Reflect & Research

 Dystopia 'an imagined state or society in which there is great suffering or injustice' 5 characteristics of dystopian fiction  Government  control . Environmental destruction. Technological  control . Survival. Loss of  individualism . undesirable  frightening It is similar to the sublime but in a man made way the idea of being controlled the natural aspects have gone and it is all about who controls who  - but also slightly do humans control nature  - when thinking about dystopia nature never really comes into play, it is all about control and           technology 

 Utopia 'an imagined place or state of things in which everything is perfect'  'highly desirable or nearly perfect quality for citizens' Can never exist - is this because everyones definition of perfect is different? If you designed your perfect world - a utopia - it may not be the same as everyone else's It comes from a greek (ou-topos) word meaning - no place or nowhere  Very similar to the greek word eu-topos which means a good place It combines the two - it is a good place that is no where because it can never exist.

https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/s/sublime 'An artistic effect productive of the strongest emotion the mind is capable of feeling' The idea of the sublime is to produce unsettling feelings To remind us that we are second to nature Nature will always win We can try to overcome it and beat it however that will never happen It is almost a reminder, something to bring us back down to earth that actually we aren't the greatest power and force on earth. It is unsettling because we are second to something we cannot control

picturesque /ˌpɪktʃəˈrɛsk/ Learn to pronounce adjective (of a place or building) visually attractive, especially in a quaint or charming way. h     I am looking into the idea of the picturesque within my essay  however, what does it actually mean?           The Tate defines it as:     'An ideal landscape that has an artistic appeal, in that it is beautiful but also with some elements of        wildness'          To me this would suggest a place that is naturally beautiful, untouched by humans, if it has elements     of wildness then I would imagine this would be natural and not man made.      https://artmuseum.arizona.edu/events/event/19th-century-landscape-the-pastoral-the-picturesque-and-the-    sublime The picturesque means a place that is naturally beautiful, untouched by man. It was naturally formed in  this way. Does this mean that my images can never be picturesque? Because I have made them, does this mean that  in fact my photos are actually part of the Pastoral aesthet

https://artmuseum.arizona.edu/events/event/19th-century-landscape-the-pastoral-the-picturesque-and-the-sublime I found this article very interesting, it helped me to understand what the terms I am using mean. It has also introduced me to a new aesthetic concept of the pastoral. The pastoral -  is similar to a utopia in the fact that it is perfect for living. In pastoral scenes they are shown to have everything needed for humans to survive, crops, live stock. Everything is happy and in control by man. The picturesque - this is similar to the pastoral however everything is natural, man is not involved in the way these scenes are laid out. It is untouched by man and is just a naturally beautiful place. The sublime - this again is all natural however in a negative way, it shows nature to be powerful, more powerful than man ever could be. It makes us think about how in reality we are second to nature, we can try to defeat it but in reality nature will always win.

I have been looking at Robin Friends series 'Bastard Countryside' this series is an exploration of the edge lands of the UK. Similar to Spurgeons work, it looks at the contrast between human nature and natural nature. 'Places that inhabited a 'magical sadness'' Victor Hugo: 'ugly but bizarre'     'made up of two different natures'     'the end of the beaten track, the beginning of passions, the end of the murmur of things divine, the beginning of the noise of human kind' The photos focus on the things that humans have left behind, the ways in which we are making the planet ugly. However they are photographed in the most beautiful way, turning these ugly situations into something rather picturesque. It really makes you think about the effects humans are having on nature.

