Emotions overview
Joy, grief and anger as starting points seemed overly obvious with little room to explore manipulate or attempt. I was to be proven wrong repeatedly over next weeks with various exercises each one showing a new way in which a singular and often apparent idea can be taken and stretched to its fullest and in which we can learn not only to create in different fashions styles media and expression but also in which we learn from ourselves and others and on how we perceive.
Initial exploration was conducted by word association, understand was not directed or limited it was simple by stating a word and ;listing it by following this in various chains till a word such as joy leads to through dance to step. Grief through blue to sea. And finally from anger through red to hand. Often associated words can have direct link but when in conclusion a piece is generated that has no direct connection.
This use of random selection was to occur latter by selecting numbers and selecting phrases from the pages selected. The outcome from this proved extremely interesting as it took me in a direction I had not attempted and reminded me of the potential of more imaginative painting towards a goal other that realistic
Next we considered the Ian’s matrix the opportunity to take a single word and passing it through random lists of media material styles and outcome possibility. This proved both humorous and potential. The only boundary that this exercise set is the one generated from our own imagining. The only time this could possible fail as an exercise in generating ideas will be the lack of trying it.
Naturally with the experimentation through the matrix, this theme began occurring across the other fields of work such as photography and then experimenting with the images that this created. Though they do not link directly with the emotions and or the zine. In just attempting them as an experience they allow you to visualise the possibility to lead you to creative outcome that you otherwise might not conceived as a possibility in the first place.
S.C.A.M.P.E.R was the next creative process that we considered. Firstly we selected each of the emotions and generated a mind map from these. Once this was don a series of thumb nail drawings that related to each was produced these were then passed through the various stages of scamper to visualise and review to see which were the best outcomes for each of the processes be it change, enlarge, reverse or adapt. Beyond these some of the examples were then generated so that they could be criticised. This was not an exercise in false modesty but a way of assessing how and what is perceived in there viewing. If what I understand to be their meaning is how my intended audience was and could perceive the image to be. This exercise in understanding may help me how best to understand how to present my work for my prospective audiences in the future. This will help in generate work for a client. Correctly understanding their desires and intent will increase the likelihood of success.
Due to the nature of my zine and the fact that is a subject that I feel very strongly about, anger would seem to be the easiest emotion to convey in my work. Be it the use of dark hue and visceral colours to portray an image and express the sentiment behind it, or to take a specific image and portray or manipulate it in such a manner as to suggest it. I also attempted to use humour as in the intended animation which though its subject matter is serious and tragic the conveyance of the message with humour will make the digestion of the narrative more palatable for the more sensitive audience and instead of shock factor it will subtlety convey the message to them. Grief of the three emotions I felt was the subtlest as it is a personal emotion often felt and not shared I chose singular images depicting isolation, and then relied on the positioning and in photographic terms the filtering of the piece to imply the emotional state.
Whilst generating some of the pieces for the emotions project I was able to produce several images photographically that though not applicable they may be of use in the future and are well worth keeping whilst other images and have proven interesting for how they can be a starting point for other experiments and exploration. The only limit to any project is not its immediate success but the possibility of what it may become. And though some pieces in themselves may be considered to be a failure as they do not achieve the standard or measure success that we wish they are a way to learn our strengths and inspire us to try either a new project or to start again and look at different media production adaption alteration or just to re assess with fresh eyes.
georgedotp 