I N S P I R E D B Y I M A G E

As my ideas develop and I begin to test shoot I am also constantly developing project research. I have found new images and blogs everyday that are inspiring me. I came across these two sites in particular, http://www.patternity.co.uk/category/resource/ and http://klosetkase.wordpress.com/, which have a number images that are on a similar level with my ideas. I have included some of the images that stood in particular and have in turn made an impact upon my own project.

E X P E R I M E N T I N G

A big part of my project involves testing and experimenting with a variety of materials to see what will work and what won't, therefore the last few days have been spent utilising some exciting materials. In turn I have mainly focused upon thin metal wire, foam clay, balloons, magazine transfer, tights, LED lights, paper, putty, string and crepe paper. Although these my be materials you come across on an everyday basis I am looking at them in a fresh, unique way and my aim is to use them on the face and body to create new silhouettes and shapes representing the projects futuristic idea. A problem that has occurred during my time experimenting was in regard to ensuring futuristic elements are clear and won't be missed within my final outcome. The last few days of experimenting have led me to discover some exciting thoughts and design ideas giving me a better understanding of how well it could potentially work as an image. It has in turn proved a worthwhile experiment.

I wanted to have fashion images on the skin to express this idea of how we may perceieve fashion and beauty, is this the new way of wearing and expressing beauty, or could it possibly be the new way of seeing fashion photography? 

I took this idea to Sue (my hair and makeup tutor) who showed me a way of printing an image onto the skin. Using acetone nail polish remover we were able to transfer an image from an old stylist magazine (see first image below). I then went and picked up as many stylist magazines as I could get my hands on and started experimenting up my own arm (image below).

This idea is definitely one I want to run with and can't wait to start creating this specific look. Something I need to be aware of is the speed of application. You have to move quickly for it to print onto the skin, as once the nail polish remover mixes with the air it does evaporate rapidly. 

I used wire, crepe paper and PVA glue to create a slightly opaque effect and used LED lights to shine through. Although creating quite a pretty and interesting look however its power is not overwhelming.  In reflection I do want to work with LED lights so this is something to think more about.

The image below has been made using a foam clay that I picked up from a children's store. I picked up two small pots of this and after shaping it and playing around I decided to go back and buy some more pots. I picked up 10 more but chose a whie/grey colour instead. I felt this colour tone  was more fitting to my theme and it looked better as the black one contained visible transparent white foam (as you can see from the image below). I shaped them into numerous different shapes and let it dry for a few days until it became solid. 

Balloons have been difficult to experiment with as I'm generally terrified they will pop when blowing them up or moving them. However I plucked up the courage to use them for an idea I had. I stuffed a pair of thick black tights with numerous different sized black balloons and put the top of the tights around my head. I loved the way it took the shape similar to that of certain architecture I had spotted weeks ago. The image doesn't express my idea as well as I had hoped but it did look really effective, the fact that it was hard to photograph may prove problematic so I will have to be cautious of lighting and take this into consideration.

Image taken from http://the-bestarchitecture.blogspot.co.uk/

L A D Y G A G A

At the start of this video you can see the slime and movement. I thought this was important to include as part of my research. This slime art was actually made by Bart Hess and as well as making this he also developed an outfit from slime. 


Some of Hess's work is also shown below. I particularly like how they re-shape the figure in an innovative, almost unnatural way (images taken from http://barthess.nl/portfolio/strp-mutant/).

Below is an image that describes how this particular slime is created.

Q U I E T E S - V O U S , P O L L Y M A G G O O ?

Here is the opening scene to a French film set in the late 1960s. This opening scene has proven great inspiration. I will take hair and makeup inspiration from this video when creating the hair and makeup for my photoshoots.

This video reminded me of something Sharon had said about looking at 60's space age fashion. Here are some images I found on google to show this particular space age fashion of the period. 

N E W P R O P O S A L

This week I went to Sharon's drop-in so she could suggest some useful research points. This was a great help and in the next few days you will be able to see who was suggested and shown to help my research and development. I also had this weeks tutorial where I showed Clementine some of my research and told her some of my ideas. As well as this we discussed the whereabouts of the project in regards to its progression and the experimenting of materials and products, as well as conducting research. Clementine was able to give me some reasonably positive feedback within my research saying I was on the right track and that I generated a considerable amount. I did express my general concern about the project and that I wasn't feeling over all that confident about the direction it was heading. In reflection I am glad I was able to speak to someone about this. Clementine suggested that I went over my proposal statement and altered it to fit my new direction as this would help me feel clearer about objective and to generate more confidence in regard to my ideas. 

Proposal Statement:

The intention of this project is to design and create a collection of pieces that focus around a theme of futurism. This furistic theme will be achieved through the adoption a vast of range materials and was chosen due to the ever developing demands of the fashion industry. 

The materials adopted will play a distinct and intricate role within expressing the ideas and themes of the collection.

The pieces will be designed to adorn the face and body of its model. This design was adopted due to the rather restricted current use of jewellery and the therefore apparent gap within the market for the production of these pieces. Once created the the collection will be then both photographed and presented within a book emphasising this design of adornment between the face and body.

 My proposal statement was quite different to the intended outcome now. altering my proposal statement has helped me achieve this. I must now begin experimenting with textures and materials and hopefully this will enable the shoots to take the correct direction.

