Sofia Ajram

I feel Ajram's work directly correlates to the ideas that I had discussed with in my individual meeting this past Tuesday. Her work deals a lot with the same ideas of creating an alternate reality as well as using similar techniques in using light. I feel her first image is very much like the kind of image I want to create as the last image of the series  in which the light takes over the subject.

Biography:

Ajaram is a young photographer from montreal who just recently graduated from Dawson College in Montreal, with a degree in graphic design. Her work deals mostly with depicting these alternate worlds she creates. She became well known in photography after beginning to shoot for magazines in 2007.


Quotes:


"A great deal of things inspire my work. History, for the most part, sums it up rather well. What has happened, within and without, universally, and what has yet to happen but will be documented by time. That being said, I have never experienced this history firsthand, so the visual aesthetic of my work is due to my lucid dreams and vivid nightmares. I feel as though I need to document them in some way that others may experience what I have seen." - Sofia Ajram

"Women influence my photos. Women are sexy. Women are seductive, powerful from the core in a wild way that’s virtually inexplicable. I like to document that sexuality.” - Sofia Ajram

website

Interview

Fantastical

I find my work has a lot to do with this particular play due to its setting and this idea of being cut off from "reality" for a night.  I have been looking into the different visual adaptations such as sets and movies of this film to see how each director portrays this fantasy land. I find my work in a way has some dramatic story that goes with what lured my subject into the forest, as with the characters in this play. I also like the idea of adding in a supernatural element but in a fun, not sinister way. These forest fairies, who had in the past been portrayed as evil creatures, are portrayed as cheerful creatures who create unharmful mayhem for amusement. I don't know that I necessarily in my work therefore, want to give too much a dark overtone. I want there to be some playfulness with my images yet at the same time this dulled feeling of sinisterness.


"Shakespeare must have derived his forest spirits from oral folk traditions." (The Pathology Guy)


"So far as I know, Shakespeare is the first writer to portray the faerie folk as tiny or cute."(The Pathology Guy)




"Enjoying "A Midsummer Night's Dream" by William Shakespeare." The Pathology Guy. Web. 17 Nov. 2010. <http://www.pathguy.com/mnd.htm>.
This website is extremely informative and easy to use for readers who are somewhat familiar with the story. It gives a brief synopsis of the entire play as well as analyzes the characters. This site also gives some fun facts about the play, such as that the portrayal of the fairies in this play had some influence over Walt Disney's depiction of fairies in his stories. Also the author gives some facts about what elements seem to have inspired Shakespeare to when writing this play, such as folk lore.

Alex Singh Response

I loved that instead of speaking about his work, he showed us a performance of it.  the use of the projectors not only displayed his work but also set up a simple form of stage lighting. I was somewhat confused when he first began because I didn't understand what all these short tangents had to do with one another. After a while I realized his performance was all about associations no matter how far of a stretch the associations were.  Even in his non performance art pieces he still draws on this idea of interconnectedness. He even wrote one story in which you never find out the resolutions because each chapter went off into some side story from the original one. I feel his work can be described as clever, circular (as in talking in circles), and connected.  Although the form in which he presents his work is different from project to project, his work still seems to embody all these things.

I found his most compelling work to be the creation of his own written language using graphic block formats. The concept of actually creating you own language in order to tell a story is true committal to one's work. I wonder though if his audience has as much trouble looking at this kind of work as I know I would due to the over-complicatedness. His work in which he did an installation in an actual house creating this space of a meth lab that suddenly turned into a grand museum was an interesting idea and artwork I would love to experience. His work always has something to do with a performance whether it is through an experience such as in the house, or if it is one of his association lectures.

VMFA submission

Sally Mann Lecture Response

I absolutely loved the Sally Mann lecture. It was refreshing to know that such a respected and famous artists is able to remain so humble when talking about herself as an artist. She was not only insightful but also hilarious when talking about her work, why she does certain series, and how she deals with other's reactions to her work.

