Artwork: Digital Manipulation/Collage
Poison
Digital Manipulation March 2020 522 pixels x 424 pixels Exhibition Text A person lays in bed, asleep, while a reflection of them-self straddles them. This other-self was inspired by the idea that a person's mind keeps them chained to their own comforts, holds them down during their darkest times. It's edgy, but it's something that a lot of people deal with - the weight of depression holding them down. |
Inspiration
My inspiration for this piece was a single photograph of Nathalie Paley and Victor Kraft, taken by Cecil Beaton, in which Kraft is straddling Paley, holding her down by her neck. This piece, due to the lack of his shirt, could be interpreted as sexual, however, I decided to go with a different meaning for my piece. I used a minor for the model in my project, so they should not be sexualized in the way that Paley and Kraft are. The piece itself was a improvisational photograph taken about ballet, which is very different than the route I took. I was simply inspired by the pose, as well as the black and white aspect of the photograph. My inspiration did not come from the meaning behind the piece.
A different inspiration for me, however, was my own personal experience with depression and anxiety, as well as some of the experiences my friends have talked to me about. Mental illness manifests itself in different ways for everyone, but everyone I talked to for this project described a heavy feeling and a lack of motivation that sometimes even prevented them for getting out of their beds. This is the feeling I wanted to capture in my piece. |
Planning
To plan out this piece, I sort of sketched out different poses I could do with the piece, as well as the angles I could take the photos from. Then, I made the decision that I would use Adobe Photoshop, as I figured that would be easiest to manipulate photos with. I decided I didn't want to completely copy the exact post of my reference, so I chose to change up the angles and how I edited the photos and overlaid them. After testing out several angles, I decided on the one used above in the finished piece.
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Experimentation
The experimentation process did not take much time. I mostly took various photos in different poses, and decided from there which photos I thought would work best for the piece. After that, I removed the photos from their backgrounds and merged them together to create the composition of the final piece. Afterwards, I experimented a bit with saturation and light/dark values after I made the photo black and white. Then, as my own personal addition, I decided to cover the face of the person on top, wanting to give the piece a darker energy.
Process
To start this piece, I experimented with taking photos and using different poses. To do this, I had my friend do several poses either laying down or pretending to choke someone. After taking several photos of her, I went home and began to remove her figure from the backgrounds of the photos in order to easily overlay them. After this, I changed the piece to be black and white, and then began to experiment with brightness, darkness, and light/dark values. After I decided on what I liked, I wanted to add my own touch to the piece by blocking out the face of my friend on top in order to give the piece a darker, more violent energy. I did have to experiment with cutting out her hands, and I also decided to blur the edges of the figure on top in order to add to the energy.
Reflection + Compare/Contrast
I'm alright with how the piece turned out, but I think it could have been a lot better. Next time I do a piece like this, I'll probably use something other than Photoshop, as it was difficult for me to cut out photos using it. I have an app I could use next time in order to cleanly cut out figures while keeping detail. I'll probably take a lot more photos, too, since I feel like if I had spent more time on planning and experimenting, I could have made this a lot better.
ACT Responses
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork:
I used the same general pose and editing, but with a few extra things that I added on my own.
What is the overall approach (pov) the author (from research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The author doesn't seem to have a bias - rather, he simply photographed these two people as a third party. On the other hand, the personal experiences of the people I talked to were biased, though they were pretty universal.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I found that a lot of people I talked with had similar experiences with depression throughout their lives, though it always varies a bit from person to person. Nobody has the same experience, but everyone has a somewhat similar experience.
What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central idea/theme was mental illness, typically the depressive ones, and how they effect people in their everyday lives.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I made inferences based on the experiences I researched and talked with people about, since I did not want to completely pry for details.
I used the same general pose and editing, but with a few extra things that I added on my own.
What is the overall approach (pov) the author (from research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The author doesn't seem to have a bias - rather, he simply photographed these two people as a third party. On the other hand, the personal experiences of the people I talked to were biased, though they were pretty universal.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I found that a lot of people I talked with had similar experiences with depression throughout their lives, though it always varies a bit from person to person. Nobody has the same experience, but everyone has a somewhat similar experience.
What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central idea/theme was mental illness, typically the depressive ones, and how they effect people in their everyday lives.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I made inferences based on the experiences I researched and talked with people about, since I did not want to completely pry for details.
Bibliography
- "Living With Depression: My Experience". Mind.Org.Uk, 2020, https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/your-stories/living-with-depression-my-experience/. Accessed 20 Aug 2020.
- Margarita Tartakovsky, M.S. "Personal Experiences Of Depression". World Of Psychology, 2014, https://psychcentral.com/blog/personal-experiences-of-depression/. Accessed 20 Aug 2020.
- “Nathalie Paley and Victor Kraft.” Metmuseum.org, The Met, www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/285963?searchField=All.