[ This was written to present to the weekly chat session for online students. As such, it’s a brief version of a longer and more finished proposal which I’m still working on. My thinking was that I need to focus on a particular subject and many of the other concerns outlined in my first project proposal can be addressed more through formal experimentation. ]
I’m working with everyday (and seemingly mundane) images, texts and objects from the urban environment – specifically from inner London. In doing so, I aim to:
• reveal the visual qualities of the often decayed and distressed nature of such subjects, and question conventional notions of beauty and ugliness;
• supersede the idyllic, rural subjects of traditional landscape painting with those of urban street life;
• celebrate working class and popular culture, and challenge elitism;
• validate the intrinsic aesthetic value of the inner city, while simultaneously highlighting its problems, such as poverty and alienation;
• address global questions about the relentless shift of populations from the rural to the urban and the increasing expansion of megacities;
• reflect upon my personal journey as a young man from a small town to the big city.
I’m using digital photography (as well as found objects, texts etc) and combining various print and handmade techniques to create multilayered, multi-coloured pieces. I’ve recently been looking into using lightboxes too.
I’m also considering how to include elements of video, interaction, social engagement (perhaps through crowd sourcing) and public installation as the project develops.
Let’s make the ordinary extraordinary through the transformative power of the creative process!
Above all I aim to make work which generates an emotional response in the viewer.