Maniacal Laughing: Test

 I was discussing the laughter in previous posts now I wanted to test it out so I could work out how this would look.  I used my Olympus Stylus SH-2 again with the film grain filter as I still want these to look gritty.  These are just some quick test shots. Just one contact sheet 

Here are a couple of the ones I might try to use for studies for a painting.

Settings: F3, 1/20 ISO 800 FL4mm

I blackened my eyes so that they would slightly more disturbing.  

Settings: F3, 1/20 ISO 800 FL4mm

In these two the top one I think I look insane and unhinged and this is what I wanted to capture - these shots are a good first test of the look and expression I am trying to create - I will shoot these again but as a first test I feel I am getting somewhere ...

Disturbance: Experimentation

 After the last post with my test shots, I have experimented with mixed media using the photograph.  I mounted the photograph on canvas board (just using mounting spray).  Then I used the monochrome colour palette shown on my folio board to experiment with the medium.  Below is the original shot and then the mixed media piece.

I liked the idea of disturbance and a more painful look to the image so I created cuts to the legs and the hand appears bloody.  

Death is a disturbance to those looking at it, as is pain and this is what is expressed here.  Kiefer often used photographs, mixed media and incorporated writing into his works here is an early piece from the 1960s. 

Anselm Kiefer (circa 1960s)

'In his series 'Occupations' Keifer immediately challenges the viewer to ponder once again the incomprehensible horror of the Nazi era; in the flamboyance of the Nazi 'Sieg Heil' he spares neither the viewer nor himself since he serves as the model for the saluting figure (as above)' (Kiefer A. 1987)

This idea of shaking the viewer and the artist through the work is something that I wanted to explore here.  Obviously Kiefer's work has the weight of history, the pain of the millions at its heart ...

References 

Kiefer A. (1987) Anselm Kiefer. Philadelphia Museum of Art, USA

Media & Art: Test Shots

 I wanted to experiment first with the look of the photos I will be creating which essentially will be a study for the paintings so following my folio board I was working on this look  'Lustmord' (1922) by Otto Dix  

'Lustmord' (1922) by Otto Dix  

This is my first contact sheet - I checked the light and then shot these in black and white.  I used a film grain filter so that they had a gritty look to them.  To take these I used my Olympus Stylus SH-2 and tripod. I took these in the morning so I would get as much natural light from the window as possible.

I was trying to get the look of death but with covid restrictions - so here are the two that I thought best did this:

Settings: FL 4.5mm, 1/60, F3, ISO 125

Settings: FL 4.5mm, 1/80, F3, ISO 125

The second shot here is more successful in that it is closer and get the whole body in the shot - I like the overexposure in the background as this concentrates the viewer on the body.  I think these have some potential and I will shoot again using a different camera to see if I can create a different, maybe darker scene - however death happens even in sunshine so there is something to that.  

I will be exploring this again through sketches and experiments but this is one of the pieces I want to use in the final portfolio as I had been thinking about these shots for some time and I do think they are expressing the concept as I had envisioned.

Executing the End Times: Folio Board

 As my previous post explained I am exploring laughter, the laughter of the end times and so I created a development folio board that shows some of my sketches and ideas 

On the board here I have been working on expressionist style and then I have worked on the images so that they are laughing, I want to develop the laughing images further and the ones with face masks which I have used here on the copy of the Otto Dix image.  There is much more to do but this helped me to find the style and direction I wanted my images to take.  

Yue Minjun: Maniacal Laughter

 Yue Minjun Yue Minjun (b. 1962, Heilongjiang, China) became famous after creating the piece Execution (1995) showing the laughing protesters as they were about to be executed.  

Yue Minjun, Execution (1995) 

This idea of laughter is obviously not because we think it is hilarious, it the maniacal laughter when we face death.  This art has been term 'cynical realism' 

Yue Minjun, Armed Forces, 2009

Sigmund Freud created 'Relief Theory'  on why we laugh.  The basis of this theory is that it relieves nervous energy in us, it saves psychic energy, excess of energy is released by laughing and that dreams and humour allow us to enjoy pleasure unconsciously. (Eightron 2021)

Yue Minjun, Noah’s Ark

George Bataille also considered laughter an important philosophy and equated it with the 'the violence of spasmodic joy lies deep in my heart.  This violence, at the same time, and I tremble as I say it, is the heart of death: it opens itself up to me!

