The second image in this series has a much more realistic element of the actual Porn Star cocktail embedded into the overall composition. The under images, which portray female faces have been almost totally covered up. They now belong to the less important background. The drink is in the sub light as the primary focus of the work.
The idea discussed here is to expose the meaningless value of a posed “image” and social status. It is an attempt to trivialise the 5-second culture, which aims at the celebrity status and consumerism together with physical possessions become the key ambition, aspiration and desire.
The over-printing and blasting processes will follow with their true power and consistency of the method, which I am trying to develop.
My initial developmental focus on the element of ultimate hope for getting a few grains of rice to survive, has suddenly evolved and changed. It was replaced by an urgent and loud urge to visualise the desire of a local young girl, who is impatiently waiting for a cocktail called Porn Star. Therefore, I have decided to overprint her face with my newly developed screen titled: Porn Star is Born.
The new print is quite opaque, almost fully covering both: the under image and the portrait. The red and blue colours mix well and create a sense of patchiness and randomness. They also give a graffiti type effect, through layering and partial covering.
My plan is to allow this print to settle down before I attempt to blast it off again.
I have also gathered additional primary sources to process a new screen with a greater element of background detail, which reveals the context.
I have continued to overprint this image with a newly developed screen portraying a cocktail called Porn Star. I have manipulated a primary source photograph to make it more ambiguous and harder to read. This openness to interpretation is totally intentional and desirable. I would also like to continue to overprint this work to make the surface more distressed and tired. The breaking of top layers gives a very sensitive effect allowing the viewer to question what is underneath. My creative intention is to create a sense of curiosity. I am hoping to experiment with a greater amount of blending of colours between individual layers and employing a range of secondary colours using more transparent inks, alternating warmer and colder tones.
The other accidental effect, which I would like to continue to explore further is the dripping of washed out colours. This spontaneous process allows me to achieve an improved fluidity of colour and a more appropriate cohesion and bonding between the under and over images.
I am intrigued and inspired by the heavy texture scrunched up textures, which I have managed to develop. This is opens up an opportunity to isolate and enlarge smaller sections of this composition to reveal their hidden content.
This is also significant through its metaphorical meaning and connotations.
The process videos below are a record of the development of my current idea.
I have started to experiment with combining a number of contradictory in meaning images and brutally blasting them with a powerful jet of water, while purposefully ripping and tearing the canvas under pressure.
Currently, the under image is almost ready for the next stage in the process of its development and progress. It is suspended somewhere between the forces of creation and destruction.
I am planning to continue with the overprinting and blasting at intermittent stages in order to increase effects of layering, juxtapositioning and, finally, stretching this piece to the edge of its physical integrity. The concept is to echo the learning from critical analysis of my primary sources and field research findings.
Life is based on one brutal and vulgar contrast between the opulence of the privileged and the suffering of the starving. Additionally, this powerful contradiction is charged with a broad range of high level emotions and feeling, such as jealousy, anger and a total lack of understanding of the reasons behind one’s faith.
I am working on a new screen while developing and discussing alternative possibilities for further investigation.
My new concept titled after a primary source photograph of a drink: “A cocktail called Porn Star”. It is a symbol of the ultimate wealth and opulence, top-of-the-range experience of celebration, delectation with a complex flavour and a high class degustation experience. It is also a metaphor for a false high social status, meaningless aspirations and an empty desires.
The sandwiching of unnecessary wealth and absolute poverty may appear to be relatively crude and obvious. However, life is full of “right-in-your-face” contradictions and contrasts, which frequently amuse, shock and overwhelm witnesses. The layering technique, which I am trying to experiment with, allows for a smoother blending of both contradictory perspectives, while initiating a moral dialogue and forcing the element of questioning. Subsequently, any observer is forced to reflect on the most crucial dilemma of human existence: what is right and what is wrong . It is a form of the ultimate appraisal of human morality and breakdown of the bases of our virtuous spine of social rules, doctrines and principles.
