Garrett Zopfi
Billy Frieble
Digital Studio
7 May 2012
Final Self Assement
The central theme for my final
project was a combination of color and composition. My inspiration comes from
long standing traditions in modernism set forth by Jasper Johns and Andy
Warhol. From the onset of the project I also wanted to embrace the mechanical
process of digital art with its reliance on machinery and software.
My process started when I started
looking at artists that had the aspects of color fields and grounded but
energetic compositions. I started with a German artist named Katherina Fritsch.
Katharina works with found forms and through mechanical processes she copies
and colors the found forms. She then arranges the forms in clever compositions.
I was drawn to her use to found forms and the appropriation of the forms to
create her own compositions.
I originally intended to work in
projection so I looked at Hong Kong based artist Paul Chan. I enjoyed the
movement of his silhouette projection along with their instantaneous
storytelling and use of color blocks to compliment the compositions. I was
drawn to the compositions that had floating and vibrating elements that created
a false sense of space.
With my research complete I began
thinking of what I wanted to do in my exploration into color theory and
composition. I began looking at Japanese Zen Rock Gardens for examples of
thought-out compositions.
This led me to decided to project
onto the vertical columns that hold up the skywalk that connects the two sides
of Schaeffer Hall. This form offered a sculptural outlet for visual projections
because a cylinder is the most sculptural form with a two-dimensional surface.
This form also allowed me to work in vertical sequences that I could print out
in the even of foul weather.
After I decided on my location and
my intentions for the project were becoming more pronounced I began looking for
images from art’s history that I could appropriate. When I was looking for
images I deiced not to use commonly experienced pieces but more images that
someone with a basic knowledge of art history would appreciate moving on to
more niche pieces as the time periods progress. I also chose images that I was
at least mildly familiar with so that I had some background knowledge on the
pieces before I used them.
I wound up with all images of
female-representational forms. The first image I knew I wanted to use was the
Willendorf Venus. This is the form I deiced to use as a clue in to my process
for individuals with a base knowledge in art history.
As the pieces go through time they
get more niche in their intended audiences. The second oldest piece that I
appropriated is an image of Venus with child from a wall fresco in Pompeii.
After these two the next oldest image is a 16th century German
engraving of Justice. She is shown in full armor without her eyes blindfolded.
This is an unusual image of Justice and it offers a unique insight into the
values of the society that produces it. An 18th century engraving of
Venus at Troy is also used along with an academy painting of a bathing Venus
from the same time period. The engraving of Venus at Troy is shown with a
spear, which is unusual but not strikingly uncommon for 18th century
depictions of classical deities. The newest image I used in the composition was
a mid 19th century engraving of Persephone, or Proserpina. This
engraving shows the ill-fated character in a rococo dress holding her iconic
pomegranate. I chose this image because of its contrast to the hard lines of
the other appropriated images and its thematic contrast. With exception to the
fresco from Pompeii, all of the images except for Persephone have powerful
emotions associated with them instead of the reminder of time and mortality.
My intent for the composition was
to show a progression of representational ideals through time. I chose to use
deities and devotional objects because societal expectations of women tended to
be eclipsed when portrayed through the veil of Classicism.
My original plan was to present the
images in such a way as to tell a story but after projection tests and playing
with the compositions in the computer I decided to let the colors, forms and
movements of the pieces create a contemplative environment for the viewer. I
was also originally planning to make a slide-show type but this looked pretty
weak on the computer and even weaker in the projection tests. Instead I began
playing with GIF animations in Photoshop to make the forms of the image
vibrate, flash and disappear.
The projection tests also allowed
me to see how my colors were translating onto the columns. I was competing with
this sickly yellow lighting of the breezeway and the cold white of the columns.
As a result I used high-keyed colors and broad lines. It was also during the
projection tests that I decided to use the appropriated images as abstract
shapes instead of projecting them right-side-up in their entirety. Using pieces
of the images allowed me greater flexibility and the resulting image is more
successful because of it. Despite the high-keyed nature of the used colors the
projector still wasn’t projecting the way I wanted it to. This combined with
unpredictable and sporadic weather led to my decision to go with my back up
plan of printing the image.
The image printed is a sequence of
4 vertical columns that correspond with the columns I was going to be
projecting on. I was originally going to cut the panels apart but after putting
them in a document to gang-print I decided to leave them as a whole image like
they would have appeared in physical space. I also rearranged and panels in
order to make a balanced two-dimensional image.
Upon printing the image I noticed
an area where strange things were happening between two colors. The area in
question is in third column where the salmon color and the teal color play off
each other and cause a chromatic vibration.
Once I saw this I decided to experiment with the color
interaction in another image. I used the Persephone image that caused the
interaction in the first print and created another four-column composition to
print. This print has the same movement quality that I was trying to present in
the projection so it serves as a suitable partner to the first print.
I learned allot about color
interactions from this project. I had a vague idea of chromatic optical
phenomenon but never actually created one. This is an interesting occurrence
that I hope to explore further. I would also like to eventually print another
of my composition image on a larger scale.
The flexibility of using Photoshop allowed me to take my
work home with me on my own computer and work on it when I was waiting for my
work in other classes to dry. This constant attention over a long period of
time allowed me to constantly re-evaluate my composition and make changes to
it.
Overall I think both prints are
very strong. The composition print is very meditative and holds a lot of visual
interest. The Persephone print is equally interesting but from almost a singly
color based point of view. This is the first artwork I have created that solely
relies on color. It was beneficial for me to use images that I didn’t create in
order to freely play with colors and compositions.
The composition print isn’t as enveloping as I would have
liked it to be. This is partly because its not projected large in space but
also the print could have been larger but I was working with the area that Tara
said I had for one print on the DIL printer. The second image I payed for
myself. This is why it’s slightly larger and the image feels more comfortable
in its size because it was specifically designed for it.
I give myself a B+ for the project.
It would have been more successful to print the composition image larger but I
was too cheap to make the judgment call. I also think the grade reflects the
learning that happened when I was playing with the images. I think what I
learned is an A and the piece is a B. this is why I think I deserve a B+ for
the project.
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