So as a wrap up to my digital photography series- its being shown to the public tomorrow afternoon from 3-6pm- I would like to close this story with a few reflections.
First of all, I feel as though exploring and reflecting about how to establish myself as an artist on the internet has been quite the ride. I was very afraid of it just 10 weeks ago, and as I've learned and read about other artists and how new media and technology has developed within our society its not as scary and with out a doubt I will be using the internet to promote my work more.
Also, learning about Etsy was another exciting aspect for me. I think posting work on that sight, as well as creating a community of buyers and artists through that sight has a lot of potential for me. I'm excited to pursue Etsy further. :)
As for my Digital Photography project I will end you with a Haiku that will represent my work for the screening that goes something like this...
Sheer Fabric Flows on Energy moves within us like a tree grows tall
Hope to see you all there! (at lawrence University in Appleton WI. - Warch Campus Center Cinema. ;)
This week I've been finishing up the printing of my images and setting up my etsy account. I've also been looking closely at the photographers who most inspire me and really examining how they relate to my work. The two photographers that I so far feel most inspired by are Anne Brigman and Joyce Tenninson. First of all, Anne Brigman is a pictorial photographer from the late 1800s to the early 1900s. Her best known work involves nude female figures in landscapes. But not just any landscapes, the High Seirra terrain. This area in california is known for its unique and mesmerizing beauty. I find her images alive, emotional, and a primitive connection with the human identity. She has also experimented with manipulating the negative with paints, pencil, and chemicals to give off an even more ethereal effect when viewing the images. These images resinate with me because in my work I'm trying to capture human identity through how energy is present within each individual I photograph. In the series i've been working with presently, I've been doing that by having them manipulate one large piece of sheer fabric in the winter landscape of wisconsin. The manipulate of the fabric with the human body visualizes the dancing energy present within the figure. Then, taking it a step further, is how their energy is taken into certain environments. I feel as though I want to achieve a similar esthetic to Anne Brigman's work but the connection to the environment in my work is more based on showing the reflection of the individuals change in presence within different landscapes and how it uniquely alters from place to place.
Joyce Tennison's work deals with human identity as well. She considers mythology as well as portraiture to capture the inner identity of the individual. The esthetic quality of her images I also resonate with, as well as the ethereal quality captured when she tries to reaveal the inner archetype if the figure. She is a much more recent artist, which is still living and working in New York City.
So my Digital project is on its way! I've been going through all of the 10 images i've selected for the series and tweaking them on photoshop until I'm satisfied and ready to print. I think I'm ready to print them out, though I thought I'd run them by a couple more people just in case they have some good suggestions. Throughout this editing process I've been experimenting with amplifying the colors and values to create serial or even a graphic like feel to emphasis the emotional value of the images instead of documentation feel to them, or if keeping them more true will be more successful. As of now, I feel like i've made decisions that are right in between, which I feel pretty good about. Though, I've very tempted to get intense with the color so we'll see what I end up with. :)
Here are some of my photos so far...
Also, here are some photography from some of the photographers who most inspire my work and as an artist. I love how they capture the human spirit. :)
So, shout out to Ann Brigman and Joyce Tenneson!!!!
This week I read a few readings on new media development in the book "The New Media Reader" as well as an exert from the book "Alone Together" chapter Growing up Tethered. All of these readings approached the subject matter slightly differently, but all dealing with the same issues of the controversial subject of the growth of technology. How is technology changing the way our society interacts? Everyone is wondering this, we know that its drastically changing the way humans interact, but we are all worried about where it will go from here...
I found the chapter: growing up tethered particularly interesting. Its about a study done in a east coast high school about the interactions students have with each other and text messaging. A "text" has become so main stream that lots of people prefer to "text" versus a phone call or face to face interactions. This section also brings up the questioning of the change in adolescents development of "independence". If one is always capable of getting hold of a parent or another important individual then do they ever learn to depend on themselves? I thought this was a particularly interesting section which made me really wonder. Is anyone truly independent anymore? I can really sympathize with both parts of the argument, its really valuable to always be able to connect with someone at any given time, though, being able to truly depend on yourself is a human instant thats so primal it should be put as more of a priority for human development than it seems to be in our current society. At least, I personally have a desire to trust that I could depend on myself for survival if I really needed to, but the scary thing is in a lot of circumstances, I probably couldn't.
All of these readings file down to be all about the change in human interaction. This relates to my project in a very interesting light. In my series, I'm trying bring back the human interaction thats only experiences when individuals are in the same place and sensitive enough to really notice the nuances of the other individual's presence. Well, i'm trying to translate what one would feel internally about another individual's energy or presence into something you can visually notice in a photograph. At least more of a dramatic expression of their presence.
I've been working on crafting my 10 images in photoshop to clear up any odd lighting/ color problems and such, but overall staying pretty true to the original scene. I can't wait to print them!
Ray Johnson is a contemporary artist from the 60s and 70s (died in 1995) who is most well known for his collages sent through snail mail to individuals all over the world. His connections through people, facts, and images have a multi-layering of meanings, and he has kept a large group of fans with his work- such as the Depere resident: Steven Perkins.
