secret
ˈsiːkrɪt/ noun plural noun: secrets
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code
kəʊd/ noun plural noun: codes
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convention
kənˈvɛnʃ(ə)n/ noun plural noun: conventions
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The Conversaiton Comp
The group photo portrayed when performing a comp showcases the codes of behaviour that occur over time, sometimes telling a story or narrative. At first, we were given 5 images, The Conversation, to experiment with, then we went and took our own photos to experiment.
Procedure
Firstly, I took a series of photographs of the same model. I used the same setting each tim, making sure to not move the camera. Then, I uploaded these to my computer and dragged them into photoshop. Afterwards, I dragged the first image into the plain background image to create layers.
Then, you select 'refine edges' and do 'feather at 4.8 |
After, you press the backspace button on your keyboard to delete the background.
Moreover, then you can refine the final product by adding a new layer and using the paintbrush tool to remove different elements from the two layers to fully incorparate them together |
Andreas Gursky Exhibition
This exhibition, exploring the iconic work of Andreas Gursky was truly enlightening. The successful exploration was shown through his photographs, carefully curated over the last four decades, ranging from his pioneering early works to modern day pictures. Gursky's manifestation of forms of collective existence can be seen as a clear driving force in his work, whether its delineating boundless landscapes, man-made architecture or throngs of people, he never fails to amaze.
One fascinating side to Gursky's creations is the fact that he looks into different conventions across the world, getting in touch with both nature and culture as a dual force. He has evolved a knack for creating extraordinary photographs whose unprecedented clarity is emphasised by bold physical presence.
One fascinating side to Gursky's creations is the fact that he looks into different conventions across the world, getting in touch with both nature and culture as a dual force. He has evolved a knack for creating extraordinary photographs whose unprecedented clarity is emphasised by bold physical presence.
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In this photo, the clear element that automatically draws your attention is the abundance of what looks like golden balls. However, once you look at the image with greater depth you can notice that some of the lower balls are actually the reflection on the dark water. You can also see two people who appear to be in canoes. It is unclear what the golden balls are and what they signify however, the mood they portray is positive and vibrant compared to the mood reflected by the water. The connotations associated with water are purity and innocence however, the fact that the water is dark implies that this innocence and purity has been clouded and disrupted.
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In this photo you can see a prison, the cells are perfectly aligned and the reflection of the bright lights can be seen on the shiny, polished floor. This description implies a serene and innocent atmosphere. It is interesting that in these perfectly architectured and groomed cells live the people unfit for society. These people living in better conditions than some innocent people on the street. The contrast between the surroundings and the people is the bit I find most interesting. The camera being perfectly centred within the semi-circle emphasises the order in the prison and further reinforces the disorder that could possibly occur.
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In this photo, there is a clear contrast between the order of the notice board and the disorder of the people below. One could argue that this image almost looks like a mesh of two different images. The darkness of the image emits a solum atmosphere. Moreover, the fact that there is disorder in the airport shows that there is something wrong as in modern day society the airport is one of the most security ridden and organised place. Furthermore, the abundance of airplane times on the board does not correlate to the amount of people at the airport and the lack of staff, which could show a sign that there is a deeper problem occurring.
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Balenciaga Exhibition
'A woman has no need to be perfect or even beautiful to wear my dresses. The dress will do that for her'
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It can be said that designs from the 50s and 60s still seem futuristic...
Single-seam coats, ballooning skirts and one eye-catching green dress and cape resembling a stack of three green pompoms still look like clothes for a more elegant, adventurous woman of the future.
'It’s incredible to think that a woman from his era would wear something like this,' Josep Font, creative director of Delpozo, said of the green dress during a press preview of the exhibition. ‘He was not afraid of volume and unafraid to express his own creativity.'
'It’s incredible to think that a woman from his era would wear something like this,' Josep Font, creative director of Delpozo, said of the green dress during a press preview of the exhibition. ‘He was not afraid of volume and unafraid to express his own creativity.'
