Time Capsule

Inspiration

 

Proposal

I plan to create an evolution diagram of myself. The goal is to take a lighthearted approach to the subject but also point out that while the resulting images, part me/part early primate, will no doubt be ridiculous, they will still be able to effectively blur the species boundaries. This will show that even if these anthropomorphic chimeras are funny looking, especially the further back in evolution we go, they become increasingly more normal and it may be hard to tell when they are funny and when the are close enough to reality that it is just unsettling (uncanny valley).

Process

I am using these images as a template for creating my composite images. These animals are very similar to the transitional fossils seen in the human evolution lineage and migration to land.

This is one of the more PG photos I used to composite the final piece. I used the puppet warp tool to adjust my positioning and proportions to match the template I had created.

This is a process picture of me creating the chimpanzee-like stage.

I used this fur texture to add hair to various stages. I used the blending options to make it look more convincing.

Final

Final Statement

This piece seeks to convey the relationship between humans and other animals through evolution. The spark was inspired by a human evolution class I took. Many of our ancestral species blur the boundaries between modern humans and the other great apes. The closer you get in evolutionary history to the modern human, the deeper the species sinks into the uncanny valley. The species look almost normal but slightly off, which is unsettling. This piece seeks to play on this unsettling feeling through humor. The monkey-like stage at the beginning is both ridiculous and comical. As they move from left to right, the stages become less innocently comical and become more unsettlingly ridiculous. This plays on the need for humans to distance ourselves and feel superior to other animals and even our own ancestors.