Steven Perkins is the gallery director and a prof. of art history at UWGB. In his home, he has a small gallery in his WC of Ray Johnson works. He has operated this small WC gallery in his home for over 8 years bringing in many different artists to show work there.
I thought traveling over to his home in Depere was SO WORTH THE TRIP! He has such a lovely home with his wife and daughter, full of worldly art as well as the funky gallery. Listening to him speak about Ray Johnson was also quite interesting. Steven was one of his correspondents which made Ray Johnson so much more "alive" to me, hearing directly from someone who actually interacted with him. Also, hearing about his opinions about setting up a gallery space and really using any space available to you (like a bathroom) to show someone's art. It was very inspiring and creative, and I want to go back!
The Convocation today at Lawrence University was given by Mary Jane Jacob, an art curator in museums and public art. After reading a handout about her thoughts on public art and curating then hearing her speak a few main aspects came to mind after the talk, reflecting upon the event.
First of all, her concepts with the connection to buddhist philosophy and contemporary art. The idea that we should have more in our minds the purpose for our actions to create art versus the overall goal is very moving to me. It makes sense, you want to be very aware and in the present moment for the pure creative process to develop but you also want to be open to other collaborators and inspirations to come in an evolve your work even more.
The other aspect of her speech that I was reflecting on after the convocation was her presentation itself. I thought many of her examples of her going into communities to do public art was interesting, but the way she presented it could have been a little bit more colorful. For instance, she used this diagram to explain the public art process with collaborating with other artists and individuals but I did not feel she fully explained this enough for the majority of the audience to really follow the steps she was taking. She brought up some really interesting theories, but skimmed over them to a point where if I had not read a small article she wrote where she talked about these theories some, I would have been completely lost and uninterested. Honestly, I think the information she was presenting was really cool, she just needed to consider her audience a little better and realize that the majority of spectators knew nothing of art curating and needed to see it from a little larger picture.
I looked into the famous Artist Allan Kaprow with his connection to "Happenings" this last week and found some interesting connections I never would have thought I would have with this artist works.
The idea of "Happenings" which as far as I remember something Allan Kaprow started with his work. Happenings are performances of life so to speak, and the artists organizes the event but the outcome is controlled based on all the participants. It seems to be considering life as art but only when lived completely the present moment, sense the artists are also against repeating any of these "happenings" at least with the same interpretation or recorded in any way. So its the art of the present, physically - doing the action or somehow engaging with the happening and intellectually- by dealing with the situation based on instinct instead of having time to analyze the situation.
In my art work I don't exactly do "Happenings", but I like to think about the immediate reaction an individual has to certain environmental changes based on instinct instead of purely societal. For instance, in my photography series i want to capture the physical changes with the models postures based on the environment they are set in. I feel as though it captures an essence of the human spirit, which is very fragile but extremely powerful if noticed with enough light.
It would have been awesome participating in one of the "happenings". A real self discovering moment.
So Jeseph Beuys was the artist in which I looked at this week. Joseph first interest was medicine but after his involvement in the war switched mindsets and entered into the Dusseldorf Academy of Art to study sculpture. He is well known in the art world of his work somewhat within and similar to the Flux group which were about (to my understanding) bringing art even more into society by incorporating literature, music, visuals, and everyday life actions. The idea was that everyone can do art and life is art. Many of Joseph's performances brought attention to many different elements of everyday life, and how the viewer part of everyday life interacts with it.
After watching a movie about his work and reading a few tid-bits about his work I'm still in a cloud about what I think of his work. I understand the significance he had of the art world but personally he does not resinate with me. What I mean is, if everything is art doesn't that also mean that nothing is art? I think he boarders on this line way to much, so I lean towards not finding much of his performances relevant and therefore I have tended not to appreciate his work as much as some others seem to.
see for yourself and how you respond to it...
Now, as for my project, I came upon a photographer that I REALLY resonate with; Anne Brigman. She was a pictorialist in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Her work uses the female nude in landscapes, creating compositionally something similar to a renaissance painting. My portraits try to portray the nude model posing with sheer fabric and I realized that my work has very similar lines and framing to her lines created within her landscapes. Her use of curving lines with the body and the environment is something I would like to achieve going into this project.
In class on wednesday, we watched -without the commentary- the whole film Stroszek by Werner Herzog. We, as a class, had watched this film with Werner doing a commentary the first time about his journey making the film, so watching the film a second time made it a whole different experience in observing the subtly of the narrative and space.
For instance, The part that was most intriguing to me was the very ending of Stroszek. In this scene Bruno came upon an closed down carnival in a rural area of Wisconsin. Bruno puts money in a few machines to watch chickens and a rabbit dance and play the piano, then finds a ski lift and turns it on and starts riding up and down the lift with nothing but his shot gun and a frozen turkey. The very last thing the viewer sees is shots cutting back and forth between one of the machines with a chicken dancing inside and Bruno riding the chair lift until finally you hear an explosion and it cuts to his pick up truck in flames.
This scene is so ambiguous and could have so many different connections to the inner plot line of the narrative- probably why its so interesting to me to begin with.
