The art of instruction
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John Baldessari is known as the godfather of conceptual art. This master of photography has dabbled in many art forms such as painting, BILLBOARDS, photography, VIDEOGRAPHY, SCULPTURES, and digital art. Baldessari has over 200 solo shows and over 100 group shows with many different awards and honors.
John Baldessari Was Also Committed To Not Make any Anymore Boring Art And Proved This By Making A film where he wrote over and over again "I will not make any more boring art" Until The Ink Ran Out. I believe that he would have wanted to instruct their class with instructions from other people because he is a fan of collaboration. |
John Baldessari is a photographer with an iconic and easily recognizable style that highly values collaboration. Even though he passed away in 2020, he left behind a massive legacy as numerous inspired students, over thousands of pieces of work, and "America’s most influential connectional artist", even receiving the national medal of the arts in 2014 by President Obama. Students of Jonh Balderssari recall him to be an artist that "also seemed to know what he was doing". Whilst teaching bladerssari had 14 assignments he would make his students do:
1. Make up an art game. Structure a set of rules with which to play. 2. How can plants be used in art. The problem becomes how can we really get people to look freshly at plants as if they’ve never noticed them before. 3. Pay homage to a movie star, rock musician, etc. 4. Defenestrate objects. Photo them in mid-air. 5. One person copies or makes-up random captions. Another person takes photos. Match photos to captions. 6. Disguise an object to look like another object. 7. Makeup a list of distractions that often occur to you. Recreate on videotape. 8. Document change, decay, metamorphosis, and changes occurring in time. 9. By using a movie camera to follow actions and by your observations into a cassette recorder 10. Photograph the backs of things, underneaths of things, extreme foreshortenings, and uncharacteristic views. Or trace them. 11. Describe the visual verbally and the verbal-visual. 12. Scenarios. Do a movie from an existing, stock scenario. 13. Repaired or patched art. Recycled. 14. Photograph of umbrella and sewing machine on an operating table. That’s Surrealism, isn’t it? |
"the first person you said good morning to" "a busy bus stop after school"
"a busy train station" "a bird in the sky" "someone wearing red"
These photos were really fun to take I got to document my life through a different perspective and it allowed me to be more observant and vigilant. In my opinion, the hardest photo to take was a bird in the sky as every time I would pull out my phone to take a picture the bird was easily no longer in my view or it had landed. My favorite photo is the train station one, as it has a lot of movement and is chaotic.
The person I collaborated with liked the photographs and it was roughly what they imagined when they wrote the instructions for me. Rhianna said that she thought mostly the photographs were how she imagined however, she liked the photographs that were most chaotic and busy. Her two favorites were also the busy train station even though it was not what she imagined as she thought it would be on a platform.
The person I collaborated with liked the photographs and it was roughly what they imagined when they wrote the instructions for me. Rhianna said that she thought mostly the photographs were how she imagined however, she liked the photographs that were most chaotic and busy. Her two favorites were also the busy train station even though it was not what she imagined as she thought it would be on a platform.
We experimented with sequences and identified similarities within groups. Then, as a class, we collectively sequenced and refined the final selection until everyone was satisfied with the ultimate choice. Each of us actively participated in the process, engaging in debates about the placement and rationale for removing or relocating each picture.
Georgia o'keeffe and alfred stieglitz's collaboration
Georgia O'Keefe and Alfred Stieglitz met in 1916 when she was 29 and he was 52 and got married in 1924. However, the godfather of modern photography and a female artist best known for her flower paintings did not have a successful marriage.
HICHAM BENOHOUD
The piece we took inspiration from and subjectively the best work of Benohoud, "La salle de classe" was taken in 6 years. In these 6 years over 100 photos were taken documenting the time Benohound spent as an art teacher in a school in Marrakech, where he was born. During this time various kids put on countless performances which would be photographed and compiled into his project. However these aren't the typical performances, they were given specific poses, facial expressions, and things to wear and incorporated which generated very unique and confusing images. One of the most confusing and strange features of the images is the recurring theme where very few students (if they can be seen in the shot) are barely paying attention, focusing primarily on their work, which translates the difference in culture and their dedication, determination, and motivation to do well.