Curators solved a fashion mystery with x-rays
The V&A team worked with x-ray artist Nick Veasey to see the inner workings of Balenciaga's complex couture gowns.
We’d never been able to explain what the ties at the hem of our fuchsia ballgown did. When looking at the x-rays with these students, they suggested that perhaps these tied around the legs. We tried it on the mannequin and suddenly it all made sense, and created this harem-pant look at the front with a 19th century bustle in the back.' - Davies-Strodder
We’d never been able to explain what the ties at the hem of our fuchsia ballgown did. When looking at the x-rays with these students, they suggested that perhaps these tied around the legs. We tried it on the mannequin and suddenly it all made sense, and created this harem-pant look at the front with a 19th century bustle in the back.' - Davies-Strodder
Balenciaga showed that clothes could be sensual without being stereotypically restrictive or revealing, he showcased this via his cerebral concerns.
He preferred to 'sculpt' garments to emulate architectural forms that had little to do with women's natural shapes.
Christian Dior, a contemporary designer, wooed women with his vision of nipped-in waists and swirling skirts. However, many argue that one of the reasons Balenciaga is such a stepping stone in fashion is due to his more subtle approach to women's femininity.
'It was a new take on femininity, not about nipped-in waists and traditional ideas anymore. He celebrated women's bodies, but maybe not in the obvious way. That was really refreshing.'
Christian Dior, a contemporary designer, wooed women with his vision of nipped-in waists and swirling skirts. However, many argue that one of the reasons Balenciaga is such a stepping stone in fashion is due to his more subtle approach to women's femininity.
'It was a new take on femininity, not about nipped-in waists and traditional ideas anymore. He celebrated women's bodies, but maybe not in the obvious way. That was really refreshing.'
Changed Landscape - Bomb Site task
The intention of this task was to show just how much previous bomb sites have changed into landscapes that are no longer plagued with damage.
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After visiting the bomb archive website, I chose 8 locations around my area to photograph. The locations I chose are shown to the left. A common feature in all of these locations was the fact that none of them showed signs that they had once been bombed. |
Hidden from Normal View
Secret Locations - Night Time task
Glitch
Mathieu St Pierre
Mathieu St Pierre is a Canadian experimental visual artist, specialising in the fields of video art and photography, but specifically in glitch art. St-Pierre's passion for experimentation within a multitude of video manipulations stemmed from a lifelong passion of cinema. Since, he has refined his passion for visual art to focus on the creative medium of digital glitches and generative art.
After graduating, St. Pierre returned to South Korea in 2006. His exhibition “100dpi.” was shown at the Gahoedong 60 Gallery in Seoul in 2015. Regarding this exhibition, St-Pierre reiterated that the creation of his work is a matter of trial and error. St-Pierre's “100dpi.” was made without an underlying subject in mind, but through gradual distortion critically observes 'the perversions of the Internet'. The hypnotic beauty of St-Pierre's distortion of virtual data provokes the viewer to trigger memories from a real world experience.
After graduating, St. Pierre returned to South Korea in 2006. His exhibition “100dpi.” was shown at the Gahoedong 60 Gallery in Seoul in 2015. Regarding this exhibition, St-Pierre reiterated that the creation of his work is a matter of trial and error. St-Pierre's “100dpi.” was made without an underlying subject in mind, but through gradual distortion critically observes 'the perversions of the Internet'. The hypnotic beauty of St-Pierre's distortion of virtual data provokes the viewer to trigger memories from a real world experience.
All three of these images I selected showcase an extraordinary level of sophistication and talent. Moreover, all three are from different series however, they show a common element of advanced glitching. I find all three of these images interesting in their own way. In the first image, the monotone colours place emphasis on the glitched face behind, it also implies a sense of anonymity. In the second image, the facial distortion makes it hard to decipher an identity, this further reinforces the idea of inconspicuousness. The third image is a little bit different, it showcases an array of different colours glitched across the screen, the most noticeable being the vivid pink. The abstract distortion is extremely interesting in its formation, with the sea of colours all blurring into one.
