Rebecca Arnold, Artist Blog: Gregory Crewdson!

It's only appropriate that I write my Artist Blog on Gregory Crewdson, since I talked about him in my last blog, which was also my first blog. He is a good inspiration.

The work of Gregory Crewdson that motivates me is his film set series (Hover, Twilight, Beneath the Roses). Made like scenes from a movie, his sets look almost completely real. Using different elements, like lighting and effects, he creates scenes that are unexpected and curious. His combination of normal and paranormal generates a tension between the suburban landscape and the subject matter.

The models in his photographs usually stare indifferently, a juxtaposition to the fictitious settings in which they are suspended. The only clues of emotion in the photograph above is the body language slump portrayed by the young man.

In his earlier series, Gregory Crewdson used black and white bird-eye views of nonrealistic situations to accentuate the voyeuristic aspects of his work. Continuing with this work, he introduced color and a larger scale. This has been said as being reminiscent of Steven Spielberg's films. His cinematically inclined photographs have a lot of help though, as he has dozens of assistants and set technicians who help build and put together the Hollywood type stage set.

He, apparently, wants to direct a feature film in the future. Who would have guessed.

Gregory Crewdson's photographs are both documentary yet speculative and dream-like. I have done a lot of artwork attempting to grasp this concept. I find that my captivated mind loves the scenery - the perfection of the set when yet, there's something off - something different and strange. Not alarmingly so, but considerably peculiar. This is what I crave in my every day tedious life.

The beauty of films excites me, I am even day dreaming after the film, reflecting on what I took in. I want that same feeling when I create images - like when I look at Gregory Crewdson's images.

I can't wait to make a new attempt at this concept, as I build on it year from year. It's becoming clearer to me what I'm interested in, getting to the root of my ideas. It will be exciting to start a new (and improved) false reality series...the details are still in the works.

http://www.luhringaugustine.com/index.php?mode=artists&object_id=66

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1248/is_10_93/ai_n15860935/

http://metroartwork.com/gregory-crewdson-biography-artwork-m-61.html

Rebecca Arnold, Blog #1: That's The Idea

Well, since this is my first blog entry, I’ll give you a rundown of what I’ve been thinking about lately.

I often find myself feeling an unrealistic expectation of perfection of everyday life. I get attached to the magic of movies and other media, the idealistic version of any situation. It’s beautiful and yet unattainable. But I am generalizing, I’ll admit that; that’s mostly because I find the older the movie, the more captivated I am. I am a child of the 20s at heart. If I could live back then, in a simpler, genuine time, I’d be the happiest girl in the world.

A lot of the work that I like to do is based on feelings of never completely growing up. I think that’s because I’m not ready to face the future’s worrisome life struggles after college. While I know I’ll

have wonderful life experiences too, I am still concerned. What if I don’t make the right decisions in life? What if I don’t get the kind of job I want? What if I’m not successful?

I buy into all of it. Movies, books, music, art in a general sense. They are all captivating and compressed versions a beautiful feeling. There aren’t roadblocks, just interesting content. It’s completely opposite of the tedious, day-to-day activities that are known as facts of life.

I even do this with celebrities. If their life stories aren’t already in the tabloids, I see them as the perfect characters they play. In fact, when I first heard Christian Bale’s reprimanding speech to another employee on the set of Terminator, I was like “But he’s Batman! He can’t say stuff like that, he’s a hero.”

We all want something exciting to happen to us. We crave important life experiences, especially when they’re unexp

ected. I need answers, and life lessons. Am I secretly a princess? Will I win a trip to an island and then have it turn out so that I have to fight for my life?

Lots of babble, but I guess to get to the point I just want my own perfected reality. My own Utopia.

Rodney Smith is a quirky artist who I find has a captivating perfection of unusual, unpredictable situations. He claims to be a Fashion Photographer, but I don't completely buy that. His content is too charming. His well dressed, beautiful models almost always look indifferent in their positions, and often his imagery/content screams illusion, or fantasy.

Rodney Smith

I’ve done a lot of unpredictable fairy-tale like photographs these past two years, but I’m ready for something a little different. I want to do something a little more realistic…but with a fabricated, false perfection quality to it.

To be quite honest, I would LOVE to build a film set, but I’m not going to straight copy Gregory Crewdson’s style. He's another idol of mine and I've done a lot of research on his work.

Gregory Crewdson

So these are my ideas so far. I'm trying to make some progress in my artistic vision, and I'm excited to have my first meeting so I can express these thoughts.