An Italian photographer, model, actress, and revolutionary political activist, she was fundamental to the establishment of modernism in Mexico. There she developed her own unique style of photography – learning under her lover Edward Western – and producing abstract still lives which renewed the tradition of the vanitas.

Her photos from Mexico, I find similar to street photography, capturing the moment as she observes the people, taking them in their everyday lives and proving to us what they do on a daily basis while still managing to encompass a sense of composition and reflection. Hence suggesting to us that there is more to the message within the image.

Roses, 1924

Woman from Tehuantepec, 1929

This is what I find inspiring from her work, as that sense of reflection, if I can embody that into my photography, will add so much more meaning and depth to our series and message of time, memory and nostalgia.

References:

http://www.modotti.com/?page_id=5

https://peelslowlyandseeblog.wordpress.com/2014/02/03/the-neglected-career-of-tina-modotti-1896-1942/

The Planthunter is an online magazine; the lovechild of Sydney based writer and landscape designer Georgina Reid, who is the magazine's editor in addition to being its founder; looking at and celebrating plants and the various interactions they have with humans. They touch on many subjects within their monthly issues, however, the issue that caught my eye when scrolling through was the DECAY issue (May 2015), as that whole issue looked at plants and death, which I thought would have some links to our project, as we were looking at the passing of time, memory and nostalgia; subjects that could go into the direction of death. 

Image by Peter Whyte, part of a group exhibition entitled 'Three', May 2015 (From the issue 'Emerging, Decaying')

For me and my partner, the main reasoning to why we chose flowers as the subject was to symbolise how smell could evoke nostalgia within us, as our primary research showed us that quite a few experienced nostalgia through the sense of smell, in addition to representing the passing of time. Therefore, I felt that by brining in the relationship that flowers had with death, that representation of passing time could be enhanced further and given a deeper, more cemented meaning through the research. What's good is that the magazine is also quite visual, so there are many beautifully compositional photographs that I can take inspiration from, as our project looks at the composition of the image as a factor to evoke an emotional response. 

Image by Annabelle Hickson, for the issue 'Death, Decay and Flowers', May 2015

Looking into the atmosphere of the images, both photographs are very cinematic, with a strong structural composition to help embody the mood of melancholy and eventual death. The drama of these images are what I find really works well for them and brings out their desired context. From these observations, I feel that I too could embody the appropriate dramatic atmosphere for our project through the composition and tone of the image, as we aim to have our photographs in black and white.

References: 

http://theplanthunter.com.au/about/

http://theplanthunter.com.au/artdesign/death-decay-flowers/ 

http://theplanthunter.com.au/artdesign/emerging-decaying/

Illinois-based photo artist Peter Hoffman burns his films during post-production – spraying them in gasoline, lighting them up and dousing the flames just before the entire image gets licked away by flames – in order to achieve the virus-like texture and colour in his Fox River Derivatives series.

This destructive process on his film is an intentional one, with the artist stating that by destroying his medium-format images, he hopes to show people how unsustainable their consumption habits are, especially when, and I quote, “dealing with precious natural resources”.

What struck me about this series is the texture that was produced, as to me, while effective I showing the unsustainability of human nature, these images can also be a metaphor on how one moment can be lost forever, hence showing the fleetingness of a moment and preciousness of a memory, which could evoke some nostalgia.

I find this very relevant for the current Co-Create as my partner and I are looking into the concept of time, memory and nostalgia through imagery and texture, and I feel that we could incorporate the idea of somewhat deforming the image in order to bring out these concepts.

Reference: http://uk.phaidon.com/agenda/photography/articles/2013/july/18/why-does-this-photographer-set-his-film-on-fire/ [Accessed: 11^th July 2017] 

Architecture in Anime

The House of Illustration just outside CSM had an exhibition on the background architecture in anime, looking at the lengths the animator would go through to achieve the atmosphere and realism of the context that the characters would be interacting in. The exhibition featured animated movies such as Patlabor: The Movie (1989) and the very renowned Ghost In The Shell movie (1995), both directed by Mamoru Oshii.

What I found inspiring form this exhibition is the showcase of how the director collaborated with photographer Haruhiko Hagami to photograph locations both in Japan and Hong Kong to achieve the atmospheric and architectural realism for the backgrounds of both Patlabor and Ghost In The Shell. To me, this displays the relevance that photography can have in both live-action and animated films. 

Pages from 'Proto Anime Cut - Archive: Spaces and Visions in Japanese Animation', looking at photos for Ghost In The Shell (first three) and Patlabor (last) respectively.

Bibliography: 

Proto Anime Cut - Archive: Spaces and Visions in Japanese Animation (2011) Berlin: Les Jardins des Pilotes. Stefan Riekeles Edition. 

One minute sculptures

Since the 1990s, Austrian artist Erwin Wurm has been working on his ‘One Minute Sculpture’ series, where he or others pose with everyday object, often within an art space. By doing this, Wurm turns the sculpture into an act rather than a static object, thus redefining it.

One-Minute Sculpture (1997)

For me, what I liked about his work was the various ways in which people would pose for the sculpture, as it showed the limitless possibilities of what a sculpture is and how one could become it using simple methods using everyday objects, almost like the Mixed Media artists such as Rauschenberg and Kurt Schwitters that incorporated everyday trash that people threw into their artworks. I felt that I could use this method to help cement my project and concept as a final outcome. 

