Transition
After being given the choice of Freedom/Limitations or Transition, I decided to explore the exam theme of Transition as I had mainly focused on themes of ‘liberation’ and ‘rebellion’ in my previous project.
In order to develop ideas about the nature of my project, I created a mind map. I started with the three things that I initially associated with the word ‘transition’, which were: Nature, Aging and Trends (political/social/cultural). Having established these three sub-themes, I noted down ideas about Light and physical elements and how different elements or lighting can manipulate mood (Pathetic fallacy). I also noted down ideas about Gentrification and architecture, as well as gender, decay and aging.
Artists to explore
Lewis Baltz:
Important figure in the New Topographics movement of the late 1970s. In the New Topographics, “The pictures were stripped of any artistic frills and reduced to an essentially topographic state, conveying substantial amounts of visual information but eschewing entirely the aspects of beauty, emotion and opinion,.” “[…] rigorous purity, deadpan humor and a casual disregard for the importance of the images.”
Gentrification and the Banal Aesthetic:
Lucien Hervé:
Hungarian photographer. He was notable for his architectural photography, beginning with his work for Le Corbusier, who was a French architect, designer, urban planner and one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture.
He aimed to create “cinematic visual experiences unfolding over time.”
Architecture: Light and form
Irina Souiki:
Peeling paint, crumpled wallpaper and empty chairs are a few of the unexpected beauties that Irina Souiki has found while photographing abandoned buildings. Her images pay attention to the fine detail that creates decaying beauty.
Urban Decay:
Gerry Johansson:
Tokyo
Swedish photographer. He makes “straight and pragmatic” photographs with “an objective view of a geographic location.”
Banal Aesthetic:
Elle Pérez:
American photographer whose work explores gender identity, intimacy, vulnerability, and the relationship between seeing and love. Pérez is a gender non-conforming trans artist.
Gender Identity and expression:
Gillian Wearing:
British artist whose conceptually driven photographs and videos investigate power dynamics and voyeurism in everyday life.
