Project 1B

Project 1B

 

Some say the world will end in fire,

Some say in ice.

From what I’ve tasted of desire I hold with those who favor fire.

But if it had to perish twice,

I think I know enough of hate

To say that for destruction ice

Is also great

And would suffice. – Robert Frost

 

For project 1B, I am to interpret the poem “Fire and Ice” by Robert Frost. At first glance, I could only interpret the poem as how the world would end, that it will end either by fire or ice. After much thoughts, I view the poem as the different struggles and emotional states that led to failure. These struggles and feelings may seem like a merit to some people, but if we allow ourselves to soak in these emotions, we will not be able to function properly as a human being.

OblivionFire and Ice_A4_1

First off, I decided to paint an orb floating in the middle of a landscape and made the surface unnaturally smooth to give off a mysteries aura. If you look closely, you can see small little figures walking toward it. What I wish to interpret is that failure (represented by the orb), may looks like an unnatural path for many, but it is a necessary one. All humans will fail someday. While it looks weird, mysteries and horrifying, we will never know what is like on the other side until we fail.

FireFire_A4_1

For the second piece, I have illustrated a barren land with raw rock formation. As you can see, there are people traversing through the landscape. For the color palette, I chose mostly brown and warm colors, and keep it monochromatic. I am illustrating passion. Like fire, passion is uncontrollable, raw and unrefined, so is the mountainous scenery in this piece. All the figures that is traversing through the region is the interpretation of human lusting for passion.

Ice

Ice_A4

Lastly, I painted a snowy mountain with a castle in the distances. Keeping to the same theme, I have also included people marching through the landscape. For the color palette, I decided to use warm colors for where the light touches, and cold colors for the shadow area, to create contrasts. This image is to represent the hatred that humans bear. The snowy mountain, may look smooth and pure on the outside, is occasionally disturb by jagged rocks and sharp stones, just like how man behave with revenge and hate in their mind. The people that is marching through the mountains is the interpretation of human saturating themselves with hate.

Fire and Ice_Full_1

If you have not realizes, all the three image can be rearrange and form a huge landscape. Like what you have seen, all these humanly emotions that all of us face is just a part of our lives, it does not paint the whole picture. But it is exactly all these struggles and failures that we accumulate throughout our whole life define who we are. So for the combined piece of work, I wish to express the walk of life, the different trails we overcame, thus making our life interesting and meaningful.

Composition wise, I uses the rule of thirds for all the paintings and make sure I don’t overcrowd each paintings with too many focus points. Reason being that all three paintings will eventually be combined together and too many focus points may led the viewer’s eye out of the image, some may even feel uncomfortable.

 

Research

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/fire-and-ice/

 

Credit

https://images.unsplash.com/uploads/14116941824817ba1f28e/78c8dff1?q=80&fm=jpg&s=5600be7f06b56681c56f55c787128538

https://images.unsplash.com/13/unsplash_523b2af0710a7_1.JPG?q=80&fm=jpg&s=8e1eb193ac2811daed5c12c23dab3014

Project 1A

Project 1A

For Project 1A, I have taken 3 photographs for each task to represent my thoughts and process. I wish to express my dreams, reality and comfort zone with a tint of nostalgic through these series of images.

Task 1 – Me

Self_03_01Self_02Self_01_01

For the first task, I chose the location to be my room, taken at the golden hour (evening). I have chosen the photo of my hand facing the right and the pen facing the left, with the last shot as the establishing shot of my room. This gives off an illusion that the hand and the pen will eventually met up at my room. What I want to tell and represent is the sweet reunion of my drawing material and I, to truly become one and able to call myself an artist. As being an artist needs a tremendous amount of professionalize and skill, just being able to be called one is the greatest honor I wish I could ever achieve.

Task 2 – Object and representation of self

object_02object_03object_04

The second task, the chosen item is plastic bag. I wish to express how insignificant we are, that we are all dispensable and ultimately life have no meaning. I firmly believe that all of us have been through this stage of life before, but it is how we cope with this reality that interest me. Some of us jus lightly embrace this fact, some lost sight of their dreams and identity and some get suffocated. I believe that after we have gone through this process of realization, that we can truly live our life, with a newly found meaning and goals in our heart and mind.