Peter Spurgeons work is said to reveal human stories in the landscape.  In his series 'Decoy' he explores former decoy locations that were used in WW2 to confuse enemy planes. These decoys were used to represent nearby cities and airfields so that they were attacked rather than the actual places. Surgeon artificially lights his work to create eerie feeling scenes. It animates the landscape and evokes the absent decoys. These images very much have an abandoned feel and give off connotations of the sublime. We know the story behind these photos and the subject is very important in history, although these photos give off quite negative feelings we know how much of a positive impact these sights had. I have mainly been looking at Spurgeons series called 'Beyond Limits'. These photos combine the ideas of the beauty and the sublime. The photos are of natural places that have been ruined by humans, wether that is through litter or industry. These photos also give off slightly

 Claude Gellee or Lorrain was a french painter. He painted landscapes sometimes with a few figures in them however usually they were disregarded and as he continued to paint the involvement of figures became less and less. Gellee included figures in his scenes to give his work more of a biblical feel, so people felt that they were looking at work that was a representation of a bible story. His work often included the sun which at the time was quite a rare thing. The reason I am looking at Gellees work is because he is mentioned in the landscape chapter of David Bates book, Photography: The Key Concepts. He combined the best parts of places he visited to create a new landscape, much like I have been doing in my work. Gellees work mainly focused on buildings rather than natural landscapes however the process and idea is the same. 'His scenes were drawn from nature but collated into singular idealised landscape compositions' 'perhaps the first 'virtual' landscapes'

 Notes from this chapter of the book and artists to look at as well as potential work ideas.

 Why am I creating these collages, what do I want to get out of it. What is the purpose for this. I enjoy creating these collages because I like to see what new places I can make, its almost like playing god. I am more interested in process and making things than just taking photos. This idea allows me to take something and change it into something completely new. It's interesting to me how so many photos from so many different places around the world can come together to create a place that looks so real. I enjoy experimenting, trying to push the boundaries of what is actually considered photography. The presentation of my work is also a big thing for me. I enjoy exploring how I can present my work how I can make it as interesting as possible, rather than just presenting flat images. I want to turn my work into something more than just a photo or a collage. I want it to be an experience for people to be submerged in my work in my ideas.  I think the main reason I am doing this is

My practise is about creating a utopia and a new way of looking at landscapes. I want to make people question what they are looking at and give them a new perspective of the landscapes that surround them. My practice is about taking photography out of its natural flat image form and turning it into something more, pushing the boundaries of what is considered photography and making people appreciate the processes behind the work. Taking an image and representing it in ways that the subject can seen. These are collages of landscapes from all around the world collaged to create a new place. I really like this work and I think the contrast between the urban and rural aspects works really well. This photo is of a cut up collaged arranged so that you can view it perfectly from certain angles. I did this by just using paper rather than lots of materials. These two images were created by projecting collages onto wall paper that was moulded into shapes to create a rough texture. I did this to r

I was very excited to try this test out however it didn't quite go to plan. I created a textured piece of clay that I wanted to project onto however the clay was quite small and the projector was not a high enough spec to focus that small. I think this could work if I borrowed a projector from uni as I have used them before and they are a higher quality. Or I could make a larger piece of clay to project on to. I think this could be a positive way forward and could potentially create a very successful outcome.

This tie to separate the layers I cut each section out and placed them one behind the other at different heights to create the layered perspective. Again this worked but I definitely feel like there is a better way to achieve this idea, this technique was simple in the way it just used paper rather than other materials. I have enjoyed testing out these ideas and I think after reviewing them I will be able to know which ideas to focus on and try to take further to perfect. I know what I want to achieve its just creating the perfect technique to show my ideas that will take time.

This test was the worst one so far, it didn't turn out as well as i expected it to. I wanted to try and recreate a similar idea to what I had tried before by separating the layers of the photograph so they came out at different depths. This time I tried using clay. I cut around each section and then stuck the photo onto the piece of clay afterwards and attached all the layers together. However the photos didn't stick great and the clay wasn't flat and a bit torn. I still managed to put the whole piece together however it doesn't look amazing. I think it would've been better if I had maybe attached the layers together when they were wet and maybe tried attaching the photos through emulsion transfer or something similar. I do think this idea could work however I need to think of a better technique. 

 My next idea to develop my work was to create some new collages and see what I could make. Instead of using just pretty scenic landscape pictures I decided to add in some more urban cityscapes some which could be quite recognisable. I took some photos of fields and mountains and added say scrapers into them. I really like how these turned out and they actually fit together quite well.