10.06.2010
9.08.2010
Okay, been a while (Swanson's Wedding)
This is Michael Archer, a recent photography graduate from Virginia Commonwealth University. I used to always blog for my class assignments, but now that I have graduated, I feel that it is crucial to continue, at least once a week with new imagery, whether from a wedding, or just me shooting around. So this post has imagery from a short while ago, when one of my close friends got married. Daniel and Jenna Swanson tied the knot on July 7th 2010, and although I was not their main photographer, i couldn't resist capturing some shots while I was there. Let me know what you think. Talk about a cute couple, plus their ceremony and church was stunning. Their wedding occurred in the morning, and the reception had a selection of delicious fruits, pastries, and breakfast-type foods to snack on. I thought this was a novel idea, as well as different flavors for the cake layers. Their colors for their wedding were such a complement as well, being a bright orange and a blue teal, making the ceremony a beautiful array of colors. (Yes, the dresses and flowers were really that color). I actually love this last shot, because its one of those 'catch the moment' shots, appropriately named "The moment before Danny rips off his tailored suit, and takes off in teal and orange spandex to save the world, because the world needs saving once again" Shot. Danny and Jenna, congratulations and I wish the best for you in the future.
Sincerely Michael
7.01.2010
4.26.2010
Ryan Gander: Artist Blog
Ryan Gander is an artist born in Chester, United Kingdom, in 1976 and is an artist I have recently discovered through one of his images that specifically stood out to me more than his others. In 1999 he graduated from Manchester Metropolitan University with a First Class degree in Interactive Art, and has been successful as an artist, winning the DENA Foundation Art Award in 2007, and the Paul Hamlyn Award in 2008, to highlight just a few of his accomplishments. He currently works mainly in London and Amsterdam.
The piece above is one of his pieces that really stood out to me when I was searching for more artist influence that I can talk about and be aware of as I create my own work. What really caught my attention in this photograph is the simplistic nature to both composition, and the so-called “rules to photography”. His piece does not follow the rules in technical sense, with the pole sticking out of the main focus’s head, as well as having a semi-distracting background. However, with this being acknowledged, I feel as if Ryan Gander purposefully knew about these things, and was aware of what he was doing when he pushed the button. It’s not that he is unaware of some technical aspects that were not edited or taken care of, it’s that the focus is on the person in the middle, his expression.
To explain this, as most of you know, my work has to do with bleeding of color from my person, bleeding out to the background. Ryan Gander’s piece does that as well, only metaphorical, rather than visual. He is not going to ‘pretty up’ a photograph that speaks with the main focus, and how the world is viewed through that person. In my opinion, the man in the piece is the main focus, and by his face and body language, life has hurt him, and he is searching, therefore, why should the background be perfect, clean, and obey the ‘rules’. The world of photography, is partially to picture life, as is, with all of its blemishes, because this world is not perfect, and not following the rules has everything to do with the story behind this work.
As for the actual imagery, I can relate, because it honestly looks like a representation of me, and what I feel inside. I think that his piece communicates very strong towards anyone who has had an experience that shakes the pillars that each of us build our lives on, and I think that it speaks to everyone in some aspect.
http://www.artnet.com/artwork/425766663/111910/ryan-gander-man-on-a-bridge.html
4.22.2010
Paola Antonelli Artist Lecture
She emphasizes the benefits of what she calls “an organic path”: walking through your art that you follow, acting upon it with your means, and doing what you want and love to do, which will all lead you in the right way. She talked a lot about how we as artists and designers need to be able to stand on our own, sticking by the work we create and love, and being proud of what we do. These things will lead us to being able to make a difference. She seemed extremely focused on giving motivation, focusing on ways that we all can be happy, and not necessarily be rich in. The ways she described helped me understand that doing what I want to do, rather than doing what will make me money is what you should aim for, so that through the hard times, you will be motivated to continue, where you might be more inclined to give up what you are doing, if you do not want to do it.
