For Kat:
http://www.lensculture.com/haser.html?thisPic=2
Lottie, Cosmic Surgery, 2010
Luca, Cosmic Surgery, 2010
Alma Haser is an artist skilled in photography who wants to combine a fine-art or more “physicality” to her photographs. The artist takes the photos of the individuals. Then she prints a copy of their face and makes origami structures on to their faces. Once that is complete she will take another picture of the final work together and the results are as you see above.
Here is a section taken from Haser’s website describing the orgimai and the idea behind these faces we see:
Origami is very meditative, you can get lost in the world of folding for hours. It is also extremely delicate and fragile, so by giving each geometric paper shape somewhere to sit within the final image, the origami has been given a backbone.
There is something quite alien about the manipulated faces, as if they belong to some futuristic next generation. In these portraits the children become uncanny, while their parents are seen in a more familiar moment.
This work was created after she graduated in 2010 from Nottingham Trent University. Being versed in English and German. Many of her other works include photos and some performance pieces. I would recommend seeing her video called “10 second Film” in which she plays a childhood game in which her brother and her used to play as kids. The object of their invented game was to cram themselves into a space withing 10 seconds before the camera timer goes off.
These faces of Cosmic Surgery and the video have shown me there is creative life after getting that art degree. As a soon graduate (don’t jinx it) it gives me more assurance of the field I have chosen for myself.
For Kat
http://thephotographypost.com/museum
I found this amazing source from our source links to this lovely Museum of Online Photography Collections, where they highlight their favorite photography collections online. I love that this institution is challenging the space we see art. I think it’s remarkable that we can start creating our physical environments into a non-existent plane like the internet.
As for the gem you see above you, I can not personally tell you who created this piece. I found this gif on The Museum’s page which linked it from a website called dump. Dump is a website that is exclusively image sharing over the web, in a news feed style. I registered for this website it and found it both entertaining and smart at the same time. Of course since there isn’t much monitoring of this website there are many lude or naked or even difficult subject matter BUT is a free space where many people can possibly collaborate. Here is a screenshot I found of the website that is a small example of what is produced out of it:
As you can see users names are on the right and the instant feed to the left. As I’m slowly discovering this website there is a section called “Hall of Fame” in which most of the content is work friendly (heh). Here is an example that is currently at the top of the list:
What this website provides is a venue for art that can really only exist through the context of the internet. Yet some of the pieces and the word combinations create a unified work that I believe could be regarded as art one day. I’m very interested in the idea of sharing and anonymity of who posted it. Of course there are usernames that validate these people but not knowing who the artist is in anyway but a simple screen name could be an extraordinary element to a piece. Of course to view any of this information or images you do have to go to the website and register (so if you just wanted to peek at it, the second link won’t work, you’ll have to register in order to view). Tempted to see what this site was all about I added myself to the mix but haven’t posted anything. If you are interested in exploring or more active and instantaneous way of creating work with images I recommend exploring this website but be warned that since content changes, you can’t really control what you don’t see.
I haven’t posted anything yet but this dump.fm has a very interesting way of keeping these spuratic(sp) works alive outside of institution, education, and profession. Nothing needs to be known of the artist. Nothing is attached to this work other then the screen and website you view it on.
As always my screen name is usually (one website it was taken, weirdly) neonnessie so if you care to register you might see me post somethings!
All images and gifs of this page belong to their respected users on dump.fm
For Miles:
This week I wasn’t able to do any skteches or drawings due to a severe head cold I have been battling but now it’s mostly over! I do however have my completed panels and picture of them hanging in my show!
Thanks to everyone who helped assist or has talked with me about this project. It has been an amazing journey!
For Kat: Deja vu?
http://www.wired.com/rawfile/2013/05/thrift-shop/
Other People’s Clothes
Other People’s Clothes, Gary Cole, 2007
I decided to talk about this photographer named Gary Cole because his series reminded me of a project I (and some of you) have done. In this series Gary Cole meticulously picks outfits from thrift stores and creates a persona/personality/character from these items.
This of course reminded me of a project in which one had to find a Craigslist ad and personify it. I enjoyed this project because I love building/creating characters.
Cole not only creates his own characters, but “people watches” as well. He’ll sit in public places and makes observation of the people around him. Quoting the artist about his series:
“I was interested in how these different people wrestled with questions like where do I fit in the world, what am I doing, what’s the point?”
Though we see a character on the photo, he makes it clear he isn’t making extensive back stories and that he doesn’t care for “specificity.” Though he doesn’t care about specificity, he does care very much of where to shoot for these images. Cole formulates each image with a very specific location, which could take years for him to locate to the right spot.
This series sparks questions to me as viewer into how much clothing plays a role in characters we construct. What if we go against that “model of our clothing” to exude a different personality? Ex: dressing loud but being a quiet individual.
For Kat:
http://www.iheartphotograph.blogspot.com/2011/11/james-gallagher.html
http://www.reframingphotography.com/resources/james-gallagher
Strength Series 7 / 2011 / 9"x12"
Blank Avedon / 2011 / 8"x10"
Dialects / 2012 / 5"x7"
Found an artist named James Gallagher who creates these very dramatic collages by using old magazines and obscure books to create each piece. Quoting artist:
“My collaged pieces focus on personal space, physical relationships, and enigmatic situations. The human forms that I create have obscured identities, allowing for their actions to convey the drama."
Gallagher not only arranges the pieces he also discolors pages to give them less identifying features. He creates work in which he wants his viewer to decide how these forms make them feel. Whether the feeling is a natural or unnatural moment.
This series sparks questions for me as a viewer to think that he is creating "pieces of history” with common images we see in media form an almost objective look into being human. The viewer is suppose to feel “foreign” to these dramatic object in which seem familiar and yet enough to convey a fundamental understanding.
Gallagher describes himself as someone who is interested in the secret behaviors of human beings. Observing what humans have created within our culture of understanding in a fragmented/foreign piece of art.