This was a true ice breaking exercise, which allowed to erase boundaries between the online group and London based students. The other benefits included integration of year 1 and 2 students, and most importantly, the project gave everyone an opportunity to expand their horizons and become much more experimental in the development of ideas and discussions of alternatives. Ultimately, we all become much more sensitive in terms of our observations of the Universe and the attention to fine details.
Following numerous consultations, my group settled on an in-depth investigation of our current individual practices to make the project very experimental. Our creative intention was to develop a broad range of ideas rather than focus on a visual proposal for finalisation.
This proved to work very well and everyone made a valuable contribution to the dialogue of contradictory perspectives and the element of questioning of visual possibilities and their meaning. This process was supported be appropriate enquiring discussions and evidence of critical analysis.
All collaborative participants presented their research findings at the end of the day. We were the only group to remain open minded and approached the task with a truly experimental attitude; focusing on the reflective process rather than on illustrating the narrative.
A combination of group efforts put together on Padlet.
There are some action shots from the Low Res collaborative day project – Seeing.
I have created a group chat on WhatsApp and included three of my fellow students, Michelle, Friederike and Matt. My train arrived 2 hours late. Nonetheless, we have all managed to meet up and view an exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery together. It was a great pleasure to finally meet them in real life.
The current group show on display is titled:
”Black Mirror: Art As Social Satire”
The highlights of my visit are below:
Thses medium to large scale paintings on canvas were created using and addition of UV paints. The surface of them was covered with wrinkles and scabs of dried impasto in contrast to smooth and glossy backgrounds. The exhibition was displayed in controlled light conditions with spotlights pointing at each individual piece. I must say that the work was very visually appealing and quite fascinating to watch and discover intriguing and mysterious detail.
The artist made references to the degradation of nature and biological processes.
This is an exhibition of large pieces made from moulded metal with a heavy Emanuel layer, adding colour, dynamism and vibrancy. The artist is now in his 80s and is of a Russian origin.
I was on a totally overcrowded coach in Haiti. All seats were broken, ripped and absolutely filthy. I left early in the morning and with passing time, the refreshing sunrise breeze was replaced by a stinking stench of old sweat and … alcohol fumes. I was travelling from La Caye to an unpronounceable and mysterious road junction (as noted by a woman in my hotel) hoping to catch a connecting minibus to Jacmel. The day was extremely hot and humid. The bus was stuck in a traffic jam in scorching heat for over an hour. I kept looking through a dirty window to try to relax in this very claustrophobic and uncomfortable situation. My attention was drawn to the minibus on my right. There was a young girl staring at me through the window. She was expressionless, almost deadpan. The hot sun created an orange glare on the surface of the glass. Her face was somehow integrated with a number of layers of reflections of the surrounding area – mainly bustling traffic.
She was sat there, waiting with patience, stone-faced and humble. I smiled and took a quick and discrete photo of the bus and her. My fellow travelers got really disturbed by this; annoyed and angry. They did not understand my intentions. They definitely did not like seeing a tourist photographing their hardship. I realised that by displaying an expensive mobile phone to take this supposedly meaningless photograph humiliated the locals. It created an unnecessary division between them and I. It also reinforced our differences and the diametrically opposite sides of life and the world. However, all this had made no impression on the girl whatsoever. She remained untouched and unmoved, with exactly the same expression on her face. I begun to plan ideas for a painting. The same evening, I started to draw and make notes in my little pad. I really wanted to protect my memories from being forgotten before I return to my studio and translate my observations into a painterly interpretation.
I have worked on this image for quite a while now. Following a long process of change and manipulation, I have just blasted the red layer off and started to over-print the surface with a range of hot and creamy oranges. These new layers have been also partially washed off to reveal little parts of the under image. My intention was to create an ultimate superimposure of the many components and elements of this composition.
We are all waiting for something to happen, from little and insignificant things to big and pivotal changes. As a matter of fact, we spend our entire lives waiting for the end of a journey – the final stop. Our destination is unknown and unpredictable. This causes a lot of uncertainty. We are all subjected to mortality after all.
HYPNOTIC REPETITION 