Artist Research -- Sarah Wilmer

I know I've brought up Sarah Wilmer in some of my earlier blogs, but there wasn't a sole focus on her and I think her work is worth mentioning again, especially with its influence on my work.  I saw her featured in an American Photo on Campus or one of those magazines that are always scattered around Pollak and I was enamored by her work.  Her images are beautiful and haunting within their own contexts.  Although they are mostly commercial, I think her lighting is striking and there's a magic here that I want to be able to harness in my own photographs.

from others

from others

from others

from others

image created for Surface Magazine

Sarah's Website

Idea Post -- Display Ideas

This is still in it's early stages but I think it's about time that I start considering how I'm going to present my final pieces. I'm wondering if maybe I should have sounds as part of my installation (if I choose to do an installation) but my concern is that any sound I want to use is going to be clichéd.  I want to create a monologue with sound (not words, per se) that would accent my work and help lend to the mood.  I think within the confined space where I plan to show my work, it would lend to a personal moment that you are experiencing because a moment, a memory, is a compilation of sights and sounds and maybe even smells.  My concern though in needing a specific space for my work is that when picking out a gallery space, I would need a small in which to present my work.  I know that I can build something, but I'm a) not confident in my building skills and b) I really just don't have the money for building.  I've still got a lot of thinking to do here, but the wheels are certainly turning.

Personal Critique - 10/20

I was actually pretty impressed with myself when I played back the critique tape.  For the most part, I thought I spoke clearly, although when I was reading I thought that it was a little too obvious that I was reading in the way that I spoke. I think I stammered a little much for my liking, sometimes my words all jumble together before they come out and since we're on a time limit I find it difficult to answer coherently especially when I don't understand the question and then I feel a little dumb having to re-ask but I guess I have to get over that. I read an interview with Robert Smith from the Cure once and he said that a lot of times in interviews he will pause for a moment before answering a question so he can think and that a lot of times people think he's a bit dim for it.  I definitely understood that sentiment standing up there because I would stop and think but then I felt like I was taking too long and I could only imagine what was crossing everyone's minds. I did feel pretty dim. But really, aside from collecting my thoughts a little better I did well in addressing the questions that I understood.

Artist Research -- Morning Breath Inc, Matthew Welsh, Alan Forbes

Honestly, I feel a little bit silly making this my artist research post but this is something I go back to time and time again and whenever I look at it I just sigh because it is so beautiful to me.  I know beautiful is a word we're not supposed to use, and maybe my judgement is clouded a bit because of what this actually is but I suppose I should get on with it.  The artists that I listed in the title were all involved in creating this:

It is the special edition packaging of the CD Sing the Sorrow by the band AFI.  I suppose what's brought me back to it recently is the fact that the band have since put out a new CD and have been on tour so they are weighing heavily on my mind at the moment.  Regardless though, I think this book is a perfect physical embodiment of the record itself. Here are a couple more pictures of the inside of the book because I don't think that the image above goes into as much detail as I want.

   

The four preceding images were taken by me with my webcam.

Right off the bat, I feel like this relates to my work at least in the sense that I this band is the reason that I make art, or rather, they are the reason I pursued wanting to show my art to people. Even better, they are the reason I actually chose to make something worth paying attention to (I do feel like my work needs to be paid attention to, I don't know that I've gotten that across).  The band themselves helped create this book in the sense that their music is what influenced the artists who put the book together.  From that influence came the final result. I feel like this book is a beautiful accompaniment to the music and it encompasses the entire aesthetic of the band at the time and the record.

I couldn't really find much information on the photographer who created the images for the book (Matthew Welsh) so I'm not really sure how much I can say about him.  The art direction was done by Morning Breath Inc and since this they have worked with AFI quite a few other times but never quite reaching the perfection of this piece.  They do a lot of mainstream work and at current a lot of what they do is influenced by old school concert posters:

The preceding two images are screenshots from Morning Breath Inc's website.

Alan Forbes is a "punk rock" concert poster creator who has worked with AFI in the past as well as since this particular album.  Here are some of the album art he's created for them:

I have made a book before and I loved showing my work in that way.  It's such an intimate way to present work as the audience gets to hold the book in their hands and turn the pages and be a part of the story, which is something that is typically discouraged with art.  Here are some pictures of the book I'd made before:

   
The four preceding images were taken by me with my webcam.

