Group 2B
Having been working on my thesis for the past 3 months I was lucky to be able to showed 5 or 6 20x20" images. Being at this stage of my thesis in my critique I am definitely more focused on editing down of the images (which does seem important for photography) and the group definitely picked up on that.
One point that was brought up was the inclusion of titles. I have never really considered titling any of my images but I can see the need for them now. I was a little concerned about the title pushing the viewer into one direction or the next where as I am looking for a really subtle, ambiguous narrative. Luckily, someone brought up the point of titles which are strictly descriptive such as "Planting flowers for Mom" or "Moving day" to put names and places in the viewers minds. In this way, the critique was very helpful.
Another discussion on the work was the possibility of a small press book. Because I have too many images to include in the actual thesis exhibit, I think it is a great idea to print something like 30 books of the full narrative to display the series in it's entirety. I also find the work to lend itself well to a book format.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Alex Bag
After watching the video I really do not know what to say. At first I found the video to be interest as she dressed up in various ways and acted the part but as the video moved on it became redundant. I did find the playful nature of the film to be nice and the low quality seemed to work for what she was doing but I still cannot get over the length of this video. I did not find myself getting sucked into the work nor did I find that the last three quarters of the film was necessary.
I am finding it hard to illustrate my feelings any better than what Allie Bajew said in her response, "I got it."
I am finding it hard to illustrate my feelings any better than what Allie Bajew said in her response, "I got it."
MFA
What really struck me about the MFA exhibit was their use of space. Understanding their was no curating, they made good use of the gallery. Starting off, compared to previous exhibits, the use of hanging walls in the center part of the gallery was wonderful. I often find that the various artists who share that space blend together but the use of the hanging walls clearly defined the room into sections that made the individual works stand out more.
In the other rooms, such as the far-most rooms on the right, had some interesting ways of setting a space. One that stands out in my mind is Jon's video piece. He hung velvet down one half of the room to separate his video piece from the other artists he was sharing the room with. Although I imagine the velvet was used for a much more functional purpose, such as giving him a space to project the video, I did appreciate how he used his space to make it how he wanted.
When I viewed the show, the names and titles were still not up, so I am not commenting on individual's pieces but instead the show gave me ideas, and proof, on how to own your given section of the gallery.
In the other rooms, such as the far-most rooms on the right, had some interesting ways of setting a space. One that stands out in my mind is Jon's video piece. He hung velvet down one half of the room to separate his video piece from the other artists he was sharing the room with. Although I imagine the velvet was used for a much more functional purpose, such as giving him a space to project the video, I did appreciate how he used his space to make it how he wanted.
When I viewed the show, the names and titles were still not up, so I am not commenting on individual's pieces but instead the show gave me ideas, and proof, on how to own your given section of the gallery.
Friday, November 13, 2009
The Americans
Robert Frank "The Americans" at the Met
Being a long time fan of Robert Frank, I was more than excited to visit the Met. I had a lot of rave reviews from friends about how well laid out the images were but what I was most excited about was Frank's contact sheets of the film taken for "The Americans."
Never viewing an actually photograph of Robert Frank's but instead only knowing his work from collections in books had me a little worked about how viewing the images on the wall may change the body of work for me. I always found the series to be inspiring for its meticulous sequencing that can only really come from viewing a book. Every image is given space from the others by only including one photograph a page but at the same time, you are allowed to make connections to the other photographs in the series to create an emotion, or at best a narrative.
When entering the gallery, I was pleased they kept the images in the order. Through multiple rooms the walls are lined with the images acompanied with the number and even. sometimes, the wall text describing some history of the photograph or an attempt at putting words into Frank's mouth. These types of wall texts were the exhibits biggest downfall in my opinion. Understanding Robert Frank is the kind of photographer to have thought much of this out and indeed I have read a lot on HOW he ordered the images I did not find the curator's attempt on WHY he sequenced certian images together. At one point the wall text described a section of the series as being ordered because of the use of hands and feet in all of the photographs. Although these elements were in the images, I cannot help but think the curator was stepping boundrys.
I did noticed the images taken out of book form worked in an interesting way. The idea that you can see the images next to each other and you can not just focus on a single image. This did work well in conjunction with the idea of really laying out and illustrating the process and techniques used to create the series. I have to say though, viewing this series in book for the way, I think, someone should experience the body of work.
In the end I am excited and glad that I went to the exhibit, but not for the aspect of experiencing these images in it's truest sense but instead to get the idea of how they were created.
Being a long time fan of Robert Frank, I was more than excited to visit the Met. I had a lot of rave reviews from friends about how well laid out the images were but what I was most excited about was Frank's contact sheets of the film taken for "The Americans."
Never viewing an actually photograph of Robert Frank's but instead only knowing his work from collections in books had me a little worked about how viewing the images on the wall may change the body of work for me. I always found the series to be inspiring for its meticulous sequencing that can only really come from viewing a book. Every image is given space from the others by only including one photograph a page but at the same time, you are allowed to make connections to the other photographs in the series to create an emotion, or at best a narrative.
When entering the gallery, I was pleased they kept the images in the order. Through multiple rooms the walls are lined with the images acompanied with the number and even. sometimes, the wall text describing some history of the photograph or an attempt at putting words into Frank's mouth. These types of wall texts were the exhibits biggest downfall in my opinion. Understanding Robert Frank is the kind of photographer to have thought much of this out and indeed I have read a lot on HOW he ordered the images I did not find the curator's attempt on WHY he sequenced certian images together. At one point the wall text described a section of the series as being ordered because of the use of hands and feet in all of the photographs. Although these elements were in the images, I cannot help but think the curator was stepping boundrys.
I did noticed the images taken out of book form worked in an interesting way. The idea that you can see the images next to each other and you can not just focus on a single image. This did work well in conjunction with the idea of really laying out and illustrating the process and techniques used to create the series. I have to say though, viewing this series in book for the way, I think, someone should experience the body of work.
In the end I am excited and glad that I went to the exhibit, but not for the aspect of experiencing these images in it's truest sense but instead to get the idea of how they were created.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
