Within the past week, we have officially begun planning for our Home project and started brainstorming for our In-School project. Specifically for the Home project, I chose the option for responding to two prompts from The Art Assignment. I had a hard time narrowing it down to only two, as there are SO many to choose from. Eventually, I settled on "body in place" and "portrait of a friend," but I was also seriously considering "copy of a copy of a copy." Ultimately, I hope to use these projects as a way to expand my creative thinking skills in terms of responding to a criteria; I enjoy structure because I often get overwhelmed by the decision - making process, but I work extremely well with a sense of purpose inspired by a set of directions. While contemplating what kind of approach I want to use when tackling each prompt, I considered the following:
- emotions are transient and transferable. How can I prolong the transience and enhance the transfer-ability? - I don’t think the viewer should work too hard to understand the content; rather, I believe that it is more beneficial for me to use literal visuals and / or well - known symbolic metaphors so that my artwork is inclusive to a wider audience. I don’t think that esoteric artwork does any good when only a select amount of people, after intensive research and analysis, comprehend the significance of the piece - How can I utilize photography (which is my medium for both projects) to create a formal yet dynamic composition? - How can I maintain a personal narrative while also making the content relatable? - Do the photographs have to be printed on canvas? What about designing a digital gallery and arrange the images accordingly? The above questions / concerns do not really provide me with any profound clarity or guidance as I continue to plan for my projects. However, by writing them down and committing them to a tangible form, I am able to easily reflective on which big ideas I would like to focus on. Thus, I have some general starting points to keep in mind and hopefully resolve by critique day. Body in Place The guidelines for this assignment are to consider a setting that is important to me specifically, and photograph myself in it so as to give the space a different context. It is a pretty abstract prompt, but that opens itself up to a lot of interpretations - which can be good for an artist. I had initially thought of this back - road near my house which cuts through the Richmond International Airport and passes the charred remains of an old building used by the Richmond City Fire Department for skills training and lessons. The road is usually deserted, and I enjoy walking my dog along the shoulder at dusk. I have seen multiple sunsets from this road, all in different yet equally memorable instances: sitting the car with a troubled friend, walking Spike just as it stops raining and steam unfurls from the pavement, losing myself in my music and singing out loud... that road has seen me in instances of rawness and vulnerability. It’s humbling. But, as I developed this idea more, I realized that something about using this road didn’t sit right with me. Then, another idea occurred to me: my dad’s house. Not the house itself, really, but the swing set in the backyard. My dad built that swing set specifically for my siblings and me about 8 years ago. The three of us (my brother, my sister, and I) have spent countless fall afternoons, winter mornings, and summer nights scaling the hand - built ladder, loping across the monkey bars, pumping our legs and imagining we were flying out of our swings. That swing set is where my sister and I collided as we were swinging and got swollen lips. That swing set is where we pretended that the ground was lava and my sister and I teamed up against my brother to push him into the lava. That swing set is where my best friend and I caught a lizard and pushed it down the slide. That swing set is where I learned to flip off of a swing, but not without failing a few times first. That swing set is where I would pack the snow into the slide and smooth out the dense mounds so that my sister could ride the sled down it in the fashion of a mini roller coaster. The more I thought about it, the more that I realized that this place is much more personal and impactful than the road, but also relatable because everyone knows what a swing set is and the general memories / experiences associated with it. So, my plan is to create a series of about four pictures. I am going to ask my sister to lend me all of her stuffed animals, which I will arrange around the swing set as if they are all playing. Then, I am going to put on dress - up clothes as if I am playing with the toys. I am going to pose in various ways which portray myself as engaging with the toys in conjecture with different aspects of the swing set. I was originally thinking that I would need to print the images on canvas (after I had edited them to my liking), but I am now contemplating the benefits / disadvantages to instead presenting them in a digitally composed gallery, which I could project onto a wall for viewing. Additionally, I want to connect the images with a statement which outlines the individual photos and adds a textual element to the whole piece. Portrait of a Friend This prompt is relatively straight - forward, but I feel like that makes it even more complicated to creatively respond to; the whole premise is to photograph a formal portrait of a friend, the identity of which I myself can decide. Although we have developed some general guidelines for friendship, the relationship an individual has with a friend is up to him / her to define. I think this notion of independence within an instance of interdependence is really interesting. When considering important persons whose friendship I deeply care for, one being immediately came to mind: Spike. He’s not even a person, but Spike is the absolute love of my life. He is the best dog I have ever had. I was initially hesitant to pursue photographing him because it is cliche to portray your dog as your “best friend,” but I do not want to deny myself of pursuing an interest of mine simply because it’s already been done. So, I am going to design a formal portrait of my gorgeous, smart, and loyal deaf dog. I will also likely create a series for this assignment, so I want to use different settings of equal importance to spike himself: our kitchen, where he can keep an eye on all of us and is also likely to be pet as we walk through; my car, as he loves to go for rides; and maybe even the road I had mentioned earlier because of how often he and I go for walks. Perhaps I should include the person who has the most significant association with each setting in the photo, such as my mom for the kitchen, me for the car, and one of my friends who often accompanies Spike and me on our walks. I am not sure if it is necessary to include writing to accompany this installation, but I think it might be nice to have a. single poem as the focal point around which the images are situated. The hypothetical poem would be an original, handwritten by myself about Spike. I think that would be the meat effective and evocative way to communicate the nature of friendship as defined by a person and their dog. I am not sure if this collective piece will be presented digitally or on actual canvas.
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