Visiting Critic

For my visiting critic, I met with Justine Reyes, who is also a photographer. She seemed to neither love nor hate my piece. The biggest problem she had with it was that she believed my photos fell short of the complex emotions I was meddling with. She also said that a lot of the images were too literal. There were, however, some that she did like. An example of an image she thought I should have taken farther was the image I had of a razor that was about a secret in which someone did not shave their armpits. She said that since it is a shameful secret it should be displayed in that way. In my image, the razor is set against a white background that may suggest cleanliness so I understand where she was coming from in that aspect and I agree. I did not like how she seemed to later put down my work without directly saying so. I tried to explain my reasoning behind shooting some of the images in certain ways but she couldn't see my point of view and said that it didn't achieve what I said.  When she said that the images lacked meaning she continued by asking what the response had been so far for the work. I responded by telling her that it had been receiving great support and positive feedback. People who had secrets that were displayed as images were positively moved by its presence. Her only response was, "really?" as if she were surprised that it was actually enjoyed by others. I was hoping for a better critique but not everyone is going to love a work of art. To each is own I guess. It was just frustrating that I had worked on this for a long time a spilled my heart into that work and she treated it as if it were nothing. I definitely could have done without talking to her.  

THESIS COMPLETED!

Soooooooo....exciting news! I printed my images and am completely happy with them. They are the perfect color and lighting. For the installation aspect of the project, I have chosen to mount them on canvas and put plexi over the front. I didn't want a border around the images because I felt that it would distract the viewer from the images. I have also felt that this look is chic and clean, which is what I have been trying to achieve. The images are now ready to hang and are waiting for me to install them. My plan was to arrange them horizontally in two rows of seven, one on top of the other but am not entirely sure because I do not want to take away from the Post-Its that will be placed on them to label them. My final decision will come by tomorrow or Thursday when I am able to install. Happy installing! Can't believe this will all be said and done on Friday...oh how time flies

Printing!

I must say, I feel like I've been so busy lately with creating my images that I haven't been blogging!! :/ I have shot so many times on different occasions. I re-shot some, took some shots out of the series. I feel like this has been the most fulfilling creation of a series so far. I am so attached to this work and I really enjoy that about it. As of now, I have 14 images in total...a big change from the 5-6 I had originally wanted. I am much happier with my choice. I recently sent the images to get printed. Unfortunately they came out a little dark, so my plan is to fix them up a bit and get them reprinted.

This is one of my images...I don't to give away many more just because I want to surprise everyone! 

Thesis Crit 3/4

Friday was a particularly useful day. I have finished my images (YAY), so that is what I showed to the class. There were 14 in total and overall, everyone seemed to like them a lot. In our discussion, we tried to talk a lot about the installation and presentation of the show. Megan was the leader of the group who mentioned that since I am displaying photographs, it is important that I really plan out how I choose to arrange the photos in the gallery. She said that it was important and is something that could either take my project to the next level or make it less effective. My idea was that I wanted to have the photos frameless because I don't want the viewer to get distracted by a frame. Someone suggested a floating frame that I could buy at a craft store, which I thought to be a good idea. Megan also mentioned cutting my own plexiglass. Another thing that was mentioned was the relationship of the images to the secrets that I wish to represent on the gallery wall behind the photos. It was mentioned that I should make sure to create a balance between the images and the papers that I write the secrets on so that there is no hierarchy created.

As far as size, some said that they would like to see the images bigger, which I wouldn't mind either but I felt that making them grand in size would tag on a sense of grandeur to the images which would, in turn, create a hierarchy. I have since double the original number in the series but some still think that I should have more. Although I would love to do so, I feel that the series is content with the number that I have and that generating more may be excessive. I was very pleased with the feedback and was happy that people contributed to the discussion. If anyone else has any further feedback, feel free to leave it! :)

Kelly O'Leary's Critique Feb 18th

I can't say much about Kelly's overall plan for her project because it is meant to be kept secret. It is completely essential to her project and is something to be unveiled during the thesis exhibit. I think in creating her work, she should keep in mind that she should make it as concise as possible to the viewer. As a design and photography double concentration, Kelly is choosing to merge the two in order to create a sort of information graphic that includes photos. The photos, I feel, do not have to be fine art photos but be better suited as vernacular photos that have the equivalent skill level of a snapshot. Such aspects as the composition and light should not been take too much into account because it is important that the "performance" aspect of the photo be the center of attention. 


