Exhibition space

My exhibition space

I have decided to create a screen print of what my exhibition space will look like with a virtual programme online called Exhibit. It gives the work a professional look but the website has its restrictions which was frustrating. You can only use a trial unless you are willing to pay monthly for it and with this free trial you can do next to nothing so i apologise in advance for the spacing in between my images and the fact that some of the writing has snapped itself onto the images but it’s the best I could do with the programme we were advised to use .

 As you can see by the example I have created I just want a fairly simple set up . I want the images to be framed in simple black deliacete frames ,nothing to distracting but something that will mirror the image outline on the Karen Knorr style edit .I want the images to be 11.7x 16.5 Inches I think this is big enough to make an impact on a gallery wall but still intimate enough for my viewers to have to approach the work and study the images personally.  Closely placed next to the framed images I want the contents lists in matching frames but roughly half the size ( 8.3 x 16.5 inches) around international paper size A4. Again so my audience have to approach the work in order to read it .

Preferably I just need a plane white wall ,no special requirements .

Artist statement

 

Negotiated final major project

Artist statement

For my negotiated final major project I have created a series of six final images based around the theme of memory boxes.  I have explored the traditional physical attributes that make a memory box and contrasted them with digitalised memory timelines that are becoming more common due to the popularity of online social media platforms such as Facebook and twitter. I have conducted a vast amount of research on my online blogger looking into different subject areas with in my theme. I have looked at physical possessions, the family photo album, photographers who have deal with similar themes and theory’s by different sources such as the affect theory and Schrodinger’s cat.

My final edit of six images which concentrates solely on the physical memory box are faceless portraits of the female close members in my family (including myself), photographed holding or connected with their personal memory boxes. My greatest visual inspiration for my final series was William Eggleston, an American photographer known for his colour photography and his ability to turn everyday mundane subjects into art photography. Eggleston was a pivotal point in art photography as he was one of the first people to deal with colour. Around the time when Ansel Adams was at huge interest in the art world with his large format black and white landscapes William Eggleston was complete contrast with his everyday subject themes printed in vivid colour. My images almost have a snapshot aesthetic I wanted the images to be real life, no fancy edits, no complex lighting just capturing the real, everyday very much like Eggleston’s work.

Each image is titled with the subject’s date of birth so they are left anonymous to the public.  In Roland bathes camera Lucida he talks in great detail about the winter Gardens photograph of his mother as a child and the affect this individual image has on him yet he never reveals the images for the reader to view.  This is because if we are to view the image or not it still wouldn’t have the same affect it has on him , we don’t know her therefore it’s just another face , it’s not filled with sentiment or memory’s to us. This is why I have kept my family anonymous and faceless .

On viewing my blog you will see that I have spent time researching into the family photo album and also photographers would work with this theme. I am interested in a non-stereotypical family photo album and this is another reason why I have done faceless portraits. I have purposely tried to achieve an un-stereotypical family album photograph and this I feel I have excelled at. In Gillian Rose’s book doing family photography, the domestic, the public and politics of sentiment she interviews and observed a collection of women’s family photo albums. The albums were quoted by the women themselves as “samey” and “done before” expressing the fact that they have all tried to capture the same sorts of shots, sunshine and smiles but in my series which is technically a family series I have avoided “smiles” by naming them anonymous.

Another huge influence in the creating of my final pieces is the Schrodinger’s cat quantum physic theory and particularly the state of super position. I have linked the concepts of Schrodinger’s cat directly to the memory box .Like the cat the contents of a memory box is either dead or alive .The individual possessions in somebody's memory box generally have no "Affect"(Affect Theory) on other viewers , same with family photo albums , unless you know the people photographed or in a memory boxes case the memory collected they can all be very "samey" and will not provoke sentiment, Dead cat .On the other hand the box could do the complete opposite and be a  reinforcement of memory ,be nostalgic and have copious amounts of "affect" on the viewer, Alive cat .In this state of superposition my viewers can only be intrigued as to what substances are in or not in the box. I have purposely not shown my audience the contents of the memory boxes ( in some cases the box has no lid so was unavoidable) just the container itself. As I have mentioned above next to the images sits a framed contents list written by the owner of the box to add a personal twist to each image, I want the audience of my images to make their own interpretations to the contents of the boxes and its owner. Not allowing the box to be open and contents relieved means we do not have to force upon a decision the memory are there forever frozen times in my frames. Curiosity literally could kills the cat or in this instance the private memory. A message about my earlier research on how digitalising you family photo albums or memory boxes devalues there "affect" some things should remain private.

