Artist Lecture #2: Hank Willis Thomas

(Posted in May from saved draft)

Hank Willis Thomas came to speak at VCU this week, and he was like a breath of fresh air to the Photo Department (or at least to me and my peers).

He began the lecture by saying that he didn't really have anything planned. I took this as a great sign because he was confident and could obviously speak well of his work (unlike so many lecturers). Thomas' work was mainly based around consumer culture and what is concealed in media. He also deals with racial issues and the complexities of the terms "black" and "white" in our society. He shared with us a quote by one of his influences, Carl Handcock-Rux, about how being black or white in America doesn't mean anything and that race doesn't really exist. I found this a very profound, yet simple observation, and the work we viewed of his pertaining to this subject was equally as interesting.

Using graphic design and advertising formats, Hank W Thomas combines logos and icons to comment on the way Americans are so consumed in brand names and branding themselves, and not about real issues. Often overlooked are the harsh realities of America's past with slavery.

Branded Head (B(r)anded), Hank Willis Thomas, 2003. Lightjet print, size unknown. http://hankwillisthomas.com/splash.html.

Hank Thomas also shared with us the story of his deceased cousin, whom he grew up under, and the night he was robbed at gunpoint and killed. Collaborating with a friend, he used G.I. Joes action figures (the same ones he played with as a child) to make a stop-motion film with the information from the accounts of witnesses. With all of his studies in African American culture, Thomas found it ironic that their ancestors were brought over in chains and that his cousin died from another black man wanting the chains around his neck.

This my man Songha (Winter in America), Hank Willis Thomas, 2005. Lightjet print, size unknown. Made in collaboration with Olujimi Kambui. http://www.hankwillisthomas.com/splash.html.

By using these action figures, Hank Thomas intends to make the format of the story goofy and disarming. As a society, we are desensitized by violence, and with childsplay, children are used to knowing that even if your action figure "dies", you can just pick him back up and keep playing with him. Thomas highlights that the violent toys sold every day breed a culture of violent thought and scenarios before they're even old enough to read.

One of the final projects Hank W. Thomas shared with us was a contracted, collaborative piece called "Along the Way", a film with over 1,200 strangers of all different ages, backgrounds and cultures found in an airport in Oakland, California. These artists created a beautiful and hopeful video and it was a perfect end to the lecture.

Along the Way, The Cause Collective (H.L.Thomas), 2007. 30' x 10' video mosaic, Oakland International Airport. http://www.causecollective.com.

"Faces and places merge and commingle creating a vocabulary that evokes mood while underscoring place and movement with the unifying thread being the humanity of what we encounter "along the way" in a place like Oakland."

http://hankwillisthomas.com/splash.html

I'm so thrilled we got the chance to have this artist come speak to us. I really enjoyed his work and listening to his thoughts.

Artist Blog: Eleanor Hardwick

Jack Wills Spring Handbook (Commissions), Eleanor Hardwick, 2010. size unknown. http://eleanorhardwick.com.

Eleanor Hardwick is an alarmingly young photographer from Oxford, England, who refers to her work as "dreamscapes". At the age of 12, she began to photograph Japanese fashion dolls, which led her to explore the medium she uses quite well today. She was born in 1993.

Jack Wills Spring Handbook #2 (Commissions), Eleanor Hardwick, 2010. size unknown. http://eleanorhardwick.com.

I'm really attracted to her photography and the way she uses light. Our concepts are in line with each other - in a search of finding something mystical within the banality of life. Surrealism meets realism! Her photographs have a certain yearning to find beauty and romance in our surroundings, which I also strive for. I'm upset a 17-year-old figured this all out before I did. Wah.

While Harwick's imagery is certainly dreamy, it reminds me a lot of the work I've done in the past. It has such potential, but there are elements that can either be eliminated or just needs a little push to make more successful. I chose to write about this artist because I feel like I'm on the same page, but hey, if she's already acclaimed and accessible, then what do I know.

Home Project (A Secret Place), Eleanor Hardwick, date and size unknown. http://eleanorhardwick.com.

http://eleanorhardwick.com.

Artist Blog: Edmund Dulac/Hans Christian Anderson

Edmund Dulac was a French illustrator for arguably one of the greatest classical fairy-tale writers, Hans Christian Andersen. I write about them both because while I'm in love with Dulac's stylistic, interpretive illustrations - it's Hans Christian Anderson's concept and to me they go hand in hand.

