most about this project was the audience's connection to the photographs, which is what makes this project a genius idea.
Personally, I would like to attempt to produce images/a final project that also has a similar connection to the audience, where when looking at the work, people will relate the project to their own lives.
"What traces do I usually leave behind?"
"What does this say about my behaviour, is there a certain type that is representative the most?"
"Is this how people perceive my traits to be?"
"Am I judged by what I leave behind?"
etc.
Another project, that very much inspired an idea into my theme, was Toledano's 'The Office'. He photographed deserted offices of bankrupt companies, where traces of humans' being were left behind.
What I loved the most about this project was the simplicity of the photographs; the theme speaks of abandoned building interiors, and the photographs capture all the feelings that are entailed from this idea; loneliness, traces, discarded etc.
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Expanding Ideas
Using Toledano's "Bankrupt" as inspiration, I decided to photograph the objects all four my housemates left behind. Here are some of my favourites:
Contextually, some of these are very interesting. For example, the false lashes could be the aftermath of last night's antics - this person has left traces of being too drunk/tired and forgot to throw these in the bin before falling asleep and are now suffering from a hangover. The left over Digestive wrapper and the Pot Noodle pot could suggest this person's traits are snacking, and could lead to obesity.
Obviously these are exaggerations of the actual story behind these photographs, but the possibilities for suggestion of human traits and behaviour are endless.
I tried to make the pictures all natural, photographed in natural lighting and how I saw them, the same position, location etc. and most of the time I have been successful. However, sometimes I have had to use the Automatic setting on the camera, and use flash; the location is too dark but the colour of the room's lightbulb is too yellow, or the object is not picked up by the photograph so I've had to move it to ensure the background is plain and the object stands out.
Though this is a good way of presenting the object, the location of where it has been left behind is also important to know. For example, if a pile of dirty dishes are left at the table, they are 'traces of human behaviour' as this person has become negligent, or lazy; if they are left next to the sink, it doesn't say much about human behaviour because they ready to be washed, and so the concept is now changed to a very simplistic one, and not as interesting. Even so, I think the photographs that I've taken, as a whole, are successful.
The way in which these photos are taken have been inspired by a few artists, Stephen Gill and Rinko Kawauchi. I did not look at the context of the work by these two photographers, but the style of their photography. As well as this, not all photos are direct references, but some are intentionally similar.
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Artist Inspo - Melinda Gibson
Final Outcome - How does my theme fit into the World?
Inspired by Melinda Gibson's work, I worked towards creating similar collages using Photoshop. I wanted the collages to achieve each of my housemate's traits and behaviour, by producing these abstract compositions.
This series of photographs is my final response to this two-week project.
From a comical stimulus, these photographs have turned out quite eerie. The forms/silhouettes have a weird sense about them, they make the audience feel uncomfortable.
The theme suddenly changes from humorous to quite abnormal and freakish.
*Reference: I Am The Pretty Thing That Lives in the House (Netflix film)*
As a result of trying to achieve these edits, I made a few that were unsuccessful.
In a wider sense of the project, one of the questions that is raised is the type of audience the final outcome is for.
I think my theme fits into an audience that is interested in comical horror.
Though the stimulus started off funny and quite innocent, there was a slight sense of abnormality and has sinister connotations, as I called it an "addiction". This then led onto collages that used the red to create depth and the images became moody, and finally these freakish figures and silhouettes.
There is a slight similarity in these collages and Wes Anderson films/illustrations and animations. They are strange and odd and fantastical but there is a sense of humour, and I think this is the intention of my collages.