Monday ARTIST // David LaChapelle

(the last supper, David LaChapelle, 2008)

jesus is my homeboy editorial photos for I-D magazine can be found here:

http://www.lachapellestudio.com/editorial/i-d_3/?ci=17

By taking the literal translation of a phrase both common and amusing, David LaChapelle delivers a thought provoking series of photographs for I-D magazine. In this iconic set, both literally in the sense of religious icons, and in general as product of the common occurrence of these images of jesus, Lachapelle transforms the classical representations into a more easily recognizable and surprising set up. In replacing the period and set pieces the situations turn everyday events into truly fantastic happenings while sometimes adding a sense of the banal or sexual as can be found in the photo of Mary Magdalene washing Jesus' feet in nothing but a bra and panties.

In looking to perform the reverse with my own subjects, seeing how LaChapelle was able to take the iconic and religious and turn it toward the modern and lowbrow is really inspiring.

THursday Idea blog // NEW DIRECTION BUILDING ON THE OLD

After considering the direction the project was moving i have decided to use the image of the super hero reporter but to drop the focus on the individual figure. Through several conversations and a lot of writing I have decided that the reporter figure is more interesting when compared/contrasted against a complimentary cultural counterpoint. Taking that dynamic in mind and considering what it is that makes the work of artists like Lynne Cohen and Alex Soth so interesting to me, I have decided to create a series of diptychs that share common elements but act as cultural counterpoints. I mention Soth and Cohen as their series take images that might be similar in form and content but are different enough that the viewer is asked to tease out the relationship between the images and to find the overarching threads that bind them together. Taking again from the original project idea I will expand upon the idea of cultural worship, of modern saints. I believe that based some simple observation one could state that in our American Media Culture the celebrity has taken the place of traditional figure of worship. Also from that view I have felt that these relationships have a great element of the surreal and absurd. I have long had an interest in Rene Magritte and have responded to his stylistic elements and presentation on many occasions. I think that in this case the common blue sky that visually joins the figures in his paintings might be a useful unifying visual element and signifier relating to the absurd relationship between the public and the common media tropes. I feel like I might be able to bridge this further into other common media related relationships but not necessarily one that shares a unified theme of media depiction. Perhaps one link between my figures is their economic relationships, the overarching question being, "what are they selling?"

Some of the pairings i have written up are as follows

drug dealer // pharmacist

televangelist // politician

sports player // ?

day laborer // millionaire

Monday ARTIST // Bayete Ross Smith

image above sourced from

http://www.patriciasweetowgallery.com/exhibitions/Glock9mm.jpg

Artist's personal website

bayeterosssmith.com

Acting as a silent collaborator, Bayete Ross Smith has worked with Hank Willis Thomas through most of his major projects. I found Smith while looking through Thomas' website and was immediately captivated by his works. The image above is part of Smith's series "Taking Aim", a series of photographs that act both as object and image. Included in the series of portraits are copies of many of the images which have been shot through with handguns. Also available is a video from the series in which the portraits are shot by the subjects they depict with a paint gun in an action of mock violence against themselves.

what really interests me about these works beyond their flawless execution can be found in the following quote from the artist's website concerning this series:

"Taking AIM" brings to the forefront, the feeling that is evoked when a viewer is in front of a target. I am interested in that fine line that exists between acceptable, condoned and recreational violence, and deplorable criminalized violence. This dichotomy exists through out popular culture, from Hip Hop to action movies, to sports like boxing, mixed martial arts and football. It also exists through out history, in terms of what wars, massacres and assassinations are considered just, and who is considered a tyrant. Finally it exists in the news and current events, in terms of what types of violence gets reported and how it is contextualized.

In searching for artists who's works examine media representations and their memetic functions i have not yet seen any other artist who's work hits the so directly home. I was unable to find some of the works on his website in a postable form, however also included in this series are images that when exhibited are life size featuring the same figure in up to 3 different outfits or costumes with the same target graphic superimposed over them. By presenting the figures in this manner Smith asks the viewer to examine the media backed cognitive leaps between depictions of respectable members of society and perceived threats to our safety, packing a powerful punch through the self reflective process.

