Digital Collage
Inspiration
My main inspiration for my collage is Barbara Kruger. Her work is very recognizable; even if someone doesn't know the artist they probably can recognize the work. She used her pieces to comment on issues she thought were important or affected her personally. I'm using my collage to comment on the expectations placed on high school students because it is something I deal with daily. I will be using similar formal quantities from Kruger's work in my own, like the iconic white and red text. My photo will also be black and white. There will be some differences, but it will be pretty obvious who one of my inspirations was.
My second inspiration is Ansel Adams. I chose him because I love how he contrasts light and darkness in his photos, which will be a major component of my collage. I want the light to be stark against the shadows like Adam's work. I also chose him because I love how sharp his photos are even though he was creating in the early days of photography. I think it is a good gauge of how skilled he with his chose medium.
My second inspiration is Ansel Adams. I chose him because I love how he contrasts light and darkness in his photos, which will be a major component of my collage. I want the light to be stark against the shadows like Adam's work. I also chose him because I love how sharp his photos are even though he was creating in the early days of photography. I think it is a good gauge of how skilled he with his chose medium.
The "Story" of My Collage
Before we began to work on this project, each student was asked to write a "story" to tell with their digital collage. Mine is below:
The basic story I want to convey with my digital collage is my struggle with expectations. But I won’t be telling it the same way. It will be related to my personal experience, and the thinking I struggle with when it comes to my future.
When I was little my parents got divorced and I’ve been going back and forth between their homes - and lives - since then. They both have different ideas about what I should do with my life, and it can get stressful trying to balance these expectations. I’ve always done well in school, but not because I’m smart (which is what everyone assumes). Teachers are constantly telling me, “You have such good grades! You should do this because of them….” When I had to choose my pathway last year I was even told that I should be going full IB because I had such good grades. But the thing was, I had to work really hard for them. Most of the time I was just barely understanding what was going on in my math and science classes, which caused me a lot of stress and anxiety. What if I was doing the homework wrong? Would the teacher be angry with me if I didn’t finish this assignment, even if I didn’t understand it? I feel like I’m letting people down. They look at me - my parents, friends, teachers - and they see someone who should be aiming high. But I’m not. Am I letting them down? What do they truly think about me, looking past the grades and the potential?
In a way, these thoughts have pushed me to want to travel. To get away for a little while. I have an idea of what I want to do, but I’m afraid it won’t be good enough for everyone.
I know I’m not the only person having these kinds of feelings. However, these are the things that weigh on my mind. The goal of my portfolio is to explore complicated emotions. Not just expectations...but how they make me feel. How I view them, the specifics of what they are for me. With my digital collage, I will try to tackle all this.
The basic story I want to convey with my digital collage is my struggle with expectations. But I won’t be telling it the same way. It will be related to my personal experience, and the thinking I struggle with when it comes to my future.
When I was little my parents got divorced and I’ve been going back and forth between their homes - and lives - since then. They both have different ideas about what I should do with my life, and it can get stressful trying to balance these expectations. I’ve always done well in school, but not because I’m smart (which is what everyone assumes). Teachers are constantly telling me, “You have such good grades! You should do this because of them….” When I had to choose my pathway last year I was even told that I should be going full IB because I had such good grades. But the thing was, I had to work really hard for them. Most of the time I was just barely understanding what was going on in my math and science classes, which caused me a lot of stress and anxiety. What if I was doing the homework wrong? Would the teacher be angry with me if I didn’t finish this assignment, even if I didn’t understand it? I feel like I’m letting people down. They look at me - my parents, friends, teachers - and they see someone who should be aiming high. But I’m not. Am I letting them down? What do they truly think about me, looking past the grades and the potential?
In a way, these thoughts have pushed me to want to travel. To get away for a little while. I have an idea of what I want to do, but I’m afraid it won’t be good enough for everyone.
I know I’m not the only person having these kinds of feelings. However, these are the things that weigh on my mind. The goal of my portfolio is to explore complicated emotions. Not just expectations...but how they make me feel. How I view them, the specifics of what they are for me. With my digital collage, I will try to tackle all this.
