For this project we were put into groups of two, my partner was Emma Ray. Emma and I started off but texting each other a few photos of either us or something we were doing everyday for just under two weeks. We did this as a brief insight into each others lives before starting the project properly. For this project we had to interview each other to then create a visual interpretation and for Seminar we had to write up our interviews.
For our first Interview Emma and I went to the Metropolitan Museum of art and choose a quite and secludes area to start them. At first I decided to ask Emma more silly and fun questions rather then deep ones to get her more comfortable talking about her self. This worked very well as in our second interview I managed to ask for deep and personal questions. Using the Answers that she gave me I decided that for the Visual interpretation piece I would take a more literal approach and show what we mutually shared interested in or both shared characterise instead of showing our differences. For as it turned out we had far more in common then we did differences. So with this I started making a few draft sketches in my sketch book. (Below)
I took these 3 draft sketch to class to get critiques from then, I got very mixed options and I was very unsure which path to go down. So I decided not to take one just yet and make two more larger scale drafts on bristol board paper to see if that would help make my mind up. (below)
As you can see the first one is more detailed then the second one, this is because I thought I had more time then I did so I didn’t get round to finishing them both off fully. Even though I didn’t get round to finishing off the second one I saw more potential in it then my first one. Which is why I went on to make another draft in my sketch book using template that I started in the second draft above but incorporated many ideas from the first draft.
As my sketch book is very small I could not fit in everything I wanted to, so I decided to take the plunge and start my final piece on black canvas.
I used a monochrome background as a contrast to the colours I used onto to demonstrate how our lives are simply not just black and white. I used the wall to signify our barriers that we both have, Emma’s being slightly lower then mine therefore being her on the left and me on the right. I drew us naked as a way to demonstrate our appearance being ‘stripped away’ to avoid being judged a first sight and the multiple things that I share above our bodies in the piece are things you may not know about us from just looking. Proving the ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’. I used the factor that we both smoke as in idea to carry our information up the page in what looks like smoke bubbles/clouds. I choose to be literally and started off signifying where we came from, Emma being half Swedish and American and Me being, quarter English, half Belgium and quarter Scottish. Even though I am only a quarter British, I choose to put it first to demonstrate that Britain means the most to be as it where I have grown up and lived my entire life. The same goes for Emma and America. I then did a smoke bubble of Music interest we both share, I thought this was an important point to make as it tells so much more then what we listen to as it puts us into a sub genre of youths which perhaps gives you en insight to how we dress and other things we may be interested in, including photography which is the bubble to the gist side above it. Emma is a photography Major and I have a strong passion for photography and am hoping to Minor in it. The three bubbles that are “GRACE,JAMES”, “PAIN” AND “LOSS” are all linked to one another. James was my grandfather who meant a lot to me but I unfortunately lost a few years ago and Grace was Emma’s Grandmother whom almost meant a lot to her who died about 12 years ago.
I have also linked my Seminar final wiring piece for this project as a reference to composite portrait.