Finally what I feel really works about this series of purposely every day , true to life images is  the personal quirky details captured in each image. For example my nans cow print slippers and the tips of my long red hair matching my painted figure nails each image has its own personal twist. My mother’s dark sensible clothing contrasted with her bright orange tiger socks or the similar patterns in my sisters t-shirt and cushion in the background are all intentional to help the viewer connect with the anonymous portraits.

 

 

 

 

 

Final series With titles and captions

Below is my final series . As you can see I have decided to go with the William Eggleston style edit rather than the Karen Knorr . The Contents lists are now also a jpeg ready to be framed alongside the images . I’m really happy with my final series and can’t wait to see it up on a gallery wall .

edits Karen Knorr inspired

After editing my William Eggleston inspired I was contemplating how they would be viewed on a wall next to there contexts list . I already know I don’t want the actual images themselves anything above an A3 really because the portraits are quite personal and intimate and I want them to be viewed that way so how big would the contents list framed beside it . This made me think back to the begging of the project where I did the Karen knorr style edit of the contents of my memory box . I thought I could try this style again but with my Eggleston style edit an a white frame connected to the contents list .  The result is as followings ;

See now after creating these I am torn between which style of edit to use for my final series , the images are the same in each but do I want the contents list attached or not . The plus side to thembeing attached like in this series is that it is convenient for the hanging but on the other hand I think the white surrounding frame is distracting form the photographs themselves . 

Eggleston inspired Edit

William Eggleston inspired edit, I have gone through a selection process and picked one favourite image per shoot which I am generally happy with my choice. I feel they work well together as a series and would sit comfortably on a gallery wall . When I took the images I was aware that I wanted them to be a tight crop so there was no need for this is post production. The images have just had a basic touch upon Photoshop , like William Eggleston I wanted the coulors to be vivid and a featuring part in the images so the most complex thing I did on this edit was up the colour saturation on each to just give it a sharper look.I am really happy with this edit and I think with the contents list presented along side these, will all together be a good series of affective images . 

Dawn (auntie) faceless portrait with memory box (Un-edited)

Dawn Higgins 06/02/1967

 

Dawn Higgins

06/02/1967

Themes : Conah Higgins ( her son who passed away when he was 17)

Conahs suitcase

In my memory box well my memory suitcase I keep the belongings of my Son Conah David Higgins. Shortly after he lost his battle with cancer I cased up certain items of his belonging and that’s where they have stayed un- touched. To my memory the case mainly contains items of his clothing , sporting medals , photographs , paper work from his illness and print offs the nice words his friends and family said to him on his social media sites.

Charlotte (Sister) Faceless portrait with memory box (Un-edited)

Charlotte Jenkins  04/04/1990

 

Charlotte Jenkins

04/04/1990

Themes –Achievement , youth

Dino the toy Dinosaur - received in a 'boys' goody bag when I was young. I wanted Dino so much I opted for the blue rather than the pink goody bag. Who needs gender stereotypes?

Talent show trophy 2004 - won for a flute rendition of Titanic's 'My heart will go on'. My friend and I recorded the track and then danced to it live reenacting the 'heart in the ocean' scene. We were quite dramatic teens.

Flute

Another runner up talent show trophy - I was good but never good enough!

Various dance trophies and medals

Angel box sent by nan

Local newspaper with a small article about my career move

Last university newspaper from the week I graduated

Winters Tale theatre programme

1990 Disney year book - the year I was born

Year 1 university handbook - used to its upmost

Copy of NME Glastonbury edition

Glastonbury lanyard

Old set of picture key rings

1 black and white photo of me and my mother on a beach in the early 90s

Birthday cards

Costa barista manual

Various pages from university sketch book

Photo album

Loose photos

Snowboard progress card

Tickets for vagina monologues stage show

Race for life finishing medal

Boarding pass from trip yo Italy

Poetry book made by a 9 year old me

School report

Download festival tickets

Iron bridge badge

University library card