Reference: http://publicdelivery.org/erwin-wurm-one-minute-sculptures/ [Accessed: 29^th June 2017]

Image from: http://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/erwin-wurm-1 [Accessed: 29th June 2017]

A Perfect Day (1999) & Toiletpaper Magazine series

Maurizio Cattelan’s art piece “A perfect Day” (1999) featured gallerist Massimo De Carlo literally attached to the wall by adhesive tape, covering almost his entire body; leaving just his face, feet and crotch area. What interested me about this piece was the amount of tape that lastered him to the wall, nearly blanketing his whole being, as with that, I can see links of Cattelan’s piece with my concept, as the excess of the tape can be translated as a representation of how our hunger and desire can consume us as well, holding us down and encasing us.

Another of Cattelan that I found could relate was his photographs to the Magazine series ‘Toilet Paper’, where many of his images displayed people indulging in an almost disgusting amount of food. For me, this shows perfectly how our human desire and hunger can render something as necessary as food into something ugly and not needed.

Reference and Images: https://www.perrotin.com/artists/Maurizio_Cattelan/2/a-perfect-day/5394 [Accessed: 29th June 2017], http://perlestore.com/collection/toiletpapaer/# [Accessed: 29th June 2017], http://www.hungertv.com/feature/artist-maurizio-cattelan-on-life-the-internet-and-identity/ [Accessed: 29th June 2017]

Into the Unknown

In this work, roughly translated as ‘Boarders at Rest’, Messenger clothed dozens of Taxidermy Sparrows in comfy looking woollen garments, presenting them in a very traditionally formal grid-like display, almost like how one would find at the Natural History Museum. By doing this arrangement, Messenger has put up the impression that when displaying them, all birds should be shown as one.

Le Repos des Pensionnaires (Boarders At Rest), 1971-72

However, in addition to the use of the Repetition methodology of display, by giving the sparrows a woollen wear, she Standardized or Homogenised them, hence further enhancing the viewing experinece that they are meant to be displayed and presented together, as they now show a uniformity through the garments and their species.

Other than that, it is this change in perception of the birds via the sweaters that I like about the work as to me, that challenges the audience on how we look at the cruelty of killing the birds, perhaps suggesting that we provide comfort instead and asking “Why are we killing them?”. This could further be enhanced through the title “Boarders at rest”, as resting is a type of comfort and implies that they are only sleeping for a temporary amount of time, even though we all know that’s not true. Hence, adding to the impact of the piece through her obvious lie.

I would like to incorporate this change of perception into my outcome, as I feel that that could further enhance my concept by showing another unexpected side to my subjects – food and people – and I believe becoming aware of the desire can change that perception.

Reference: https://ridiculouslyinteresting.com/2011/08/01/birds-in-little-sweaters-annette-messagers-le-repos-des-pensionnaires-1971-72/ 

When thinking of this 3D aspect for my project, I remembered visiting this 3D art gallery during a holiday in Koh Samui, Thailand, where the interactive paintings, when taken at a certain angle, would look as if the viewer is actually experiencing it. This is known as the Trickeye effect.

I really liked this as it played with our perception and brought out a three dimensional aspect to a two-dimensional painting or artwork. Therefore, in a way, it can be quite practical as we won’t need to create something physically but can still somewhat achieve the same impact like that of a 3D sculpture.

My sister and I "experiencing the magic" in the gallery, back in 2015.

Reference: http://www.kohsamuipoint.com/attractions/art-samui/ [Accessed: 27th June 2017]

Front of Art Samui image taken from: https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g1893002-d7235145-Reviews-Art_samui-Choeng_Mon_Bophut_Ko_Samui_Surat_Thani_Province.html#photos;geo=293918&detail=7235145 [Accessed: 27th June 2017]

For further research into my project for This Place, I looked into the meaning of water as water was the core element to my project and I am hoping to find an interesting perception on water through researching it.

In this website, http://www.whats-your-sign.com/symbolism-of-water.html, I found that, though simple in explanation (which is good, as that way, more people can understand), what I found interesting was the Taoist aspect on it, as through that tradition, it is a symbol of wisdom, being able to flow and take up the form that it is placed in with little resistance, hence being a metaphor for us to accept change as it happens and move on, therefore freeing us from the weight and pain of holding onto the past. This representation can also help us realize that our emotions are just like water; fluid and always changing, hence making us aware of how we can become more calm and in control of how we feel.

Another aspect I found interesting was the symbolism tarot cards gave water, as though a allegory of emotion and intuition, it was also a representation of “the interconnected flow of energy between all things alive”. This resonates with me as all humans have liquid and fluids inside, as we need about 70 percent or more of our body to be hydrated so we don’t die, and have our blood, which is mainly a liquid. Therefore, I find that ‘connectivity’ in water very true and would like to incorporate that viewpoint into my project.

Drawing Restraints (1987 - present)

In Barney’s “Drawing Restraints” series, he wanted to put his body and his experience into his work, and by doing that, he created drawings where he was experiencing a restraint while making it. In this way, he was adding both an emotional experience in addition to a physical experience, hence giving each mark that the drawing consisted of a rawer, stronger quality, where we could feel the experience radiate of the strokes.

Drawing Restraint 5 (1989)

I say that because through the restraints that he puts onto himself, he creates a resistance against the body, and by doing that, his body becomes stronger, as the body requires resistance to grow and improve. Therefore, it can be seen where through the resistance, his drawings grow as well, becoming something more than just a 2-dimensional drawing; almost like an experience in itself.

Through this, it gives another dimension to drawing through his actions, showing that perhaps it does not have to be the finished product or drawing that is the art, but the experience of drawing and the techniques used that make the drawing the art.

Reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83WTxmkye04

Image from: http://jacobevansmith.blogspot.co.uk/2011_02_01_archive.html