Project 1: Appropriation/Reconstruction/Deconstruction
For this three-part project, we will cover a range of set design, lighting, and camera techniques--from very basic to somewhat advanced--as we work toward an increasingly sophisticated understanding of the codified meanings manifest in popular imagery.
Step A : Working closely with me, you will select a single photograph from a print ad from a magazine. Yes--it must be physically on paper. An online ad won't work. Employing the techniques we will cover in class, please produce an exact copy of the ad--not by scanning it (duh), but by lighting, re-photographing and printing it. Sounds easier than it is.
Step B : Having spent some hours looking at the photographs and discussing the possible ways they may have been executed, we will select a few to re-produce from scratch. Working with at least two other students in class, you will design a set and lighting scenario and shoot your own version of the ad--aiming for as much fidelity as possible. Any products shown in the ad must be made by you--not purchased. We'll work together on this, so don't panic...yet.
Step C : Having discussed the work with me and your peers in the class, you will now identify and articulate the underlying meaning of the original ad and produce a work which challenges or contradicts it. This may be a close parody of the original ad, or simply a stark alternative work that refers to it somehow. You will produce this final work with the 4x5 view camera using electronic flash in the studio and will work with at least two other students in the class.
We will critique your finished triptych (3-paneled work) of prints on Thursday, Oct. 11.