“Into the Modern World”
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| My artwork Into the Modern World is a piece I created to explore what I consider to be the future. |
My artwork titled “Into the Modern World” was influenced by my surroundings, and several different artists around the globe. The subject of my painting is a young woman; the reason behind this choice was due to the current feminism movement revival currently happening this year (2018). As for the contents of my painting, I wanted to focus on the future, and what the future might look like in my eyes. The young woman is wearing a blue trench coat, due to the symbolism behind the attire. Trench coats, famously worn by detectives, can signify adventure, or travel. The blue color was chosen to represent freedom, and confidence. Her aura is tinted yellow in the painting to stand for positivity, and enlightenment.
Every choice I made was needed to complete the whole overall picture; from choosing certain colors to deciding the main subject of the image. The first monumental choice in creating the whole piece was the decision to paint, instead of choosing a different art method. I haven’t touched a paintbrush since the sixth grade, but what is life without risks? As for the overall picture idea, I thought of the image one year ago; April 16, 2017 to be exact. I drafted the sketch in the notes app of my smartphone. The more specific contents of the painting, however, was modified to fit the final project. The colors, on the left side of image, were inspired by the color palette of the 1960s and 70s; while the “modern” side of the right were influenced by the color palette of today. I wanted to build a more bright, fun life style on the left, and dark, gray feel on the right. Whether it was Jules Verne writing about air flying machines or Leonardo da Vinci sketching contraptions similar to cars today; the retrofuturism movement really was the main idea of this whole project.
I would categorize my artwork as a painting. The artist that inspired my painting include Patricia Piccinni, and author, Luis Serafini, of Codex Seraphinianus. Piccinni’s Osculating Curve, which centers around the idea of a changing human species, really influenced my decision to create an odd, yet realistic image. Serafini also played a huge role in helping me decide the type of style I wanted to mimic, along with the idea of constructing interesting, different forms of plants.
“Osculating Curve”
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| Osculating Curve by Patricia Piccinni inspired my artwork. |
I think my self-portrait conveys the idea of two completely, divergent settings mushed into one painting. I want people to see the young woman seamlessly walking between the two scenes and wonder how the world might change in the years to come. The difference between my midterm and final project is my choice to sketch, and paint a new image; instead of stitching together objects that were already made. My midterm project was heavily made based off Nina Katchadourian’s art, but my final picture was made off my idea. The challenge, and risk involved in the creating my final project out of paper, and paint was far more daring than my midterm project. I was influenced to change the method of my project because I wanted to show a different side of my art “skills”.
“Identity is variously described as a measurable psychological state, an existential tabula rasa, a mechanism of mind, a quality of curiosity, doubt, and ambiguity, a privileging of introspection, a fiction, an ideological device, and so on” (Finkelstein 137). With this definition in mind, identity can be amounted to who we are, or who want to believe we are. In addition, the “coherent view of identity can be invented from the surface and then applied backwards to become an internal core” (Finkelstein 60). When the media meddles with the idea of identity, by projecting ideal images of what is expected, suddenly society has a certain picture to mirror. The media carries tremendous power in deciding what the major population should focus their attention on, therefore we, as members of society, should be aware of when the media has crossed too far, and fix it.
At first glance, I assumed the spectacle is similar to a pair of glasses. A spectacle is used to see better or clearer. It can also be used to see; like watching other events around. After reading a portion of Debord’s “Society of the Spectacle” I’ve come to realize the spectacle is the media. The spectacle reaches its ultimate fulfillment when “… the tangible world is replaced by a selection of images which exist above it, and which simultaneously impose themselves as the tangible par excellence” (Debord Stanza 36). The media functions in multiple ways, including in tweets, live TV, or newspaper.
My project exists in the spectacle, since I painted the artwork by incorporating several artists ideas of what the future will look like. Arguably, the spectacle, in terms of my artwork, is me and the past visionaries who imagined the future.
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| RetroFuturism can be seen in this painting |
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| Another example of RetroFuturism |
Claire, Shyama Laxman, and Beca Bailey. "History Of The Trench Coat: Military Necessity To Fashion Accessory." Contrado Blog. N.p., 27 Apr. 2018. Web. 12 Dec. 2018.
Debord, Guy. Society of the Spectacle. Detroit: Black and Red, 1977. Print.
Finkelstein, Joanne. The Art of Self Invention: Image and Identity in Popular Visual Culture. London: Tauris, 2007. Print.
MVargic. History Rundown. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2018.
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