However, some read the children’s behavior whilst their classmates were living sculptures and the entire photo series as a reflection of cultural and religious taboos in Morocco which would repress and control its society's behavior. This blatant display of criticism is very out of character for Benohoud as typically anything critical in his photography would be ironic and unserious. However, in this photo series, a strong violent tension in these seemingly calm photos cannot be denied.
However, some read the children’s behavior whilst their classmates were living sculptures and the entire photo series as a reflection of cultural and religious taboos in Morocco which would repress and control its society's behavior. This blatant display of criticism is very out of character for Benohoud as typically anything critical in his photography would be ironic and unserious. However, in this photo series, a strong violent tension in these seemingly calm photos cannot be denied.
MY EXPERIMENT BASED ON HICHAM BENOHOUND
In response to Hitcham Benohound I took some photos where Kitty Moon was "performing" for me. These photos have Kitty primarily playing with her camera and I would place bubble wrap or green plastic over the lens to play with the colour and how in focus the picture was. I ended up not liking any of the photographs I took the first time, I felt they were too vague and uninteresting.I enjoyed the green filter on it however that was the only thing i felt was positive. In my second attempt i attempted a more neutral background and i had kitty position herself differently with a book.I ended up enjoying much more because of the lighting and it showcased her actually playing with an item that wasn't her own camera.
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BROOMBERG AND CHANARIN: THEIR COLLABORATION
Broomberg and Chanarin had a long 23 year long collaboration that ended on the 20th of February 2021.Before this termination of their partnership though, they'd earn international recognition even going so far to win the prestigious Deutsche Bourse Prize in 2013 together.
I feel that I could have portrayed the character of "Tommy Smith" more effectively, given that I solely used a film camera instead of incorporating both film and digital. However, I am grateful for the opportunity this project provided to experiment with film photography, something I had never explored before. It encouraged me to look beyond my initial preferences and truly invest in aligning my work with the given brief to accurately represent the character.i had a lot of fun doing this and it was very interesting to learn from my mistakes this way.
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my emotions |
This morning we were told to write down how we felt and we were given a lot of time to truly consider all our emotions. At first, I struggled a lot to write but once I started really getting into my feelings I discovered a stream of different sentiments. After we wrote everything we were told to try and capture our emotions in the best way possible.
I tried to focus on dark, clustered areas or places that looked like they were either bursting with meaning waiting to be discovered or questionable places. However, not all of my emotions were dark and confusing so I did try and venture around and capture a wide range of my emotions. I found this task incredibly challenging and I turned to a more abstract method of translating my emotions. I chose these 5 to be the 5 that best represented my emotions. They felt perfect to me and although I can't pinpoint how each picture correlates to what emotion they feel right.
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francesca woodman
Francesca Woodman was born on April 3rd in Denver, Colorado in 1958 and died in New York on January 19th, 1981 at the age of 22 from suicide. Francesca Woodman was born to parents George Woodman and Betty Woodman, both artists Her mother came from a Jewish background while her father came from a protestant upbringing. Art was highly valued by everyone in her family-even her brother eventually went on to become an associate professor of electronic art.
Francesca entered the world of photography at 13 when she took her first portrait and continued to feed this passion until she died. This passion was also fuelled led by Abbots Academy a private boarding school that she attended, where she further developed her photography skills and enjoyment of the hobby that would later turn into her job.
.Later in life, Francesca Woodman would befriend Italian intellectuals and artists enabled by the schooling she had done in Italy which allowed her to speak Italian fluently She befriended these artists while in Rome at the school of Rhode and the School Of Design (RISO) between 1975 and 1978 to 1979 Woodman moved to New York City after spending the summer in Washington visiting her boyfriend and returned to NYC to make a career in photography Woodman sent her portfolio to various fashion photographers. however, her efforts went unrewarded until the summer of 1980 when she was an artist-in-residence at the MacDowell Colony in Peterborough, New Hampshire.