Edmund Dulac, illustration information not available.

Because my research has brought me to review some of my favorite fairy tales, I have come across some beautiful illustrators and painters who creates the images that kids could fall in love with and look at forever. Dulac, in particular strived to have a pleasing, muted color pallet for a lot of his illustrations, often varying the lighting to help convey the feeling of the story.

Edmund Dulac, illustration information not available.

After reading a little about Hans Christian Anderson and learning that he so loved the romance mixed with playfulness of his stories, I tried to find some great, in depth information on Dulac - but most of it is just his accomplishments and listed biography. I did find out that his style changed to a brighter pallet, though. His work already had an oriental style, but this was enhanced when the pallet changed. I suppose this is after painting for Hans C Anderson because his imagery before that was described as "mellow, romantic blues," which is certainly the stylings of H.C. Anderson. Dulac published a few of his own books and work (a lot in response to relief efforts), including his book "Edmund Dulac's Picture Book for the French Red Cross" in 1915 and "Edmund Dulac's Fairy Book" in 1916.

Edmund Dulac, illustration information not available.

After the War, he took a different path from fairytale illustrations and went on to become a portrait painter, caricaturist, set and costume designer, and designed many products and graphics for items. It's always disconcerting that almost all artists take odd jobs just to get by, but he seemed like a very creative and hard working artist and I absolutely love his work.

http://www.animationarchive.org/2008/06/illustration-dulacs-hans-christian.html

http://daisysplantfood.blogspot.com/2008/09/edmund-dulac.html

Research Blog: Recapping

This blog post tonight will be about my concept and the revisions I'd like to make to it for Spring! Time to narrow.

My concept started out more about film narratives and, how through the artifice in the perfectionist production quality that films produce, viewers are led to escape the reality of every day. After lots of stressful over-analyzation, I came to just take Escapism for what it is in a general sense. Escapism through pretend narratives provides a release from reality and a means of creativity.

The direction I'm going in this semester is not unlike what I did in my Studio classes. I want to get back to using my hand skills to build my own spaces. I've always hated overusing Photoshop and I'm ready again to make my sets physically instead of piecing things together. I'm not opposed to doing a little of both, though. I'm going to start researching artists whose hand (as in craftwork) you can see in their pieces. I love making my own productions, and allowing the viewer to see the artifice of the scene - as it is about pretending and make believe.

I have experimented a little with alternative lighting, as you can see in this (rough) piece below. I'm hoping that by using these methods I can create a celestial, dream-like space.

The Water, Rebecca Arnold, 2010.

So now that I know the general direction I want to go, the next step is to spend some time brainstorming and writing pieces of narratives or scenes so I can get started designing. Then I'll be able to sketch out the base elements of the sets I will create.

I'm going to be researching some of my favorite escapism-themed narratives, like Alice in Wonderland, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Wizard of Oz, Utopia and Pan's Labyrinth. Exciting! I think I'll start now.

Artist Blog: Tim Walker

After years of studying photography in his native London, and then in New York City (as Richard Avedon's full time assistant), Tim Walker received the Independent Young Photographer of the Year award and his career took off.

Tim Walker is primarily a fashion or editorial photographer, but his carefully staged images always present a certain amount of escapism.

Eglingham Children and Swan on Beach, Tim Walker, Northumberland, England, 2002. size unknown.

http://www.timwalkerphotography.com/

Tim Walker and I seem to have some similarities - at least in terms of inspiration. He admits that he enjoys turning "funny daydreams into funny photographs" and that he lives in "an imaginary world" most of the time. These made up places are mixed with memories of his childhood in the British countryside.

With his grand and intricate sets, Tim Walker captures a narrative absent of time. His profound connections linking a surreal world with the every day is an enormous inspiration for me, and I work to match his imaginative and technically sound images.

Eglingham Stream, Tim Walker, Northumberland, England 2004. size unknown.

http://www.timwalkerphotography.com/

Shonas Tree, St Pancras Wallpainting, Tim Walker, London, England, 2001. size unknown.

http://www.timwalkerphotography.com/

http://www.timwalkerphotography.com

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/3364904/Tim-Walker-adventures-in-wonderland.html

Artist Lecture #1: Alec Soth

Tonight Alec Soth came to speak at VCU. He was born in Minnesota, and if you look him up Wikipedia you can read about all of the awards he has won (and that's about it).

