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.