Working Subject:
The Uncanny – deterioration of a residential building and fading memories – human absence
My unedited series of photo shot on location:
capturing building, close up views, and environment, trying to capture a sense of place and space.
- Stefan513593 – Assignment 5 – photo series#1
- Stefan513593 – Assignment 5 – photo series#2
- Stefan513593 – Assignment 5 – photo series#3
This series of photographs cannot reflect and convey the entire sense of whole embodied experience on site. I decided to bring some structure into them, printed them out (inkjet printer) and places them in some order in a rather free association in my sketchbook.
Work in sketchbook A4:
- Stefan513593 – Assignment 5 – sketchbook location #1
- Stefan513593 – Assignment 5 – sketchbook location #2
- Stefan513593 – Assignment 5 – sketchbook location #3
- Stefan513593 – Assignment 5 – sketchbook location #4
I concluded that the following aspects do bring together a sense of place:
- Surrounding environment, nature
- Residential building as home and human presence
- Deterioration of building as process
- Human absence as a signifier for uncanny sensations – unhomely
- Windows and doors: in german ‘heimelig’ and ‘heimlich’ – in english homely and hidden, concealing; transition inside – outside / internal – external
- Signs for human presence and absence, e.g house number, closed shutters, protection fence
- Reflections, my inner perspective
My goal:
- Visualising my personal embodied encounter and the emotional responses
- Leaving space and time for the observer to respond without conveying symbolic meanings
- Conveying a sense of a ‘natural’ process of deterioration
- Conveying a sense of transition: inside-outside / internal-external
Possible visual ideas based on this series of photographs:
- overpainting (context e.g. Gerhard Richter or Andrew Haire) => Photograph overpainting
- documentation (context Cornelia Parker) => collage, process painting
- use as photo reference for painting incl found materials (context e.g. Anselm Kiefer) => index, texture, ground
- Juxtaposition with drawing and painting (context e.g. Craig Donald) => installation, collage, writing
- inspiration for layers, step sequences and not-control (context e.g. Graham Chorlton) => monotype, fluid handling of paint
I have to explore the most successful approaches with my sketchbook work and trying to be less pre-mediated and more focused on the process of the painting-making.