Her final piece of advise was to leave some of the story unfinished in your work. People like to finish your sentences, and if you leave a little up for interpretation, then you capture the audience in a way that they had to think about the work to understand it. Her talk was very enlightening, but it focused on how artists should focus doing what they want to be happy.
4.19.2010
Alfredo Jaar
In the photographs of this montage, she has people photographed with marks, and scars on their body that represent, in my own opinion, the individual issues that each of these people have that obstruct their own finding of love. The piece is called “looking for love” and the marks on each of them reflect on the fact that everyone has issues with searching for love, and the difficulties, the consequences, and the reactions of such a difficult thing to find. Personally, being that I used to identify with this subject specifically, I find a strong and powerful reaction to this work, but it can also be looked at with a slight twist. I think that the marks and burns can represent the internal self trying to break out, as if it was someone completely different, like in my case. I also feel that my subject matter reflects and responds to everyone, and that they can relate somehow to an alternative or internal struggle. This piece seems to tell that the internal struggle is love, and that it is trying to break out, to show the true person inside. We are all broken people inside, and we try to hide that, however, this piece shows that searching for love involves and is directly related to the broken person inside of yourself. That person needs to be realized as much as the exterior person. This whole idea can be directly related to my own work about identity, which is why I feel this piece is so strong and powerful.
http://www.artnet.com/artist/3284/daniele-buetti.html
http://www.artnet.com/artwork/425971213/171564/daniele-buetti-looking-for-love--good-fellows-pinwall-nr-36.html
4.12.2010
Vasco Araujo: artist blog
These pieces are pieces that remind me of a struggle, difficulty, or obstruction of mental or psychological understanding within himself. These pieces strike me hard, as if they speak to a defeat or a giving up of one side of a personal battle. To me, it represents the physical and expressed side giving up and letting the inner side take over, leaving the actual physical action and persona as dead, limp, or immobile. I feel that I cannot express this because my internal clash has been set up that neither side wants to win, but both sides are at battle for prominence. One has to be alive to keep the other alive. It’s a little like the batman analogy: if there was no joker, there would be no need for batman. However, in Vasco’s work, one side has clearly over dominated the other, leaving the physical one as the loser, and leaving it weak and dead. This work is absolutely amazing in my opinion, and love the feeling it gives me when I look at it.
http://www.artnet.com/artist/424625363/vasco-arajo.html
4.08.2010
Barriers: Their place in my work.
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/barriers
4.05.2010
http://www.artnet.com/ag/fulltextsearch.asp?searchstring=identity¤tCategory=Artwork&page=3
3.29.2010
Artist Blog: Wim Wenders: Wings of Desire
This movie stood out to me because it uses color in very similar ways, as well as discusses a variety of worlds that are separated. I started to pay attention to subject matter that seemed to be recurring in the movie that might help explain this separation of space, and found out that a lot of the shots had the Berlin Wall, or a type of barrier presented, in representing a blockade or separation. This could pertain to my own work, in focusing on my own technique of photographing. I could include more barriers of sort that separate the two of me in each image, not necessarily blatantly sitting in the middle, but have a type of separation other than reflection and color. The use of a barrier, even if it does not split both of me and if repeated, should be picked up by a viewer in my work, and can take context clues to place that type of object as having significance in my work.
Below is the IMDB website, and the preview shows a little example of the story, and the separation of color.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093191/
3.27.2010
Anderson Gallery Pieces:
3.22.2010
Artist Blog: Behrouz Rae
3.15.2010
Artist Lecture (03.08.10) Erik Brandt
Erik Brandt is an artist who got his visual communications Masters in 2000 in graphic design, from VCU, and returned on Monday as a visiting artist, an experience which he concluded was something he had been looking forward to for a long time. Since graduating from VCU, he has been teaching as well as creating his own work. His focus of interest is in globalization, and his main medium of choice is typography. He stated that part of his main focus is to contextualize everyday issues around the world in a way where we step back and actually ‘slowly read’ through the information given to us. I feel that as a visiting artist, he has to be one of the best at interacting his audience. Something that one of his old VCU professors taught him to do as a commencement action as well as a way to release nervousness is called “Banzai”. Upon entrance to the theatre, we were given newspaper hats that, at first glance were unidentifiable, but we were requested to wear it into the theatre, and while we were sitting. Then, after a small introduction, Erik counted down in Japanese, one, two, three, and then we all yelled BANZAI!, and the hats were actually Japanese Samurai hats.
