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Above: Student Projects
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The Altered “Scape”
embracing the eccentric/ absurd/ improbable/ strange/ bizarre Gabriel Garcia Marquez has defined Magic Realism as “destroying the line of demarcation that separates what seems real from what seems fantastic” Introduction: Imagining the world in a way that it cannot physically exist has inspired artists throughout history. These flights of fancy have often started with dreams, desires, humor or terror and have been entertaining, provocative and inspirational for viewers. Because photographers point their camera at “real” subjects, photographs have historically been believed as more “real” representations of the world than a painting or drawing, yet we know a photograph can be distorted/changed/edited. Now digital tools make those manipulations even easier. We just experienced this with our manipulated portraits. Now you will turn your imagination to SCAPES. These can be landscape or interiors, miniatures or magnified. Although there are many styles and degrees of creating eccentric images, we will focus on a semi-believable approach similar to magic realism. In this tradition, common or mundane forms are changed but they maintain a degree of believability. They often hold meaning that is personal/ political in nature and have a poetic/ multi-layered interpretation. You may add human forms if necessary, but the emphasis is on the space. GOALS:
Process:
The result should be compelling, *almost* believable and either strange or humorous but not clichéd. If you’ve seen something like it on a greeting card, the web or a movie, its probably clichéd. The combined images should hint at something you are or wonder about that might not be readily apparent. You don’t have to tell a whole story with this image, just provoke a response in your audience by being compelling, sustaining and surprising. Print the image at least 16x20” so make sure your original photos and scans are high resolution (at least 300 dpi, more if enlarging). Here are some artists who work this way and sometimes even more distorted than magic realism: Changing Visual Qualities: Magritte Cattelan Do Ho Suh Michael Samuels Ron Mueck Hiraki Sawa Kaoru Motomiya Alida Fish Guiseppe Arcimboldo Abelardo Morell Sherrie Markovitz Merrit Oppenheim Sandy Skogland Combining Unusual Elements or Materials: Hieronymus Bosch Ann Hamilton Rebecca Horn Rodney Graham Man Ray Hans Bellmer Salvador Dali Frida Kahlo Dora Maar Gerlovina Jamie Baldridge Laurie Simmons Mark Slankard McCarthy Robert and Shanna ParkeHarrison Frederick Sommers Mark Thompson Distortion: Gilles Barbier Joel Peter Witkin Janaina Tschape The Chapman Brothers Ida Applebrog Maggie Taylor Sarah Lean Aziz and Cucher Gillian Wearing Buetti Urbano Inez Van Lamsweerde Radisic Motohiko Odani Jack Stezacker Nancy Burson Maira Kahlman Lauterlian Rudd van Empel Keith Cottingham Imaginary Situations: DeChirico Magritte Zeke Beerman George Tooker Parke Harrison Eisa Ahtila Rene Cox Li Wei John Divola Gaskell Toni Hafkinsheid Sherin Neshat Laila Essaydi Catherine Chalmers Allora and Calzadilla Uelsmann Appropriation: Kathy Grove Greg Crewdson Yasumasa Morimura Jeff Wal | ||