Week 4

ASSESSMENT 1: PROPOSAL

ISSUE/TOPIC

The theme that I have decided to base my folio on is, “Nature vs. Man- Made” because of the subject’s complexity. Both natural and man-made objects have the potential to show beauty and destruction. This subject directly affects us as a society because of its negative and positive impacts that it inflicts upon our lives (Longstreth, R, B, Calafate S, 2008, P23) e.g. deforestation is effecting the natural order of our ecosystems and animal diversity, we use natural components of the environment to create man-made objects, demonstrating man’s  greatness and capabilities. Thus, I am very curious to explore this theme in depth and present my personal outlook, on how the relationship between Nature and Man-Made environments can work harmoniously sometimes or cause conflict and disaster other times.

ARTWORK

Digital Photography (Editing), Digital Collage, Video, Stop. Motion, Animation and Digital Drawing and Painting are the different styles that I will utilize to create my five finals. In most of the finals I intend to show one side overpowering the other and vise versa e.g. presenting the viewers with a man-made object such as a house being engulfed by the strong forces of water, symbolizing the incredible power that nature holds over man kind. Trees, rocks, natural landscapes, skies, mountains, lakes, architecture, houses, furniture etc. are things that I will be photographing and using within my works. I aim to use digital art as a medium to evoke interest and to convey the beauty, as well as the sublime aspects of the overall theme, by portraying the conflict and the unsteadiness of the composition. Thus, I hope to achieve a sense of randomness, extreme exaggeration and manipulation within my work.

This is where contemporary digital art can be used as an essential part in bringing to life the creative process of my ideas, through this particular medium. The more traditional methods of art, such as painting, drawing and photography can be used with modern day technology such as Photoshop CS3 and Illustrator to completely transform the art piece via editing the digital image, in terms of manipulating, enhancing, transforming and applying effects and filters, creating a whole new dimension to the artwork, which would not have otherwise been possible to do without the use of digital art programs. E.g. I will be able to “combine images, inorder to create effects not possible in a single image, including creating panoramas, replacing skies, creating extended depth of field, creating extended exposure latitude and combining parts of various pictures into a single image” (Anon, E J, Lepp, G 2010, pxx).

PRESENTATION:

I will be presenting my finals on a projectors and A2 photo paper because I would like them to be shown clearly on a large scale, in order for the class to be able to see the detail of all my works. Therefore, I will need to prepare a projector and a stand before the final presentation.

INFLUENCE:



Habitat,  for Humanity, 2007 



The Contemporary Digital Artists that I found very inspirational is George Grie. Grie is one of the first digital surrealist artists and is known for his 3D, 2D and matte painting images. I really admire the way his art works are a visual recording of his conceptual thoughts, philosophic views and dreams. His artworks e.g. Ice Age Premonition and Panic Attack, are so mesmerizing to look at because he merges “real world images with subconscious emotions and philosophical thoughts” (Grie, 2003). Take for example, his art work Habitat, for Humanity. It is of a unique shaped architecture surrounded by trees, situated on the shores of a beach. His use of limited palette of colours (monochrome), the variation of tones and the uneven composition creates the mood. The stillness of his themes convey a magical, dream-like gothic world, full of contemplative moments, which  I am hopping to also be able to achieve, within my own art work, by using photo manipulation. Grie’s Ice Age Premonition is a “greatly exaggeration theory of global warming and its consequences” (Grie). Thus, I am also aiming to create art work that look unique, detailed and present meaning, like Grie was able to do successfully, in his own art work.   

Ice Age Premonition, 2007



Reference List:

Anon, E, Anon, J, Lepp, G 2010, Photoshop CS5 for Nature Photographers, Wiley Publishing Inc, Canada.

Longstreth, R, B, Calafate S 2008, Cultural Landscapes : Balancing Nature and Heritage in Preservation Practice, University of Minnesota Press.

Websites:

George Grie. Retrieved 17^th March 2011:

http://neosurrealismart.com/modern-art-prints/?biography/

Pictures:

George Grie, Habitat of Humanity,Digital Art (3D Artist Surrealism Picture). Retrieved 19^th March 2011:

http://neosurrealismart.com/modern-art-prints/?artworks/habitat-for-humanity.html&fullsize

George Grie, Ice Age Premonition, Digital Art (3D Artist Surrealism Picture). Retrieved 19^th March 2011:

 http://fineartamerica.com/featured/ice-age-premonition-george-grie.html

Other References:

Duerksen, C, Syder C 2005, Nature-friendly communities, Island Press, United States of America.