Later on, in 1960, Francesca Woodman became severely depressed due to her failed relationship and her seemingly failed career, She was driven to suicide due to these causes and had a failed attempt in the autumn of 1980. Soon after she failed attempt, she moved back into her parent's home in Manhattan and lived with them after the incident, However, on January 19th, 1901 Francesca Woodman successfully took her life, aged 22 Francesca jumped out of a loft window on the past side of New York City Many were left in shock, a friend of hers stated that "things had been bad, there had been therapy things had gotten better, the guard had been let down. The reason why she took her own life is not fully clear, however, many speculate that the breakup with her long-term partner and lack of attention from her art drove her into a deep depression. Her father also hypothesized that her motive also stemmed from her unsuccessful application for funding from the National Endowment for the Arts.
I really love this photo. It creates a new unique type of portrait and can be used to represent a lot of emotion. As we know Woodman wasn’t mentally stable so this photo could represent her emotions at the time and a reflection of her well-being. The blurred person shows how they are of an excruciatingly devastating mindset: unable to enjoy anything. I truly love Woodman and her photography style because they are unique, raw, and honest. It’s almost as if you can see the emotions in each photograph. The monochrome, not only in this photograph but in her photography in general, solidifies her pieces' serious and grave meaning. Woodman is a pitiful artist with an unfortunate ending which in some sick sense could be part of what is adding value to her work. We can only imagine the mental torment that she channelled into her art but unfortunately drove her to the end.
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I quite love this photo too. The strategic use of cracked glass creates a unique portrait with multiple fragments of Woodman's face but never the whole. This gives us a break from boring self-portraits and creates something visually mesmerizing. Woodman doesn’t allow us to see anything behind her except a white wall and we see a mysterious fuzzy texture at the bottom of the image. Other than that, the main focus is her face, which is distorted and askew. This photo creates a lot of questions as to what was Woodman trying to convey and where is she and what the fluffy thing at the bottom is? There are a lot of unanswered questions in this image. My next steps are to start taking self-portraits in black and white but also using long shutter speeds and double exposure. This will allow me to emulate a similar photography style as Woodman. I'll ideally be wearing long flowy clothes too.
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Woodman also has a few self-portraits that don't include her fading into the background or changing in any other way. This photo showcases her with her hand around her neck which could indicate her suicidal tendencies and foreshadow her future. However, what I’m interested in is the beige color pallet and how the photo seems to darken at the edges. This unusual lighting creates a strange point of focus in the image, diverting the viewers' eyes from Woodman. The main point of focus seems to be directed mainly at the space above Woodmen. I particularly love the way she has dramatic shadows behind her and the blank expression on her face. I want to recreate something similar in the future. My version won't include such suggestive hand movements but I would like to encapsulate just a sinister and confusing image.
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experimenting
These two images are my favorite because I feel as if it captures a similar color beige color pallet that Woodman used in her undisturbed portrait of herself. I feel like him wearing a Christmas crown found in Christmas crackers that are typically associated with glee and celebration. But cigarettes typically have the connotation of addiction, uncontrolled, and stress which to me makes it a beautiful contrast. Especially since in one he is holding the cig and is smiling so he seems to be putting more energy into it and enjoying himself and happier. Whilst the 2nd photo shows that the crown has fully slipped off and his hands are now in his pocket with an annoyed expression on his face. This showcases the deterioration of his mood and how he was playing it up for the camera which to me has a beauty within itself. Also, it shows the loss of control within addiction and by the end, he seems in less control and simply obliges to the cigarette almost. When showcasing these photos I wouldn’t want to separate these photos as I believe they complete each other and tell a small part of a story. Not only that but it also ties in with the way Woodman battled with mental health her entire life because many people have intense battles with addiction too. Especially in this day and age where a lot of people struggle with mental health issues but also nicotine addictions seem to be on the rise since they become easier and easier to access.
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In these photos, I tried to experiment with shutter speed and slowed it down extremely. I did this to try and achieve the similar transparency and ghost-like effect Woodman has in various images.
