Rothko

Paul Strand

Formae Coloribus

“Continually re-experiencing life from a fresh vantage point is part of being truly alive…. What is out there is shaped by how we view it.” – Ellen Langer (professor of psychology at Harvard)

“Not understanding is essential to discovery.” – Arthur Zajonc (professor of physics at Amherst)

I wrestle with the ability of a photograph to elicit a shift in perspective. A photograph can make the familiar unknown. Color continually shapes our experience; with vibrant color, moments in the world otherwise left unseen are brought to the forefront of our mind and imagination. I use this power of color to make something seemingly familiar to us unknown, and out of this ignorance I hope the viewer will make discoveries and re-experience life. The addition of color to the body does not inherently transform the familiar body. But if looking at the body through color can bring out the discovery of new forms, then a very real transformation has occurred.

Check out “On A Highway” by Animal Collective. Go read Ovid’s Metamorphoses.

Self Design I

Self Design Proposal

My primary inspiration for self-design is color itself. I plan on using a hand-coloring process to color black and white photographs (I am experimenting with different hand-color processes for the current ReDo assignment). I am not interested in using color to make a photograph more "real," that is I don't want the coloring to be realistic. Instead, I want color to shake up the viewer's expectations. A number of ideas for how to accomplish this: realistic coloring (following the lines) but unexpected colors (blue skin or multi-colored sky), a "painted-on" look, colors form geometric shapes that seemingly do not relate to the content of the photograph. Hopefully, I will find a way in which the coloring of a photograph causes the viewer to see the content with fresh eyes. Erin Shirreff's "Roden Crater" video accomplishes all this, I believe.

Non-photographic inspirations come from different areas of my life.

Mindful Learning:

Beholding art rather than seeing art

Shifting perception

The novice mind

Making the familiar unknown

Classical Art and Sculpture:

Perfect human form - nude

Colorless/white sculptures were actually painted in vibrant colors

Classical Literature:

Pygmalion

Ancient authors taking old ideas/myths and making them their own

Music:

Animal Collective

Caribou

Javelin

LCD Soundsystem

J Dilla

Paul Simon

Bob Dylan going electric in 1965

OverTime

OverTime Rough Drafts