The rest of the artist lecture did not impress me as much as his little drill he performed at the beginning, partially because I kept going back to his interaction with us. His work was very interesting and did sometimes touch on some sensitive issues such as a video he did that was post-9/11 that brought light to issues people already knew, but were still sensitive subjects. He also talked a lot about how people “ have started to get society to start taking care of brands, like a need to brand something again and again”. He spent some time in Doha, Qatar, while he was on the exchange program, and he photographed trucks that had been hand painted with a specific brand, as if that gave the vehicle some wealth. They were giving their beat up trucks value by assigning brands, which is a scary thought, especially because people do put so much emphasis on a brand, whether it is clothing or a car. The picture above is an example.
Erik Brandt brought up ideas about society and global issues that affect everyone, yet he also focuses on such specific issues in differing cultures that bring light to the rest of the world through one example. I find his work sometimes confusing and erratic, yet there are always more hidden meanings that I find and discover the more I spend on looking at his pieces.
The rest of his work can be checked out at the following link:
3.08.2010
Artist Blog: Pat Rocha
The title will be a huge part of my piece, and I am still working on key words that I should focus on in my own title.
http://www.artnet.com/artwork/425915834/425570766/pat-rocha-the-burden-of-memory.html
http://www.artnet.com/artwork/425613646/425570766/pat-rocha-presence-crossing.html
http://www.artnet.com/artist/425571519/pat-rocha.html
3.04.2010
Dissonance: My artwork changing in style
3.01.2010
Abbas Kiarostami: Artist Blog
I feel that these photographs directly speak what I want my photographs to speak to others, because I immediately start looking through my own life at where I am on the road of life, and what struggle is next, or what struggle or 'thing' is holding me back from moving forward.
These photographs are work that I find absolutely inspirational, and I do not want to stop looking at them, because, even in their simplicity, there is a never-ending search for answers to questions, and I look for answers in these pieces for my own life. The work stands as a piece that is uinversally appreciated and understood, as well as having a sense of constant travel and search, as if there is no resting place in the road of life. I feel that in my own work, the reason why I address my own personal issues in the photographs is because I hope that that means I will find a resting place after I sort this major issue that ties me to the past. With this in mind, however, I do feel that part of everyone's journey through life is to find a resting place that can never be gotten, but gets searched for anyway, as a psychological place of rest and peace. That place can be photographed, but I feel that its the search for the impossible, the place of rest, that really tells the story.
http://www.artnet.com/artwork/425974410/118451/abbas-kiarostami-roads-79.html
http://www.artnet.com/artist/9449/abbas-kiarostami.html
http://www.artnet.com/artwork/426014394/425216710/abbas-kiarostami-roads-series.html
2.25.2010
A certain type of baggage: Rope
As most of you know, I have recently been thinking of objects that represent issues that deal with my story. I first came up with bridges as their meaning of being a connection between two places. I am still vastly exploring this idea, but I am searching for more objects of universality that could grab attention of the viewers and then relate to their own lives and their own struggles and baggage that they don't deal with or confront that possibly have been scraping at their insides for quite a while. My work is my own expression of this baggage and conflict that has been bothering me for a long time, but my work, I am realizing has changedd to now shine light onto other's issues by others viewing my work.
Here is a photograph I found (pictured above), representing a huge ball of rope that I would carry, with a few strands possibly getting tangled in my legs, as I travel in the photograph.
