Category Archives: Senior Studio

Toledo Museum of Art Visit

In the Sights and Sounds Exhibition at the Toledo Museum of Art, there were a lot of inspiring and creative works on display.  The one that inspired me in relation to my BFA project was called Woldgate Woods, Winter, 2010 by David Hockney.  It was a nine videos on nine monitors that was slightly out of sync.  His artist statement says that the piece is “a continued exploration of time, landscape, and memory.”  He created this piece by using nine different cameras filming the woods.  I was also thinking about displaying my images on nine different monitors and seeing his work gave me the idea of having different parts of an image switch out with parts of other images change on the monitors, to create an even greater sense of unstable space and nature.

Another piece I enjoyed was the black and white film photographs of the trees.  They were the same image, but one was inverted.  I liked how they were displayed, where the viewer had to walk behind a black curtain to see them, and they were dimly lit.  Depending how things pan out, this might be another option for display in the gallery.

BFA Contract

I want to combine digital imaging and installation for my BFA project.   I plan for it to be a series displayed as an installation. I will  be focusing on developing still images using my camera, Photoshop, and Lightroom.  There will be an emphasis on digital photography and photo montage.  I will realize my piece using monitors as a means to display it in the gallery.  In order to bring my vision to life I will be using skills from classes both inside and outside the art department.  I will be using Photoshop and a DSLR camera, both of which were taught to me in Digital Imaging and Digital Photography classes, in addition to the knowledge I already possess.  I have found that taking philosophy, psychology, and sociology classes has enhanced and continues to inform my art and my worldview.  All of this experience has challenged me to create more thoughtful and creative artwork in my medium.

My idea is to expand on my final Advanced Digital Imaging project.  I am inspired by a multitude of scientific theories about the universe and the nature of reality.  I have been doing research on the Holographic Principle, the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, the black hole information paradox, space time, String Theory, and quantum mechanics.  I am also informed by things I have learned in my Philosophy classes like Plato’s Theory of Forms, determinism, and the simulation hypothesis.  The ideas I have taken from my research and want to incorporate into my BFA project are as follows, information cannot be created or destroyed, it is (in theory) possible for information for a 3D world to be stored and spread on a 2D surface, and everything could be data, able to be manipulated and edited.  I want to focus on the nature rather than humanity or technology for this piece, but both of those things are also an integral, and consequential part of the overall message I want to communicate, that being the world is not concrete, static, or maybe even real.  I want people to think about these things and their consequences, hopefully do some research of their own, and draw their own conclusions. 

My series will focus on nature, and I want there to be no evidence of humanity in them.  Although one of my goals is to have people consider the implications of living in an unknown world, my concept is ultimately about something bigger than ourselves, which is why I want to focus on nature for this series.  The basis for quantum mechanics, that information cannot be created or destroyed will be replicated by manipulating parts of a photo to create something that looks completely different and diverse from the original, while being part of it at the same time.  I will also use the Holographic Principle, which states that it is possible for information for a 3D world to be stored and spread on a 2D surface.  I will represent this by stretching the photo and overlaying parts onto the image, creating a visual, (with artistic liberties) representation of the concept.  Finally, I want to incorporate the simulation hypothesis by displaying my series on monitors. 

As for how I want to display my piece, I did some research on various types of installations that I could do.  I am thinking that I want to display the series on several smaller monitors put together to form one picture, and the picture will cycle through my series so that only one is showing at a time.  I am thinking about having different color profiles on the monitors to further support my thesis, which in simplest terms is that the world is not what it seems.  The monitors would be mounted on the wall, with no gaps between individual monitors.  For now I think the monitors should be uniform in size, but that might change when I have a clearer image of the final product.  Different makes and aspect ratios might be interesting.  The image on the monitors would change every minute, and it would take 10 minutes to completely view the piece, which means I have to create 10 strong images for the series.  As for the size of the whole display, I think ~5’ x 3.3’ (60” x 40”) would be an adequate size, because that is a size that takes into account the aspect ratio of the photos I will be taking.

