Exhibition Review - David Cotterrell: Monsters of the Id

David Cotterrell’s work uses video and audio technology to portray his journey in Afghanistan. From the artist’s journeys in Afghanistan, "Monsters of the Id" shows a different view of cinema and different medias. Cotterrell has presented a series of work that experiments with a range of new technologies. The exhibition captures the feeling and emotion of a civilian observer within a military environment.

When you enter the gallery, visitors are taken to a landscape that shows both the physical and the virtual. The piece is called "Observer Effect" and it shows a projected image of a haunting Afghani landscape. While watching, bodies appear and walk towards the viewer. It is almost as if the bodies in the video are watching us; as if our roles are reversed before our eyes.

Next, a mountain display made of chalk that filled the room. On the display there seemed to be movement, almost like there were insects crawling up and down the mountain cliffs. However, we were soon to find out that the movement was being made by projector which portrayed the soldiers seen in the "Observer Effect".

I really like the way Cotterrell's exhibition makes every viewer interact with the pieces, so it seems as if they are really there. It was exciting and new to see a different portrayal of photography; through the use of the visual and audio. I think this is definitely something for me to think about in future photographic projects, because photography doesn't always have to be a photo on the wall.

Week 3

Lecture on Metaphor and Allegory

Today, our lecture was based on the use of metaphor and allegory in photography. We learnt the differences between the two: Metaphor: A figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable and Allegory: A story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one. Firstly, we looked the work of Sarah Lucas:

Self portrait with two fried eggs

At first glance, this is an image of a woman with fried eggs on her chest; however, from looking at metaphors and allegory, it is clear to see the hidden meaning behind this image. The fried eggs are a crude metaphor and links with the saying 'as flat as two fried eggs' because the woman is flat chested. This then gives the viewer a sense of ambiguity - is the model a man or a woman (the model's posture and outfit may make the viewer believe that they are a man). However, the connotations of the eggs themselves are linked to fertility and the camera is looking down on the model which makes them seem vulnerable and uncomfortable.

Au Natural

Lucas' sculpture here shows a clear representation of gender. The sculpture is another crude metaphor for sex and age - it shows what happens to the genitalia with age and represents what may happen during long term relationships and marriage. The sculpture shows the idea that the man of the relationship is always alpha-male and ready for sex, and the woman has almost given up on sex and the marriage as a whole. The old, stained marriage is a clear allegory for married life; the fact that lust and passion is often lost through years of marriage. Also, the fact that the room is empty is a metaphor for the emptiness of the marriage itself. Lastly, when I first saw this image, I did not see the melons embedded in the top of the mattress - this shows that the woman's body slowly becomes less important, and she is hidden.

The Great Bear

In this image, Simon Patterson has redesigned the London tube map so that each line has a new meaning, for example - the Jubilee Line is now full of famous sports people. The metaphor in this particular image is saying that in life, we cross paths with so many different people, and you can always choose who and when you do this. The map itself is a representation of everyone's life and the choices within it. It shows how there are a million choices we can make - where we get on, where we get off, the people we meet and things that are stopping us from reaching our goals. I find this piece really interesting because at first glance, it is so simple; but behind the simplicity, there is a really complex metaphor about who we are as people.

Week 2

Seminar on Charlotte Cotton

In our seminar this week, we were given different chapters from Charlotte Cotton's "The Photograph as Contemporary Art". As I was not present for this seminar due to illness, I decided to choose a couple of pages that I found interesting.. Each page had one photographer, one of their images and a small section of text explaining what the work was about, and where their inspiration came from. I chose to look at the work of Gregory Crewdson. Crewdson states that almost all of his work are produced through memory of his childhood. "His images are a mix of the bizarre and the disturbing, yet are also highly camp and entertaining."

Crewdson worked on a film set to produce his Twilight series, where he documented the home life of a number of models. The amount of effort and time that is put into each individual image is incredible. Each scene is planned and prepared to perfection so that the message is conveyed clearly and simply. 

Some see Crewdson's work as strange or even disturbing, but each image uses beautiful colour and detail to really show the beauty of the model. The messages behind his images can be difficult to interpret, but I think this really adds to the personality of Crewdson as a photographer. For example, in this particular image, it makes the viewer ask 'why would the girl be standing alone, naked , in front of a mirror?' The answer could be as simple as the fact that she was getting dressed, however, it also brings about the metaphor of loneliness or self-consciousness. This would be one of my favourite images by Crewdson because of the way the model is in the centre of the frame and the eye is drawn directly to her body.


Secondly, I really liked the work of Thomas Demand. Demand uses the presence of random objects in his images. He starts his construction process with a photograph of an architectural place; then he builds a simplified model of the place in his studio using paper and card. He often leaves pieces of the wall uncovered to show that it was only a reconstruction of the place.

I think that the lack of models in his scenes gives the images a sense of eeriness and discomfort. The scenes almost look abandoned and haunting because there are no people in the specific place. However, I do really like these images because I like the simplicity of the composition and the scene itself. Although the simplicity of the images shines through, I think that if I were to take these images again, I would use more colour and contrast throughout the image.

Week 1

Introduction to Visual Exploration 

For this unit I am creating an online blog that I will update week to week, outlining what I have learnt from each lecture and seminar.  The aim of this blog is to act along side the essay, showing all of my research, development of my ideas and to show the resources that I have looked at to help me with this unit.

Seminar on Blogging

In our first seminar we had a blogging workshop with Dominique Renault and Nick Papaconstantinou. They taught us how to create a successful blog. The main points I learnt from this seminar were:

1. Make sure your blog is suitable for your audience.
2. Use basic fonts (of a suitable size and colour) so that the text is easily readable. 
3. The content of a blog is always the most important aspect - never let the background become more overpowering than what you are writing.
4. Make sure the blog is always relevant to the project (and make sure it is always engaging for the reader!)

In the lecture, we were shown a range of different blogs. Here are a few examples with my opinions:

Firstly, I looked at a popular blog called "Lenscratch". I really enjoyed looking at this particular blog because it shows a lot more images than other blogs that I have looked at. It gives a wide range of information but always backs it up with a large variety of images, which engages the reader and makes them want to read more. Even though the background is dull, I think it works really well as it does not draw any attention away from the images.

http://www.lenscratch.com/

Secondly, I looked at a blog called "Little Brown Mushroom Blog", by Alec Soth. I liked the way the blog used a lot of images, however, I did not like the plain background and simple text. I would like my blog to have a bit more excitement to it. Although the contents of the blog was really interesting, I think that the layout and lack of colour scheme lets it down.

http://littlebrownmushroom.wordpress.com/

Lastly, I have looked at a blog called "A Photo Editor" which is almost set out like a newspaper. I like the way that this blog is laid out; with images in the main part of the blog, along with quotes down the side of the page. I also like the fact that the quotes at the edge really stand out because of the big, bold writing. All of the images are of a good size and quality which really draws the eye to each individual image.

http://www.aphotoeditor.com/

Discussion on the work of John Berger

For our first set of reading, we were given a chapter of the book Ways of Seeing by John Berger. This specific chapter was filled with only images and no text. 

a page from the chapter

I believe that Berger has chosen to look only at images so that the viewer can make their own opinion on the story/meaning. For example, in many books, the text often forces the reader into some sort or opinion, whereas with images alone, we can create our own unique outlook on the images.

I found this particular chapter really interesting to look at because of the way Berger has made it up of images alone. I think that this may be an avenue that I would like to look at in future projects. I think it really shows quite how much we, as readers, rely on text. Text in books or next to images gives the reader something to fall back onto, whereas Berger is forcing the reader to find their own interpretation.