2.21.2010
Mark Bradford: Artist lecture
The above link is a video about a piece Mark Bradford created in reference to identity and issues with struggling with something that 'obstructs' physically, emotionally, and mentally. Firstly, Mark Bradford is an American born artist out of California, and studied at the California Institute of the Arts, where he received both his MFA and BFA. His work above is a piece suggested that I pay attention to, given to me by Tom in one of the individual meetings. In this video, Mark Bradford creates a condition, a struggle, using an antebellum skirt he creates, and wears this huge obstructive piece of clothing that he then attempts to play basketball with. His piece, according to him, is about "road blocks, on every level. Cultural, gender, racial, regardless that they are there, it is important to continue, to keep going, to keep going, and so that was what it was...". This quote has stuck with me for a long time, and it has given me thought as to how this piece that I am creating fits into this notion of falling down, getting up and keeping going.
I started thinking of how my piece is similar to his, where his has a physical obstruction, and mine is all in my head. He talks about his piece dealing with many more issues than just the physical act, and that got me to think about a physical presence of something that represents the struggle. In my own pieces, I feel that this is represented by the shirt I wear in the photographs, and that ties into the pieces enough for people to realize. I also feel that my artwork creates a picture of a similar struggle that his shows, and therefore, I feel that my artwork represents a struggle, that everyone can relate to, and is not about my audience necessarily understanding what exactly I am struggling over, but that they recognize this struggle, and can draw lines to their own lives. My work, I have finally realized, is not about people understanding my struggle, its about, through my expression of my own personal struggle, other people realizing their own personal struggles and issues in their lives. Its supposed to wake them to their own self, and make them examine their lives, in all aspects, as Mark Bradford says. My pieces are created so that others can see their own things they might be running from, or are afraid to face, and now I feel that this piece should be called "Your Awakening" or something to that extent. I am continually thinking about these thoughts, and I really am enjoying this new revelation about my own work.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Bradford
2.17.2010
Artist Lecture Hank Thomas
Hank Thomas talked alot about his varying work, and jumped around a bit in his styles and focus. I do feel that one of the most important pieces that he focused on was actually how he went discussing his cousin's death. His cousin was robbed, and then killed, and he dealt with it by expressing it through a few different mediums and art styles. One way he expressed the story was through a stop motion film with action figures, and he re-enacted the whole story out, and how it happened. This of course is such a personal, and I imagine painful way to express his emotion, but in ways I feel it is similar to me, the way we both try and react an emotion of uncomfortability from the viewer, by expressing an event extremely personal to only the artist that creats it. I think the difference is that I am struggling getting my artwork of this personal matter, to be easily understood and seen in the artwork. I learned a few different things from seeing his work, and the way he presents it, so that the viewer can understand and follow. Here are some stills of his work, which he also created to stand separately from the film.
He also went another way with this, which I found even more intriguing and creative, taking the art of concept photography, and crossing it over into the world of commercial photography.
In this work, he portrays the story of his cousins death, and markets it as if it was a commercial for Mastercard. The insanity related this, at least to me, stands out like a sore thumb. The use of a slogan like this, gives me thoughts of how i could possibly market my work as if it was a product. My immediate thoughts bring about how my constant motion and restlessness could be a commercial for Traveler's and how my identity, and all the personal issues inside that deal with this work would just be thrown out the window with no regard to what it might mean. This is definitely something to keep in mind while creating work, and how someone might want to use your photography for something that it was not intended to.
Hank Thomas went on to explain how this launched him to figure out stereotypes in commercials for products of today, and how strong, and abrupt some of them still are. He also created his own pieces that resemble commercial product advertisements, yet had extremely weighted and stereotypical issues and hidden meanings. Overall, I found Hank Thomas's talk really useful in giving me more abrupt and expanded ideas about how identity and my personal issues in my work relate to the outside world.
