Final Project

This project was an extension of my body painting, micro project 5:

Before I started this project, I was feeling inclined to do something new, rather than pushing an old idea further simply because I felt like I had to.  After a lot of discussion and thinking it through I decided that this was what I really wanted to do.  After all, I knew I wanted to continue with body painting after micro project 5... so why not for my final?  I also felt more confident because I actually had experience with the medium already.  I had a better idea of what to do and what not to do.  In keeping with the idea of a narrative for the final project, (instead of just presenting a photograph of the final product) I decided to take long exposure photographs of before, during, and after the event itself.
The most important thing I learned, and wanted to fix, from my first attempt at body painting was the amount of paint used.  We put it on thick, which was originally what I wanted because my action word was 'to mix,' but it made the canvas too slippery and there weren't a lot of legible forms in the painting.  This time I wanted to use only a thin layer of paint, applied with a sponge, so that there would be more of an impression of the event on the canvas.
So, we prepped our studio and got painted up.  It took a long time to mess around with the angles of the camera because I don't have a tripod but I figured it out eventually with the help of miscellaneous objects.  I wasn't completely positive if I wanted photographs from before, during, and/or after the process so I took photos of every stage.  I'm really glad I did this because I really fell in love with each one.

This image is from before the painting in our individual colors.  These are two images I juxtaposed together into one.  I love the contrast of the colors.

The colors/bodies begin to mix.

During the process.

The final product (in case you're interested.)

This project for me is really about the photographs because they tell the narrative.  However, I think the canvas tells a narrative as well, just in a more static way.  

Final Project Brainstorming Session

I've had numerous underdeveloped ideas for this project swimming through my head.  I still think the depiction of the visual experience of unconsciousness would be really interesting and I may end up trying both that idea and the following either for the final project in this class or otherwise.  In my last project I mentioned wanting to expand on it and after meeting with my super awesome instructor who happened to bring it up without my initiation, I feel even more excited to do so.  This time I want to focus more on the narration of the process rather than the final product.  I'm essentially going to do the same exact process (with a little adjustment in the painting technique, based on newfound experience) but this time I want to document it a little differently.  I still plan on using a canvas because I really enjoyed the first one, but this time I'm going to take one (or more) long exposure photographs to capture the movement and process as it's happening.  

If I end up doing the sleeping idea as well, I'm not sure if I'll have it finished for class but I think I would use paint.  I think a really large depiction of the colors and light a person sees with eyes closed could be really stunning.  

Blah, blah, blah idk.

"Cathedral" by Raymond Carver

Sight, and the distinction between 'seeing' and 'looking,' were of major importance in this short story.  The narrator initially feels superior to Robert because of his blindness, reasoning that because he cannot see, he therefore cannot live a normal life (i.e. a satisfactory marriage.)  As the text goes on, however, we begin to understand that Robert actually 'sees' on an far deeper level because, having no sight, he truly listens.  The interactions between Robert and his wife are far more meaningful than the narrator and his wife, whose interactions are short and irritable.  I thought it was a more interesting way of communicating the message, which I think can often be a bit cheesy.

Micro Project 5: Identity at Play

My action words were 'to mix' and 'nature.'
Here is what I produced:

40" x 60"

At first I had a hard time picking an 'object.' Mostly because I couldn't think of a good reason to pick any certain thing and I didn't want to just randomly use the first thing I saw at my house.  I started thinking about different definitions of 'object' and the idea of the body being seen as an 'object' really started to stick in my mind.

I don't think of my body as an object (but what is an 'object?'), but it many ways I do sort of forget it's there.  It's always there and always has been, end of story.  Through this thought process I started thinking about the stereotype of women being sex objects, which I really despise.  Sexuality is something I like to study through my artwork, especially when it comes to the female form and empowerment.
I decided to play with the notion of 'object' in my project.  The word could be interpreted differently.

So, I have my 'object.'


The word 'nature' sort of automatically went with my idea of using the body and what I was doing with it, but I was more interested in 'to mix.'  Specifically, the mixing of bodies.  My boyfriend and I painted ourselves from head to toe--him, blue and me, red; traditional male/female colors.  The mixing of the paint represents the physical mixing of our bodies.  It sort of takes the notion of the female body as an object and fights against it, while also embracing the beauty of what it can do.  The male and female forms come together, connect, mix.  Red and blue make purple.

I would like to make a series of these.  I like the spontaneity and absence of control.  There wasn't a thought about composition or aesthetic.  The product is only that--a product of the process, a documentation of an act.

Micro Project 4

This is a depiction of my transformation to invisibility.  I chose this 'power' because social anxiety and stress are things I've struggled with my entire life and I often feel like disappearing for a while.  I kept my eyes because I still like to know what's going on from a distance, a 'fly on the wall' sort of effect.  I chose a brick wall as a neutral background but also because when I think about feeling anxious, I usually picture myself at some kind of outdoor party or bonfire with a lot of people I don't know.  I often find myself posted on a wall in those sort of situations.  Not sure why that's the scene that pops in my mind, but no matter the reason, it just felt right to put myself there so I went with it.  I really like the way the bricks look in the second picture.  I'm pretty happy with my cutting/pasting in this piece, I'm usually not so great at that but a friend let me borrow a mouse to use.  I think that helped a lot.  I also experimented with a lot of different filters and applying them to different parts of the picture.  At first I felt like it was too subtle but then I realized, if my power is becoming invisible, why would I want it to be anything more than subtle?  So I think it works well.  As far as things I don't like about it, I wanted to figure out a way to make the transformation all in one image, but I couldn't think of a good way to do it.  I tried a couple of different ways of pasting them together but it looked sloppy to me.  I think the three separate images are okay though too.  I wish I had more dramatic lighting in the photographs but Ohio winters don't really provide.  In general, I like this piece.  I feel like at first it looks like a simple, whimsical, silly sort of "Look at me I can become invisible!!!! OMGLOL!!11!"  But it also has depth and underlying emotions.  I think I've already mentioned that this theme often pops up in my work, usually unintentionally.  I really like when I'm making something and not trying to take it in that direction at all, then realizing I've done it again.  My sub-conscience seems pretty determined.

