task#4 work titled 'white on black on white'

These photographs are lacking colour in more ways than one.  Black and white photography is a form of abstraction in itself, as we do not naturally see with black and white vision, but rather we see in colour. I am attempting to raise questions to the viewers as to how these compositions were compiled. I want to bring the viewers in for closer inspection while allowing myself to keep hidden a speck of mystery about the photographic processes and techniques used. Upon inspection, I also invite the viewers to contemplate the physical properties of the photographed objects and take a closer look at form and texture, as colour is noticabley absent.

task # 3, psych!

For this task, I wanted to create a visual piece that would toy with the eye. I attempted to create an optical illusion through use of colour, repetition, layers, and shape. To make this piece, I photographed a black and white, striped article of clothing three different times, moving it around slightly between each shot. I then created one tricolor image by layering the red channel of one, the green of another, and the blue of the last. By pasting these channels together into one image, I was able to transform the black and white shirt into a whacky mess of colours where the movement between shots took place. I then made a grid of 6 and digitally altered the colours of the original to make the other five slightly different. I then copy and pasted the grid over top of itself and each time made it smaller and smaller. I think that I was successful in created an optical illusion. I feel as though the piece vibrates on the screen as it is viewed, especially if the screen is scrolling ever so slightly. I think the layers of the grid make the work appear 3D and the intense, saturated colour helps to enhance this false depth. Both the layers and the rich colour make the viewer question whether the smallest square in the center is on the top or the bottom, if the image is popping out or if it is moving farther and farther away. 

task t'ree planning

task#deux

1a) Generally speaking, “-phobia” indicates a fear of some sort and “-philia” indicates an unnatural attraction or a tendency. Batchelor speaks of chromophobia as loathing colour, having a fear of contamination through colour. Chromophobia indicates an urge to purge colour, diminish it, devalue and deny the complexity of colour. In these cases, he talks about colour as being ‘other’ as feminine, oriental, primitive etc.  He speaks of chomophilia on the other hand as comparable to drugs as a state of ecstasy, bliss, as though falling into colour is like falling into grace or a state of desire. In this sense, colour indicates a loss of control and of consciousness. He sums these ideas up by saying that chromophobia realizes colour and then attempts to play it down while chromophilia realizes colour and in return attempts to play it up.

b) Does West experience one more than other? I think Western culture experiences both, although I think it’s really difficult to say which is experienced more on a whole level.

c) When I think of having a fear of colour or fear of contamination through colour I think about Western culture and this desire to fit in and not stand out, and to not do things out of the ordinary that would make people think that you are strange or abnormal. However as many people as there are who are like that, there are just as many who go out of the way to be different, and colour is a signifier of difference. However it’s so hard to be ordinary because it’s as though everything has already been done before, and is already a part of a group that already exists as something. So what I guess I’m trying to say is that when I think about these fears and wishes for colour I think about our worries about conformity…

2) Examples of colour lying over the surface include all types cosmetics (nailpolish, lipstick, hair dye, blush etc) all of which the role of colour is to disguise the natural state of what is underneath so it functions as an artificial mask. I’m having trouble trying to think of an example outside of film where colour is underneath the surface; however maybe I could say that colour is under the surface in the darkness? Colour is masked by the lack of light in the darkness and when the lights come on, colour is revealed. However I don’t think I know how to say in that sense what colours function is when it is masked by darkness. Maybe blood could be an example, because beneath the surface it is invisible and or appears blue but once exposed to oxygen it is revealed as red, so I suppose that the colour red in this case functions as a signifier of a wound, or puncture of the skin and to indicate that the blood has come in contact with oxygen. Red lights, black lights, tinted windows are all things that mask real colour and colour is not revealed until this artificial light or window are removed and the colour beneath is revealed. So I guess these things function to mask colour and are on the surface of colour and alter our natural states of vision.

3) The movie What Dreams May Come uses colour in a very significant way throughout the movie. The colours blue and red are really evident throughout the whole film, however the clips that I am posting portray a fall into colour from what I can see. In this part of the movie, Robin Williams has already passed away and his wife is having a hard time coping with his death. He keeps staying close to her and attempting to make her hold on to him and think that he is still there, where in reality he is no longer physically there with her. Each time that she senses his presence she only gets upset and angered, and usually ends up in tears. The scene right before the intense colour arrives, the wife is at the grave of Robin Williams and the colours seem quite muted, except for a strong use of greys and blue. He tries one more time to let her know that he is there and that he still exists and when he sees this time how much doing so is actually only hurting her, he says goodbye. When he wakes up after coming to terms with the fact that he has died and that reality is over, he must stop hurting her, he wakes up in a world saturated with bright, intense, liquid colour. This is his fall into grace, as he falls from a world trying to force his wife to hold on to him, and lands in a world where he has accepted his absence on Earth; he has entered his own Heaven.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqSGV0ePx0c (part 3)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irQRYvIpUuM (part 4)

4a) When Baudelaire speaks of colour as being autonomous, he refers to colourists and how colour in this sense is not a fall of civilization but rather a sign of actual civilization. In this awareness, there is an appreciation of colour and a rise above nature.

b) I think that a rather obvious example of colour having the power to be autonomous is in abstract and expressionist painting. The artists who are using colour in these works of art are using it in a way that has no clear connection to actual recognizable objects; therefore colour is used autonomously as something that stands on its own without having reference to anything familiar or decipherable.

5) When Des Esseintes speaks about the scenes in Against Nature I can’t help but think about drugs in general as an example of something that could relate to these ideas. He speaks of how colour can both conceal and enhance, well so can drugs, and they can also suffocate life. He says that the taste for artificial leads to a neglect for the real and how satisfaction can no longer be achieved with the artificial because that which is artificial becomes confused with nature or rather what is natural. So I think that there are a number of films that deal with drugs as subject matter for mistaking the artificial (under the influence of drugs) with that of the real (being in a sober state) and this need for more of the artificial. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Thirteen, Trainspotting, Candy.

