As a visual artist I am mostly influenced by television and cinema. Although this is probably an unhealthy addiction it does however flood my mind with endless visual stimulus for my own work. A lot of my photography is highly manipulated which creates an end result that has a graphic design quality, something one might expect to see in an advertisement. This is how I would like my thesis project to be displayed, a cross between commercial and fine art. Being influenced by visual media I have noticed obvious messages and overtones that are repeated obsessively on both television and cinema. These messages are ones of an impending doom and pessimism. What I then gain from all this is the sense that humanity as a whole is an illusion. I believe our species sees itself as the most intelligent and therefore most sophisticated; while hiding behind this mask we commit the most vial and destructive acts that are far from anything humane. I personally find this hypocritical act to be ridiculous and as and artist I would like to illustrate specific examples in a collection of photo collages accompanied by sculpture.
This collection, most likely titled, "The Illusion of Humanity," will focus attention on elements in American society that are taboo and/or blissfully ignored by the average citizen. The overall theme centers on the idea that there is a large system that has many people dependent on it for survival. For this system to flourish and remain ahead of its competition it embarks in activities that are cruel and unhealthy such as war and pollution. These activities are made public to those who choose to know, but the average consumer chooses to ignore them to maintain a clean conscious. For example, a popular fast food chain treats the animals they raise and slaughter cruelly while the consumers of the restaurants turn a blind eye for its cheaper prices. I plan to touch on more than just consumerism, I will also explore the injustice of the war on drugs and the phony iconic view of the American family. This sounds like a lot but I intend to compress these very different issues into individual images which will develop into an exhibition of much controversy and bleak perspecive. The end result will not be so much about the topics they display, I choose to focus more on the aesthetic value of the images. Each topic will be its own illustration, a photo collage with mixed media.
The project will consist of a series of large format, highly manipulated photographic collages with mixed media, and also small scale sculptures that will not only be used as props in the photos but will also accompany the hanging images in the expo. The images will be manipulated by both digital editing with photoshop and in post printing editing/art making, such as painting and sketching over the prints. The final images will consist of composites from many different images spliced together to create collages. The collages will create the illusion that the image was shot and created from one photo; much like how Gregory Crewdson works, but will also have elements that make it design like with paint added to various sections to achieve abstraction.
The overall style will show a bleak view of society, influenced by current media trends. I will present about 5-7 completed large scale images. Each image will focus on one subject or one situation at a time. To create the composite images I will digitally photograph each element of the image separately. Each element will then be cut away from its background and merged with the other elements, fitting together like pieces of a puzzle. One such element will be parts of a machine. The individual machine parts will be shot seperately along with a portrait of a human subject to create one of the final images. This particular image will depict a poorly designed cyborg-like person, someone who needs these added machine elements in order to live and function correctly. Examples of other elements to be shot are medical instruments which will be manipulated and sculpted by myself . Most of my images will require various sculptures as well as small sets. These sculptures will be part of my final display. In front of each hanging image will be a small scale sculpture on a pedestal or stand. I will try and produce at least one sculpture for each image. I think this will enhance the viewing experience of my overall exhibit by providing something more tangable and real than just a flattened image.
As an artist I work completely without assistance in isolated studios, remote shooting locations, and in a personal editing studio. I prefer to work completely alone because it frees me from distractions and outside influence. As a person with ADD and social phobia it is extremely easy for me to become distracted and stifle creative flow, which is why I isolate myself. All subjects in my photos are either self portraits or photos I appropriate from my professional work as a photojournalist. I have not yet decided, but I may end up using the assistance of one or two associates to model certain characters for me in which I want to illustrate in the photographic collages. As mentioned above I gain most of my inspiration from visual media, but for this particular project much inspiration came from the core ideals of the novel, 1984. The notion of a larger system/government monitoring everyone and controlling every aspect of their lives makes me reflect on current American culture. I hope to bring my visions to life and have everyone take away something different. I want them to look past the cliche and overstated and see my personalized perspective of a bleak inhumane state which we are all a victim of simply by being a US citizen.
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