The Switcheroo - This American Life
The gentlemen talking about their experience with Cindy Sherman was very interesting. She was not only a celebrity to them but she was a character that they misunderstood. She was very mysterious to them. It was almost as if they were children at a dinosaur exhibit at a museum and an actual dinosaur approached them. They were timid yet intrigued. Baffled.
However I didn't quite understand Edgar's comment about never knowing Cindy Sherman as if he would have preferred if she didn't approach the guests at her show. He said if he were her, he would have been embarrassed. After all, she is an artist and probably wants to know how people accept her work (if they even do). To not allow her to celebrate the reactions of her pieces is unfair I think. It was as if they wanted her identity to stay hidden forever.
The Cindy Sherman impersonator is definitely an interesting social experiment that I would like to be apart of. I think in most photography, you have the opportunity to become someone you're not - even if it is unintentional. There is always an element of mystery in photographs. The viewer asks themselves who is this person? what are they doing? why? Even if the photograph is a typical man on the street, the audience will always relish in the actual identity of the man.
Inspiration:
I was inspired by landscape: large leaves and the petals of flowers. Not only do they have a lot of surface area to cover the 90% of the body that is required, but the form they create is delicate and whismsical too. I want this to be tribal yet open for interpretation.
This is a drawing of a model holding arms above the head. I will try to photograph the final product this way to create as much height as possible. I want the model to become the "plant". There will be layers of stems and leaves, starting from the wrists to cover the face, then at the biceps to cover most of the torso area. I will then either add more to the knees to cover the shins or stop there. If I stop there, the composition and pose of the model will differ. I want the piece to look raw, yet put together on the human body. It needs to excentuate length and how the body acts as a sturdy trunk for the leaves to rely on.
I will also most likely shoot the model topless so the skin is the only thing showing behind the piece. I want the wirey veins and the crinkles of the paper to be the centerpiece.
Option 1:
Option 2:
This is an elementary photo, but is has the correct proportions I'd like to demonstrate. Large, firm leaves with stems that can withstand it's weight it creates.
Here are some photos from your Pinterest that further inspired me to create my piece.
"Leaf Man"
In process photo:
4/10/14 Progress
4/21/14 - Completed
The final piece is much more layered than I intended. The more pieces I made, the more variety they had from each other. I kept the idea of elongating the body by having the model's outreached hands up in the air and a long piece from the waist. The forms ended up dripping off the body so it flowed from the head all the way to the feet.
I wanted the sculpture to act as a single organic form with the human body included. I designed many more small accent pieces than I intended which I am not sure adds to the piece altogether. I made an ear piece and a necklace with the wire and paper.
I photographed the model wearing the piece in nature because it was nature that inspired me. The forms, the textures etc. I made sure the scene was secluded enough so the focus would undoubtedly remain on my subject. The first few photos the model stands near rocks - I thought my leaf-like pieces hanging from the model were similar to the rocks (size, shape and color). I also took photos with the model off-centered and the pond taking up most of the photograph. I did this to illustrate the contrast between the two visually - smooth, sleek water and my crinkled, bubbly and alive form.