6) I’m not sure what to say as a concept that I disagree with because I feel that all of the thoughts are well spoken about and give a clear visual of how they are used. As of right now in the readings I can’t put a finger on a disagreeable concept.

Ramblin'

I find it very interesting that in this class we have been advised to think about the way in which colour is used not only photography but on a broader level. While reading the first chapter of Chromophobia, I couldn’t help but think of the whiteness he was describing in relation to whiteness inside of contemporary gallery spaces. I took a course in the summer called Museums, Galleries, and Alternative Spaces, and many of our discussions and readings surrounded the idea of the gallery as a ‘white cube’, as spaces that eliminate any distractions so as to force the viewer to think about art and only art. While thinking about white on a more extensive level as we are in the class, white in itself does make us think about colour. One of the most interesting things that I have read so far is that we need colour to be added or paired with white for it to be so white, and that this idea of ‘whiteness’ would not be possible without a comparison to colour. I find it extrememly fascinating to think about the way that we see colour as individuals and that each of us sees colour in our own way. I find it a little bit strange to read about colour as being primitive, not serious, and superficial and as a secondary quality of experience, and find myself wanting to defend colour. I’m not sure why I feel this way because I find that the information in Chromophobia seems very legit and properly informative, it just gives me an uneasy feeling to read about colour as a general topic in relation to things that are negative. The whiteness that Batchelor speaks of is expressed as repellant, open for contamination, and termed ‘pure’ however when colour is spoken of it is this idea of delusion and confusion, as this other that is of lesser value than the white. Colour not only is read about in this text as hallucination and reminissent of dream/drug induced states but also as a disguise of a disguise.  For whichever of the cases that it is being described in, colour has to be tamed and controlled. Colour in all cases so far, these descriptions of colour seem to have negative connotations attached so them that make me feel somewhat tongue-tied.

As for other discussion and other readings that relate to colour in a different way than Batchelor, I think it is very interesting as well that for most of history black and white is seen in a higher value artistically than colour in regards to photography, while black and white is not natural to our vision as humans. Even though in many cases, colour seems to have attached to it the idea that it is added afterward, it is strange to me to think about colour as an additive in terms of photography. If colour photography came before black and white, the conversations that we have currently surrounding colour in this artistic medium would not exist on the same level at all. Since we see with our eyes in colour, it should seem to me normal to be able critique colour photographs on a level that didn’t involve an explanation as to why colour was used over black and white. In this same sense, we would be talking about black and white photography as subtractive of colour. However because black and white was initially there, colour photography hovers in this strange, tense and uneasy place.

Lastly, I’ll end this with a quote from Batchelor that I found online that I think fits very well with the position that colour holds in the contemporary world.

Colour belongs to the arts and the sciences, both to high culture and popular culture, both to theory and to story telling. Colour is truly fluid: it spills over subjects and seeps between disciplines as no one area can claim a privileged or proprietorial relationship with the subject.

task #1 response (responding to Rena's image)

A denotative reading of this image would indicate that this is a colour photograph of an already existing artwork. This is not the artwork itself but rather a photographic reproduction of stained glass. The image is of twelve drawn or painted figures with halos surrounding their heads. They are all dressed in colourful and baggy attire. They are all sitting around a table; the table has on it a cloth, goblet and a platter of food. The figures are looking in various directions around the space that they are in and that space appears to be a large building with a chandelier hanging from the ceiling.

A connotative reading of this image could suggest many things and since I am rather uneducated in religious subjects, I will do my best to translate my own interpretation. I believe that these subjects are saints, as the ring around their heads, the halo, suggests the holiness that they possess. The figure with the red cape appears to be Jesus, as He takes the highest position in the overall composition above the other figures, which suggests a greater position of power. Also his attire, red and purple, colours that both suggest power and wealth, add to this position of authority and rule. This to me implies that he is speaking to them, and they are all looking around in contemplation of what He is speaking about. His hand gestures also make it evident that He is the one speaking because his gestures seem very expressive and as if they are in mid explanation of a story. The two figures to the very left and very right of Jesus have their hands clasped which hint that they are praying. The male who is praying seems to be concerned because his eyebrows are burrowed in thought. The two figures in the foreground seem to be rather entranced at what is being said due to the positioning of their necks, outstretched from their shoulders. The figure on the far left in blue seems to be shocked because his mouth is open, he could be yawning however I don’t believe that is why his mouth is dangling open. The other figures all seem to be listening as well, but have less expression on their faces which could mean that they are in deep contemplation, a trance like state, or perhaps they are less affected I am uncertain. The food at the table suggests that these figures are having a discussion over a meal or a feast. Perhaps meal is a more correct term, as a feast would entail much more food. The layout of the figures also suggests a meal as they are all surrounding a table, rather than all of them standing in front or behind or to one side of the table, they are dispersed around it, with the food in the center. The background of the image sets the backdrop of where these figures are. The fanciful design and high walls suggest that this event is taking place inside of a church or a temple. I believe that because this is an image of stained glass, that the actual piece of work being photographed is a window inside of a church. The three thick black lines flowing horizontally across the image suggest a separation that to me further implies that this image is in a window of some kind as well as the fact that this image is longer vertically than it is horizontally which is the case of windows inside of churches, which are much longer height wise than width because of the high ceilings. Finally, I believe that because of the positioning around the table, the food in the center, Jesus being the central and highest figure, that perhaps this image is suggestive of the Last Supper, however I cannot be sure.