Task 3 – My World

Environment_02Environment_01_1Environment_03_1

For the third task, I chose to shoot around the area of my house, during the evening period. For me, these places hold a significant amount of meaning in my heart. I wish to represent that this is the only world I know. The world where I know how to live and how to play, that no other scenery, no matter how majestic or beautiful, can ever come close to replacing this world of mine.

Final Presentation

20150903_172327

For compositing, I always keep the rule of thirds in mind, with a little adjustment of color and values.

 

Research

Cindy Sherman

https://www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/cindy-sherman-untitled-film-stills-1977-80

Rene Magritte, Son of Man

http://www.renemagritte.org/the-son-of-man.jsp

 

Reflection

I have learn a lot about photography in this project, but most importantly, I have learn a lot about myself. I can’t imagine there is any other project with the same impact as this. There are some people spending their whole lifetime searching for themselves, to know what kind of person they are, and many have failed in the process. I am glad that through this project, I can have a glimpse of who I am. That alone is the biggest take away for this project.


Cindy Sherman Research

Cindy Sherman Research (Grp 6 – Jeremy, Cher See, Evangeline)

Cindy Sherman Background

  • Born January 19, 1954, in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, a suburb of New York City.
  • She sees camera as a tool and does not regard herself as a photographer , but a means to an end
  • Artist intention – Postmodernism (Skeptical interpretations on culture)
  • In the 1970s/1980s, it was the ‘me-generation’, society faced with issues of narcissism evoke the atmosphere of self-involvement and self-fulfillment.
  • Tension between Facade and Identity
  • Sherman comments on her ‘Untitled Film Stills’, “The style of Black & White grade-Emotion pictures produced the self-consciousness of these characters, not my knowledge of feminist theory.”
  • Sherman also said, “I wanted to create something out of the culture.”

All Untitled still

  • Photo was part of the series in which Sherman was producing photographs reminiscent of Old black & white films, B-movies, American Film Noir as there is a cinematic quality to the shots.
  • Sherman was a feminist artist who took on the role of various female characters in this series, highlighting various female stereotypes.
  • She is like an actor, who appears not in the movies but in her own series of carefully crafted still shots taking on those various roles.
  • Her self-portraiture is not a portrait of herself but of the characters she plays.
  • Every untitled film stills is Cindy Sherman herself reacting to something, giving off an illusion that there is a narrative.
  • She left them untitled to create a sense of ambiguity and opened each photo to the viewer’s individual interpretation.

untitled film still 3

Untitled still #3

  • The young female intellectual on the verge of discovering her “true womanhood”.
  • Has a domestic setting and Sherman herself dresses as a housewife in a kitchen set most likely in a suburban residential area.
  • Influences by the rise of feminism
  • Represents a certain stereotype of females at that time. (50’s, 60’s)
  • Indicating that Sherman and her generation have seen through the mass media cliches
  • Props give us the clues of her setting and her attire suggests she might be in the middle of doing the dishes or housework. (roles of women)
  • Her gaze is focused on something or someone out of the photo’s frame of view
  • Expression can range from being surprised to reacting to her name being called or her peeking over her shoulder out of curiosity to find out what is happening behind her.
  • Sense of voyeurism as she does not acknowledge the presence of the viewer watching her.
  • Rule of thirds. Uses props and body to frame the scene in an interesting way. Sort of tension.
  • Frame such in a way that I leads viewer’s eyes to her face and expression.

 

untitled film still 21

Untitled still #21

  • Cindy Sherman began taking shots in outdoor locations around the city
  • The role of the small-town girl just happening upon the big city
  • She is suspicious of the metropolitan lights and shadows, but eventually seduced by its undeniable attractions.
  • Again her focus is directed towards something out of the photograph’s frame of view.
  • She is in focus while the backdrop of buildings is blurred. It keeps the attention of the viewer on her expression. (looks anxious, raises questions)
  • Portrays another female character, possibly another stereotype (working woman, out and about in the city socialite, a woman of possibly higher societal status but still confined/conforming to the gender norms and expectations in that era)
  • Viewer feel uneasy, suggesting that mass media effect on developing our identities.
  • Suggesting that our society becoming artificial and selfish.
  • Shot appears cinematic as well as it seems to be a scene in-between action scenes within a narrative. (https://www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/cindy-sherman-untitled-film-stills-1977-80)