Hank Willis Thomas Lecture

image sourced from http://www.18thstreet.org/_archives/2007/crosssections/crosssections.jpg

Acting strongly within the situationist traditions of Détournement, the appropriating of images and symbols for the use of turning them back upon their related producers and proponents (such as corporations, governments, advertising campaigns, etc), Hank Willis Thomas creates biting work that serves to examine the relationship between Black Identity and corporate advertising. Much of Thomas' work could be identified as adbusting, a practice that has gained in popularity since the early 80's. In one work Thomas, takes the form of a Mastercard ad, introducing his own image from the funeral of his cousin who was killed by a youths mugging him for his gold chain. The work takes a commonly recognizable form and introduces to it text and imagery that asks the viewer to interpret the relationship between the text image and appropriated form. In handling often uncomfortable and brutal images and subject matter Thomas seems to maintain an element of humor in the process. A point that was very apparent in the lecture, and evident in his demeanor. What is most successful about his work, whatever form it takes, is Thomas' ability to cut right through the sheen of advertising and reveal the problems of authenticity and racism that lay just under the surface. I was surprised to learn that outside of one minor incident Thomas has never had issues with the companies who's advertising he appropriates. Often in my own work perhaps I have been unnecessarily concerned with possible legal issues surrounding the use of logos and appropriation of advertising or broadcast work. From the lecture I definitely gained a sense that one can be both bold and subtle at the same time when handling such controversial subject matter.

Monday ARTIST //Zbigniew Libera

Zbigniew Libera- Polish artist born in 1959

images preceding the artist portrait are from a 2002-2003 series titled "Positives", all images taken from the artist's website here:

http://raster.art.pl/gallery/artists/libera/libera.htm

description of "Positives" from artist's website:

Positives, 2002-2003
Series of staged photographs, printed and reproduced photographically

Series of photographs restaging the famous historical press photos in a "positive version" - repeating the original in terms of composition, but changing the characters and the general meaning of the captured events. "The series is another attempt at playing with trauma" Libera comments, "we are always dealing with memorized objects, not the objects themselves. I wanted to employ this mechanism of seeing and remembering and touch upon the phenomenon of memory's afterimages. This is how we actually perceive those photographs ["Positives"] - the harmless scenes trigger flashbacks of the brutal originals. I have picked the "negatives" from my own memory, from among the images I remembered from the childhood."

playing with the cultural memory, trauma, and media coverage, I feel as if i've found an artist that truly works with similar ideas and in a similar manner as I do. by manipulating images from the past, Libera offers works that play heavily on the experience of the viewer and their own feelings about the past. I am interested often in figuring out similar modes in my own work. While my current project does not fall into the same category or rely upon the same emotional notes and Libera's work, I feel that by looking at his handling of graphic and emotionally charged works, and his willingness to handle controversial material I might be able to further my own skills in presenting subtle and smart artworks that handle issues of similar weight.

Really what i value most across his works is his willingness to confront the viewer with uncomfortable subject matter. To do it in a smart way, to do it in a way that provokes and to do it at all. I see him as a brave inspiration and will continue to follow his works for the foreseeable future.

THursday Idea blog // the hero narrative in mass media // the media in haiti part 1

the hero narrative in mass media serves not only to drive up ratings but to advance the clout and admiration of reporters. One easy example of the hero narrative at work in popular media is the public persona and television journalism work of CNN's Anderson Cooper. Looking at the recent incident in which Cooper saved a young boy after the boy had been hit with a piece of concrete thrown from a roof top during a looting spree in Haiti.

CNN video of the incident is here and gawker analysis of the CNN media coverage in general is found here as well as a collection of videos from the cnn broadcasts
http://gawker.com/5451459/anderson-cooper-saves-boy-as-cnns-haiti-coverage-reaches-strange-apotheosis

From the gawker article its clear to see i'm to the only one who finds something a little off about the media coverage, to use their words:

"But things got weird tonight as the news/newsmaker barrier was dramatically breached.

On AC360, Anderson Cooper and Sanjay Gupta played a team of roving superhero reporters, covering the news but only after saving everyone's lives. (Imagine if somebody could be Clark Kent and Superman at the same time.) Here's a gripping report from Anderson "AC" Cooper on looting, which ends in him picking up a bloodied kid and dragging him to safety."