For our 'glitch' task we used two different programmes. One of which was audacity. This is where you upload your image as 'raw data' and put effects on different parts of the audio strip. The other was text edit, this is where you upload your image and it presents it as written data. You can then delete chunks, copy or paste to distort the image.
Audacity
Although my before pictures weren't the best quality, with the effects and distortion it was unnoticeable.
Text Edit
Firstly, open 'text edit'
Once opened, press 'file' - 'open' and select your JPEG you would like to use. When your JPEG has loaded, it will look like so (to the right). You can then start to manipulate the data by deleting or copying and pasting in different places. I advise that you start the data manipulation about half way down the written data to get the best results. |
Darkroom Glitches
In this task we used enlarger to expose the photo paper to white light, we manipulated the acetate over the photo paper in order to achieve interesting pictures. In this first photo I used a sheet of acetate with a pre-glitched image which I found interesting. I had to experiment with the exposure time as we only needed to expose it for around 1-2 seconds. In the second image I produced I scratched the photo paper before exposing it to create texture in the image. Finally, the third image I produced was exposed in a normal way however, I painted on the developer so that it only revealed parts of the image.
Hidden Beauty : perfection in the imperfect
Irving Penn
Penn's approach to the still life evolved over decades; from the 1930s onwards, he arranged everyday objects to create assemblages, which transcended their origins context and original purpose to become conceptual works of art.
In the case of Cigarettes however, Penn literally found his subjects on the street. By bringing them into his studio and carefully creating these minimalist compositions, he challenged the conventions of art and transformed one of the most widely consumed and discarded products of consumer society from that of pure detritus into a symbolic representation of contemporary culture. This defiance of original convention resulted in one of the most elegant yet direct expressions of post-modern artistic practice.
Cigarettes sheds light on the development of the still life under Penn’s lens, whereby something as disposable and worthless as a cigarette butt is endowed with artistic value.
In the case of Cigarettes however, Penn literally found his subjects on the street. By bringing them into his studio and carefully creating these minimalist compositions, he challenged the conventions of art and transformed one of the most widely consumed and discarded products of consumer society from that of pure detritus into a symbolic representation of contemporary culture. This defiance of original convention resulted in one of the most elegant yet direct expressions of post-modern artistic practice.
Cigarettes sheds light on the development of the still life under Penn’s lens, whereby something as disposable and worthless as a cigarette butt is endowed with artistic value.
The cigarettes series is a series which encapsulates the dirty nature of the action but beautifies it and makes it a piece of fantastic artwork. The images tell a story, the finger marks on the butt imply pressure, this pressure reinforces the dependency on this drug. The cigarettes themselves are the feeder of an addiction. An addiction which engulfs the majority of our consumer society. I enjoy looking at this series of art as I believe they tell a story, each one unique, each one belonged to a different person and each one a solution to a different problem.
In this task we photographed objects in their original environment, we then collected these objects and took them back to the studio in order to photograph and manipulate them in ways we wanted to.
In original setting
In the studio
I enjoyed doing this task as it allowed beauty to be seen in originally un-beautiful objects. Personally, I liked my final product as I believe I showcased the items as perfect as they could be. I used specific placing and lighting to maintain and aid success of the final outcome.
Compromises
Mariah Robertson
For our interpretation, we printed our images from the studio onto acetate and used the dark room to develop them on photo paper. Only, the photo paper we used was 10-20 years old, all different. This was interesting because each print gave a different effect, some worked, some didn't and some looked surprisingly good. It all depended on the paper used. After developing the photo we had the choice of whether to use dye or not. On two of my prints I mixed yellow and blue dye and on the final print, I left it in it's original form
3 Strands
Strand 1: Genetic Coding
I explored the idea of DNA and how every single persons DNA in the world is completely unique. This code depicting so many factors of your life. In the future I would like to explore the idea of fingerprints as this is specific to each person and more easily accessible compared to trying to look at single cells.
