Thursday Idea blog // what wasn't working

As titled this post is about what isn't working at this point. I think it's entirely helpful to hone down what wasn't working in forming how to move forward. The immediate problems with the above images are that two of the three have characters (billy mays and sarah palin ) that are far too recognizable. The third image falls down by attempting to go toward religious imagery simply for the sake of playing off of it with a jesus skateboarder (a person who sacrifices their safety for the sake of others entertainment) and pursues it without actually getting far enough to make it work.

Monday ARTIST // El Greco

These two images as well as many other paintings by El Greco feel like they help me be confident in my decisions with my current photographs. the crisp clear blue skies overhead in his paints depicting saints and other topics such as a view of Toledo(as pictured above in the second painting) while not placed within the frame for the same reason are just as striking. In his time El Greco's bright colors and other elements of style were completely out of step with his contemporaries. While representing old ideas and continuing to work with characters and stories well explored by other's El Greco managed to bring new life to them through his painting styles.

Monday ARTIST // Rene Magritte

the above in order of appearance: The Great War on Facades (1964), Man in the Bowler Hat (1964), The Son of Man (1964)

From all i've read about Rene Magritte i've gathered that when looking at his paintings there are no concrete answers about their meaning. The mystery and the pleasure derived from sorting out that mystery is a key element of any of his works. He changes out objects, and creates pairings that are not easily interpretable. Sometimes he uses very basic pairings as in "the son of man" pictured above. A human figure, an apple, the title itself; delving into religion and religious imagery without really wanting to talk about it. It acts as the initial grab at the audience, the first clues that when immediately applied, make sense then begin to fall apart as you begin a process of deciphering the contents of the image. What he wants is for the viewer to experience that process, and while I am choosing specific characters and archetypes and they are being chosen for some basic relationships, I wish to consider possible connections but not work to make them any more obvious.

Thursday Idea blog // Magritte and other odds and ends

I think this is a good time to further flesh out what i'm doing with this project.

From Magritte by Jacques Meuris

"His painting choice was based, from the very beginning of his definitively surrealist period, on an observation whose actual implications were not understood until later: namely that by the most faithful reproductions of objects, things -- including people-- and all that we see around us in everyday life, one can force the beholders of these images to question their own condition. There is one proviso, however: it is necessary for these objects and things to be combined in some unexpected, or in other words, unaccustomed, manner.

My project and its working mode are directly inspired by the above statement. Realizing that what i was most interested in about the super hero figure reporter figure was the relationship to it and why it existed or continued to be perpetuated. That it sold media that it was a tool to sell advertising and the product that is the commercial character of the figure in question. While I at the time of this writing am still struggling with what complimentary figure can be placed with the hero reporter, i have gone on to find other relationships that function in the same way. Or rather, by pairing other characters, archetypes and recognizable figures in uncommon instances, i feel that i can engage the viewer to seek out what the relationship between the two subjects might be (based on their own experiences and ideas ) and then to look at their relationship to those ideas. Where they came from, how they were formed , why they make those connections. While this is a serious aim I believe that there is an inherent element of humor to the project. I would further suggest that this is a positive thing, that by taking a road in image making that is less harsh than my usual presentation, that the viewer might find it easier to engage the work. I feel that it is important to me to also attempt to bring the viewer a feeling of playfulness. I do not intend to make fun of the subjects of my photographs but I consciously choose to go about their creation and presentation in a manner that could easily be found funny or that the viewer might draw a sense of amusement from.

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.