Micro Project 3

Here are my images for micro project 3:

I chose to use the stadium as 'my place' because I am there more than any other spot on campus.  Mostly because the art ed department is there but also because that's where I park even when I'm going to a class that is not in the stadium.  I've always loved the architecture of the stadium entrance.  I chose to use my hammock as my 'sculpture' for this piece because, for me, it represents security and relaxation.  I used a couple of different versions of the hammock, because I couldn't decide if I wanted it to be empty or have a 'person' in it.  Although I think it would be really sweet to actually be able to go up there and hang out, this sculpture would be more of a symbolic piece than a functional one; I want to be up there, but I can't.  I think it would really instill a sense of longing to the viewer, something I feel pretty regularly.  I am *pretty* happy with how they turned out.  I tried to experiment with puppet transform in photoshop but wasn't really able to get the hang of it, resulting in some iffy perspectives but I tried really hard to get the saturation pretty balanced to make it look real.  I love the third image.

Micro Project 2: Final

This is my final product for Micro Project 2.  Although it kind of looks like I just threw a bunch of crap together, I actually had a pretty complex system for how I decided to layer my objects.  I took into consideration both physical size as well as how much I interact with each object.  I also included repetition of each object in an average day and its level of importance.  To explain as clearly as possible, I will start with the furthest layer and work forward:

1.  The first layer is my Radiohead poster copied over and over.  I chose to include this object because what I put on my walls is very important to me.  It's the backdrop of my life.  Thus, it is the backdrop of my project.  I like my walls to be completely covered.

2. The second is my compost bin.  My compost bin is very large so I depicted it as such in my project.  Although it's very important to me, I don't interact with it much.  I go out probably once a day to empty our kitchen waste but other than that, it's not something I think about a lot.  It's in the back of my mind.

3.  The third is my polymer clay oven.  I love making beads but it's not something I have much time for anymore so I chose not to repeat it. I did however make it a bit larger than most other objects because, when I do use it, I usually go crazy and make a ton of stuff.  It's also the first medium I ever worked with and got me interested in art in the first place, so it's very sentimental.

4. The fourth layer includes my wooden spirals.  I exaggerated their size and made it to look as if they're hanging on the hammock.  I wear them every day and love them a lot, but they are not something I interact with much, other than the fact that they are in my ears.  I think they're something other people associate with my personality even more than I associate them with myself.

5. Fifth is my hammock.  It's winter, so I obviously am not using it now.  However, in the summer I love to go camping and lay around all day.  I put some of my favorite things in it to symbolize this cozy comfort I find while laying in it.

6. Sixth is my iPod.  I use my iPod all day long but I don't necessarily 'think' about it a whole lot.  I made a lot of them to symbolize this.  It's just a small thing that fits in my pocket but I use it all the time.

7. Seventh is my book.  I love reading but my reading habits are very erratic.  I don't sit down for long periods of time to read.  I'll read a couple chapters over a course of a day, maybe 20 or 30 minutes at a time.  I tend to be a bit spacey so I am constantly switching tasks.  Reading pops up all through my day.

8.  Eighth is my chapstick.  Now, I kept the chapsticks small because they are small in real life.  But I think about it a lot because I find chapped lips extremely uncomfortable, which is why it's above my iPod and book.  I'm very conscious of it.

9. Ninth is my mug and teapot.  It starts to get a bit confusing here because I have two different layers for these.  One being ninth and the other being thirteenth (frontmost.)  This is because I do love tea a whole lot, but sometimes I don't drink it out of enjoyment.  Sometimes I drink it for the caffeine or simply because one of my roommates made some and why not.  Thus, sometimes it's at the top of my list and others it's somewhere in the middle.  Regardless, I use these items quite regularly amongst my other daily activities.

10. Tenth is my TOMS shoes.  I love these shoes so much.  Unfortunately they're not very winter friendly but I still look at them every day and wish I could wear them.  I put them in a stepping pattern in my project.

11. Eleventh is my hula hoop!  I repeated it a bunch of times not only because I play with it all the time, but I put it in a sort of spinning pattern that it often emulates while I am doing tricks.

12.  Twelfth is my laptop.  I do almost everything on my computer.  Research, school work, movies, etc.  Thus, I repeated it in my piece a lot, but didn't want to make it very big because it's another thing I don't consciously 'think' about a whole lot.  It's just always there.

I tried to create sort of a surreal account of my daily life in thought.  I really wanted a sense of space, though I feel like it may look a bit flat.  Or maybe I've just been staring at it for too long.  My Photoshop skills aren't that great but I think it looks alright.  I like this piece because I feel it shows the sense of whimsy and surrounding of fun things in my life.  However, I don't like it because that's all it shows.  I, like everyone, have a lot of dark parts of my life that this piece does not reveal at all.  I also feel kind of uncomfortable when I look at it because it's so materialistic, which I try not to be too much.  But nice things are nice.