The central theme I want to explore in this project is illusion vs reality; exploring how what we see is constructed, manipulated and subjective. I want to challenge the viewers' trust in images because today especially digital editing and the rise of generative AI is rising. I will use Adoble Photoshop for editing this composition. The main visual will depict people swimming inside a martini glass, balanced on top a high heel. The colour will be primarily black and white with possible selective color accents. The martini glass with editing will become a distorted environment not originally meant for humans, showing a surreal scale shift. I wanted to choose a martini glass because they symbolize indulgence and/or artificial lifestyles. I have observed a recent trend of a “chic” minimalist lifestyle. Martini glasses, cucumber salads, clean girl makeup, cheetah print, dark red nails, vintage porches, the whole “old money” style in fashion have all been getting progressively more popular. I choose a martini glass because it shows this artificial lifestyle. The people swimming show human presence in unnatural/abnormal spaces. This suggests the idea of being consumed by aesthetic environments and also shows a sort of escapism. The high heel will display femininity and societal expectations, but having the glass balanced on top shows the instability between elegance and unrealistic expectations. All of these elements combined show reality is much constructed, and perception is shaped by media (such as edited images).
Photo shop allows for the seamless blending of real and unreal images. Images that look believable but are impossible. These images aren’t just work by some artists I have mentioned on this blog, they are also the photos we see on social media everyday. Even photos of food we buy are all edited and manipulated to look as appealing as possible. In this project I want to highlight how easily reality can be manipulated, encouraging viewers to question what they are actually seeing. This idea can be connected to broader ideas such as social media, advertising and marketing, as well as aesthetics and idealized lifestyles.
Artists like Salvador Dali and Rene Magritte explore similar ideas in their work. Their work is very “dream-like” and irrational. Modern artists use photoshop to blur boundaries between photography and imagination. They do this through a lot of time and use of layering and photoshop tools. I will use these tools and hopefully mimic similar ideas.
The color in my work will be mainly black and white. I decided to have it without a lot of colour because it is timeless, and it also removes distraction so the viewer will focus on form and concept. I have been using layering, blending modes, shadow and lighting matching, cutting, liquify tools, as well as other photoshop tools to try to achieve realism to make the illusion feel convincing yet still slightly uncanny.
My main goal for this project is to encourage critical thinking about images we consume every day. Not just determining whether AI generated a video or photo but noticing unrealistic images of the clothes we buy or the skincare we are advertised. I also love this project because I will explore imagination and how it can be used as a way of reshaping reality. In a digital world reality is no longer fixed, digital art can reveal how our perception is flexible and subjective.
Comments
Post a Comment