For instance, does the chicken dancing in the machine symbolize how eva his "sorta girlfriend/ prostitute" is caged within her own obstacles by leaving germany to have a "new life" and still ends up leaving the only family she has to go back into being a prostitute? Is there a strong connection between the frozen turkey as the last thing he holds onto and the dancing chicken? I also found the connection about the question Bruno asked in Germany to Eva about what will happen to his "friends" aka. his musical instruments when he dies, then you see him at a point where he could have killed himself and the viewer sees these caged animals playing similar instruments to what Bruno enjoys to play.
There are so many concepts that could be looked into further I just don't know which one to examine! I think this is one of Herzogs accomplishments with these films, because at a glance they just seem bizarre and about a depressing world some people live in, but taking another look one can see so many connections to the human condition in strange parts of ones life.
How does Strozek relate to my work? I'm not really sure to be honest. I think his goal of "inner landscapes" is intriguing and something I try to achieve in my work as well but I feel (from the very little films I've seen of his) that I take that goal and go 180 degrees from Herzog. I've seen him examine the inner landscapes of the human condition in a place where the character is in turmoil and struggle. When I create art I don't like to focus on that. I like trying to examine the inner landscapes of individuals in a more hopeful sense, showing their light and essence in a positive and joyous manner. I don't believe the dark and grimy parts of the human experience are suppose to be ignored by any means, but I have no motivation to project that message, instead maybe a way out of that? This might sounds extremely cheesy depending on who reads this but I feel life is way to short to not try to reach pure bliss.
As for my project I don't believe I've updated you all on my latest progress. I will be doing a two photography series on two models. In these series they will be posing with sheer fabric. This connection between the body and the sheer fabric I believe creates an visual portrayal of their unique energies. That said, I will also be shooting these models in multiple locations, looking at how though their energies are unique, they are manipulated by their surroundings as well.
Still working on figuring out all the different locations, but if anyone has ideas that seem practical with our lovely wisconsin winters- LET ME KNOW!
In an article I just read titled Herzog on Herzog; Legitimacy, Herzog talks about himself and his influences for his work. I found aspects of what he said quite interesting, and there were a few frazes through his anwers in which instilled a sense of reflection and contimplation for my own work. For instance,
"These are the kinds of landscapes I try to find in my films, the landscapes that exist only in our dreams. For me a true landscape is not just a representation of a deert or a forest. It shows an inner state of mind, literally inner lanscapes, and it is the human soul that is visible through the lanscapes presented in my films..." -Herzog
This part about creating the inner landscapes of our inner state of mind really intrigues me. I know hes particularly talking about how he relates that within his films but I felt it could relate to much more then that. In some ways we're all as artist trying to achieve portraying the inner landscapes of our minds -at least I am at times. For instance, if we were trying to only recreate something that already exist within this world with no alterations, absolutely exactly like is was then are we really doing anything but documentation? I personally don't even think its possible to not "recreate" without part of ones "inner landscape" to shine through, I find this a wonderful thing.
When i'm creating art I feel a lot of times as if I am trying to show some of my "inner landscapes". I take it as through its what makes you live, your perspective on the world which is totally unique to you with its completely unique mixture of the outside nature and nurture within your life. Its showing your human existence and the human condition.
This has also started me thinking about what i'm aware of that influence my work. Some of these influences include people close to me like my family and friends. Sometimes though, i'm influenced by the encounter with a complete stranger who offers nothing but kindness. So I guess I'm influenced by the joy within the human condition, and everything that supports that.
Andy Warhol (1928-1986), an innovative and influential artist within our modern world. In an section from "The philosophy of Andy Warhol" he brings up the idea that Business is the greatest art. Is that true? Can and or should capitalism be the backbone for art? I think this is a very interesting perspective he takes, and one that any artist or business man for that matter should at least consider and evaluate. For me, I think if you want to be an artist as your career and not just an artist as a hobby then one would need to make a living and develop an income to be able to live within this modern world. Developing an income with your work is really marketing yourself and creating a business. To how much the theory and ins and outs of business become the "highest art" I have yet to discover for myself.
I always had in the back of my mind that business was an important aspect for being any type of artist. If one wants to become an artist as their career then they also need to develop skills that cater to making a profit to be able to live and continue their work, and aware of their own style to know what sorts of people to target when selling their work. What do people want to buy? What is an image or item that someone might not "need" but esthetically or maybe even spiritually they feel like their life would be enhanced by being around in their everyday life. I almost feel as though some artists are unintentional visual psychologists trying to create work that instills something powerful, meaningful, and communicative, that helps the viewers find out things about themselves and their world that they wouldn't of been able to realize without this visual exposure.
At least, I hope to be an artist from that angle, because who wants to create something within the world only for it to absolutely effect no one. NOT ME!
This blog will be an attempt at sharing my own journey in discovering my work within the art world and evaluating the elements of business that contribute to that.
Still developing my project idea that I will be working on for all 9 weeks of class. Though I do want to continue on with people's identity though their energy. That still really fascinates me, and I believe can be presented in lots of different ways to be an effective piece of work.
