Digital Manipulation
Fall in line 27.94 X 38.1 centimeters november Exhibition text-This Piece was inspired by “Golconda” famously known for the imagery of raining men. The images were gathered from varying settings that I have encountered in my life. Wearing a suit for me is a reminder of how I dress up every saturday for Forensics, or speech competitions. The meaning of the piece is that everyone enjoys picking a side, right and left. Those who merely follow in line will fall, while those who make decisions on their own will rise. |
Inspiration
I’ve always loved Magritte’s work, and this is one of the first works that I saw of his. There are some key elements that add to the meaning and importance of the piece. The men in the scene are all the same person. They are all wearing the same outfit, Black suit and tie with a bowler hat. The outfit is what the viewer uses to determine who this person is. The viewer of the work has no clue who this man is, and Magritte is specifically trying to simplify the picture of this man. With my art work I payed special attention to the outfit of my “character”. Another important element to the harmony of the piece is the scenery, the building behind the men, is out of place. The building is so flat it feels unnatural. My background would need to add something towards the meaning of the overall piece. The final important element of the composition was the orientation of the men. The are precisely spaced from each other, and each is in different positions. The different positions of the men create an illusion that all of the men are spinning as they are suspended in the air. The orientation of my shapes needed to have meaning as well.
Planning
The planning of my project started with my inspiration and the three key points that I wanted to emulate from Magritte’s work. The first important point was the outfit of the men in the air. I thought to use hue as a way to convey my meaning of the person in my work. I made some sketches including a person in them, each of the people are more like silhouettes than people. The silhouette aspect helped with focussing on where my “character would go. For background I wanted to use nature, as a way to incorporate organic forms, and convey the message of how nature is our foundation. I created scenes where the man was facing away from the audience, I thought this would be the best for my meaning. However when looking back at my inspiration I decided that a person facing forward would show a “rising above” effect. I played with the concept of moving the man around in my sketches, and I realized I want to have a person on top. A great way for me to symbolize moving up, was the image of an elevator. But a closed elevator, could represent the elevator going down. When Sketching an elevator I thought, making it open would show how I chose the “floor” above the rest.
Process
Learning from my planning, I decided to start taking pictures of the symbols I was working on. I started with the elevator, I took it with the doors opening, which gives the effect that I was getting of it. I took photos of me next, I got dressed up in my suit, and I wore a black tie, this choice was from my use of silhouettes in planning. I knew orientation was crucial, I started with a head on shot of my whole body, emulating Magritte’s work. Next I took photos of two side views, me looking right and left. These photos would represent those around me, who pick a side (right or left). The background picture, I had already taken from a trip to Utah, I could have take a different photo, yet this photo seemed perfect, and I wasn't going to be able to emulate the view off of a mountain. Finally I used an image of a dumpster, this was like a pitfall, that those who don't pay attention, fall into. Once the images were gathered, I chose the best options for each symbol, and began by making selections in photoshop. After making a selection of each of the desired objects, I softened the selection, and added contrast, this step was to help with fitting each of the pieces in the scene. I copied the selection, moved it to a different file, and transformed each piece to the right size. The placement elevator and facing front person was first. This placement helped to guide the rest of my decisions of placing the side views of myself. There was an order to the placement of the side views, each have the same distance from one another. Last I added a “garbage safety net”, this was to catch those who fell into the trap of following a side. I copied many of the images, and pasted them over to keep the same size.
ACT
1) My inspiration, was Rene Magritte, specifically "Golconda" an oil on canvas.
2) My point of view on design, is that it uses harmony to convey order. This order is overshadowed by the man at the top, which is perfectly centered on the page, adding to the balance.
3) People need to be drawn in to art, if you don't create a space for them to pay attention, you will lose them. Meaning, needed to be clear, using unity to present the most relevant is crucial for an artist.
4) The theme of the research was why does Magritte make the choices to orientate the men in suites in such an order. Why does the background seem so unnatural? How can I create a background that has a meaning like Magritte?
5) I made the inference that the outfit of the man was for business. The contrast of black suit to the nature in the background creates contrast. Also by reducing the amount of varrying symbols, the viewer can focus better on what is left to find the meaning.
2) My point of view on design, is that it uses harmony to convey order. This order is overshadowed by the man at the top, which is perfectly centered on the page, adding to the balance.
3) People need to be drawn in to art, if you don't create a space for them to pay attention, you will lose them. Meaning, needed to be clear, using unity to present the most relevant is crucial for an artist.
4) The theme of the research was why does Magritte make the choices to orientate the men in suites in such an order. Why does the background seem so unnatural? How can I create a background that has a meaning like Magritte?
5) I made the inference that the outfit of the man was for business. The contrast of black suit to the nature in the background creates contrast. Also by reducing the amount of varrying symbols, the viewer can focus better on what is left to find the meaning.
Citation
"Golconda, 1953 by Rene Magritte." Golconda, 1953 by Rene Magritte. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Dec. 2016.