A R I A N A P A G E R U S S E L L

WOW! Ariana Page takes the idea of modifying the body into new realms. Page has dermatographia, which is a condition in which her skin is hypersensitive. This causes painless and temporary welts that emerge when lightly stroked, scratched rubbed and sometimes even slapped. Russell uses her condition to create her artwork making patterns on different parts of her body and photographing them as the skin becomes irritated and swells. Her work is very unique and not something that is obtainable by many, please see below some images that show some examples.

When I first saw these images it made me wince a little and want to look away because what Russell creates looks painful, although in fact avoiding causing any pain. I think its amazing that Russell embraces her condition and is able to make these unique images. 

Images taken from http://www.arianapagerussell.com/

V I D E O I N S P I R A T I O N

I have been looking at a range of artistic/fashion videos. The use of shapes, materials, textures, lighting and emotion in the videos are both innovative and exciting whilst also appear to play upon the idea of futurism. All of the videos look at the idea of movement. This is something I would like to portray as a strong concept within my imagery with particular focus upon movement into the future and time. At this stage I am not sure how I can do so as I am producing a range of images not a video. But this is something I will look further into and accessing these videos have provided more inspiration to continue with this idea. 

As well as looking at creative videos I have been researching thoroughly the idea of futurism and the way the body can be interpreted into this. I have caught up with my research but I am feeling slightly lost with what I will be creating. At this point I feel I have actually lost my way slightly. Some more researching of ideas and a tutorial this week should help me get back on track.

S K I N J E W E L L E R Y

'In the future all makeup will be like this.'

(http://www.jmaskrey.com/index.php)

After seeing the work of McRae and Hess I have started to look at ideas differently. I am looking at a new take on jewellery and looking at the idea of skin jewellery. J. Maskrey started her career as a makeup artist and has now furthered this with some hand crafted pieces made with innovative materials. I have included a few images of her work to represent this. 

The materials Maskery use add texture, sparkle and colour to the body in a modern way that will appeal to a wide audience. Appealing to a wide audience is the aim within my project and I will be aware of this factor throughout the development of my project.

J. Maskrey has even taken this idea further and is now adding the jewels onto clothing to create a clothing range that dazzles. Looking at this range was helpful as it has helped me to see placement of the materials onto the body. The nation has recently been taken by storm and has been popularised by the television show The Only Way Is Essex is the Vajazzle in which the idea of combining jewellery and the body has been adapted..

Images taken from http://www.jmaskrey.com/

L U C Y A N D B A R T

'Lucy creates provocative and often grotesquely beautiful imagery that suggests a new breed existing in an alternate world'

(http://www.lucymcrae.net/about/)

'His work is of international stature, he finds and creates its own stage and international collaborations with prestigious names such as Lady Gaga, Palais de Tokyo, Iris van Herpen and Nick Knight.' 

(http://barthess.nl/about/)

My research looking at not only the face but also the body begins with Lucy McRae and Bart Hess. The fashion/art duo tap into new worlds with their innovative designs and they create pieces that challenge you to keep looking despite the want or desire to look away. Within their designs they cover a broad range of subjects such as architecture, fashion, performance and the body. 

In the images they create the transformed human, one which seems to have little clear expression or identifiable emotion in the face. The modification appears only presented by the model rather than fashioned. This creates a strangely unnerving feel and yet addictive in regard to the viewers desire to see more. Something I need to consider when producing my photographs is wether I want to create an emotional bond with my model and reader, or do in fact simply want the work to be presented by my model. I feel relieved to have found the work of McRae and Hess as it has made everything within my research seem that bit clearer.    

Looking at the work of Lucy and Bart creates a wave of excitement for my project. I can't wait to start experimenting with different materials and seeing what I may possibly create. The rest of this week will be filled with trial and error experiments to identify what materials work and which may not. When initially researching work along this route I felt confused about how I could make something completely new and unique. However, after looking at the work of McRae and Hess ,I understand now it is what you are intending to represent and your thought through design that is key.

Below I have selected a few images to show the relevant work of Lucy McRae and Bart Hess.

Images taken from http://lucyandbart.blogspot.co.uk/

T U T O R I A L

Today I had a brief discussion with my tutors Sharon and Chris about my various  ideas. As this was my first tutorial I've had with both tutors my idea was completely new to both. This tutorial gave me a fresh pair of eyes and insight upon the project. Both Sharon and Chris have now given me a new and very different perspective in comparison to my original thoughts and from this I will be looking at possibly taking a slightly different direction in general.

Both Sharon and Chris agreed the project seemed exciting and a bit different, which is one of my main aims, so I was pleased that I appear to have achieved this. However it was said that the materials I want to use aren't really representative of futurism as they are materials that have been used for many years and are actually one of the oldest materials available. They also questioned why I wanted to use the jewellery only on the face. My reason for this is because I felt there was a gap in the market for such an item. So does this mean i should be thinking about using the body not just the face? This is definitely something I need to consider.  

Although the idea of using new materials is exciting and could potentially make for a better outcome I am now feeling slightly behind in my research and development stage. With quite a lot of information to process I think my first step will be researching new materials, scientists, artists and numerous other routes that might help me gain a stronger starting point.