My only concern there is I'm starting to wonder if I should show it that way again or if I should show the prints big and in an enclosed space like I did for my critique. I really liked the feedback that I got with how the enclosed space made people feel, the unease that I created which was something that I'd wanted to create for concepts.  Though I think the book would be terribly intimate, I'm not sure if it would create the same kind of looming, brooding, discomforting feel of the larger images in the smaller space, which is more of what I want. Another thing that could be a problem with the book would that I think it would become too personal and it would become more about specificity of events than the feeling I'm trying to illicit from the viewer.

Morning Breath Inc's Website
Alan Forbes' Website (i think...)

Idea Post -- I don't know that I have any ideas...

I don't know how I really feel about this idea, but it came to me on a whim so I'm going to hear it out.  I'm thinking of a piece that would cause the audience to interact with it, to actually put them in my place so to speak. I would have an image similar to this one:

a certain distaste, 2009

But it would be the model with a fork and knife in his hands, fists on the table, staring straight at the camera. The food would not be visible in this image. The image would be hung at the end of a table. At the opposite end of the table, facing the image would be an empty chair for the viewer to sit in.  In the middle of the table, would be the dish with the fish, octopus, lamb leg (not pictured), and bone marrow (not pictured) with a fork and knife on either side of the plate.  I would want the table to be small so that the person was being confronted by the image, stared down almost.  I feel like in the right setting this would be very uncomfortable for the viewer, which is something I want. I don't know if I'll follow through with this, but it's something to think about.

Artist Research -- the Brothers Quay "Street of Crocodiles"

  

The Brothers Quay are twin American filmmakers who currently reside in England.  According to wikipedia they typically work with dolls that are in some form of degeneration and their work is often dark and brooding.  When I first started watching Street of Crocodiles, I wasn't really sure what to expect.  Sure the visuals were stunning, but I wasn't sure what I was supposed to get out of it. The opening sequence especially threw me for a loop. My guess is that it was to kind of set the story up as a fairy tale and romanticize the real problems that were being discussed. With that said...

I deduced that there was a deep longing coming from the doll characters for the life that was evident in the main character.  He was alive and his motions were fluid where their motions were jerky and they were empty.  They wanted the life that a man could bear, they tried creating their own kind (the light bulb man) but it merely fizzled out.  There was a scene in particular where all the doll characters were caressing objects that visually simulated sexual organs (the meat, the cloth with hair, the glove) that they wished they possessed but simply did not.  At the very end the simply begin to fall apart as everything becomes unscrewed, including their arms which began to jerk mechanically around.

It was interesting to see that what I'd thought was more or less correct when the narration came on in the end as there was no dialogue at all.  The mis en scene was absolutely stunning and entirely encompassing.  The symbolism was also very strong and I think that's something I really need to work on. I need to find out what all of my materials mean to me and what their function is within my work. I think that will help strengthen my images, but I am a little worried about going over board because I don't want something strange happening in every image. I do want a sense of normalcy to be apparent in some but... I guess we'll see how that works out!

Film Stills courtesy of Google Images

Artist Lecture -- Brian Ulrich

Toys R Us, 2009 from the series Dark Stores from the larger body Copia

Untitled, 2005, (0503) from the series Thrift from the larger body Copia

Dixie Square Mall, 2008 from the series Thrift from the larger body Copia

To be completely honest, I was not looking forward to this lecture today.  I didn't completely understand Brian's work and I didn't feel as though I could relate to it.  The same feelings linger, to an extent, but I feel like I appreciate the work far more than I did before. It also helped that he was an entertaining person to listen to.

One thing that I really appreciated about his process was that he allows himself to work slowly. This is something I've noticed a lot about artists lately, or at least the artists that I read about. It takes them a long time to actually produce work -- not because of a lack of effort, but because it just takes awhile. I really think that's nice.  For awhile I didn't understand how anyone could stick with a project for more than like, a month or two, but after seeing artists continue a series over a span of time, it really gives me hope for myself that working with the same subject isn't weird, but actually quite normal.

Something that I had a hard time relating to though, was the undeniable political undercurrents of his work.  I just haven't been able to get into politics and I'm not sure why. I know that it impacts my life but I guess since I haven't really felt the hot breath of government on my neck I haven't quite been motivated to pay attention. That said, I realize that his work is important and that it has a really important message to send out to people, and I think what he brings up is something people really don't think about. What does happen to all those things we give away? What does happen when our "patriotic duty" to max out our credit cards fails (re: Dead Malls, Dark Stores, etc)?

I don't know that I have anywhere to go with this specifically, but I was glad he mentioned the contrast between this war and wars that have been waged in the past.  It was fascinating how he grew up with these terribly epic war stories that just seem like something out of a movie and how our war stories are hidden and are so detached and the patriotism is in this weird state that isn't palpable at all as I'm sure it was during the World Wars.