Before he took to the stage, Soth ran a short film of his friend Lee Friedlander (?) on a road trip taking pictures. This was not only confusing (it had no introduction), but it was unentertaining. Our audience of students and faculty continued to talk to each other, not turning our focus to his weird inside joke of an intro until a few minutes in. It also had short pseudo-broadcast messages from the 50's or 60's, which were absolutely pointless.

After his intro finished playing, he introduced himself and talked a little about his work and explained that the reason he wanted to show the film was to emphasize the adventures that one can have with the world and their camera (barf). He admitted that his love of photography comes from the wonder, intimacy and honesty that comes with it - which I thought was kind of silly because traditionally, photography is so often very deceitful.

To briefly summarize what I took from Alec Soth's lecture, I'll say I think he strives to use this available medium of photography and make it his own - but ultimately ends up taking commercially and accessibly successful images. It was an interesting, blatant contradiction.

Soth also included quotes from some of his favorite photographers, like Robert Frank and William Eggleston. He took a lot of these quotes and combined parts of them to make his own, ridiculous titles for his 'concept' (including: "A Paralyzed Cyclops in the Democratic Jungle", and "The Narrative Machete".) I appreciate his love for other photographers and how they inform his work, but I also believe that he relied on their well-known photographic styles a little to heavily.

The series of work that he presented were: "Moving Through Space, Connecting the Dots", which was mainly about the fragmented narrative aspect of photography and how viewers must connect the dots and fill in the blanks.

Soth's simple "longing to drive and capture" was enough for him to spend five years shooting and documenting along the Mississippi River. "Sleeping by the Mississippi" gained critical acclaim while exhibited in the Whitney Museum of American Art. He said the River is about wandering, traveling through and learning the different ways you can live your life. He started making books of this work and soon it was published and exhibited.

I think he should take up filmmaking and make "Journey Films" similar to Ingmar Bergman.

Fontaine Bleu (Niagra), Alec Soth, New York, 2005. 50 x 40 inches. http://www.gagosian.com/artists/alec-soth

Peter's Houseboat (Sleeping by the Mississippi), Alec Soth, Winona, MN, 2002. size unknown.

http://www.alecsoth.com

Civic Fest (Presidential Office) (The Last Days of W), Alec Soth, Minneapolis, MN, 2008. 24 x 30 inches. http://www.gagosian.com/artists/alec-soth

http://www.alecsoth.com

Artist Blog: Banksy

As we move into our second semester of Senior Portfolio, I want to look into artists who explore their own means of escaping, whether it be relevant to my concept of escapism sought through alternative worlds or even simply escaping from something.

Just to recap, my (always being revised) concept is Escapism, specifically through different worlds, providing a release from reality and a means of creativity.

Banksy, a British stencil graffiti artist (although he does not call himself an artist - too bad, we're all artists), is widely known for his art form, often illustrating his alternative political viewpoints and incorporating humor in his murals. The locations that Banksy chooses for his work are key to the success of his messages and metaphors. His real name has not been released and he stays out of the public eye to avoid the obvious punishments for "vandalism".

There are so many people who appreciate his work, believing that the aesthetic quality itself betters the urban city atmosphere and that much of his work communicates views often hard to express in those areas. Of course, with the controversy medium that he uses, there are others who dislike his work, thinking of it as simple vandalism, or complaining that his political beliefs are not shared by all those who are living in those areas he graffitis.

Escapism, Banksy, 2005, size unknown

The series of nine images that Banksy created on Israel's West Bank barrier is the work that most relates to my concept and the ideas I'm formulating for this semester.

Unwelcome Intervention, Banksy, 2005, size unknown

Cut it Out, Banksy, 2005, size unknown

He made these images in commentary on what is becoming world’s largest man-made human barrier (between Israel and Palestine). By reclaiming this controversial space, he creates a canvas for vision and enlightenment, which I'm sure he hopes will spark a little open-mindedness.

Balloon Debate, Banksy, 2005, size unknown

I'm not sure if Banksy assigned these titles or not, but these were the only titles I could find for these images (found from the yourworldtoday.ca).

On his website, Banksy says that while there, an old Palestinian man said his painting made the wall look beautiful. After Banksy said thank you, the man replied 'We don't want it to be beautiful, we hate this wall. Go home.'

Photos and Info:

http://www.banksy.co.uk/

http://www.briansewell.com/artist/b-artist/banksy/banksy-palestinian-tag.html
http://www.yourworldtoday.ca/2007/12/08/british-graffiti-on-west-bank-barrier/