idea 3/30 - personality

I've been realizing of late that my series has a lot to do with personality. It ranges from experiences that shape my personality, to the personality that the series itself it takes on. I've also found that in a way it reads as multiple personality disorder (or dissociative identity disorder). I find that this last aspect has an interesting relation the my series. I mean, I am in fact playing each individual "character" within the scene. So while at first I read as different people in each image, upon closer look you begin to realize that each one is me. Which then raises the question of "which one really is me?" or even which experience is really mine?

"Dissociative identity disorder (previously known as multiple personality disorder) is a fairly common effect of severe trauma during early childhood, usually extreme, repetitive physical, sexual, and/or emotional abuse"

WebMD. Dissociative Identity Disorder (Multiple Personality Disorder). http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/dissociative-identity-disorder-multiple-personality-disorder

I found it really interesting that WebMD states that D.I.D. is usually the effect of severe trauma during childhood considering I have been picking some traumatic memories of my past to recreate. The article goes on to say that a majority of the population experiences mild dissociation such as "daydreaming or getting lost in the moment while working on a project." Though the disorder itself is a more severe manifestation of a distinct mental process "which produces a lack of connection in a person's thoughts, memories, feelings, actions, or sense of identity."

To clarify, I am not stating that I myself suffer from Dissociative  Identity Disorder/ Multiple Personality Disorder. I am merely touching on the idea that my work this semester manifests itself in a state that is similar. It almost presents itself that way to the viewer and manipulates the viewers mind to confuse themself on what area or "character" that they relate to or view the image as.

Learning about this disorder, I believe, will help me to further shape the "personality" that my work is taking on. I'm excited to add this onto my research for what will become my final work.

artist 3/28 Blake Ogden

Blake Ogden

http://www.ogdenpictures.com/

 

I really enjoy Blake Ogdens work for many reasons. First off I really love the nostalgic feel that it creates when you are looking at his images. I also love the personification in some of the images that is created with the objects that he photographs. These images create somewhat of a narrative within the work that makes you wonder what the story is behind these objects. Ogden builds a relationship between the objects, himself, and the viewer that is unique.

Ogden's been in many solo exhibitions and publications. Some of which include The Photo Review  in 2001 and 2000, Plates to Pixels Magazine   in 2009, and Intimate History in 2009 to name a few.

The reflection on the past is what really draws me to Ogdens work however. I feel that in theme it may be similar to my own work this semester. Also the way he shows relationship between the dolls in two of the pictures is similar to the concept of relationship within my own work.

"I prefer to work with film. My black and white work is printed conventionally in a chemical darkroom, while my color work is scanned from film and then out put as digital pigment prints."

Art Review. http://www.artreview.com/profile/BlakeDOgden. 2011. Web.

3/24 Show Entry

I entered 3 pieces into the Anderson Gallery show. These are my images that I submitted.

And here are my entry receipts:

idea 3/24 self portraiture

Self portraiture.

What is the purpose behind an artist putting their physicality inside of their work? What does that accomplish? And how does that effect the viewer?

There is something that begins to happen within ones work when they chose themselves as the subject matter. That happening is both different to the viewer and the artist, but both still have a unique experience. There is something interesting that appears within an image when it is just me and the camera alone in the room. A vulnerability that would not have shown through had a third person been brought in. We get comfortable. We are no longer thinking about what someone is going to think when they see this image and start to interact with the camera in a much more intimate way.

This effects the viewer too. A connection is made between subject and audience that is not usually made when the equation is a photographer + camera + model. You begin to sense that you are witnessing something that you were never meant to see. It's better than acting and better than modeling because the sense of being watched is not there and therefore there is no acknowledgement of the camera. This was essential to my work. So much that I had to ban anyone from entering or even being near my shoots, so that I could produce the most authentic sense of the situation that was being recorded. There is no acknowledgement of the camera in my images, no direct connection with the viewer. Not even through body language.

But who really benefits from this? The artist or the viewer? Or both? There is a moment of total freedom within the span of time that you are capturing yourself on film,  on paper, etc. You stop acting and just become the part, the moment that is playing out before you. So again I ask, to whose benefit is this?

"A self-portrait is a representation of an artist, drawn, painted, photographed, or sculpted by the artist. Although self-portraits have been made by artists since the earliest times, it is not until the Early Renaissance in the mid 15th century that artists can be frequently identified depicting themselves as either the main subject, or as important characters in their work."

wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-portrait. web.

