Project 1a: strange encounter

Inspiration and research: 

Deconstructing Freida, Loui Jover https://www.pinterest.com/pin/307652218277675804/

 

Waldemar Strempler
Collage I DID 2013
https://stremplerart.tumblr.com/post/66699205859/collage-i-did-2013-waldemar-strempler-tumblr

 

The first collage that I found deconstructed the woman’s face, revealing the things that goes on in her mind contrary to her appearance. In the second collage, the skull replacing the face can be inferred as the woman being dead on the inside hence her reflection being that of a skull too.  These collages shows a desire to reveal what is on the inside, behind one’s appearance and mask and it reminded me of a book I just read called ‘Norwegian Wood’ by Haruki Murakami. In it, Murakami reminds us that death is often seen as the opposite of life but we often forget that we can carry death within ourselves too even as we live on.  Hence, I decided to base my strange world on one in which a person’s inner world is reflected by a person’s outer appearance such that one’s mental and emotional state is not bordered by the skin or can be disguised and distorted by forced expressions.

Characters: Initial drafts 

Draft 2
Draft 1

When I thought of one’s inner world, I wanted to bring across the fragility of it. Hence, I searched for materials that break easily and arrived at ceramic and glass. However, I realised that I should highlight the different ways in which people ‘fall apart’ instead as thinking that people ‘break’ in only one way is too narrow minded and constricted. I thought of several materials that fall apart easily-crackers, papers etc. and decided on the portraying the three ways of falling apart as breaking, melting and tearing as I feel like they are the most suitable models of sorts as to the way humans can emotionally collapse or rebuild ourselves.

Characters: Construction 

Face: 

I used target boards for the face as the term ‘personal attack’ came to me while I was thinking of what makes a person break. It is often the insults or derisive remarks that we receive from another that hurts us. I decided to use the weapons (arrows, pistols and darts) as metaphors for the emotional abuse that we receive from another as they are symbols of violence and brings pain to another. I also like the idea that these are weapons that require a human to operate and hence involves human intention in firing the shots which corresponds to the intentional verbal and emotional abuse that one may inflict on another.

Hair: 

I decided to put flowers sprouting from their head (hence covering their hair) as representations of their thoughts and ideas. When I think about one’s mental state, I think about mental health and hence decided to use a living thing as a symbol because it can be unhealthy or healthy. I chose flowers because of their variety and aesthetics. For my characters, Si has a single flower while Ai has a bunch of flowers and Li has flowers popping out here and there. I did it as so because I wanted to represent the different styles of thought that people can have-Si: narrow minded, one track kind of thinking (singular flower), Ai: very orderly and organised thoughts (same kind of flowers are in a bunch), Li: creative, imaginative (some blossoming, some not, different kinds of roses shows diversity and variety).

Body 

For Si, I used materials that tear namely paper and fabric. I initially thought of only using paper and tissue paper which is the white paper in the collage below. However, I also wanted to give her another level of durability and strength hence the fabric and thus driving at the idea that some parts of us collapse easier than others.

For Li, I used candle and ice as they both melt. Another suggestion I had was snow but I wanted more strength to the material as ice is more solid. This may sound contradictory as I wanted to drive the idea that some parts of us are weaker than others but using ice reinforces the idea that some people can easily rebuild themselves which is the focal point of using materials that melt for her body. The streak of fire and the contrasting image of ice shows conflict.

For Ai, I combined the ceramic and vase from my previous drafts into one body. As ceramic is opaque but glass is transparent, it also gives this character a duality in which some parts of her are clearly fleshed out and other parts still reserved and hidden.

Through them, I highlighted the idea that we all fall apart differently as glass and ceramic breaks once they’re met with force. Gravity can do the trick and no other external force is required. Also, it is hard to restore them back to their original state, piecing them back together will most likely be futile as they will fall apart again. Hence, Ai demonstrates the most brittle of humans. For Si, paper and fabric tears but that only happens with an external force (a hand or a sharp tool to cut and rip) suggesting a higher level of strength. Also, paper can be taped back and fabric stitched back to its original state and it will hold, definitely longer than glass and ceramic pieced back but there will be scars and marks of one having fallen apart, indicating slow recovery, bitterness and the haunting of painful memories. For Li, ice and candle melts not at once but slowly with an external force (fire). However, they can easily be restored without any marks and hence implies speedy recovery and forgiveness.

Si: Her name is derived from the Chinese word ‘撕’, romanised as ‘Si’ meaning ‘tear’ as the Chinese were recorded as the earliest makers of paper.
Li: derived from the word ‘Liquescimus’ meaning ‘melt’ in latin, the language spoken by the Romans who were said to have invented candles
Ai: derived from the word  ‘Aistiraha’ meaning ‘break’ in Arabic, the language spoken by the Egyptians who were thought to have produced the first man made glass. 

Improvements: 

I would have created male characters instead as I feel that the fragility of men has been underrepresented in media with the constant portrayal of men as masculine and chauvinistic. Suicide rates for men has been increasing and researches have pointed out the repression of emotions as one of the main reason why. Hence, I should have used male characters as a statement to rally for males to openly reveal their brittleness and express their negative emotions without the need to feel embarrassed or ashamed. On the other hand, women have often been represented as fragile and inferior and my work here just serves to reinforce that. (I’m so guilty I’m sorry)

I had a lot of fun and reflected a lot while doing these!

Research

Waldemar Strempler

Collage I DID 2013

https://stremplerart.tumblr.com/post/66699205859/collage-i-did-2013-waldemar-strempler-tumblr

What captivates me in this collage is the destabilization of our perception of death. The expectation of a woman’s face (also in the mirror) being let down by the skeletal face replacing hers and her reflection implies that she is dead inside as skeletons typically symbolizes death. The rose in full bloom and the bird in motion, are two objects that are very vivid and charged with vitality. They are full of life and this contrasts with the skeleton and reinforces the idea that she is dead inside. It suggests that death is not just a destination and that we all carry death inside of us. Skeletons are the symbols of pirates hence suggesting danger and despite so, the bird heads towards the bright flower. This reflects our tendency to chase after something we are attracted to even if we see the danger in doing so.

Loui Jover

Deconstructed Freida

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/35325178306653340/

Looking at this collage, I was captivated by the fact that even though the woman’s face is being split up, I was not as disorientated as I thought I would be. Instead, I found it pleasing to the eyes. There is somewhat a sense of harmony and cohesion despite the deconstruction. This is probably because the woman is looking to her right and we can tell so because although her face is deconstructed, the way her pupils are at the far left of her eye indicates the direction she is looking at. The parting of her face invites us into her inner world previously bordered by her appearance. What resembling branches heading  in many directions and the curved arrows contrasts her inner world and her portrayal and gives insight into her frenzied and vivid mind that her calmly looking to the right would not give.