These two are my favorites. I really enjoy how the first one captures my face in two different places lit up by my phone screen. Neither my phone nor my body can be clearly identified which I really like although it was a mistake. I enjoy the yellowish lighting behind me that is caused by the streetlights outside as it creates a contrast to the blue light admitted by my phone. The photo continues the theme of addiction that was conveyed in the photographs of the smoking man. However, this carried the addiction to technology that has most people in a chokehold nowadays. The second image is similar to the way I was using the shutter speed to experiment. However, this one doesn’t show me in a dark room, instead, I’m in my room looking into my mirror. This one stood out to me when reviewing my images because of the way my face can be seen in the mirror when it should be covered. I find this to make me look almost ghostly which I really enjoy. This one in my eyes also shows the obsession with worldly things such as weight, beauty, and appearances. In today's day and age is one of the main focuses in a lot of people's eyes as the beauty standard gets harder and harder to achieve. This creates a world of people addicted to controlling their appearances with things such as eating disorders, surgery, and extreme exercise as they lose control of everything else in their life. |
These are less like the other 4 in their meaning. They’re beautiful images in my opinion. However, I think I want to continue the theme of addiction within my work and these don’t convey that theme. I enjoy how candid images are taken when neither party knows they’re being photographed by me. It allows for there to be sincerity in both images and I like the darker color pallet in both too. Especially in the second one where her pink clothes stand out from the background tremendously. I was going to explore both Laura Pennock and Rhiannon Adam about these two images to explore portraiture and how these two photographers' personal styles. However, I've since changed my mind and I'm going to focus on artists that focus on addiction and how they portray several different types of addictions. For example :
> substance addiction like nicotine/drugs/alcohol > obsession with appearances so perhaps artists that have shown eating disorders, people who have undergone plastic surgery, or people that are exercising excessively > internet addiction > addicted thrill-seeking behavior such as stealing I’ll try and explore behavioral addictions, impulse addictions, and possibly substance addictions. This addicting theme will most likely carry onto my next project too. |
David Arriba and his collaboration with Nerea
David Arriba, based in Madrid, had a visual narrative centered around Nerea. Nerea is a young woman who by the age of 5 was already hearing voices that encouraged her to stop eating by 14 Nerea was diagnosed with anorexia, a well-known mental illness where those affected starve themselves due to an overwhelming fear of gaining weight. Arriba worked with Nerea to replicate the feelings of obsession, tension, and terror Nerea is now in recovery. Nerea shared with Arriba, that whilst she was suffering, she had last friends, created problems with her family, and was dying from this deadly disease. Despite all of this Nerea would frequently hear voices in her head that would encourage this behavior, this disease plagued her life, and was set on destroying it. These thought patterns and damaging behaviors can be seen in Amba's work as he captures moments and feelings Nerea had experienced.
This photograph clearly shows Nerea measuring her wrists with her fingers. This compulsive and repetitive need to continuously check measurements to ensure nothing has changed for the worse can take over someone's life. The dramatic lighting reflects the urgency Nerea would have felt to constantly check, no matter how stupid and unimportant it may seem to everyone else. The fact that nothing is visible in the photo could reflect how these compulsions take over and poison someone's perspective of what's essential and not. The colour scheme also emphasises the seriousness of this piece and how eating disorders make inconsequential things seem drastic.
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In the image, Nerea can be seen central to the photograph, facing away from the camera in front of open curtains which allow light to enter. As she faces away, a clear separation between the subject and viewer represents the isolation individuals with eating disorders are prone to. The use of light further darkens the subject, personifying her struggles and the destructed mental health she suffers.Her body is the main focus of her of the image which reflects the anorexics mind set which i like how he’s able to translate that into the image so well.
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From this collaborative experience with Nerea and David Arriba, I've gained a fresh perspective on the use of light in my work and not only how to effectively present serious topics. It's inspired me to approach lighting more thoughtfully and creatively in my future projects. Rather than adhering strictly to conventional or "correct" lighting techniques, I'm eager to experiment and play with light to unlock new dimensions and possibilities within my photography. This newfound awareness of the artistic potential in lighting has opened up exciting avenues for me to explore and integrate into my evolving creative process.
Paul graham - "PHOTOGRAPHY is easy, photography is difficult"
Today we read this article in class and it made me appreciate how truly simplistic photography can be again as the simplicity of it can be lost over time. This article focused on how every photo is a good photo and how everything can be a good photograph. I think overall that this is mainly focused on taking photos first and worry about the quality. later. I found this to be really useful because i often worry too much on the quality of my photo before i even take the image which stops me but i have to stop
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