I'd like to end this post with a quote that I thought was funny: "I know it's creepy, but it's art." Thanks Brian Ulrich!

Idea Post -- Lighting Situation

the quiet of coursing thoughts, 2009

something to hold on to, 2009

 

a certain distaste, 2009

A note: These were not saved for web and reshoots are imminent! I just need to get my model back from Savannah.

Anyway. I'm pretty happy with how the images are taking shape and I'm working on how I want to continue to depict this series.  The first image posted is, I think, perfect in the way I want it to be. The second image needs a couple technical adjustments taken care of -- there is a glare on the photo in the cage which I think needs to be taken out, but I think I might like how it obscures the face. The problem though is it doesn't look intentional so I think ifI want the face obscured, I need to find another way to do it. With the third image, I'm pretty happy compositionally, but the lighting is unappealing to me. That is why I'm making this idea post, to post my idea on how to relight the image.

Here is a very sorry diagram of what I'd like my lighting to look like:

So what that is, would be a light with a snoot shooting across his eyes so that they are lit more than the rest of his face in a streak kind of  and then I would have a fill light (not pictured) making sure that everything else was illuminated as well. I talked to Shawnee about this since she understands light better than I can and I probably couldn't light my way out of a cave, at least not with any kind of intention. That's my idea for that image though.  I'm trying to convey the struggle that I felt while living with my step-dad and enduring the pain that went along with that. I think looking at my images so far, I'm happy with what I'm coming up with and I'm excited to continue shooting.

Artist Research -- Francis Bacon

At one of our earlier meetings, Jeff suggested Francis Bacon to me and his imagery really resonated with me. Especially the three that I've posted.  I find them very haunting and unnerving and violent.  Though his subject matter tends to be much more grotesque than my own, I found solace in some of the things he mentioned in a series of interviews with David Sylvester about his method.


"It was like one continuous accident mounting on top of another."


I feel like my work is often this way.  I may have an idea in my mind about what I want to happen but it seems to always turn out that something else ends up working better that I hadn't anticipated and I don't think this is a problem. That accident happened for a reason, whether by my subconscious or some greater power.  Bacon does find more frustration in this however, saying that he tries now to make more specific works but finds that the final piece is the fruit of an accident.


This also goes along with something that I found in my notes that Sophie Calle mentioned about not necessarily having a meaning at the start of a project but finding it somewhere throughout.  I think it's important to be able do without being bogged down with the why. That's not to say that the why isn't important, but I think that for me, I get stressed out by it when I feel that it is imposing on me.  I'd like to be more like Bacon and Calle. Just doing and letting my meaning find me through my work.


In Order of Appearance: "Head VI" 1949, Figure With Meat, Study after Velazquez's Portrait of Pope Innocent X 1953

Idea Post -- A Revelation

I was in the shower this morning, thinking about my project.  I was thinking about my shoot for later in the day and considering images that I would be making and suddenly I found that my concept had a complete makeover.  Actually, the real change was the fact that I'd thought of a concept.

Up until this point I had an idea and I didn't know the why. Why am I making this? But now I think I know.  I was thinking about how I was trying to make a connection with the people in my images but how it wasn't working.  My thoughts for the topic weren't cohesive and they didn't really make sense. That's when I thought, I'm not really trying to make a connection with other people, I want other people to make a connection with me.

Because of everything that happened with my step-dad, I found myself feeling very alone.  I don't feel like I can really relate to anyone who has been through what I've been through. It seems as though the majority of people who have been molested go through some crazy drug binge or something and I never found that to be appealing or an answer to my problems.  Also, because this isn't really a topic that people bring up for casual conversation it's hard to know who's dealt with what.  This is why I need people to connect with me. I feel like sometimes the connections I make with people aren't what they're supposed to be, or perhaps I do most of the reaching out.  Something that I'd like to experience, and perhaps this is why I make art, is for a person to reach out and pursue a connection with me, whether that be me the person or me the art.

Here is the final direction that my project is going in. I'm really confident in this subject and I feel very confident pursuing it.  I'm photographing the feelings I had going through the ordeal with my step-father as well as the after effects of it.  Rather than using myself as I have in the past, I'll be using someone else in order to look at my experience from the outside. I think it will be therapeutic to separate myself from the situation.

I know this is long winded, but I hope it makes sense.  I felt like I was having an epiphany today and it felt wonderful.