Fuhrmann, M 2009, Nature art and structure, Ullmann Publishing, China.

Mason, A 2006, World issues nature vs. man a look at the way the world is today, Franklin Watts, London.

Week 3

Paul Caponigro, is one of the most famous American landscape photographers, who I find very inspirational. Caponigro “approaches his subjects in a straight forward way, and he renders with great care the substance of the visual world in the service of poetic and emotional ends” (Bunnell,  1968, p166). His overall theme and the meaning behind his photography are some what how I would like to approach the basis of my digital art work.  

Through his photographs he reveals not geography or architecture, but the everlasting contest between man and nature, which I believe successfully, reveals to us “man’s first gesture of life – the taking of space.”   I admire the way his work is personal and intense and how he sees photography as a medium, a language that can allow you to experience the interaction between yourself and nature.

 

Little River, Redding, Connecticut,
1968

I really like Caponigro’s Little River, Redding, Connecticut which was created in 1968. The black and white photograph expresses the beautiful stillness of the natural environment and the water’s reflection of the trees and sky reveals the true beauty of nature.

Reference:

Paul Caponigro, Little River,Redding,Connecticut,1968, Photograph,
35.1 x 47 cm: http://www.artnet.com/artwork/425388618/357/paul-caponigro-little-river-redding-connecticut.html

Bunnell, P 1968, The museum of modern art, Modernart, New York, No.96:

http://www.moma.org/docs/press_archives/4118/releases/MOMA_1968_July-December_0050_96.pdf?2010

Week 2

I have come up with a few brainstorming ideas and I have roughly sketched them down. I really like the idea of demonstrating the conflict and unsteadiness of how one side can over-power and destroy the other, because it provides the viewers with a strong visual of Nature’s and Man-Made’s obvious differences and the sublime appearance that can be discovered within their relationship, when looking from an artistic point of view.

Here are some Digital Art Manipulation Ads that I found very impressive. I am very inspired by the creativity and detailed aesthetical appeal that is achieved in order to present the underlining meaning and point of view. I also like the way in which they use different elements within the ads because it looks very creative and original e.g. vase and fireworks, frame and ocean etc.  
                                                        

        

      

Reference:

Digital Art Manipulation. Retreived 19th March 2011:

http://www.onextrapixel.com/2010/02/11/60-amazing-digital-photo-manipulation-art/

http://www.smashingapps.com/2009/03/20/31-masterpieces-of-creative-ad-cleaver-advertising-concepts.html

Week 1

First week back and I am looking forward to embracing myself in the culture of Contemporary Digital Art. I can’t wait to learn how to utilize programs such as Photoshop, Illustrator etc and build on my computer skills and techniques that will essentially assist me when working on my folio.

The ideas that came to mind, when thinking of a theme for my folio are “Communication,” “Reality vs Fantasy” and “Nature vs Man-Made.” However, I selected the theme, “Nature vs. Man- Made” because of the subjects complexity. Both natural and man made objects have potential to show beauty and destruction.  This is where contemporary digital art can be used as an essential part of bringing to life the creative process of my ideas through this medium. The more traditional methods of art such as painting, drawing and photography can be used with modern day technology such as Photoshop CS3 and Illustrator to completely transform the art piece via editing the digital image in terms of manipulating, enhancing, transforming and applying effects and filters, creating a whole new dimension to the artwork which would not have otherwise been possible to do without the use of digital art programs.



Habitat for humanity, 2007

 The two Contemporary Digital Artists that I found very inspirational are George Grie and Richard Misrach. Grie is one of the first digital surrealist artists and is known for his 3D, 2D and matte painting images. I really admire the way his art works are a visual recording of his conceptual thoughts, philosophic views and dreams. His artworks are so mesmerizing to look at because he merges “real world images with subconscious emotions and philosophical thoughts” (Grie). Take for example, his art work, Habitat for Humanity. It is of a unique shaped architecture surrounded by trees situated on the shores of a beach. His use of a limited palette of colours, the variation of tones and the neven composition creates the mood. The stillness of his themes convey a magical, dream-like gothic world, full of contemplative moments which  I would like to achieve within my work of art, using photo manipulation.






Desert Fire #153 Man With Rifle

   

Misrach's is an American photographer is most influential for his photographs of human intervention in landscapes. I really like his ongoing series Desert Cantos which consist of multi-facetted photographs of desert landscapes, because he portrays the beauty of nature.