 

Production Calender

Dates BFA Goals Class Assignments
9/17 Contract due. Come to class prepared to work while professor meets with students.
9/19 Research possible shooting locations. Field trip to TMA & 20 North Gallery (write your reflection on blog!)
9/24 Research possible shooting locations a and take photos. Project #2: Art Exploration and Reading #2: excerpt from Digital Art by Christiane Paul
9/26 Edit images taken. Have 1+ images completed. Small group critiques begin. Have enough of your body of work completed to actively participate in a formal critique. (Group A)
10/1 Research possible shooting locations and take photos. Critiques cont. (Group B)
10/3 Edit images taken. Have 3+ images completed. Critiques cont. (Group C)
10/8 Research possible shooting locations and take photos. Critiques cont. (Group D)
10/10 Edit images taken. In-class work time.
10/12 (Friday) Have 6+ images completed. MID-TERM FORMAL DEFENSE
10/15 Research possible shooting locations and take photos. Independent work and meetings (A/B).
10/17 Edit images taken. Independent work and meetings (C/D) Ruth @ ASAP/10.
10/22 Research possible shooting locations and take photos. Small group critiques – A and B
10/24 Edit images taken. Have 7+ images completed. Small group critiques – C and D
10/29 Research possible shooting locations and take photos. Independent work and meetings (A/B)
10/31 Edit images taken. Independent work and meetings (C/D)

Pick Advisors by today!

Fill out online form (Advisor choice, display and equipment) by class time.

11/5 Research possible shooting locations and take photos. Small group critiques – A and B
11/7 Edit images taken. Small group critiques – C and D
11/12 Research possible shooting locations and take photos. No class, Veterans Day
11/14 Edit images taken. Have 9+ images completed. Draft Artist Statement. Small group critiques A
11/19 Edit images taken. Small group critiques B
11/21 Edit images taken. Have 10 images completed. NO CLASS – THANKSGIVING BREAK
11/27 Assemble resources for display installation in the gallery. Small group critiques C
11/29 Test setup in the gallery. Small group critiques D
12/1 Make any final adjustments. ARTS Xtravaganza
12/3 Have 10 images completed. FINAL DEFENSE

2nd Advisor meeting and accompanying form due

12/11 Have 10 images completed and installation working. Completed body of work in final exhibition format, including appropriate accompanying materials (BFA work artist statement, Copies of BFA forms (proposal and entry card) signed advisor form and final signed artist statement)

 

Required Equipment List

  • DSLR camera
  • 9 monitors
  • Photoshop
  • Lightroom
  • computer
  • flash drive

 

My Art Assessment Essay

I consider digital imaging and photography my primary medium.  The image editing process especially is my favorite thing to do.  I feel tireless when I am editing an image I care about.  My favorite things to shoot are landscapes and nature.  I also enjoy other mediums like digital painting.  I do digital photography and make photo montages, using my computer with Photoshop and Lightroom.  I have been using Photoshop and a camera for many years, and I only recently got into Lightroom, which I really enjoy.  For my other classes, I have made an etching and done 3D modeling that I am pleased with.  My favorite part of 3D modeling was editing the final image and making the model seem as if it existed in the space as the photo.  I feel like I have just recently identified a style in my work, which can be summarized as altering and abstracting nature.  My editing style involves heavily modifying and combining images in experimental ways.  I use blending modes frequently, and I like to combine them to achieve unique effects.  I am drawn to loosely defined and blurry shapes.  Refining this style and finding ways to make it work more effectively is one of the options I see for myself going forward this semester. 

   

Creatively, I find myself drawn to images that bend reality, anywhere from subtly to overtly.  As far as motifs, themes, and subjects go, I am interested in a variety of things.  I am drawn to the sky, aviation, nature, the female form, long hair, the internet, technology and computers, graphic design, Art Nouveau, anime, sociology, philosophy, psychology, and scientific theories about the nature of reality.  The images above were inspired by Plato’s Theory of Forms, and the Holographic Universe Theory.  Plato’s Theory of Forms asserts that the physical realm is only a shadow, or image, of the true reality of the Realm of Forms.  The Holographic Universe Theory is the theory that everything in the universe is a kind of hologram, based on the discovery that black holes store information on the surface of their spatial boundary.  So, it would theoretically be possible to reconstruct something psychically that had fallen into a black hole using the information that gets spread on the spatial boundary, and from there the whole universe could be constructed from information on the spatial boundary of a black hole.  In the same way information is spread across the surface of the black hole in the theory, I spread the original photo across itself to create the abstract shapes seen above. 

