I recently gave a presentation on artist Robert Montgomery. He combines sculpture, poetry, and photography to create powerful installations focusing on the written word. Like artist Jenny Holzer, Montgomery tries to make statements with his art. Click through to see some more of his work.
After reading Rania Matar’s description of this project, and while glancing through the images, I became acutely aware of my room and the belongings within it. I at once recognized both the calm I felt in my own and space and the discomfort of wondering how others may perceive me if the glance into my world they had was through one image. The postcards on the wall, my family’s photographs, the little collections of objects that litter my shelves– how would they look to someone who has never before met me?
Matar’s powerful compositions captured beautifully the vulnerability involved in revealing something so personal as your room. With only names and locations to guide us, the viewer is left to make their own interpretations of the girls in the images based on their clothing, their expressions, or the objects that surround them. Though we really know very little about the subjects, there is a feeling of closeness that is brought forth by the truthfulness of the images. Whether the subject lives in Boston or Beirut, the viewer can feel a connection to them through their vulnerability. I think this project is very unique in its ability to reveal the true nature of being a young woman– something that is not unique to any one country but is universal. So, too, can this vulnerability be applied to nearly everyone. Revealing something so personal is scary for everyone, and I think Matar did a beautiful of of capturing something that is very difficult to display.
My dad places these little “you are beautiful” stickers all over: bathroom mirrors, inside of books, the dashboard of the car. It’s his little way of making us feel loved, and I really like it. This one is right on the bathroom mirror, and as a member of the selfie generation, I decided to partake in the newly forming tradition of the bathroom mirror selfie.
J.D. Salinger is my all-time favorite author, and I remember reading this quote in his novella, Franny and Zooey, last year. Artist Evan Robertson takes famous quotes such as this one, and makes graphic posters out of them. I love this one because I think it very accurately puts the words into visual form, I can imagine the rain-words coming down and creating poetry. Overall I think this is a really interesting idea, and I would love to try it out myself some time with some of my other favorite quotes.
I posted a picture from my final project of last year in September, and here is another from that collection. Our upcoming project is titled “Reflections”, and it reminded me of this image. I would like to play with the idea of mirror reflections and how people see themselves. We spend a good portion of each morning in front of the mirror: brushing hair and teeth, washing faces, putting on makeup. I’d like a chance to shine some light on these experiences.
This weekend I went to San Diego with my friends Mia and Mason. We didn’t get a chance to take beach pictures till it was already dark the first night, so once again I experimented with the flash setting on my camera. I love the way some of these pictures turned out. They have an almost surreal kind of look, and the contrast is really interesting.
Here are a couple of my favorite images from that night:
I discovered this site a couple of days ago, and just got a chance to check it out today. This “interactive film” created by Chris Milk is extremely interesting and creative. It takes you on a video-journey that collaborates with google maps to create a personal music video for the song “We Used To Wait” by Arcade Fire. The journey gives you real video of your childhood home, or any other address you use, and the experience is really amazing. It’s difficult to completely explain, so try it out for yourself!
While browsing tumblr, I came across a collection of photographs by photographer Brandon Stanton entitled “Humans of New York”. Each simple portrait of an everyday citizen of the city is accompanied by a little excerpt of conversation, a location, or a small tidbit of information on the subject. I love these portraits because they seem extremely personal. After reading “Let the Great World Spin”, a novel by Colum McCann that beautifully encapsulates the essence and diversity of New York City through extremely detailed characterizations, I was able to make interesting connections between the photos and the literature. I love being able to glance into the world of others through art, whether that art be created through written word, drawing, painting or photography.
Here are a couple of my favorite images from the collection:
“We’ve been best friends since 1967”
“You look kinda like Ernest Hemingway.”
“And we’re both from Key West.”
“You’re from Key West?”
“Well, I used to smuggle coke out of there.”
“If people don’t start paying closer attention, we’re going to be living in a corporate fascist state in no time. We’re paying $3.50 for a cup of coffee. You know how much a POUND of coffee beans costs? $3.50. But nobody knows that. Cause nobody’s paying attention.”
Last year, after learning how to layer photographs, I experimented a lot with “double exposure” images. I love this one in particular. Her harsh stare and the bars of the window enclosing her create a really interesting dynamic. The subtly faded “Lost all your marbles?” at the top makes the image really powerful in my opinion.
Music has always been extremely important to me. In the background of all of my favorite memories plays songs from a wide range of artists. This song is one of my favorites to listen to at the beginning of each day. It makes me feel optimistic and happy about starting off on a brand new experience!
Sierra Decker 