Artist Lecture: Caleb Cole

     I went to see Caleb Cole's lecture in the Paul Creative Arts Center, and I really enjoyed the originality of his concepts.  The execution of his concepts were flawless as well, but it was the concepts which really drew me in because I definitely am more into a conceptual approach to art as opposed to a capture-the-moment style.  I think both approaches are equally valid but I related to Caleb Cole's style and liked how he took it in ways I haven't before.

     One concept he used was the idea of trying on other people's clothes and photographing himself in an environment that seemed natural to the clothing.  I care a lot about empathy both as someone interested in human rights and as someone who writes fiction and needs to get in my characters' heads, so I loved this concept because it seemed like an exercise in empathy.  The artist was literally putting himself in someone else's shoes.

     I admire the courage it must have taken to ask others to use their clothes and/or spaces for his project.  I find the idea of talking to strangers and especially asking them to help do something unconventional really nerve-wracking, so that impressed me.

     I also really liked Caleb Cole's exploration of failure.  I think capturing a moment of failure could be done in a way that actually empowers an individual who isn't where they want to be in life.  I think making such a negative feeling the main subject of art might reassure people who are feeling unsuccessful that they are worthy of art and are beautiful.

     I also really enjoyed the cut-out pictures Caleb Cole showed.  While they weren't the most visually exciting to me personally, I loved the concept behind them.  I love rebels and rock and roll so the fact that he highlighted "rule-breakers" in these photos really drew me in.

     Aesthetically and conceptually, I loved "The Last Page".  The photo has such a great blend of a relatable and intense emotion (the bittersweet sorrow/satisfaction of finishing a great book), as well as vivid colors and contrasts, and a little bit of eeriness thanks to the fake bunny head.

     All in all, I immensely enjoyed this lecture!

Emulation Project: "Geraldo Seizes the Day"

Geraldo is a color-changing anteater who lives in Blueville.

Geraldo is bored of drawing birds on the floor of his messy apartment.  He decides it is time for an outing.

Geraldo decides to visit his mermaid friend, Erma, who lives in Orangeville.  Erma has a sick-nasty faux hawk.

He attends the signing of her newest literary masterpiece, How You Too Can Have a Sick-Nasty Faux Hawk.

Geraldo goes to see what the foxes of Redville are up to.  He is told they are having a dance party.

Geraldo can't memorize the choreography to save his life, but his free stylin' is out-of-this-world.

A solid work out always makes Geraldo hungry.  He goes to Greenville for a bowl of fiddleheads.

Yum, yum, or, as the French would say, miam, miam, Geraldo thinks to himself.  The fiddleheads are delicious.

Reflection:

     For my emulation project, I emulated a series of photos taken by Sophie Calle, which feature monochromatic plates of food, and text captions.  I created monochromatic photos, but instead of using food as my subject, I created clay beings reminiscent of clay sculptures I made as a child.  This made the project more significant to me personally.  I felt it was important for me to make the project my own even though it's an emulation, because feeling that it belongs to me helps me feel more connected to my work.
     I originally planned to create a project with an anti-death penalty message.  While that message is important to me, I found myself struggling to come up with a way to execute it (no pun intended) and I also wasn't in the mood to focus so much energy on such a heavy topic.  I would like to create a project with this message at some point, but I'm glad I didn't force myself to complete it when it was clear it just wasn't the right time.
         

Emulation Contacts

Emulation First Contacts- No Edits Yet -Experimenting with a Different Camera And 2 Different Project Ideas

Portraits

Reflection:

For this project, I wanted to incorporate one of my short stories because I think my written self is my most authentic self.  I think my social self is so censored, whereas art and writing are places where I feel free to be weird, honest, and even brutal.  I tried to make myself look like the protagonist of a short story I wrote about a real relationship I have with someone.  Obviously, our relationship is somewhat strained, although I do care about him a great deal, and I also think the story works perfectly as a portrait because many of the difficulties in my life stem from this difficult relationship.The "me" character is made of mica, so I tried to mimic that in an abstract way with metallic eyeshadow and photo editing.

Portrait Contacts

Amalgamation