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!