assignment 4 in planning

I’ve been thinking about this project for a while. Many months in fact—she was ordered as long ago as last October…

…although it took her until January to arrive from Korea. Now I am finally at assignment 4, I can start to bring all my plans to fruition. What I will include here are just some of the random thoughts which I have been putting down on a mind-map as I get the assignment clearer in my mind—yeah right! It’s as clear as mud at the moment, but I know that as I start to work through the artists I intend to reference, my ideas will become more lucid. It’s the first time I have started a module; and already known—roughly—what I want to do for the assignment!

I am copying and pasting from the mind-map, and we know how they go off in different directions, so not sure if this will make good reading. Have included a PDF of the mind-map [as it is at present—I keep adding things as I think] so that it can be looked at off-line. It is a double-page spread from my journal—but will show as two single pages so that it is easier to read on-line.

main idea

The main gist of this assignment is to investigate my concept of ‘self-portrait’ and whether by using a doll to project my feelings onto; I am able to call it a self-portrait?

• definition of portrait—likeness or reflection?—revealing the inner self—can I do that with a doll?
• if a portrait can be a reflection—can a self-portrait be the same?
• Roelof Van Wyk’s—Afrikaner Self-Portrait is not of him, but of his people. He reflected his concerns about his identity and future through his depiction of these people
• if this is case, then if I photograph doll in scenes that reflect my experience or emotions—then surely is it a self-portrait?
• not ready to expose myself through a self-portrait—hence the idea of using a doll to create or express
• Gillian Wearing—the mask confessions—is it easier to confess/show the real you when hiding behind a mask? Is this why I am more comfortable using the doll than ‘using’ myself as protagonist?
• photography as therapy—similar idea to how they get children to play with dolls to act out what has happened to them—projecting onto an inanimate object—allows them more freedom to express—psycho-therapy—cathartic experience?

artists for inspiration

• jamie baldridge—lighting, tone, sense of surrealism in images
• august bradley—similiar feel to baldridge—lighting, detail, scenes
• edward weston—nudes and peppers—lighting
• paolo venturi—small figures with which he constructs stories
• lori nix—small intricate scenes
• jacub gagnon—painter—lighting in scenes
• drew gardner—lighting, smoke, alice in wonderland, animals
• dave black – painting with light
• miru kim—naked city spleen—lighting, isolation, ruins
• june korea—images of dolls
• mapplethorpe/antm—throwing shadows
• rankin—british skin foundation—barbed wire images
• avedon—american west—white background

initial ideas

• imprisonment—birdcage? august bradley type image with chains? barbed wire
• isolation/plea for help—sea / yachts constructed of paper/message in bottle
• cancer —hands tied? testino shoot with shadows earlier in log.
• overwhelmed—losing thoughts and images, open head
• threatened—bed, windows, faces, lights
• confusion—balloon head with string—how could I create that?
• stupid—dunce hat/corner
• manipulated/controlled—clockwork—bob carlos clarke or man ray ‘le violon d’Ingres’
• time­—counting time/waiting—roger ballen—marks on wall
• time 2—time passing too quickly—dali clock?
• light through window
• invisibility cloak
• worry some will be too clichéd—birds, bird-cages, dunce
• all images are ‘looking at’ object—disconnected—eyes closed—isolated—need to reference what have read in ‘The Photograph’

So there you have it—my ideas in a nutshell! Any comments, suggestions, warnings—or other artists I can reference—all welcome!

assignment4-mindmap