joana with one n [has a thesis blog]

I went to see Vik Muniz’s Pictures of Junk at Sikkema Jenkins & Co. when it was up in 2006. I guess I’d just forgotten the artist’s name, but I remember being really into the photographs. They were fun and reminded me of Where’s Waldo… and of a book with animals on every page in which the goal was to find the kid or a lizard or something that was hidden on each page. I wish I could remember the name of that book.

Anyway, I really like Muniz’s work, but it’s not the sort of thing I’m trying to do for this project. It could have been, but yesterday I decided that’s not what I want to do. It’s not about piecing a portrait together, it’s about taking a portrait apart and making that, the chunklet, the new portrait.

I don’t want people to look at an image and say, “Look dear, here’s a photograph of some girl…oh wait, that portrait is made out of meat.” Instead they should be saying, “This meat looks a bit funny, don’t you think? Oh, wait, I think that’s actually some girl’s face.” More or less. Except for the meat part.

With that in mind, I’m investigating the macro ability of my camera. I have a Canon S80, which allegedly has up to a 4cm focus position. I remain unconvinced. A quick test provided me with a series of out of focus shots.

I’m undeterred. Tonight I’m going to try to scan my face in a less smashed-against-the-platen way, and hope for the best. I really want these scans.

Does the school have a non-contact 3D scanner? I should investigate…

Bart and Lucy are so fucking cool. You know what I mean?


I love how they play with form. Too cool.

Ted thoughtfully sent me some interesting precedents to consider alongside my work:

Osang Gwon is the man. These sculptures are so cool.

He worked with Keane for their Perfect Symmetry album, and these articles at Hypebeast and Creative Review shows some of his process:

Rad.

This all got me thinking about David Hockney’s photo collages. I did a project in high school emulating his work, and I since forgot about how much I like it. Interesting…

From Longoland:

I met with Ted Byfield today, and he very helpfully gave me some ideas and references to work with. Thanks Ted! Awkwardly, I wrote my notes on a paper bag:

Like John Gerrard’s Dark Portrait’s, I want to throw my friends into a box, and make them wait until I take a picture. Rather than looking into the dark for an unknown amount of time, they will look at themselves. Behold, the mirror booth.

Some links:

Nick Nichols

Camera Traps

David Griffin on Ted Talks, discussing how photography connects us.

Scanner photography by Mike Golembewski.

Cars driving by a bus shelter in London.

Neat, huh?

Matt showed me this unbelievably great site: Laser Portraits.

God, that is so brilliant.

More insight from Marko:

Pepper’s Ghost is a theater trick used to make ghost-like objects appear on stage. It’s pretty awesome. According to Wikipedia, the viewer sees what’s in the red rectangle, but it’s just a reflection in a half silvered mirror (the green rectangle). Smart, huh? Yes, yes it is.