Planning
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To the left are the first sketches I did immediately after hearing about the prompt for this project. The first one was the idea I ended up following more; using fairy lights in a dark photo. The second sketch was good idea, but I didn't use it in the end. |
On the right is a sketch where I attempted to develop my idea more. I hadn't settled on Barbara Kruger as an inspiration yet, so I was trying to figure out how to add more to the collage. I had the idea of hands reached out of the darkness towards the main subject to represent the people around me pushing me. I still planned to have lights around the wrists, neck, and head. I wasn't really sure how to do the hands reaching out, so I decided to continue trying to come up with different ideas. At this that time I decided to try and incorporate a touch of Barbara Kruger's methods into the collage. |
Once I decided to use Barbara Kruger as my main inspiration I made sketches incorporating some aspects of her work. On the left are two sketches where I played around with that. The only difference between them is the borders. In the top one I had the idea to use lights as a border, and in the bottom one I tried Kruger's transitional red border. I will probably experiment with both options once I take my photos. I came up with the title "You're So Bright" very early on, but it never occurred to me until later to possibly incorporate it into my collage. The wording feels similar to some of Kruger's text. Some of her text has statements that assume for the viewer, and I feel like this statement is similar. I plan to experiment with the size and placement of the text while creating the collage. |
Experimentation
I wanted to use Photoshop, but was unable to. Instead I used Photopea. I had to mess around with the controls a lot to get the hang of it. At first I thought I could use a photo of fairy lights to create a more unique border. However after messing around with the photo I wasn't able to make it look right, so I just went with the classic red frame. |
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Process
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1. After planning out my ideas, I set up a pretty rudimentary photography setup.
2. When I set everything up I decided to take a video instead of a bunch of photos. This way I was able to get multiple different poses. 3. I went through the photos and chose one I liked. Then I started editing it using Photopea. 4. I selected the part of the photo I need and copied it onto a red background. I tried using fairy lights for the frame, but it didn't work. 5. Next I made the photo black and white. 6. After that I added the text. I used Futura bold type, the same as Barbara Kruger. I had to add the red boxes separately instead of just highlighting the text in red. 7. I moved the text and boxes around until I was happy with how everything looked. |
Reflection
This project felt a little too simple. I did enjoy using lights in my photography, and I would like to do more because I love how they look. It was also therapeutic to create it, because I deal with what it represents a lot. I had a hard time with Photopea program. If I make another collage I would want to try a different program, or simple practice with this one more.
Compare and Contrast
Similarities
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ACT Responses
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork.
Barbara Kruger's work had the biggest impact on my artwork. Visually, it's obvious. However, the effect it had is more than that. Kruger used her work to call attention to issues she thought were important, or even effected her personally. I used my artwork to do the same thing.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The authors of the articles give a general overview of the artists and some interesting information about their works. There is some analysis of them.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, ect. while you researched your inspiration?
Kruger made many generalizations with her work. They were based on her views of certain issues, which meant that they could be one-sided. While people often dismiss this type of source, it can be useful.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
Using images to invoke something in the viewer. And to use your work to spread messages.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I inferred that Kruger was passionate about each issue she raised, but she may not have been passionate about everything she created.
Barbara Kruger's work had the biggest impact on my artwork. Visually, it's obvious. However, the effect it had is more than that. Kruger used her work to call attention to issues she thought were important, or even effected her personally. I used my artwork to do the same thing.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The authors of the articles give a general overview of the artists and some interesting information about their works. There is some analysis of them.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, ect. while you researched your inspiration?
Kruger made many generalizations with her work. They were based on her views of certain issues, which meant that they could be one-sided. While people often dismiss this type of source, it can be useful.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
Using images to invoke something in the viewer. And to use your work to spread messages.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I inferred that Kruger was passionate about each issue she raised, but she may not have been passionate about everything she created.
Bibliography
“About the Photographer: Adams, Ansel.” Museum of Contemporary Photography, Columbia College Chicago, www.mocp.org/detail.php?t=objects&type=browse&f=maker&s=Adams%2C%2BAnsel&record=9.
“Ansel Adams.” Center for Creative Photography, The University of Arizona, ccp.arizona.edu/artists/ansel-adams.
“Barbara Kruger: Untitled (The Future Belongs to Those Who Can See It).” Artsy, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., www.artsy.net/artwork/barbara-kruger-untitled-the-future-belongs-to-those-who-can-see-it.
“Untitled (Your Body Is a Battleground) - Barbara Kruger.” The Broad, EastWestBank, www.thebroad.org/art/barbara-kruger/untitled-your-body-battleground.
“Ansel Adams.” Center for Creative Photography, The University of Arizona, ccp.arizona.edu/artists/ansel-adams.
“Barbara Kruger: Untitled (The Future Belongs to Those Who Can See It).” Artsy, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., www.artsy.net/artwork/barbara-kruger-untitled-the-future-belongs-to-those-who-can-see-it.
“Untitled (Your Body Is a Battleground) - Barbara Kruger.” The Broad, EastWestBank, www.thebroad.org/art/barbara-kruger/untitled-your-body-battleground.