The ambiguity of this human life is really that of mad laughter and of sobbing tears.  It comes from the difficulty of harmonising reason's calculations with these tears ...with this horrible laugh' (Bataille 1989)

There is an idea that it is difficult to recognise the difference between tears of laughter and tears in facial expression.  The image below is the photographer Oscar Rejlander who worked with Charles Darvin on photographic illustrations for his books. Darwin knew many photographers as he had been photographed by many of them and he legitimized using photographs instead of the drawing and engravings in scientific books.  Darwin wanted to recognise emotions and so created a book called The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animal (1872) 'Darwin spent years collecting and studying photographs and paintings of the various emotions. He corresponded at length with zookeepers, photographers, illustrators, and even the directors of mental institutions (he felt mental patients exhibited ‘unrestrained emotions’ that would make good examples), obtaining photographs and illustrations to use in his book.' (Cicala R. 27/02/2021) 

  

Rejlander laughing and crying beside “Ginx’s baby”. Stero card, 1872 or 1873.

So why the fascination with laughter, I am fascinated by the philosophy of laugher and my work on the end times I want to incorporate that end of world laughter that we see here.  It is not laughing in face of death, it perhaps laughing despite death or perhaps just that death itself is a blessed relief.  I hope that I can feel the joy and ecstasy of laughter through this work...

References

Projects Eightron (11/02/2021) Laughter [Online] Available from https://projects.eightron.net/laughter/theory3.php (Accessed (11/02/2021)

Laura (2007) If its hip, it's here: The Magnificient Smile of Yue Minjun [Online] Available from https://www.ifitshipitshere.com/yue-minjun-smile-art (Accessed (11/02/2021)

Batialle G (1989) The Tears of Eros. City Lights Books. San Francisco

Cicala R. (27.02.2012) Lensrentals: Six Degrees of Charles Darwin, and Rejlander’s Last Laugh. [Online] Available from: https://wordpress.lensrentals.com/blog/2012/11/six-degrees-of-charles-darwin-and-rejlanders-last-laugh/ (Accessed (11/02/2021)

What do I know about Photography?

This is my own example from the class exercise 'What do I know..?'

The Great John Berger (1926-2017)

What should I be doing in my subject area?

I should be learning about photographers, critical theory of photography such as Walter Benjamin, Solomon Godeau, Roland Barthes, John Berger, Susan Sontag and many more.

I should be discovering different photography techniques and practicing these.  

I should be creating many different types of projects both technical and conceptual to really understand the many different aspects of photography 

I should go to galleries and shows

I should keep up to date with a changing digital world and the latest in photography 

What skills and knowledge do I need for my subject area?


I need the knowledge stated above but also knowledge of how photography works in the world today and how I could promote my photography work

The skills I need are understanding all my camera settings, understanding frame, composition, and light.  I need to have a clear digital workflow and storage system for my work


What jobs can I get by studying in this subject?

I could work as a freelance photographer, photo editor, photo archivist, curator, photographer for newspaper or magazine, graphic designer, teacher, 

If I scored myself out of ten, with ten being the highest, how well do I think I know my own subject area?

I would give myself an eight as I still think there is much to learn!  Also, technology changes very quickly and there is much to discover!

The History of Me!

 Today in class we discussed research and how understanding a person and what made a person become themselves and to understand their work was vital in our research when looking at other artists.  We, therefore, created a history of ourselves and what made us become ourselves.  This is my work here.  I have shown my early years and teenage years - I decided not to add my entire life story as this would be a task, I thought the formative years would do!  I have added my personality traits, people who are most important to me, and things that have altered or changed the direction of my life. 

I enjoyed this task and particularly seeing what others had done as this was an insight into them and their lives and how they expressed themselves as artists/designers.  It was insightful and uplifting - thank you to my group for this.