Artist 3/21 - Cindy Sherman

Cindy Sherman

Cindy Sherman is a New York based photographer born in 1954. She studied at Buffalo State College, originally interested in painting but continued on her work through film and photography. Sherman's main subject matter is herself. She creates self portraits portraying different personas and assumed roles. Many would try to label her work as feminist, though she would not.

I am incredibly drawn to the work of Cindy Sherman because of her basic principles of self portraiture. I've realized that my work has many parallels to hers. She also uses herself as the only model and acts out roles to be portrayed in her images. One main difference between our works is that my situations are not fabricated, and along with acting out other personas I also often portray myself within the images. I find Cindy Sherman to be a great inspiration to my work, though our motives in creation and production style are different. There is something to be said about the repetition of the same face and the acting out of a character in front of a camera that tends to draw a viewer in. It stops being documentary and begins to be something more. Something alive.

"When I moved to New York, in the summer of ’77, I was trying to think of a new way to take pictures and tell a story. David Salle had been working at some sleazy magazine company where they had lots of shots of half-clothed women around, for those photo-novellas, like a cartoon but with photos. Slightly racy. It got me thinking, this cheap, throwaway image—if you just look at one, you make up your own story. "

Stevens, Mark. New York. http://nymag.com/anniversary/40th/culture/45773/. 2008. Web.

"It was exactly like that. I did try using family members or friends, and once I paid an assistant. But even when I was paying somebody, I still wanted to rush through and get them out of the studio. I felt like I was imposing on them. Also, I got the feeling that they were having fun, to a certain extent, thinking this was like Halloween, or playing dress-up. The levels I try to get to are not about the having-fun part. I also realised that I myself don't know exactly what I want from a picture, so it's hard to articulate that to somebody else - anybody else. When I'm doing it myself, I'm really just using the mirror to summon something I don't even know until I see it. "

Berne, Betsy. TATE Magazine. http://www.tate.org.uk/magazine/issue5/sherman.htm. Web.

Gagosian Gallery:

http://www.gagosian.com/artists/cindy-sherman/

idea 3/17 Duplicate

Duplicate: noun 1. A copy exactly like an original
                verb  1. To make an exact copy of
                         2.  To do or perform again. Repeat.

Duplication has been a big part of my series this semester. Infact is has almost engulfed the series entirely. The whole series revolves on the idea that I am duplicating myself as I act out several roles of myself and others. So what does this do to the viewer? This repetition begins to register in the mind of the audience before they even realize that I am the only subject matter. As long as my work is successful, it will not be an obvious first sight to see that the only subject in the images are myself, which makes the duplication that much more important. Once the viewer begins to see that there is one subject duplicated over and over they begin to question the motives of the image. Who is that person? Why are they in seperate roles? Which role is the focal point? And which role is actually her (if any)?

I've always found it important to make the viewer ask questions. If they have no questions then they have no reason to continue on with your work.

I also find it important for the viewer to not know 100% which subject is the main subject. Which one are they following throughout the series? This way they can kind of pick which area they most relate with without being told where to go or what to think within the series.

artist 3/14 Sally Mann

Sally Mann

Sally Mann is a photographer from Lexington, Virginia who mainly concentrates on the black and white image. Originally starting with her children as the main subject. Her work is controversial for the fact that she uses her children as the subjects, often nude, which makes the general public uncomfortable. Maybe that's why I love her work. For pushing people from their comfort zones into a space that they are uneasy about. I wish, however, that instead of criticising her work they would instead reflect on themselves and find out what they are doing/thinking that makes them uncomfortable.

Mann's work is beautiful, but kind of sad. It captures a nostalgia of childhood and mixes innocence with suggestiveness. It leaves the viewer confused as to how they should react and if their reaction is appropriate... and I love that about her work. The piercing stares of her children draw you into the image in a way that I have not found very often in art. You can't help staring back and becoming transfixed. Maybe that is where the discomfort comes from. I want to create the same kind of c captivity in my work, though without directly addressing the audience as her work does. I also want to be able to make people relate to my work and also feel uncomfortable when looking at it. Like they were not supposed to witness what they are viewing.

"I think the South depends on its eccentrics," she says one summer afternoon on the back porch as Jessie and Virginia weave in and out of the house. (Emmett is away at camp.) "It loves them, and it rewards them in lots of ways. This community allows itself to be scandalized by me and by my work, but they love it. What else would they do if it wasn't for me? I take being iconoclastic sort of seriously. It's my role here."

The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1992/09/27/magazine/the-disturbing-photography-of-sally-mann.html?pagewanted=3. 1992. Web.

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