Title: Down the drain Size: 18 in x 22 in Medium: photography Completed: March 2024 Exhibition Text This piece was all about juxtaposing negative and positive energy. The negative energy is my dead hair coming out of the shower drain which is being opposed by the symbol of protection on the dangling ring. I wanted this piece to look creepy and boring at the same time so I made the photograph be dull in color and symmetrical so the eye is only drawn to the middle. |
Artistic Inspiration
Artist in Focus: Hiroshi Sugimoto
Sugimoto created a series of work capturing the electric currents of lightening. Sugimoto was born in Tokyo, Japan where he also attended Saint Paul's University- also known as Rikkyo. He then came to the United States and went to the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles. As soon as he graduated, he moved to New York where he makes performative art, architecture and many other mediums. Although his main focus is photography. |
I will be using Sugimoto's work in my piece with hair. Instead of replicating electric currents, I will use his work to inspire the hair that will be coming out of the shower drain in my photograph. I was first drawn to Sugimoto's art because of the contrast of light with the bright white bolts and the black background. I am going to be replicating this in a less dramatic manner with the brown hair against the bright blue bathtub.
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Planning
Setting= the setting is the bathtub in my house.
Community= "community is something that a group of people could relate to in some way". I am focusing on my personal community within my house. I also know that with this piece, the audience will recognize a bathtub but might not know the significance of why it is being photographed. I also know that the global community will understand the context since the piece relates to the COVID-19 pandemic. Details= I will be holding a string with my ring tied to the end of the end while it is being dangled over the shower drain. The picture will show my hand with all of my jewelry on except my ring. There will also be hair coming out of the drain, stretching towards my hand. Symbols= The symbol on my ring is a pentacle which is a symbol of protection from spirits and negative energy. The hair coming for my hand represents the negativity that my hair gave me since I hated it and also how I was having irrational fear. |
Process
Ever since I came up with my project idea, I have been collecting hair from my hairbrush and buildup from the drain after I take a shower. I wanted to use a lot of hair coming out of the drain since I tried to use a few strands and it made the hair seem not as significant. Since the hair was clumped together and knotted, I dunked each piece in a cup of water.
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Once all of the hair was wet, I started laying each strand down by the drain. Since I wanted my piece to connect to my inspiration, I kept each strand clumped together and then laid the pieces side by side but in curved lines. I splashed the remaining amount of water over the bathtub to make it look like someone had recently showered. Since I wanted this photo to be realistic, I did not clean my bathtub to make it look nicer before taking my photos.
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I was playing with the idea of making the ring dangle so I tied a piece of hair to the ring and then took tape and taped it to the faucet. The hair that was holding the ring was barely visible which gave the allusion that the ring was actually falling into the drain. Having the ring placed in between the circular switch and the drain gave the piece even more symmetrical balance and created repetition of circular shapes. The tape was also not visible when faced straight ahead.
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Experimentation
I was playing around with the lighting in the bathroom. In this photo, I had the light in the shower on and the light around the mirror outside the shower but still in the bathroom. I liked how the shadows looked against the brighter parts of the tub but I felt that the photo did not show the blue I wanted to capture.
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I turned off all the lights in my bathroom and took photos with the flash on my camera. I ended up loving the way this looked because the blue color is apparent in the photo. I also think that the color adds a more ominous look to the photo since it is obvious that the rest of the bathroom is dark. I did appreciate that the flash made the metal faucet and drain shine because I think it will cause the same effect on my ring.
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This photo was taken with me sitting as far back in my bathtub while the camera was zoomed in. I was hoping this would cause I cool perspective but since I was taking this photo on an IPhone, the camera quality decreased the more I zoomed in. I do not like the scratchy nature of the picture when it is thoroughly looked at.
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I was experimenting with having the picture taken with my phone vertical than being horizontal. I think it adds too many details in my shower that are not the emphasis of my photo. I was also experimenting with the zoom out feature on my IPhone. In this photo, the zoom out was set to 0.6 which gave the picture an interesting angle but I feel that this is not a good option for my final piece.
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Critique
Similarities:
These pieces share similarities with the same kind of line work in the lightening and then in the hair. Both of these movements branch out from a larger area and break apart. Another similarity is how the pieces lack complexity and rather only have a few focus points. |
Differences:
My piece has more color and the color is used to draw the focus towards the middle with shadows. Sugimoto's piece lacks any color and is also 2-dimensional. The balance in my piece is also directly in the middle with nothing unbalancing that whereas Sugimoto's piece has a lot of imbalance since the lightening bolts are not organized in a pattern. |
Reflection
Overall, I love how this piece turned out because of its simplicity. I feel like in art, I always try and go for a big complex idea because I feel like it is more valued, but with this piece, I really loved how I did not have to bend over backwards to try and figure it out. I also feel like I often use a lot of color within my work but I did not think it was necessary this time around. I originally thought about enhancing the color of the bathtub since it is a pretty blue but I ended up loving the washed out look of the light blue with the yellowish walls behind it. The only part of this project that was difficult was collecting the hair. It is not something that I ever think about doing so I kept forgetting that I needed it for the project.
ACT Questions
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork?
I felt like my inspiration altered the way I made the hair move since my original idea was to make the hair very curled around the drain. I instead made the hair clumped together in a straighter pattern because of the lightning bolts in my inspiration.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
People might understand each other but that does not mean that people know the whole story. People can relate to art without even having an idea of what it is truly about.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
Bigger does not always equal better. By making this project, I found that the simpler the idea was, the better I was able to execute it and understand it.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?.
The theme of the inspiration was capturing a moment that everybody is aware of but presenting it in a way people have not seen. This relates to my artistic theme since everyone can view the bathtub and understand what they are looking at but might not realize the story I am trying to tell.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
Color does not have to have significance if you do not give it significance. Sugimoto does not use much color in any of his work no matter the medium, but his work still has a lot of value.
I felt like my inspiration altered the way I made the hair move since my original idea was to make the hair very curled around the drain. I instead made the hair clumped together in a straighter pattern because of the lightning bolts in my inspiration.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
People might understand each other but that does not mean that people know the whole story. People can relate to art without even having an idea of what it is truly about.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
Bigger does not always equal better. By making this project, I found that the simpler the idea was, the better I was able to execute it and understand it.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?.
The theme of the inspiration was capturing a moment that everybody is aware of but presenting it in a way people have not seen. This relates to my artistic theme since everyone can view the bathtub and understand what they are looking at but might not realize the story I am trying to tell.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
Color does not have to have significance if you do not give it significance. Sugimoto does not use much color in any of his work no matter the medium, but his work still has a lot of value.
MLA Citation
Biography — Hiroshi Sugimoto. (n.d.). Hiroshi Sugimoto. Retrieved March 31, 2024, from https://www.sugimotohiroshi.com/biography
“Learn Photography Tips, Tricks & Techniques | Adobe.” Www.adobe.com, www.adobe.com/creativecloud/photography/discover.html. Accessed 31 Mar. 2024.
“Learn Photography Tips, Tricks & Techniques | Adobe.” Www.adobe.com, www.adobe.com/creativecloud/photography/discover.html. Accessed 31 Mar. 2024.