Sandy Garnett
Sandy Garnett is a professional visual artist whose recent public art projects have received national recognition. He was born at Fort Belvoir, Virginia and raised in Pennsylvania, London and Connecticut. At St. Lawrence University in upstate New York Garnett started his art studio and made art for 50 bands and production companies while in college. He is a self-taught artist and has been a full time professional painter and sculptor since he graduated from University. His work can be found in 40 U.S. states and ten countries through his network of five hundred collectors. He recently signed his 1120th career painting.
Garnett has developed a reputation as a self-sufficient, prolific painter, sculptor, and multimedia creator who has built his career 40 miles from the New York art world over the past 20 years. Aside from his recent exposure in the public art arena, he is best known for his twenty year running Fingerprint Project, in which he explores contemporary identity through sculpted and painted fingerprints, human silhouettes and signatures.
Garnett has developed a reputation as a self-sufficient, prolific painter, sculptor, and multimedia creator who has built his career 40 miles from the New York art world over the past 20 years. Aside from his recent exposure in the public art arena, he is best known for his twenty year running Fingerprint Project, in which he explores contemporary identity through sculpted and painted fingerprints, human silhouettes and signatures.
Garnett's fingerprint project is a compelling series of insightful photos that encapsulate the raw element that defines you. The projection of the fingerprint onto the canvas of the skin creates an extremely interesting outcome.
This is an interesting photo, as unlike the majority of the series, the fingerprints are layered in after the photo was taken compared to the others where the fingerprint is projected onto the model during the photoshoot. The variety of completely different fingerprints shows the diversity of the human race and how every person is distinctive in their own way. The use of the man in the background allows a more complex nature and helps to create an interesting composition and aid the success of the image.
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This image to me showcases the beauty of DNA and fingerprints. The fact that his skin is so clean and pure, only manipulated by the formation of the fingerprint reflects the fact that the fingerprint defines who he is. The blank expression on his face allows the fingerprint projection to take control of the image and draw the viewers attention.
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This is one of my favourite images of the series, I think it's interesting how the model is smoking, almost encapsulating one of his possible hobbies. Moreover, the fingerprint layered over his face via projection is a direct representation of him, only in a coded form. This is extremely interesting as it depicts so many elements that make him him. The choice to make the image black and white is what i believe is a strong confounding factor to the success of the image. I believe the lack of colour allows the image to speak for itself and not be influenced by influx of colours.
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This is my response:
WWW: I like how I varied in the way to showcase the fingerprints
EBI: I took more varied portraits
EBI: I took more varied portraits
Evan Roth
Evan Roth (born 1978) is a US artist who applies a hacker philosophy to an art practice that visualises transient moments in public space, online and in popular culture.
Evan Roth's fingerprint series is particularly interesting as it shows the mark you make doing everyday activities. I also find t interesting because without the description of what the person is doing on their mobile, you wouldn't have a clue how the prints were obtained, this process I believe tells a story.
I decided to do a piece similar to Evan Roth's. I used ink on my fingers and acetate on my phone to show my fingerprints whilst completing simple tasks. These included, unlocking a phone, typing a password, playing a game and scrolling on a social media feed.
Strand 2: Black Out Poetry
I really liked the idea of creating a whole book of 'black out poetry", I liked the idea of how secret sentences were conveyed in a page and how someone could search for a deeper meaning. To me, black out poetry is an art form and a way of expression, it allows someone to create their own sentence in someone else's thoughts. I like the fact that the sentence has been crafted by two people, the author and the artist, both of which have no relation with each other but work in harmonious synchrony.