I enjoy both art for art’s sake, and interpretive and symbolic art that has a deeper meaning.  Persuading people and sparking discussion is something I am interested in doing with my art.  As far as where I want to take my images professionally, I am somewhat unsure.  I completed an internship over the summer at Anthony Ziccardi Studios, where I was a photo editor.  I found that I really enjoyed working there, so being a photo editor is something that I would definitely like to do, but I want to explore others areas of digital art as well.  I also have some interest in the fields of graphic design, and web design.  I have very little actual experience with web design and graphic design currently, though they are fields I want to explore in more depth post-graduation.  Although I’m not very good, I like to draw sometimes as well. 

 

The theme of nature unifies the majority of my most recent work.  While the concepts ultimately diverge, they share some similarities.  Some of my digital images and my prints explore how nature is perceived by people on a technical level, and suggests that what we see should not always be taken as truth.  The two images pictured above examine the relationship between technology and nature.  They have more similarities than people give them credit for, while at the same time being very different.  For example, molecules and pixels make up the bigger picture that we observe with our eyes.  Whether we are looking at the real thing or a picture, our eyes don’t discriminate, and it’s all information just the same.  There’s a lot of art and talk about how technology and nature clash, with technology often being painted in a negative light.  The thought of technology as a natural evolution of nature should also be considered more often.  Human made is nature made.   

My prints focus on color in relation to nature and humans.  There is not one universal way of seeing.  Color is only visible to us because our imperfect brains can process it.  Color appears differently to different people, and the visually impaired can “see” through other means.  What is there physically may not be perceivable to the human eye.  Some examples are ultraviolet light, and under certain conditions, infrared light.  Our moods are another factor that can also affect how we see the world, in a less literal sense.  These ideas are expressed in my work by showing the same scene in different colors.

    

One artist that inspires me visually and technically is Ellen Jantzen.  I chose the images above because I either resonate with them or I feel they are representative of Ellen’s style.  I like how she assimilates weirdness with reality.  Her art makes me feel calm.  When I look at it, I think it is very close to some of what I am interested in doing with digital imaging.  I also feel like we have the same inspiration.  On her website (ellenjantzen.com), there is a quote from Aesthetica Magazine which reads, “Ellen Jantzen unearths new states of reality through digital manipulation.  Scientific theories about space, time and the ever-expanding universe provide a starting point for a portfolio which looks beyond the surface to reveal new layers of meaning.”  This feels like it could be my artist statement.  A lot of her work incorporates one weird element, like the tan mountain lines or the yellow tree lines in the bottom left and top right images, with realistic landscapes.  The way she manipulates her photos is traditionally collage-like, but her work is also unapologetically digital.  However, her art falls just short of really resonating with me, as I prefer a little more weirdness going on in my images.  That’s why the top left and bottom right images resonate a little more with me, as they have more than one weird element incorporated.  They feel very static to me and I would like a little more movement in her pieces.  I like the movement in the bottom right image.  Another reason the images fall short for me, is that I gravitate towards more saturated colors, and the color palette Jantzen typically uses is very subdued.  I find analyzing her images very productive because it helps me consciously realize my style and visual tendencies.  I may not necessarily know what is going on narratively in each piece, but after viewing it, I want to know, and I think that encapsulates a goal of mine when it comes to my art.  The things that I described that make her images fall short of being more resonant with me is where my own art is distinct from hers. 

For my BFA project, I want to continue the idea that what we see is not tantamount to truth.  I want to illustrate this by abstracting and altering nature.  There are so many ideas and theories about our universe that try to propose a possibility for why it is the way it is, or even what it is.  Scientists and philosophers have come up with a lot of interesting theories.  One possible idea which I have not explored yet is Eternalism, or the idea that all time exists at once.  I would like to do more research into what is out there. 

Bibliography

Ellenjantzen, Aesthetica Magazine, 2018, www.ellenjantzen.com/.

Day 1: Video Notes

Cheryl Strayed Quotes

“You don’t have to get a job that makes others feel comfortable about what they perceive as your success. You don’t have to explain what your plan to do with your life. You don’t have to justify your education by demonstrating its financial rewards. You don’t have to maintain an impeccable credit score. Anyone who expects you to do any of those things has no sense of history of economics or science or the arts.

