Stephen Fry Care Bear Head Reenaction
Aha! So I finally persuaded my other half to be my model…
The photo had to imitate the original celeb pap but more pertinently be a bit hashed and most definitely not sleek. There are a few artists around who are making accurate, skillful photographic re-enactments and although their work is brilliant, I’m always more interested in a home made job. It has to be a little off kilter.
Excuse the photo quality though, these are scanned in on my printer, that’s why they’re so grainy.
Literally I only took two snaps in the end, it was freezing cold but this added a bit of movement and urgency in the pose I believe. Put the two images side by side they are very different yet have some obvious similarities which is what I was aiming for, like a hybrid;
“a possible release from the singular identities” – (Bhabha)
I’m working on the blind drawing reenactments next, lots to sort out regarding texture and gesture. I have wondered how far I could take this concept (a bit like Chinese Whispers)…start with the original photo, photo reenactment, blind drawing reenactment… taking the original meaning and watering it down till it’s all murky.
Looking forward to Cornelia Baltes’ exhibition Hooloovoo at Aspex Gallery, Gunwharf; If you don’t get a chance to visit then definitely check it out online…
http://www.aspex.org.uk/art/gallery_1/hooloovoo
Last night I made a few more preliminary blind sketches, this time the model posed to reconstruct the Fry photo and I got him to wear the bear head! Anyhow, they were quick sketches, I certainly didn’t spend too much time on them.
Looking at them the next day, really they are just random scribbles… if you didn’t know their context this would be the conclusion anyone would make. In retrospect then, the drawings require much more time and thought, perhaps using a few different pens at any time to describe in detail what is felt. It’s not that I want to make the drawings look like the photograph, rather I feel that they need more about them, more to look at.
In drawings 1 + 2 I can see the contours of the arms holding the bear head…
This weekend I’m planning on finishing this little project with the aim to uploading it to a new web site later on. In my head I have a vision of the original Fry photo, then my reconstruction photo next to it then finally the blind drawing of the reconstruction. Don’t know just yet if I can take it further, just mulling that one over.
I was reading Lee Devonish’blog last night.
www.a-n.co.uk/p/1553698/
He was talking about the requirement for a sketchbook at uni, and particularly having to show development of work ‘in the margins’. It struck a chord because for me, keeping a sketchbook at uni was difficult. Sure there are assessment requirements, but couldn’t there be some room for flexibility? It got me thinking about alternative interpretations of a sketchbook… a photo diary, a digital video diary and how about a blog???
Stephen Fry/ Care Bear with Blind Reconstruction Drawings
My starting point is an image from Heat, a pap of Stephen Fry wearing a Care Bear head. I’m fascinated with the concept of reconstruction and initially decided to straight forward photograph a model wearing similar gear and in a similar pose.
Since discovering the ‘blind’ drawing approach featured in Drawing Projects by Maslen and Southern, I’ve changed my mind about this. The technique aims to achieve a ‘feeling response’ and a direct connection between the hand that draws and the hand that feels. Basically you draw blindfolded and interpret what you feel with the other hand. It’s exceptionally liberating, particularly for someone who has lost touch with drawing, its purpose and potential.
It isn’t enough just to take a photo. Using this technique I will draw what I feel, it’s yet another step away from an accurate reconstruction, more like Chinese whispers. The truth of the photograph and the event becomes ever more grainy and distorted.
I’ve used a bear’s head in place of the care bear head as a starter. I’m aiming to feel out the reconstruction in it’s entirity in one go and draw it out. At the moment I’m thinking about what format this could take. Life size, A4? Which pens to use or even try paint?
Integral to this technique, are the following issues; not really knowing where you are on the paper at any one time and an in-continuity of line. There’s a spontaneity to the end result which is great, you are almost absolved of any responsibility! There’s a lightness but greater concentration to mark making.
The pink oil pastel has a touch of George Condo about it; ugly and course. Like it ;)
Technical Issues Abound
Tonight has been a night of fun and games; scissors that wont cut, tape that doesn’t stick, a light in my studio that turns off every 3 minutes unless I wave at it and finally a printer that refuses to print. It’s just one of those nights.
Continuing work on the Shadow Portraits, I’ve been exploring the confessional concept. I’ve taken some photos of the shadow cut outs and wallpaper tracings with wire mesh placed on top. But perhaps this is making the confessional too obvious for me. What I wanted to do tonight was print this image here back onto the wallpaper, just as I did in the work featured in posts 10 and 11. The photo would then be an image of the wallpaper tracing printed onto the same wallpaper but very small.
I’m hoping my printer gets it together tomorrow or it will be featuring in my next project in pieces.
I think that I have to wrap this project up soon, it’s in danger of becoming dull and I’m itching to work on other things… maybe the 7 day Venn Diagram Painting?
ATM Family Portraits
(a photo series of family portraits taken in unusual locations therefore out of context)
The ATM was dead quiet Sunday afternoon, no-one around; just optimum conditions. In the end I didn’t need a lumo jacket! A car of boy racers where paying too much attention so I took their photo :D.
The photos only took a few minutes, I think that was favourable to the outcome actually. It prevented the photos becoming stale. So far I’ve not done anything at all to edit the image. I’m considering if it’s needed? It’s funny though, I had an image fixated in my head about how this photo shoot would look and really it looks nothing like it; – but I’m pleased with it. Even though I’m wondering what I could have done differently.
A big thanks to my mates for helping me realise this idea. Unfortunately it has spawned more ideas along the same lines. It would be amazing to photograph this family exclusively. I’m thinking where I can snap them next? First thoughts… public/ private toilet, in front of a beery nightclub fight, a seminar… anywhere out of context, that’s crappy or weird.
