JOURNAL

The world of magazines, television, and the internet has completely consumed and enveloped our society and the pictures therein the medium has rewritten our language from that of text to image. Each day we consume these images that attribute to our perception of reality and
shape our views on the world around us. My thesis will examine that all of us face, which deals with issue of beauty, reality, and commercialism and ultimately IDENTITY and our view of our identity. In order to make this piece I will combine my two favorite crafts of video and film in order to make the piece. THe video will include snippets of each of the identnies I choose which are placed on a loop for the viewer to get up close and personal with and will feel as though they are being interacted with. The video will be projected onto a massive print that will contain two sides. One side will the fake surreal world that the model is trapped in while the opposing will contain the real world. The viewer will see that while we look to be the model the model longs to be apart of our world.
My experience with this topic has always been present with me and I feel that it is my calling to act on this project. For example all of my jobs have been in media, photography, and marketing so I have a certain obsession that has developed from these genres which has made me
very critical, judgmental, accepting, and fearful of the ads that present a certain “perfection”. My previous work was primarily done using photography and film which is the area I am most interested in and also have the most experience in. The courses that I have taken in the past to enhance my project include Video Editing, Alternative Substrates, Digital Arts in Context, among many others at both Pratt and during my undergrad where I majored in Arts and Technology with an emphasis in Film and Photography and a minor in Art History. I have also interned at Trailer Park which is a company that handled a majority of the print work for Hollywood and also at Art Partner where I work alongside the top
photography talent in the agency. I am related to this piece in many levels, one of which is my obsession with models and the advertisement industry. Also I look at Thesis as my last final step in school and a transition into the “real world” and I am looking to prepare myself for a world in the fashion photography industry. With my project I will be able to study and examine fashion photography with a critical eye which will enhance my own work both on an aesthetic and educational level.

THIS PIECE IS MY CALLING AND IS PERFECT FOR ME IN EVERY SINCE, MEDIUM, SUBJECT MATTER,AND TIMING!

Richard Avedon Darkness and Light

Caught this movie the other day. Helped me understand how photography is used to distort the truth as well as narrate the photographers motive.

Alex Bag

Google Art Project

Today I spent several hours in the Google Art Project which allows you to tour through many major museums throughout the world such as Berlin, Germany, and NYC. I am still gathering inspiration for my thesis and I find museums to be a very fitting place for my research because my thesis will consistently revolve around the question "what is art". Museums are important to answer this question because they stand to be as the only definitive place that dictates what is art and what is not. For example on the internet anyone can put anything on it and it is not dictated, and even on the street anyone can tag a street corner or post a picture, but in a museum everything is regulated and voted in and it is restricted to a certain group of people. This group of people also relates to my thesis because it regards fame, for example there are millions of artists who would love to have their work displayed in a museum such as the MOMA or the MET however fame and money plays a factor into who can get their work into the museum, which shows that this choice is not always based on whose work is the best but rather who is the most popular.
One of the characters I want to reflect through the thesis is loosely based on myself and my struggles a young artist and how coming to NYC has influenced my perception of art.

Inspiration

As a requirement for the class I recently set out to the MOMA museum to find inspiration for my thesis project. As I have stated before my thesis will surround many topics regarding young people and how our connection to social media and a society that is fueled on pop culture has lead to our constant drive and desire to be famous. Something that has become very interesting to me is the idea of linking fame to art so I viewed the work in the MOMA museum of the artist turned celebrity of Andy Warhol. I have done much research on Warhol from last semester and what I am most interested in, in his work is more his stature as an artist rather than the work himself. To further this idea I viewed the work of his moving image segments in the MOMA museum for 2 reasons.
1. To further inspect how I can use video and different video processes in my own work
2. To see what is so special about Andy Warhols films
These films are done over a period of time and are not particulary compelling, they demonstrate the use of time in video, recorded at a real time speed. For example here is footage from Empire.



What I find more interesting than the actual footage is how acclaimed Warhol has become because of this work and how his status and status in general leads to the popularity of work. For example if I made this very same piece it would not only be rejected as a project,  but it would also not make its way into a museum. This shows that the correlation between good art and what is put into a museum is slim and what matters more is who can get their work into a museum.

Starts with a seed

I created this blog as a way to collect my thoughts, ideas, and inspiration for my thesis research. All ideas begin with a seed and that is what I have and hopefully by the end of the semester I will have a concrete idea that will be my thesis. 

I have to admit right now I am in the beginning stages, but there are a few things that I know. 

1. Photo and Film

2. Pop Art

3. Social Critique

4. Social Networking

My current thought is to create characters based on my experiences with my peers to reflect on the youth culture of today and how they perceive life and success. Today social networking and the ability to put anything and everything on the internet in a public setting has created an urge for young people to be famous and associate success with fame.