“You have to pay your own electric bill. You have to be kind. You have to give it all you got. You have to find people who love you truly and love them back with the same truth. But that’s all.”

I guess I have a simpler, more hedonistic view than the one expressed here, which is that you just need to be happy, whether that involves financial rewards, being kind, or artistic fulfillment. Similar to the view expressed here, I don’t think there is one permanent road to happiness or success.  As for the last quote, I like it. People’s’ lives can be enriched in many different kinds of ways, not only monetarily.

 

Ira Glass on Creativity

It’s my first time learning about this phase. I agree with the notions presented in the video. I have heard that the people that don’t succeed are the people that quit, and I agree with that wholeheartedly. Well I may go through periods where I don’t feel motivated to make art, I can’t see myself ever stopping completely. It is very reassuring to hear that I will get through this phase where I don’t feel like my art is everything I want it to be.

 

Roberto Lugo

I enjoyed his story. I liked that he wrote “this wheel kills hate” on his pottery wheel, which reminded me of “this machine kills fascists” on Woodie Gunthrie’s guitar. I was also touched by how he was willing to sit down with the people that he was ideologically opposed to and tried to come to an understanding. He even put the confederate flag on his pot, so that he could feel the racist man feel that he saw him as a human with values. I have watched some other Ted talks about how people have confronted racism in non confrontational ways and seen great success. The one in particular I’m thinking about involves a black man who opened a leader of the KKK’s eyes, by sitting down with him and talking with him, until they became friends.

 

Living the Question Podcast: How We Can Embrace Vulnerability by Krista Tippett

I agree that vulnerability is like pain and fear, we have to practice it, and that it is both humanizing and countercultural. I also agree that vulnerability nurtures empathy, which I think more of is desperately needed in the world. Question that I have is how do you know when it is safe to be vulnerable? That is a question I often struggle with, and causes conflict in my daily life.

 

John Cleese on Creativity

I don’t know how I feel about the notion that our subconscious is solving our creative problems. I think it might be more true for some people than others if it has any ground. For the most part that is in my experience with art. I do disagree that to get creative ideas we must avoid distractions. I’m times distractions can be inspiration. I especially disagree with the notion that we do not get ideas from our laptops, only our subconscious. Most of my ideas come from my laptop, which you can argue passed through my subconscious, but they still came for my laptop. I experience some of the world through it, and it’s all real. I do agree with the idea that you won’t have any creative ideas when you are rushing around trying to get things done. You have to create an oasis by creating boundaries of space and time, like giving yourself a start and and ends time. I also agree that the people in power can and do abuse that power to discourage creativity.

 

Susan Kae Grant

The way she does her work using a studio but only capturing shadows is new to me. I really like the way she portrays dreams. Her work reminds me of movies, but not any particular ones.

 

David Whyle

I really like the observation that we as humans can refuse to be ourselves contrary to animals. This made me think about my own art in which I alter nature.  Maybe by doing so I am giving it a more human quality; I’m inserting some human qualities into the inhuman. I also like the quote about how we shape ourselves to fit the world, but the world also shapes us.

 

Chitrah Ganesh

I like the her art combines the surreal and explores feminine power. I definitely connected with the line about how our reality today resembles science fiction. Society has evolved to the point that the government is constantly watching it citizens, and AI, AR, and VR technology has advanced so far. Science has made cloning possible and genetic alteration is another ability humanity has, not to mention the high political tension in the country.

 

Miwa Matreyer

I love the way the story of humanity was portrayed in this piece. The transcendence is portrayed so well in her art through the dancing and the visuals. I felt like I needed to watch it a few times to appreciate everything that was happening.

 

Maggie Taylor

This might be one of my favorite artists that we have seen in this group. I’ve been a fan of surrealism for a long time and I love the muted colors and how she repurposes old photos to tell new stories. Her work is lovely and well composed and consistently edited. If I could meet her, I would ask her how she makes them look so consistent?

 

William Kentridge

His approach to his art is not one I’ve really seen done before. Before he said that he sometimes gets ideas and inspiration when he’s walking between the camera and the canvas, I was wondering why he didn’t just use a cable release to take a photo without having to walk back and forth. It is not seem something that I could relate to at first, since I prefer to work with digital media, and am used to a streamlined work process, but it made more sense to me once I thought about how taking a break from making art and then coming back to it gives me a new perspective.