Artist Lecture -- Spencer Finch

I don't know that Spencer Finch's lecture was terribly informative to my own work, but I did think he gave a very interesting lecture.  The way he goes about creating things that are derived from a single moment is very relevant to photography.  He also doesn't seem to care too much about whether or not people understand the exact moment that he is communicating just so long as they can recognize a connection with the world around them.

Installation: Sky (Over Coney Island, November 26th, 2004, 12:47pm. Southwest view over the Cyclone.)

It was interesting how scientific his approach was. This is something that always fascinates me -- to combine science and mathematics with art is a great concept in that they are both completely opposite.  The former is strict and rigid, regulated, where as the latter is very free flowing and organic.  The marriage he creates between the two is uplifting and intriguing.  

Mixed Media: Outer Space (25 Brightest Stars)

Another thing he'd mentioned that I thought really hit home was that the artist puts an idea into the work which is then decoded by the viewer. Time and time again I've mentioned how I don't want to impose my thoughts on my audience, I don't want to tell anyone what they need to think about something. If they'd like to know, that's fine, but ultimately it's going to be the audience who gives the work meaning, whether or not it's what I had in mind while the work was being made -- and I'm fine with that.

Photographs: One donut twelve times, twelve donuts one time

I would really love to experience one of Finch's installations. They seem like they would be very soothing and ethereal.  I'd like to think that while I was experiencing it I would feel nostalgia and subconsciously know what he was trying to convey... of course I can't really say until I go and see the work in person.

Artist Lecture -- Penelope Umbrico

Although I was familiar with Penelope's work from my Sophomore year with Nia Burks, I didn't really understand it very well. I knew what she was doing but I didn't really grasp the weight of it until I heard her speak.  This I think, can present a bit of a problem.  I was discussing this with Ashleigh a bit earlier about the lecture and we both agreed about this.  Apparently someone had posed a question to Penelope about how she feels about this, but unfortunately I had an exam at 4 so I could not stay.

from the series Unititled (pets and babies) from home decor websites

Something that I was terribly envious of in regard to the way she works is that she can take a very small idea and turn it into something much larger. In example, when her mirror broke and so when she would go to wash her hands she would look up and feel a kind of transparency and nonexistence by not being able to see her reflection and how she turned that into the mirrors from magazines piece. Or, how her father calling to ask her to look for a new plate for her mother to replace the one he'd broken turned into Arrythmia. 


I feel like my work would benefit from thinking in that vein.  It seems like there are so many points in my day that I devise some odd thought and it goes unnoticed. I think perhaps I should start carrying around a little moleskin to keep my thoughts in so that they don't escape.

from the series Doors

Going back to an earlier thread, I think her work suffers a bit in that it's exclusive in a way.  I don't know that it's really easily accessible to the audience and it is necessary to provide further explanation in order for the work to convey what she wants it to.  Ashleigh said that one thing she had mentioned when this was posed to her was that she tries to use the titles to steer the viewer in the direction of the meaning, but I think there's only so much you can do with a title.  I don't think it would be problematic to have a brief artist's statement accompanying the work, although it is a bit of a cop out.


With my work I do want the viewer to draw their own conclusions without imposing too much onto them. I don't want to have to have a side note for the person to understand.  I want my art to be immediately arresting and have a voice of its own without me having to be a proxy -- essentially the work is an extension of myself and therefore it should be able to speak whether I am physically present or not.

from the series Untitled (Crowds and Graveyards) 

Either way, though, I really enjoyed this lecture. Penelope's work is intriguing, even if she does have to explain it, and she was quite well spoken which was very nice.  I wish I could have stayed for the rest of the Q&A session because I think this was a case where I may have had something to contribute to the conversation. No use crying over spilled milk though.

Artist Research -- Lizzy Waronker

There's not much that I can find about this artist in the way of biographical information, but her work is absolutely gorgeous. I'm only frustrated because there are some aspects of her work that I'd considered putting into my images before I'd found her so now I'm concerned about copying but I suppose that's silly. Anyway, here is some of her work:

Paradox Shrine

Bus Station

A Medicine for a Lady

Medicine Here

From the image I saw, she looks to be a younger artist which is interesting.  I mentioned in another blog (here) her work's resemblance to Rauschenberg's, who is another artist with work that I admire. I like that, from what I can tell, she turns the mundane into something extraordinary and unsettling... which is of course what I am looking to do.  I think my work is turning into a hybrid of the artist as photographer and photographer as artist in that I'll be building something to photograph but then the photograph itself will also be important, just as much so as the sculpted part.  Of course, this is the part I'm focusing on the hardest right now and I think by getting ideas of sculpture at work in its own element is pretty helpful, especially since I don't come from a sculpture background.

Lizzy's Website