For
this final project I chose to create impersonal composite images of clothing
that I created with the use of photographs of artwork and clothes from my own
wardrobe. The art that I chose to use was selected on the basis of color. I
wanted to keep a unifying theme of earthy tones, such as olive green, brown,
and yellow ochre.
One of the most challenging aspects
of this project was the shooting. My ideas for the outfits were based off of my
own clothes, and I did not feel comfortable or even willing to dress someone in
my own outfits for this project. At the same time, I also did not think it was
right to have someone else take the pictures for my own photography project. In
the end I chose to be both the shooter and the subject, taking dozens of images
of myself by using a timed continuous shutter release.
My original idea was to simply
create clothing against a pretty background, with most of the work on
Photoshop. This morphed into an idea that had much more thought into it.
Instead of slapping images I like onto clothes I took the opportunity of having
myself in the images to incorporate fitting props. For example, I held a Campbell’s
Soup can in the image where I used Photoshop to turn Andy Warhol’s portrait
into a pattern on my black and white striped dress. Some of the artwork is not
so clear and functions more as a design, such as in my image in which I wear
the brown sweater and green tights, with my back to the camera. For this image
I placed a picture of Henri Matisse’s very abstract 1930 sculpture, Back, IV. (Naturally a sculpture of a
back should go on my back, I figured).
In another image I placed Emil Nolde’s 1909 painting of The Last Supper upon the front of my
black tunic as I made a somewhat religious pose and held a muffin and cranberry
juice as substitutes for bread and wine. In the image where I put Edouard
Manet’s 1863 painting Lunch on the Grass
I held a picnic basket and in the image where I made a pattern of Piet
Mondrian’s minimalist 1912 piece, Apple
Tree in Blossom, I surrounded my feet with apples. I held and pretended to
play a guitar in the image where I placed Pablo Picasso’s Three Musicians three times across the front of my sweater,
contorted myself into the most dance-like posture I could muster in the image
where I placed Andy Warhol’s 1962 piece Dance
Diagram upon my skirt, and made a pattern of Picasso’s 1905 work, Family of Saltimbanques, which I felt
fitting because the subjects of these piece are supposed to be traveling circus
performers who would potentially use a backpack. In the image of me wearing
boots and wielding a spade I used Willem de Kooning’s 1950 piece, Excavation as a repeating pattern,
choosing to hold a spade due to the association with excavating. Finally, for
my image in which I am licking an envelope I placed Mr. Darlington’s Still Life, a 1890 trompe l’oeil upon my shirt
with consideration of color I changed my shirt and the objects in the
still-life, namely the envelope. Overall this was a fun, inspiring project that
made me realize that clothing design is far easier on Photoshop than in real
life.