So many things she said during the lecture stood out to me, not just when talking about her work, but also when giving advice to the audience about how to work as an artist. One of the first things she said was never to put a finished work up until you are 1/3 of the way through a new project so that you are not constantly stopping your work due to criticism. Also she said that she tends to work on multiple projects at one time so that she can deal better with forcing herself to create new work. She says despite all the negative comments she has received, she keeps working due to how stubborn she is.

When asked about how she developed her style she replied "it's really kind of laziness" and that you "have to open yourself up to serendipity." Though she says this, one can easily tell by looking at her work that serendipity is not purely the case. Her work can be described as boundary breaking, emotional, and dark. Her most recent work "Proud Flesh" I found most compelling after she told the audience though this work deals mostly with extreme intimacy, it also is a way for her to deal with aging and how disturbing growing old is to her.

My first question was somewhat answered. An audience member asked her what her reaction was to the child pornography accusations, in which she responded by simply saying "I had no idea those pictures would push so many buttons." She said that unlike many artists you see in the news today, she did not set out to gain recognition through shock value.

My second question was answered as well, since some of the images that were shown during the lecture did have color in them. These images did not seem as successful though as her black and what images. I felt they lacked the soft, flowing qualities that her other images have.

Eugenio Recuenco

Recuenco autobiography:

"Eugenio Recuenco is a Spanish photographer who is a pain in the ass because he always insists on doing whatever he wants. He works for quite a number of clients both in the advertising and editorial fields all over the World who are also a pain in the ass, because they always want to do whatever they want. Out of these fights between hardheads it has been possible to rescue the images for this Web site, some better, some worse, but made with lots of enthusiasm and with the support of a great team who refer to themselves as "The Eye of Frosker". The latter is an entity that has came to the earth to bother some and also to amuse some others. If you are one of the latter, stop fooling around and get in." 

I find I am extremely drawn to Recuenco's work due to his images having such a strong base in fairy tales, mythology, and other forms of storytelling. Many of his images in his portfolio fit into a series by depicting an actual story as you go along. He is not only an artists but is an author as well, who has a vast array of stories he has depicted. I want my work to have a loose progressing story line like his work has. I want it to be clear that I am telling a story, of otherworldliness, something inspired by imagination, fairy tales, and dreams.

Quotes:

"I use many things as inspiration, one of them are the classical paintings. They are dramatic, histrionic, and all the volumes they get with the use of the lighting. A light that is so far of the modern sophistications of the photographic studios. If you analyze carefully that paintings, the light is so simply, but perfect at the same time."- Eugenio Recuenco

"I feel darkness more attractive than night. For darkness I understand craziness not detectable at first sight." - Eugenio Recuenco

Website

Interview

Sung Yeoul Lee Artist Lecture Response- 11.12.10

I found the Sung Yeoul Lee artist lecture to be extremely intriguing because I was able to hear about art-making from the perspective of someone in a different field. To him concept seemed to be equal with his craft. He starts out with a general concept yet his final outcome is more important in the physical aspect. All his work deals with a central theme of people's relationships and how they interact or do not interact. His work could be described as social, wearable, and illusions. His latest work especially embodies all these descriptions. I found this work most compelling because he creates a simple form of technology that becomes a prominent part of the wearable sculpture.

While working on his undergraduate, he began using metal to create cubed objects that could transform into large objects, which directly correlated to the skyline of Seol, which he grew up around.  He became very well known during and after his college experience for his work with creating eyeglasses that were useful yet not something that would be worn by the public. One of his first eyeglasses was actually inspired by Morpheus from The Matrix. Soon after he decided to come to the USA to work on his graduate degree. Through this drastic move his work became extremely influence by people's relationships when creating his work because he said he found it hard to create relationships with Americans.

Both of my initial questions were answered. The first about what kind of relationship he is critiquing was addressed when he was describing why he started creating his work in Graduate school. The second question had to do with whether or not he would want to use clothing when creating his work. I feel he would be willing to use some non traditional material in order to create a form of clothing in his future work. After seeing his lecture, I feel my only question left has to do if his glasses he created as an undergraduate, had anything to do with how people interact as well, or if it was more craft and practicality oriented.