She should think about clever titles. Her project includes work with facebook and other online social media sites so it may be clever to create a pun out of the text used for any of the sites that she works with. I look forward to seeing this piece in its entirety because it is something that will be revolutionary, both in the sense of creating a public service announcement geared toward the issue at large and in the sense that it will be part of a trend of future artwork that relates that the main issue. Good job Kelly!  

New Thesis Under Way!

So, as you may know, I have completely changed my thesis within the past couple of weeks to something that is dramatically different from my pervious idea, and is something that I think will be definitely worth the change. I have chosen to still stick within something that relates to psychology since I am so interested in it. Like I mentioned in my critique response, I wish to explore the idea of telling and keeping secrets. Over the past couple of weeks, I have collected numerous secrets by means of Facebook, text message, and a Formspring account. Formspring is a website in which I am required to create a profile and people have the opportunity to post on it anonymously without disclosing any personal information. So far, I feel that this has been the most successful in gathering deeper and darker secrets. I have collected over 100 and plan to keep going while I make my images. 


http://www.formspring.com/dpozsony

Check them out on here and post !!


I have been shooting over the past couple of days and plan to post my progress when it comes. Until then I'll be submerging myself in an eternity's worth of secrets. See you then!

My Critique Response for Friday Feb. 4th

Today I presented my NEW thesis idea. Although I didn't have photos to show, which is my concentration and will be a part of my show, my group was receptive to the necessary preliminary work that I had been doing. For my project I am planning to collect secrets and display them in the gallery, some of which will be done through the use of photography. For the first major stage of the project, which I have been doing for the past 2 weeks is collect the secrets that would be used in the gallery. At this point I have collected over 110 and hope to get many more.

Derek, our leader in discussion posed many curious questions about my work that made me think of it from different viewpoints that I had not yet contemplated. One thing he mentioned was that I should think of my role in this project. What he meant was that I could view myself as a collaborator with the people who confide their secrets in me or I could be seen as a facilitator of thoughts. My response was that I felt I was both. I am a collaborator with these people in the sense that the project would not exist without them. I am actually dependent on their responses in order to create my art. What is feel stronger about though, is myself as a facilitator. I am facilitating ideas and private thoughts by means of the internet. Without being put in this role, I don't think that people would willingly tell their secrets.

In my plans so far, my idea consists of 5-6 photos aligned horizontally with the remainder of the wall space filled up with the rest of the secrets that I have. My idea was to put the remainder on Post Its in order to lessen the seriousness of the secrets themselves. I am open to other ideas but this is what I have so far. If I go through with the Post It idea, there was a very interesting comment made that I should contemplate. It was said that I should think about whether or not I want to document the Post Its and have them exist far past the project's life in the gallery or whether I want for them to be lost forever after the show is taken down. I am still thinking about how I feel about this comment and am not sure which route I wish to take. A further idea was to make a book of all the secrets.

Another interesting point made was that I may want to think about engaging the viewers by having them write their own secrets and posting them. One thing I thought to be problematic was the idea that some may not take it serious and post something trying to be a jerk. Also, for the sake of privacy, I think some may be hesitant to post s secret when there are others walking in such close proximity to them. I do, however, think it may b a good idea to involve viewers. It may be something that further strengthens my piece.

Check my progress so far with my collection and feel free to post anonymously! Remember, there are more that were given to me through Facebook, word of mouth or are mine so theyre not listed on the site.

http://www.formspringme.com/dpozsony