Austin Kleon
Austin Kleon is the New York Times bestselling author of three illustrated books. His work has been translated into over twenty languages and featured on NPR’s Morning Edition, PBS Newshour, and in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. New York Magazine called his work “brilliant,” The Atlantic called him “positively one of the most interesting people on the Internet,” and The New Yorker said his poems “resurrect the newspaper when everybody else is declaring it dead.” He speaks about creativity in the digital age for organisations such as Pixar, Google, SXSW, TEDx, and The Economist. In previous lives, he worked as a librarian, a web designer, and an advertising copywriter. He grew up in the cornfields of Ohio, but now he lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife and sons.
Austin Kleon, the creator of these black out poetry pieces is someone I personally find extraordinary. He searches endlessly for words within millions of pages, only to form a single sentence. However, the disjointedness and bluntness of some of these sentences conveys how they were hidden in a sea of words, one just has to look deeper into the sea to see the meaning. In all six of the works I included above, the message communicated is completely different. The black scrawls place emphasis on the luminous words, as well as depicting an almost sinister outlook. It disregards all the other words on the page, purely to focus on these specific words that create this sentence.
Tom Phillips
Tom Phillips is an artist whose work is fuelled by several persistent preoccupations, expressed through an even larger number of formats. Born in 1937, Phillips attended drawing classes and lectures on Renaissance iconography alongside his studies at Oxford. Back in the South London neighbourhood where he has lived and worked nearly all his life, Phillips was taught by Frank Auerbach at Camberwell School of Art.
I decided not to pursue this as my final piece as I believe it didn't showcase my ability. I thoroughly enjoyed creating this as it was very interesting looking for secret meanings within pages. Moreover, if I had decided to pursue this I could've been more artistic in presentation and recreated the lines I was creating in real life sets, therefore incorporating photographical skills.
Strand 3: Glitch
As one of the set tasks I really enjoyed looking at Glitch art, I found it interesting how an image can be manipulated so much by simply changing its coding or order. I decided to experiment with both text edit and audacity to try and achieve the best result.
After completing glitches in both audacity and text edit, I decided to see how I could combine the glitched images. Whilst in the process of glitching the images originally, in both programmes you can not see your final product until you save it, therefore it's very much down to experimentation. This fascinated me as I wanted to see how I could further manipulate the images whilst I could fully see them, with no codes invovled I decided to do strips of each photo.
The final product resembled weaving which I could possibly pursue in the future both in photoshop and physically.
The final product resembled weaving which I could possibly pursue in the future both in photoshop and physically.
Alma Haser
Born in 1989 into an artistic family in the Black Forest, Germany, Alma Haser is now based in London and on the southeast coast. She is known for her complex and meticulously constructed portraiture, which are influenced by her creativity and her background in fine art. Alma creates striking work that catches the eye and captivates the mind.
Expanding the dimensions of traditional portrait photography, Alma takes her photographs further by using inventive paper-folding techniques, collage and mixed media to create layers of intrigue around her subjects; manipulating her portraits into futuristic paper sculptures and blurring the distinctions between two-dimensional and three-dimensional imagery.
Expanding the dimensions of traditional portrait photography, Alma takes her photographs further by using inventive paper-folding techniques, collage and mixed media to create layers of intrigue around her subjects; manipulating her portraits into futuristic paper sculptures and blurring the distinctions between two-dimensional and three-dimensional imagery.
Alma Hasers' "cosmetic surgery" series really inspired me. If I were to develop "glitching" as a final piece, I would most definitely experiment with her methods of working and incorporate it into my own idea.
The move to the final piece happens very quickly there is no development that shows your journey to the final images. At present you have not upload your first strand images for the idea. You need to take development sets of images show it doesn't look like yo have just arrived at the idea on the day of the exam. The artist looks at the marks created during many different activities taken through out he day consider how you might record these different mark makings and turn them into new development images. The artist creates multiple sections and displays them alongside each other.
Chosen Strand
My preferred strand is the finger print idea (strand 1). Intentions of first development?
I produced a new set of acetate fingerprints, whilst conducting more complex tasks in order to create a more varied look.
I then decided to create cinemographs to show the course of the fingerprints. The result is shown below.