http://81press.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/priceless.jpg
http://chic-cityrats.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83452021d69e201053613009f970b-800wi
2.11.2010
Idea Blog: Color transitioning
2.08.2010
Artist Blog: Paul Himmel
2.03.2010
Idea Blog: A Bridge and a road
2.01.2010
Daniel Lobdell - Artist Blog
Spanning Structures 04-P10, 2004 , Spanning Structures 08-SP08, 2008
1.27.2010
Artist Lecture: Alec Soth
Fort Jefferson Memorial Cross, Wickliffe, Kentucky 2002
1.25.2010
Artist Blog: Michael Kenna
12.10.2009
Idea Blog: Finalized
My final ten pieces each have a main point that i took the photograph about. The ten aspects are:
Location
School
Family
Friends
Home
Travel
Shopping
City Business
Food
Wealthiness
The pieces remind me of what i feel each look like, and are not necessary to understand the pieces. The whole piece emphasises my misplacement here, and in these ten different characteristics are my experiences here. The dirt, color correction, and my presence and aura given off in the imagery is my hidden identity telling me that there is something missing. I thought about posting images, however, i will on my final blog post, after the assignment is due.
Good luck to everyone!
12.07.2009
Artist: Chuck Close
Here are a few examples:
These photographs are each individual and unique, and to me it speaks towards a different side that i see of that specific person in the photograph. The photographs are each focused in a very small and detailed area at a time, in a type of unique and abstract painterly style.
His photorealistic style of imagery is almost covered in a 'truth veil' giving the image of what would be a normal portrait, a type of filter that shows a kind of imaginary truth that is revealed from the original person .
12.05.2009
Two Art shows applied for:
The first one i applied for, as i told Paul, I sent in to the VMFA, however, the return postcard was lost.
The second show i applied for was from www.winterfood.org. The winterfood project was about awakening people in the community about the produce that the greater richmond farms produce during the winter. The below is the photograph i submitted.
I am constantly looking for more art shows to apply for.
12.03.2009
Idea Blog: Recent updates
I have continued to work with large images of things that inherently remind me of America, and a notion of the developed world here, using imagery such as malls, buildings, and large landscapes with buildings surrounding. I am in the picture as well, though i am represented as something missing, being disconnected and overwhelmed by the massiveness of the developed and uncommon imagery. Some photographs are numerous images put together, and add to the intensity that makes me as somewhat unnecessary and very small.
These following images are representative of what i have most recently done.
I plan to take these images with some sort of interaction with dirt, as being a symbol of something there that people have to look through and look past, with the dirt, without them realizing, actually holding worth and value within the composition. I plan to photograph on other imagery that i find that resonates with different aspects of life, such as Family, Student, Place, Wealth, etc. and have decided that using ten images that each represent one of these core values, as the imagery i show for my final.
I am still thinking about the usage of dirt, especially because my piece will not be experienced by other classmates, and only submitted as prints. I also need to think about the aspects of life that i have, and how they resonate with me, and have meaning within my life.
The whole plan is to have these images of values of human life, with me in the images, as expressing something that is missing from the values, and that missing emotion, feeling, or concept is representative of my past thoughts from Kenya.
11.30.2009
Artist Blog: Alexandra Catiere
Here are some of her images. She took these photographs in the city of Minsk, where she was raised, and said that their focus was about a disengagement of the glass on a bus window, and how the glass framed the faces behind it, almost taking them out of the real life context. To me they tell a story, and i really enjoy how the glass becomes a part of the piece. I want the glass in my own work to be a part of the piece, however, establishing and connecting them will be difficult. I do like the thought of window after window, like a bus would have, however, i am then not sure as to how the dirt that is incorporated into the piece will be so tactile and interactive. I do plan to hang my photographs behind glass, or with glass ontop, however, how will the sand become part of the piece? Should i even have sand? Maybe a faint photograph printed on the glass would be more beneficial. WHat should the picture on the glass be of? I had originally thought of the glass photograph as being one from Kenya, however, i am not sure if such a direct route is neccessary. I have thought of printing on the glass a replacement of what the picture might look like in Kenya, for example, instead of a parking lot full of cars, a dirt wasteland. Things i am still debating now, that i need to finalize.
http://alexandracatiere.com/