For this project I was influenced by Cy Twombly’s “The Four Seasons”, a series of four large vertical paintings that include abstract expressions of the seasons through rich paint and difficult to read poetry. I wanted to create a similar self-investigation to the one that Twombly makes by having other people read aloud four writings from my personal journals, journal entries that span across the four seasons.This piece relates to identity as it is an expression of my personal emotions. I found myself taking a liberal approach to my project, unsure of how it would turn out or how it would make me feel. While filming, I found myself seeing parallels between my and Twombly’s work. One of the most prominent similarities I saw was how we both incorporate a sense of juxtaposition; in Twombly’s work it is seen in his dense and beautiful colors being contrasted against his sketchy line work and in my work it can be seen in the seriousness of the writings contrasted with the friendly and casual relationships I have with the people reading the texts. Personally, during and after the creation of the project I felt highly uncomfortable. Having people read my personal thoughts made me feel incredibly weird and exposed. The intention of the piece was to create a true expose of myself, and I think I accomplished that. The fact that I am uncomfortable is understandable, but more importantly, pivotal for my own personal develop. I hope other people will see the piece and feel more comfortable with their own personal thoughts and feel less fear when sharing them.

The use of video supports the thematic content as it shows a real life, in the moment, unscripted interaction between myself and the person reading, and in a sense the interaction between me and the past “me” that wrote in the journals.

I could see this piece inside of a gallery projected onto a wall, where all can observe and almost have trouble turning away from it. I could also see this as something that each person could experience individually, whether it be on a mobile phone or computer.

Here is one of my originally highlighted images from Part 1 of Bridge 1:

What If Questions:

Asia asked: What if the medium was different?

This made me think about taking the concept of Twombly’s piece out of a fine art context. It made me think of a way to make it more personal for not only me, but for the viewer

I asked: What if the piece was based outside the context of the four seasons? What if the medium created an even more personal experience? What if there was less abstraction? If everything was more direct and literal?

At first I questioned the use of the four seasons, but I think that it was a good structure to base the progression of my mental health over the years through the symbolic values of the seasons.

I also decided to make this piece more open, to make it have an impact that was more striking than the subtle and deeper experience one might feel with the abstract piece of Twombly.

Here is a link to the final piece: