This week's creative act involved painting on a real canvas - something I don't recall doing in a very long time.
This product was intended to compliment the group project for this course. It was a particularly inspired act for myself, and reflecting on the process of creating this art would be especially worthwhile.
For this particular creation, the "incubation period" was longer than any other act I've done thus far.
The theme of the artwork is "H1N1 - How does it make you feel?". After conceiving this theme with my group, I immediately turned to media as a source for inspiration. At first I considered revolving the work around my frustration with the media's coverage of the issue. But after searching the internet and sifting through images in google's image search, I found myself rather moved by children and their response to the "swine flu scare".
I stumbled upon a number of images of kids receiving the H1N1 flu shot, all with different, but seemingly negative expressions on their faces.
Perfect! Two sub-themes came out of these pictures. Kids don't hide how they feel - and there faces reflect how I feel about swine flu hysteria.
After gathering many pictures like the one at the top of this entry, I wanted to showcase them in a way that made people ask themselves - how do I feel about this mess? Do any of the expressions on these faces emulate how I feel about H1N1 sensory overload?
I chose a number of photos, ranging from kids who were crying, screaming, mad or just disappointed. I think the boy at the top of this blog looks disappointed.
The next task was arranging them onto a canvas in a way that elicited a response. I was careful not to over do it, because I don't want the viewer to feel overwhelmed. I placed only 7 or 8 different images on the canvas in a way that didn't overload one side with the same emotion. This way there wasn't all angry kids on one side, all distant and disappointed kids on the other. This is because, after assessing the feelings that enter my body when I think of the h1N1 situation, I discovered that it is never one emotion I feel but rather a combination of anger, frustration and disappointment.
To bring more focus to the images, I bordered them with red paint.
I leave you with an image that is just plain funny:
Well Done, Rob! This is a very well written blog entry and it looks like you put a lot of effort into the project. I'm really proud of you for being so thoughtful and creative. I also feel the H1N1 hysteria is/was over the top and made me ask questions like who do I trust? In the end, I went with having faith in my own doctor, having faith in Health Canada. It's, in a way, the lesser of two evils. Hope you get a great mark on this project.
ReplyDeleteRob - I love your blog.
ReplyDeleteYou went through various files in your head and came up with a format that felt right to you. It felt right to me too!
Your Grandpa is pretty impressed with this blog of yours. I read it to him, and he says "You know, Rob is a deeper thinker than I knew".
The little one and the pig at the end? Priceless!