1. I have just completed a long and painstaking process of reading through and reviewing my entire blog. I have also supported every post with relevant and appropriate Tags. This was suggested by Jonathan during my most recent tutorial. The idea behind this is to organise my work and have an overview of what has been done and achieved so far. Any gaps in evidence may become apparent and, therefore, can be addressed.
2. Review and reflection on progress.
This is the fairest major review of my entire output up to date.
The initial part of my research was conducted in response to my observations and experiences from Haiti. My visual experimentation resulted in the production of several portraits of local people, who I met and developed a rapport with. They all had a story to tell and this underlying narrative was of primary importance. I initiated this process by manipulating my primary source photographs and edited them as video pieces and Gifs. Some of these explorations were supported by sound recordings, voice messages sent via WhatsApp and commentaries. The essence of this stage of my project was to communicate feelings of uncertainty, suspense and waiting for change. My creative intentions were to express the idea of fragility of life and, how one deals with this phenomenon. What has become important was to explore, how we view other people trapped in anxiety and a fight to survive . Frequently, my critical analysis of ‘waiting’ leads to portraying this passive motion as the only option available and the ultimate solution to sanity.
Additionally, I started using water jet as a way of expressing this instigated by circumstances ‘torture’ . The additional creative intention was to make my work less certain and, therefore, more thought provoking. I have started to develop my thinking further and made a paradigm shift from producing work ‘of something’ to developing a project about my chosen theme: Waiting. The Uncertainties of Tomorrow.
The apparent vagueness of these images increased the element of interpretative questioning, which in turn, had led to a claim of knowledge, visual discovery and innovation.
It has certainly forced a deep reflection upon me and made me realise how ephemeral the life can be. The force of the jet wash created movement and made the surface look distressed, as it was telling a story. Accidents and risks played a crucial role in this process and became the key ingredients of my developing visual language. Despite the procedure being repetitive, the outcomes were always unique and unpredictable.
With this experience, my ideas have moved forward to the next stage of experimentation with pieces, which appeared to be even less certain. I have decided to include a form of a machine intervention. My plan was to travel to various destinations to gather meaningful data and experiences.
To make progress with the project, I have already planned the next trip to Thailand and Burma. I want to record and experience, how other people deal with their existence, cope with their worries , while waiting for something to happen and initiate change in their lives. I would like to gather new and exciting primary sources for further development in the studio.
The current image I am working on is titled Pearl Twink. This is a portrait of a young mother of 4, who lives in a privileged yet very dangerous district of Lagos called Lekki. The are used to be one of the biggest slums on in he world. The locals used to call it ‘Morocco’. Currently, the entire area is very diverse and contains ultimate wealth as well as absolutely poverty and humans desperation in the dramatic fight to stay alive.
The image below is of Pearl Twink with an overlay of my provocative text.
HYPNOTIC REPETITION 