The idea of the heroic foreign correspondent is one that has a long history in modern media. From George Orwell's account of the spanish civil war in "Homage to Catalonia" up to Anderson Cooper's "Dispatches from the Edge" which cover's his early life in contrast to covering the Indian Ocean Tsunami in 2004 as well as armed conflicts in Africa and Hurricane Katrina. The image of the hero reporter is supported by the ongoing narratives like those of CNN coverage in the current Haiti crisis. As an easy case study is the presentation of Dr. Sanja Gupta 's story (the video is also on the above gawker post). the incident in question being that there were no qualified neuro-surgeons around and Dr. Gupta was called to attend to a young girl who had a shrapnel injury to the head. The question of presentation comes about when the story is delivered in conversation fashion over a video of Dr. Gupta scrubbing in and performing surgery. What is the news value of this story? why when asked to perform a medical task which required his pick up by helicopter did the cameras accompany him?

The main question that i feel arrises from the situations being presented and the manner in which they are presented is one of authenticity. When presented with a catastrophe, in which the death toll continues to climb well into the hundred thousands now why are the news stories focused so frequently on the exploits of the reporters sent to tell the larger story?

Monday ARTIST // AGAN HARAHAP

From the artist's Deviant Art: http://TOYIB.deviantart.com/art/Neuschwanstein-1945-139274187



From the artist's Deviant Art: http://TOYIB.deviantart.com/art/MATS-Terminal-Washington-1959-143027359

http://melmanandthehippo.blogspot.com/
ARTIST BLOG ABOVE

Harahap's Superhero series has recently gained attention spreading first throughout the blogs and most recently being recognized by such news and entertainment outlets the likes of the Telegraph and the Metro Herald. While this series has gained attention for the artist it seems that it is a minor note in the larger body of work he is currently producing. Taking famous images from WWII and other news events up through the 60's and 70's, Harahap uses his sharp photoshopping skills to insert common and easily identifiable comic book figures into world events. The majority of the works center around moments of conflict, and in my interpretation offer a commentary on how the real life participants have since been portrayed. I am interested in somewhat of a reverse in my own work. rather than creating visuals in which super-heros are superimposed on happenings i would like to identify where reality is glossed over into the land of the action narrative and raise questions about why and who is being propped up in the lead roles occupied in the Harahap's work by the likes of Superman, Spiderman and Batman.

THursday Idea blog

In developing my concept for this semester's work i've been considering the role of reporters and the narratives applied to the major network reporters in haiti. In my past work i feel that I concentrated on events that were closer to home, in the case of the ash project I covered the topic of mass trauma through the lens of media where that trauma happened to the american public. In looking toward haiti i do not feel that i can take the same approach. For the most part the american population has not directly experienced the events of the disaster in haiti. Looking beyond haiti toward the general mythos of the foreign correspondent, I believe it is fair to say that the narratives built around the coverage of disasters abroad has continued over time to prop up the correspondent as a super hero like figure. What i am suggesting here is that in the coverage of events like the haiti earthquake and the coverage of the Tsunami not long ago as well as other international incidents is taken in only through the lens of the major media networks and in forming ratings grabbing narrative packages around the stories presented, networks continue to push their major correspondents the likes Anderson Cooper and Dr. Sanjay Gupta to new heights at the center of their ongoing coverage. I am seeking to find a visual form that connects these larger than life characters and their often pristine presentation to the bleak realities of the destruction that surrounds them. Through this contrast i hope to raise questions in the viewers mind about the authenticity of the coverage, and the motives in creating such narratives amidst the already powerful human drama that is a disaster.

Monday ARTIST // Jill Greenberg

from the artist website

art also made by Jill Greenberg
(source: http://www.lifelounge.com/resources/IMGDETAIL/jill_greenberg_manipulates_john-mccain_detail-1.jpg)

A major commercial photographer, Jill Greenberg's work also explores political content and a general feeling of unrest. While her stylize work is instantly recognizable, the concepts of her series are not always apparent. Other than the many slick covers shot for the likes of The Atlantic (shown above), Time Magazine, and the New Yorker, her recent personal work has focused on frustrations with politics and politicians. Her series End Times, a sequence of images of toddlers crying, expresses the artists frustration with the late Bush Administration. In a more recent controversy the photos shown above were taken during the same photo shoot, but the latter edited in post for the demonic look. What i appreciate about her work is her ability to create images that are perfectly t home on the cover of magazines. For me Greenberg's work belongs to the trade publication medium the high lit images translate to the trade gloss perfectly.