Saturday, March 12, 2011

Books by Blurb

Well, I finally got my book from Blurb, and I must say I'm a bit disappointed. Their print quality was fine and I got my book in time to present it, however they left 2 entire pages out! Also, they let me know AFTER I had uploaded my PDFs that there were further formatting issues. Overall, not a very efficient site. They'll be hearing from me soon and perhaps I can corrected re-print.
As far as my project is concerned, I'm pleased with the way it turned out. My models were fantastic and, thanks to all those who I mentioned in my previous post, all the lighting and cropping details turned out flawlessly.

As much fun as this project was, I don't see myself continuing it any time soon. The next subject I'd be interested in looking into would be the idea of self image and a more up-to-date examination of how our society places value on perfection. At the moment, I think that will result in a portfolio of self-portraits, but we'll see what inspiration some (fingers crossed!) warmer weather brings. Congratulations to all my classmates on projects well done!

Friday, March 4, 2011

Poetry in Motion

As you know by now, I have sent in my book to have it printed. I'm hoping that paying for expedited shipping has done the trick, but I guess I shall soon find out. Also, to anyone looking to publish, Blurb is a fantastic site to work with. They have step-by-step instructions, templates for every book size, as well as a built-in pre-print file check. A very streamlined operation, so definitely check it out. Also, on the topic of the project, my instructors Julie and Johnny have instructed us to craft, instead of an artist's statement, a haiku that summarizes our project. I am no poet, but here's my attempt:

Peek at glory past.
If only marble mouths could
move, what would they say?

While I was wrapping up this project, I decided to see if what I was doing was original or not. This also gave me the opportunity to draw inspiration from other artists. I ended up finding the photographer Eugenio Recuenco. Biographical information was in short supply, but the professional work done by this Spanish artist is extensive to say the least. He's done high fashion shoots for every major event, magazine, and designer. Don't believe me? Check out the client section of his website.
The obvious difference between Recuenco and myself is that he chooses to depict well-known fairy tales in some of his work. He also chooses a discreet moment of the narrative that is easily identifiable. With recreating statues and portraiture, I didn't really have the need to contextualize the works, as they are already out of context by being in a gallery rather than our mind's eye. Overall, I found Recuenco's work very inspiring, but it didn't lead to any significant artistic breakthroughs for myself. I also found it a little odd that the only work he considered "fine art" was his Untitled. It's interesting that a person with such success would classify their work that way.
In regards to the Kristin Boehm lecture, I was a little underwhelmed. Perhaps it was in the way that she presented, but it didn't sound to me like she had been attempting to network with other artists until well after she had graduated. Having an internship at a summer camp is not something that I would look forward to and not have a post-camp plan. I feel as though Kristin really missed an opportunity to emphasize the importance of networking well before we are faced with the real world.